Jax's POV
I was starting to get annoyed with this weird feeling
It's like my brain was moving in slow motion and while it didn't hurt or overly affect me, it was overly annoying.
Now I was stuck working the counter, which overly sucked. Dayton, Kate and the other artists I haven't met were all busy so I was the only one who could deal with walk ins, phones, and booking next appointments.
The main reason I was here though was to help Dayton. He had double booked himself by just a few minutes so while he finished up the tattoo he was currently working on, I was going to wait for his next appointment and show them the design he came up with and stall him until Dayton could get away.
Dayton should be done kind of soon though so maybe I won't even have to worry about it. But of course, that didn't happen. The guy ended up walking in only a few minutes before Dayton said he would be done.
He had seemed nice enough until I showed him the design, then it was like someone had flipped the switch.
"Why would I ever put this on my skin. It's literally the worst thing ever. I can't believe you actually came up with this. How do you think you are going to be a good artist if you come up with things like this."
Carter sighs and the next thing I know, I'm on the couch.
I expect for Carter to go off on him for being rude but before I have the chance to brace myself, I catch myself looking around the front room, my eyes landing on someone sitting beside me.
I knew without having to look for long that it was Carter but we had a different problem here.
'What are you doing here,' he yelled as he stared at me with wide eye. 'You're supposed to be up there,' he yelled again while pointing at the screen.
'Me? You're supposed to be up there! I thought you were you trying to front so I fell back.'
'Then who the hell is that,' he yelled again as he stared up at the screen.
"This isn't my design though," my body whispered out as it looks to the door at the desk.
"You still looked at this and thought that it was suitable to go on anyone?" He yelled again, making my body flinch back. I could feel their panic even from back here as they played with their hands.
"I'm sorry but I don't know what you want me to do-" he whispered out again just as Dayton came back from his station.
"What's happening out here," he asked in a harsh voice and a glare, only making the new alter flinch back even more.
"Your design is terrible," the man yelled again.
"Okay, then why are you yelling at him about it? You know good and damn well that he wasn't your artist." Dayton's yell defiantly wasn't helping the new alter.
'Can't you do something?' I ask Carter.
'What on earth do you want me to do,' Carter all but seethed out as he stared at the screen.
'Can't you force him back like you do with me?'
'You think I haven't been trying this whole time,' he seethed out again. 'They're fighting me for some reason.' I can't help but groan and Dayton and the man get into a full-blown screaming match.
I only watch as Dayton all but pushed the man out of the shop while our body moves to the bathroom.
'Is this what a panic attack feels like from back here?'
'No, they aren't panicking, not yet at least. They just need a minute,' Carter whispered. 'Try not to be loud.'
I watch as the new alter looks in the bathroom mirror and stares at my face before taking a few deep breathes.
His eyes close only a second later as the alter begins to fall back. I look over to Carter; not knowing which on of us should take front.
'You front. I'll try to keep them calm until we can make it to Andrew.' I only nod as I pull the new alter all the way back before pushing myself to the front.
"You doing okay in there," Dayton asked as he knocked on the door.
"I think I need to go see Andrew," I admit as I open the door.
"Go ahead then. Don't let me stop you." He says as he backs away from the door to let me leave as my hand digs into my pocket to call Andrew while I walk out of the shop.
'Come on Andrew, for the love of god pick up the fucking phone.'
"Hey Jax, it's nice to hear from you," he teased as soon as he picked up.
"Please tell me you have a few minutes," I say as I began walking to the apartment.
"I have the rest of the day. Why, what happened?"
"I need you to come pick me up like right now before I freak out."
"Okay I'm in the car now. Where are you," he asked in his best therapist voice as I continued to walk.
"I'm at the apartment. Or at least I will be in like three minutes."
"I'm only a few minutes away. What happened?"
"I'll tell you when you get here. For fucks sake Andrew just drive faster."
"Okay just take a deep breath. Let Carter take over if you need to. I just need another few minutes." I can't help but groan as I pace in front of the building as I wait for Andrew.
Andrew keeps talking but I find that it's getting hard to focus on his words.
'Okay new dude, I need you chill. Just sit there for three seconds.' I say, probably a bit too harshly.
'You need to ground,' Carter said, his voice also harsh. 'You're going to force me out.'
'He's the one making it hard to ground,' I defend. 'He's fighting me.'
'I'm not meaning to,' he says. I could tell he was close to tears so I try to force myself to calm down.
'It's alright,' I say in forced voice when I see Andrew's car pulling up. 'Just try to calm down. I can feel your anxiety and it's killing me up here.'
"You don't want to go inside," Andrew asked when I opened his car door and stepped inside and closed the door behind me.
"No, Ryder's home. I just want you and me in a very quiet place."
"What if you need someone to talk you out of an attack," Andrew asked but started driving anyway.
"Callum is the only one who can and he's at work so it doesn't matter."
The rest of the drive was quiet as Andrew sped all the way to his house but the second he pulled into the driveway I was ready to get out of the car.
He's right behind me before leading me inside and showing me to his at home office.
This office looked a lot more serious than the one he had at camp but I wasn't sure if I liked it better or worse.
"So what happened," he asked as he sat behind the desk and dove into a filling cabinet before pulling my folder out.
"I was at work and Dayton was still doing a tattoo on someone so I had to show this dude the design Dayton came up with but the dude hated it for some reason. He started yelling and I felt Carter trying to pull me back so I let him but it wasn't Carter." Andrew's eyes went wide at that.
