Jeff joined Nick for coffee in the morning at their usual Warbler hangout: The Lima Bean.
But, of course, Nick just had to invite Lewis along.
Jeff did his best to ignore any sort of 'chemistry' that the two had, but lucky for him, they seemed to have toned it down for today. Or, just for now. As they neared the Lima Bean, Jeff noticed that clouds were beginning to gather in the sky, tinted an ominous shade of angry gray. Vaguely, he hoped it wouldn't storm, if only for Nick's sake.
The hopes were in vain, however, for just as they entered the coffee shop, thunder rumbled loudly in the distance. Instinctively, Jeff glanced to his dark-haired friend who had cringed at the sound.
Jeff knew only too well of Nick's many phobias, and thunderstorms were definitely one of them.
"It looks like it might storm," Jeff mentioned to Nick as they got in line to order. "You gonna be okay?"
Nick nodded stiffly. "Y-yeah. I'm fine," he said.
"What, are you afraid of thunder or something?" Lewis questioned, looking at Nick.
Nick frowned. "Thunderstorms in general, actually," he admitted, averting his eyes. "But I'm trying to get over it."
Lewis nodded distractedly. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why are you afraid of thunderstorms? They're totally cool. Seems silly to fear them."
Nick bit his lip uneasily. "I don't know… I just am. I always have been."
Jeff could see how noticeably uncomfortable Nick was talking about this. He hated to talk about any of his phobias. Which, Jeff didn't really blame him for.
He'd been friends with Nick for about six years. He knew all about his best friend's underlying issue that stemmed out into many various phobias. Neither of them ever spoke about it, since Nick hated to talk about it, but Nick suffered from something called 'Panic Disorder.' It caused him to experience random panic attacks, sometimes for no reason, and other times as a result of exposure to certain phobias and other frightening situations.
Luckily, he took medication for it, which really helped lower the number of freak panic attacks he went through. Still, phobias were another matter. The medication helped, sure, but it wasn't one-hundred percent effective in suppressing all of his panic attacks.
Jeff had seen a few of these panic attacks before. It was extremely terrifying sometimes, since there was little he could do to help in those types of situations. They ranged from a feeling of intense terror, accompanied with symptoms such as trembling, chest pain, a choking sensation, nausea, dizziness, sweating, difficulty breathing, and so on. That was according to Nick himself.
A few, however, were actually more severe.
None of which Jeff really wished to recount. He was completely helpless to help his friend during those even worse kinds of panics, though Nick never remembered them anyways. He usually blacked out after the more severe, full-scale panic attacks, forgetting the entire ordeal.
So it was no wonder Jeff would be concerned for Nick when it was about to storm. Although he should probably cut Lewis a little slack since he had no idea about Nick's disorder, most likely.
He decided to step into the conversation. "Oh, well. There's nothing wrong with it. We're all afraid of something."
"Oh, yeah?" Lewis said, looking at Jeff. "Then what about you? What are you afraid of?"
He frowned as he considered the question. There wasn't much he wanted to admit he was afraid of. "Clowns," he decided out loud with a shudder. "They're just so creepy."
Lewis laughed. "Clowns? Really?"
"Have you ever seen one close up? They're terrifying!" Jeff defended himself. "But now it's your turn to fess up! What are you afraid of?"
Lewis smiled vaguely. "I'd say 'nothing' but everyone knows that would be a huge lie," he said. "Well…I suppose my least embarrassing fear is that I can't stand spiders."
"Spiders? Pfft! Those little creepy crawlies are totally harmless," Jeff teased. "Especially here in Ohio! The biggest spider around here doesn't get any bigger than a quarter."
"Oh, come on. Even the smallest of spiders give me the creeps." He nudged Nick. "You agree, right? Spiders are pretty scary, no matter what the size."
Nick managed a smile. "I hate to take Lewis's side, Jeff, but I have to agree with him. Spiders are just plain freaky."
"Oh, I'm not arguing that they're not freaky. I just think clowns are much, much freakier!" Jeff said.
