Zak sat in his chair, iconic blue headphones sat atop his head above his shaggy black hair - the monitor illuminated against the stainless metal of the headphones.

Suddenly, his senses heightened - his soulmate was in distress. He huffed out a nervous breath and attempted to not worry - which started to become increasingly hard as his soulmate panicked more.

'Don't panic Zak, your soulmate will sense that and panic even more' he thought to himself, rubbing his forehead and trying to preoccupy himself with something to distract from the gnawing worry for his fated's terror-stricken state.

Catching sight of his phone, he idly turned it on - his hands unconsciously found their way to Darryl's contact information and without even realising it, he heard the familiar ring of the ongoing call.

After a few seconds, Darryl picked up - a tense silence filled the air as both males kept their mouths sealed. Darryl suddenly let out an unsteady, shallow breath.

"H-hi Zak, uhm n-now isn't a g-good time I'm- uh, yeah I-, I'm gonna go," The black cladded-male stuttered out. Zak silently noted the seemingly random pique of stress he was being notified of from his soulmate as the other spoke.

"No, no no no no - wait," Zak spoke desperately just before Darryl had the chance to decline the call. He took a deep breath, before opening his mouth to speak, "Are you okay?"

The only sound that was heard was Darryl's unusually fast intakes of breath - before he sucked in a gulp of air and regarded the dark-haired male's question.

"N-no. My to heart is hammering and I'm shaking so much and I'm panicki-" He cut himself off with the rough movement of a hand covering his mouth - Zak diligently caught the desperate inflection embedded in his tone as he rambled in his delirious state.

"Shh, shh - it's alright, I'm here, okay?" Zak whispered in a soothing voice as he quickly looked up 'How to help someone during a panic attack?' on his phone. Darryl quietly whimpered on the other side of the line as Zak attempted to help him amidst his fear.

"Ok, ok - that's good, you're doing good. Focus on your breathing," Zak replied back encouragingly, listening as Darryl's hyperventilating began to slow down back to normal breathing rate. As the situation began to calm down, Zak took notice of his soulmate's panic; it had decreased.

...

'What if...'

...

"O-ok, I think I'm okay, I'm okay," Darryl muttered under his breath, his slowly steadying breaths were heard distantly on the phone, Zak huffed a sigh of relief and let himself sag in his chair.

"Oh my God that was nerve-wracking, how did I do that?" Zak asked, still perplexed as to how he had just calmed down Darryl from...from a panic attack.

"Zak, I'm so sorry about that, I didn't want you to see me like that," Darryl stuttered out nervously, Zak raised a skeptical eyebrow at the other's worrying statement.

'...He's saying that like he's had them before,'

"No no, really it was fine - what are friends for?" Zak asked playfully, attempting to lighten up Darryl's humiliated mood. Hearing the little giggle from the other made his heart flutter in his chest, a small blush crept on his face.

Amongst his gay™️, he felt the elevated mood of his soulmate - he wiped off the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand and smiled to himself.

"Hey so uhm, this might be out of nowhere but..." Zak dragged out the last syllable of the word until Darryl's hesitant reply.

"What?" Darryl asked, a little fearful of what Zak was about to say to him.

Zak took a deep breath, bracing himself for the inevitable incredulous answer that he was to receive from Darryl.

"Are you my soulmate?"

There was a tension filled silence as Zak waited for Darryl's response - his mind rushing with possible outcomes that could possibly happen with the asking of his question.

Darryl felt a sudden pang of distress radiate from his soulmate as Zak asked the question.

"Are you my soulmate?"

He felt himself choking on his spit for a split second before he mentally regarded the question.

'Are we soulmates? Could I be soulmates with Zak?' He pondered to himself, staring at his phone with perplexion written on his face. He could feel his soulmate's distress slowly increasing. Shaking it off, he finally spoke.

"What?"

"Y'know like, the whole distress thingy- system, you know what I mean, right?" He asked, a slight tremor rang through his voice. Darryl could sense his soulmate getting more nervous by the second.

"...I think it could be possible," Darryl whispered, idly catching himself glancing at Zak's contact ID on the call. He immediately felt his soulmate's sudden decrease in fear - finally deciding that he had enough evidence to support the theory that they were destined for each other.

"I think we are," He squeaked, a star-struck look painted vibrantly over his eyes. The sound of Zak sighing in relief.

"Oh thank God, I thought you would think I was dumb, or maybe this whole distress thing was just coincidence," He rambled in one breath.

Smiling reassuringly, Darryl shook his head, "Of course I wouldn't think you were dumb, even if we weren't."

...

"WaithangonsocouldyoufeelmydistresswhenIhadthat?!" Darryl asked in one breath, a hectic look in his eyes as he spoke.

'...Oh muffins he's gonna know every time I have one this is so humiliating-'

"Uhm, yeah - I did feel this spike of distress coming from you," Zak replied, putting emphasis on the last word of the sentence.

"Oh my goodness, Zak I'm so sorry for getting you roped into this - I know it's kind of pathe-"

"What? No no no, Darryl - it's not pathetic! It's a physical reaction to stress and hey, you can't really do much to control it," Zak cut him off as he felt Darryl's distress spiking whilst simultaneously thanking Andi Mack for his knowledge on panic attacks.

Darryl sniffed quietly as he began to tear up at Zak's display of kindness.

"R-really?" He whispered as he felt himself blush at Zak's words.

"100%," Zak replied back, nodding his head in affirmation with his statement.

Darryl felt his face heat up with a vivid red as the other spoke, a tingling of butterflies in his chest began to bubble. Closing his eyes, he exhaled deeply, re-affirming with himself if he was sure about what he was about to ask.

"Hey, Zak," He began, hoping Zak wouldn't sense the sudden rise of distress he was under.

"Yeah?" The other replied casually, not addressing Darryl's anxiety spike.

"Uhm, so since we're probably soulmates," he took another deep breath, preparing himself for scrutiny from Zak, "Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

The world seemed to stop as Darryl spoke, Zak felt his mouth go completely dry as he felt himself smiling like an idiot.

"Yes! Of course I would," He replied, excitement radiating off of him as he accepted Darryl's offer. The oak-haired male sighed, all tension in his shoulders released as Zak replied.

"I love you."