"I'm a cynical cunt and I'm much too lazy to change. And tell my friends I'll be around, getting nowhere sleeping somewhere"

Friend

The latest installment in the Vivid Insomnia Astro Boy fan fiction series by Emicaustic and Kaitlyn Kaidraman.

Chapter Seven: Look Out Sunshine!

The next morning, Atom got up from the floor, picking his cup up and putting it in the sink.

He sat down at the table and saw Tenma walking in from the living room.

Astro walked out of his room and to the table.

"Woah, we're all like walking to the table like it's free food or something." Astro began as he took a seat in a chair.

Tenma stood at the counter.

"Geez, you look terrible…." Astro said, looking at Tenma.

"What do you want for breakfast?" He said in response, trying to change the subject.

"Nothing." Astro smiled.

"Cereal!" Atom looked up at Tenma.

"No no, no fucking cereal OK, that's too plain for my appetite…"

"Cereal!"

Astro sighed.

"No, we're not having cereal, Atom, it's too plain." Astro folded his arms.

Tenma walked over to the fridge and opened it, looking at its contents.

"He better not be pulling out a jug of milk for Plain fucking Jane cereal…"

Tenma pulled out the milk and looked at Astro with a smirk.

"You little shit," Astro muttered.

He chuckled then took the box of cereal out of the cabinet.

Atom smiled.

"Yay, cereal!" He exclaimed.

A few moments later, Tenma handed Atom and Astro their bowls.

"Oh, I'm not eating, Citizen, I'm on a 'well–balanced diet' according to the government," Astro said, looking at Tenma.

"You're going to eat it."

"No." Astro pushed the bowl aside.

"Yes." Tenma pushed the bowl back in front of Astro.

"Nope." Astro pushed the bowl even further.

"Eat the fucking cereal you ass," Tenma said through his teeth as he placed the bowl in front of Astro yet again.

"Meh." Astro picked the bowl up and put it in front of Atom.

"Astro, you're not five. Eat your breakfast." Tenma pushed the bowl back over.

"No, I need to achieve my duty of proving the government wrong, and eating this is not gonna help OK, they need to learn that not all robots have a 'well–balanced diet'"

"Well your father, a robotics engineer, knows that you do need a well–balanced diet. So you're going to do what he says and eat your cereal."

"Well actually no, because I haven't had one for like three years tops, and I'm not dead, so thank you very much, but no."

"It's not going to kill you right away, but it will kill you eventually. You're going to listen to me and eat this."

"But. It's. Too. Fucking. Plain. For. Me."

"And your choice in words is too plain for me. Eat it."

"No, and would you like for me to make my words more spicer for you because I can totally spi–"

"Just eat the damn food Astro, it's not gonna kill you, and eating something plain is definitely not gonna mess up your so-called 'image'" Atom said as he got up and went to put his plate in the sink.

"Thank you." Tenma looked back at Atom.

"You're welcome."

Astro folded his arms and mocked Atom for a moment before picking up the spoon and beginning to eat the cereal.

"Good boy, Astro." Tenma ruffled his hair before leaving the kitchen.

"Please no."

Atom sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.

Tenma walked in later on.

"I tell you, sometimes he seriously gets on my nerves…" Atom began.

"Pft. I know right." Tenma sat down next to Atom.

"Yeah, he should really stop being such a poopy head….."

Tenma chuckled.

"And I'm not just being mean or crazy, because I'm usually chill with most people, but he seems to manage to get under my skin and seriously annoy me."

"He does that to everyone."

"Hmph. Well, not much we can do at this point, he'll just have to learn on his own on how he shouldn't be a jerkface."

"That'll take a while..."

"I agree, but it doesn't hurt to start."

"I've tried teaching him for a while now. He just never listens."

Atom sighed.

"I'd hate to break it to you Tenma, but if Astro is not willing to change and get better then he has some serious issues because I don't think someone with problems would want it to get worse or not look for help."

"I know. He does have problems."

