Would that be all for you, Dan?" the blond-haired waitress asked. I glared as Dan smiled up to him and nodded, handing him the money that I had set out for our food.
The waitress guy put his hand on Dan's shoulder and turned to where I was to his back "Hope you come back soon," They guy said, letting his hand linger a bit longer than necessary. I caught the slight sign of a a wink as he walked past me to go back into the kitchen.
When he finally left, a sigh in frustration and side-sneer was thrown at his direction. I pushed the chair back and stood up, carelessly throwing my napkin beside my plate along with my fork that clattered against the glass. "Come on, let's go."
Dan quickly stood up as I stalked out of the room to the elevator down to the first floor; We were on the fourth. I didn't bother to look at Dan's reaction.
I turned around just as I got to the elevator. I pressed the button as I watched Dan approach.
"Fast getaway?" Dan laughed nervously. I stared him down until the elevator could be heard making its way up.
"You obviously knew that that guy was flirting with you, right?" I got straight to the point. "He even turned and glared daggers at me!" my voice rose a bit. It wasn't directed at Dan, but I knew it would be worse if I went after that guy.
"I didn't real-" the elevator doors opened with two girls walking out with purses big enough to be suitcases and enough make-up to look like a melting rainbow cake. One of them turned quickly and ran into Dan.
"Oh, s-sorry" he stuttered out.
The other girl scoffed and sneered. "Watch it, weirdo!" she flipped her hair drastically and spun on her heel to stalk off with her friend.
I grabbed Dan's wrist and hastily pulled him into the door and mashed the ground button. "Ahem, WHORE, cough cough!" I said loud enough for the walking recalled barbies to hear.
"HEY!" we heard one screech, but the door shut right as I saw a leg come into view.
I grinned triumphantly for a moment before letting it fall immediately after. My gaze fell on Dan who was gripping the bars on the wall.
I began again at my rant. "Sorry, that uhm, bothered me. But really, that guy had no right to just hide me from you, and I KNOW he knew we were together, I mean, OBVIOU-"
I stopped mid-sentence as a small screech let out and the elevator halted. Dan stayed glued to the wall as I fell back beside him from the jolt.
The elevator was at a complete standstill.
"Great, just great." I ran my hands through my hair before looking over to watch Dan slide down to where he was sitting and his knees were pulled up. His head was down and he was umbling incoherently.
"Dan..?" my voice was slow and waiting. What was he doing?
"Oh my god.." realization hit me. We were stuck in the elevator right now, which Dan is probably afraid of judging by his looks.
"P-Phil, p-press the emer-emergency b-button please,' Dan siad between low, heavy breaths of air that was muffled from his head in his hands.
I moved to the panel with the buttons and pressed the red one six times to ensure that whoever was on guard saw the message that yes, their elevator was stuck in people inside who may or may not have anxiety over such happenings. A low whimper came from Dan as the lights flickered. Only a moment later, they went out fully.
Complete darkness enveloped the small space.
"Dan, hold out your arms, okay?" I forced my voice to stay even. There was no way that I would break down when Dan was about to go off the rails.
I extended my arms blindly and felt Dan's for a brief second before latching on. His breathing was fast and ragged. I immediaely felt horrible for starting to go off on him.
I kneeled down and put myself facing Dan, using his arms to help show me where he was. "Dan come 'ere, it'll be alright.." I wrapped my arms around him and was careful to not restrict his arms. I didn't want to make him feel fully closed in and claustrophobic.
"Phil, I can't breathe," Dan gasped out. Strangley enough, hsi grip tightened around my arms. I decided to treat it the same as when he had anxiety.
"Dan, focus on your breathing. Here, come sit here instead, I got you." I wrapped my arms and pulled him over in front of me. I moved my legs from underneath me to opposite sides of him. His back was now to my chest as my arms were around his stomach.
"There you go, Dan.. Just try to level your breathing with mine, okay?" I put my chin on his shoulder. He shakily nodded as he took a loud but slow deep breath in and let it out between his teeth.
"Good, that's great, Dan," I reassured. The only thing my mind went to next was familiarity.
"Think about our apartment. Imagine walking in and sitting in our colorful red chair or the yellow confusing greenish one." Dan hiccuped a bit but let out a strained chuckle. "Think about the lazy days we get where we curl up and just watch Attack on Titans and Game of Thrones. This is just like that, but the show is just buffering, okay?"
Dan's breathing was much slower now, and his head was leaned back onto my shoulder.
"Good, good," I whispered, holding him even closer. By now, I knew he was calmed down enough that I could not make him feel closed in. All I had to do now was keep him like this.
"Dan, do you remember the time we both tried to prank call each other at the same time, and we kept thinking we got the wrong numbers?" I asked, chuckling a bit in-between.
Dan sniffled but laughed, the sound echoiing across the walls. I grinned and joined in, even saying what I had said that day in the horrible american accent: Hello sir, would you like fries with your new online order?
Dan laughed harder at that.
This was the best timed thing to happen, for just as he began to stop laughing, a gruff voice spoke overhead: "Sorry about the delay; the elevator will return down shortly. Apparently a heel was thrown. Anyways, everything is fixed now beside the burned-out bulb. We're going to send the elevator down now, so hold on."
Just as the man finished speaking, the elevator began to slowly descend. Dan let out a sigh of relief, but still seemed distressed.
"I'm sorry about earlier with that guy.." Dan mumbled.
Before he could say anything else, I cut him off. "Don't worry about that at all. "Besides, who's the one who's holding you and going to watch Ouran High School host club with you?" I smirked. Sometimes some bad things can be for the good.
