Chapter Text
1.
The first time Shane had to help out Ryan with a panic attack, he was a little underprepared. It had been not too long after they'd joined Buzzfeed, but during the time frame they were filming test friends together near the very beginning of their friendship.
Ryan had been super stressed out that week, with a bunch of test friends videos being filmed and he'd been stuck with a bunch of writing and editing for other videos at the same time. Shane had noticed and tried to help out as much as he could, regularly bringing Ryan drinks to make sure he had something in his body.
It was because of this that Shane found Ryan in the lounge room, eyes unfocused and staring at the coffee machine. His hands were shaking at his sides and you could tell just by looking at him he was breathing too fast.
"Ryan? You okay man?" Shane asked, worried for his friends health. He moved closer to put his hand on the other man's shoulder
Ryan started at that, eyes focusing as he turned to look at Shane with a thinly veiled panicked expression. "What? I, uh... no, yeah, I'm alright, uh. Yeah."
Shane raised his eyebrow at that. "Yeah, no, you're clearly not. Here, come on."
He steered Ryan over to one of the couches in the lounge, letting him sit before grabbing a cup, boiling some water, and grabbing some tea the company had bought a month ago but barely anyone used. He started brewing some coffee for himself.
"So," he said, startling Ryan again, "Do you want to talk about what's got you so worked up?"
Ryan looked up from where he was wringing his hand and breathing too fast, stumbling over his words. "Ah, well, nothing's wrong. Im- I'm fine... its, uh, its stupid." He said, looking down at his hands and moving them from twitching to rubbing them on his thighs, then to holding them together.
"Ryan, buddy, whatever's stressing you out is obviously not nothing. I get it if you don't want to tell, but just know you can tell me if you're comfortable." He smiles comfortingly at Ryan before grabbing the two mugs, handing Ryan the tea and sitting next to him on the couch.
"Just try not to hyperventilate and pass out while drinking your tea, though. That'd be a mess."
Ryan huffs amusedly at that, taking a drink from the mug. His breathing is starting to even out and he looks a lot calmer than a few minutes before.
They sit like that for a few minutes in a comfortable silence, drinking from their mugs before Ryan speaks.
"I'm just so stretched between projects, y'know? With test friends ramping up production to balance out less views, editing and writing new videos, and to top it all off I'm super anxious because tomorrow I'm presenting a new series idea to the higher ups that I really want to go well."
Shane nods, "I'm sure you'll do great. If you need some help or just need to talk, don't be afraid to call me, okay?
Ryan smiles softly. "Alright."