Alex's POV

Aiden was blushing so much over a simple invitation to walk home together. He was hilariously cute. I was curious about how he'd react to something like a confession. Oh well, now wasn't the time. How would he act to me holding his hand as we walked? I could lie and tell him that our hands would be warmer if I held his hand; winter was approaching, after all. Whatever, I guess. If there wasn't time for a confession, there was no time for fantasies.

As we walked, I had a smile on my face the whole time. Walking with my childhood crush -even if I got forced to be mean to Aiden and act as if he was some trash- felt nice. There was, however, an awkward silence between us. Or at least it was silent until Aiden was screaming. I turned to see those assholes from earlier, Tom and Lucas, grabbing Aiden in an attempt to drag him away. I glared at the two for a second before springing into action. It took me one good punch to the shoulder for both of them to release the terrified boy, who I proceeded to catch in my arms and hold close while looking out for other guys as those two ran away. Shit. Aiden seemed to be hyperventilating. I took him and went to some place further from the street and next to the school; a small empty area that thugs probably used for drug deals.

I carefully sat him down on the grass and kneeled in front of him. His hands were gripping at his hair, and he was breathing quickly. I decided to deal with the first of these issues. I took his wrists in my hands and, with the calmest tone I could muster through my immense worry, I said, "Let go of your hair, Aiden." His hands wouldn't budge through words alone, so I decided to try and give him my hands to hold onto instead. I slowly slipped my thumbs between his palm and hair. Nearly instantly, he grasped my thumbs instead of his hair, which now looked like a massive mess. Time to deal with the second issue, which hadn't gotten better.

"Aiden, can you hear me?" I asked, getting a shaky nod from him, "Those guys are gone now. Try to control your breathing. Can you do that?"

"I-I don't- I don't know how- how to," he said, tears spilling from his eyes.

"Hey, look at me," I said, keeping my calm demeanour -hoping that I didn't sound aggressive- and, once he looked at me, it felt as if my heart shattered again, even though this had been the second time I'd seen him like this. 

"Breathe with me," I told him.

Wow... So this is the first of the three writing-binge episodes, and I surprised myself, to say the least. I also almost made myself cry. Who knew I could write emotional stuff like this? Anyway, there'll be the second one posted tomorrow, hopefully. It depends on whether the person who checks my episodes has read the next one by tomorrow. Aaaanyway, I hope you have a great day/night/whatever time it is for you. Drink your water and take care of yourself (^‿^). Comment any thoughts, ideas or anything of the sort.