It had been a week since the library meeting. After our initial idea, we didn't get a chance to speak about a project again.

During the weekday teachers started to crack down on preparing for our exams. We were all so swept up by the immense overload of information for the exams.

The week was surprisingly calm. There were no quarrels between Ava and Lexi. Melissa seemingly kept to herself and barely bothered me. For some reason it felt like it was the calm before the storm.

Once again it was Saturday and it was a quiet day. The sun pushed through the clouds, shining brightly making it feel like the January month was spring.

Sprawled out on the sofa in the living room, with Ava doing the same on the other sofa. We were both glued onto our phones, gormlessly flicking through our phones to help pass the time.

Mum strolled into the living room, waving her hand for me to make space on the sofa, she then sat her self down next to me.

"Right girls, who wants to come and see the new office?" Dad chimed aloud, as he entered the living room.

The three of us sheepishly looked at each other and then to my dad, who with wide eyes, was waiting for to reply.

At first I was the first to decline, but a sudden thought shot into my head. With dads new office with Brian, there was bound to be some supplies lying around for our business project.

"I'll come along dad." I replied hopping up from the sofa.

"Ava?" My dad asked, hoping she would agree.

"I'm not going if the devils spawn is going to be there." Ava mumbled.

My dad let out a disappointed sigh. "Ava! What did I tell you? I thought you were going to squash what ever problem you had."

"But-"

"Robert sweetie." My mum but in, not allowing Ava to speak. "We are going to go shopping, you and Hannah go ahead."

I carefully studied my mother. I knew there wasn't a plan for her and Ava to go shopping, but she always said the right words to ensure no fights erupted.

"Okay then, you girls have fun. Come on Hannah." My dad replied not thinking much of it, and waved for me to follow him.

***

As I sat in the passenger seat, with my dad driving along the narrow lanes of the town. My eyes followed closely of the moving buildings, that seemed to be a mush of colours as they zoomed past.

I was now pressured to think of what I would be doing for my main art work for the exams. I had to be elaborate and think outside of the box. Yet, it felt like many thoughts were squashed inside my brain, there were no clear thoughts or ideas I could pinpoint.

"What's the real reason you agreed to come with me to see the office." My dad voice bursted me out of my long thoughts.

I turned my head to him, as he was focused on the road. Sitting in silence unsure of what to say.

"Come on Hannah, I know you. There's got to be a reason why you agreed to come." My dad chuckled.

"Okay you're right." I let out in defeat. "We've got this project in business studies, and I wanted to see if you have any spare supplies we can use for the presentation."

"Whose we?" My dad asked, lifting his brow.

Shit I thought to myself. There was no going back, it was bound to come out.

"Me and Zac. We're partnered up." I let out in a low voice, subtly biting my own tongue.

A surprised gasp escaped from my dad, almost as if he looked proud. "How come you're only telling me now. Brian and I are here to help."

I let out a shaky laugh and nodded at whatever my dad had said.

***

We finally reached the office and I was in awe at how it was coming along. The building was small and compact, on the corner of a street, situated just outside the town.

Painters and decorators were busy walking up and down the office. Although much of it still needed finishing, the bright white walls made the room look large and open. The wide floor to ceiling windows that looked out on the street, flooded a immense amount of light, creating a bright and airy feel.

The floor was light brown, giving it a slight oak look to it. As I moved, my trainers pattered against the freshly put floorboards, creating a ripple sound echoing around the room.

"We have a whole load of supplies in the basement, go and take whatever you want." My dad nodded at the far door, situated at the back of the office. Feeling excited, I merrily make my way over.

"Hannah, just make sure you don't close the door to the room downstairs, there's a problem with it, the door keeps jamming, so leave it open." My dad warned just as I started to make my way down the stairs.

I was reminded of my fear of being trapped. Just the mere thought created a sunken feeling in the pit of my stomach.

My knees wobbled as I got further and further down. The change of temperature was evident and the office suddenly felt dark and dingy. My hands fumbled around the wall to find a light switch. After a few seconds of searching, the light is flicked on, creating a warm hue of colour from the bulb.

It was a small corridor, that had an open door towards the right. Although this was the basement area of the office, it was kept quite clean. There were no evidence of cobwebs or dust.

