Carlos always found it hard to breathe when he felt like this. He sat, struggling to get any air into his throat, surrounded by more people than he could count. That was most of the problem - everyone felt it was a good idea to stand directly next to him, and talk as loud as they possibly could, in a room so small and so bright he could barely take it. He stared at the ceiling as a last resort, which ended up being the worst thing he could have done. The fluorescent light above him flickered incessantly, and everything felt as if it was caving in on him. He shut his eyes tight, and covered his ears with his hands, wanting to block everyone out. This backfired on him when James, who was next to him touched his shoulder and began asking if he was okay.
"No! No, no!" Carlos was unable to say anything other than that, which upset him more, because there was so much he wanted to say.
"Is it this room?" James asked, knowing Carlos had been fine until they sat down a half hour ago. Carlos nodded, eyes still shut. Ignoring Carlos' protesting, James took him by the arm and whisked him out into the hall, where he immediately shook it free.
"Don't touch me!"
"I'm sorry." James genuinely was, but he knew Carlos would feel better now he had got him out of there. But, for now, he was leaning against the wall, arms wrapped around himself, tears still falling.
"Carlos, can I do anything?" James said softly. Carlos shook his head.
"No."
"Do you want me to leave?"
"No." Carlos looked up, scared.
"I won't," James reassured him. He looked down and saw Carlos' legs were shaking, presumably from feeling too much all at once. "Come on, sit down until you feel okay." James sank to the floor, and Carlos joined him thankfully. He held his head in his hands, trying to catch his breath. James patiently sat with him for ten, maybe fifteen minutes, letting him calm down. Finally, Carlos sat up straight, looking at James. His eyes was still red, and their lashes still spiky from the tears, but he felt better.
"Thank you." He said quietly, still not 100% okay.
"Carlos, you're my best friend, you don't have to thank me."
"But it's annoying. For you, I mean."
"It really, really isn't. I swear. We're all in here for a reason, Carlos, I'm not expecting you to feel good all the time."
"I know. Yeah. Still, thank you." Carlos wiped the remaining tears off his face, and slowly stood. James followed suit.
"You wanna go back in, or should I take you to your room?" Carlos held up two fingers.
"Come on then."