"Let us agree to disagree," Lewis suggested.
"I can agree to that."
The conversation was effectively ended there. They ordered their coffees and took a table farthest away from the window. Outside, it was beginning to rain with the occasional flash of lighting and rumble of thunder.
Each time lightning flashed or thunder roared, Nick winced or cringed at the sound. Jeff could see the fear was taking its toll on him, for he was starting to tremble slightly and his breathing was picking up pace.
Jeff whispered to him so Lewis couldn't hear, "You sure you're okay? I can take you home if you need."
"N-no. I'm okay," Nick assured in a low voice. "My therapist says gradual exposure is good…"
Jeff frowned. "Alright. But if you change your mind, just tell me. I won't mind at all." He'd actually prefer it. He didn't want Nick to end up having a panic attack out here in public. It was near impossible to prepare for that kind of thing.
Jeff kept a close eye on Nick for the mean time. So far, he seemed to be dealing with it okay, with the only noticeable symptoms coming up being the trembling and plain flashes of fear in his eyes each time there was thunder.
Good thing it was just a mild storm.
At one point, when Nick was reaching for his coffee, lightning flashed brightly outside accompanied by a crash of thunder, causing him to flinch. His hand bumped into the coffee cup, tipping it over. The lid popped off and the coffee spilled out over the table and onto Lewis, who had been sitting across from Nick.
Lewis recoiled, jumping from his chair. "Ow! God damn it, what the hell, Nick?"
Nick flinched. "I'm so sorry!" he apologized instantly.
"This is a new shirt!" he spat, looking down at the coffee stains on one sleeve and torso. "Ugh, it's ruined!"
"I'm sorry," Nick repeated. "I didn't mean—"
"Do you even know how hot coffee is? That really burned!" he interrupted Nick angrily. "Are you normally such a spaz?"
It looked as though Nick's cool was starting to falter. His breathing seemed slightly labored, he was shaking now, and sweat trickled down his forehead. Too much stress, Jeff figured. Quietly, Nick repeated, "I'm sorry," once again.
"'Sorry' won't heal 2nd degree burns, you know," Lewis muttered furiously.
Jeff stepped in. "Dude, chill out! It's just a little spilled coffee. It's nothing worth getting so pissed off over!" he snapped. "Lay off of Nick. It's not like he did it on purpose, alright?" He turned to Nick. "Are you okay? You look like you're about to get sick."
Nick closed his eyes and heaved a deep breath. "I'm okay," he said shakily.
He sure didn't look okay. "Are you sure you don't want me to take you home? You don't look well at all, man."
"No, I'm fine, Jeff," Nick assured clearly. He looked at Lewis. "I'm really sorry, Lewis. I didn't mean to do that. If it's really ruined, I'll pay the price of the shirt," he offered.
Lewis seemed to have cooled down now. "No, it's okay. I just overreacted," he said. "I'm sorry for snapping at you."
"It's okay," Nick said quietly. "It was understandable."
Jeff grimaced, resisting the urge to object. That outburst from Lewis was anything but 'understandable'.
"Yeah, well, I've got to go," Lewis announced randomly. "I have somewhere else to be today. I'll catch you guys later." He snatched up his jacket off the back of the chair and before either Nick or Jeff could say a word, he was gone.
"This is fantastic," Nick groaned. "Why do I have to be such a clutz?"
Jeff sighed. "You're not. Lewis blew the whole thing way out of proportion," Jeff assured him. "By the by, does he snap like that very often?"
"No, never. That's the first time he's even yelled at me," Nick answered. "He's normally so kind…Maybe he's having a bad day or something? I don't know." He dragged his fingers through his hair stressfully, cringing yet again at the distant rumble of thunder.
Jeff frowned again. "Alright, whether you agree or not, I'm taking you home now. You need to relax, and that sure as hell won't be happening here." Jeff grabbed his coffee and keys and pulled Nick to his feet. "Come on."