"I mean, I have problems of my own, but I have no issue with taking time out to get better because I don't want things for me to get worse, so it's really not OK for Astro to push things aside or reject every chance he has to turn his life around, because I know he could and the fact that he's not and making it clear to everyone really upsets me a lot…"

"Hmmm." Tenma looked off into the distance. "There's really not much to do about it. He knows what he does is wrong but he has no problem with it. Nothing's going to change until he realizes that he needs to change. Not just for others but for himself."

Atom nodded.

"I almost wanna feel bad for him, but he's such a jerkface it's hard to pay him any respect when you know he's not gonna give it back."

Tenma nodded.

"So, any plans for today?" Atom asked.

"No. Not that I know of."

"Haha, that's fine, I actually enjoy staying home instead of going out, unless I'm taking pictures, then the outdoors is kinda fun."

"Oh!" Atom blurted out when a thought slipped his mind.

"Hmm?" Tenma looked over at him.

"I never told you, did I? Wait, did I? No no, I told Kaitlyn but I don't think I told you….at least I hope I haven't."

"What?"

"I'm going to high school!" Atom exclaimed with a smile.

"Oh. That's great!" Tenma smiled back.

"Yeah, I finally get to see what schools like, always wondered what it's like to go to school…"

"It'll be fun, I'm sure."

"Haha yeah, Stephen told me it was scary and not worth going to, pfft, scary…. it's probably not that scary…."

"Well, it depends."

"What do you mean it depends, is it like not having a 100% guarantee?"

"Pretty much. High school is different for everyone."

"Well, how was high school for you like? Was it scary for you?"

"Well–"

"SHITTTTTT!" came the sound of a loud yell from the kitchen.

Both Tenma and Atom turned around.

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!"

"What's going on in there?" Tenma looked confused.

"I think I sliced my finger really bad, starting to see some metal stuff, Ooo and red too, guess I'm also bleeding to death, how lovely!"

"Oh my god..." Tenma got up and walked into the kitchen.

"Hi." Astro waved with his other hand.

"Let me see." Tenma walked up to him.

"Oh, it's nothing, just sliced a finger, nothing major..." Astro's voice had lots of sarcasm.

Tenma took his hand and examined his wounded finger.

"And it just happened to be my middle finger, just great."

"Son…. I hate to tell you this… But you'll never be able to flip the bird with this hand ever again."

"Nooooooooooooooooo"

"Actually, you just need stitches… In the meantime, try to wrap some paper towels around it so the blood doesn't get all over the place."

"Pfft, can't believe I got sliced by a butter knife," Astro muttered as he made his way to the paper towels, some of the blood made small droplets on the floor.

"Wow."

"That's what I said..."

"Is Astro OK?!" Atom said as he stormed into the kitchen.

"Yes. He's going to be fine."

"That's why you don't use sharp objects, kids," Astro said.

"Phew! Had me worrying..." Atom replied.

Late at night, Astro quietly got out of his room and into the living room where he picked Atom up and carried him downstairs to the lab.

He placed him on the table and Flicked on a few things.

After some time and Astro was set up, he sat down in a chair and dragged a mouse around as he looked through all kinds of strange codes and what–not.

"Hmmm, maybe this is it?" Astro looked down at the keyboard and went to change a few things.

Finally, when he was satisfied, he walked over to Atom to turn him on again.

But He wouldn't.

"Aw come on Atom, wake up, if you're not up by tomorrow my ass is getting roasted!" Astro complained.

Atom still wouldn't turn on.

"Bah! Who cares, I'll just tell them a ghost came in and put a spell on you so you can't wake up..." Astro said as he turned everything off, left the lab and went to bed.

The next day Astro woke up and saw Tenma yet again sitting where he always sat in the morning.

"Ello!" Astro greeted Tenma.

"Good morning."

"Hi."

"Gosh, this place feels so empty I'm not sure why..."

"Hmmm?"

"This place feels so empty and I'm not sure why..."

"Oh… That reminds me, have you seen your brother at all?"

