It was a really bad day for Connie. She'd snapped at Steven for some trivial matter she couldn't even remember an hour later and now he was doing that tip toe-ing thing she hated. Really, he was just trying to help, but the even, careful tone was working her last nerve.

"Hey, cheer up. We love you," Anna chirped, pulling her into a quick hug.

She didn't mean to mean mug her, but by the soft blanch she must have because she dropped a quick kiss on her forehead and left her alone.

The news spread quickly, but when asked what was wrong and what she needed she had little to say. She didn't know, she never knew when she got like this. She was overwhelmed by nothing, which made her worry about everything.

Sometimes, being in a polycule meant a lot of responsibility on one person by complete accident. Connie was a diligent worker, she loved to work and have things to do which made not having a 9-5 a little strange. But no matter; she filed birthdays, important dates, appointments, doctor paper work, diagnosis and medication prescriptions and pictures and videos and–

She stood abruptly. Staring down at that stupid tablet for another second would have lead to her snapping it in half and chucking it at the nearest person, which happened to be Jacob at the moment.

Her wandering lead her downstairs to the recording room. Her hands lead her to the computer. Steven had hundreds of little samples to mess around with and change idly. Some became songs, some became background music for videos on TokTok. Some became nothing more than a forgotten track.

Connie scrolled through starting from the very top, all the way until around one caught her ear: a bouncy hip-hoppy beat. It was easy lines and simple melodies she liked in her music. Grabbing the remote and flipping a few switches, she jogged into the booth.

Upstairs, Jacob had rigged up a connection for a 'Recording In Session' sign above the tv. Currently, he was on the phone with an old friend, but upon the sign lighting up and flashing he quickly excused himself. "Hey guys, I think Connie might finally be getting it out."

Stevens head shot up from his meal, mid-bite. "Finally. I've been miserable all day."

Jacob sighed and waved the rest in from outside. "Tell me about it."

His boyfriend grinned, pointing a fork at him as he slid his bowl into the fridge. "Being an empath isn't as great as everyone makes it out to be, is it?"

"Gross. That words been dirtied so much I don't even like hearing it anymore." Jacob cringed, turning to his partners.

Anna looked up at the sign and then at Steven. "Connie won't like an audience if we aren't sneaky, probably."

"Or, we could not be cowards and be there quietly for her," Adam suggested. He was already headed that way, it wasn't as much of a suggestion as it was what he was going to do.

The others followed silently and filed behind him.

Adam poked his head past the door and watched Connie furiously writing on a piece of paper with what he could assume was the track on repeat. "She looks okay."

"I remember this track. Heyyy... oh boy." Connie looked right at Steven and narrowed her eyes. "Wait, was she mad at me?! What'd I even do?"

Jacob patted his back sympathetically. "You had a penis and you blew it."

She did smile a little though. "You nosy fucks. You're welcome to stay, it's pretty short and rough anyways."

Jasmin smirked and hip checked Adam out of the way. "So you're freestyling?"

"Oh, shut up," She gigged. "The tracks about to start over, so can you all just hush and not be weird?"

"No promises." Adam rubbed his side and shot Jasmin a death stare. "We're just here, that's it."

"Good," She murmured as it did as she said and replayed from the beginning. "I've just got a lot to get off my chest."

"Let it out, baby."

"I'm a bad bitch, and I got bad anxiety
People call me rude 'cause I ain't lettin' 'em try me
Sayin' I'm a ho 'cause I'm in love with my body
Issues, but nobody I could talk to about it."

That made Steven tingle with anxiety of his own. What issues couldn't she talk to him or her girlfriends about? He understood some things girls just had to keep to themselves, he didn't expect to know every thought that passed through her head. But still, he caught eyes with Anna, who looked just as nervous.

"They keep sayin' I should get help
But I don't even know what I need
They keep sayin' speak your truth
And at the same time say they don't believe, man,"

Alex cringed. He might've actually understood where that line had come from. She'd opted to keep it from Steven unless he found it, but a lot of people lately were going after her for reasons that were at their very best incoherent ramblings about her acting like The Bottom Bitch. Too many slurs, both the ones she was used to and ones belonging to different races entirely were slung at her. He'd turned on the filtering and had been adding words multiple times a day. People were fucking terrible, and it made him all the more sure he hated these people around him less than others. They were kind even in anger, and despite his fake efforts to distance himself from the mayhem they called a polycule, he found himself to be proud of being in it. Being their promo manager just meant he got to see nasty shit about each of them from strangers, and the fact that Connie was hurting about it actually really sucked.

"Excuse me while I get into my feelings for a second
Usually I keep it in, but today I gotta tell it
Not that anybody gives a fuck anyway
But everybody talkin' shit probably sucks anyway."

Oh yeah, that was it. He may have to snitch and spill it to them all as a group. "Guys people are after Connie in the comments but shut up."

Steven slouched in his seat and grunted. "I hate being famous."

"Today I really hate everybody
And that's just me bein' real, yeah

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Bad bitches have bad days too
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, bounce back
How a bad bitch always do
All I really wanna hear is, "It'll be okay"
Bounce back 'cause a bad bitch can have bad days."

Jasmin and Anna cheered for that line. They loved the way Connie could even make crying sound like bad bitch behavior.

"If I could write a letter to Heaven
I would tell my mama that I shoulda been listenin'
And I would tell her sorry that I really been wildin'
And ask her to forgive me, 'cause I really been tryin'
And I would ask please, show me who been real
And get 'em from around me if they all been fake
It's crazy how I try to pile on all the work
And always get surprised 'bout how much it takes, man," She was choked up now, but pushed on anyways like the warrior she was.
"I'm really thinkin' 'bout dialin' 911 'til I freak
'Cause they probably won't think it's that deep
And I don't do drugs, so I never get a time when I'm at ease
I can barely handle smokin' weed
Marilyn Monroe, my favorite ho
My favorite bad bitch, I think she the GOAT
Jammin' to Britney, singin' to Whitney
I just wan' talk to somebody that get me

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Bad bitches have bad days too
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, bounce back
How a bad bitch always do
All I really wanna hear is, "It'll be okay"
Bounce back 'cause a bad bitch can have bad days
All I really wanna hear is, "It'll be okay"
Bounce back 'cause a bad bitch can have bad days."

She let out a long low breath and spread her arms. You could almost see the difference in body language, she was so much less tense and troubled. "A little better. Just a little bit."

They gawked at her for a short second before clapping and cheering.

"It's okay to have bad days," Steven assured her, gently picking her up into his arms. "It'll be okay."

Sometimes, that's all she needed to hear.