14 Danny's POV
First thing in the morning, Harry and Dougie talked to me about their late night discussions, and I had to agree with them. It didn't seem like Tom was having a bipolar depressive episode. He was usually angrier, and a lot more isolated from us. And it wasn't like he was trying to prove anything. This was definitely different.
Which raised the question - just what was wrong with Tom? None of us could figure it out, but it felt like it wasn't just the divorce, more like something else was going on. What though was a mystery.
"Maybe we should take him back to the shrink guy. He may be able to figure something out." Dougie suggested, fiddling with a bit of his fringe, like he did when he was nervous.
"I don't think Tom would enjoy that very much." I didn't want to upset Tom further, he was already sad and stressed enough.
"He isn't enjoying himself very much as it is. Maybe we should take him, explain what's going on here, so he has more to work with." Harry replied, he did have a point.
"But still, it seems wrong to take him back against his will, make him feel worse." I chewed on a nail.
"It could help us to make him feel better in the long wrong." Harry was right, but it still feel right.
"Let's give him another week, just in case. He may turn around this week." I pleaded, just in case.
"Alright, but just this week. If there's no sign of how we can help, or any improvement, we'll have to take him back." Harry agreed, somewhat reluctantly.
Tom looked exhausted when we got downstairs, like he had been awake half the night. I had only heard Buzz crying for a while though, and the boy was rather energetic this morning, so Tom must have been awake for another reason.
"Alright?" I asked, taking a seat next to him.
"Fine." Tom answered immediately, like it wasn't clear by the bags under his eyes that he wasn't.
"You sure? You look tired." I probed a bit, trying not to lean in closer to get a better look at him.
"I'm sure; I was up late with Buzz. He was teething. I was making sure that he was okay, and not in pain." Tom almost rushed to say the last part.
"Ah, teething isn't any fun, is it?" I picked up the baby, giving him a tickle and making him giggle.
"No... I, I put on teething gel, which helps." It was like Tom was trying to prove to me he could manage by himself.
"That's all you can do really, he can't not grow his teeth, because then how will you eat all the yummy food we're going to cook for you?" I blew a raspberry on Buzz's cheek. Tom cracked a small smile at the sound, but still looked so very sad. He used to light up when Buzz laughed, now it was always twinged with sadness. It was horrible to watch, and I wished I knew how to stop him looking like that.
Even when Tom was in a depressive phase, I swear he didn't look like this. This was like he had had the joy sucked out of him. Every single bit of it was gone. It was heartbreaking, and scary to witness. The divorce was hitting him hard, but was something else at play? Something that wasn't his bipolar? It seemed like it, but what?
I didn't want to take him back to the shrink again. The shrink meant something diagnosable, something was wrong with Tom. I didn't want to see Tom with another problem; he had struggled enough with bipolar over the years. If he had something else to overcome, on top of the divorce, I didn't know how he'd cope. We would help as much as we could, but if he wouldn't let us help, then it was hopeless.
I was scared to take him back, but if we had to, we had to. Even if it was painful. Even if Tom hated us for it. We had to help him, in whatever way we could.