"Uh, no no, not at all, have you tried the living room or perhaps the bathroom or out in the forest?"

"He's not in the living room and the bathroom was empty when I walked by it earlier… and I doubt he's outside…"

"Well uh, shoot I have to go call Brianna, you know, always gotta keep her updated! Anywaysbye!" Astro quickly got up and took off.

Tenma sighed.

He looked over to see the door to the lab open when usually it was closed.

"Hmm?" He looked over at it and looked down the stairs to see the pitch–black basement below.

He decided to investigate and walked down the steps.

He turned on the lights when he made it to the bottom. To his surprise, Atom was lying on the table in the middle of the room.

He walked over and tried to turn him on. After a moment of waiting, Atom was still asleep.

"What… What happened here?" Tenma walked over to the computer with a confused look on his face.

"How did this get on there?" He saw a few things were changed and added. Tenma quickly fixed it then walked back over to Atom to turn him on.

After waiting a moment, Atom's eyes slowly opened as he woke up.

"Woah!" He seemed in shock as to why he was down in the lab.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I'm not sure….."

"Well um, do you know why I'm here?"

"No idea."

"Well that's a little strange, do you think I'm OK?"

"Yeah. You're fine."

"Haha, alright then, guess I better head back to bed and let you sleep, goodnight." Atom got up from the table and started heading out of the lab.

"But it's 11 in the morning..."

"Wait? What?!"

"It's 11 am."

"Wow, I've been asleep that long?"

"I guess so."

"Dang that's a really long–"

"Atom! You're awake, I guess that thing did wor– I mean I'm glad to see your face!" Astro said as he walked down the steps into the lab.

"Hmmm?" Atom was confused.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Astro shook his hands.

Tenma raised an eyebrow.

"What did you do...?" He asked.

"Shit!" Astro muttered.

"I uh, asked Atom how to knit a sweater for Brianna and he went here to get something and a ghost showed up and put him in a deep sleep, I saw the whole thing, I was gonna get you guys but I didn't wanna interrupt your sleep..." Astro said in a quick, nervous tone.

Tenma glared at him for a moment.

"Tell me the truth, Astro."

"IM NOT GETTING MY ASS BEAT TODAYYYYY!" Astro yelled as he quickly made a run for it.

"Hey! Get back here!" Tenma chased after him.

"No!" Astro made it upstairs and ran to his room.

"YOU'RE NEVER GONNA TAKE ME ALIVE YOU LITTLE SHIT!" He yelled from under a few blankets he engulfed himself in.

"IM NOT THE LITTLE SHIT. YOu'RE THE LITTLE SHIT!" Tenma rushed down the hall and to Astro's room.

"THEN YOU'RE THE MAJOR CACA STINKY SHIT!"

A muffled "LANGUAGE!" could be heard from the other room.

"CINDY DON'T ACT LIKE YOU'RE THE ONLY CENSORED ONE IN THIS HOUSEHOLD!" came a yell from Astro as a response.

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH BEFORE I SHUT IT FOR YOU!"

"Told you," Astro smirked

Tenma walked into the room, he saw a large pile of blankets lying in the middle of the room.

"Show yourself."

"UNICORNS!" Astro blurted out.

"I'm going to jump on the pile of blankets. Come out or get squashed."

Astro lifted the blankets a tad just to expose a portion of his face.

"Listen here you asshole, I didn't do shit and if you dare try and squish me, my friend you won't be alive much longer." Astro then covered himself in his blankets again.

Tenma sighed.

"Fine. You asked for it."

He took a running jump and leaped onto the lump of blankets, face first.

"NOOOOO SHITTTT GOD FUCKING DAMNIT I SWEARRRRR!"

"MY FUCKING INSIDES BROOOO!"

"Ummmmm, was I uh, unaware of an event taking place right now?" Atom asked after casually walking into Astro's room and witnessing the odd scene.

Tenma looked over at Atom.

"I'm punishing your brother."

