they were already sat in the car. they had planned everything.

well, teresa had. 

thomas had been an annoying brat half the time.

but anyway, they were all waiting for chuck and thomas to come outside, which they were taking their sweet time on doing. it was rather infuriating. 

brenda, who is actually sensible, was already in the car, snuggled up next to sonya, in the back.

there was a specific seating plan. 

at the middle-back, in the 3 seats, there was thomas in the middle, chuck on his left and newt on his right. 

in the front seats, there was alby, gally and frypan.

in the passenger seat, next to the driver - teresa - was minho. 

right at the back, behind newt, thomas and chuck were sonya and brenda.

but thomas and chuck were still being infuriatingly late.

"i swear to fucking god, i told this bitch to hurry up. chuck's probably being held hostage by tom." brenda huffed, clicking her knuckles. 

"mr pol-hee-hee-ice is taking ages." minho groaned. 

teresa scrunched up her face in disgust, looking at minho. "call him mr pol-hee-hee-ice one more time and i'm actually gonna throw you out the car. it's almost as annoying as his lack of punctuality."

gally, frypan and alby suddenly started laughing at something on gally's phone. 

"if it's gonna be like this the whole way, i'm gonna kick you all out except for sonya and newt, and possibly chuck." the female driving sighed. "we need music." 

brenda snickered. "let thomas put music on. he's got a whole playlist called 'newt songs'. and it's got a love heart at the end." 

newt's head shot up at the sound of his name. as he realised what brenda had just said, he felt his face heat up. "uh-" 

just as he was about to continue his sentence, the door slammed open from the other side of where he was sat. 

"sorry about the wait! thomas kept me hostage and i couldn't come out." chuck rolled his eyes, forcing his brother into the middle seat of the car. 

"told you." brenda smirked.

teresa turned round to look at the people in the car. more specifically, thomas. "hey, tom. brenda just told us that you have a playlist of songs that remind you of newt?" 

"no." he spoke way too sudden, so it was rather obvious it was of course true.

"mind if we play it?" 

"yes. yes i do mind, actually." 

"great! thanks, let's get spotify up." 

and that's how thomas and newt ended up very embarrassed. 

i mean, who wouldn't be embarrassed after finding out this one boy you just happened to have a tiny crush on (you met him, what, like not even a month ago) has a playlist for yOU.

and, then, with thomas - HE HAD A PLAYLIST FOR NEWT. self-explanatory, really. very embarrassing. 

thomas got over it easily enough, though, when he started to sing to the songs he had added. 

newt, on the other hand, was head over heels for the boy. and his lack of enthusiasm seemed to show, as people kept picking up on it. 

"newt, are you alright?" teresa had asked, frowning slightly. of course newt had said he was fine, just a bit tired.

"newtie, are you embarrassed?" minho had asked. (to which he had sent him a glare saying 'yes i am fine, just got told the person i like made a playlist for me nO IM NOT OK I'M HAVING A GAY PANIC HERE)

but when thomas asked, it felt a bit different. 

"blondie, are you okay?" thomas had stopped singing to diamonds, and whispered quietly to the boy beside him, not wanting to make a scene. he edged his hand closer to the blond's knee, touching it as a gesture of safety, i guess. 

it had filled newt with butterflies. 

"oh. uh, yeah, yeah i'm fine, tommy. thanks for, you know, asking." he stammered, blushing ever so slightly. 

thomas just smiled. "alright. i'm glad. if you feel sick or something, just tell me. we can get out the car whenever you need to." 

"thank you." 

"of course, that's what friends are f-" he was cut off when an irritating phone ring tone thing (A/N: forgot the fucking word) went off. 

thomas sighed, irritated, and got his phone out. their friends were still singing and listening to music. his eyes widened as he looked at the caller ID, heart racing. 

"shit, shit, shit." he swore under his breath.

"tommy? tommy, are you okay?" newt repositioned himself to look at the brunette properly. 

"brenda." he whispered weakly, getting her attention. 

"are you alright, tom?" she turned around. 

thomas was shaking, breathing heavily and looked like he was going to faint. 

"oh my god, shit, shit, teresa, turn the music down. stop at the side." brenda shouted over the singing. 

teresa instantly turned the music down. "what's wrong? has someone been sick?" she grimaced. 

chuck's eyes scanned from each girl frantically. he knew about his brother's panic attacks, but had never really witnessed one this close up. he was panicked, of course, for him. newt frowned. 

"hey, chucky, he's gonna be fine. i promise." 

"i'm not worried." he quickly said. "he's strong. i know he'll be fine." 

newt just flashed him a small smile, the fear evident on his face.

"teresa, goddammit! stop at the side of the road! he's having a panic attack." the short haired brunette yelled, losing her temper. 

"fuck. make sure he keeps breathing." her eyes widened as she pulled to the side of a small country road. thank god they weren't on a motorway.

she instantly leapt out the car, opening the door at chuck's side. 

"come on chuck, get out." she smiled warmly, squeezing his hand encouragingly. "he'll be alright."

thomas' hands were shaking, as he willed himself to calm down. actually, his whole body was shaking. 

"breathe in, thomas. just breathe. calm down, it's me, tess. your cousin. newt is sat next to you. are you alright?" 

breathe in, breathe out. breathe in, breathe out. 

"alright. easy, tom." 

thomas focused on her voice. he was safe, not with the ringer of the phone, with teresa. 

"tess-" he started, voice cracking. he felt tears flow down his face, but he ignored them. 

"shh, shh. you don't need to speak." she frowned, wiping a stray tear away on his face. "we can have a break here if you'd like." 

"yeah.." he bit his lip to stop it from quivering. 

a bit later, when thomas had actually calmed, they continued to drive. 

it confused newt.

thomas was so.. outgoing. proud, extroverted, amazing. 

but he could act so vulnerable. 

it hurt him. who had even knocked his ego that much to make him like that? who actually rang him? 

he shook his head slightly. he couldn't think about those sort of things. it wasn't his place to ask, or find out. thomas had to tell him when he was ready.

but, still, he shouldn't feel like that. the brunette was too.. perfect.

perfect.

yeah, that was a word that suited thomas quite well, newt thought.

ugh im sorry if thats not how panic attacks work </3 correct me aaaa