Opposites Attract

Panic

Jax woke to a strange warmth against his chest and a throbbing ache in his back. It only took him a few disoriented seconds to remember everything in extreme detail, and he felt a lump grow in his throat, hysteria threatening to rise up at any second.

His sleep-dulled eyes finally managed to focus on Molly, or rather her hair, since that was all he could see. When he'd first met her he had thought she dyed it, since he'd never seen such a beautiful gold color in his life, but over the months it hadn't changed at all, and he had been forced to admit it was natural.

The scent of her hair helped him focus as well. Somehow, though she hadn't really been near it in months, her hair smelled strongly of the ocean.

She made a small noise in her sleep, starting to wake up, and he held her tighter to his chest, lulling her back to sleep. He needed a few moments to think.

Her arms were wrapped loosely around his, her hands placed over his too, and he brushed his thumb across her knuckles as his stomach twisted violently. Screwing his eyes shut, he struggled to steady his breathing.

Against his chest, Molly stirred again, waking up enough to roll over and hug him loosely. She opened her eyes, blinking a few times.

"Mm... Y'okay?"

He nodded, knowing his breathing betrayed him.

"You're flushed," she said, sleep-slurred, "and you're hyperventilating."

He opened his eyes, meeting her gaze with some difficulty.

"I'm fine," he said again, but his voice shook and broke all over the place.

"You're panicking."

"Mm-hm. I'm sorry."

"Shush. You're fine. You want me to stay, or stop touching you?"

"Stay," he half-whispered, flushing with embarrassment.

She immediately moved her hands to run through his hair, twirling a single lock around her finger as the other hand got entwined in his mop of brown tangles. Before he could react she moved so their foreheads touched, and looked him right in the eye.

"Too close?" she whispered softly, her salty scent washing over him.

"No," he managed, distracted by her eyes, not even an inch from his.

She smiled a bit and closed her eyes, breathing slowly in a clear order for him to sync his breaths with hers.

"Molly..."

"Hm?"

"Why are you-?"

"Helping you? I've had plenty of panic attacks. I know how bad they suck."

"But I-"

"Shh. Breathe. I'm right here."

He closed his eyes for a minute, focusing on her hands in his hair. Slowly, his heartbeat went back to normal.

"What do you want to do after this?"

"What do you mean?"

"We could go train more. Back to your house. I could go on by myself if you don't want to do this anymore."

"I'll stay with you. But... Could we go back home for a bit?"

"Of course."

"When?"

"As soon as you want. We could go now, if you weren't so panicky."

"I'm sorry. Sorry. I'll- I mean- Sorry."