Claustrophobia - Niall

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Niall's POV

It had been an amazing night. Our concert was great, the fans were all screaming and singing with us, and we had the time of our lives while being on stage.

Now we were on our way back to our hotel room still feeling thrilled because of the great time we'd had.

»The way Louis and Niall yelled WhY yOu So ShY was actually legendary«, Liam said and we all burst out laughing thinking of our performance of What makes you beautiful.

»Why did you actually shuffle towards me like penguins while I sang the breakdown?«, Harry asked. »You nearly sent me into a laughing fit when I saw you.«

»You forgot where to stand«, Louis answered.

»I didn't even notice.«

»We messed up this one completely. I'm sure there will be the funniest comments as soon as this will be uploaded on YouTube«, Liam grinned.

»Best was Harry's face when he got flashed«, I said with my stomach already hurting from laughing. »Looked like you were about to forget the lyrics, Harold.«

»I didn't see it«, Louis said.

»Well, everyone else in the room could see it. EVERYONE ELSE BUT YOUUU.«

And we started singing our song again, laughing hard and jumping as we walked into the lift to get to our room on the seventh floor.

I was having so much fun I didn't even notice myself stepping inside of the lift, but when I realized, it was already too late and I could only watch the doors closing right in front of my eyes.

The lads seemed to notice that I had stopped singing and jumping around and then they also realized what was wrong.

»Shit, we forgot about Niall being claustrophobic«, Harry said startled. »Why didn't you say something, mate?«

»I also forgot«, I said kind of surprised, but when I felt the lift starting to move, I could feel my anxiety flaring up and my hands getting sweaty.

»It's okay, Ni. We'll be there in a minute. Do you think you can do it?«, Liam asked and I nodded even though I didn't feel good at all. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder to comfort me and I tried to focus on him instead of the feeling of being trapped.

»Just think about the frozen pizzas we're going to eat as soon as we're in our room«, Louis said. »Think about cheese and tomato sauce ... Look, only one more floor to go.«

Right at this moment the lift suddenly stopped moving.

I looked around frantically. »What happened?«

»Relax Ni, there's probably someone who wants to get in«, Harry said. But the doors didn't open and my heart started beating faster and faster as I felt like we were stuck.

Harry's POV

When the doors were still closed after a few moments, I realized that there wasn't anyone who wanted to get in. It just couldn't be true that we were stuck in a fucking lift at this precise moment, just when Niall was here with us. He usually would have taken the stairs, and now that he didn't for just one time, this had to happen.

I knew what a panic attack due to claustrophobia could look like. Before Niall had told us about his problem, he once came with us into a lift hoping he could hide his fear from us. Well, he couldn't and it was terrible. And that time we didn't even get stuck like now.

I pressed the alarm button and nervously looked over to Niall as he sat down on the floor with wide eyes and his face paler than ever. His whole body was shaking. Liam and Louis were sitting next to him trying to calm him down.

»Hello, how can I help you?«, a female voice on the other end of the alarm asked.

»We're stuck in the lift«, I said. »On the sixth floor.«

»Okay, how many people are there with you?«

»We're four.«

»And are you alright so far?«, she wanted to know.

»No, our friend's extremely claustrophobic and he's close to panicking so please hurry.«

»Alright, try to stay calm. There will be help with you shortly«, she said and hung up the call.

»Heard that, Nialler?«, I said kneeling down next to him. »We're going to get out of here very soon. It's gonna be okay.«

Niall's POV

I heard the others talking to me and I could feel their hands on me here and there, but I wasn't able to focus on what they were saying. All I could think of was the feeling of my chest tightening more and more with every second and my fear of not being able to get enough air into my lungs.

»Ni, buddy, you need to breathe properly«, someone said – I think it was Liam, but I wasn't sure due to the ringing in my ears. »In through your nose and out through your mouth. Come on, do it with me.«

He took my hand and placed it on his chest so that I could feel his slow and steady breaths. I tried to follow his breathing – I really did, but after a few seconds I realized that it was impossible because how in the world could I breathe calmly with my chest feeling so tight?

It's only the panic, Ni. Your chest isn't actually tightening, I thought trying to reassure myself, but it didn't work. Because I did struggle breathing and it felt fucking terrible.

»C-can't b-b-breathe w-well«, I said trying to inform the others about what was going on.

»You need to calm down, Ni, then it will be easier. You'll be okay, I promise«, Liam said, but I shook my head violently. He didn't understand – I couldn't breathe, and just when I thought that, I suddenly felt like I wasn't able to get any air into my lungs anymore at all.

Oh my God, we're running out of oxygen, I thought and gasped frantically as I felt myself going into a full-blown panic attack. The anxiety inside of me was overwhelming. I tried to look at Liam's face as if he could help me out of this, but my vision started getting blurry and I lost all the remaining control.

