First Published: May 12th 2017

Pairing: none, implied LAMP

Genre: angst, hurt/comfort

Word Count: 1315

Warnings: almost drowning, death mention (no one dies though), suicide mention (blink and you'll miss, no actual suicide)

Summary: He hadn't meant to cause the others so much worry. He just wanted to take a bath. With all his clothes on. The usual, you know?

-

Anxiety placed the plug in the tub and proceeded to turn on the taps. Not wanting to wait, he hopped in, clothes and all. It was still slightly chilly, and this was the perfect way to warm him up. In his opinion anyway. Besides, the constancy of water lapping at his skin had proven to be a pleasant distraction before, so why shouldn't it now?

He got as comfortable as he could in the somewhat small bathtub. It wasn't even a quarter of the way filled yet, so he figured he could relax a little. And that's what he did, sliding down until his head was resting on top of the tub ridge, legs leaning to the side, arms crossed. The water seeped into his clothes, not too hot nor too cold. The rushing of it was calming.

More calming than the turmoil of his thoughts recently, at the very least. He had been feeling somewhat out of place the past few days. Everyone was too busy doing this or too tired from doing that to pay any mind to him. And don't get him wrong, Anxiety knew how annoying and needy he sounded. But still.

He soon found himself drifting off to sleep. His legs relaxed against the side of the bath, his head lolling to the side and his arms slowly becoming uncrossed. He didn't register when the water reached halfway, nor when it started coming dangerously close to the top.

He didn't notice when it started flowing out the sides and drenching the floors either.

Meanwhile, Morality was cheerily going about his daily routine. Well, more of a nightly routine. He was just about to clean his hands after preparing part of tomorrow's breakfast when he saw something odd. Or rather, stepped in it.

'Why is there water all over the floors?' he puzzled, taking off his now wet socks. He followed the small river, but quickly figured out where it was coming from and sprinted over to the locked bathroom door. Who had been in there last? Wait, he hadn't seen Anxiety ever come out of there. Is he...?

"Anxiety!" Patton called, worried. "Anxiety, are you in there?" When he got no reply, he tried again, ignoring the rising panic in his chest. "C'mon, son, talk to me! Just tell me where you are!" Nothing. He didn't want to leave in case something happened, but he also knew he had to get help.

"Roman! Logan! Get down here!" He hollered, hoping desperately that they'd hear him, despite him being on the other side of the house. Patton tried the door knob again, but to no avail. Running out of options, he barged against the door. It didn't budge. "Roman, please!"

The two sides crashed down the hallway. "What's going on?" Logan demanded. Roman was too busy complaining about the wet floors.

"It's- I think- Anxiety's in there." That's all he needed to say before realisation dawned on them.

"Move aside," Prince ordered. Morality hastily did as he said, before the royal ran into the door at full force. There was a slight cracking sound from the doorway, but it didn't open. So he tried again. And again. Until finally- CRASH.

The door had given way and they were all quick to race into the bathroom.

"No!" Logan saw him first. Anxiety's head had just slipped underwater, unconscious. Without giving it a second thought, Logic ran over, not letting himself slip, and hauled the boy out of the bath before turning off the taps and unplugging the tub.

Morality grabbed as many towels as he could and hurriedly went about trying to somewhat dry him while Roman stood there in shock, not recognising the dull pain in his shoulder. They were all thinking the same thing.

He's dead and it's all my fault. I should've gotten here sooner. I should've noticed his absence. Why didn't I realise before it happened? Why didn't he come to me? Please wake up. Anxiety, wake up!

The boy finally stirred. Patton immediately flung himself at the still drenched side, Roman quickly following, and even Logan joining in.

"What's going on?" Anxiety mumbled, shivering. The water had long turned cold, and his saturated clothes weren't helping.

"Don't ever do that again," Morality warned, refusing to let go. The others nodded in agreeance as best they could without pulling away.

"I know we don't show it often, Anxiety, but we need you. Don't ever try to leave us." Prince wasn't ashamed to admit that he was crying a little. And by a little, he meant a lot.

"What do you mean? I just..." Anxiety wracked his brain, hazy memories surfacing. "I was having a bath and I was tired so I wanted to relax a bit and then..." He bolted upright. "Oh my god, I could've died."

Suddenly he too was panicking, shoving the others away from him as he pulled at his hair. "I could've fucking died. I would've drowned if it wasn't for you! Fuck, I- I..."

"Anxiety, look, it's okay," Logic stressed. "It's okay, because you're alive. That's all that matters, alright?"

"But I- I almost- I would've-"

"Shhh," Patton soothed. "C'mon, big breaths, remember? In and out. With me." He didn't try to touch him again in case it made things worse, but seeing Anx tug at his hair was heart-breaking. He continued to exaggerate his breathing until he saw the other sagging, briefly calmed.

"I'm sorry," Anxiety whispered. He was still clutching his arms but his breathing had evened out.

"Can we touch you?" Roman asked. He felt so useless, having just stood there while the other two did all the work. If he could comfort Anxiety, then maybe he could forgive himself. It was a nice, unrealistic thought.

Anxiety hesitated, before nodding. They were quick to do so, gently pushing his hands out of his hair and cuddling him on the ground. Anxiety found that this warmed him more than the bath ever could, but didn't mention it for fear of sounding too sappy.

"You should change," Logan spoke up after a while. He looked down at his own damp clothes. "Actually, we should all change."

The others agreed, but didn't move. Nobody wanted to leave anyone alone, not after what just happened.

Patton sighed. "Anxiety should get changed first, considering he's the most saturated." He helped him up, who was still a little shaky. The others followed as they slowly made their way to Anxiety's room.

"We'll let you change," Prince muttered, tugging Morality and Logic away from the room as the darker side shut the bedroom door.

Two minutes later, the royal's leg was bouncing up and down as he tried to force his eyes away from the hallway leading to Anxiety's room. Prince was currently in the commons with an equally restless Logan and Patton. They were all on edge and no one could concentrate enough to even start up small talk.

The tick-tocking of the nearby clock certainly didn't help to ease their nerves.

Roman had had enough, and got to his feet. "I'll be right back," he mumbled as an explanation, before hurrying towards the closed door. Once outside, he paused. What would he say? 'Oh hey, Anxiety, so I know you're getting changed and all, but I irrationally fear that if I open this door, you'll have drowned. Can you give me a sign of life?'

Instead, he knocked.

"Who is it?" Anxiety called. Relieved, Roman walked away without answering. He didn't say anything about how Morality and Logic were walking his way too until they saw him turn around. He didn't say anything either when, in the following weeks, they fell into a schedule of regularly checking up on Anxiety.

And Anxiety didn't say anything either, despite knowing exactly what was going on, for he finally knew he most definitely had a place amongst them.