He could still remember their childhood. They had so much fun together, even though they tended to get into arguments often. He smiled when he thought about them trying to figure out each other's names. But then he frowned and remembered how often their voices drowned out his own. Whenever there was an important decision to be made, they always listened to the voice of reason, which always changed depending on the situation. He was always the odd one out, the boy that learned not to let people get too close. They always seemed to let him down.

As they grew older, he drifted further away from the others, or at least most of them. There were two boys who listened to him, who asked for his opinion, even if they knew it wouldn't be helpful. Those were the ones he trusted, the ones he could turn to for help. He smiled faintly, remembering the times they had spent locked up in each other's rooms, playing video games, reading books, watching their favorite movies, or just talking.

"Blaze?" a voice called, pulling him out of his daydream. It was Virgil, one of his best friends. "What are you doing in here, locked up and alone?"

"It's what I always do," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "What's up, Virgil?"

Virgil frowned, and Blaze immediately knew what was going on. He sat up in his bed. "You know they won't listen."

Virgil's frown deepened. It was interesting, how quickly he could make the room seem to darken with just the slightest shift in his mood. "I know that, too, Blaze," he sighed. "The Sides need you right now. They just don't realize it."

Blaze stared at Virgil blankly. Virgil stared right back with such intensity that he quickly dropped his gaze. "Alright. I'm coming. I still don't think it's a good idea, though..."

They walked to the commons together, which was where all decisions were made and where all discussions were held. Blaze instantly turned toward the forest green chair because he was able to hide and blend in, but someone held him back. He looked down at the arm that held such a strong grip on his wrist. The rose red color of the sleeve informed him of his "captor," and Blaze felt his neck grow slightly warm, and he felt a shiver travel through his body.

"Oh, no you don't!" he said playfully. "No hiding for you. You're sitting with me today!" With that, Blaze was dragged to the opposite side of the room and sat down on a hammock.

"Hi, Alex..." Blaze murmured. Alex was his other friend, the only other person who knew his true name.

"Alright!" called Logan, bringing the room to order. "Now that Doubt is here, we can start our discussion."

"Hey, kiddo!" Patton said from his spot next to Virgil. He waved back in reply, not wanting to say anything unless it was necessary.

Patton had always made Blaze feel uneasy. He was just too optimistic all of the time. He also wasn't very good at keeping secrets. Blaze knew that Patton was very important in Thomas's life, but he could be too easygoing at times.

"Hey, Nerd! What's the issue this time?"

Roman... Blaze thought. I can barely stand him. All of his standoffish behavior and how he thinks he's so brave and amazing, how he should be the center of attention. I don't care if he's Thomas's creativity. There's no reason for him to think he's better than everyone else!

He felt the hairs raise on the back of his neck and was instantly aware that it was Alexander who was staring at him. He must have noticed Blaze fiddling with his bracelet they had made together. The three of them had matching ones. Blaze really only played with it when he was upset in any way, and Alexander knew that. So did Virgil.

"You're staring..." Blaze said uncomfortably.

"Oh, I know I am. You were glaring at the ground and not paying attention. All I could do was stare!" Alex replied. "Basically, Thomas is getting ready for his date that you've known about for, like, a month, and we're trying to figure out how to get him ready and to calm down. Virgil is kind of freaking out... "

Blaze glanced at Virgil and recognized his body language. He was tense, but not in a way that was instantly noticeable unless you saw him in that state often. Virgil was staring off, just above Logan's shoulder, so as to seem like he was paying attention. It worked every time. He was also slightly hunched over, his stomach rising and falling quicker than what was normal, and he was pulling on his jacket strings.

"And it's causing Thomas to panic a little bit as well?"

"Yeah... And Roman and Patton aren't very happy about it," Alexander confirmed.

While the others talked and argued, Blaze just sat and watched. He felt there was nothing he could do, but the others were getting nowhere.

"Umm..." Blaze stammered. The Sides all turned to look at him. Uncomfortable with the attention, he had a hard time explaining his thoughts. "Well, I was thinking that maybe Thomas could, um... Think about all of the good times he had with his boyfriend..." He glanced around and saw that everyone was still staring at him. "You know what, nevermind. This is stupid."

"Come on, kiddo! I'm sure you can think of something!" Patton encouraged. Roman and Logan nodded their heads in agreement.

They actually want my opinion on something? That's a first...

Virgil stopped brooding and turned towards Blaze. "If you can't think of anything for Thomas, can you try to think of something for one of us?"

Blaze was surprised that they were all waiting for him, wanting his honest opinion. Virgil was right, he thought. They did need me...

That's when the whole world froze. Alexander put his arm around Blaze, trying to help him feel more at ease with the situation. He could feel his heart beat quicker and his neck got warm again. Blaze shivered, and it wasn't from nervousness. After what felt like forever, but was just a few seconds, he realized Alexander was talking to him.

"I know you can do it, Doubt. I know you can do it if you think for a moment. Do you have any ideas?"

" W-well... I was thinking that you could help Thomas understand that he's about to be with someone he really cares about. And Virgil could do those breathing exercises he taught us and maybe figure out how to give Thomas the jittery feeling he loves. Roman, you could probably, umm... Work on his presentation, physical and emotional, try to help him be brave. Patton can remind him of all of the previous dates where they had an amazing time. I mean, after each one, it was all he could think about for days!" He took a breath and turned to Logan. "You can find all of the reasons why and how everything will be okay. You're good at doing that."

He looked around, waiting for someone to say something. Eventually, it was Roman who broke the silence. "Thank you, Doubt. Some of those were things that not even I could have come up with, and that's saying something. I would have never thought that Hot Topic over here could make anybody feel the pre-date jitters."

"Wow, Princey. I'm Anxiety! Pre-date jitters, as you say, are a form of anxiety. But that doesn't stop me from being afraid to mess things up like I did last time..." Virgil retorted.

"Oh, kiddo! That wasn't your fault. People move on, and it's almost never something we did! Last time, he explained that it wasn't Thomas's fault, he just kind of, I don't know, drifted. He said it himself! He just had a change of heart," Patton explained. "Trust me! It'll be fine."

Alexander leaned over and whispered softly, "You did it, Blaze! You did more than what I asked, and that's always amazing. Thank you."

With that, the Sides left their positions to perform the tasks Blaze had laid out for them. At that same instant, Blaze was painfully aware of Alexander's and Virgil's absence, but mostly the fact that Alexander was no longer there to comfort him, to help him be himself, to help him not be afraid.