A/N: Hey guys, I'm back! My exams are out of the way, and I have lots of new chapters planned out already, so thank you for waiting so patiently. Enjoy the chapter :)

6 months ago

"Tory, are you okay?!"

Miguel rushed to his girlfriend's side, cupping her face in his hands slowly as he noticed her go pale as she widely gripped his forearm with unbelievably sweaty palms. She stared up at him with wide-open, absolutely petrified hazel eyes that were starting to well up with tears. He honestly didn't know what to do, because he'd never been around anybody having a panic attack ever before, if that even was what was happening. He began to stroke her arm, trying his best not to show her his own panic. Tory just went off the rails; shallow breathing, tears streaming out of her eyes as she hiccuped and whispered, "I'm sorry," every few minutes.

"Hey, Tory. Look at me, look here," Miguel draped an arm around her shoulder, gently tilting her chin to look at him. She blinked in rapid succession, her body shivering uncontrollably.

"Tory, just look at me. Focus on me, focus on what I'm saying, can you do that?" Miguel didn't know what the hell he was doing, but Tory turned to him and nodded slowly. Okay, this seems to be working. Can't stop now. He pulled her into an embrace, softly stroking her hair as he felt her shuffle against his chest. Internally, he couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that this was the same Tory who flipped him on his back on her first day at Cobra Kai. The same confident, slightly arrogant, relentless, hot-tempered girl he had fallen for. He shrugged. But this was the whole point of being in a relationship, right? Supporting one another in the lows and celebrating the highs.

They spent several minutes just like that, two figures, two distinctly opposite personalities melded into one exquisite melange of power, understanding, trust and affection; drawing strength from the other when they needed it, exuding comfort and warmth. Tory seemed to have calmed down quite a bit, though she still shivered against Miguel.

"Tory?" He said, treading lightly.

"Hmm?" Came the muffled reply. Miguel smiled to himself as he felt his now damp sweatshirt stick to his chest, drenched in his girlfriend's tears. It was uncomfortable, but he didn't mind.

"Feeling okay now?" He asked, feeling her nod.

"Yeah, better."

Tory pulled away from him, blinking away the tears from her beautiful hazel eyes, now puffy from crying. She offered him a watery smile, which was far from normalcy, but it was progress. And progress was excellent.

"Thanks, Miguel."

She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head slightly and murmuring something, like she was warding off bad thoughts or memories, trying to get them out of her head. Miguel wanted to know what was bothering her, to make sure she was okay, but maybe it was too soon? If she wanted to, she'd open up. He'd just have to play the waiting game.

"That's no problem. Um…" he hesitated, curiosity popping up like it always did; it was human nature, after all. Maybe she wouldn't mind?

"Um… what was that about? Is everything okay?"

He frantically racked his brains for everything he might have said throughout the day, but he couldn't find anything that would've offended or triggered Tory even the slightest bit. To be fair, he didn't know much about her, but he didn't say anything inappropriate or insensitive either. He watched as Tory's eyes widened in panic and she ran her hands through her hair as she whispered something to herself along the lines of, No, just forget about James. James is gone, and it's been a long time. This is a fresh start.

Who the hell was James? Why did this James guy seem to be the cause of Tory's panic? Miguel was bursting with curiosity, but he kept himself in control.

"Tory?" She had spaced out again, hands squeezed into fists and just drumming against her thighs as she took deep breaths to compose herself. "Tell me what's wrong, please! You're scaring me."

She gave him a pointed look, just clicking her tongue in response. "If I'm scaring you, then why are you still here? You're free to go, you know."

"No- Tory, no, that's not what I meant. I want to be here, but… I just want you to trust me with whatever's going on. We'll figure it out, I promise." Miguel was on his toes trying not to say the wrong thing, seeing how her natural aggression was back to the forefront again.

"Miguel, I do trust you," Tory said, her voice taking on a gentler tone. "I just- there are some things I can't tell you, or anyone. I really appreciate you being here for me, but there's some stuff that's, um, personal. And no offense, but I don't really know you too well."

