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Everything was too much.
Logan and Patton were arguing over something again. They were always at odds though it had gotten better since Thomas had talked to them. Still, there were times when they still argued over things.
And right now, their voices were too loud.
“We don’t have the space—”
“Then we should just get a bigger—”
“That’s not always an option, Patton! There are more—”
Everything seemed to be crowding in on him. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, the lamp light was too bright, and the nothing felt right against his skin. Anx could only take comfort in his familiar hoodie as he crouched at the end of his bed, covering his ears in a feeble attempt to block out the noise.
He wanted to tell them he couldn’t take the sound of their voices but opening the door would only make it worse. He could barely stand the sound of his own breathing let alone managing to walk to the arguing pair.
His headphones would make it better but they were all the way across the room and he was already frozen. No matter how much he willed his body to move, nothing would listen. His arms were stiff around his legs as his hood fell down over his head.
The only thing he could do was wait until it was over. Until maybe he could function again. Until maybe—
“All we see is sky for forever, we let the world pass by for forever.”
Roman’s soft, strong voice cut through the arguing of the other sides. The guitar strumming stole Anx’s attention and the lyrics wrapped around him until he was able to move again.
He stood on shaky legs and walked toward their shared wall, leaning against it and giving Roman all of his attention, a small smile on his face, and tears of relief making their way down their cheeks.
It had been so long since he had last experienced a sensory overload episode he couldn’t deal with. It had been so long that he almost forgot how helpless he felt.
The last strum bled into a soft silence. “Hey, Anxiety,” Everything in him seized as he waited for Roman to speak again. “I hope that helped.”
Maybe it was the shock or that he was still calming down, but he could bring himself to answer right then.
Later that night, when everyone was asleep, Anxiety slipped a note under Roman’s door.
Thank you, Princey.
Maybe next time I can play for you.