Spencer was sitting on his bedroom floor, sorting all his DVDs into alphabetical order. Again. It was 2am, though Spencer hadn’t glanced at a clock in the last 3 hours. He was wearing his favourite hoodie - a dark grey zip-up that was a few sizes too big so that it was baggy on him - and had the front section of his hair tied back into the back section. He had his over-the-ear headphones on, listening to his favourite playlist. He was comfortable.
Suddenly he felt a strange sensation in his chest. It was painfully familiar, and it quickly bled into every nerve in his body.

“Fuck,” Spencer thought. He was having a panic attack. A bad one.

Spencer immediately put down the DVDs that he was holding, took off his headphones, and stood up. His breathing unconsciously quickened, and his muscles stiffened. He felt some deep-rooted instinct to run. He never knew what his body wanted to run from; like it was some private secret that only his body knew, a secret that his body would never let his brain in on. He caught himself scratching at his forearm.
Spencer immediately pulled his hand away, and whispered under his breath, “Dammit. I really need to stop doing that. I have enough scars to begin with, I don’t need any new ones that’ll make a conversation awkward when someone asks where it’s from”

He knew that the feelings would only build and build. He needed to stunt them somehow, so he went through his mental list of strategies.

Breathing exercises. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to focus hard enough right now to actually get through a breathing exercise, so that was a no.

Read a book. His hands felt like they were hooked up to car batteries right now. They were shaking so hard that he’d be at risk of ripping out pages on accident. He wouldn’t be able to pay enough attention to read a book, anyway. Another no.

Go on a walk. It was pitch black out. Even with a flashlight, he would be so paranoid of something watching him that a walk right now would only make the panic attack worse. Definite no.

Go to the library. The library closed at 10pm, and it wouldn’t open again for another 6 hours. Another no.

Spencer was now at the last item on his list: Be near another person.

This one could work, but he felt bad enough asking a friend for help at a normal time, not to mention at 2am. But he was desperate.

Spencer scanned the room for his phone and found it on his bed on top of one of the blankets. He picked up the phone and turned it on, going straight to the messaging app. Spencer skimmed through his recent messages before landing on his most recent. Penelope. Being a person with so much energy, it was surprising how late Penelope would regularly stay up. Spencer opened their conversation, smiling at the latest message, a cat photo that Penelope had sent hours ago. Spencer sent her a message, simply reading: “at home. having panic attack.”

Penelope replied just seconds after, her message saying: “on my way xx”

Spencer loved how Penelope would frequently end her messages with at least one X. It was such a small action, but it was one of Spencer’s favourite things about her. He paced around his bedroom, trying to keep both his breathing and pacing in check, and hoping that Penelope would be there soon. Fortunately, Penelope didn’t keep Spencer waiting long; after about 8 minutes, there was a knock at the door.

Spencer left his room, walking to the front door. He opened the door, and was greeted with Penelope’s patented worried smile. Spencer weakly smiled back, fidgeting with the hem of his t-shirt.
Penelope held out her arms, her bracelets jingling with her movement, “Hug?”
“Hug,” Spencer echoed, slowly nodding.
Penelope took a step forward and wrapped her arms around him, and Spencer reciprocated. He was engulfed in Penelope’s soft sweater, her curly hair, and her lavender smell. Spencer’s heart warmed at the thought of Penelope putting on her lavender perfume before coming over, lavender being his favourite smell and all. They both stood there in that moment for a bit, just enjoying the warmth. Eventually, Spencer loosened and stood back. Penelope leaned back to her normal posture, but kept her hands on Spencer’s arms, lightly rubbing them.
“Alright, are you okay with sitting?” Penelope asked.
Spencer lightly shrugged, “Not really, no.”
“That’s okay. Wanna watch a movie?” Penelope started, “I can sit on the couch and you can stand or pace a bit if you like.”
“Yeah...yeah, that sounds good,” Spencer smiled weakly again,
Penelope smiled back, walking further through the doorway with Spencer, and closed the door behind her.

She suddenly got an idea, “Oh! What if we watch Now You See Me? You’re completely obsessed with that movie,” She laughed.
“Definitely,” Spencer said softly, smiling. He walked into his living room, Penelope not far behind, and picked up the remote. He turned on the TV, and navigated it until he got to Now You See Me on Netflix. He pressed play, adjusted the volume, put the remote back on the couch, then began lightly pacing.
Penelope has already sat down on the couch, blanket on her lap. She was absentmindedly making kandi bracelets, listening to Spencer add his own commentary to the movie. Spencer could recite the whole movie by heart if he wanted. Penelope mostly sat in silence, making a few jokes here and there, smiling every time Spencer laughed at one. They followed that routine for the whole movie.

Eventually the credits rolled.
“Feeling any better?” Penelope asked.
Spencer took a second, “A bit. I think.”
“Okay, wanna watch the second one?”
“‘Yeah,” Spencer replied, “And I think I can sit down for this one.”
Penelope smiled, “That’s good!”
Spencer smiled back, shuffling over to the couch. Penelope waved her hand towards herself, signalling for Spencer to sit closer to her, and he did.
Penelope put her arm around him, “Is this alright?”
“Absolutely,” Spencer leaned on her. He pulled up the blanket so that it was on both of them.

Spencer and Penelope both sat there comfortably. They clung to each other, both enjoying each other's company. Spencer was calmed by the mere presence of Penelope, and Penelope was overjoyed that she was able to be there for her friend. Spencer and Penelope had grown incredibly close over the years, though it wasn’t an immediate thing. Hell, Spencer couldn’t get Penelope’s name right until a week after they had met. They would’ve never guessed, when they met, that they would be meeting their best friend for the first time. They both couldn’t ask for a better friend, ever.

By the end of the movie, Spencer had drifted off to sleep. Penelope glanced at his face and thought about how peaceful and happy he looked. She smiled, and gave Spencer a small, loving kiss on the forehead.