TRIGGER WARNING: this story contains scenes of self harm, torture, alcohol abuse and strong language. It gets pretty dark and their are mentions of suicide and attempted suicide.

Anxiety sat in his room working on his breathing. There was an enormous storm happening at the moment and while he enjoyed the lightning, the thunder sent him into panic attacks. Another loud crash of thunder and he let out a choked sob. He knew that Thomas was probably also effected but he had the others to comfort him. No one knew or cared that Anxiety suffered just as bad if not worse.

"I can do this, it's just like all the other times." he said to himself in a shakey voice. Except it wasn't quite like the other times because he'd had to endure insult after insult thrown at him all day and as the next clap of thunder sounded, Anxiety broke down.
He could barely breathe and hysterical sobs shook his body as he curled up into a ball on the floor. Everything had crashed down on top of him and he felt useless, if he couldn't control himself then how could he possibly hope to help Thomas?

Feelings of unworthiness and self-hatred began to flood his mind and he let out a howl of misery as he began to feel hollow and empty. What was the point of trying? Everything he did seemed to make everything worse so maybe he should just stop trying.

His thoughts drifted to the other sides. Would they agree with him? They probably wouldn't care, they always tried to avoid him so if he just stopped coming out of his room surely it would just make everything easier for them?
He gasped for breath and felt a small flicker of anger. They obviously would prefer if he didn't exist, seeing as they'd never once called for him voluntarily or even bothered to ask his real name. He knew theirs but it seemed they assumed he didn't have one or they didn't care.

"you alright there?" came a low voice from behind him, making him jump and spin round in terror.

"who...?" he managed to gasp out before he was cut off by his own inability to breathe.

"I'm... A friend. You seem to be struggling and I'm here to help" the mysterious voice said.

Anxiety was usually incredibly suspicious of everyone but for some reason he felt he could trust this person, whoever they were. Unable to get words out he nodded slowly and the stranger shifted into view.

He was completely stunned as he took in the guy in front of him. He looked very similar to him but didn't have the dark bags under his eyes and his eyes were a lot darker. Where he and the other sides had the same Hazel eyes as Thomas, this guy had almost black eyes. Although it should have put him on edge he instead felt calmer and more relaxed.

"do you want a hug?" asked the nameless stranger, opening his arms.

Anxiety tried to shake his head, he hated contact of all kinds, but found himself nodding. That was the first hint that something wasn't right.

The figure smiled and embraced him which made his body instantly relax and he found himself slumped into the stranger. It felt amazing. That should have been the second hint.

"there were go, I've got you now so you're going to be fine." the stranger said, running his hands through Anxietys hair. Anxiety closed his eyes, not worrying about being in such a vulnerable position and that should have been the third and final hint that there was something horribly wrong with the situation.

"there we go, now you're mine." the stranger said with a smirk, that went unnoticed by Anxiety. "my name is... Preston." he said in Anxietys ear, making him shudder slightly. "what... What's your main job?" Anxiety managed to ask, laying on his back across Prestons lap with his eyes closed. "my main job is similar to yours in a way but I'd rather not talk about such boring topics." he said, carefully dodging the question. Anxiety hummed in agreement as he began to fall asleep, not seeing the devilish grin on Prestons face.
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Thomas was having a really bad day and then came the thunderstorm. The first crash of thunder made him jump and he fell off the sofa, hurting his back. He lay there feeling winded for a few seconds and then the second crash of thunder made him jump again except this time he began to gasp for breath.

"help" he managed to gasp as he started to have a panic attack. Immediately Patton, Roman and Logan appeared ready to help him through his attack.

"its gonna be OK kiddo, we're all here to help." Patton said resting a hand Thomas's shoulder.

"let's try to do that breathing exercise we researched for a moment just like this." Logan said sitting in front of Thomas and instructing him to copy his breathing.

Roman watched and felt a slight twinge of anger towards Anxiety who hadn't turned up to help. Of course that wasn't new but he'd been giving Thomas a really hard time today, the least he could do was ease up and try to help them calm him down. Eventually they managed to calm Thomas down and made him put on some headphones and watch something to block out the sound of the storm.

"I've really had enough of Anxietys behaviour now!" Roman exclaimed as the other two eventually came over to him. "today has been one disaster after another all thanks to him and now he's causing Thomas to have another panic attack, he's gone too far." he looked at Patton who seemed to be conflicted between agreeing and disagreeing. Logan seemed to be lost in thought.

"maybe we can give him another chance?" Patton said with a hopeful voice, not wanting any kind of confrontation.

Roman shook his head and said "No, if we keep giving him more chances then we're never going to make him stop hurting Thomas."

Logan nodded, showing his agreement and Patton sighed sadly before reluctantly agreeing to join them in confronting Anxiety.

They left Thomas with his headphones on and traveled back into the mind space. Roman immediately set off down the hall towards Anxietys room but as he tried to open the door he found it locked.

"that's strange, our doors aren't supposed to be able to lock." stated Logan with a frown. Roman had started to get red in the face and contemplated kicking the door down when Patton pushed past both of them and put his ear to the door.

