In distress - Jasmine

Lion was running away in every sense of the word. After what had happened in New York, he didn't know how to be around Vanya anymore. It felt like there had been a shift in their friend group that only he and Vanya knew about. He was running away from the mansion and towards another part of the city. The rain was pouring down on him. Only street lights lid up the darkened night. He stopped for a moment and could now feel how cold his body was becoming. He needed to get inside. He then remembered Jasmine had said something about being home alone. He was pretty sure she had someone close to the home though. She was royalty after all. He continued running to the home. He had been there a few times, but the big hang out was Abigal and Kyle's mansion. He looked at the security guard. "Can I go in?" He didn't answer, but opened the gate so that must mean yes. Lion walked to the front door and stood a little while before knocking on the door. He was a mess and he looked the part with his drenched hair and clothes. He just needed to be away from the daily reminder of what had happened. He had not only been with one of his best friends, but also his best friend's cousin. He was afraid of what that would mean.

Jasmine had only been home for some hours, her mother have had her to this royal event most of the day. Her parents had asked her if she would rather wanting to stay home or going with them to an event in Paris - she had taken the chance to just be home by herself. She had only been home for what, an hour or so. Her feet was killing her from wearing heels the entire day. A knock on her door made her look up and and walk towards it. Jasmine opened the door and looked confused by Lion suddenly standing at her front door.
"Come in," she said. Jasmine knew she was supposed to keep her distrance from her friends, but she shouldn't get herself  to push Lion, Reggie and Theo away. Not yet anyways, and as long as no one knew what she was hiding - it would be fine. She grabbed Lions hand, and pulled him into one of the dressing rooms. When you had a mother like Felicity and an aunt like Abigal - you never went low on new wardrobes.
"Lucky you.. Jordan was looking out for the house while we were away... and he forgot his spare clothes," she teased a little about him being so tall. There was a pair of pants and a dark grey sweater.
"Get dressed, I'll be waiting by the fire place," she said looking a little serious at him. She wanted to know what went on in his head at this moment, why did he look so confused and miserable? She left the dressing room to let him get out of his wet clothes, it was like he had been just standing in the rain for hours without thinking about it. Jasmine sat down on the sofa and looked into the fire, before taking a deep breath in.
"What happened?" She then ask and narrowed her eyes a little, but her voice was soft.

Lion knew that Jasmine might not be the best person to contact right now. But he just needed a place to hide out. A place where he could deal with his thoughts alone. But knowing Jasmine, he might not get the chance to. Maybe that’s what he really wanted. Someone that would force him to deal with things. He sighed when she said he could come in. He let her drag her into a dressing room. He noticed the dress she was wearing. It looked good on her. He stopped himself in his own thoughts. She had just broken up with Theo. He shouldn’t think like that about her.
He smiled a little by her teasing, but he was honestly so filled with his own thoughts and emotions he didn’t have the energy to tease back like he normally would. ”Thank you,” he said and changed out of the wet close and into Jordan’s. They were about the same height, but Jordan was more muscular than Lion, so the clothes looked baggy on him. He hung his own clothes to dry and went into the living room. He sat down on the other end of the sofa. Lion put his hands on the side of his head. ”I just can’t… It’s all too much.” He said vaguely and took in a deep breath. ”I feel lost,” he admitted. If he couldn’t even be with his best friend, one of the people who knew him best in the entire world, how could he ever be with anyone? Did this mean he was going to be alone forever? Was he incapable of really loving anyone? The thoughts made him feel it again. It felt like his chest was closing in on his heart, like he couldn’t breathe. He didn’t understand what this what, but he didn’t like it one bit. He gasped for air. He couldn’t drown for obvious reason, but he was pretty sure this what how it felt. The inability to breathe was excruciating. ”I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” he managed to say through his troubled breathing.

She hated seeing people sad, and yet it was all she seemed to bring them at this point. Which also was the reason she wasn't with the others. She looked at him as he entered the room and sat down. Jasmine moved closer to him and grabbed his hands. She listened to him and breathed slowly out.
"Hey.. hey Lion," she said to gain his attention and removed one of her hand up to grab his chin softly - making him look at her.  She shook her head.
"Nothing. There is nothing wrong with you Lion," she pointed out and lifted an eyebrow to asure him she meant that. Growing up with Reggie, Jasmine barely lied - Lion knew that. "You are one of the most caring, loving people that I know. I don't know what has made you thinking less of yourself - but I want it to stop," she added and let go of his chin.
"You shouldn't beat yourself up, you are way to smart for that," she gave him a little half smirk.
"Ice cream.. or pizza?" She then asked. It was their cure to lives problems - or at least it helped. One call in the kitchen and she knew her lovely butler would go out and pick up the order.  Jasmine tilted her head a little to the side and looked at him. "or we can just talk. What ever you want."

Lion kept his eyes locked on the floor, even when she took hold of his hands. They were trembling a little bit. He was really out of it. He didn’t resist when she grabbed his chin and turned his head toward hers. He swallowed. Thoughts kept pin-ponging in his head. They told him that he was selfish for breaking up with Vanya, that he was selfish for even begin something with her in the first place, that he was selfish for not telling his friends the truth about him and Vanya. Selfish was a keyword, because he was so afraid he would be perceived that way.
He just listened to her. It helped to her calm voice. He took in a deep breath and seemed to be in more control of himself. ”Pizza, extra cheese,” he said with a half-smile. He was mentally exhausted from everything that had gone through his head. He looked at her. ”Maybe we can just hang out for a little bit? I need a distraction,” he admitted. Her words still circled around in his mind, reminding him that he wasn’t wrong or broken because of this. He sent her a weak smile. ”Thank you for talking me down,” he said. The thoughts were still there in the back, but her words were stronger. ”Do you think I’m selfish?” He asked with a lowered voice. His eyes were a window to his mind and soul right now. He was easy to read, he was vulnerable. He was scared. Scared that he would single handily destroy his friend group, or that he would never be forgiven by his friends or Vanya for what he had done, scared what his parents would think, what Vanya’s parents would think of the matter. There was so many things he had thought with the last couple of days. He had ended things with Vanya, because he didn’t want her messed up in all this, in his doubt.

She gave him a nod when he said pizza with extra cheese. Of course, it was the only right pizza to actually eat!
"You can stay as long as you like," she then said and pulled out her phone to text Mr. James about the two pizzas, before putting it on the table to give Lion her full attention.
"No need to thank me, you would do the same for me," she lifted an eyebrow - she knew he would. That was what made him dangerous in this, but tonight she was the selfish one. She should have slammed the door in his face. That was what Ramsay would have wanted her to do. So when he ask if she thought of him as selfish, she shook her head.
"No.. You haven't given me a reason to," she pointed out and pulled her arms around him to drag him into her arms. She had no intentions of letting to of him. He clearly needed the comfort. Jasmine ran har hand softly up and down his back. She needed this just as much as he did, but it wasn't about her. "Listen to me okay.. we all fuck up time to time. It is not what we do, its about what we do after. We can flight or fight. And if something is worth fighting for, its worth every little bit of confusion and doubt. I reckon it sometimes are the things we want most in life that scares us," she exhaled. She was really sounding like her father.