Sweetheart

91

The climb to Natsu's apartment was as it usually was, and shoes and keys found their places on the floor beside the door. Aina slipped past the pink haired boy's frame to the living room, setting herself on the floor and spreading herself on the carpet. Entertained eyes met her brown ones once Natsu spotted her stretching as she laid on the ground.

"Sweetheart, if you're that tired, then maybe you should head to bed," he teased.

He received a small scoff in response. It was quickly subdued by the brunette's hesitant demeanor. And, as usual for these sorts of things, Natsu had to prompt her to speak her mind.

"Well I just," she stumbled. "Well, I just wanted to know if you would be okay with--"

She was cut off by Natsu's low laugh, and a second later, she was scooped up from the floor and placed on the counter. Small hands darted out to latch onto him in fear of falling as he did this, and he was met with the usual lecture once she was seated.

"You're not wearing buttons," he mused.

After the realization of the connotation, Aina quickly averted her gaze, finding the ceiling above them interesting at that moment. Brown eyes fluttered shut once she felt his arms wrap around her back. Her head drifted to rest on his shoulder, and silence enveloped them.

"What's stressing you out?" Natsu suddenly asked.

The silence, now broken, turned tense, and the unanswered question lingered in the air. A small jump was Aina's reaction when she felt his hand grab her back, but she calmed down once she felt him gently rubbing circles. Her grip on him tightened.

"Tyler," came her one word answer.

And that one word was enough to explain her stress. But it brought on more concern.

"Did he do something?"

Natsu felt her shake her head against him.

"He just...I just..."

He felt her hands loosen on him, and they wavered in the air. And the next second later, short (and sharp) breaths were taken in by the salutatorian. It wasn't until Natsu felt tears on his shoulder that he backed away.

"What's wrong?" He asked, confusion matching his concern.

Despite his questions, Aina continued to shake, and she soon started to slip off the counter. If it wasn't for his quick reflexes, she would have surely fallen to the floor and hit her head on the cabinet handles. Loud breathing turned into Aina gasping for air.

"Are you ok--"

Her crying worsened, her breathing became more shallow, and her hands continued to shake as she grabbed at her own clothing. Natsu called her name, but after receiving the same reaction, he squatted down in front of her and pried her hands off the bottom of her shirt.

"What's going on?" He whispered, his hold on her hand still present.

She responded between breaths, "I think...I'm have...having a pan-panic attack."

"That's like anxiety, right?" He questioned, forgetting that the person he was talking to was incapable of conversation at that time.

He let out a quiet 'oh shit' before grabbing her hands again, as she had started to tear at her shirt.

"What the fuck do I do?" He spoke to himself before turning back to Aina. "Uh, what can I do to help?"

"Blanket," she forced out.

He was quick to take large strides into his bedroom, and he soon returned with three blankets.

"Do I just wrap you with it?" Natsu guessed.

"Smell."

He was completely lost then. This boy had absolutely no idea what to do. There was no time to look it up, keeping her from passing out proving to be more concerning than what Google would suggest.

"Uh..."

So he did the best he could with what little information he had on hand. One blanket was shoved into her arms while the remaining two were tightly wrapped around her. Her shaking continued, just as his questions continued.

"Is it helping?"

"Smell."

"Smell what? The blanket?"

There was a pause in (what could loosely be called) their conversation. He caught her hand movement in the corner of his eye, and when he turned around she was holding her arms out for him.

Now that he understood.

So he immediately scooped her off the floor and got a firm hold on her as he carried her to his bedroom. She was slowly set down on his bed before Natsu joined her and tightened the blankets around her. Aina plastered herself to his side, which was a sudden gesture from her, but Natsu reasoned that it was probably the best thing for that situation. Natsu's arms encircled her as he rested his head on top of hers. One hand found her hair, the other going through the same rubbing motions on her back.

"It's okay, sweetheart. You're safe here."

If her hold could get any tighter, it would snap his spine. But he didn't care right then, and he was sure that she didn't either. In hopes of working, Natsu started to rock them. She buried her face into his shoulder. His steady breaths seemed to calm her, as it guided her to her own studied breathing patterns. Small hands loosened their hold on his arms.

"I'm sorry," she choked. "You shouldn't have to deal with that."

"Are you okay now?"

A small nod alerted him that the worst was over.

"So, uh, what was that about?"

The brunette's eyes locked onto the floor as she explained that Tyler had been hanging around her locker and waiting by the parking garage at the space where she used to park.

"I won't let anything bad happen because of that dipshit," Natsu assured.

She gave a quiet 'I know' and closed her eyes in favor of resting her head on his shoulder.

"Let's see," Natsu spoke out loud. "I think something happy needs to occur to balance out your sadness. Whaddya think?"

A small smile made its way onto her face.

"I love you."

"See, I was thinking of that, but then another idea came to mind."

"What're you--"

Before she could finish, she felt his fingers by her sides, and soon she was screaming as she tried to stop laughing.

"Natsu," she squealed, "stop."

She had managed to wiggle free, using the bundle of blankets as a shield. The pink haired boy held his hands up in surrender.

"Oh. And I love you, too."