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So, in this chapter, we're going to see most of the others' thoughts about what's going on. I tried to capture the different side's reactions, so hopefully I did it right. Once again, this chapter deals with potentially triggering content.

(Feel free to skip this part of the note if you don't want to read it):

Thanks to everyone who took the time to write a comforting comment about my health. It means a lot that people who don't even know me went out of their way to try to make me feel better. The day after I posted the last chapter, I got a call from my doctor, and they said that there's a 50% chance of the abnormal cells being cancerous, so I talked to the surgeon today (really fast turnover for this). Since they can't determine whether it's cancerous or benign, I'm going to have half of my thyroid removed in the beginning of April, and that should hopefully be the end of it regardless of what it is. So, all this is pretty scary (and isn't helped by my needle phobia), but I should be okay. The nodule might not even be malignant, but since it can't really be ruled out, it's safer for me to have it removed, and then I should be okay.

And now, the story:

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Virgil felt completely out of his depth with this. He knew how to handle anxiety, knew how to help Janus if he was feeling anxious, but this was way beyond anything he knew how to help with. Hell, he barely even knew how to help with the skin picking thing, so this was just… He didn't know what to do.

Janus had already tried to kill himself before, and now, he had apparently tried again, though he had managed to stop himself before he could complete the attempt. What would have happened if Janus hadn't stopped himself? If he had taken more pills? If they had waited a little longer and Janus worked up the nerve to try again? They couldn't just die because they were parts of Thomas, but an overdose would have put Janus in a lot of pain. It might have even pulled him into a coma, and who knew how long it would have taken him to wake up from that- if he ever would have.

He didn't even know what was wrong. Sure, he knew that Janus had been getting more anxious- despite the fact that he had seemed to be improving his relationships with everyone- but Virgil really hadn't expected his observation to spark whatever it was that happened. He expected Janus to be concerned, maybe upset, but how could he have known it would have set off a full-blown mental breakdown?

And apparently, this wasn't even the first time Janus had gotten like this. He'd been like this even when Virgil had still been living with the Dark Sides, and he hadn't noticed. He'd known that Janus would sometimes stay in his room for extended periods of time- how had he not known that wasn't normal? Why hadn't he taken it seriously? Had he been too consumed in his own issues to notice that Janus had been doing that badly?

Or… had Janus not trusted him enough to tell him? Had it only started getting so bad after they began arguing all the time? Had that caused some of it? Based on what Remus told them, it seemed like that argument between them had sparked Janus's last attempt. Or, maybe, were the arguments a symptom of whatever the issue was?

He didn't know.

But he did know that, right now, Janus was sleeping, and he would wake up soon. And when he did, they would have to help him, whatever form that took.

They had to help him.

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Logan was tired, but more importantly, he was terrified. He hated admitting it, even to himself, but he was. Through everything that had been happening lately, Logan now cared for Janus just as much as he cared about the others. He wanted to help him, and he was terrified of the thought that Janus would hurt himself, that he already had.

He had known that there was something wrong besides the skin picking, but he had written it off as anxiety. Of course, he knew that part of it likely had to do with the past. Logan hadn't been there when Creativity, the old Creativity had forced Janus to leave, and he hadn't witnessed the argument that apparently transpired between Janus and Virgil that made Virgil leave, but he had at least gotten a summary of the former event after he asked where Deceit had gone. Even back then, he had known that driving the other side away had been an over-reaction, but Creativity was stubborn in his decision, and Morality had been upset, so he had let the matter go. He thought that letting it go would have only been temporary, and he thought that Deceit would eventually come back, but he hadn't. Not for a very long time, and by then, they were on opposite sides, and it seemed like it was too late to change it.

Regardless of what exactly happened, though, Logan knew that both events likely contributed to what had transpired these last few weeks. He didn't entirely understand whatever thought processes must have gone through Janus's mind, but he had already theorized that Janus had a difficult time trusting them. Even when he seemed to be fine around them, he still hid when things were wrong until he wasn't able to hide anymore. This had probably been building up for a while, and Janus hadn't been comfortable in seeking their help.

He couldn't be entirely sure what the issue was, especially not without talking to Janus about it first. Most likely, it wasn't just one thing. Being locked away with his thoughts for a prolonged period of time had likely only worsened matters, but his best guess as to what had happened was a combination of anxiety and a severe depressive episode. It was hard to tell, though.

But the name for what happened wasn't exactly the most important thing. Naming it could help in treating it, but the first step was to make sure Janus was safe.

He just needed Janus to be safe.

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Patton felt awful. If only he hadn't just blurted out the first thing that popped into his head, this might not have even happened.

He hadn't meant to make Janus upset, but he knew he had. Janus didn't look happy before he came into the room, but he hadn't looked like he wanted to cry until Patton told him that his decreased lying was a good thing.

