The Coffee Shop (Hamilton Lams Modern AU) **IN EDITING**

Chapter 14

John's POV

3 Hours Later

I sleepily sat up, looking around as to figure out what had happened. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was playing on the TV, and I remembered that Alex and I had been watching the Harry Potter movies together. There was just one problem: Alex wasn't next to me. I got up off the couch and looked in my room, but Alex wasn't there. I checked for some sort of note (he'd left one the last time) but there was none. I checked in the bathroom, only to find Alex hugging his knees to his chest. His face was buried in his arms, and it sounded like he was crying. "Alex? What's going on? Are you okay?" I asked him. I sat down next to him, only to see that he was shaking. "Alex, what happened?" Just as I said that, there was a clap of thunder from outside, and Alex started shaking even more. Is he having a panic attack? I asked myself. I then remembered everything he'd told me earlier about the hurricane, and I suddenly felt really bad for him. Who would know how to- Eliza! She knows Alex, so she must know something about this. I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Eliza. "Hi John!" she exclaimed. "Hey Eliza. Look, Alex is at my place and I think he's having a panic attack," I explained. "I don't know how to help him, but I was thinking that you would know because you've known him for longer than I have." The room flashed white as lightning struck outside, and another loud thunderclap echoed through the room. "He usually gets like this during storms. I think he said it's PTSD, but I'm not sure. Just keep him occupied and try to distract him from the storm, okay?" she told me. "Okay," I replied. I gently tapped Alex's shoulder. "Alex, I have Eliza on the phone. Do you wanna talk to her?" I asked. "No, I-I'm fine," he mumbled. I nodded and gave him a small smile, hoping he'd be okay. "Thanks, Eliza. I asked Alex about talking to you but he says he's fine, so I'm gonna go now, okay? Thanks again, Eliza." I hung up and put my phone down, turning my focus to Alex. "You wanna go watch the Harry Potter movies?" I asked. He lifted his head up, and I noticed he had definitely been crying. "Th-that would be nice.." he told me with a small smile. I helped him up and led him into the living room, where he just flopped down onto the couch. I went ahead to lie down next to him, and found myself being hugged tightly by Alex. "Aww, it's okay, Alex," I assured him. I heard him start crying again, and I pulled away from the hug. "Alex, look at me. You're going to be okay. I know how it feels to have something like this happen to you. I know you're upset, and I know the memories are painful, but if you try not to keep your mind on it, you'll start to feel better, okay?" He nodded, and he seemed to have stopped crying. I grabbed the remote and pressed play, hugging Alex as close to me as I could.