This takes place the day after the last chapter.

CWs/TWs: bullying, mentioned character death, jokes about suicide/sh, mentioned panic attacks/meltdowns

.•°*°•.

"Bud, you have to go back to school at some point before the end of the year," Joel said, and Grian whined. "I know, but you have to graduate and you can't do that if you miss your final exams."

Grian sighed. "I'm gonna get made fun of," he mumbled, resting his chin in the palm of his hand.

"For what?"

Grian blinked at Joel. "What do you think? I have no hair!"

"I have no hair and I don't get made fun of at work," Joel said, and Grian rolled his eyes.

"Because you work with adults who are... somewhat mature," Lizzie said tiredly as she walked into the kitchen. "He goes to school with teenagers, who are the most immature people on the planet." She turned to Grian. "I have some bandanas and hair wraps you can use to cover your head if you want, sweetie. They're in my closet."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Of course." She watched as Grian scurried off to his parents' bedroom, then turned to Joel.

"How are you feeling?" Joel asked, coming over to hug her.

She hummed as she leaned into him. "Awful," she said. "But better."

Joel smiled a bit. "As long as you're better than before," he sighed contently. "Scrambled eggs or sunny side up?" He pulled away slighty and kissed her forehead when she didn't answer. "Hm?"

"Scrambled."

"Okay." Joel kissed her on the lips this time, then pulled away to go into the fridge for eggs. "Where did I put those damn things?"

.•°*°•.

Grian tried to shrink as he entered the school, already feeling everyone's eyes all over him. He hadn't been to school in the last month and a half, and suddenly he was coming back with especially weak limbs and no hair. If the bullying was bad before, it was about to get worse by tenfold.

"Hey, look, it's Grian!"

The boy froze, immediately recognizing that voice.

Bdubs.

"Heyyy, Grian!" Bdubs exclaimed, walking over to Grian, who silently wished he'd leave him alone. He was drawing more attention over and more people were staring. "Where have you been? It's been, like, forever!"

Stop shouting, you idiot, Grian thought, but he forced himself to smile. "H-hey, Bdubs," he said nervously, glancing around at all the kids who were whispering to each other and staring at him. "What's- What's up?"

Bdubs wasn't a bully to Grian, but he did like to tease him. A lot. Like, relentlessly. He was pretty insensitive about it, too, but Grian knew he was just trying to have some fun and he really didn't mean any of it. But even still, it was kind of mean.

"Just seeing how my buddy's doing," he said, wrapping his arm around Grian's shoulder. "What's with the bandana? You look funky."

Thanks, man. "I, uh..." He trailed off. How what he supposed to answer that? "Bad hair day?"

Bdubs gave a judgemental look for a split second. "Just brush it," he said, then started laughing. "Come on, take this ugly thing off-" He reached to take the bandana off, but Grian shoved him away before he could. "Dude, what the hell?"

"I..." Grian took a breath, looking around to find most of the kids were out of the main hallway now. "I have to go to class," he muttered, then walked away. His heart was racing. The last thing he needed was to be humiliated by half the school finding out about his cancer the first day he was back. That would be hell.

As he sat down in his AP Calc class, he heard snickers come from the corner of the room.

"You know that kid Jimmy?" a boy said, earning a bunch of 'yeah's and 'mhm's. "And you know how he hasn't been at school at all last week except for Friday?" Another round of a 'yes's. "I heard his dad died."

"No way!" another boy said.

"Yeah, yeah," the first boy said. "And I saw cuts jnder his sleeve Friday."

"Oh, that's great," a third person said. "He deserves it, that Barbie-looking-ass loser. He's an idiot."

Grian was tempted to say something to them, but he knew better. He didn't want to become another victim.

"You know what be really funny?" the second boy said. "If he actually killed himself."

Grian nearly stood up and confronted them, anger burning inside of him. He wanted to scream. Nobody deserved to lose a loved one or to die. Nobody. He had to take several deep breaths to calm himself enough to attempt to ignore them, but ultimately couldn't.

"Nobody would miss him anyway," the kid continued. "I mean, he's so stupid and he has, like, no friends. Other than that tiny guy. Grain, was it?"

Motherfucker-

"He hangs out with Sausage, doesn't he?" the third guy asked.

"You think Sausage would care about Jimmy? The guy with pink hair and some of the lowest grades in the class?"

"I mean, maybe?"

"You're stupid."

"No, you are!"

Grian rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. He noticed a text from Joel.

Dad
just gave your doctor's note to the secrecy
secretary*
it'll let you leave class whenever you need and call me whenever you need
lmk if you have any problems with your teachers
i'll take care of it for you

Grian smiled.

G
thx dad <3

Dad
:]

As the day went on, Grian had to admit that there wasn't as much bullying as he expected. Of course, there was the typical teasing from the usual annoyances, but nothing out of the ordinary.

What a relief.

.•°*°•.

Jimmy had a rough morning.

Somehow, word had gotten out about his father and now everyone was either pitying him or making fun of him for not having parents. He didn't know how people knew, but he assumed a friend blabbed to someone who had too big of a mouth.

