"And after they fused, I panicked and ran out of there." Anxiety sighed, picking at his nails. His friends were giving him pitying looks, and he wanted to snap at them for it. He didn't, though. Instead, he grumbled, "Then you called."

"That's insane." Spunk mumbled, her gaze distant as she imagined his story. Elliot nodded, a small frown on their face.

They asked, "Do you think you'll message them? Or are you going to ignore them?"

Anxiety looked up at them, brushing his hair out of his face with another sigh. "I don't know! I should, right? I should go and talk to them and fuse, 'cuz they're my Sides."

"Right." Spunk agreed.

"But they terrify me! And not, like, in the 'I'm-talking-to-an-attractive-person' way! More like the 'I'm-in-a-stranger's-house-and-I'm-thirsty' kind of way." He looked to Elliot, "Does that make sense?"

Elliot smirked, leaning back against the counter, "Yeah, I get ya."

"Well, what if you just spend a while texting them? So you don't have to be in person." Spunk suggested, "You have their numbers, right?"

"Yeah, one of 'em." Anxiety said, but the thought of being in a group chat with them only made his stomach turn. What would he even say? Would they find him interesting in the slightest? He doubted it. He wasn't much of a texter anyway. He frowned to himself, "Do you think they're mad that I ran away?"

"Nah." Elliot said, looking out the window, "Fusion is scary. They probably understand."

"Yeah;" Spunk agreed, tapping her pen on the counter. "Lots of people probably run away from their Fusions."

"Shut up." Anxiety grumbled, moving past them to go to the back room. He needed to stop thinking about this for just one second.

As he opened the minifridge in the office, he heard Elliot say, "Customer, incoming."

"Booo." Spunk grumbled a moment before the door opened.

Anxiety pulled out a water bottle and opened it, taking a sip. He heard Elliot cuss behind him, and he turned around to see what the commotion was.

The customer that had walked in was short, with bright red hair that went to their shoulders, and brown eyes. When their eyes met Spunk's, they stopped in their tracks.

"Uh-" They said.

"Hi!" Spunk's excited voice rang out. She seemed more enthusiastic with this customer than any of their previous ones. "How can we help?"

Customer blinked, still shocked, then they said, "I want to make a tattoo appointment."
Elliot snuck back into the back room as they talked, their eyes wild. Anxiety pointed to Customer and hissed, "Is that-?!"

"Yeah!" Elliot peeked out the doorway, shaking their head. "She has to be Spunk's they're identical."

Anxiety glanced at the Sides, noticing the similar shape of their eyes and smiles. The only difference was their hair; both dyed equally bright colors. He hoped they got along better than he did with his Sides.

"Could I have a name?" Spunk asked.

"Gender Expression Side." Customer said.

Spunk grinned, writing it down in the calender. As she wrote, she said, "That's a great name. I'm Spunk Taylor Side."

"Spunk?" Customer frowned, like they didn't believe her.

"Mm-hm." Spunk said, still writing things down.

Customer said, "What does that mean?"

Spunk ripped off a piece of the paper she was writing on and held it out to Customer. She winked and said, "I can tell you all about it over lunch."

Anxiety couldn't see from his spot by the door, but he was pretty sure there was a phone number on that paper. Customer's cheeks grew dark when they took it.

Elliot let out a small whistle, "Damn, she's good."

"Pretty spunky." Anxiety agreed. They watched in silence as the customer awkwardly said goodbye and left immediately. Once the door closed behind them, Elliot and Anxiety wandered back to the counter. He asked, "So… Who's your new friend?"

"Oh my god, guys, did you see her?" Spunk said, holding her face in her hands.

"Yeah, we were right here." Anxiety grinned.

Elliot gave a small pout and said, "Are you gonna abandon me now that you found a Side?"

Spunk gasped, placing a hand on her chest, "I'd never!"

Anxiety moved to look at the calender - that now had a big hole in the bottom corner. There was a new appointment for this weekend. He smirked at the little hearts around the name 'Gender Expression Side'. "What was the tattoo of?"

"She said she wanted some cats. Three, I think; and it'll say 'I'm purrrfect.' She didn't tell me a location." Spunk said, smiling down at the name. "We should get a cat together."

Elliot shook their head sadly, "Aw, I'd love to, but I'm allergic."

"Not you, shut up." Spunk laughed, which made Elliot laugh with her.

Anxiety was still looking at the schedule; something about the hearts around Gender Expression's name made it hard to look away. He thought to himself silently.

Spunk was never afraid about anything. She could stare an on coming train down and not blink. She was the most intimidating person Anxiety knew. She was so cool.

"Should I be here for the appointment?" She asked, fiddling with the end of her shirt. "No, no, that's too desperate. Is it?"

"Nah, you work here. She wouldn't know if you had an actual shift or not." Elliot replied.

"I hope she calls. She gave her number for the appointment, am I allowed to use it-"

"No."

"Okay, well, what about her email?"

"No."

"You can't stop me from trying to find her online." Spunk snipped as she pulled out her phone. Elliot laughed and moved closer to her to see the screen as well.

Even she was clearly nervous about meeting her Sides. Maybe what Elliot said earlier was true. Missy and Remy won't be upset with him for running away; everyone gets scared by fusion just a little.

Maybe. Maybe he can give it another try.

After his shift, he texted Missy to see if they were home. They were. He took a deep breath and started the drive to their place. Here goes everything.

Despite all of his anticipations, they weren't upset in the slightest when he arrived at their door. Remy opened it and let him in, offering a bright smile to him. Anxiety gave a quick, tiny one back before he took off his shoes.

