Inevitable, A modern day Reylo AU

Chapter 26 - Flight of Fancy

A/N - Hi Lovelies!  I gotta say, I really, really struggled with this one - edited it numerous times....  It was originally much longer, and now I've decided to break it into two - so I'll apologize for that - but will try to post the next part in a couple of days.  I really appreciate everyone who has stuck with this story!!  

Well, we're finally getting somewhere with our two idiots!!  I'll try to pick up the pace in the last bunch of chappies (I had originally planned for this to be around 20 chapters but she's gotten away from me... 😢).  Anyhow - this chapter is a little exciting and a little angsty but fun and hopefully worth it all in the end with lotsa feels.  I hope you like it!  Please let me know - and of course VOTE!  Thanks!

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It had been a long time – probably almost 6 months at least – since Ben Solo had had an anxiety attack.  Even before then, they'd become a much rarer occurrence than he used to experience, somehow managing to keep his demons at bay until something set him off.  He was pretty sure that it was Rey's influence on him that helped manage his stress and anxiety.  Yet here he was, in the middle of a full blown attack, all because he hadn't heard from her in two days.

Well, he'd heard from her, but hadn't really heard from her.  She'd texted him on Tuesday night to tell him that she was too tired to talk, and then again last night saying something similar – which was totally unlike her.  Given his concerns about the mood surrounding their recent conversations – and his suspicions about how Celeste may factor into that – combined with what appeared to be her sudden reticence to talk to him, he didn't think his reaction was completely unfounded.

He'd been trying every one of his coping mechanisms all morning, but all of them were failing miserably as his breathing continued to accelerate.  He could feel his heart pounding wildly in his chest and it was now at the point where he was actually afraid that he might start to hyperventilate.

Fuck.  He needed to talk to Rey.  He realized.  Very badly.  But first he needed to get ahold of himself.  If he called her like this, she'd immediately know that something was wrong, and he didn't want to upset her - no know how upset he really was.

Hoping to calm himself down he took another deep breath and attempted to hold it for 10 seconds.  He'd barely managed to do it, but after a few tries felt his heart rate decelerate slightly.  Happy with that small modicum of success, he went on to the other breathing exercises his Uncle Luke had shown him, once again feeling his heartbeat slow a little bit as a brief sense of calm started to bloom in his chest.

He continued for a few more minutes until he thought that his pulse and breathing were a lot closer to normal.  Feeling much better, he reached for his phone and dialed her number, waiting impatiently for her to pick up, feeling his heart accelerate slightly once again.  When he got a message telling him 'that the customer at this number was not available' he sat back in a bit of shock.  Usually, that message was only given when a phone was put into Airplane Mode – otherwise the call would go to voicemail.

What the fuck?  She never said she'd be travelling this week.  So something must have happened with work, and she was probably sitting on a plane, on her way to a site visit somewhere.  He could feel his heart rate begin to spike again as his anxiousness returned and he literally began to shake.

"Fuck!"  He roared, finally letting it all catch up with him.

Less than a minute later, Celeste popped her head into his office, her face etched with worry.  "Ben?  Is everything okay?  Are you all right?"