Chase and Madelyn: A love story

Chapter 4

TW: Panic attack

Madelyn's POV:

It was the next Saturday. We had a long week of filming and Chase and I were both so tired. I remembered that we were going out to lunch with my parents at one, so I tapped Chase who was sleeping to wake him up.

He groaned.

"Not yet, it's still early Maddie." he said

"I know you're tired but it's 12. We have to meet my parents in an hour. Do you want me to make you some coffee?"

He agreed and I kissed him on the cheek before getting out of bed. My body was sore from standing and filming scenes the whole week.

After a few minutes, Chase appeared in the doorway. He looked disheveled.

"What's wrong?" I said pouring hot coffee into a mug for him.

"I don't know, I don't feel very good. " he responded

I walked over to him and laid the back of my hand on his forehead.

"Well it doesn't seem like you have a fever. What's going on?" I said holding his waist and turning my head up to look at his face.

"My heart is beating really fast, it's scaring me Mads." Chase said with an uneasy look on his face.

"Oh, ok. Um, here sit down." I said pointing to a chair not expecting that answer.

"I'll be right back, ok?" I went to the next room where I had a pulse monitor somewhere. My mom had given it to me to monitor my heart during panic attacks.

"What's that?" he said slouched now with a hand over his chest.

"I'm just gonna see how fast it's beating, can I have your finger?" I said.

I slipped it over his finger and waited until it beeped.

"160 beats per minute. Oh, baby, that's really fast." I said while looking in his eyes.

"I don't know, I woke up like this, I can't get it to slow down. " he responded.

"Come to the couch, ok? I'll give you some cuddles. Can you stand up?" I asked.

Chase slowly walked over to the couch and slid into my arms. I rubbed his back and said "Take a deep breath." as I imitated breathing deeply.

He did as I said. We sat there for 20 minutes just breathing. I put my pointer and middle finger on his wrist to check his pulse. It had gone down significantly but Chase looked like he was about to fall asleep.

"Chase," I said, stroking his hair "C'mon we don't want to be late. I can run a cold shower for you, how does that sound?"

I knew a cold shower would help is heart rate stay steady. I walked him into the shower and then I got dressed for lunch.

About 30 minutes later, we were out the door.

"Running a little late, Chase had a rough start to the morning." I texted my mom.

When we got to the restaurant I hugged my mom while Chase shook my dad's hand.

Then we switched, I hugged my dad while my mom hugged Chase.

"He's not feeling great, go easy on him, ok?" I whispered to my dad who I knew would bombard Chase with questions.

We sat down and ordered. About 10 minutes later during a conversation about the OBX fandom, Chase grabbed his chest and quickly headed towards the bathroom.

"I'll be right back, sorry." I told my parents as I got up to follow him.

I stopped the door right before it could close. It was a single bathroom so I didn't have to worry about being a girl in the men's bathroom, but it's wouldn't of mattered either way, I was going to go in to comfort Chase.

"What's going on?" I asked as he slid to the floor clutching his chest.

"I can't breathe Maddie." he choked out between heavy breaths.

I knelt beside him. "Ok, ok, you're having a panic attack. Have you even had one before?" I asked stroking his head and neck. "It's gonna feel like you're dying, I know, but it'll only last a couple of minutes, ok?"

He didn't respond.

"Give me your hand," I tell him. His eyes were now tightly closed and he was sweating. I took his hand and put it over my heart so he could feel mine beating.

"You feel mine, right?" I ask and he nods. "I know it's hard, but try to match it. Breathe with me."

I put his other hand on my back so he could feel my body inhaling and exhaling with each breath. "You're doing so good," I said, "It's almost over. "

After a few minutes, his breathing slowed down. I helped him to his feet. He was still quiet.

"Why did you panic?" I ask wondering why this just happened.

"Ok, but you can't laugh..." Chase responded.

"Baby, why would I laugh, just tell me."

"I want your parents to like me Mads. I want them to know I'm a good boyfriend and can take care of you, but here you are taking care of me."

I smiled because of how sweet his answer was but quickly caught myself.

"Hey, you do take care of me, remember last week when I had a breakdown? You took care of me. But I have to be able to take care of you too! Don't bottle it up anymore, ok?" I asked.

"And by the way, my parents love you, you don't have to be worried about that." I finished.

"Ok," he said while blushing. "Thank you Maddie, you know, for calming me down, that was really scary."

We kissed and then headed back to the table. My parents looked concerned.

"Everything ok?" My dad asked.

I was going to butt in and say that everything was ok to cover for Chase or save him from embarrassment.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry about that. " Chase said. "I had a panic attack out of nowhere."

"Oh, honey," my mom said "Are you ok?"

"I'm good now, I'm glad to be here with you guys." Chase said.

We all clinked out drinks together after "Cheers!" my mom said.
"To Chase and Maddie" my dad said.
"To you and me." Chase finished off with.

I rubbed his thigh and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

After lunch, we got back home and cuddled on the couch for a while. Chase laid his head on my chest.

"Your heart is beating kinda fast too." he said.

"That's just because I love you, I still get butterflies in my stomach and nervous around you." I responded.

He smiled and then we kissed.