When Doc disappeared at the beginning of the mayoral race, Bdubs forced himself to not worry. After all, he was Scar's campaign manager.

But once the race ended, worries found their way back to the front of Bdubs' mind. However, he managed to come up with more excuses. He needed to focus on his base, his new castle, the Upside Down. Although each distraction only worked for so long. It came to a point where he refused to be anywhere near his old mansion, worried what emotions may capture him there.

He's fine, I'm sure of it. The tan builder would tell himself. If he needed help, he'd tell me. Wouldn't he?

Bdubs plopped down next to his empty shulker boxes on the cliffside, taking a swig of water. After spending a good amount of time working on his castle, he figured he deserved a break. He closed his eyes as a small gust of wind swept by his face, helping him cool down. His communicator buzzed in his back pocket, and since he had nothing else to do he checked it. The freckled brunette was a little surprised to see a message from his old friend Etho.

EthosLab: Have you talked to Doc recently?

BDoubleO100: Nope, no one has for a while.

EthosLab: I thought he'd at least talk to you.

Bdubs just stared at the last message, unsure how to react. Why would Etho think that? He and Doc were also great friends, probably better than Doc and I.

BDoubleO100: Why me? Lol

EthosLab: nvm, forget what I said

BDoubleO100: Ok?

EthosLab: gtg

Before the builder could ask anything, a server message was sent through the public chat.

EthosLab has left the game

"Why did he leave?" he wondered out loud before finishing his water.

Any worries regarding his interacting with his cosplayer friend were shoved away as he turned back to his work. Checking his shulker boxes, Bdubs collected them all when he saw they were all empty. Gathering them all in his inventory, he decided to take a trip to the shopping district.

"Bubbles? Hello!"

Blinking, the tan hermit looked over to his friend and smiled.

"Oh, hi Keralis!"

"Hey, are you okay?" the friend's expression became serious and he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"What? Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" brushing off Keralis' hand, he continued to walk through the lamp shop, picking up his share of diamonds.

"You keep spacing out, Bubbles," he pointed out. "Want to talk about what's on your mind?"

"Sorry, I've just been thinking about how I want to decorate Grian's mansion at the Upside Down."

It wasn't exactly a lie, since that was what he was doing at the lamp shop. He had bought materials for his castle, and it crossed his mind that he was going to be roommates with Grian. Of course, that made him remember how he and Doc were basically roommates.

Why couldn't he just... forget about him?

"What's really bothering you?" Keralis asked, reading him like the open book he was.

Still feeling too stubborn to give him his real answer, Bdubs stepped out of the store.

"Etho left earlier today. You saw that too, didn't you? I'm worried about him,"

His wide-eyed friend gave him a big hug, promising that everything was going to be okay.

But everything was not okay.

That night, Bdubs laid on his side, staring at his communicator. He scrolled through all of his messages with Doc with a soft smile. The more he read, the more his hands began to shake. By the time he re-read their last conversation, tears were clouding his eyes and his smile had disappeared. Blinking, he let them fall and placed the communicator on his nightstand. He curled into a ball, trying to convince himself to stop crying because Doc can handle himself. Wherever he is, he's safe.

No matter what he told himself it didn't stop the agony. Why do I even care so much? He thought bitterly, drifting off to sleep.

Each step the freckled brunette took in the black abyss echoed all around him. Squinting his eyes, he spotted a familiar figure just ahead of him.

"Doc!" he called out.

But the hybrid couldn't hear him as he walked. He figured the only way to talk with him was to catch up to him, so he broke into a run.

Or at least, tried.

It was like multiple hands were grabbing onto his legs, keeping him from running.

"Doc, wait!" he cried, as his old friend began to disappear in the distance. Fighting against the invisible force, he tried to move, to catch up.

Then he somehow bumped into Doc's back, stumbling backward. The taller male turned around with a blank expression.

"Where have you been? I was worried, ya know," Bdubs said, brushing himself off.

"Why do you care?" the hermit asked, blinking.

"Because we're friends, Doc,"

"Are we now?" crossing his arms, the darker brunette raised an eyebrow.

"I-I would assume so, yes," his heart began to drop at the harshness of his friend's tone. "Why haven't you talked to anyone? Why haven't you talked to me?"