"I can't hear anything." Patton whispered to the other two who glanced at each other in confusion and walked back to the lounge area to talk. "you sure Patton?" Roman asked.

"definitely, it was completely silent." Patton replied. Logan frowned as he thought things over. He was pretty sure Anxiety was in there but he was rather concerned how he'd managed to lock the door. Unless he didn't voluntarily lock it? But what else could have locked it and why would Anxiety not have made a sound when he heard them outside the door. He could have called for help or something. Logan was pulled from his thoughts when a loud crash of thunder echoed around the room. The other two were staring at him expectantly.

"what?" he asked in confusion.

"what were you so lost in thought about?" Patton asked with a small smile, flinching slightly at another crash of thunder.

Before Logan could answer a loud crash came from somewhere nearby followed by a scream.
"that didn't sound like thunder..." Patton said, his eyes wide.
"you're right and I doubt that scream was Thomas, he seems fine still." Logan said glancing at Roman who seems to have come to the same conclusion.
"that just leaves Anxiety." he whispered.

In seconds all three of them were outside his door where they could here him screaming. They could just about make out words.

"stop! Leave me alone! Please! I'll do it!" his voice was panicked and full of pain.

Roman banged on the door. "Anxiety? What's going on? Are you alright?" he demanded.

Everything went silent broken only by a small muffled sob from behind Anxietys door. "I'm fine, nothing happened." he replied in a dull voice.

Patton felt his jaw drop. If he hadn't heard the screaming or small sob he would have believed him. His voice was so convincing.

"why were you screaming?" Roman asked, trying a different way.

"I was practising. I assumed the thunder would block it out, I didn't expect you to hear." came the dull voice again, not a hint of pain or panic in his voice.

Roman frowned and glanced at Logan who seemed at a loss for words. "are you sure you're OK?" Roman asked one last time.

"yes I'm fine Princey, go watch one of those damned Disney movies or something and stop bothering me." came the snarky reply.

The three of them reluctantly went back into the lounge. "he sounded genuinely hurt but then he sounded genuinely annoyed. I don't understand." Patton said softly.
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Anxiety awoke with a scream as a sharp stabbing pain filled his left arm. He looked up and saw Preston holding a shard of mirror that was plunged into his arm.

" wakey wakey freak." Preston growled with a smirk." Anxiety inhaled, choking on a sob before screaming out in pain again.

"you're going to do whatever I tell you or I'll keep doing this." Preston whispered in Anxietys ear, pressing further down, causing the blood to pool around them.

"stop! Leave me alone! Please! I'll do it!" Anxiety shrieked desperately and Preston pulled the shard out of his arm with a smug smile.

Suddenly there was someone pounding on the door and Preston cursed under his breath.

"don't get any funny ideas." he growled to Anxiety, holding the blood covered mirror shard to Anxietys neck to stop him attempting to call for help.

"Anxiety? what's going on? Are you alright?" came Romans voice.

Anxiety let out a small sob which Preston tried to muffle with his blood covered hand.

"I'm fine, nothing happened." Preston said loudly, doing his best impression of Anxietys voice.

"why were you screaming?" Roman asked, a hint of confusion and suspicion in his voice.

Preston admitted to himself that waking Anxiety by stabbing him in the arm was probably not the smartest idea he'd had but it had the desired effect of showing he would follow through with his threats and causing Anxiety pain which had been fun.

Preston thought on the spot and managed to think up an almost believable reason. "I was practicing. I assumed the thunder would block it out, I didn't expect you to hear." he kept his voice dull, so as to sound more like Anxiety.

"are you sure you're OK?" Roman replied.

Preston had to bite back his anger and instead construct something Anxiety would say. "yes I'm fine Princey, go watch one of those damned Disney movies or something and stop bothering me." he said in an annoyed voice.

He heard footsteps retreating down the corridor and turned back to Anxiety. "now where were we?" he asked with a sinister grin. "oh yes, I remember now. You were just about to do whatever I say."

Anxiety shuddered but with the position he was in and the amount of blood he had lost and still was losing, he could do nothing but comply to the sadistic wishes of this maniac.

"now let me formally introduce myself. My name is Preston but most people know me as Depression." Preston gave an evil chuckle as Anxietys face morphed into one of horror and fear. "oh yeah, look what you've done to poor precious Thomas now. You're supposed to be the one protecting him from danger, like me, and you immediately gave up and let me in. Now you're powerless to stop me from destroying him." Prestons eyes had a crazed greedy glint in them and Anxietys mind was racing, trying to figure out a way to prevent Thomas or the others getting hurt.

" how about we make a deal?" Anxiety asked timidly.

Preston just laughed but gestured for him to continue.

"how about you leave Thomas and the others alone but you can do whatever you want to me?" Anxiety knew that he'd be put through hell and back and it'd be a miracle if he survived but it was his job to protect Thomas and he couldn't stand the thought of Preston hurting him or the others.

Preston considered this. Did he try and take over Thomas's mind by fighting and attempting to break all of his sides or did he just settle for one of the sides who would be cooperative to some extent? It would mean less work for him and probably more fun to watch the faces of the others as Anxiety eventually destroyed himself. In the long run Anxietys deal would cause Thomas more trouble than Preston himself could cause.

