sturniolo/nate imagines

⚠️panic attack⚠️meeting-Chris

Chris POV

"Y/N, come on." I begged.
"Please," she sighed.
"Chris, I want to, like I do. But I can't."
"Yes you can. It'll be fine." I tried again. We've been dating for 9 months, and she still hasn't met nate. My best friend and girlfriend have never met. I think it's ridiculous. They are the 2 most important people to me, besides my family.
She also freaked out before meeting my parents, and my brothers. But those were kind of unavoidable. She met Nick and Matt, a week after we were official. We became friends first, and then we admitted we had feelings for each other. Matt and Nick couldn't stand, not knowing this girl that I was always talking about. Y/N tried to hold it off for as long as possible, which only lasted a little bit. She looked like she wanted to cry the whole time, she answered with one word and her voice was shaky. She clung to my side the entire time, and if I went somewhere, she followed. She even followed me to the bathroom and waited outside the door, immediately grabbing my arm when I came out. I kept asking her if she was ok, but she nodded every time.
A month after that, she met my parents. By that time, she told me she has social anxiety, and meeting new people is the worst. She wouldn't tell me more details than that then, but she said it could be really bad depending on how she was feeling. It made so much sense.
She was better when meeting my parents. Because she was pretty comfortable with Matt and Nick now, and there were more people she knew, it was a little easier. She tried to use full sentences and not shut down questions just so she didn't have to talk.
She did amazing.
I'm very familiar with her anxiety now. I know exactly how to calm her down and how to help her when she meets new people and direct the attention off of her without making her feel invisible.
I know she could do great meeting Nate. She just keeps thinking about it too much.
"Chris, I really can't."
"I know you can. He's been begging to meet you for almost our entire relationship."
"So he can wait a little longer."
"Y/N please, I'll make sure he doesn't ask you questions, and I won't leave you alone once."
"B-but, I-"
"Please," I gave her a desperate look.
"Ok, fine."
"Yes!" I cheered, pulling her into a hug and spinning her around. She giggled as I set her down, kissing her face, then lips.
"Thank you."

(Time skip)

It's been 3 days since Y/N agreed. It's finally time. We're sitting in my room waiting for him to show up. She is breathing heavily and hasn't stopped playing with her hands. I stared at her a little longer and noticed the tears welled in her eyes.
"Y/N," I said, placing my hand on her thigh, a door closed downstairs, and a small gasp left her lips.
"I have to go to the bathroom." She said, springing up and walking quickly out of the room.
"Shit," I ran after her. I shouldn't have pushed her. I saw a glimpse of a confused nate as I pushed through the bathroom door right before it closed.
Y/N  turned around as she saw me putting her hands on the counter and bowing her head. She tried and struggled to take normal breaths.
"Y/N," I said, placing my hand on her shoulder.
"I don't want it to happen. Don't let it happen." She shook her head, choking on a sob.
"Y/N, it's gonna happen. Just let it out."
"No, no." She gasped, clutching her chest. 
"You have to let it out. You can do it." She tried to protest more but was fully overtaken by the attack. I helped her to the floor, kneeling in front of her.
"You can do it. It's ok. Just work through it. Deep breaths." I grabbed her hands, placing one on her chest and one on mine.
"Breath with me, you can do it." I said, taking deep breaths.  She continued with her strangled gasps, unable to keep with my breathing. Why would I push her to this?
"I can't breathe." She sobbed.
"Yes you can. Give it time." She clung to my shirt with her free hand.
"I-I, hate - this. Make it - make it stop - ple-ase." She stuttered, barely getting it out
"I wish I could. But all I can do is try to help." I said, my heart breaking more with each sob.
"Keep trying. You can do it." She nodded, trying to breathe, we kept doing this for 5 minutes, and she was able to take a full breath.
"Good job, it's almost over. Keep going." I kept breathing with her, trying to calm her down as much as possible.
Her full breaths became more frequent, and her grip loosened on my shirt.
"That's it. It's ok." I rubbed her hand and slowly removed them from our chest, allowing her to take her own breaths.
She found her breath wiped her eyes, but tears were still rapidly falling.
"You did it, love. I'm so sorry. You don't have to meet him till you're ready." I said, pulling her to me. She sniffed into my shoulder. I held her for a while, then stood with her and placed her on the counter. She wiped her nose as I pulled away. I ran my thumbs under cold watter and wiped her red cheeks. Her face always gets itchy when she cries.
"I'll be right back." I said as I dried her face with my sleeves, she nodded.
"Finally," Nate said as I walked in.
"Where is she?"
"Everybody out." I said, pointing to the door.
"What, why?" They all seemed confused.
"Out." I said again. They complied and went to Nicks room instead. I went back to the bathroom and grabbed her. She wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. I took her to bed, shutting and locking the door.
"I'm sorry I ruined it." She mumbled.
"You didn't ruin it, and it wasn't your fault. You can't control it."
"Ok," she whispered.
"I shouldn't have pushed you when you didn't want to." I said, rubbing her back. She stayed silent and played with the hem of my shirt. I just continued holding her.