The Loner's Journey

Chapter 21

Grayson's POV
I watch Danny as he tries to talk archer through his panic attack. Archer doesn't seem to hear him though. Or at least he doesn't react like he can. "Can you move over so I can lay him down? He's not responding, and if we can't get him to even out his breathing then he's gonna pass out." Danny says to me. I quickly agree and move to the bleacher below us. Danny quickly gets to work on laying archer down and not long after that archer passes out. Danny sighs. "Is he gonna be ok?" I ask. "Yeah. He'll be fine. His body just needs to reset. He should wake up in about thirty minutes." Danny says. "What caused it? Was it something I said?" I ask. Danny sighs again and looks at archer. "Archer hasn't had the best life so far. Anything could have set it off." He says. I think about this for a moment. What does he mean 'not the best life'? I think. I decide to ask him that same question. "What do you mean by that?" I ask. Danny seems hesitant to tell me, but eventually he sighs and looks at me with tiredness. "I can't tell you straight out without his consent. But I can give yes and no answers ." He says. I nod. He looks back down at archer and I notice archer's breathing has evened out. "I know he gets bullied at school, but does it happen in other places too?" I ask. I really hope he says no. "Yes." Danny says. I gasp slightly. That's awful. "Do these episodes happen often?" I ask, referring to archer's panic attack. "No. It has to be something really triggering to him." He says. I nod. "Is it a medical thing too?" I ask. "Yes." Danny says. I sigh. This is becoming more messed up the more I ask. "Is he alone to deal with this?" I ask. "No." Danny says. That's a relief, I think. "Does he have his parents?" I ask. "Yes and no." Danny replies. "Elaborate." I say. "His mom died in a car crash when he was little, but he still has his dad." Danny explains. "Does he have any siblings?" I ask. "No." He says. So it's just him and his dad. I think. I go to ask something else when a sudden intake of breath and a groan catches our attention. I look over and see that archer is waking up. He slowly sits up and grabs his head, groaning. "Hey, Ace. You good now?" Danny asks quietly. I see archer turn to Danny and nod slightly but when he tries to move his legs and stand he wobbles slightly. Danny and I both reach out to steady him. He jumps slightly when I touch him, so I remove my hand and let Danny take it from there. He asks archer a bunch of questions until he's satisfied that archer is ok and as he's questioned archer starts to become fully awake. Once he's fully awake, he grabs Danny in a hug. I see his shoulders start shaking slightly, but I don't hear anything. Danny also wraps his arms around archer and begins whispering to him. When archer finally calms down, they release each other. As archer turns around he looks at me through his eyelashes. I give him a small smile and that seems to relax him some. I turn to look at Danny but he isn't paying attention. He's looking back down at the bottom of the bleachers. I look down too and notice someone standing there. "Can we help you?" I ask loudly. The guy seems startled that we noticed him but doesn't try to run. Instead he starts walking up to us. As he gets closer, I hear archer whimper and Danny growl. "What do you want?" Danny asks darkly, trying to move archer from sight. I look back at the guy and realize why they reacted like that. He's one of Trent's guys. Once I realize this I begin glaring at him. "Look, I'm sorry, ok?" The guy says. We're all a little shocked. Danny quickly recovers and asks why he's here. "I wanted to apologize to archer and you, Danny. I've only been with Trent and Vince because I'm scared of them. I don't really want to be mean to or hurt you or archer." He says sadly and honestly. Archer begins to peak around Danny. He sees that the guy isn't attacking us and comes completely from behind Danny. He reaches up to Danny and whispers something to him. Danny looks shocked for a minute and then turns to the guy in front of us. "Archer said that he can't trust your words right now but he appreciates your honesty and understands your predicament even if it's still not ok." Danny says. The guy in front of us seems close to tears as he smiles and thanks Danny over and over again. Danny just sits there until he's had enough and tells the guy to buzz off. "Who was that?" I ask. "That was Blake, the third member of Trent's group." Danny says.