Having made his decision Preston smirked and held out his right hand. "OK, I accept. Let's shake on it." he held back a sadistic smile as Anxiety realised he would have to use his injured, still bleeding arm to shake his hand.

"o..OK. Now what?" Anxiety asked fearfully.

Preston smirked and replied "now I disappear for a bit until I want to do something to you. Also my first order is that you're forbidden to mention me or what happened in this room tonight and that includes all the nights to follow."

Anxiety nodded and waited until Preston vanished before dashing towards his personal bathroom so he could patch up his arm. He stripped off his hoodie and long sleeved t-shirt to get a better look at the damage.

He cringed as he saw his ruined arm but was glad that he knew some basic first aid so he could stitch it up. He had a feeling that this would become a regular occurrence so he made a note to grab a couple first aid books when he got the chance. At the moment though he settled for stitching up the wound on his left arm, biting down on the ruined sleeve of his hoodie to stop himself crying out.

His stitches done, he wrapped it in some bandages that had somehow found their way into his bathroom cabinet.

He looked down at his black hoodie, unsure how he would be able to get the blood stain out without ruining the hoodie. He needed to sew up the tears as well but the blood was the main concern at the moment.

That was a point actually. His bedroom carpet was probably matted with blood, he'd need to sort that out too.  He shoved his hoodie in the wash bin, planning to stuff it in the wash when everyone else was busy, it'd probably be easier to get a new one though.

He put that to the back of his mind and started to scrub the blood off of the floor, trying to make sure every last bit was gone. When he was done he searched inside his wardrobe for a different t-shirt and hoodie. Luckily he had another hoodie that wasn't as comfy as his old one but it looked exactly the same apart from the slight fading that made it a lighter shade of black.

The others hardly paid any attention to him so it was really unlikely they'd even notice or care. Even if they did notice he could wear whatever he wanted.

He carefully pulled on the hoodie and went back into the bathroom to reapply his eye shadow. It was rather difficult as he could barely lift his left arm without pain. He eventually managed it although it looked sloppy but no one would notice as they didn't really pay attention.

He pulled the hood up with his good hand and walked over to his door which he couldn't open for some reason. He let go of the handle before he realised it was probably part of Prestons sick game. To test this theory he grabbed the handle with his left hand and pulled, gritting his teeth to prevent himself crying out in pain. It swung open with ease and he shuddered.

He walked down the corridor towards the kitchen where he could grab something to drink and maybe eat but he heard a familiar voice in his head.

"no food or drink for you today." Preston hissed before cackling. The sound made Anxiety flinch and glance around nervously.

"don't worry I'm just a voice in your head, you'll know when I'm there in person, believe me." Preston laughed.

Anxiety shuddered and turned to walk out of the kitchen only to collide with someone. He fell backwards and landed heavily on his left arm.

Patton was walking to the kitchen to grab some cookies. He needed them to help him think over the events with Anxiety. He collided with someone and opened his mouth to apologise when he realised it was Anxiety and Anxiety was hunched over on the floor clutching his left arm.

"hey kiddo, you alright there?" he asked, concern present in his voice as he noticed a couple of tears soaking into the dark material of the hoodie.

"I'm fine, just look where your going next time." came Anxietys reply but it didn't sound at all annoyed, it sounded more like he was trying not to cry. Patton frowned and bent down to reach for Anxietys left arm but Anxiety flinched away instantly before struggling to his feet and brushing past Patton.

Patton forgot about the cookies and followed Anxiety, worried about the youngest trait.

"leave me alone. Go watch a Disney movie with Princey or go bother the nerd with your dad jokes. I'm fine." Anxiety muttered as he walked back into his room and shut the door behind him.

Patton stood there for a second, his mind working furiously before he turned and walked quickly to where Roman and Logan were playing chess.

" I think there's something really wrong with Anxiety." he said, mild panic in his voice that made the other two immediately pay attention.

"explain." said Logan, stating intently at Patton.

"well I was going to the kitchen to grab some cookies and I accidentally bumped onto Anxiety. He ended up on the floor but he was grabbing his left arm like he was in a lot of pain and I could see two spots on his hoodie where tears had landed. He tried to tell me he was fine but his voice was shakey and he didn't sound fine at all. Which reminds me, you know earlier when we were outside his door and he told Roman to leave him alone? He told me to leave him alone and go watch a Disney movie with Roman but his voice sounded completely different. I don't know what that means but it's like he had a different voice completely." Patton took a deep breath after saying all that and waited for one of the other two to respond.

Logans mind began to work furiously to come up with different ways to explain everything. "The most likely option is that we assume another person was present in Anxietys room who somehow injured him and mimicked his voice satisfactorily enough to fool us into believing Anxiety was speaking. The other less likely options are that Anxiety really was practising but he injured himself in some way or he could have been having a nightmare and felt too embarrassed to tell us so he lied and the injury was caused from falling out of bed. There are other even less likely scenarios but they are irrelevant at this time unless we can get more data." Logan said rapidly, already starting to form a plan of what to do next while the other two absorbed the information he'd just given them.