Missy was in the livingroom, frantically fixing throw pillows. When she spotted Anxiety and Remy, she stopped and smiled at him. "You're here!"

"Yep."

She approached with her arms open for a hug, but upon seeing his expression, she took him by the hands instead. Her fingers were cold, and it made a shiver run down his spine. She squeezed his hands and said softly, "Thank you for coming back."

"Yeah, uh, I'm sorry about yesterday." He said, unable to reach her eyes.

She tapped his lips with a finger, effectively silencing him. "Don't worry about it; we understand. Slap can be a lot at first."

"Right." Anxiety sighed, as the two sat down on the couch. He stayed standing, watching them. On the ride here, he was trapped in a storm of thoughts. Most of his mind had decided that if they were going to be Sides, they should be Sides. No beating around the bush; no slow burn; no easing into anything. He's jumping head-first into the deep end: no looking back, take a deep breath, and go. "I want to fuse."

"With- with us?" Remy asked, pointing a finger to himself.

His throat was too tight to talk, so he nodded instead. He could feel the blood rushing in his ears and he wanted to take back what he just said, but he couldn't. Ripped the bandage clean off, and now the glue isn't sticky anymore.

"Miss, you first." Remy nudged the Side. She was staring at Anxiety, her mouth agape. She closed it and glanced at Remy, before nodding. Slowly, she stood up and moved to stand next to Anxiety.

She held out a hand, "May I have this dance?"

"I don't know how to dance." Anxiety said as he took her hand. She placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled him closer until their bodies were pressed together.

"Don't worry, me neither." She said, as she slowly started to spin them in a circle. Anxiety got the message and moved with her, moving in sync with her. They were just spinning in little circles, and it made him feel like he was at a middle school dance during a slow song. He didn't know where to look, (Missy's face was too close, too intimidating) and he ended up watching Remy watch them.

After a minute of silent dancing, Anxiety glanced down at Missy uncertainly, "Um, how long does it usually take?"

"Hmm…" She frowned to herself, and Anxiety felt her grip on him tighten. She pressed herself even closer to him and picked up the pace. That only managed to make it harder for him to keep up. After four quick turns, his foot got caught behind his ankle and he tripped; forcing Missy to catch him.

They didn't fall, but it felt like they did, all things considered. He was staring into her eyes, and he could see the frustration and disappointment she couldn't hide. He felt a pang in his chest, as he suddenly felt very heavy. He let go of her and stepped back.

She wouldn't look at him, her head ducked. Her voice was hollow when she said, "Remy."

"Yeah." He said, already standing up. He gently guided her to the couch and then turned to Anxiety. Damn it. He held out his hand and said, "Ready for round two?"

He glanced at Missy, she was staring down at her feet. With a small nod, he took Remy's hand. Remy didn't start slow like Missy did. He immediately pulled them close and started twirling around the room.

Anxiety tried his best to not trip again. It felt hard to breathe when he was this close to Remy. The other Side watched his expression the entire time, grinning as they moved together. When he finally slowed down enough for Anxiety to breathe, he watched as that pleased grin slowly fell from his face. Anxiety let go of his hands.

"Um-"

"Let Slap try." Remy interrupted him, reaching for Missy. She stood and grabbed his hand. As soon as their fingers brushed, the two disappeared, fusing into one big person.

Slap grabbed Anxiety and pulled him into the tightest bear hug he's ever experienced.

His muffled voice came from within Slap's chest, "Guys, I can't breathe."

"No no no no no!" Slap said, letting go of him. He sucked in a deep breath, backing away from them. Slap unfused with a cry.

Missy started pacing, tears rolling down her cheeks. Anxiety could hear the uneven sobs she was trying to stifle. As he watched her emotions swell, he felt his own rise in his chest.

This was his fault.

"Why does this keep happening?!" Missy asked, her voice frustrated. She clutched her hair in tight fists, her face twisting into a pained sneer.

"This is my fault." Anxiety said, more to himself than to them. His knees were shaking and he could feel the blood rush through his veins. "I did this."

"Is it us?" Missy grabbed Remy by the hand, looking at him for guidance. "Are we doing something wrong?"

"No, princess, we'll find our other Sides-" Remy said in a soft tone.

Missy shook her head and hid her face in Remy's chest, "This can't be happening. Not again, please. Please." Her words were a quiet whisper that got cut off as her crying worsened.

"I fucked up." Anxiety muttered hollowly. He turned on his heel and walked to the door as quickly as he could.

"Hey, hey," Remy called. Someone grabbed him by the arm and he yanked himself away. He turned, and they were staring at each other. Remy's eyes were wet, but his voice was even as he said, "It's okay, it's not your fault."

"I have to go." Anxiety said, backing up.

"We might be able to connect you with your actual Side." Remy said, his eyes searching his face. Anxiety shook his head, trying to avoid eye contact. "We know a guy."

"No, no." He grunted, reaching for the door. The voices in his head were screaming at max volume; all of them, at once, which resulted in nothing more than a piercing headache for Anxiety. His heart was pounding in his ears and he could feel the walls moving closer and closer. Soon they would crush them all. He had to get out, he needed fresh air. He couldn't look at them anymore. "This was a mistake."

He ignored the hurt in Remy's eyes as he disappeared behind the door, slamming it shut behind him. He ran to his car and sped the entire way home.

Once home, he pulled his blankets over his head and tried to even his breathing out. In the dark, wooly cave he made, far from anyone else, Anxiety allowed himself to break apart.

Tell me what you think!