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Aiden's head hurt.
Normally, he was able to keep his senses in order. He was Autistic, yes, but the constant feeling of understimulation that he got from his ADHD generally kept him from getting too overwhelmed.
However, in moments like this, where the lights in the cafeteria were too bright and he could hear their buzzing and everyone around him was talking and chewing and he could feel every individual thread in his clothing...
Well, in moments like this, he just exploded.
Ashlyn saw him growing tense. With her Autism combined with her medically sensitive ears, she was no stranger to overstimulation, hence the headphones. She hadn't ever seen him like this, though, and it worried her.
Especially when he shut his eyes and covered his ears.
He began rocking back and forth and letting out a low hum. The chatter at the table died down as the others saw what was happening. Ben reached over and touched him on the shoulder. This proved to be the wrong move, however, as Aiden smacked his hand away.
"What is wrong with him?" Tyler asked, maybe a bit insensitively. Taylor looked worried and Ben just looked guilty for having made his state worse.
"I think he's having a meltdown" Ashlyn spoke up, getting up and walking around the table so she was standing behind him. It was moments like these where she was grateful that none of them (except maybe Tyler) had other friends at the school. No one seemed to care about the chaos that was ensuing, and that was a good thing because the last thing Aiden needed right now was to be questioned and observed by a bunch of random students.
She leaned down to speak to him quietly, careful not to touch him. "Aiden, you're having a meltdown" she said matter-of-factly. "Is it okay if I wrap my arms around you?" she asked. A moment passed before he nodded, still humming. So, she hugged him tightly from behind, moving with his rocking. "Can I put my headphones on you?" Another nod, so she took them off her ears, wincing slightly as the noise of the cafeteria filtered in, and put them over his.
When he began to hit himself, she gently reached for his hands and held them in her own.
Eventually, exhaustion overtook the need to stim and Aiden found himself calming down. He cautiously opened his eyes, squinting to let them adjust after keeping them closed for a decent chunk of time. He was relieved to see that the others had gone back to conversing with each other. There was no spotlight on him apart from Ashlyn's, and he could deal with that.
"Better?" she asked. He nodded, his voice not having returned quite yet. "Do you want me to let go of you now?" she asked. He considered his for a moment before nodding. He pointed at the headphones and gave her a questioning look. "You can keep them for now" she told him. "I just want them back at the end of lunch cause I have math class next and the lights in that room are particularly loud" she explained. Aiden smiled and nodded.
'Thank you' he signed. The group had all taken to learning ASL for Ben's sake (plus, it was a pretty good skill to have when they were all neurodivergent), and this proved to be rather helpful in times like these.
"Don't mention it" Ashlyn told him before sitting back across from him and nibbling at her food. Aiden just breathed deeply, set his head on the cafeteria table, and promptly fell asleep for the rest of the lunch period.