Fear and Comfort

I

"Wow, it's so high." Brett looked up. He was excited, yet nervous.

He looked like he was enjoying himself, Eddy thought.

"Did you know that it's approximately 333 meters high? Considering the fact that they built this in 1957. That's amazing." Eddy pulled out his nerd facts, that he totally did not just search up only hours earlier.

"Really? Wow.."

"Are you gonna go up? If you don't want to it's fine, we can just walk around-"

"No no, I want to. I really do. We've come this far. I'm not gonna waste this opportunity."

"Well, if you're okay with it then let's go."

As long as I don't look down, it'll be fine.

—

In the cramped space of the elevator, they got to see the view of Tokyo from the glass window amidst the tourists such as themselves and the tour guide explaining something about the history of the tower.

"There should be a "wow" counter for how many times I've said "wow" by now." Brett said.

Eddy laughed, "Yeah, same bro."

Both of them were fumbling with the camera, to capture every moment of the elevator ride to the top.

Brett wasn't paying attention at what the guide was talking about so he was confused as to why she called for everyone's attention. Everyone was looking at her foot. Brett did too and immediately regretted the decision. It was at that moment it dawned on him that they were high up. Really high up. The floor wasn't helping either being completely translucent.

The world felt like it was off balance and his knees grew weak. It was getting increasingly hard to breathe in the small cramped space. His breaths became shallow and his chest felt heavy.

The guide then jumped to demonstrate the toughness of the glass floor. Some people laugh, some let out a small yelp. But all was well, the floor was indeed tough enough to withstand the small impact.

However, Brett wasn't impressed in the least. He was absolutely terrified. So much that he unconsciously clung to Eddy's sleeve.

"Hey, you okay?" Eddy turned around to look at him. His face was pale and deathly much to his concern. He could feel the hand clutching to his sleeve shaking slightly.

Eddy believed him when he said he'd gotten over his fear of height. His last panic attack from it was many years ago when he was a kid. Clearly, that wasn't the case.

Eddy's mind raced to find a way to calm the other down without making a scene and worrying the crowd.

"Brett, can you move? Follow me." Eddy reached for Brett's hands and lead the two of them to the corner of the lift. He made Brett lean against the wall and stood between him and the crowds, making use of his height to block out the rest of the world to give him some space. "Hey, it's okay. We're almost there. Close your eyes. Don't worry, I'm here. Breathe slowly." Eddy spoke softly.

He could feel Brett grasping his hands tightly as if that was the only thing in the world that was anchoring his sanity at this moment.

—

top of tower

They got out immediately after the lift reached the top. Eddy searched around for a quiet spot for Brett to sit, still hand in hand.

"Wait here, I'll get you some water-" he was about to turn around and leave when he felt a tug on his shirt.

"No, it's fine. Just- just stay. Please." Eddy looked at him pitifully. His forehead shined with perspiration from fear and anxiety. "Okay.."

Brett was trying to even out his breathing and he appreciated that Eddy was rubbing his back for him. They sat in silence for a while.

"You feeling better now?"

"Yeah.."

"What happened?"

"The guide was demonstrating something and I looked down to the floor. Worst decision ever. I was fine the entire time though. I should've been if I'm not aware of the fact that I'm high up. I thought I'd gotten over this.." Brett let out a sigh. "Thanks. For, yknow, earlier."

"It's fine. Now, that you're feeling better, let's quickly take some pictures and get out of here."

"Hey, uh, when we get down later, can I.. hold your hand?" Brett said in a small voice, avoiding looking at Eddy's face.

Eddy's brows arched in surprise. He wasn't sure but he might've seen a light dusting of pink on Brett's cheeks. He pat the other's back and smiled, "Of course, Brett."

A/n: I don't think Brett likes high places. He mentioned that when they went to Disney world he wanted to go on one of the rides but he got sick (before he even got on it). Maybe even just the idea of high places makes him gag. A fear of high places perhaps?