Ryan ran all the way to Troy's truck. Troy and Chad were both surprised at how fast Ryan could run. When they caught up with him the youngest boy was crying heavily, his body shaking. "Ryan, it's okay." Troy said softly.

"Leave me alone." Ryan cried. Troy frowned. Ryan had sunk into his thoughts, he had no idea that Troy and Chad were in front of him.

"It's me, I'm not going to hurt you." Troy continued as he moved a little closer.

"Please just leave me alone, I don't want to..." Ryan cried, he had backed himself against Troy's truck.

"Hey, I'm not making you do anything Ry." Troy said, he moved closer now and reached out and touched Ryan's hand gently he wasn't surprised when Ryan pulled back sharply. "Please, it's me, Troy. I'm not going to hurt you, ever." Ryan opened his eyes weakly and looked at Troy.

"Why are you doing this?" Ryan asked weakly.

"Doing what, Ry?"

"Helping me, being nice." Ryan said with no emotion as he continued to cry. "Why would you want to help a dirty little fag like me? It's charity right... a joke..."

"No, it's not a joke. And you're not a dirty little fag." Troy said strongly. "You're just Ryan and I care about you, I care about you a lot."

"But..."

"No buts." Troy said sharply. "Come here." Ryan moved closer and wrapped his arms around Troy tightly. Troy frowned when he felt how hard Ryan was breathing and how much his body was shaking. "Are you okay, Ry?"

"I can't breath..." Ryan said as he tried to regain his control of his breathing. "It hurts." Troy looked over at Chad who was staring wide eyed.

"I'll go get help." Chad said.

"My dad." Troy said and watched as Chad ran to get the coach. "Hey, Ryan look at me come on." Ryan looked up weakly, but he was having trouble keeping his eyes focused. "Remember you're my brave boy, come on, please."

"Troy..." Ryan croaked.

"Yeah come on, please. Deep breaths..." Ryan tried to copy what Troy was doing but it hurt too much.

"Troy!" Troy had never been so relieved to hear his dads voice. He ran over to the boys, Chad following behind. "What's happened?"

"He can't breath." Troy said. Ryan was still trying to get control, but he was failing.

"Chad, nurse now!" Chad ran off again. "Okay Ryan, focus on Troy please. That's it..."

Ryan looked up at Troy who was staring at him with a worried look in his eyes. A few seconds later the nurse came running out with Chad following behind.

"Okay, Mr Evans. Look at me." The nurse said strongly, but Ryan wouldn't break his gaze from Troy. "I need you to take steady breaths." Ryan tried, Troy had a tight hold of his hands and was squeezing them tight.

"Come on Ry, deep breaths." Ryan tried, and after what felt like forever to Troy who was watching painfully as Ryan tried to breath properly, he managed to control it sort of, though he was still breathing sharply.

"Okay, that's good okay I need you to try and calm down though, okay." Ryan took in deeper breaths and stared at Troy through watery eyes.

"What's going on?" Jack asked.

"Panic attack." The nurse said. "A bad one. I'll explain once he is breathing okay and we can take him in doors."

It took ten minutes and Troy wouldn't let go of Ryan, he held onto him tightly. Chad had made sure Ryan was okay and then went to his lesson, Troy promising to talk to him later. Jack went with his two boys into the nurses room, he had already phoned Troy's mum, she'd want to know about Ryan.

"Okay, what you had out there was a panic attack. Have you had them before?" The nurse asked to Ryan who was sat on the plastic bed wrapped in Troy's arms. Ryan nodded weakly. "Can you tell me when?"

"When I was little." Ryan said. "I had my first one when I was about four I think." His voice was harsh and dry and Troy held onto him tighter.

"Not quite as bad as that one though?" The nurse asked, Ryan shook his head silently. "Okay, have you felt sick lately?" Ryan shook his head. "Tired? Dizzy?"

"He's been tired a lot." Troy said when Ryan remained silently. The nurse nodded and smiled at Troy.

"I want to take some blood." The nurse said. Ryan gulped, he hated needles. "It's okay. As I'm only a school nurse I can't do the tests myself I will have to send them to a doctor. Do you want to go to a doctor to have this done or here now?"

"Ryan why don't you get it done with now? Then we can find out what's going on sooner?" Jack suggested. Ryan just nodded his head.

"Don't worry." Troy said next to him. Ryan looked at him with scared eyes. "Remember, my brave boy."

"Your brave boy." Ryan said weakly as the nurse rolled up his sleeve. He turned his head so he wasn't looking, he buried his head in Troy's shoulder and Troy started to play with his hair, something that calmed him down a lot.

Ryan flinched as the needle pierced his skin, he held onto Troy's hand tightly as the blood was drawn from his body. The nurse finished and put a plaster on his arm. "All done." Ryan looked at his arm and sighed, it hurt but he had worse. He pulled down the sleeve to Troy's jumper down and sighed. "What is his eating habit like?" The nurse directed the question to Jack, who had explained that he was staying with him.

"He doesn't eat much." Jack admitted. "I'd say one small meal at the most a day. He's been through something, and I think he's still in shock."

"Right. I think he might be anaemic, but I'll send the blood off and the doctor will be able to explain everything. For now I need you to make sure he eats at least one meal a day, with lots of fruit between. Also I recommend vitamin tablets, and iron tablets. He's under weight which can be why he is tired."

"I'll make sure he eats." Jack promised. The nurse smiled at Jack and then reached into her cabinet and pulled out some pills.

"These are calming pills," She explained. "They're designed to calm people down when they have panic attacks." She handed them to Jack and then turned to Ryan. "When you feel as though you can't breath or you're feeling worked up take one, you suck on them okay and they calm you down." Ryan nodded. "Okay I recommend you go home and get some rest."

"Come on boys." Jack said. "Thanks." He smiled to the nurse and then Troy and Ryan walked out, hand in hand. "Troy take Ryan home and stay with him. Make sure he rests and eats something. Phone for pizza."

"Okay." Troy said.

"And we have fruit in the dish" He added and then handed him the pills the nurse had given him. "How are you feeling Ryan?"

"Better." Ryan mumbled. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. As long as you're okay." Jack smiled. "I'll see you two at home."

"Thanks dad." Troy said. "Come on, baby." Troy wrapped an arm around Ryan's waist and they headed back to the car. Troy hoped he would never have to see Ryan like that ever again, it hurt and scared him. All he wanted was for Ryan to be okay.