Prologue
"Your job is to make Thomas happy."
That was the one thought that went through Patton's mind as a kid. Barely 9 years old, he did his job well. Thomas was happy most of the time. He loved seeing Thomas happy. It made him happy as well.
Years passed happily. Middle school came. Patton became stressed. Piles of schoolwork, seven periods a day, judgmental kids. Logan often asked if he was okay. To that, he'd always reply, "Of course, I'm fine!" Even though he knew it wasn't true. He felt something starting to form inside him.
Thomas eventually made it through middle school, after what felt like forever. High school was even more stressful and judgmental. Patton began to become insecure and anxious. He pushed it down and put a smile on his face. He couldn't feel these ways. All he was supposed to do was be happy, and make Thomas happy.
One day, late in high school, Patton was alone in his room. His anxiety was more than he could bear. He felt tears in his eyes, ready to spill, but he held them back. He wasn't allowed to cry. He couldn't bear to keep all of this inside.
And thus, Patton created Anxiety.
Anxiety was a baby. Patton knew he couldn't keep him. He went to the only person he could think of, Janus.
Janus happily accepted Anxiety, and didn't question where he had come from. Patton felt bad leaving him, but he couldn't deal with it himself.
And everything was fine for a while. Patton started to miss Anxiety. After all, he was his kiddo. His dark strange son. But, along with everything else, he pushed it down and refused to talk about it.
So when Anxiety showed up one day, Patton was conflicted. He was happy to see his kid, but he was scared to see the embodiment of his own anxiety that he'd passed on to someone else, eventually affecting Thomas.
Patton was the source of Thomas's anxiety. His job was to keep him happy. He was failing at his job.
(Sorry this is so short, I just wanted to provide a little bit of backstory. The next chapter will be longer.)
