Fried Hair✅

Chapter Eleven

When we left later that night, my chest was tight and Deuce was pressed to my side looking up at me. My soulmate's number sat in my contacts list with a red heart by his name, courtesy of him as well as the name that was in the phone. He had put 'Your Knight in Shining Armor' with the heart to follow. And for the most part he was my knight in shining armor, after I had found out he was my soulmate, my anxiety wasn't as active. But now that I was apart, my hand that held my camera was clinched to my chest and my breathing faltered.

"Are you okay?" Alexa asked me, shooting a look over toward me.

"Yeah, I just feel so overwhelmed all of a sudden." I breathed out, knuckles nearly turning white against the hold on my camera. "I mean between meeting my soulmate and the rest of the group...it just feels all too...too much, I think."

Alexa turned to fully face me now, my breathing hitching in my throat as she spoke. "Hey, Lace, breathe."

And I really tried to do as instructed but I felt my chest tighten and then Deuce was jumping into action. His body was jumping up to me, trying his best to get me to the ground, which I did go down to after a minute of persuasion and Alexa's help. Deuce's head was in my lap, his head nuzzled into my hand as I slowly came undone.

"Hey, Bestie, I'm right here for you." Alexa dropped down next to me pulling my upper body into a hug. My body was stiff and I was trying my hardest to catch my breath.

"Can we go out to eat instead of take out?" I vaguely heard the voice of the baby of the group walking out of the building. "I really wanna try this new place that opened up a few days ago. It's this little Italian place that's had a lot of great reviews."

"That sounds good." Nathan spoke as Zack whined out. "But I wanted take out."

"You want take out," Ryan laughed softly. "How about a brick, I hear they're very reliable when taking someone out."

"You..." The boy had just raised his hand to punch the other but his movements stopped upon spotting me, Alexa and Deuce all on the sidewalk. The rest of the group paused around him as they heard my choked sobs, I hadn't even heard their conversation or if I did it wasn't enough to bring me out of my attack.

"Alexa." I sobbed. "Help me..."

"Hey, come on." She urged. "Focus on me, okay? Let's get you out of your head, just listen to my breathing, yeah? Try matching it, okay?"

I shook my head trying to focus but I couldn't find it in me, I was panicking too much and even Deuce wasn't much help at the moment.

"What's going on?" Zack whispered, making Alexa look up to see the boys.

"She's having a panic or anxiety attack." Alexa's voice cracked. "It's hard to tell which one but she's freaking right now."

That caught the attention of the man who had just been walking from the building, Knox immediately pushing past the group and toward me. He knelt down on the other side of me as he spoke. "Hand her over to me."

Alexa looked between the two of us hesitantly at first, before nodding and handing me over to him. Taking me in his arms, Knox gently pushing Deuce away to spin me around to have me wrap myself around him. He was sitting down now, my legs wrapping around him in a straddle as his hands found my face.

"Baby girl, I want you to look over at Alexa." He told me in a soft whisper, Deuce's nose nuzzling into me as I found myself staring to the side. Through my blurry eyes and rapid breathing I managed to find my best friend, Knox's voice continuing in my ear. "Now that you see her, tell me what is the first thing you notice about her?"

I shrugged against my soulmate but managed to speak out in tiny gasps. "Crying."

"She is." He told me. "Can you tell me what color her eyes are?"