Roman seemed about ready to go and confront Anxiety but Patton grabbed his arm, knowing the darker traits emotions slightly better than the others.
"You can't just go bursting in on him Roman, this needs to be done carefully and with subtlety." Patton patted Romans arm in a comforting way but Roman shook him off, angry that his idea had been shut down.

Anxiety sank onto his bed, he couldn't risk the others finding out about Preston or he'd hurt them. He was terrified of leaving his room until his arm healed but he knew he'd probably get similar or worse injuries so he needed to try and work on his indifferent expression or 'straight face' although being a factor of Thomas's personality meant he definitely wasn't straight in the sexual sense of the word. He felt a small smirk tug at his lips as he made that joke but instantly regretted it when Prestons angry roar filled his head.

"don't you even dare! I forbid you to make any jokes or humorous comments while I own you. Any breaking of my rules and you will be punished." Anxiety flinched and nodded meekly, really he should have known better.

"let's go back to the kitchen." Prestons voice said suddenly. Anxiety got to his feet and slowly made his way over to the door. "quickly before you're noticed or I'll have to deal with whoever sees you." came Prestons threatening voice.

Anxiety stepped out of his room shaking slightly as he crept down the hall to the kitchen. Luckily it was empty. "now grab that bottle." Demanded Preston eagerly. Anxiety hesitated with his hand above the bottle of vodka, he'd never drank before and he was terrified of what Preston would do if he got drunk but it was either this or everyone else would suffer so he grabbed it and carefully hid it zipped up in his hoodie just in case.

As he left the kitchen Anxiety glanced up and down the hall before walking quickly back to his room. Just as his hand landed on the door handle he heard Pattons worried voice coming from behind him. He closed his eyes for a second then turned around with his best blank expression.

"Anxiety, how are you feeling kiddo? After that thing in the kitchen I didn't get a chance to talk to you." Patton said with a small loving smile.

"get rid of him now or I'll do it myself." snapped Preston angrily and it took all of Anxietys will power not to flinch.

"like I said before, leave me alone." said Anxiety but he guessed his voice wasn't convincing enough because Preston growled. Anxiety couldn't think of a way to get rid of Patton before Preston suddenly muttered "why's he so worried suddenly? None of them ever usually try and talk to you or care enough to say hello. It's probably just a way to find out more about you to make fun of and he'll go back to the Prince and the nerd and they'll have a nice laugh about you, like they always do. He doesn't actually care so you should have no problem telling him to fuck off."

Patton tried to say something more but Anxiety remembered all the worthless feelings from when the others had taunted him mercilessly whenever he made a mistake or belittling his opinion even if he turned out to be right in the end. "Stop! Why do you suddenly care? It's not like you usually bother to talk to me so why start now? Just piss off." Anxiety shouted with a small sob towards the end before he walked into his room and slammed the door as hard as he could, making the other doors rattle in their doorframes.

Patton stood outside Anxietys door with a hurricane of different emotions. He was hurt that Anxiety had spoken to him like that, he was annoyed about the language, he was frustrated about not being able to speak but above all he felt guilty and horrible about what Anxiety had said because to an extent it was true. He had always known he was slightly colder to the younger trait but he didn't realise just how much until now.

Patton turned and walked down the corridor, not looking where he was going as tears obscured his vision. He should have told the others to lay off or he should have encouraged him more. He was the embodiment of the heart, emotions, morality or 'the right brain' so he should have done something but he just sat back and watched.

Roman frowned as he walked down the corridor, the doors had just shaken like there was an earthquake but everything else was fine so he was trying to figure out what had happened. As he turned a corner he crashed right into Patton.

"oh... Hey there...Roman...I didn't really see you there." sniffed Patton. Roman immediately bit back his annoyed retort about people not looking where they are going and focused on trying to work out what Patton was upset about.

"let's go to the lounge to talk huh?" Roman said gently. "we can grab some cookies or something and a comfy blanket and we can have a nice conversation." Roman waited for Patton to give him a smile and agree but Patton just shook his head and whispered "I don't deserve cookie's or a blanket."

Roman knew instantly something was terribly wrong but reluctantly admitted he'd need Logan to help decipher Pattons words. He carefully guided Patton into the living room where he waved Logan over and said "Something is really wrong with Patton, he turned down cookies and a blanket which is not normal for him."

Logan thought carefully before replying "if it were anyone else I would inform you that the declination of cookies and a blanket does not indicate a chaotic error however as it is Patton I will agree that this behaviour is most irregular."

Anxiety waited until Patton had walked away from the door before he sunk to the floor with a quiet sob.

" what did I tell you? They don't care about you. If they cared they would know your name by now but they haven't once asked or mentioned calling you anything but Anxiety. You want to know why that is?" Preston said in a confident voice. "it's because they don't want to see you as a being with feelings. If they only call you Anxiety then they only have to acknowledge your job or main function. It dehumanises you. Makes you easier to call an evil monster. That's why they've never bothered to learn or ask your name."

Anxiety felt the small hope in his chest start to dwindle but he held on still. There had to be something, some reason where that wasn't true.

The confidence and pleasure in Preston voice as he spoke made Anxiety feel like it was the truth or Preston wouldn't be so happy.

