Dan Vs. Autism

Dan Vs. Thunder

It was pouring rain outside. There was nothing to do, it was too horrible to even go to the store and get some extra snacks.

Dan and Chris had met up before it started raining so, atleast he had Chris to keep him company.

It was nice to have company, but its kind of rude to them if you're non-verbal and you have your Ear Defenders on, only paying attention to your cats soft fur to stim with.

"Dan? I can see you're not very comfortable right now, is there anything I can do?"

Dan would answer if he could gather some energy to talk "how am I supposed to communicate if I can't even talk" Dan thought to himself, changing his facial expression every few moments.

Suddenly Dan had the idea to take his pen and notebook off of his desk and start writing down the stuff he wanted

"Your weighted blanket, cat chew necklace, and fidget spinner? Ok, where is everything?" Chris asked.

Dan had taken off his ear defenders for a few moments to hear Chris better, but some really loud Thunder and Lightning had just sounded outside.

"Ah!" There was a short gasp from Dan, as he flopped back down onto the couch, covering his ears and rocking back and forth.

"Ah! Dan are you ok? Here put your ear Defenders back on." Offered Chris.

Chris was the type of Autistic person who never was really bothered by thunder and Lightning, he actually liked the sound of it, the low crackle.

"Well I'm going to go find the stuff you asked me for, do you want the lights turned off, too?" Chris questioned

Dan sent a short little nod "yes" his way, but Dan couldn't help but think he just embarrassed himself by rocking back and forth like that, how was Chris so caring about it? His mom and dad would've made fun of him and called him names like "cowardly" or "stupid" but Chris was so understanding about everything his parents would've mocked him for. He lost his train of thought when Chris came back in

"Hey I got everything, do you want some food? I'm hungry too, we should order some pizza." Chris suggested.

Dan would usually order the pizza but he wasn't able to at the moment.

"Oh right, I'll order it then!" Chris insisted.

Dan wasn't use to not being able to order pizza for himself, Chris was probably going to mess it up and get cheese or put mushrooms on it, that man would eat anything.

"OK so I would like, a pepperoni pizza with lactose-free cheese, and a-"

Wow he actually remembered.

30 minutes or so later, the pizza arrives, Chris got up to get it, while Dan got up and rushed to the other room, he didn't want anyone besides Chris seeing him like this, he felt horrible.

"Alright, thank you have a nice day!" Chris expressed to the pizza man.

Right after the front door closed, thunder sounded outside of the window, this time it was louder than before.

"AHHHHH" Dan yelled from his bedroom, there was a loud thump on the floor after that.

"DAN!" Chris cried out, he put the pizza on the counter and ran to Dan's room.

Chris walked into Dan's room, but he wasn't there, he was gone?

"Dan? Where did you go?" Chris called out softly.

Not even 30 seconds later, Chris hears heavy breathing from under the bed along with silent crying.

"Dan! Are you ok? Are you crying? Do you need some help?" Chris asked

Chris felt horrible about this, is this what Dan goes through every day that he isn't at his apartment? Poor Dan must've gone through this so many times, but why didn't he tell him?

Chris stuck his head under the bed and said a few things, with a very soft tone of voice "hey Dan, I bet you've gone thorough something like this multiple times before, I just wasn't here for it, why didn't you just tell me before?"

He didn't get an answer, but he did hear some scribbling from under the bed, a few moments later he got a note from Dan

"Yes, I have done this a bunch of times before, but I didn't want to tell you because I thought you would react like my stupid parents and just call me rude things, but I've been thinking and the past few days after this diagnosis, you've been really understanding and I just don't understand how you've looked at me doing all of these strange things and didn't have the urge to just make fun of me" was what the note said

Chris stopped and read it for a moment, it took a minute because of Dan's poor penmanship, but he figured it out

"Dan, why would I make fun of you? Autistic people go through life differently, even if its laying under your bed and talking to your best friend through notes." Chris sat and thought for a moment "now come on, the pizza is getting cold and I didn't waste 15 dollars for nothing, ill turn all the lights off if you think its too bright" Offered Chris

".....that would be nice, actually" responded Dan, using his voice, he was verbal again

"Oh hey, your voice is back!" Exclaimed Chris

"Yeah, and it should be back for a while now" Dan said, happily, but soft

They both sat down and had some pizza while watching some horror movies, Chris doesn't like them, but he knows it would make Dan happy, and thats all that mattered to him