a/n: I've basically been listening to tøp for the past several hours and I've had some pretty good vibes so this won't be as angsty as usual,,

TW: panic attack

stay safe, loves! <3

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"Hey, Tyler, you'll be okay. Your mom's on her way." Josh moved to soothe the boy, and Tyler looked at the floor, still shuddering and crying. He thought back to the things he's seen about how to help someone having a panic attack, but he didn't have many sources.

"Can you... can you hug me? It... it feels better if someone hugs me. I'm sorry," Tyler furrowed his brow. He could feel his heart pounding, sending tendrils of panic through his arms and legs. The cold tile walls seemed to burn his back, freezing fear traveling through his nerves and going back to his brain, saying, "You're such a worthless boy," "You're so selfish," and, "What kind of person would help you?"

Josh was hesitant, but he agreed and quickly pulled the scrawny brunette to his chest, awkwardly wrapping his arms around Tyler. He had never really hugged anyone recently, so he thought he was doing something wrong, though he didn't know what. Tyler quickly proved him wrong, as the boy held onto Josh's blue sweatshirt and rested his head on Josh's chest. His slim legs were curled on top of the redhead's crossed legs--after some trial and error, they realized this was the most comfortable way.

     "Your mom will be here in a few minutes, don't worry, Tyler," Josh said, worried about how violently the boy was shaking. "You'll be fine, okay?" He was hoping this would work--he was just going off of a Tumblr post that he barely remembered.

     Tyler was silent, but his shaking had subdued a little. He could still feel the cold tiles of the walls and floors pushing in, threatening to crush him. He was battling to calm his mind, saying, You're not going to die, PLEASE calm down! You're being irrational! Nothing happened. Why are you like this?, eventually falling into his normal patterns of yelling at himself for being so panicked at nothing. Josh's repeated, "You'll be fine, you'll be okay," helped his nerves.

     Josh checked the time. Tyler's mother would be here any minute. He was in the middle of telling Tyler that it was going to be okay when the PA system blared, "Tyler Joseph to the office, you will be leaving."

     "Do you want me to come with you?" Josh asked, not wanting to leave the fragile boy on his own.

     Tyler nodded silently, slipping off of Josh's lap and standing, his lanky frame still shaking. Josh stood as well. They walked back to the science classroom. "I'll go get your stuff, just stay outside the door." Tyler nodded, standing and fidgeting with his zipper outside of the wooden door.

     Josh went to the back of the room and grabbed Tyler's books and binder. "I'm taking him to the office, I'll be right back," he told Ms. Dexter, who nodded in understanding.

     While he was walking out of the class, he absentmindedly looked down to see what book Tyler had on his stack of textbooks. Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos. He was surprised; he loved Gantos's work, and didn't know anyone else liked him. "Good book choice," he told Tyler as they walked to his locker.

     Tyler smiled a little, unlocking his locker with a shaky hand. He dumped his books into his backpack before zipping it up and swinging it onto his back. Josh was a little anxious with how Tyler wasn't talking to him. Had he done something wrong?

     They walked to the office together in silence, accompanied only by the soft swishing of denim and the muffled clink of keychains on Tyler's bag. When they got to the office, Tyler's mom was there, looking distressed as she checked her phone. As soon as she saw Tyler, her face lit up. When Tyler and Josh got to her, she smiled gratefully. "Thank you for taking care of him," she said to Josh. "I always get so worried. What's your name?"

     "I'm Josh, nice to meet you." Josh almost flinched when the woman opened her arms to hug him.

     "Thank you, Josh, you're a very nice boy," she said before pulling away and leading her shivering son out of the school.

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a/n: ahh short chapter and it's pretty bad,, I just got the self-titled album on iTunes so that's rad 👌🏻

take care of yourself! <3