By lunchtime, he was about ready to hit somebody.

"Look, it's the guy with no daddy," one of the lower classmen said (which was funny, because Jimmy was probably twice the size of that shrimp).

Jimmy sighed, but didn't look at him. "Hey, Jack," he grumbled. He knew him from the swimming team. "I'm busy."

Jack frowned and gave a confused and disgusted look. "Busy doing what?"

"Studying for finals so I can graduate," Jimmy answered. "Something I imagine you won't be doing."

Jack's mouth fell open in shock. "Jesus, I was just tryna' say hi," he murmured, then stared at Jimmy for a moment. "Is it true you tried to kill yourself?"

Jimmy paused and finally turned to look at Jack. "Huh?"

"Max and Andrew keep saying you tried to kill yourself," Jack said. "They saw your arms in the locker room."

I thought I was alone. "I didn't," he answered, then turned back around. "Tell them it's none of their business and to fuck off."

Jack nodded hesitantly. "You're not actually going to, are you?"

"No."

"Okay, good."

Jimmy paused. "Why do you care? We barely know each other," he said, slightly confused, looking over his shoulder.

Jack suddenly looked nervous, fidgeting and looking away. "You're really cool," he said. "And you're a good swimmer, too." He paused, glancing back at Jimmy, who was smiling. "I'm sorry for joking about your dad."

"It's fine," Jimmy said. "Uh, well, it's not actually fine, but- I forgive you. And thanks for the compliment." He smiled brightly and Jack returned the smile, then he patted the seat next to him. "Sit."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Jack flapped his hands in excitement. "Sick!"

.•°*°•.

Scott woke up very late at about eleven. They felt so shitty, all sore and tired. They were still having those extreme consecutive panic attacks. Once he had the first one, it wouldn't stop until he was sure he would fall over and die.

They got out of bed and headed downstairs for something to eat, stopping when he heard Amanda squealing. They peeked around the corner to see their mom jumping up and down, teeming with joy.

"Nathan, it's positive!" she said excitedly, and Scott smiled. "It's positive, it's positive!"

"That's great," Nathan said. Scott had never heard him so excited before. "That's so great!"

Amanda laughed and jumped into Nathan's arms, making Scott's heart melt. "I'm so happy," she said, relaxing as Nathan held her tightly. "I'm so happy..." She sighed contently and leaned into her husband.

"So, you're pregnant for sure?" Scott asked, coming into the living room.

Amanda looked over and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "I am."

Scott smiled, excitement blooming in his chest. He was going to have a sibling! They couldn't believe it.

His excitement suddenly started to drain from him as he could feel himself begin to get nervous. He started to panic, knowing he was going to be trapped in a loop of meltdowns.

Not again.

.•°*°•.

"Good afternoon, Scott," Pixl said, smiling.

Scott gave a tired smile. "Hey," he said as they followed the therapist to his office.

"You look tired," Pix said, closing the door behind them.

"I am." Scott sat down. "I keep having these panic attacks, but they're, like, seventeen in a row. They're really annoying and I always pass out afterwards."

Pix hummed, nodding a bit. "Perhaps you have a panic disorder," he said, and Scott groaned.

"Come on," they said, "I don't need another disorder. I already have enough."

"It can be treated, Scott."

"I know, but it feels so excessive," they sighed, Pix nodding in understanding. "I have too many problems and it's so annoying. I'm collecting mental illnesses like Pokémon cards and it's so stupid."

Pix nodded. "I understand why you feel that way," he said. "But it won't hurt to talk to the psychiatrist about it. A diagnosis doesn't change anything, remember? All it does is provide the help you need. You can get stronger anxiety meds if you need them, as well."

Scott sighed. "I don't want more meds," he huffed. "I hate taking meds."

"Do they help?"

"Well, yeah."

Pix raised his eyebrows and smiled a bit, giving Scott an almost 'I told you so' look.

Rolling their eyes, they shook their head. "Pix, you're annoying," they joked, then yawned.

"Okay, can you describe these panic attacks to me?"

"Uh... they're like my normal panic attacks," Scott said. "Shaking, hyperventilating, can't move, dissociating, crying."

Pix nodded, then grabbed a notepad to write on. "And how are you able to tell that there's multiple consecutively?" he asked.

"Because it stops for a second and then it starts again."

Pix nodded. "I'll talk to the psychiatrist about moving your appointment up," he said. "That way you can talk to her about this." He wrote down a note, then set the notepad down on his desk. "Do you want to change the subject or keeping talking about this?"

"Change the subject," Scott said, then smirked. "We should talk about Oli."

"You know I'm not supposed to talk about my personal life," Pix said with a playful smile.

"Come onnnnn," he whined. "You two are so cute and I can't even know what he's like!"

Pix chuckled. "This is your therapy, not mine."

"Please?"

"No."

"With a cherry on top?"

"Scott-"

"Piiiiiiiiix!"

Pixl sighed. "Fine."

.•°*°•.

Bdubs in APBAON ‼️