(warning: mention of abuse in this chapter))

The next day, Edge came by again. However throughout the whole day Puff refused to take his pills. Arguments between the two became bitter and sour.

Now that puff has seen what the world was like without pills, during that time he came to be interested. There was a huge difference being on and off the pills. On them, the colors were brighter and almost... too cheery. The world looked nice and all but, everything looked so... strained. The people Puff used to pass by looked as if they had strained smiles. Some all most acting as if forcing the cheery attitude. Similar to how the secretary at the police office acted.

When Puff was off the pills...the colors were darker. The streets weren't as colorful as they looked and clothing didn't pop out like usual. His own house looked dimer too. Puff actually liked being off his pills. Yes, it gave him mood swings and made him a little pissy but he's been on these pills for almost his whole life. He's almost... addicted to the happy high feeling. He never realized how sickening it felt to stuff yourself full of pills until your mind is foggy.

Puff was conflicted. One part of him wants to continue taking the pills so things can go back to normal. The other part wanted to see what the real world was really like. Most of his life he's always been told all his problems would be wiped away with one pill. However, he still had daily stress, his crappy house, the worry his house might be robbed in this crappy neighborhood and this cop up his ass.

Guess those 'special little joy pills' everyone loved only masked those problems people would usually face daily.

"Hey puffball!! Are you even fucking listening to me?!", Edge's voice interrupted Puff's thoughts.

"No I wasn't listening. I don't want these pills anymore Edge, something is just off."

"If you don't take these pills I will force them down your throat. That is a promise!"

"I'm not taking them! There is a completely different world out there then what we're told! These pills don't even...even help us with anything! Just mask the problem!"

"You're delusional. Everything will go back to normal once you're on a regular pill schedule. Now take the joy!", Edge hands were shaking. In one hand he held a pink little pill, the other was the pill bottle.

Puff sinks into the couch, glaring at the pill in edges hand,"It won't! The colors are too bright and blinding to me! I like the colors much darker like this when I'm off that!"

Edge twitch, his patience clearly running thin,"If you don't put this in your mouth within the next minute, I'm pinning you down and forcing this down your throat. I don't care if you choke. You are making this much more difficult then what it needs to be.", His red eyes shined. They almost glowed as his pinprick pupils dilated.

Puff shook his head, then covered his mouth. He flinched once Edge pressed against puff, harshly grabbing Puff's wrists.

"This WASN'T a request!! Now open your mouth!"

"Mm-mm!!", Puff shakes his head,"Get off of me!", His hands pushed against Edges chest, trying to shove him off. However puff had a bit of a disadvantage. Edge was bigger and much stronger than puff.

Before he knew it Puff he was pinned onto the couch, both of his wrists above his head.

Puff shook, almost crying. Not because he's forced to take a pill but because this position he was in triggered some bad memories. Puff looked away, closing his eyes shut as orange tinted tears gathered at the corner of his eyes. He wanted to move, get out of this position. He didn't want to get hurt not again,not again!

He'll be good this time! Just please don't hurt him. Please don't he didn't do anything wrong! Just GET OFF OF HIM!!

"Puff!! Damn it look at me!", Edge snapped his fingers at puff,"Jesus you cry at the littlest things. I'm not even putting a lot of pressure on you."

A small gasp came from puff once he was snapped at,"Ah?! Oh...", Puff slowed his breathing. Right...he's with Edge not.... whatever he doesn't matter right now.

"Can you just please take the pill without fighting me?! The faster you take this the sooner I'll be gone! I know you want me gone as much as I want to leave."

Puff barley opened his mouth to say anything. Before even a word was muttered Edge quickly popped the pill in Puffs mouth.

Edge got off of the other, gathering his composer and took the pill bottle. He left without making sure Puff swallowed the pill, clearly annoyed and in a rush somewhere.

During this, Puff was coughing and wheezing softly. Once Edge left, Puff struggled to breathe until he finally coughed up the pill, it bouncing across the living room floor. There was slight shuddering from the poor skeleton as he watched the pill.

"Great...thanks Edge for the hospitality.", He sighed and slowly got up,brushing himself off. He goes to the restroom, he needed to clean up. He felt awful. His throat felt sore and he felt...gross in general. Cold water filled the sink.

Puff splashed the water onto his face as he cleaned up. He needed to get his thoughts straight. He just...needed to cry. He quickly left the restroom and went to the bedroom. He needed to get out so many emotions, his anger, his sadness ,his...worry. He reached under his bed, pulling out a box. He never had the courage to throw out this box. It felt wrong...like he was chained to it. Forced to remember almost.

