Hey guys! So basically I just watched the season 3 premiere and it got me all inspired and stuff to finish some one-shots I had started a little while back, but instead I got this idea annnnd...yeah. This is what happens when Charlotte gets stuck in a small space in an episode (spoiler alert kinda...I guess.) and I think, "Hey, what is she ended up being claustrophobic?" cause if she wasn't already, I would not be surprised if the snack machine thing did it. But I got the title from Safe In My Arms by Eli Lieb (it is AMAZING) and figured it fit, so here ya go. Hope you all had a wonderful day/night (wherever you are) and hope y'all enjoy this little thing I wrote!
The elevator at Junk N Stuff has always been, well, different.
The rough, jarring ride down eventually became a normal thing to Henry and Charlotte after two years, and by the time they were nearly four years in, they didn't even flinch.
But this was definitely not normal.
(Even for this elevator.)
The two 17 year olds are on the ride down to the Man Cave when an awful, deafening screech echoes and the elevator shaft jolts to a halt, throwing them both on the ground.
Henry groans, pushing off the floor to stand back up before turning to where Charlotte is doing the same.
"You okay?" He asks as he offers a hand that she takes quickly.
"Yeah, I think so. What happened?" She rubs her shoulder for a moment before looking around.
"I don't know. I don't think we're all the way to the Man Cave yet though." He guesses, pushing the open button on the elevator without a response.
"We're stuck?"
He freezes, slowly turning to her with a worried look.
"Uhhh…"
She slowly nods to herself, her breathing a little heavier now and he tries to think of something to say before this all goes south.
"You know what, it's probably just slow today, maybe Schwoz got it fixed and forgot to mention it or maybe he wanted to surprise us or-"
She starts pacing slowly, looking at the walls of the elevator nervously and he has got to learn how to lie better.
"Hey, I'll call Ray and have him get Schwoz to check it out." He tries to catch her eye unsuccessfully, "We'll be out of here in a few seconds."
"Right." She breathes out and he can detect the slight shaking of her voice. He quickly flips up his watch and prays that Ray answers.
He lets out a sigh of relief when the hologram pops up within a few seconds, not letting the older brunette finish his greeting.
"Hey, kid-"
"Hey!" He quickly greets, keeping an eye on Charlotte, "The elevator is running kind of slow today. Can Schwoz check it out so we can get out?"
"Yeah, no problem." Ray turns to where Henry assumes Schwoz is, "Hey, Schwoz, Henry says the elevator is running slow. Can you check it out?"
"Yeah, sure." Henry hears the foreign man's voice and waits for what he hopes will be the quick solution to their current situation.
"Uh oh."
"What do you mean 'uh oh'?" Ray and Henry repeat at the same time.
"The elevator is stuck and I'm not sure what's going on."
"What?!" The two yell simultaneously again and Schwoz immediately begins listing off big words and unfamiliar vocabulary about how the elevator works and Henry can't hear the rest over loud breathing and pacing footsteps.
He turns to Charlotte, taking one look as she begins trembling, before turning back to Ray.
"Hurry up and get this thing fixed now!"
He slams the watch closed before turning to where Charlotte now had her back against the side wall, eyes closed as she tried to calm her breathing.
"Char?" He asks softly, slowly approaching her as she opens her eyes and dear God he can see tears.
"It's okay, Schwoz is getting it fixed and until then, it's going to be-"
He's cut off by the elevator screeching, dropping harshly, then jolting to a sudden stop again. He doesn't even know if he made any noise or not because all he hears is Charlotte's breathless yelp.
Next thing he knows, she's sitting against the wall, arms hugging her knees tightly as she squeezes her eyes shut and shakes visibly.
"Char," He drops down in front of her in an instant, "Char, look at me."
She shakes her head and he gently cups her face with both hands and lifts her head until brown eyes meet brown eyes.
"I'm right here."
She nods in the slightest bit, her eyes never leaving his as she tries to slow her breathing-
-the elevator drops again and the lights flicker and stops again-
-And Charlotte stops breathing all together.
Henry's heart stops and suddenly she's gasping for air, sounding like she's been underwater for far too long, and he's full on panicking himself because she's barely able to breathe and he's not the rational one and she's about to pass out or worse and he may be a superhero sidekick but he is not a doctor.
Charlotte always teased him about acting on his emotions rather than logic, which makes sense as to why he leans forward, his hands still cupping her face, and presses his mouth against hers.
He feels her breath catch as she tenses, and breathes as slowly and purposefully as he can.
Come on, Char, match my breathing.
She starts to inhale when he exhales and exhales when he inhales until he feels it's safe to lean back, breaking apart until there's about a foot of space between them.
Her brown eyes are wide with surprise and confusion and what he thinks could be fear or worry, and he knows that his are similar as he stares back.
"Y-You weren't breathing." He stammers, feeling his entire face and neck heat up as she blinks and swallows.
(But she's breathing normal, so mission accomplished.)
When she doesn't say anything, just stares, he feels the need to try and explain why he just basically-sorta-kinda kissed his best friend of God-knows-how-many-years.
"I mean, I'm Kid Danger, not Kid Doctor, and you weren't breathing and I'm not CPR certified so I had to improvise and I'm sorry I shouldn't have-"
He doesn't know what he really expected as a reaction, but Charlotte grabbing his collar and pulling him back to her was not it.
She kisses him in a kind of cautious yet desperate way that Henry isn't used to. He's kissed plenty of girls in his time (Chloe, Veronica, Bianca, that girl that Kid Danger saved last year from falling into the Jandy River (he admits, that one was unexpected), the pretty blonde that he took to homecoming two years ago…), but this is different.
This is Charlotte.
He finds himself kissing back slowly, confused but he decides to follow his emotions rather than logic, as usual, and uses his hold on her to pull her closer than she already is.
The elevator jolts hard again and he feels her start to pull away in panic, but he slides one hand down to her waist and pulls her back to him before she can get far, drawing a small squeak of surprise from her. He tries to reason that he's keeping her from having a panic attack again, but honestly he finds that he really doesn't want to stop kissing Charlotte.
Another jolt and drop is followed by the familiar 'ding' of the elevator and they both jerk apart as the doors open to reveal an aggravated Ray and equally annoyed Schwoz.
"Finally!" Ray exclaims, glaring at the shorter man, "It took you long eno-"
He turns mid-rant to look at where a red-faced Henry and Charlotte are sitting a little too close on the floor of the previously-stuck elevator.
"-what happened with you two?"
They both have the same deer-in-the-headlights look, glancing at each other before quickly looking back at Ray.
"Charlotte had a panic attack-"
"-Henry helped me calm down."
They both quiet down again, refusing to make eye contact with each other as Henry clears his throat and stands up. Ray watches suspiciously as the younger blonde reaches his hand out for the girl still on the floor and the awkward, visible tension between the two as she lets him pull her up off the floor is so uncomfortable.
"Oh really?" He asks casually, sliding over to block the two from exiting the elevator. He smirks as they both stare at him, wide-eyed and blushing from head to toe.
"How did Henry help you?"
He waits one second.
Two.
Three.
And the elevator door shuts again as Henry and Charlotte simultaneously press the up button.