*After the "Becoming a Cartoon" video"

Virgil's POV

I sit in my room with a purple tinge on the lights to calm me down. I walk to the tank in the corner of my room and open the lid, allowing my false chameleon to wander around on my shoulders. My stomach growls and I frown, Hilda hanging on my arm as I walk out and towards the kitchen/living room area. I hear the other 5 talking.

"Should we invite him to movie night? It's Disney week." Patton says. There's an immediate uproar.

"He's irrelevant right now!" Logan.
"What, Mr. Dark side?" Roman.
"Why not, bitch? We can always get rid of him!" Remy.

Hilda leaps off my arm and the others whip around, staring at me wide eyed. My stomach churns as I step forward and pick her up, tears welling in my eyes. Logan steps forward and opens his mouth to speak but I hold my other hand up.

"D-Don't. I knew you guys never accepted me. J-Just didn't ever hear it." I murmur, walking briskly back to my room and locking the door. I put Hilda back and close the cage securely before lying face down on the bed. Small tears run onto my sheets as my phone goes wild with messages on my bedside cabinet. My stomach growls painfully this time, my advanced metabolism acting up. I roll onto my back and look at the roof with a headache pounding at the base of my skull.

Shortly after I formed, a few weeks really, I got into a poly relationship with Remus and Janus but it turned abusive after I tried to return to the Light Sides. I was only abused for 4 months, but after I returned I got the feeling that the others never accepted me because I joined the Dark Sides. They don't know what happened, but it doesn't matter. They hate me anyway. A knock startles me out of my thoughts.

"Kiddo, can I come in? I have cookies!" Patton's voice sounds through the wooden door as he continues to knock. I sit up and sigh, partly annoyed at his adamance.

"I'm not hungry, Morality. Leave me alone, please." I snap at him, flopping back down on my pillows.
"Oh, okay kiddo. Well, the food is here if you want it. We have movie night with Thomas as well, so feel free to join us. If I can just explain-" He starts. I stand up and swing the door open, tears angrily racing down my cheeks. I stare him dead in the eyes.

"Don't waste your breath on me, Morality. Leave. Me. Alone. Please." I sob out, slamming the door and sobbing into my pillow once I reach my bed.

*16 days later*

I wake up, feeling more weak than when I fell asleep. My stomach is in painful knots and feels as small as a gumdrop, sweat is coating every inch of my body but I'm shivering under my covers. I have a horrible headache that resonates around the back of my head and my forehead. I can feel my bones under my t-shirt and I can barely lift my head without throwing stomach acid up. I feel the others trying to sink into my room and I let them in after a few minutes, feeling them enter along with Thomas.

"Anxiety?" Roman asks. I slip a hand out from under my covers and weakly wave in their general directions. "What the hell? Are you okay Anx?" He asks again as I drop my arm. He walks over to beside my bed and kneels down, peeling back the covers more when the others stand beside him.

"Hi..." I murmur, closing my eyes for a few seconds. He places a hand on my cheek and my eyes open slowly again. There are some shocked gasps when the covers are completely removed but I just try closing my eyes again.

"No! Anxiety, keep your eyes open for us. How do you feel, can you tell us?" He asks. I open one eye when someone sits me up against the headboard of my bed.

"I feel...like shit." I gasp out, almost keeling over at the pain in my stomach. Now is the time I remember why I was laying down. Roman keeps me up as Logan sits in front of me to examine me.

"Anxiety seems extremely emaciated, obvious painful stomach and most likely a terribly annoying headache. We must leave this environment, possibly Thomas's apartment would be best for the foreseeable future?" He questions. Roman picks me up and sinks down, making me even more lightheaded. He places me on the couch, sitting upright, and we wait for the others. I lean on his shoulder and whimper at the bright lights. He rubs my stomach.

"You need to throw up?" He asks. I shake my head and the others finally sink back up to the living room.
"I haven't eaten in a while, I don't think anything would come up. The lights are just too bright, Princey." I moan, curling into him and almost rolling off the couch.

"Okay. Thomas, can you turn the lights down a little, please?" He asks quietly, pushing me back off of him and standing so Logan can take his place.

"How long have you gone without ingesting anything, Anxiety?" He asks,  feeling around my prominent ribs and pressing in various places on my abdomen.
"I dunno, Logan. 19,20 days? I hadn't eaten 4 days before I ducked out." I say, leaning away from him when he presses to hard on my stomach.

"Sorry, that was too heavy handed. We need you to eat and drink something. It may not be digested but your tolerance for food will be way down. Thomas, Patton, can you get some plain food and a bucket? Roman, get blankets and pillows. I guess we're having an extra movie night. I will get Remy and Emile up here." He says. I close my eyes and slump into the couch, dragging my legs to my chest tiredly. I feel the couch sink beside me and something plastic, probably a bucket, is placed on my lap.

"Kiddo, you can't fall asleep just yet. Come on, open your eyes up Anx." Patton speaks up. I open my eyes to him smiling at me. He places a cold cloth on my forehead and takes a plate from Thomas behind the couch. It has a slice of buttered toast and some crackers on it. I pick up a cracker and nibble at the corner, soon finishing the whole plate despite my stomach leaping painfully. Patton smiles at Roman, Logan, Patton and Emile as they enter again. Thomas is now sitting on the other couch while Logan sits beside him.

Roman dumps a weighted blanket on me, a few pink ones on Remy and Emile, a bright blue fuzzy blanket on Patton, gives Logan and Thomas a gold-coloured blanket each and keeps a blood red sparkly one for himself.