"I don't like you, DoubleO," grabbing the tan male's arm, he glared at him. "I don't owe you any explanation,"

"Y-You're hurting me!" tears welled up in his eyes as Bdubs struggled to break free.

"You want to know why I left?"

Pausing, the freckled brunette stared at him.

"I left to get away from you," he hissed, letting go of the short builder. Crying out in terror, he began to fall.

He reached an arm out, desperately hoping Doc would catch it as he fell off a cliff, the tall hybrid's scowling face growing smaller in the distance.

"I'm sorry!" Bdubs cried out, sitting up. Breathing heavily, he clutched his chest as he looked around. "It..." sighing, he slowly laid back down. "It was just a dream." His heart still racing, he wiped his eyes. When his communicator buzzed, he sprang up, feeling wide awake.

GoodTimesWithScar: Could you please meet up with me in the Town Hall? Very important mayoral things to discuss.

The short builder let out a deep breath and crawled out of bed.

BDoubleO100: Sure thing!

Tossing his communicator onto his bed, the tired brunette threw on his clothes. Tying on his bandana and grabbing the device, he tucked away any negative thoughts and his dream.

"Great!" Mayor Scar clasped his hands together. "And with that, I think we can call this meeting done!" he said cheerfully.

"Sweet!" After a long meeting of holding together a fake smile, Bdubs was ready to leave.

"Ah, before you go, do you think you could help me with one more thing? It's about the Upside Down," Scar asked.

Not wanting to let down his friend, the freckled brunette decided he could just hold onto his act for a little longer.

"What do you need?" he asked.

Just then, both their communicators buzzed.

"Hey, Etho is back!" he read the server message out loud, already feeling better.

Not a second later another message came through.

Bdubs almost dropped his communicator, he was shaking so much. His heart was beating so loud it drowned out whatever Scar said.

"I gotta go," he muttered, ignoring his friend.

"Bdubs, hold on-" the mayor protested. But the small brunette had already flown off.

With tears in his eyes, Bdubs stumbled, landing not too far from Doc's side of the mansion. He'd be here, right? Breathing heavily as thoughts raced through his mind, he let himself into Doc's half of the mansion, too full of mixed emotions to think about being polite. Hearing voices coming from the bedroom, he made his way upstairs.

"Do you have any healing potions anywhere? Bandages? Something?" Etho asked Doc. The two were sitting on the edge of the bed, both looking tired and beaten up, but the hybrid looked way worse.

"I don't know," he mumbled, leaning against his friend.

"Maybe we can ask Bdubs if he has something on his side of the mansion?" the Kakashi cosplayer suggested, standing up.

Bdubs jumped when he heard his name. I should let them know I'm here. But just when he opened his mouth to speak, the taller brunette spoke, sending his heart crashing through the floor.

"No, I don't want to see or speak to Bdubs," Doc grabbed Etho's arm, his words harsh but his eyes tired and desperate.

"Doc, don't talk like that," he protested.

Pulling himself together, the small hermit climbed up the rest of the stairs, forcing a smile.

"Saw you two were back, just wanted to make sure everything was okay," he said, hoping his voice wasn't too shaky. Noticing the fear on Doc's face, he stepped back. "I guess now was a bad time. I'll leave you two be," starting down the stairs, he glanced over his shoulder, his fake smile cracked when he spoke one more time. "Welcome back, Doc. I missed you." He whispered the last part but figured he shouldn't stick around to bother his old friends anymore.

The tired hybrid jumped off the bed as Bdubs disappeared, but Etho put a hand on his shoulder.

"I think he heard you," he pointed out. "Maybe you should give him some space. Besides, you need to rest."

"No," he shrugged Etho's hand off of him. "I need to talk to him."

Bdubs leaned against the outside wall of his side of the mansion, facing the ocean. Sliding down to sit on the grass, he took deep breaths. He swallowed his emotions, trying to keep himself from bursting. I don't want to make myself seem more pathetic than I probably already do to Doc. He thought bitterly, staring out into the water.

Hearing movement on the grass, he immediately stood up, brushing himself off as Doc ran over to him.

"Hey there, neighbor!" he called out, grinning.

"Bdubs you don't have to pretend," the tall hybrid said bluntly, slowing down.

The tan brunette's fake cheerfulness immediately dropped. Crossing his arms, he raised an eyebrow.

"What do you want, Doc? I thought you said you didn't want to see me," he snapped.

