Greta Van Fleet Imagines

Anxiety (Danny Wagner)

You sat silently in the car watching the newly blossomed trees pass by, Led Zeppelin droning on in the background.

"Are you okay, Y/N? You've been quiet this whole ride." Your boyfriend, Danny, asked from the driver's seat.

"Yeah. I'm just tired." You looked over at him, offering a small smile.

You always felt terrible lying to Danny. Well, you weren't exactly lying to him. You weren't telling him the whole truth. Over the final weeks of their last tour, your anxiety had come back full swing. There was nothing that triggered it. You just started noticing little changes in yourself. You noticed that you couldn't sleep as well as you used to. You noticed the way your hands would shake as you tried to take notes in class, or no matter how many deep breaths you took, you still felt like you couldn't breathe.

Every night Danny would call, and you would put on your best smile, even if you just had a panic attack a moment earlier. Danny would ask how you were doing, and you would always mutter a 'great' or 'I'm fine.' He knew about your anxiety, but as far as he was concerned, you were doing better. You didn't want to worry him about your insignificant problems. He had more important things to focus on, the tour, the new music they were working on, and recently the fan directed witch hunt that led him to delete Instagram off his phone for the time being.

You heard Danny say something, but you weren't paying attention. "What?" You questioned.

"I said we don't have to go if you don't want to. I can tell the guys you don't feel well." Danny comfortingly placed his hand on your knee.

"No, that's okay. I'll perk up once we get there." You knew how happy it made Danny to hang out with the guys and not have to worry about the music. They wouldn't have a show to do tonight or an interview to run off to. You didn't want to ruin his day to be a regular young adult.

Eventually, you pulled into the Kiszka driveway and made your way inside. You and Danny got as far as the living room, and you were already able to hear yelling coming from the basement.

"How long are you going to keep saying vocals aren't an instrument, Sam?" Josh yelled.

"Forever because they're not," Sam yelled back.

"I just got here, do I already have to diffuse a fight?" Danny interjected as you both made your way downstairs.

"This has been going on all day," Jake commented from the couch, a beer in one hand.

You parked yourself on the other side of the couch, and Jake offered you a beer. You kindly accepted it with no real intention of finishing it.

The night went well, at least the parts you paid attention to. You pretty much sat on the couch for most of the night lost in your mind. You laughed when everyone else did so Danny didn't get suspicious, and you casually sipped your beer. It was beginning to get late, so you and Danny decided to head out.

"Y/N, please tell me what's wrong." Danny asked as he stopped at a red light.

"I already said I'm fine. I'm just tired." You contested. You watched the light turn green, and the car started moving again.

"You're not fine, Y/N. I know you. Is your anxiety getting bad again?" Danny's voice was strained, and you could tell how much he cared.

A few stray tears ran down your face, and you wiped them away with the sleeve of your jacket.

"How did you know?" You asked, afraid to make eye contact with him. You knew if you did that, you wouldn't be able to stop the tears.

"I've known you for years. I can tell when you're acting differently. You were quieter than usual. Normally you'd be talking about music with Sam or planning some strategy to save the world with Josh. Tonight you just sat there zoned out from any conversation. You barely even touched your beer." Danny explained.

You didn't say anything back. You didn't think he noticed. Was it that obvious that you weren't okay today? Did the rest of the guys notice? Suddenly Danny spoke again, breaking you from your thoughts.

"How long has it been this bad?" You winced when you heard his voice crack. The last thing you wanted to do was hurt, Danny. You'd rather hurt yourself over and over then hurt him once.

"It just started this week." You tried to play it off, thinking it wouldn't hurt him as bad if he thought this was only the beginning.

"I know that's a lie, Y/N. Please tell me the truth." He begged.

"It was around the end of April when it first started up again. But every day, it just seemed to get worse." You choked out.

Danny pulled into his driveway and shut the car off before turning to face you. "All those nights I called you sounded so happy. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to worry you. You had other things to focus on, and every time we spoke, you were in a different time zone. The last thing you needed was your girlfriend whining about some insignificant problem."

"Your problems aren't insignificant. I would have walked out of an interview or whatever else I was doing at the moment if you called." Danny gently grabbed your hand and began rubbing it with his thumb.

It was quiet for a moment, and you found it quite soothing.

"I think you should go back on your medication." Danny suggested.

Danny knew how much you hated your medication. It was only one pill once a day, and it did reduce your anxiety and panic attacks. But the side effects are awful. Last time you were on it, all you wanted to do was sleep. You weren't hungry at all, either. You felt like a robot, but you knew that was nothing compared to the fear you felt without it.

"There's nothing wrong with taking it. If not, we can call your doctor and see if there's another medication he can put you on."

You thought it over for a moment. A new medication meant your body is having to readjust again along with more, and potentially worse, side effects.

"No, that's okay. I'll take the one he prescribed me. The side effects aren't that bad." You answered.

"I think you left some here from when you stayed over before tour. Why don't we go inside, and you can take one? Then we can watch a movie, and I'll make popcorn."

"That sounds great." You both got out of the car, and Danny locked it behind him. You made your way over to him, and he wrapped his arms around you.

"Y/N, I want you to call me whenever your anxiety gets bad again. I don't care if it's a Sunday afternoon here or if it's three a.m. in England. I'll always answer."

You gave Danny a quick kiss on the nose before the two of you made your way inside.