"now, enough moping around, grab the bottle and start drinking." commanded Preston gleefully.

Anxiety twisted off the cap and took a hesitant sniff, flinching as the fumes burned his nose. He carefully took a small sip and coughed as it burned his throat. Preston just laughed and urged him to drink more so Anxiety did.

Soon half the bottle was gone and Anxiety was laying dazed on the floor, propped up against the wall. Preston materialised in front of him and gently whispered suggestions in his ear.

"c'mon Anxiety, just walk to the bathroom and smash the mirror. It's easy." he whispered with a grin. Anxiety stirred slightly and struggled to his feet while Preston watched eagerly.

"that's it, everyone hates you and you never do anything right. You cause everyone so much suffering especially poor Thomas. You're a nuisance. You're worthless. They'd be better off without you." he chanted, reveling in the steadily saddening face of Anxiety.

"everyone hates me." mumbled Anxiety as he stumbled into the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and cringed away as he saw his reflection. "pathetic" he whispered before punching the mirror so it shattered.

Shards of mirror carpeted the floor but Anxiety ignored them and reached for a large shard that had landed on the sink.

"that's it, just a couple quick swipes and everything will feel so much better." Preston crooned, his eyes fixed on Anxietys hand.

Anxiety slashed the glass down on his arm a few times, feeling soothed by the sensation that it gave him. He tightened his hand on the shard before dropping it on the floor and stumbling clumsily back to his room.

Preston felt a pleasant shudder rush through him as he watched Anxiety step barefoot through the broken mirror. The sight of blood filled him with excitement and he could feel himself getting stronger.

"drink some more vodka." he suggested with a manic grin, knowing that the more Anxiety listened to him the weaker his will would get and the stronger Preston would get.

Anxiety downed a quarter of the rest of the bottle before falling sideways, completely passed out. Preston laughed crazily, took this as his chance and pressed their foreheads together, slowly pushing negative thoughts into Anxietys mind so that when he woke up he'd think it was his own idea to drink and cut himself.

Roman sat silent on the sofa as Patton slept leaning on him, finally worn out from crying.

Logan was pacing up and down, his mind working furiously to come up with a way to get Anxiety to spend time with them. That way they could figure out what was wrong.

Roman felt himself drifting off but jolted awake as he heard a crash. He glanced at Logan who had paused in his pacing and was looking at Roman with wide eyes.

Quietly Roman removed himself from Patton and together he and Logan walked towards Anxietys door where they listened intently.

They could just about hear heavy breathing and then they heard a soft thump followed by the clink of glass hitting the wall. They frowned at each other and then jumped as they heard crazed laughter that didn't sound at all like Anxiety. It went silent after a few seconds and Roman could feel himself growing more and more tired so they decided to confront Anxiety in the morning.

The next morning Anxiety woke up in agony. He had the biggest headache ever and his arms and feet were throbbing. He opened his eyes slowly and saw the dried blood on the bottoms of his feet and streaked on his arms. He thought hard for a second before he remembered drinking the vodka and smashing the bathroom mirror. He had a lot of cleaning up to do. What was the point though? No one ever came into his room, why should they? No one cared so there was no reason to try. What was the point? He held back a yelp of pain as he shifted and put too much weight on his left arm.

"look what we have here." came the smug voice of Preston. Anxiety flinched as the embodiment of depression put a hand on his shoulder. "looks like you had a fun night." Preston was pleased at how down Anxiety looked.

"just leave me alone unless you're gonna help me clean up." Anxiety said in a dull defeated voice.

Preston smirked and replied "you're gonna bother cleaning up? No one ever comes into your room so why do you care?"

Anxiety sighed and muttered "I'm just going to put the bottle back then."

Preston considered this but refrained from commenting. He wanted Anxiety to be glimpsed by the others in this state so they'd start to feel bad about how they treated him but they'd know it was too late.

Anxiety picked up the almost empty bottle and struggled towards his door which he managed to open silently. It was early in the morning so no one should catch him. He quietly limped towards the kitchen and hid the bottle right at the back of the cupboard.

Relieved, he wiped a hand down his face, forgetting the slice he'd accidentally made the night previously so now there was a streak of blood down his face.

Preston had to stop himself giggling like a school child as he saw the mess Anxiety had become. All he needed now was for the others to wake up and see him. He had the perfect idea.

Preston crept down the hall and found Patton asleep on the sofa. He tugged the blanket off of him and blew cold air into his ear, leaving before Patton woke up properly enough to see him.

Anxiety froze as he heard a noise and turned around, flinching as he saw Preston grinning at him. "what have you done?" Anxiety asked, worry in his voice. "it's not what I've done but what you've done to yourself. You're so weak and pathetic. The first hint of alcohol and look what you do to yourself. If any of the others found out they'd be disgusted. About the alcohol, about the blood but especially about how weak you are." Preston snarled, his words dripping with venom.

"just leave me alone." Anxiety said and Preston cackled. "please..." the last word he whispered pleased Preston above everything else. He was finally starting to break him.

Patton woke up on the sofa, his blanket having fallen on the floor and a weird sensation in his ear. He almost brushed it off and went back to sleep when he heard the murmuring of voices. Curiously he creeped down the hall so he could see in the kitchen.

