Breathe in and out slowly.

You start to breathe in and out slowly, trying to calm your breathing. You follow his footsteps as you try to match your breathing with his. He looks at you with a smile as you start to restabilize yourself.

"There you go, nice and slowly." He says as he rubs your back. You let out some air as you can finally start to think again. "What was that?" You say, trying to understand what just happened.

"Most likely a panic attack." He responded to you.

"I'm so-"

"Don't say sorry; panic attacks are fine and perfectly valid," He says, cutting you off. He then looks at you with a kind smile.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" He asked.

You nod, and you start to tell him what happened. "With everything new going on, it just has been a lot to handle. I guess what broke the straw was me worrying about..." You say, running off your sentence into silence.

He looks at you with a kind smile, "Go on, I'm here for you."

With a sigh, you look him in the eyes for the first time as you see his concern.

"About you guys, that everyone is going to turn on me. That whatever this is." You say while waving at your outfit. "You guys won't approve of it, even though I like it..." You let out.

"Well, I think you look lovely in your outfit," Chris says, looking into your eyes. That comment made you blush, feeling your face flushed.

"Oh." You let out, not able to say anything else.

"Plus, I'm happy knowing that this makes you happy. I'm glad that my best friend feels comfortable and better about themself," He says, then he sighs.

"And I do deeply care about them." He says the last part while deeply looking at your eyes.

"Well, that's enough mushy shit for today. Come on, our friends are fucking waiting for us. Probably thinking that I flirted with you or something," He says, grabbing your arm and leading you toward the table.