"I understand," Miguel sighed, deciding that he was being a little pushy. Tory needed her space, and if she didn't want to tell him something, he couldn't do anything but respect that. And he promised himself not to go around making assumptions like he did with Sam, which led to their fight at the party and eventually the breakup.

"But," Tory interjected, laying a damp palm on his cheek, "what I do know about you is that you're a great fighter, and you're really hot." Miguel chuckled and leaned in to the kiss, holding on for moments that simply flew by.

"And an even better kisser," he laughed, pulling away. Tory chuckled, agreeing with him.

"Well, are you ready to go?" He asked, getting up and reaching his hand out to her.

Tory smiled and took it, hauling herself up with a wink.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Present Day

She rested her head against the cool ceramic tiles of the bathroom wall, clutching her phone so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. She couldn't get the thought of the raven black hair and the citrusy taste of Jamie's lip gloss out of her head. She couldn't even remember the last time she hadn't found herself in a similar situation after thinking of Jamie. The shadows, the slinking figures in the dark, the muffled voices; they all came together as one loud murmur that never left the back of her mind.

She pressed trembling fingers against her forehead, shoulders slumped against the wall. Suddenly, someone banged at the door.

"Tory, what's going on? I'm getting late for school!" Will's voice wafted through the hinges. When she didn't respond, the knocks just got even more urgent sounding.

"Tory, what's wrong? You're okay, right?"

She couldn't bear to hear her brother's voice ridden with concern, bordering on fear, so she cleared her throat and called out in a voice a million times cheerier than she felt, "Yeah, I'm okay, I'll be two minutes!"

Before she could process her actions, she heard a click from her phone, and a curious voice on the line.

"Hello?"

"Miguel," she breathed, a wave of relief washing over her. She knew it was extremely hypocritical and straight-up unacceptable of her to have called him for help after how she had been avoiding the past few weeks, but her fingers had a damage-control mechanism of their own for when she didn't. The solution to her panic attacks was Miguel. It always was.

"Tory?" He sounded uncertain and disgruntled to an extent. She couldn't blame him for that. If she were him, she wouldn't even have answered. So Miguel was a freaking angel whom she didn't deserve in a million years.

"Miguel, it's happening again," she managed, between sobs. "I can't stop it, I don't know what to do, I'm sorry-"

Miguel hummed in response, like he was thinking of something.

"Miguel?! Say something, please!" Tory begged, now frantic. It was possible that Miguel hated her and never wanted anything to do with her again, but she couldn't live with knowing that she had a chance but never took it.

"Tory, what's happening?" He asked, flatly.

She felt like someone was hammering the insides of her head with a huge hammer, and she felt like she needed to cry, to let out all the tears and emotions, but nothing came. It was stuck inside at the base of her throat, jammed, constricting her breathing and suffocating her, making her feel claustrophobic - like a hand was slowly closing around her throat, soon to strangle her if she didn't get away in time.

"Please, just help me. I don't know why it's happening but I can't seem to make it go away- and, I need to make breakfast for Will and Mom, and I'm going to be late for training, and that means I'll be late for my shift and if I'm late for my shift two more times this month, they'll cut it off my salary and I-"

"Tory, calm down. You're putting too much pressure on yourself, and that's going to affect you. Just look at the bigger picture, take things one at a time, and just remember that you're doing great managing everything at once. So don't expect too much from yourself, just take some time off once in a while, and you'll be fine. I know how strong you are, Tory, you'll get through this."

Miguel didn't know what he was even saying, but hearing her voice like that, torn between panic and frustration, words of soothing encouragement tumbled out of his mouth without warning, despite all the pent up confusion, hurt and anger he harboured. He desperately needed to sort this mess out, or he was sure to go off the rails. He heard her breathing slow down, and let out a sigh of relief.

"You're a lifesaver. I really don't know what I'd do without you," she said, slowly gathering her thoughts. "Thank you."

"That's alright," Miguel said, off-handedly.

"Miguel-" Tory was about to speak, but he cut her off.

"But, I think I deserve at least an explanation, don't you?"