He set his eyes on Anxiety and froze in horror. There was blood streaking his clothes and he looked a right mess, his clothes crumpled, hair matted with blood, bloody bandages wrapped around his arms, bloody footprints on the kitchen floor, dark bags under his eyes that didn't look artificial at all. Patton stood there for a few minutes before registering what Anxiety was saying to himself.

"just leave me alone.... Please...." his voice sounded so defeated and lost that Patton couldn't stand it. He was about to step into the kitchen when a thought struck him. He needed Logan and Roman to help him. Anxiety wasn't going to talk unless the three of them made him. He carefully pulled out his phone and sent a text to them both saying he urgently needed them to come to the kitchen because Anxiety was there and was covered in blood.

He didn't have to wait long and the three of them entered the kitchen, taking note of the violent flinch Anxiety did as he noticed them.

Anxiety turned around and flinched when he saw the other three staring at him in shock and horror.

"they're horrified because they know what you've done, you're covered in blood." Preston said, sitting on the side watching happily. Anxiety glanced at him in panic and Preston laughed. "they can't see me, don't worry."

"Anxiety?" Patton asked gently. "what did you do?" his voice was kind and understanding but to Anxiety it was full of accusation and disgust.

"nothing. Leave me alone." he managed to say but he felt dizzy and swayed slightly.

Logan was pale and muttered "he's probably lost a lot of blood." Roman looked uncertain of how to deal with the situation while Patton was close to tears.

"Anxiety, we're trying to understand what's wrong with you." Roman said and felt a glare from Patton as Anxiety backed away with fear in his eyes.

"they're just saying that to get your guard down. They want to know your weaknesses and now they know you're in a weak state they're trying to take advantage of you." Preston said, walking towards Anxiety and laying a hand on his shoulder, ignoring the fact that Anxiety yelped and shrunk away from his touch.

" I'm fine." stuttered Anxiety eventually but as he tried to step backwards he felt his foot slip, still slick with blood. The ground rushed up to meet him and there was a sickening crack as his nose collided with the floor.

Preston cackled hysterically as Anxiety lay on his front, blood pouring from his nose and the others went into panic mode. This was going to cause Thomas hell.

Logan calmed down enough to order Roman to pick up Anxiety and tell Patton to go grab some bandages from his room.

Preston watched as they ran around like headless chickens before eventually getting bored and going to talk to Anxiety.

"it would be much less hassle if you were to drown in your own blood." he said, watching the small spark of hope flicker slightly. He needed to do something more to completely break Anxiety.

"imagine how your drinking and cutting harmed Thomas. What if he cut too. Think of how angry the others would be of they find out what you've done to Thomas." he said and felt satisfied as the hope in Anxietys eyes finally disappeared. "you're weak, too weak to protect Thomas. You're just causing him more pain, you can't do your job properly so you might as well just stop altogether and do everyone a favour. No one will miss you."

Preston words stabbed into Anxietys mind and lodged there, leaving Anxiety unable to ignore the thoughts running through his mind. He sat up and stumbled towards his room, ignoring Logan telling him to come back. Patton tried to reason with him but Anxiety pushed past him and walked to his room, his one safe place.

Roman stood in the middle of the hall, refusing to let Anxiety last.

"you need medical attention." he said sadly as he took in the horrific condition Anxiety was in. "no, I need to be left alone." Anxiety muttered and tried to push past Roman but Roman picked him up and started carrying him towards Logan again.

"let me go." Anxiety sobbed, thrashing around, causing the stitches in his arm from a couple nights before to tear and blood splattered the floor.

Roman froze as warm fresh blood soaked into his white suit and spilled down onto the floor. He carefully set Anxiety down and yelled for Logan desperately. Anxiety lay on the floor, blood pooling around him from where the stitches had ripped out of his arm.

"Anxiety stay awake." Roman shouted, while Patton sobbed next to him. Logan was trying to desperately patch him up but Anxiety didn't want to be saved.

"I'm doing everyone a favour." he whispered before closing his eyes. Roman and Patton screamed no loudly while Logan focused on stopping the bleeding. He eventually stitched up the wounds and luckily there was still a pulse but it was quite faint and he doubted Anxiety would wake up anytime soon, if at all.

He broke this news to the others and Patton dissolved into tears, clinging to Logan. Roman stared down at the youngest trait and felt a huge wave of guilt and regret flow through him.

Preston stood off to the side with a satisfied smirk. He'd broken Anxiety and now the others would fail to protect Thomas from himself because Anxiety was essential to keeping Thomas from becoming reckless.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few weeks passed and Anxiety remained unconscious in a kind of coma. The others had reluctantly started doing their jobs again, unwilling to leave Anxiety alone but having no other choice as Thomas became more difficult to keep out of trouble.

"Thomas stop!" exclaimed Patton, fear in his voice as he grabbed Thomas's arm and pulled him back onto the curb as a car screeched past. "you could have been hit." Patton was close to tears as he mumbled this but Thomas barely took notice of him.

