Fanfiction [Charlie Gillespie]

15

Owen and I walked back to the restaurant, my hand still in his. Though I had just met him, I felt safe. He understood what I was going through and never prodded me with questions about it. He knew exactly how to calm me down.

"So who's this friend you left behind?" He asked as we walked down the sidewalk.

"My best friend, Laney," I said as he chuckled.

"You left your best friend in the restaurant? Alone?" He asked chuckling.

"I know, what a terrible friend I am,"

"No, I'm sure she'll understand once you tell her," He said. "I've done the same thing,"

"Definitely not my proudest moment, but I had to go somewhere," I said looking down at our hand still intertwined.

"I completely understand, Beckett," He said looking at me as he smiled.

I smiled to myself as we continued to walk. It was nice to have someone who knows the struggles of panic attacks there. Sure Laney has always been there for me during them, but she's never had one before. She didn't know exactly how to calm me down, but she was always there.

"Well, here we are," He said as we stopped in front of the restaurant.

"Do you mind walking me in?" I asked nervously biting my lip.

"Of course," He said as we started walking again.

We walked into the restaurant where I caught the eyes of Laney. She looked at me confused when she saw me next to Owen and my hand in his. I shrug my shoulders as we continued to walk over to the booth. This was gonna be harder to explain than I thought.

"Beckett, where the fuck did you go?" She said once we reached the table.

"I'm sorry, I just needed some air," I said looking at her. "Laney this is Owen, he helped calm me down a bit and walked me back here,"

"Hey," He said flashing a smile towards her. "Well it was nice to meet both of you, I'm gonna get going,"

"Thank you, again,"

He let go of my hand before walking towards the exit. I slid myself back into the booth, preparing myself for the ungodly amount of questions Laney was going to bombard me with.

"Beckett," I heard a voice call behind me. "Could I maybe get your number?"

Owen had walked back in and over to the booth, nervously fidgeting with his hand.

"Of course," I smiled as he handed me his phone.

I put my number in his phone and he was on his way. He left the restaurant once again leaving me to answer any question Laney had.

"What the fuck was that?" She asked eyeing me from across the table.

"When I went to the bathroom, I couldn't breathe. So, I went outside for a walk and then I started running and ran right into him. He could tell I was having a panic attacked and basically talked me through it. It was a weird experience to have a stranger help me through a panic attack but it was nice at the same time," I said as she continued to study my face.

"He was really cute," She said giving me googly eyes.

"That's all you got out of the whole story?" I ask, laughing at her.

"No, I was just thinking maybe he could help take your mind off Charlie," She said shrugging. "Something could spark there,"

"Laney, I just met him," I said rolling my eyes.