Getting further into the basement, I peered my head through the door, remembering to leave it open. My breathing felt slightly raged, I was in need of my inhaler, only to realise it was in my bag upstairs.

I pursed my lips, letting out a slow breath. You can do this. I decided to check the room out quickly and get back upstairs where I was able to breath with ease.

I entered further into the room and my eyes suddenly widened. There were a range of canvases, coloured papers, cardboards, pens and pencils. A variety of items, not only perfect for the project, but also for my artwork.

"Your dad said I could find you in here." A voice called out from behind me.

I was so amazed at the items in the room, I didn't realise I was far into it and the door was well away from me. Turning around to see who it was, my eyes find Zac.

Just as I was about to respond, he came marching into the room, slightly brushing past and flicking the door, causing it to move and slam shut. It all happened so fast, my brain didn't register to scream or stop the door from closing.

The slam rippled into the room as if a wave crashed into a rock. Marching all the way to the door, pushing past Zac, I grabbed onto the handle and abruptly moved it up and down.

The handle was flimsy and did nothing to move the door. I dug my fingers between the open cracks, trying to wedge it open, again, it did nothing.

"Shit are we trapped?" Zac let out in a confusing tone.

It then suddenly dawned on me, we were trapped. My chest started to heave up and down, as breathing felt like a mission for me. I could see Zac's mouth moving, but no sound was coming out. It felt like a rope had slowly made its way across my chest, and after each second it got tighter and tighter.

Short snap breaths were ejecting from my mouth. Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead, as there was a rise in temperature.

Zac finally realised the predicament I was in. "Hannah? Are you okay?"

I was able to hear his words, but no words of my own were formed. All I could do was nod my head no.

I felt like I was paralysed, panic was rising, I tired hard to fight, but it was pushing me down like a tonne of bricks.

"Hannah? What's up?"

"I... I... can't... breath... I feel... like... I'm dying... panic attack... inhaler." I fought hard to say, not making any sense.

"Your inhaler? Where is it." Zac asked in a concerned tone.

My breathing sped up and my chest felt so tight, to the point where my legs gave way and my knees met the ground. All I could do was point upwards, indicating where my it was.

"HELP!" Zac yelled, banging against the door.

"I... can't breath... I'm... going... to... die." I cried as panic continued to rise in me. My heart was hammering against my chest, yearning for some fresh air.

It was like my eyes started to deceive me, as it felt like the four walls were slowly closing in on me, exactly like my dream.

Zac kneeled right in front of me, cupped my cheeks, moving my head so that our faces were directly in front of each other.

"You're not going to die okay? Look at me and breath with me," he said in a soft and soothing tone.

He made sure that my eyes were in contact with his. He started to inhale and exhale slow, urging me to do the same. My body wasn't allowing me, it continued to shake with fear which sped up my breathing.

Zac moved one hand to hold to my hand, he entwined his fingers with mine, whilst the other hand was softly placed on to my cheek. His thumb slowly caressed my skin, creating a warm friction.

"Hannah, look at me. Do the same as me. Breath in slowly and breath out okay? I'm not going to let you die, we still have a project to do." Zac said in an amusing tone.

I focused on Zac's deep green eyes. The cold exterior of his pupils were gone and I was seeing them soften. He continued to hold me close, tightly, making sure I mirrored his breathing. All of sudden I found myself breathing in a pattern that matched Zac's.

As there still was a slight panic filtering in and out of me, my fast paced breathing was now regulated with Zac's.

"See, you're doing really good. I'm just going to bang on the door to get help." Zac carefully said.

As he was about to move, I jerked towards him holding him tight.

"Don't. I need you." I said in a vulnerable tone, breathless. I couldn't understand why I had said that, but it was him who was helping me in the very moment.

"Okay okay, I won't. I'll stay here. I'm sure our dads will soon realise that we've been gone for some time." He shuffled his knees back closer to mine.

We continued to stay in our kneeled position, opposite each other, with our hands crossed together. In that moment I didn't see Zac as my number one enemy.

I saw him as the guy who cared and helped regulate my breathing. In that very moment I didn't care about what would happen after, as he saw me vulnerable.

All I could think about how safe I felt with Zac...

A/N

This was slightly a longer chapter than normal, but what are you thoughts?!

Looks like Zac is a caring guy after all...

Comment, vote and share!

Love _xxAMxx