Logan was working overtime to provide Thomas with suitable facts that would stop him doing reckless things and due to the work his general appearance was worse off. He was no longer wearing impeccably clean and ironed clothes, they were all wrinkled and his tie hung loose from his neck. His hair was everywhere and it seemed there was a lens missing from his glasses.

Roman was also looking less regal and well put together than normal. His suit was still bloodstained and there was rarely a smile on his face that didn't turn into a grimace.

All in all the three sides were showing cracks and Preston watched eagerly. It was more entertaining to watch as the lack of Anxiety made Thomas begin to destroy his other sides. He waited another week before suddenly appearing to the three of them as they finally rested while Thomas slept.

"Anxiety?" asked Logan, barely seeing  properly from lack of sleep and due to the missing lens in his glasses. Preston smirked and shook his head while Roman glared at him suspiciously.

"nope, unfortunately not. My name is Preston." he said with a small flourishing bow. "I'm here to replace Anxiety as he's pretty much gone now." he lied easily, hoping they hadn't noticed his pulse getting stronger and were too distracted by their sadness and exhaustion to notice.

"so you're Thomas's new anxiety?" asked Roman with a skeptical look.

Preston almost growled but instead smiled widely "I suppose so." he responded.

Patton sniffed sadly and buried his face into Logans arm. Logan jumped slightly at the sudden contact but let Patton use him for comfort. He was trying to rationalise the need for a new Anxiety when Anxiety wasn't dead yet. His usually fast, focused mind was slow and easily distracted.

Roman had his guard up, he didn't trust Preston because unlike the other two he could remember the night when Anxiety screamed out begging someone to stop. At the time he thought that Anxietys voice was hoarse from screaming but he felt like it wasn't a coincidence that Preston somehow managed to show up when Anxiety was in a coma.

"wipe that smile off your face. This isn't a happy situation." he snarled, making the other two look up in shock. Preston dropped the smile and held back the angry outburst that threatened to take over.

Roman scowled and muttered "I don't trust you." he then turned and stormed off down the corridor. He didn't know why but he found himself in Anxietys room. It was the first time he'd set foot inside Anxietys room and he smiled sadly as his eyes fell on the desk.

There was no chair in front of it because everyone knew Anxiety liked to sit on random surfaces that weren't supposed to be sat on. He noticed a piece of paper and felt a couple tears come to his eyes as he realised it was a sketch of the four of them with Thomas in the middle. He focused on how Anxiety had drawn himself and sighed as he saw the hunched over position and half hidden face. Anxiety had been suffering for a while now yet no one had noticed.

Roman tore his eyes away from the drawing and found himself drawn to the other door in the room which led to the bathroom. He opened the door and gagged as he saw the blood splattered everywhere. This is where it'd happened. The mirror was in pieces and dried blood coated the edges of some of them. He noticed now the bloody footprints leading back into the room towards the far wall.

Roman walked over and fell to his knees as he saw the blood smeared on the wall. There was so much pain and suffering in this room that it was almost suffocating.

Patton eventually let go of Logan and went to find Roman as he knew how emotional he could get and he definitely needed someone to comfort him. Patton wandered down the corridor until he came to an open door where he could hear sobbing. He peered inside and felt his stomach twist painfully. Roman was kneeling on the floor crying and Patton could see the bloodstains so he correctly guessed it had to be Anxietys room.

Roman looked up as he felt arms around him and managed to gasp out "he was suffering so much, how did we not notice?" Patton started crying too and they hugged each other tightly for comfort.

Preston started sneaking down the corridor, drawn to the sounds of sobbing when he heard Logans voice.

"the other two may not remember you but I certainly do. You didn't give us your name before but I know that you're actually Depression." Logan sounded calm but his voice shook with anger. It had taken a while to think why he'd recognised Preston due to exhaustion but he finally remembered. It was partly why he tended to avoid Anxiety because of how similar he looked to Depression.

" it took you long enough." said Preston with a smirk. "Anxiety seemed to think that you're smart but seems I proved him wrong. He definitely wasn't that smart either because he let me in."

Logan felt a rage building up inside him unlike anything he'd felt before. Maybe they were to blame for some of Anxietys suffering but most of it was from this waste of atoms in front of him.

"you need to leave. Now." Logan managed to get out through gritted teeth. Preston just laughed crazily, not bothering to keep it down.

"you really think I'd leave now? I've almost accomplished my goal. Anxiety is as good as dead, you three are starting to break down and Thomas is going to do something so reckless one day that you won't be able to stop him and he'll die. Face the facts, I've won."

Through this speech Logans face steadily reddened with anger and his hands curled into fists. He'd said before he didn't like physical fights but he would make an exception for Depression.

Roman and Patton heard the crazed laughter and exchanged a look before getting up and seeking the source. They peeked their heads out of Anxietys room and were shocked to see Preston and Logan arguing.

They overheard Prestons speech and were frozen in shock until Logan suddenly swung at Preston.

Preston wasn't expecting this and he fell back slightly under the assault of fists that Logan was raining down on him, but Preston liked to play dirty so he kicked out and caught Logan in the place no guy likes to be kicked.

Logan doubled over with a groan and Preston took that as his chance to punch Logan in the face, shattering his glasses and breaking his nose.