"Oh well uh, that's an uh– odd type of discipline if I do say so my uhhhhh, self." ((omfg I'm trying so hard not to choke on my fucking Doritos omfg ~kate))

"HE'S A MONSTER ATOM, A HUGE CACA STINKY SHITTY ASSHOLE MONSTER I FUCKING SWEAR!"

"Don't listen to him, Atom. He's a disobeying little shit."

"Uh uh, yeah yeah, totally, well Ummm, I think I'm just gonna go watch some preschool shows while I bleach my eyes out to cleanse my soul….." Atom slowly walked away.

"Look what you did, Astro. You scared your poor brother to death."

"Says the one that decided to jump on me…"

"It's not my fault you're being an asshole."

"I'm sorry but the asshole is part of my job description if you didn't know….."

"Just tell me what you did to Atom."

"I ain't do shit, mofo." Astro folded his arms.

"Yes, you did do shit."

"No, I ain't do shit, mofo."

"Tell me what you did."

Astro pulled the blankets from his head.

"You're really testing my limits, aren't you?"

"Tell me."

"No, because I ain't do diddly squat."

"Yes, you did. Stop lying to me."

"No."

"Astro."

"Citizen."

"Astro, tell me what you did!"

Astro sighed.

"You wanna know what I did?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure you wanna know what I did?"

"YES!"

"Are you really sure you wanna know what I did?"

"Yes. Tell me right now."

"OK OK…."

"Are you really really sure you wanna know what I did?"

"YESSSSSSSSSS DAMMIT!"

A noise from the distant arose, almost sounding like a familiar voice singing.

"Oh dear lord, don't tell me he put on Sesame's Street, goddamnit," Astro said.

Tenma facepalmed.

"ATOM SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Astro yelled.

"THE POWER OF ELMO COMPELS YOU!" Atom yelled back.

"What the actual fuck?" Astro looked at Tenma.

He tried his best not to burst out laughing.

Astro folded his arms and huffed.

"YOU KNOW IF YOU REALLY WANTED TO TEACH ME A LESSON YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO TRY A LOT HARDER!" He yelled.

"I JUST DID, NOW HOW ABOUT INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING YOU FESS UP BECAUSE A LIAR IS MORE WORSE THAN AN ASS!" Atom replied.

"But I didn't do shit, goddamnit!" Astro stood up.

"You have to prove that." Tenma looked over at him.

"Bullshit." Astro walked away out of his room and to the living room.

Tenma sighed and walked out of the room.

"You seriously think coming here is gonna solve your problem?" Atom asked.

"Pffft, of course not, just ah, thought of ummmm, watching TV!" Astro said as he snatched the remote from near Atom.

"Hey!" Atom looked at Astro as he tried to reach for the remote.

"Nope, TV's mine now buddy boy." Astro sat down and changed the channel.

Atom sighed and folded his arms.

"Fine, have it your way." He looked away.

"Yup, thanks!" Astro smiled.

Tenma walked into the living room.

Astro slowly turned around and gave him a death stare.

Tenma stuck his tongue out at him as he made his way into the kitchen.

Atom sighed with his arms still folded, his smile slowly fading away. ((Hope no one assumes he's making a big deal about the TV and likes to think deeply about things like me….. ~Emily)).

"Atom? Are you seriously that upset about me changing the stupid channel? Sheesh, what a baby…." Astro said as he rolled his eyes when he briefly looked over at Atom who was facing away from him and learning more on the couch, still with folded arms and a fading smile.

"No, I'm f–fine." Atom replied in an almost inaudible voice, beginning to feel a bit tense.

He looked around for a moment before suddenly getting up and walking at a slightly fast pace to the bathroom.

He closed the door behind him and suddenly the silence annoyed him.

Atom tried keeping himself together before abruptly coughing quite hard.

He tried clearing his throat before he found himself hovering over with toilet with tears streaming down his face.

He coughed again and let everything escape from his mouth, he soon just found himself sitting there crying and shaking at the same time.

