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Today was the day.
Finally, after years, DJ was going to come out as gay to his friends. It was perfect. As of...recent events... it's been pressing on him more and more to tell them. To be able to feel like himself and not like he had this giant secret weighing on his chest anytime he was around anyone other than Arun.
Not to mention today was the only chance he would get to tell them for a while. It was perfect. Eugene called a meeting. And Superfish was staying home to work on getting the potion to remove the core. And Mandy was doing something somewhere. The only people who would be there were Eugene, Daisuke, and Georgie. Three of the people DJ trusted the most, and the three he was most scared to tell.
Steeling himself with a deep breath, he parked his bike, and started to head towards the door of the room where the meeting was held. Then suddenly, his feet stopped moving.
I can't do this.
He thought.
Yes you can.
He told himself.
They’re your friends. They would never reject you.
He took two more steps before his breathing began to quicken, and his steps faltered once again.
No.
No no no no…
Not now DJ… You’re fine… It’s not a big deal. You’re fine…
Despite the lies he told himself, he continued to gasp for breath. His chest tightening.
His eyes darted to the slightly open clubhouse window. He couldn’t let them see him like this. How could he explain?
DJ forced his feet to drag him to the side of the building. His back hit the wall, and he shakily dropped to the floor.
You’re fine DJ… Snap out of it… Calm down…
He clutched his chest, clawing at the neckline of his shirt like it was what was causing his lack of air.
Air. Air. Air…
He needed air….
He couldn’t breathe.. He couldn’t breathe.
***
Superfish decided he was going to go to the stupid occult club meeting. He had tried–for a solid 2 minutes– to stay focused on figuring out where to get the rest of the ingredients for the potion, but then promptly decided annoying DJ would be a better use of his time.
Besides, all of DJ’s little friends practically worshiped him. The least he could do was grace them with his presence for one measly little meaning.
That was totally the reason he decided he needed to go… Not because the image of DJ laughing while they raced to grab the thera beetle was burned into his skull and he didn’t physically know how to function if he didn’t see it again within the next hour.
…that's totally not the reason…
The teal-headed boy approached the stupid clubhouse. That’s what everything about that stupid school was. Stupid.
As he rolled up on his moped, he expected to hear the yelling of Eugene, or the excited ramblings of Georgie. Or… What his ears were searching for… A certain black haired boy droning on about Lord knows what.
But that’s not the sound that greeted him.
Instead, it was the sound of panicked gasps. Hyperventilating.
Superfish followed the source of the noise to the side of the clubhouse, where DJ was sitting at the base of the wall, curled into himself, clutching at his chest and gasping for breath.
The witch felt like he had been punched in the gut.
“DJ!” He dropped to his knees in front of him, having no idea what the hell was going on, “DJ what’s wrong!? Is it the core? Is it hurting you? DJ tell me what to do!”
DJ could only manage to shake his head.
The teal-headed boy racked his brain. Searching for a spell to use. But he couldn’t think of any that could force someone to breathe.
He wanted to reach out. To do something to comfort him. But he had never done this before. Hell he had never cared for anyone before.
Eventually, Superfish decided the best thing to do would be to distract him. That seemed like the right thing to do… Right?
He reached out a hand and placed it on DJ’s arm, rubbing soothing circles, “Hey hey it’s fine. Everything’s fine, you're okay… Nothing can get you.. I'm the most powerful witch, remember?”
With his other hand, Superfish reached out, pulling off one side of the black-haired boy’s jacket, before doing the same on the other side, “Deep breaths, it’s okay..”
To be honest he had no idea if that was the truth. He had no idea what the fuck was going on in general. He just knew he wanted DJ back to normal and calling him Superfreak.
Eventually, Dhananjay’s breathing slowed to what could be described as a normal rhythm.
As soon as it did, Superfish let out a relieved exhale. “DJ?”
DJ quickly wiped the tears that had managed to escape his eyes from his cheeks, and looked at the witch kneeling before him, still halfway holding him. “Sh-shit.. I’m um… sorry about that I um.. I’m fine now…”
Superfish clearly didn’t believe it. “What the fuck was that? Was that something to do with the core? Is it hurting you?”
“No-”
“Was it Johnny again? Is someone messing with you?”
“No no Superfish calm down I’m fine.”
The witch tightened his hold on him, “Me calm down? Why would I calm down when I walked over here expecting you to be singing and dancing with your little nerd friends and instead I find you gasping for breath on the floor? Just tell me what the fuck happened and I’ll drop it.”
DJ didn’t know if he had ever seen Superfish so serious before when he wasn’t fighting someone.
“It was nothing.. Just a um…” He felt his cheeks flame with an unusual embarrassment, “Just a panic attack…”
The teal headed boy furrowed his brows in confusion, “Panic attack?” His grip loosened on DJ’s shoulders, “What were you panicking about?”
DJ forced the words about before he could second guess himself, “I’m coming out to my friends today.. Or um.. At least I was supposed to…”
Superfish’s eyes widened with understanding before his expression morphed back into one of confusion, “Why would you panic about that? Eugene is attracted to fictional werewolf girls. I would argue that you are much more normal in that area.”
The tan boy shook his head before leaning it back against the wall behind him, “That’s different. That’s a hypothetical scenario that all three of them can relate to because they want a girl who dominates them,” He crinkled his nose in disgust before continuing, “This is my life. And no one knows except for Arun. And well now you but still”
“So your solution is to just hide out here forever then?”
“That sounds pretty tempting actually, yeah.”
Superfish climbed to his feet, sticking a hand out for DJ, “C’mon Dhananjay it’s now or never.”
With a shaky exhale, DJ took the extended hand, and got to his feet, walking towards the clubhouse entrance, hand in hand with Superfish.