He opened it, immediately cringing. He bit his bottom 'lip' with a heavy sigh. The box contained: a wilted, dry echo flower, a 'love' note from his ex and a photo. The photo was puff, who looked happy at the time in a pretty orange and white dress. His ex...stood next to him. The face was scribbled out.

Puff slowly pulled out the echo flower. If he was quiet enough he could still hear the flower speak.

'I'll always love you, my pet~ You're the perfect toy for me~", how disgusting. Puff really was blind back then. Blinded. He didn't know how toxic the relationship was until he left. He wasn't treated like an equal, he was treated like a toy, a pet, and a maid.

The love note was the worst. The note had a few backhanded compliments and so much degradation.

"Dear loved pet,
I adore the beautiful orange dress you wore to our date but I would appreciate it more if you put effort into taking care of yourself. You looked exhausted and it ruined the mood of our date. You barely batted a smile at me when I talked to you. Smile more, you're here because I picked you since no one else would. It's understandable why. You should've been grateful I even took you out. All I got was a tired stare and an uninterested look from you."

Puff has read this note time and time again. Each time he felt horrible.

"I should've left you on the streets where you belong. I can't believe I made you my fiance. I could've gotten a much better lover but I picked you. Always make mistakes, never listen, can't follow simple directions. You're disappointing. You bore me. But here we are.... Pull yourself together, Puff. Otherwise you'll lose the one good thing you have.
-a very dissatisfied fiance."

Puff rereads the last line over and over. Now that he wasn't on his happy pills he can express what he really feels.

"Dissatisfied? Dissatisfied?!", He angrily shook, finally having the courage to tear the note,"I gave you everything while you treated me like trash!! You scarred me! I can't handle being yelled at, even if someone raises their voice slightly because of you!", He ripped up the photo as well,"You weren't good to me at all despite all the love you milked out of me! I can't even... I can't...", He buried his face into his hands.

When Edge pinned him down today it was so similar to what his ex did. He could almost feel his ex's disgusting hands crawl up his sides and chest.

"No! I'm tired of you! I'm tired of keeping this stupid box! I'm tired of fearing for my life whenever someone moves too quickly!", He packed up the box, taking it to the living room.

His pace quickened, going towards the fireplace.

"I'm not your pet, I'm not yours! I don't need this anymore damn it!!", He tossed the box In the fireplace, lighting up a corner and watching it burn. He watched the echo flower curl up, turning black. He watched the note turn brittle and break off into little little pieces.

Puff angrily watched but then... He started giggling. He smiled and wrapped his arms around himself. Streams of tears dripped down his cheeks, gathering at his chin.

"Hahaha....was this really all I needed?", He watched the box continue to burn, he felt so much better,"It... it was so simple! To get the weight off of my shoulders! These emotions out ...I was...hiding behind joy pills when I could've done this the whole time!", He smiled, wiping away the tears.

He looked back at the lonely pill on the floor,"I...didn't need any joy pills...it just hid my actual problem...", He sighed, sitting down. The soft crackling from the fire comforted him. He wasn't chained to the box anymore, he never needed it.

"Dissatisfied fiance my ass... I've been much happier without you then the entire time I was with you.", He closed his eyes. The warmth from the fire slowly eased him. He couldn't help but smile.

-------------------------------

Two hours later, Puff was finishing off his dinner. He stared off into nothingness. He was thinking about something risky. Nobody will ever understand what it's like to be off pills. Peacefully anyways. Maybe... Maybe he can run off. Snipping the ankle bracelet that's keeping him here can't be that hard. He glanced at his ankle.

He gets up, pacing his kitchen. He could leave and run off. Maybe towards the parade district. He could run off to somewhere better. Maybe find his brother and- no...that's too much hope. He hasn't seen his brother in two years. Puff doesn't even know if Classis is IN the parade district. For all he knows he could be across town or down the street. He glanced at his knife block, his eyes trancing over the sharp meat scissors.

"Maybe...I can...", He jumped. He glanced out the window, a police car was steadily driving down the street. Edge is back this early?! Puff looked at the scissors.

"It's now or nothing!", He thought. He snatched up the scissors, working on cutting the angle bracelet.  The blade grinded against the thick material. It barely cut through it.

The car pulled in, parking in the driveway.

The material slowly ripped apart. Puff tried pulling it off his ankle but it wasn't wide enough to get off. He grabbed a knife, roughly trying to saw Through it.

Edge stepped out, closing the car door. He stayed outside for a moment. He was already dreading coming into that bright house.