"Pffft fine you win, I'll put your stupid shit bac– are you fucking kidding me, again?!" Astro complained after letting Atom win but seeing he had wandered off again.

"UGH! TENMA HE FUCKING LEFT AGAIN GOSH DARNIT!" He got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen.

Tenma looked up at Astro from where he was sitting at the table, a cup of coffee steaming in front of him.

"Well? He left again, we gotta go get him!"

"I don't think he would just leave the house like that again. He actually listens to me… unlike some people."

"Well, then where could he be, hmm?"

"Somewhere in the house, of course"

"Pffft, sure sure, and when I'm right you're gonna regret it….." Astro walked away.

Cindy woke up from the small nap she was taking and stretched.

She yawned as she got up, walked out of the room and to the bathroom.

She was surprised to see the light on but walked in anyway.

Cindy gasped and took a step back when she saw Atom sitting on the floor, vomit slowly dripping down his chin.

"BILL!"

"Hmm?" Tenma looked up from his cup of coffee. He quickly got out of his chair and rushed to where Cindy was calling him from.

"Cindy! What's–" He looked into the bathroom.

Once he saw Atom, he immediately kneeled down by his side and examined his face and eyes. He was pale. His eyes droopy and glassy.

"What happened?"

Atom looked away and shook his head.

"I'm fine." He couldn't even get those words to come out of his mouth.

"You really need to wash this off..." Tenma said looking at the stomach fluid on Atom's shirt. He reached over and turned the faucet on in the bathtub.

Atom sighed.

"Think you can take a bath?" Tenma looked at him again.

Atom didn't respond.

"I'm not going to have to help you am I?" Tenma sighed.

Atom shook his head.

Tenma stood up. He helped Atom up.

Atom seemed to be nervous with the leftover feeling of being tense and uneasy.

"We'll talk about this after you get cleaned up, ok?" Tenma patted Atom's back and smiled.

Atom smiled at him for a moment.

Tenma left the room and closed the door behind him.

He looked over at Cindy who was standing in the hallway, one hand over her mouth and her arm laid across her stomach.

"Are you going to be alright?"

She nodded and took her hand away from her mouth, letting out a very small smile.

Tenma smiled back and put his arms around her in a hug.

Soon after time passed, Atom walked out of the bathroom and slowly made his way to the living room, only to be stopped by Tenma half the way.

"Is there something you aren't telling me?"

Atom was in a slight quick burst of panic, unsure of what to even say.

How could he explain something to Tenma when he didn't even understand it himself?

And so what if he did, what facts would he have to back up his assumptions?

"Uh–uh….." Atom stuttered.

"No no, it's fine, probably just ate something bad you know, it uh– happens to uh, people."

"Hmm. Well if you ever need anyone to talk to. Or anything at all. You have me and Cindy." Tenma put his hand on Atom's shoulder.

Atom nodded and awkwardly walked away.

"It happens to everyone, Atom, just gotta lay off the beans and stick to salad." He muttered to himself as he walked away.

"Or you stop acting like a baby and keep this crap under control." This time his voice was even lower.

"You got this."

Atom sighed as he sat down on the couch.

Astro surprisingly was still sitting not too far from him, this time laughing a little at the TV.

"You got this."

He relaxed a little and leaned back.

Astro looked over at him.

"Sup?" He said

"I'm fine!" Atom blurted out.

"Hmm well then," Astro replied.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING OKAY?!" Atom stood up and suddenly yelled at Astro.

"Sheesh, sorry, don't need to get all angry with me." Astro scooted back.

Atom sighed and sat back down, feeling extremely terrible.

"S–sorry…." He looked down at the floor.

"It's… fine." Astro replied.

"If I get my butt out of here in enough time I can haul myself back to the robot hospital and have them sort this out….."

Atom sighed for what he claimed to be the millionth time.

Late at night, Atom was busy in the living room prepping for him to leave, he heard footsteps in the distant, which slightly scared him.