"You have a new alter?"
"Apparently. And he doesn't like yelling. He's calmed down a lot now but when he fronted he was anxious and it was like Carter and I were feeding on it. Like Carter and I have always sensed what each other felt, but this new guy was making us physically feel it. And it only got worse when I was back in front. He was fighting me for front too but he said he didn't mean to."
Andrew frowned as he continued to write down everything I was saying.
"Would he be willing to front," he asked gentle, probably so he wouldn't scare him.
I start to fall back just to see if he would even want to but Carter decided he wasn't going to wait. He pulls me back before shoving the new alter up and dragging me off the couch so I had to sit on the ground.
'Why are we on the floor?'
'He can't push us up if we aren't on the couch,' he explained as he leaned back to watch the new kid.
The second his eyes landed on Andrew, anxiety was coursing through him.
"I'm Andrew. I'm friends with Jax. What's your name?"
"Bram," he whispered out as he played with our fingers and pushed back farther into the chair, his eyes never reaching Andrew's.
"How old are you," Andrew asked with a smile.
"12."
"Why did you keep fronting if you were scared of the other guys? Carter and Jax would have taken over for you." Bram shrugged as he kept play with his hands. Andrew smiled at him again as he slowly reached into his desk before pulling something out.
"You can play with this if you want," he said as he out the puzzle ball on the desk. Bram looked at skeptically before hesitantly taking it off the desk and putting it in his lap.
Andrew only watched as Bram tried to figure out how the toy was supposed to work.
"Why did fight Jax when he fronted and called me," Andrew asked a few minutes after Bram figured out how to use the ball and got into.
"I didn't mean to," he said again as he focused on the toy.
"And why did you not let Jax back in front?"
"It felt like I wasn't supposed to," he said with a shrug. Andrew only hummed as he wrote that down.
"What else do you feel like you're supposed to do?"
"I think I'm supposed to keep him from being yelled at."
"Anything else that you think you are supposed to do? Most of the time smaller systems have alters with more roles." Bram only shrugs again. I can tell Andrew's patience is slowly drying up but he was hiding it very well.
"Do you have any questions for me," Andrew asked after a few minutes of Bram just playing.
"Not really."
"Can I talk to Jax again then?" Bram frowned at that but still nodded as he put the fidget back on the desk. "You can keep that if you want," Andrew said just as Bram began to lean back but at the mention of taking the toy his eyes went wide as a small smile worked it's way onto his face.
He only mumbled out a thanks as he snatched the ball off the desk before leaning back again. I barely had time to get back on the couch before Bram was on the couch.
"So what is his role?"
"I don't know him well yet but if I had to guess, verbal protector. He'll be like Carter but only for yelling." I rolled my eyes at that.
Imagine having a 12 years protector.
"I want to start meeting once every other day again," he said after a few minutes.
"Why? Carter and I are doing good. We can handle him when he's not a bundle of nerves and the anxiety meds will help him too so we should be good."
"It's not just you and Carter any more though. Carter has always been a good fit for you. He rarely force fronted and he knows when you need help but Bram isn't going to know how to do that for a while. You three are going to fight a lot. It's going to be like meeting Carter all over again but probably worse. That and now that Bram is here, there is a possibility of more alters showing up due to your stress. If we start meeting often again, we can be more prepared next time." I can't help but huff at that, mostly because I knew he had a point.
"Fine. Once every other day then." Andrew smiled at that as he closed my folder.
"I'll drive you home."
The drive was a very quiet one. Even Carter and Bram were silent but I can't tell if it was because Carter was glaring at Bram or if neither of them felt like talking.
"Thanks for coming to get me and having that session. I know you were probably busy," I say when Andrew comes to a stop outside of the apartment.
"It was nothing. I'm glad you called me. I'll be home for the rest of the night too. If anything happens just call me and I'll come back." I only nod as I open the door. I don't even spare him a last glance as I walked into the building.
"Who just came in," Ryder asked from the bedroom.
"It's Jax," I call out as I notice Liam sitting on the couch.
"You're here early," Liam noticed as he waved me to the couch. "Did something happen?"
"Yea, a little bit but just wait until Callum gets home. I don't want to have to say it twice," I say as I flop down on the couch with him.
Liam looked like he wanted to ask more questions but kept his mouth shut as he pulled my head on his chest as his hand played with my hair just as Ryder came and sat down with us.
The three of us said nothing as the TV played in the back ground as we waited for Callum to finally come home.
"Looks like Jax beat me today," Callum joked when his eyes landed on me before he sensed the seriousness in the air. "What happened?"
I force myself to take a deep breath before I tell them how Bram fronted at work and a little about him like his age.
"We always knew there was a chance that more alters would show up," Callum said as he eases over to us, his usual smile on his face. "This doesn't change anything yet. It will just take some time to get used to it."
"I know. It still sucks though. Carter and I just got things figured out and now we have someone new to deal with. Bram is basically just a bundle of anxiety."
Liam frowned as his hand continued to play with my hair.
"He'll get used to everything and I'm sure he'll settle down," Liam said as he looked over to Ryder. "Why don't you put on a movie while Callum puts something easy in the oven."
No one bothered to argue as they went on to do what Liam told them to.
We'll get through it, Carter said with a small huff but I could tell he was just as unhappy about this as I was.
'I hope we will at least.'
Last updated June 24, 2021
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