The stack of her paperwork was disheveled in the floor, pages mixing. Hours of sorting down the drain.

Caitlyn had had it. She felt her breathing muck up and rage filled her chest, before it was replaced by utter hurt. She was overwhelmed, overworked, underfed and hydrated…nothing was going according to plan like she needed it to.

She tried to breathe normal, grabbing her ponytail and tugging hard, desperately trying to ground herself. But she can’t. It was abundantly clear in that moment, with the deep upset gaping through her chest and eyes burning, that she was about to have a meltdown.

Caitlyn was even more acutely aware that this would be her first one since her mother, Cassandra’s, passing. And that made everything worse. She sunk to the ground and tried desperately to keep the tears in, digging her nails deeply into her arms and scratching. She needed her mother and she wasn’t even alive enough to help her. Caitlyn was fucked.

The floors creaked behind her and her heart jumped out of her chest, face flushing, but she couldn’t move, even if Vi was right there witnessing it all. She didn’t want vi, or fucking sensory items. She just wanted her mother back, she wanted to feel like herself again. She wanted to function normal, this was so stupid of her.

Caitlyn felt as if she snapped in two.