89 Dougie's POV

"Tom!" Danny went to get up and follow Tom, but I grabbed him back.

"Let me, I think its my turn." I pulled Danny to sit down, "You two look after Buzz."

Slowly, I made my way outside, giving Tom a few minutes to cool down by himself. I knew from experience that being left alone to calm down was what was best. At least, not being mollycoddled constantly was greatly appreciated. It was embarrassing, to have people around you feel like you needed looking after constantly, being allowed to be alone was sometimes for the best, even if it was just for a couple of minutes.

I waited until Tom's heaving breaths slowed, before making my way outside, sliding to sit next to him. By the looks of him, his shaking legs hadn't been able to hold him upright, and he'd fallen over, poor sod, I knew that feeling well.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I swear I'm fine." Tom breathed, holding onto his knees with white knuckles.

"Well, if you're sure." I made it sound like I believed him, "But if you don't mind, I'll stay for a bit. Panic attacks aren't the best thing in the world." I knew from experience, a lot of experience. It was scary, and painful, and made you feel like you were dying while it was happening. Afterwards, you were exhausted, and still scared, and to be honest, still felt like you were going to die. It was sometimes best to be around someone, especially afterwards, to give some support.

"O-Okay." Tom nodded, breathing out harshly, "Wasn't, wasn't a panic attack."

"What would you say it was then?" I asked, wondering how he was phrase it, or even if he would admit what happened.

"Nothing, nothing, really. It was nothing." Tom whispered, face so pale I thought he was going to pass out soon.

"If you say so." I agreed for the moment, letting Tom have some silent company for a few minutes.

"You know, I went through the same feelings, a few years ago, quite regularly actually." Tom knew that too, had watched me pass out many a time thanks to an attack of my own, "I didn't know what they were at first, but, I eventually figured out that they were panic attacks, and harsh ones too. And, I learnt how to cope with them, or at least, how to calm myself down, sometimes even stop them before they started."

"They're not, they're not panic attacks." Tom protested, shaking his head.

"They look like they are to me, and trust me when I say I've been through enough to notice the symptoms." I said it as kindly as I could, rubbing his knee, which was curled to his chest.

"No, I, it's not that. I don't, I don't have..." Tom trailed off, breathing getting erratic again.

"Shh, it's alright, trust me, it's alright. I know it's scary, and it's hard to understand, but trust me when I say it's perfectly normal. And you can get help for them, so you feel calmer, and give you a chance to gain back some control." I had been there, I knew it could be done. I rarely had attacks anymore, even when I was highly stressed.

"No, no. I, I shouldn't be... this shouldn't be happening." Tom whimpered, burying his head in his knees.

"Tom, you're under a lot of stress, so much stress and fear that not many people could deal with it without collapsing. It's a perfectly natural thing to get overwhelmed and to have a panic attack like this, we all understand what you're going through, and completely understand why you've reacted like this. No-one is judging you, or thinking less of you for it, just like you never judged me." I moved to rub his back instead, almost able to feel his lungs desperately try to pull in air. God he was skinny, had he lost weight recently?

"If you want, we can talk to Natasha, she'll be able to help you to calm down, at least a little bit. She's here to help, and she'll be able to help with this too." I managed to smile, unsure if I was helping or not. I didn't think I was, but I had to tell him that things could get better, I knew from experience that they could. I felt, so often, like Tom felt like he was going through the motions, not actually believing that things were going to get better. He needed to know that things got better eventually, that things wouldn't be awful forever, things were never awful forever. He could get through this, I knew it. He needed help, that was all.