He should have known that was the wrong thing to say. After everything that had happened between them, he should have known that suggesting that Deceit performing less of his function- his function he had to fight to show them the importance of- was a good thing.

But that hadn't been what he meant! He knew now that lying could be good sometimes, and he hadn't been upset about Janus's compulsive lies (not for a while now, at least). He just thought that Janus had been opening up to them more. And besides, wasn't speaking backwards all the time hard? It always led to so much confusion, and it seemed to inconvenience Janus just as much as everyone else. And when he really couldn't control the lies, wasn't that unpleasant? He doubted that Janus liked having his words twisted out of his control. Wouldn't it be easier on him if he didn't have to lie?

He wished he just hadn't said anything, or that, at the very least, he had explained what he meant faster. He should have stopped Janus from leaving, stopped him from locking himself in his room. But he hadn't.

While Janus slept, Patton laid a soft blanket on top of him.

It wouldn't do much to help in this situation, but for now, it was all he could do.

He just hoped Janus would be okay.

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Roman was shocked, to say the least. He hadn't expected his brother of all people to comfort Janus like that. Sure, he knew that the two of them were friends (after all, Janus and his brother had been hanging around the commons more and more lately), but Roman had never seen his brother be gentle and comforting like that. Well, he hadn't seen him break down crying, either, though.

At least the comforting had worked- as well as it could have, anyway. Roman hadn't known what to think when he saw his brother and Logan return, holding an unconscious Janus. Considering what Remus had told them right before, his first thought was that Janus might have been dead. But he quickly dismissed the idea since he knew it wasn't actually possible, and if Janus was in any immediate danger, then Remus and Logan would have looked way more panicked than they did, right?

He didn't like seeing Janus like this. He would have even preferred the Janus from before over what the snake was now. He would rather Janus be awake and okay, even if he was manipulating and insulting them.

But Janus hadn't apparently been really okay then either, had he? Maybe he was okay for parts of it, but according to Remus, there had been a lot of times when he wasn't.

And as he watched Janus bury his face and cry (in a position that looked so much like Remus earlier), he was reminded of the way Janus had curled up on the ground that day. He was reminded of the actions his splitting mind had taken to prove he was still the hero.

He shouldn't have let that happen. It had been his half of the old Creativity's mind that wanted to drive Janus away, and after the split, his resolve to keep him away only strengthened. No amount of compliments, no matter how nice they made him feel (though a part of him, deep down, knew that most of them had just been lies) would have changed that.

Lately, he'd been trying to make an effort to make up for the past, with both Janus and Virgil, even if not his brother so much. He had tried, he'd been trying.

But he feared it might have been too little too late to make a difference.

And, well, here was his proof of that.

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Thomas really had no idea just how badly Janus had been doing. It wasn't like they never saw each other or spent time together, but despite spending more time with Janus than before, he was struck with the realization that he still barely even knew him (which was strange because Janus was a part of him, but that's besides the point).

He wondered what exactly had happened. Roman had filled him in on the discussion that spurred Janus into hiding soon after it happened, and he had also updated him on this latest development while Logan and Remus went to break down Janus's door.

And that…

That was concerning, to say the least.

The fact that they even had to resort to breaking the side's door down was so ridiculously concerning that he didn't even know what to think about it.

Thomas had been under the impression that Janus was just being stubborn. He thought that the deceitful side was angry and decided to pout in his room for a while. And the others told him that Janus would still have access to things like food and water in his room, and in the past, they also told him that Janus had a habit of staying in his room for a while. He hadn't known that Janus had literally refused to even open the door even when Patton broke down in tears, or when Virgil begged him to at least let them know if he was okay. He hadn't understood the way Virgil could sense Janus's intense anxiety, even when he was nowhere near the door to the side's room. He hadn't known that Janus was having a mental breakdown this entire time, or that something like that was even in the playing cards.

He hadn't realized just how serious the situation had been, even before the point when they found out Janus was prone to hurting himself.

He had just assumed that Janus would come out eventually.

But maybe he should have at least considered the possibility that the situation could be more serious than he thought it was.

After all, he had already known that the deceitful side had one mental illness. Why should it be so shocking that there could be another problem? It wasn't like he was unaware of the fact that his sides experienced problems separate from his own. And he knew that all of his sides had some kind of problem, whether it was Virgil's anxiety or Roman's self-esteem issues.

He probably would have tried to do something earlier if he had known any better.

But he just… he hadn't known.

He hadn't known.

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So, we'll see Remus's thoughts about this in the next chapter. His part is longer, so I decided to separate it into its own chapter. Don't worry, though, because I'll probably post it in a few days.

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