»G-get me o-out of h-here«, I wheezed out and felt tears streaming down my face. »Get me o-o-out!«

I didn't understand what the others were saying – all I could hear was the ringing in my ears and my own heart beating like crazy. I couldn't see anything, I couldn't hear, I couldn't breathe – and I couldn't even ask for help although I knew I was dying right now. I couldn't do anything but scream.

Liam's POV

»G-get me o-out of h-here.« When Niall started wheezing, I got truly worried. He needed to breathe to stop himself from hyperventilating, but he didn't seem to be able to control it.

»Listen to me, Niall. Someone's coming to get us out very very soon, okay? You need to hold on just a few more minutes«, I said while rubbing his arm trying to comfort him, but it didn't seem to be working.

»Get me o-o-out!«, Niall said again and then started crying hysterically.

»Ni, hey, you're okay, look at me. Please look at me, buddy, I'm here«, I said, but he didn't look at me. His eyes were shut tightly and he covered his ears with his hands as if he was hearing an unbearably loud noise. And then he suddenly started screaming. The noise made my blood run cold as I could hear true terror in it. Harry and Louis looked at Niall with wide eyes, not sure if they should continue touching him or not.

»No no no, it's okay, Niall. Hey, I'm here, shhhhhh«, I said and pulled him in for a hug because it was all I could do to show him that I was there for him. I just hoped that it wouldn't trigger his claustrophobia even more.

After a few seconds he stopped screaming, but he cried so uncontrollably he couldn't breathe at all even if he wouldn't be having the worst kind of panic attack.

»Ni, I'm here for you. We're all here for you, we won't let anything happen to you, but you need to try and calm down, please.«

»He can't breathe«, Harry said concerned and Louis again tried to tell Niall how to relax, but it seemed pointless.

I myself started panicking a bit when I saw Niall's lips turning slightly blue, and suddenly he stopped wheezing and all the tension left his body as he fell unconscious in my arms.

»Oh my God, he passed out«, I said with fear. »Shit, I don't know what do to!« I felt my eyes tearing up and fear growing in my guts. Even though I wasn't usually the one to lose nerves I felt nothing like Daddy Direction at this moment. Because this was about Niall and he was fucking unconscious.

»Liam, no«, I heard Harry say next to me. »You're not going to panic too. Let's lie him down and lift his legs up to restore his blood flow and he'll be awake soon.«

»Yeah, you're right«, I said trying to pull myself together. Me panicking wouldn't help any of us, especially not Niall. I got up and helped Harry to lift up Niall's legs while Louis checked his pulse.

After about thirty seconds Niall suddenly flinched and opened his eyes.

»Thank God«, I said in relief and immediately kneeled down next to him. »How are you feeling, Nialler?«

»What happened?«, he asked weakly and looked around in confusion. When he realized that we were still in the lift, I could see the fear in his eyes again, but I guess he was too weak to get into a panic attack yet again. His body had to be extremely exhausted after this.

»Look at me, Niall«, I said while stroking his hair, and he did. »You're okay, see? We're here for you. You're doing great. Just go on and take deep breaths.«

I watched Niall close his eyes and then I could hear him breathing – still a bit shaky, but way better than before. »There we go.«

I went on stroking his hair as it seemed like it was helping him while Louis was holding his hand and Harry still held his legs up. We talked a bit to him, not allowing the anxiety to take over his mind again. And then we could finally hear some noises from outside.

»They're getting us out«, Harry said and I could feel a load being taken off my mind as I knew that Niall would be okay very soon.

A few seconds later the doors finally opened and two men rushed inside of the lift. »Is he okay?«, one of them asked looking down to where Niall was lying.

»Yeah, so far«, Harry said and carefully lay Niall's legs down. »Thank you so much for getting us out.«

»You're welcome. I'm sorry it took so long. There were some problems with the technique.«

»Do you think you can stand up?«, I asked and Niall nodded. I helped him get up slowly and then Harry and I took a grip on each side of him to help him walk out of the lift.

»You okay?«, I asked concerned as he stumbled a bit.

»Yeah, just a bit dizzy.«

»Should we call the paramedics?«, one of the two men asked.

»No, it's okay«, Niall said. »I just wanna sleep, please.«

»You can very soon«, I said soothingly. »Thank you very much for your help. I think we can cope with it from here on.« The two men nodded and Harry, Louis and I helped Niall get up the stairs.

As soon as we were in our room, Niall lay down in his bed and fell asleep.

»What a trip«, Harry said as he fell down onto the sofa. »How are you feeling, Liam?«

»Tired«, I said. »And kind of stressed out to be honest.«

»Would a frozen pizza help?«, Louis asked and I gave him a smirk.

»I actually am quite hungry, so why not?«

»Frozen pizza?«, Niall mumbled. »Can you make me one, too?«

»Hey Ni, are you still awake?«, I asked surprised.

»No, but I heard you talking about pizza and I want one.«

We all looked at each other, then we burst out laughing.

»What's so funny?«, Niall asked sleepily as he turned around to look at us.

»You thinking of nothing else than food even after you just passed out«, I said and grinned at him. »Of course I'll make you one.«

God, I was so glad he was okay.


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