Tyler was going to die.

He was definitely going to die. He wasn't sure how, but he had been thrown back into his own mind- back to his kidnapping. He couldn't quite remember it before, but it was suddenly as clear as day. He was being hit and threatened and hurt, and he could hear death beside him; feel its breath on his neck.

Something touched him. It felt like a knife, and Tyler jolted back, which only resulted in him hitting his head on the wall.

"Stop," he sobbed. "Please- please stop."

There was someone in front of him. A shadowy, tall, and terrifying figure was towering over him, speaking too quickly and moving too much. Tyler wasn't sure if it was a demon or an angel- it seemed like a mixture of both. When he was younger, he had been told that angels were just as terrifying as demons. Just as monstrous. But were they meant to scare him as much as this figure was?

Tyler shook his head. He wasn't exactly sure of what he was denying, but the movement felt needed. He was saying no- to everything, but also to nothing at all.

The figure was moving closer, its blurred limbs flailing in the boy's direction. Tyler tried to move, to run, but the figure must have had a friend because he was being held still. He couldn't see anything holding him down, but he could feel it- he could feel ice cold hands clawing at his skin, pulling him into the ground and into the literal Hell below.

Tyler was pretty sure that his lungs were on fire. Either that, or the figure's friend had someone managed to weave its invisible hand straight into his chest, crisscrossing between his ribs and squeezing his insides until he couldn't breathe.

"Somebody help me!" Tyler screamed. He wasn't entirely sure that anything had come out.

"Shit. Absolute fucking shit," Josh muttered.

Tyler was only growing more and more panicked. Josh had tried to get through to him, but Tyler just cried louder and tried to crawl away whenever he moved.

Fortunately, Josh had locked the door, so nobody else could come in. Tyler's teammates were probably worried. Their captain had just had just been led off the court after falling down and going into a seemingly-catatonic state for a moment. They probably had no idea what was going on.

Suddenly, there was a loud knocking on the door. Josh turned, unsure of what to do.

"Tyler? Tyler, it's me!" Ashley's voice called.

Josh sighed in relief and unlock the door. Ashley immediately bolted through and paused when she saw her best friend.

"Shit."

"That's what I said," Josh mumbled.

Ashley crouched down and gently touched Tyler's face. It seemed to shock him at first, but he slowly leaned into it. His breathing began to even out and he closed his eyes.

"How did you do that?" Josh gaped, stunned.

"He knows my touch," Ashley explained. "We've been best friends forever. It calms him down."

"Wait, so this has happened before?" Josh asked.

Ashley shot him an odd look. "You're his cousin. Don't you know about his- well, your family?"

Josh shrugged. "I guess not."

Tyler couldn't hear them, but Ashley still lowered her voice. "His parents are... involved in some stuff. There's been some incidents where he's gotten hurt. He gets panic attacks like this, but they're rarely this bad. He has been acting weird, though. Do you know if anything traumatic's happened to him lately?" She paused and hesitantly continued. "Perhaps the death of your parents?"

Josh shook his head, too dazed to come up with a believable lie. He should have rolled with the parents thing, but it was too late for that.

Ashley sat down next to Tyler and began to stroke his hair. He was still mumbling nonsense and crying, but he was definitely getting better. Josh wondered if Brendon had the same affect on him. He was never really sure of how his friend snapped him out of panic attacks, and he was always too dazed or embarrassed to ask.

"You're a miracle worker," Josh said. "I wouldn't' have been able to do this."

"Don't take it personally," Ashley replies. "This doesn't always work. We've just always had a touchy relationship, I guess, and he's learnt to recognise when it's me."

Josh nodded with a hum.

"We're not, like, together or anything, though," she suddenly added. "That's... I don't know. It's weird. I mean, Tyler's a total catch, but I guess we're just not attracted to each other."

"Thanks, Ash," Tyler mumbled.

Ashley and Josh both snapped their attention to him. Tyler rubbed his eyes and hiccuped.

He looked between them, his eyes still glassy. "I'm sorry."

Ashley shook her head and pulled him into a hug. "No, sweetie. Don't apologise."

"It's not your fault," Josh added.

"You say that so much," Tyler muttered. "Hey, maybe 'it's not your fault' can be our al-"

Ashley cut him off quickly. "Don't you dare reference The Fault in Our Stars right now."

Tyler giggled, and it somehow managed to sound slurred. It reminded Josh of the first time they had met, when Tyler was concussed.

Josh ruffled Tyler's hair. "Come on, kiddo. Time to go home."