Sighing, the G.O.A.T Father ran a hand through his messy hair. "That's not what I meant."

"Now it's your turn to stop pretending, Doc. You don't need to lie," Bdubs said bitterly, looking away.

"I'm not lying, DoubleO!" he shot back. "I just didn't want you seeing me after so long looking so pathetic!"

"You don't look pathetic," the shorter hermit said quietly, glancing over at him.

"Are you serious? Look at me," he raised an eyebrow as he gestured himself.

"You just look tired," he muttered, calming down.

Doc did look tired. He had bags under his creeper eye and his robotic eye wasn't as bright as he remembered. His tattered lab coat was more tattered and stained with blood and scorch marks. Cuts, scratches, and scrapes covered his whole body, and he had large claw marks across his chest that were still lightly bleeding.

"We haven't seen each other in so long, and I didn't want you to think anything bad happened," he admitted, his face flushing from embarrassment.

A genuine smile formed on Bdubs' face as he placed a comforting hand on his robotic arm.

"Doc, I-"

His heart jumped as he was pulled into a tight hug, cutting him off. His face flushed as he could feel the bottle holding all of his emotions cracking. However, he immediately began to feel concerned as the taller hermit slumped against him.

"I think you need to sit down," he softly suggested.

Bdubs sat Doc down against the wall, before running inside. Frantically looking around, he managed to find some healing potions and brought some out. Plopping down next to his tall neighbor, he helped him drink the elixirs.

"Feeling better?" he asked, watching the cuts slowly close up. Handing the hermit some bread, he couldn't help but smile when Doc leaned on his shoulder.

"I missed you, Bdubs,"

His emotions seeped their way through the cracks.

"I missed you too," he admitted, his voice cracking. "I..." Bdubs hesitated to touch the hybrid's hand. "I was so worried. So scared something bad happened to you."

The darker brunette held his hand, squeezing it for comfort.

"I'm really sorry I never messaged you. Where I was, using a communicator proved to be... difficult to say the least. But when I finally got the chance to send a message, I didn't even contact you," he explained.

"I get why you decided to contact Etho. It seems like wherever you were was a bad place, and you needed someone who could actually help you." The tan hermit stared at his lap, blinking tears out of his eyes.

"Hey," Doc turned his head so they made eye contact as he spoke. "You could've helped me all the same. It's like I said before; I didn't want you to see me like this,"

"But why? What's the big deal? Yes, I get that whatever you went through looks like it was literal hell, but you seemed fine with Etho seeing you. Hell, you had him come help,"

"Because I don't like Etho the way I like you!" the brunette hybrid blurted out.

Every emotion Bdubs tried so hard to shove into the back of his mind burst through the gates. The bottle shattered and a tidal wave of emotional pain came crashing through.

"I like you too," he laughed, his voice cracked as a sob broke free from his throat. He tackled Doc with a hug, crying into his chest.

"You okay?" The darker brunette quietly asked as he stroked his hair, though he already knew the answer.

"Not really," the small builder mumbled, pressing his forehead against the male's chest. "I really, really missed you,"

Tilting the freckled builder's chin up, the hybrid pulled his face close so he could kiss his forehead.

"I really missed you too."

"So where exactly have you been?" Bdubs quietly asked as his old neighbor leaned against his shoulder. The half creeper tensed up, gripping his hand.

"I'd rather not talk about it right now," he mumbled.

"Hey, do you think Etho is still waiting? Maybe we should let him know everything is fine," the freckled male laughed, trying to change the subject.

"Maybe," the hermit chuckled.

Bdubs stood up and extended a hand to Doc to help him.

After a surprisingly short conversation, Etho bid them both good-bye, and headed off. Once he had flown off, the shorter hermit turned to his friend.

"I agree with Etho, you need some sleep," he insisted.

"Yeah, yeah I know." A weary smiled spread across Doc's face as he climbed into his bed.

Bdubs smoothed back the hybrid's hair, kissing the top of his head. "Sleep well," he murmured.

"What? You're not going to stay?" he teased.

The freckled brunette grinned, feeling his face grow warm. "I mean if ya really want me too!"

He crawled into the bed with a racing heart. The G.O.A.T father nuzzled against his chest, holding him close. Laughing softly, Bdubs hugged him, kissing the top of his head. Once he was sure Doc was asleep, he finally felt calm enough to drift off as well.