𝐀𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄 ➳ o. joyner ✔

𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟖

'just for this moment as long as your mine.'

— 🏹🕊

The sound of my ringtone rang throughout my room, causing me to awake with a jolt. Squinting, I checked the caller ID. Charlie? Why would he be calling me in the middle of the night. I groaned, answering the phone.

"Hello?" I choked out, tiredly.

"Hey, sorry to wake you, but Owen just had a really bad panic attack and he asked me to call you." Charlie explained.

Without another word, I ended the call, making my way across the hall. I knocked, waiting for Charlie to let me in. Moments later, he opened the door, moving aside so I could get by.

"Sorry it's late. He didn't want anything to do with me." Charlie tried to lighten the mood. I smiled, telling him that he didn't need to apologize.

"He's in his room." He said, going back to his own bedroom. Walking to Owen's room, I was prepared to knock, but instead, his door was standing wide open.

He was sitting on his bed, his head in his hands, not realizing I was there. "Hey, O." I said, quietly.

Owen jumped up from his bed before I could get another word out, engulfing me into a tight hug. I smiled, wrapping my arms around his waist.

After being around him for almost half a year, I had seen my fair share of panic attacks. One thing never changed though, he always got super cuddly afterwards. He pulled away minutes later, looking drained.

"Wanna watch a movie?" I suggested, looking up at him. He shrugged slightly, before nodding.

I led him to the bed, sitting down beside him. After debating on which movie to pick, we finally agreed on 'Hairspray.' Halfway through the movie, Owen grabbed my hand, playing with my fingers.

"Hey." He said quietly, his throat still scratchy from crying.

"Hey." I repeated, looking down at him.

"Thank you.. for always being there for me. It- it means a lot." He smiled slightly, leaning his head on my shoulder.

"Of course. I'm always going to be here. Don't worry." I told him, resting my head atop of his.

Owen sighed, his soft snores echoing throughout the room minutes later. Smiling, I closed my eyes, letting the sounds of him at peace lull me to sleep.

• • •

It was approximately 6am when Owen's alarm blared. Sitting up, I tried waking him up, but he didn't budge. I rolled my eyes, getting out of the bed to stop the sound.

After multiple attempts to wake Owen, I gave up, plopping back onto the bed next to him. I landed harshly, making him jump up. "What was that?" His eyes widened as he looked around frantically.

"Seriously? I've been trying to get you up for 30 minutes." I shook my head.

"Oh." He just said, sitting back down on the bed.

"Nope, get up. We gotta be on set at 7." I told him, trying to push him off the bed.

"I don't feel like going today." Owen sighed, hugging his pillow.

"Well, you can't just not go or you know, you'll get fired." I tried joking with him.

"Whatever. I'll get ready in a bit. You can go if you want." He said, staring at the bare wall in front of him.

"Are you okay?" I sat up so I could get a better look at him.

"Yeah, fine." He plastered a smile onto his face, nodding.

Sighing, I left his room. As I was walking out, I ran into Charlie muttering an apology. Before he could say anything, I had already closed the door to my apartment. Once I had finished getting ready, I walked back across the hall, knocking on the door. Charlie opened it, smiling.

"Back so soon?" He asked cheerfully.

Rolling my eyes, I walked in the apartment, "You are way too happy in the mornings. How do you do it?"

Charlie simply laughed, shrugging as he yelled to Owen that he was going with Jeremy to get coffee. I watched as the brunette walked out and when the door closed, Owen came out of his room. His face was pale and he bounced on his feet, nervously.

"Hey, bubs. You sure you doing okay?" I asked, walking over to him. He nodded, walking past me.

I grabbed his hand, gently, making him turn around. "What's up? You look like you're going to be sick."

"That's cause I am." He sighed, looking away.

"How come?" I asked. looking up at him.

"I have to shoot Alex's 'Unsaid Emily' scene today. I'm terrified." He let out a breath, running his free hand through his hair.

"You're going to kill it. I know it's going to be hard emotionally, but you can always take a break. Kenny will understand." I told him.

"Yeah- yeah I know. I just don't want to make everything hard for everyone. What if I breakdown and can't finish the scene? I don't want to be difficult." He admitted.

"You're not going to be difficult. You're human. Humans have emotions. Most actors don't get the freedom that we do with working with Kenny. He lets us be raw and vulnerable. He wants emotion." I explained.

Owen was practically buzzing with anxiety at this point. When he didn't say anything, I pulled him into a hug, running my hand over his back, comfortingly.

"You're gonna rock it, O." I quoted his words from earlier. Owen laughed dryly, shaking his head. He returned the hug, laying his head on top of mine.

"Thank you." He spoke quietly, taking a deep breath. We stood there for a moment before Charlie came barging into the room.

"Hey, I got you guys breakfast- Oh.. Am I interrupting something?" He asked, looking between the two of us.

Owen pulled away from the hug slowly, "No, you're good." He smiled at him. "Thanks for the food."

"Yeah. No problem." Charlie nodded, laying the food on the counter. He cleared his throat, "Uh, we have 15 minutes until we leave for set. I'm going to go wait downstairs." He said, awkwardly walking out the door. Once he was gone, Owen and I looked at each other, immediately starting to laugh.

"Did you see the look on his face?" Owen clapped his hands together, leaning over.

"Yeah, he was so scared." I fanned my face, trying to get my eyes to stop watering.

After finally calming down, we quickly ate and started to make our way to the van. I eyed Charlie as I got in the vehicle, making him quickly avert his gaze. I laughed quietly and sat down beside Owen, who had already started picking at his nails. It was a nervous habit that I knew all too well.

I grabbed his hand and intertwined our fingers, running my thumb along the back of his hand. Glancing over at him, I watched as he visibly relaxed, smiling to myself.

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