First Published: April 18th 2017

Pairing: neutral, can be read as LAMP

Genre: angst, hurt/comfort, fluff

Word Count: 689

Warnings: nightmares, exhaustion, self-hate, panic attack

Summary: Sequel to Sleep and Lack Thereof - Anxiety comes clean.

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Anxiety woke up with a scream. He tried to fling the blanket off of him, but something was weighing it down. A lot of things, apparently, because he couldn't move in any direction. He was trapped.

He couldn't see – it was too dark – so instead he started flailing his arms, trying to strike the monsters to make them get away. Anxiety thought he had woken up, the demons were still here. Were they real?

"Ow!" one of them cried out, and Anxiety did his best to scoot away from it, only to run into another warm body.

"Leave me alone!" he shrieked, curling in on himself, hugging his knees to his chest as his heart hammered.

Light flooded the room. "Anxiety, calm down, it's just us!" someone called, and then hands were on him, holding him.

But Anxiety's terrified brain didn't recognise the action to be soothing, and it only served to make his sobs (when did he start crying?) worse. It was only until the voices calling out to him cut through the static fuzz in his brain that he began to realise what was happening.

"Morality?" he called weakly, opening his blurry eyes to see the familiar blue shirt hugging him tightly.

"Yeah, it's me," he replied, rocking Anxiety back and forth slightly. "And Prince and Logic. Nothing else." He pulled away to reveal the other two, Logan standing by the wall, hand still on the light switch and Prince sitting up, with the worst case of bed hair anybody's ever seen, seeming ready to defend Anxiety from any monster that dared to show its face.

Realising that he was safe, Anxiety's tears renewed. "I'm s-s-sorry," he gasped out between sobs.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" Roman asked, genuinely confused.

"I-I woke you all up and now you're worried but I didn't mean to!"

The others were taken aback by the sudden outburst.

"Anxiety, what do you mean, 'you didn't mean to'?" Morality whispered, as he leant forward to hug him again.

"T-the monsters, they told me that I'm a burden and I force you all to take care of me too much and it's true!" Anxiety cried, ducking his head as the tears kept falling. "I'm keeping you awake, I'm worrying you, and for nothing! I'm sorry!"

Logan walked over as Roman and Morality were too shocked to comfort the poor boy. "Anxiety," he spoke, "look at us." When he didn't, Logic gently lifted his chin. "What did I tell you about cognitive distortions? None of this is your fault. We're doing this willingly because we-" he seemed to get a bit choked up at seeing the other's distressed state, "care about you. And don't you dare try to say we shouldn't. We are worried about you, Anxiety, because you fainted out of exhaustion. Is it because you've been having nightmares?" Logic's voice grew softer near the end.

Anxiety pulled away slightly to rub his tears and nod. He felt so ashamed.

Roman tackled him in a hug then, surprising everyone. "Damn it, Anx. You should've told me! I'm supposed to be the protector! If I can't save you from your nightmares, what good am I?" His voice cracked slightly, making Anxiety wince.

"No, don't blame yourself, I should've tried to control-"

"Don't blame yourself either, Anxiety," Morality said forcefully. The stark contrast from his usual exterior emphasised how serious the situation was. "Now, how about we all go to sleep, because I'm sure you're emotionally – and physically – exhausted after all that crying. We'll be there when you wake up, I promise."

Anxiety hesitated. "...Okay," he murmured, his eyes falling shut already. They all clambered back into the bed, slipping under the covers and holding Anxiety close.

"Anything else we can do for you?" Roman questioned, after Anxiety was sedated.

He thought this over for a bit, eyes closed, taking so long to answer the others were about to ask if he was already asleep. "Just smile," he said softly, "I really need to see you smile right now." He blearily blinked up at them.

Logan, Roman and Morality were happy to comply.