i need you - an inanimate insanity au

9 • Please, i need you

a sparkle of kindness and confidence seeps through the thick misty fog of anxiousness and social apprehension.

a boy.
a boy who cowered in fear from all who came close, in fear that they may pick apart his insecurities and find him left with nothing but embarrassment. months of that fear. weeks of that fear. days of that fear.
one year.
a year of hiding from people who scared him and who made him think he would be left alone.
then another.
and another.

a girl.
a girl who helped drag him out of his fear by showing him her own, like a hero dragging out a civilian from a fire to save them. she showed him how to laugh and have fun and let go of his fears like any hero-to-be would. she was so popular among those hoping to be in his place, but she still talked to him somehow, and let him know he wasn't alone. if she never came into his life, he might have been eliminated way earlier in the show he is apart of.

a person.
a person who showed him that anger and annoyance exist, and that it's not all bad. he needed to be shown that people can yell, that people can be annoyed, and that it's not always his fault, nor anyone's. it's not always his fault, and he shouldn't take everything to heart. and even when they would get in an argument with him, he always knew that they were both still close. if they weren't ever there for him, he would be known as a bit of a weirdo, more so than he is already, and he would feel more alone than ever.

a girl.
a girl who made him complete along with the two others, but she made more of an impact, even if she left him many times for things other than him like her tests. even if she keeps on leaving, he knows she still likes him, even when he likes others too. sure, she might get jealous. sure, she might get angry. but in the end, she likes him, and wants to protect him, and he knows that. he's seen it before. without her smarts and assistance, he would be better off not on the show at all. if she wasn't there, he wouldn't have gotten to liking the other two, and he would be all alone, nothing and no one to grab onto for comfort, nothing at all.

he is glad to have people.
he is extremely lucky.
without these people, he has nothing.
he needs them.
he needs them.

he needs them and it hurts him, submerging him in guilt for taking up their time.

but, even if he believes he needs them, he really can flourish on his own.
he can loosen his grip on them and blossom.

he just needs to realize that.

Wake up, Fan.

.
•
warning:
this chapter contains...
mentions of injuries
mentions of scars/stitches
mentions of death
characters with very negative thoughts
you have been warned...
•
.

You slowly open your eyes as the light shines through the curtains, hearing the faint dialogue on your television play out since you left it on last night. You groan, moving your hand to the remote to turn it off, and instead you find a warm hand with a cut near the wrist, done by OJ who almost killed them... Paintbrush?!

Ever since three days ago, now called the "day of care" by those in the hotel, Paintbrush has never been to eager about being left alone. You surely thought it was odd at first, but now... You know how scary it must be to be attacked during a power outage, or attacked at all, and how much it would want to make you stay with someone you trust so that incident would have a lesser chance of occurring again.

And, since Lightbulb constantly invaded Paintbrush's personal space without permission, and Test Tube isn't in a state to take care if anyone, and Marshmallow's whereabouts are unknown, you were the one that Paintbrush chose to watch over them. Since that day, every time the lights flicker, Paintbrush would cling to your arm... it makes you feel so awkward and uncomfortable and-