He tried not to make any noise but accidentally hit his leg against something, causing him to let out a sudden "ouch!" as a reaction.

Atom looks around and saw no one, he then proceeded to walk out the door.

Out of the shadows Tenma's voice says, "And where do you think you're going?"

"Crap." Atom muttered.

"Ummm, just uh, outside to uh, go stargazing, haha, not sure if you know but I kinda have a thing for starsy spacey stuffy stuff."

"You know I don't like lying, Atom."

"Haha, lying, pfffft…." Atom forced a chuckle.

"Atom. Tell me where you were going.' Tenma walked up to Atom, the moonlight now shining on his face.

"Look, I–I don't mean any harm but–"

"Atom."

Atom took a step back.

"I'd like to stay and all, it's really great here, honest, but… I–I have to go, for the sake of my safety and those here, I don't think my mind is–"

"I know there's something wrong, Atom. Wherever you plan on going isn't going to help."

"No no, I'm not going home if that's what you're thinking, I think I need to check myself in."

"The hospital isn't going to help either."

Atom sighed and turned his back away from Tenma.

"Well, it's worth a try." He took a step forward.

"I know you don't understand what's going on in your head, but leaving really isn't the answer. If you would just open up a little more, I could help you pinpoint what this problem of yours is and fix it."

"Well, it's not easy you know…..when you…."

Atom sighed, taking another step.

"I know what you're going through. I know that feeling. And trust me, staying is the best option."

Atom was about to leave out of sheer frustration, but stood there like a statue, all thoughts taking a sudden leave.

He soon took one more step and looked over at the door.

"If you make it through today, you can try again tomorrow."

"I'm sorry." Atom walked a few more steps, almost getting close to the door.

"I'm just as vulnerable as you are…." Tenma walked up behind Atom.

Atom took a quick look back at Tenma.

"We can make it through this together." He smiled at Atom, heartfelt tears forming in his eyes.

Atom, out of sudden impulse, quickly opened the door and walked outside.

Astro slowly opened his door and walked out.

"Dad, what are you doing up so late? Go the fuck to sleep, I'm trying to relax so I can go to fucking bed and all I hear is your stupid shit louder than a speaker!"

Tenma looked at him with angry tears running down his cheeks.

Astro just walked back into his room and closed the door, not wanting to deal with whatever troubles were bothering Tenma.

Tenma then fell to his knees, looking at the ground, feeling like he has failed Atom.

Atom just stood outside the door the whole time, debating on whether or not to leave.

"If you leave now, you'll be back by the morning."

Atom sighed.

He felt bad for leaving but knew there really wasn't much he could do, or was even willing to do in a desperate effort to get to the bottom of this and fix as much as possible.

"Think I might need to fly if I wanna get there in time…."

He sighed, making a few steps forward until taking off.

Atom got there not too long later as he walked through the doors.

"Hi, Atom!" The lady upfront greeted him.

"Oh, hey miss!" Atom greeted back.

"Lemme guess, you're sick again?"

"Actually no I uh, need to check myself in."

"Oh, you OK?"

"Well uh, no, but that's just on the DL, you and me."

"Yes yes, you can just go up to your room, I'll call someone in for you." ((Just a fun fact: Atom's been to the hospital so many times the whole staff knows him and even has a room just for him! Says a lot, hmm? ~Emily))

"Thanks." Atom sighed and walked to the elevators.

He walked into his room and sat down, only for someone to walk in.

"Atom, what a pleasant surprise to see you here so close to midnight! Lemme guess, fever? Coughing? A headache?" The person [Dr. Meyer] began.

"No no, I'm not sick." Atom waved his hands in disagreement.

"Oh well uh, I'm sure whatever it is, we'll do something about it."

"Um, can you, close the door." Came a request from Atom.

"Oh, sure sure!" The door then closed.

"Well um, I think there's something wrong with me?"

"Hmmmmmm, go on."

"Well, I just, I get these weird feelings all the time, and I'm always tense and shaking and acting so clingy towards people, and uh, I've been, throwing up, occasionally."