The material cut open more until finally,it was cut off. He tossed the monitor to the side and got up. He made his way to the backyard, slowly opening the door and closing it. He ran through the backyard, grabbing the top of the fence and pulling up. He swings a leg over, hooking it and pulling himself over to the other side. His heart was pumping. He could get into so much trouble. He could hear Edge pounding on the door.

"Puff!! Open up! Ignoring me won't make me go away! I know where your house key is!"

Puff looked down the alley then back at the house. He might greatly get in trouble. What if he goes back? Maybe he should. Maybe-

"Where the fuck did you go?!", Edge's voice echoed throughout the neighborhood. Clear venom and anger in his voice.

Well...can't go back now! Not unless he wanted his ass handed to him on a silver platter. He ran off quickly. The streets were empty other than the occasional monster walking down the street. Puff made sure to keep his eyes down. He ran, and ran, and ran.

His feet carried him far away from home. He couldn't be anywhere near his neighborhood. He ran down the street, passing the homes. Further down he passed the shops then he passed the parks and the restaurants. He found himself in a part of town he wasn't familiar with. He slowed his pace until he was strolling.

This side of town was...nice. There were paintings and murals covering buildings. Some paintings had flowers and vines while others were of people.

His hand softly brushed against the bricks. The paintings were clearly old. They were chipped and dull. Smiling, despite the paintings beings old there was still beauty in it. He continued to walk down the street, looking at each wall. However as he walked down the street, there was something that upset him. Some of the paintings were ruined. Someone painted over them. One solid color overtook them. A plain white. What a shame. Someone worked hard on this art and it was all ruined.

As he made his way down the street he suddenly felt his emotions go haywire. He felt the need to cry again. He shakes his head, trying to pull himself together.

"Nonono don't do this now. You have nothing to cry about! Why now?", He continued to move forward.

However his thoughts were getting clouded with upsetting thoughts.

"Some one worked hard on those! What if they got upset to see their work covered up? What if it was a special gift for someone? All that work for nothing."

Puff cried again. He fanned himself as he tried to calm down. He never realized how... overly emotional he was...how overly emotional he REALLY was. Those pills only gave him one emotion: happiness. Not even genuine happiness. Has he actually been happy? Actually laugh at jokes or smile at a gift. Not have it forced to please everyone.

After his moment he recomposed himself. He felt better again.

"Oh...haha... I'm just a mess aren't I? I cry over the littlest details. Maybe I should work on controlling myself." , As he walked he came across a park. It was only going to be torn down soon. The swings were rusted, the slides broken... And the flowers here...were dead. There used to be beautiful white, orange, and red flowers. But they all turned into a gross brown color.

Puff entered the park, sitting down on an old bench. It creaked under him, sending a shiver down Puff's spine. Rusted metal scraping against each other just sent shivers down his spine. 

Despite the faint worry at the back of his head, the worry he'll be caught...he was calm. He stared down at his feet before noticing something skitter across his feet. He gasped, pulling up his feet. After closer inspection he finds it to be a little grasshopper.

"Oh...silly grasshopper...", He picked it up,"You scared me... Heh... My brother always taught me about catching grasshoppers."

Puff's earliest childhood memory he could recall was being in a golden field. There were small holes in the ground that grasshoppers stayed in.

"Watch this.", Classic said as he picked up a stick. He poked a hole a few times before slowly pulling out. A grasshopper followed, usually nipping at the stick, annoyed likely. Grasshoppers were like small cats that chased what moved.

A smile was across Puff's face. Those were the good days. Puff always held the grasshoppers softly and pet them.

He snapped out of focus, looking at the one in his hand,"Heh... I used to always want to keep one as a pet. I would stay out for hours looking for grasshopper homes. Then release them. ", He sets the grasshopper back down,"Alright buddy. Off with you! Go back hop wherever you belong."

With that, the grasshopper chirped at Puff, almost thanking him. It went on it's merry way.

Puff smiled, soon leaving the park. He felt ... actual happiness recalling a nice memory. It was wonderful, his smile grew wider across his face.

"Oh! To be a child again... going around and finding bugs. If only I could relive that with Classic...", Puff loved his brother more than anything. He just wished his brother would talk to him more. The most he receives these days are text messages and letters with no return address.

"It's like he's forgotten all about me. His own brother. Wherever he went I hope it was worth it."

Puff noticed someone driving down the street. With the bright headlight he couldn't tell who that was. However as the car got closer, he could see red and blue lights . Oh no-

A familiar figure stepped out of the car, with pricing red eyes,"Puff W.D you are in so...so much trouble."