Roman was full of rage but he was overshadowed by the ball of fury that was Patton. Without hesitation Patton sprang forward and started kicking and hitting Preston as hard as he could while shouting "no one hurts my family!"

Roman was torn between pummelling Preston and helping Logan. He stepped forward as an idea struck him.

"enough." he commanded, making everyone pause. He lifted his katana sword and pointed it at Preston. "you've committed the ultimate crime and then some but I will give you a chance to defend yourself before I cut you down." Roman managed to hold back his anger for now.

Preston considered him and glanced at the other two, already feeling bruises forming where he'd been hit. He came up with a sly idea."what is this ultimate crime I'm being accused of?" he asked.

"you hurt Anxiety." snarled Patton.

Preston smirked and replied "ah see that's the thing. I didn't hurt him at all, he did it to himself. He was so hurt over how you guys treated him that he started hurting himself and drowning his sorrows in vodka. I merely watched. Therefore I've done nothing." Roman felt like he'd been stabbed in the chest as he acknowledged the truthfulness of Prestons statement but Logan wasn't as easily fooled.

"you may not have physically hurt him but you convinced him to hurt himself and you made him drink so you could sway his will easier. I know how you operate Depression and the only reason you managed to get to him so quickly is because we didn't acknowledge how he was feeling but the funny thing is you're the main reason I never really spoke to him. I remembered you when these two didn't, you showed up before Anxiety appeared. You and him look quite similar so when Anxiety turned up I avoided him because I was reminded of you. I understand my mistake now and it could be too late but I'm never going to let you destroy anyone else ever again." Logan spoke in a voice that demanded respect and dripped with finality.

Preston raised an eyebrow at Logan and was about to make a snide comment when a sharp stabbing pain filled his stomach. He looked down and saw the tip of the katana poking out of his stomach. He turned his head and was shocked to see Patton and not Roman holding the hilt.

"how is this possible?" he asked and Patton tugged the sword free, a dark look on his face as he watched Preston collapse. "don't underestimate my love of my family." he muttered in a low voice.

Preston laughed, choking on blood. "the damage is done though so I still win." Patton let out a growl and snarled "just die already you fucking lowlife."

Logan and Roman stared at Patton in shock. They'd never seen this side of Patton and hoped to never see it again.

Preston eventually fell silent and stopped breathing, a smug expression still fixed on his face, even in death. After a few minutes he faded away and the others let out breaths of relief.

Roman took back his katana from Patton and put it back in its sheath.

There was complete silence for what seemed hours until Patton said quietly "I couldn't let him hurt anyone else in the family." he turned and walked away, going to sit next to Anxiety.

Roman and Logan exchanged a look before following him silently, unsure how to react to such an uncharacteristically violent action.

Logan carefully made sure his nose was straight so it wouldn't set crooked and tried to sort his glasses out but they were destroyed. He sighed and tried his best to read the monitor he'd managed to set up.

"here, we have the same glasses and I don't need them right now." Patton said softly, handing his own pair of glasses to Logan.

Logan murmured his thanks and his eyesight was pretty much back to normal with Pattons glasses on. He read the monitor and felt a small jolt of hope, Anxietys heartbeat was getting stronger and the self-inflicted wounds were almost completely healed.

Roman noticed the way Logan eyes widened as he read the monitor and the way his lips twitched, like he almost smiled. "what is it?" he immediately demanded.

Logan debated whether to tell them he thought Anxiety was getting better because if he suddenly took a turn for the worse and lost him then it would destroy them. In the end he decided to risk it.

"his heartbeat is stronger and his injuries seem like they'll completely heal in the next few days. He'll have scars but I think we can start to be hopeful that he'll wake up." Logan voice shook slightly as he said it out loud, he was terrified of what Thomas would get up to in the days until Anxiety woke up.

Roman let out a sigh of relief and Patton brushed a few strands of hair out of Anxietys face."you're gonna be alright, we're all here waiting for you to wake up now. Please wake up soon, we're lost without you." Patton whispered in his ear.

They stayed next to Anxiety until they felt Thomas waking up.

Logan took off Pattons glasses and held them out to him but Patton shook his head and replied "you need to keep an eye on him and he listens to you more than me now so I'll stay here with Anxiety unless I'm needed. I won't need them." Logan hesitated but when they heard a crash he immediately sprang into action.

The crash turned out to be Thomas slipping over in the shower because he hadn't been cautious enough. He was laying on the floor in a slight daze, a large bruise already forming on the side of his forehead.

"wow that really hurt, did I just fall?" he asked in a carefree voice. Logan had to stop himself from either making an angry comment or grabbing Thomas and trying to shake some sense into him.

Patton sat next to Anxiety with a contemplative look on his face that slightly unnerved Roman.

"what are you thinking about Patton?" Roman asked quietly.

Patton shook his head slightly "it doesn't matter." he replied dismissively, trying to ignore how out of character he felt. After stabbing Preston he felt like he'd changed slightly and something was off. He didn't want to worry anyone though so he kept it to himself.

Roman was too tired and emotionally drained to try and get a proper answer out of Patton so he let him avoid the question.