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Taylor had always been the caretaker. She'd taken care of her father when he was dying. She took care of her mom whenever she was having an episode. She took care of Tyler whenever he got too overwhelmed by the weight of everything at home.
She rarely got taken care of, at least in any notable sense. She was just so cheery all the time, so no one thought about how she was doing or if she needed anything, and she was perfectly content with it because that's just the way things were.
Ashlyn didn't have a whole lot of experience taking care of others. Sure, she led the group in their dream plans and whatnot, but that wasn't the same thing as taking care of them because they were all just as capable as she was.
Her parents had always been on top of their game and, prior to the events that led her into the weird friend group with the other Savannah kids, she hadn't had any friends. She never thought she needed them.
So, when she got locked in a janitor's closet with Taylor, who promptly began to panic and vomit on the floor, she felt a little out of her depth.
She knew logically that she needed to do the whole comforting thing and take care of her distressed friend, but she didn't really know how to go about that. So, with an awkward start, she reached out a hand.
Taylor flinched away and Ashlyn felt even more lost. "No touching, okay..." she muttered, unsure of how to approach the situation. "Hey, uh..." she swallowed thickly as Taylor curled up in the corner of the small room. There was a drain on the ground, so Ashlyn took out the mop and brushed the vomit into the drain.
"I'll be fine" Taylor dismissed, just like she always did because she didn't need help (or at least that was what she'd convinced herself). Ashlyn sighed and kneeled in front of the other girl.
"I know you will but you're not fine currently" she said simply. "I sent Aiden a text so we should be out of here soon" she continued awkwardly. "Um... There, there?"
Taylor chuckled weakly because Ash was trying, even if the attempt came out super awkward. Something about the ridiculousness of the situation calmed her down a little bit and suddenly the concept of being locked in a small, dim room wasn't so terrifying.
"Thank you, Ash" she chuckled. "Um, sorry for puking"
"It's fine"
A knock came from the door, followed by the muffled voice of Aiden Clark. Ash just smiled, gave Taylor a pat on the shoulder, and turned her attention to their soon-to-be freedom from the room.