Work Text:
I was in line for a Waterparks meet and greet. There was music playing in the distance, but I was so in my own mind I could barely hear it. I had been wanting to meet them for so long, and now that I'm four people behind from going up, I was fidgeting anxiously, rubbing my thumb and my first knuckle on my index finger together. I kept taking multiple deep shaky breaths and exhaling them out. God why was I so anxious? It hasn’t been this bad in weeks. My hands were sweating exceedingly. I looked down at the Greatest Hits DVD I was holding in my moist, almost wet hands. Before I knew it, the person that was in front of me was meeting them, having a conversation with the band members. My hands started shaking and I felt the urge to vomit. I suddenly felt very claustrophobic, like everything was closing in on me. My breaths became shallow and short. My lungs felt like they were closing. Every single person's voice and the music was muffled like my ears were plugged. What if I hold up the line when I go up? What if I linger for too long and then people will get annoyed? I don’t wanna upset people. Awsten, Otto, and Geoff would probably get impatient with me. I have no idea how I’ll even be able to speak. I wanna leave. I’m gonna throw off the schedule with my anxiety. My train of negative and anxious thoughts stops when I hear someone say,
“Come up!”
It was Awsten. I felt like my legs were frozen into place, but I managed to move them and wobble over to the members that were standing in front of a banner of their album cover. I stood in front of Awsten and stuttered a greeting, getting more and more aware of my breathing patterns. He put a hand on my shoulder.
“..Are you alright?”
I shook my head no and felt my eyes sting with hot tears.
“Can I give you a hug?” I nodded my head. He brought me into a hug and I shook, hugging him back tightly. After a couple more seconds, he leaves the embrace. He puts both of his hands on my shoulders.
“Okay breathe with me.” He breathes in, I breathe in. He exhales, I exhale too. We did this a couple more times.
“Do you feel better?” There was a pause before I finally got the energy to say my answer. I laughed lightly. “Yeah.” Awsten smiled. I went up to hug Otto, and then Geoff. They all signed my DVD. “Was there a specific pose you wanted to do for the picture or no?” Awsten asked. I told them what I wanted to do and they all laughed loudly and happily agreed. Geoff and Otto made a heart with their arms, I was in the middle of the heart, smiling with my hands on my face, and Awsten was on the floor balled up, acting like he was sobbing. There was a flash, and we all got up from our poses, laughing.
“It was so nice meeting you guys! Oh before I go” I grabbed something out of my pocket. It was a minion keychain. I handed it to Geoff, and he laughed.
“Do you like it?” I asked, trying to hold in laughter from seeing his face.
“Yes, I like it very much, thank you.”
We all laughed once again and Awsten gave me another hug and I was on my way.