For the first time in his life, Lonely was excited to do a Performance. He’d been practising for a while, wanting it to be perfect, but he was still so nervous. As the day came closer and closer, he only grew more nervous until he was buzzing and jittery. It was the night before and he didn’t feel ready at all. 

Most of the time, he didn't care about whether or not he did well at a Performance. No one had paid him enough attention to care, but things were different. He wasn’t performing on his own. Confidence would be with him and all their friends would be there to watch them. Watch him. 

Confidence sat on the couch in Lonely’s living room, watching him pace with concern in his eyes. “You don’t have to look at them, you know. You can just look at me,” he said, reaching out to grab his hand, but Lonely moved away. 

“It’s not the crowd I’m worried about. People are actually going to be paying attention to me now,” he replied, running a hand through his hair. “It was better when I just went on stage for a few minutes and no one paid any attention.”

“Was it?” Confidence asked as he stood from the loveseat. 

He sighed. “No,” he whispered and dropped his head against Confidence’s shoulder. “I’m just nervous. I don’t want to make a mistake.”

The hands that ran up and down his back were soothing, as were the lips that pressed against his temple. “And if you do, it doesn’t matter. Plenty of people have messed up in a Performance, do you remember?” Confidence asked. 

“No,” Lonely replied, frowning against his partner’s shoulder. 

“Exactly. You don’t remember so no one is going to remember if you mess up. You don’t need to worry about what people are going to think about you,” he said and stepped back to face him properly. “I know you will anyway, but I’ll be up there with you. It’s alright if you’re nervous, it’s alright if you make a mistake. That’s part of being whatever we are.”

“People?” he said with a raised eyebrow. 

He pressed a kiss to his forehead and hummed in agreement. “We’re people,” he said when he pulled away. “And people make mistakes sometimes. No one is going to notice except you. And if you do make a mistake, you just have to go with it. But it’ll be fine, alright? You don’t have to worry.”

The words were more soothing than he expected them to be. After a few years of being together, Confidence seemed to have learned how to deal with him in any situation, while Lonely was still trying to figure things out. There was so much to learn about a person and every time he thought he knew everything, something new would come out of the woodwork. 

“I love you,” he said and pecked Confidence on the lips. 

The grin that met him when he pulled away made happy butterflies swarm in his stomach. “I love you too,” Confidence said. “You’re still going to worry though, aren’t you?” 

“Of course,” he replied and laughed at his partner’s exaggerated sigh. Confidence grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the loveseat, where they both collapsed with grunts and laughter. Lonely settled against his chest, letting the rhythm of his breathing soothe him. 

Fingers ran through his hair and he smiled. “Did you want to practice one more time?” Confidence asked in a sleepy voice. 

Lonely shook his head and wrapped his arms around his waist. “I think that might make me more nervous, to be completely honest,” he answered and sighed. “I know how it’s supposed to go and I haven’t made a mistake in weeks. But I might.”

“You’re going to be fine,” Confidence whispered. “It’s going to be fun, I promise. Fear wants to throw a dinner for everyone afterwards.”

He frowned against his shoulder, excited for the dinner, but there was a question in the back of his mind. “Even Sadness and Disgust?” he asked. 

Confidence took a moment to reply but he didn’t bother to look up at him. “I don’t know. Maybe,” he said and sighed. “I haven’t spoken to them properly in a long time. It might be good to see them.”

It could be, but in his worry and panic, all he could think about was the time they had tried to force him away all those years ago. He knew they wouldn’t try it again, not after years of leaving him in peace, but his mind was in a strange place and couldn’t leave well enough alone. 

Of course, they hadn’t spoken to him at all during those years and none of his friends knew much about how they were doing. They’d even stepped away from organising the Performance, passing it on to Happy and Pride instead. No one ran the town anymore, no one ran them. They were free to do whatever they wanted, as long as it was respectful and they still passed on their emotions to the humans. 

“I hope they’ve done well for themselves,” he eventually said, rolling over to rest his back against Confidence’s chest. 

“You’re too good to them,” he replied as he wrapped his arms around him once again. 

Lonely shrugged. “I can’t help it. They don’t understand,” he explained. They may have hurt him, they may still scare him, but he wished them the best. “I hope that they do now or will soon.”

Confidence hummed against his hair. “They should apologise.”

“I don’t think they ever will.”

“No, probably not,” Confidence agreed with a sigh. Silence filled the room but it was far from awkward, it was comfortable and made Lonely sleepy. He was still worried about the day that was to come, about the possibility of an awkward dinner with Sadness and Disgust, but worrying had only served to make him exhausted. 

It didn’t take long for Confidence to notice and with a small laugh, he pulled Lonely to his feet and guided him towards the bedroom they occasionally shared. He fell asleep almost immediately, wrapped in blankets and his partner’s warm arms. His worry meant that he didn’t have the most pleasant of dreams, but it was better than being up all night. 

The first thing he and Confidence did when they woke up was check that there was nothing wrong with his violin. There wasn’t much Confidence needed to do to prepare except stretch, which he did with not-so-subtle glances at Lonely. Oddly enough, it helped calm him down and by the time they left the house, he wasn’t feeling as nervous as he had been the night before. 

It didn’t take long for that to change. As they walked down the hill towards Zajed, hand in hand, anxiety welled in his stomach once again. He tried to smother it with deep breaths and small talk with Confidence, but it didn’t help much. 

“I’m nervous too, you know,” Confidence said as the buildings grew closer. 

“You are?” Lonely replied, frowning in concern. 

He chuckled and bumped their shoulders together. “Of course,” he said. “It’s a big crowd. I’ve always been a little bit nervous about Performances. But I know that even if I make a mistake, I will always have another chance.”

Somehow, that made him feel a little better, knowing that he wasn’t going to be the only one there that was nervous. He squeezed Confidence’s hand as they moved between the buildings, following others towards the growing crowd in the marketplace. He could do it, he would be fine, even if nervousness still made his stomach ache.