Can't be around too few people?

Don't get me wrong, being around a ton of people, especially ones who know me or are in close quarters, freaks me out too. But I also get very anxious when I'm with another person or a few people in a quiet, closed setting. I feel like everything I do is magnified and like I can't even breathe without it being the loudest thing, so my mind races constantly analyzing everything I do and say and everything the other person/people do and say. Plus I feel like I always need a potential escape path and that's harder with less people/more attention on you/physical barriers like a closed-off space.

I've recently made a friend who's going through a lot of similar mental health things as me and who I really like spending time with, except she really likes quieter, less crowded, closed-off places. She's confided in me that she can't be comfortable in busier or open spaces and for the first handful of hangouts I've been going to tiny quiet cafes and hanging out in her room with the door locked hoping I'd just get over it, but I can't. I've hinted that I get freaked out in settings like that but I'd feel silly saying it outright. I had to wiggle out of plans this weekend because just thinking about being in a situation like that again is making my chest hurt, but I feel like I'm ruining a potentially good friendship. Even if I told her though, where would we hang out??

So this is kind of a two-part question:

1. Does anyone else get super nervous in quiet, closed-off, few-people places? What can be done to alleviate some of that anxiety?

2. What should I do about my friend situation?