"Hmmm." Meyer walked over to the table and picked up Atom's charts, they began to examine it.

"Well your charts seem to be fine, no sign of any mental difficulties here, but that's not to say you couldn't be faced with that sort of problem…."

Atom sighed.

"Just what I need." He said with sarcasm.

"Don't worry, I'm a professional, and professionals can figure things out…"

Atom looked around the room.

"Now there are a few things I can do, where would you like to begin?"

After quite some time passed, Atom was left alone in the room again.

He briefly let out a chuckle at the recalling of a memory.

"You know I care." Atom looked over as if he were talking to a person.

He looked quite sad when he realized no one was there.

Meyer walked back in again.

"WellAtomIgottheresultsandthing'saren'tsosunny." He said quite fast.

"What do you mean?" Atom was confused.

"Well you were right, something's not right in that head of yours, sadly we can't do much to rid of it completely, but we can do something so it's not so bothersome."

"Now you have two options, I can write out some meds you could take or I could refer you to a therapist, which you wouldn't really want, the atmosphere there is terrible, makes you wanna die in a ditch, trust me I've been there once and I'm not even a robot!"

Atom chuckled.

"I think I'll just take the meds, not really ready to go 'die in a ditch' quite yet….." He replied.

"Meds it is!" He walked back to the table and sat down in a chair.

"...You're also corrupted, you know that, right?"

"Uh–yeah! My brother is and that's who I got it from..."

"It.. transfers?"

"Well, I'm his twin..."

"Ah! That explains it."

"There you go." He handed the papers to Atom.

"All of this?"

"Well it's just to start you out, cover you from all angles, but this will change over time."

"And uh, you're starting to become a little overweight, need to cut back on the sweets and work out more….."

"I know, I'm trying, one step at a time!"

"Yep tot– hey that's my catchphrase!"

"Not anymore." Atom laughed.

"Bah! Fine, guess i'll just find another one…."

"Awww no no, you have it, I promise I won't use it again."

"No, you take it, because I have a new one!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes! It's gonna be 'time a at step one'!"

"Isn't that just 'one step at a time' backwards?"

"Ssssssh of course not, I'm original….."

Later on, Atom was back home and knocked on the door, Astro came out and opened it.

"Oh, FOUND HIM!" Astro began.

Atom smiled and walked inside.

"So uh, you know where Tenma went, I uh, need to give him something…." Atom asked.

"Ummmm, no, last time I checked he walked with a beer down to the lab." Astro replied.

"Great." Atom made his way downstairs to the lab.

At the last step, he accidentally kicked something with his foot. It rattled like glass clanking together.

"Huh?"

He turned the light on and looked down to see a case of 5 empty beer bottles.

"Seesh, Astro wasn't kidding, this is quite a lot."

He looked up and saw Tenma sitting in his desk chair, his head laying flat against the metal examining table in the middle of the room, and his hand holding an open, half-empty bottle.

"Tenma?" Atom walked up to him.

"I uh, went to the hospital and they uh, they uh…"

Atom sighed.I

"Gosh, I never thought I'd have to say this to anyone." He muttered.

"They said I have anxiety and they want me on meds, sadly…."

"And I uh, I got you something! Kinda my way of uh, saying sorry for what I did….."

"T–Tenma?" Atom started becoming worried.

He didn't respond, or even move for that matter.

Atom got slightly closer to him and moved his hand to touch his shoulder.

Nothing happened.

Atom sighed.

He moved his hand over to Tenma's head, moving it so he could see his face.

He nearly leapt back.

Tenma's usually prim and proper hair was a mess, his beard unkempt, there were large dark circles under his eyes, and now some drool was leaking out from his half-open mouth.

Out of sudden fear and impulse, Atom made a mad dash to get upstairs and look for someone.

"CINDYYY! CINDYYYYY!" He cried out.

"Atom?" She rubbed her eyes as she walked out of her bedroom.

"T–TENMA!" Atom was fumbling around with his words.

