"Right person, but maybe wrong time?" || The Music Freaks || TMF AU || Zenry ||

~ ~ Chapter 1 ~ ~

He stepped along the cold concrete, listening to the sounds of his footsteps mixed with the rustle of the wind and the chirping of the birds. He breathed out, his breath coming out a smokey gray colour from the cold. Henry was on his own, listening to the music blasting through his headphones as he strode with his hands in his sweater pockets.

He looked down at his phone, opening it to 1 new message. "Jakey" the contact's name read. 'oh, Jake messaged me.' Henry thought to himself as he clicked on the message.

Jakey:
Hey, Henry! I know this might seem odd, but can you, Drew and Liam come to the club room at lunch time please? I need to talk to you guys.

Henry read the message before sighing and typing a response.

Me:
Yea, sure. I'll tell the others later.

He slipped his phone back into his pocket and continued walking, approaching the school gates.

×××

Time seemed to drag on, Henry shifting in his chair as he watched the clock. Henry was getting overstimulated by now, having double Maths was the worst for him. The numbers just seemed to spin around, you know?

Brrrrng brrnggg.

Finally! Henry stood up packing his things as he made his way out of the classroom as quickly as possible. He went straight to the bathroom, going inside a stall and clicking it shut. He sighed as he rested his back against the door and stopped trying to mask. His tics were really painful. He hated having to try and force them to not happen.

He stayed in the stall for a couple of minutes, waiting until he calmed down and could handle his tics again. He stood up, putting his bag on his shoulders and unlocking the stall door. He walked out, quickly rinsing his face using the sink and drying it. Then, he headed for the club room.

'Fucking hell, Henry. What are you even doing with yourself at this point?' He thought as he came to a halt outside of the door. He took a deep breath in before walking inside.

"uhm, hello?" Henry called out as he shut the door behind him. Hailey, Luke, Zander, Drew and Jake were all in there. Everyone's eyes came to look at him and he felt his heart start pulsing. He tried to take a deep breath in as people began to talk. He couldn't hear what they were saying as he kept trying to take massive breaths. He clenched his fists, one clenching the strap of his backpack, the other clenched beside his waist.

Zander watched his movements, from his shaky breathing to his clenched fists with sweaty palms. Everyone was distracted so he got up and walked over to Henry, grabbing him and dragging him out of the club room. The hallway was empty, everybody busy since it was lunch.

Zander grabbed Henry's hand, holding it in between his hands, softly but firmly. He looked at Henry, who looked scared, starting to hyperventilate. "Hey, hey, hey. It's okay." Zander whispered to the shorter boy. He started dragging his thumb along Henry's hand, rubbing it slowly as he kept whispering words of reassurance to him.

Henry, not thinking, suddenly hugged Zander. This startled him at first, before he wrapped his arms around him, rubbing his back gently. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here.." Zander whispered into Henry's ear. "Take a deep breath for me, it'll be okay. I've got you." Henry started calming down. "Listen to my voice, ok?" Zander muttered, as Henry listened.

After a few minutes, Henry's breathing was almost back to normal as Zander had one hand on Henry's cheek and the other hand still wrapped around him, resting on his back. "What happened?" Zander asked, Henry's gaze shifted to the floor. "I don't know.." he muttered, just loud enough for Zander to be able to hear. "It was just that, everyone was staring at me and...." Zander rubbed the side of Henry's face, giving him a soft smile. "It's okay. I'm here, don't worry." Zander replied, moving his other hand to hold Henry's.