Logan stands and sticks in a dvd before settling down again with an iced coffee. The title screen of the movie pops up. "Corpse Bride"

I begin feeling a little tired by the end of the movie but I tap Remy on the shoulder, seeing almost everyone else is asleep. He turns around.

"Don't let me fall asleep, please Remy." I ask quietly. He shrugs and turns around after nodding, turning his attention to the sleeping boyfriend on his shoulder. For the rest of the night, I repeated Corpse Bride over and over again until Logan woke up at 7am. He turns to me and rubs his eyes.

"Good morning, Anxiety. How are you feeling?" Logan asks, sitting up more and then standing to stretch out his back. I sigh and slump back.

"Not much better, really. I didn't sleep." I say honestly, adjusting so I'm fully facing Logan and facing away from Roman. He glares at me and walks over, offering his hand to help me stand.

"That is not adequate. Come with me, Anxiety." He says, hauling me to my feet and practically dragging me to the kitchen. "Why on earth did you not sleep last night? You looked extremely fatigued when we found you yesterday." He asks. The pin on his tie glows faintly and I feel a presence in my mind. I wiggle my hand out of his grip.

"Stop reading my mind, Logan! Alright, I'll tell you, but you cannot tell the others." I state, making him promise to keep this stuff a secret. He nods and the pin stops glowing. "I'm scared of sleeping, Logan. I have...nightmares." I say, lowering the volume of my voice. His eyebrows furrow and he reaches out suddenly to me, making me flinch back and grow wide eyes. He slowly puts a hand on my arm.

"What are these nightmares of? Surely they must be too frightening to keep to yourself if you can't sleep due to them." He asks. I look at the floor and move to beside the sink, sitting on the counter.

"You remember when I joined the others?" He nods slowly, sitting on the counter beside me. "I was in a relationship with both of them. I l-loved them. After a few weeks though, I missed you guys and I tried to leave after breaking up with them." He clenches his fist, clearly seeing where this was going. "They weren't happy and they hit me, but really it was my fault and I was just stupid enough to keep loving them. I should've just stayed but I left one night when they were asleep and I ran back here and then i just avoided you guys in case you hurt me and then I refused to leave my room after a panic attack and when I did you guys didn't want me and-" Logan cuts me off and I realise my breathing had become more ragged during my rant. He turns me to face him.

"Stop. We were talking about Roman's twin, not you. He's been pestering us to let him reveal to Thomas and Patton wanted to invite him to movie night. Now, name 5 things you can see." He says. I look around the room.

"You, s-stairs, Thomas's hair, a toaster, the m-microwave." He nods.

"Good. Now, 4 things you can feel."

"Your hands, the countertop, the air conditioning...my tshirt."

"3 things you can hear."

"The ice machine...the others' breathing...you when you talk."

"Well done, 2 things you can smell."

"Sweat and...febreeze?"

"Okay, last one. 1 thing you can taste."

"Bile." I finish, allowing myself to flop onto his chest. He chuckles quietly and pushes me back up before growing serious again.

"Anxiety, can you tell me what they did to you? I have an idea but I hope I'm wrong." He says. I look at my hands folded in my lap.

"Just, like, a slap or a punch or a kick when I broke the rules or fought back. Sometimes R-Creativity would have some f-fun with me but...I dunno I deserved it most of the time." I stutter. He frowns and removes his hands from my arms.

"What do you mean, 'fun'?" He growls lowly. I slide off the counter and stare wide eyed at him. His eyes soften and he walks towards me. I back away and he stops. "I'm not mad at you, and I won't hurt you. I do need to know." I nod and sit on the floor, a few tears dripping onto my lap.

"S-Sex, Logan, but I didn't like it. He wo-wouldn't stop and eventually I just...gave up." I say quietly. He sits a small distance away, giving a very rare smile. It eventually turns to a frown again, however.

"That's rape, Anxiety. Come here, I will give you a small embrace." I crawl over and sit on his lap, smiling at his warmth and closing me eyes when his arms wrap around me. "I have a proposal, Anxiety. When you wake up from a nightmare, I will allow you in my room to comfort you, or you may sleep in my room until this problem is more public." He offers, raising his voice from the near whisper it was before. I nod.

"The sec'nd one." I mumble. He stands and picks me up, carrying me into the living room where the others are starting to wake up. Logan whispers in my ear.

"May I tell them what you told me? You may leave if you want." He asks. I sigh, knowing he won't drop it or me until I agree.

"Fine. I'll go make breakfast for the 7 of us." I grumble, walking back into the kitchen and taking out the ingredients for pancakes, something I had to make religiously when I was with them. I make 21 pancakes and sit them on the table with Crofters, syrup and Nutella, overhearing a few words that Logan was saying. I interrupt.

"I hate to interrupt this wonderful little pity party here, but breakfast is ready." I grumble, grabbing a pancake on a plate and drowning it in syrup. I sit on the couch again and dig in, finishing the pancake soon. The others join me and sit silently, only the sound of eating, air conditioning and cutlery filling the whole apartment. "Spit it out, then. Why are you guys being so...awkward?" I laugh out, hearing the irony of me saying that. Logan takes the plates into the kitchen and leaves me with the other 5.

"Why didn't you tell us, Anxiety?" Patton asks quietly, messing around with his sweater.
"Would any of you believed me? Hm?" They fall silent. I stand up and brush some crumbs off my lap. "Yeah, didn't think so. Don't bother following me, 'kay?" I snap and teleport to my room. I walk over to a small wooden box and place my hands on it, taking my presence away from Thomas.

A few hours later, on my way to the kitchen, I feel the others leave for a video. The living room starts morphing into my version after the others try to call me up. I freeze when the four appear in the video spots, the camera being taken with them.

"I knew I should've taken that left turn at Albuquerque."