"What about him?" She looked confused.

"HE UH, I DUNNO I JUST UH GOT HERE AND HE, HE DOWNSTAIRS ALL UHHHH GROSS LOOKING!" Atom seemed to be losing it with all the gestures he was making out of sheer stress and fear.

She looked even more confused now.

Atom suddenly clung to her, tears running down his face.

"HE'S DEAD!" He yelled out, muffled.

"He's what?!" Cindy looked shocked. She pulled away from Atom and quickly ran downstairs, Atom following close behind.

She nearly tripped on the same box of bottles Atom kicked earlier.

When she caught her balance she looked down at them, picking one up.

"UMATARO TENMA!" She yelled harshly.

"Huh? Wuh?" Tenma slowly opened his eyes, soon closing them from the bright lights and groaning with an extreme headache.

"What did I tell you about drinking?!"

"Cindy, please." His words slurred a bit.

"Don't 'please' me."

"Cindy, you–you're welcome."

"That doesn't even make any sense!" She walked up to him.

"Why does it have to?" He lifted his head up and was about to take a drink from the bottle in his hand.

"Give me that!" Cindy snatched it from his hand.

Atom could feel a bad aroma going on, which bugged him greatly and caused him to just head up the stairs.

"Thank you..." Tenma mumbled.

Cindy sighed as she put the bottle in the box with the others.

Tenma put his head back down.

"What even happened that made you drink again."

"I...I'm not... I'm not an alcoholic, Cindy..." He slurred.

"I know that... What happened?"

"You d...don't know?"

"No. I don't. I went to bed the last time I saw you."

"Atom... Atom left again..."

"He left?"

"W–w–what do you mean? Don't... Don't you see he–he's missing?..."

"He was in here a second ago."

"HE WHAT?!" Tenma suddenly sat up.

"Gah!" He shielded his eyes from the light and put his head back down. He groaned again.

"I'll... I'll be angry at him later..."

Cindy sighed again and turned off the lights after picking up the pack of beers.

"Don't drink anymore..."

"Mmhmmm..." Tenma nodded as he rubbed his head.

Cindy walked back upstairs.

"Gosh, I'll be a drug addict anytime soon if I have to take all of this crap!" Atom threw his papers up in the air and hit his head against the table out of frustration.

He lifted his head up and saw Cindy walking through.

"He's not mad right? Because I uh, need to, ask for a favor?" Atom asked her.

"We'll see when his hangover goes away." She dropped the box into the trash.

"I just feel really terrible for what I did…."

"Well... He really did want to help you. He thought he knew what was best for you. Perhaps he did know. Perhaps he didn't. But he cares for you and only wants you to be happy. I'm guessing that when you walked through that door, he felt you lost trust in him. He runs on trust. When he loses it he crashes."

Atom sighed.

"Well, he's got nothing to worry about now." Atom collected his papers and slid them over to Cindy.

"Hmmm. Prescriptions for anxiety meds, eh?"

"It was either that or therapy, and trust me I wouldn't put a toe in that door even if you paid me."

"I assume that even if Bill had taken this into his own hands, this would've been what came out of it anyways; you going to the hospital and getting medication."

"You assume a lot of things, you know?" Atom chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood and throw in a joke.

"Haha. I guess so." Cindy chuckled. "I just did it again, didn't I?"

"Mmmhmmm."

They both laughed.

"So anxiety? I saw it coming, honestly."

"Yeah what wonderful news that was." Atom went back to speaking in his sarcastic voice.

"Well, you took things into your own hands. I'm proud of you. Guess we're just so used to Astro being so needy that you going about and doing things like this on your own is a bit of a surprise."

Atom looked at her and smiled.

She smiled back.

((END OF CHAPTER 7!))

((CO–Author's note: I'd like to thank the show Rick and Morty for giving me an accurate representation and inspiration for a drunk person. thanks. ~Kate (P.S. I'm 17 so I can watch that show. don't worry. Ok. Bye.) ))