The space beside him was empty. It was an immediate acknowledgement the second he woke up from his slumber. His palm pressed itself into the mattress and felt around the open space as if searching for the body that usually occupied it. His brows furrowed before he slowly cracked his eyelids open and he looked up at the ceiling.

Colby wasn't here. As if to confirm that he wasn't near, he turned his head and darted his eyes around the room and concluded that he was indeed alone. It felt so cold in here now. It was Colby's room but without him in here, it was almost... Empty.

"Colby?" He called out but there was no response. He wasn't panicking, his heart beat remained steady, in fact his head was pretty quiet despite the fact that Colby wasn't near him. He wasn't even sure if Colby was in the house at all, but he got the feeling that he really was by himself.

Slowly, he sat up and now stared at the wall. He couldn't think about anything, but Colby's name continued to reach his lips as he called out. Colby clearly wasn't home, which was odd, he never usually left without notifying Sam, and when he did, it was usually guaranteed that Sam would accompany him wherever he went. Perhaps he had given up on Sam? Perhaps this was it and Sam was finally alone. Maybe he ran away? Sam wouldn't necessarily blame him, since he certainly was a handful to be with.

He closed his eyes. "Colby? You're not here?" He said lastly and waited a few moments before he decided to shift his legs to the edge of the bed and get up. His legs were still healing from the accident, but he could walk on his own more or less, though he felt major discomfort and he had taken to limping whenever he walked.

"Fine", he breathed out and staggered his way to the door, a numb ache lingering in his calves that travelled up to his thighs, though it wasn't really a concern to him since he had become rather accustomed to this sensation.

He exited the room and went to the bathroom, flicking on the light and glancing at himself in the mirror. He had noticed that ever since what happened, he despised it when he saw his reflection. He looked pale and sickly, bags formulated under his eyes and his hair had grown a little too scruffy for his liking. He didn't like to look at himself.

He stared for a long while before tears sprung into his eyes and he slapped his hands to his forehead, backing up until he hit the far wall, still staring at himself in the mirror.

Where is Colby?

"Colby!" He screamed out desperately as he pressed his back against the cold wall, feeling his entire body began to shake. "Colby! Colby! COLBY!" He screamed out again, covering his eyes completely as he leaned his head back far enough that he was leaning it against the surface of the wall.

He needed Colby. Where was Colby? Why wasn't he here? Had he gotten tired of me? Has he finally had enough? Fuck, what if he hates me? What if he never comes back? What if he's back at that hospital? What if I never see him again?

These thoughts were gnawing away at his mind and he had no control over them. It was paining him to the core, he couldn't handle it. He felt useless, unwanted and incredibly vulnerable. He was so useless without Colby, hell, even when Colby was here he wasn't worth any more than he was now. He was so petty.

"Shhh", he cried to himself as he looked into the mirror again, his vision blurred by his tears. "Shhh, shush, noisy. Stop being so noisy! That's why Colby isn't here! Noisy, stupid brat!" Sam heard himself say, looking at the reflection as if it were another person speaking to him. He made ugly gurgling sounds as he tried to shut himself up, but a hand swiped up and hit his cheek, stunning him to silence.

"I said shut up!" Sam said to himself and the noises halted to small sniffles.

"I'm sorry", Sam whimpered, and he walked to the basin and placed his hands on the edges, trying to calm his breathing. He tried the techniques Colby usually said to him when he was having panic attack, breathing in slowly through his nose and out his mouth.

"Such a needy fucking child", his reflection said, and Sam bit his lips as his grip tightened.

"I know. I'm... I'm sorry".

"Hah, not even defending yourself? And why're you apologising to me? It's Colby who's been abused".

"A-Abused? What do you mean?" Sam's eyes widened as he looked up at the reflection which seemed to be gleaming back at him, eyes wide and full of mad delight, as if looking at something grotesque and the sight sickly pleased him. In this case, it was looking at Sam's grotesque self he had become, it was almost laughable how he's been broken down to such a pathetic bundle of insecurities and fear.

"You never let him do anything. He's like a puppet and he does whatever we say, it's like we're a king to him and what do we do? We treat him like scum. We give him nothing to compensate for what he's been doing for us. No wonder he's gone. Fucking pathetic. He's probably out there having fun and trying to forget about his mistake in saving us. Useless. Embarrassing waste of space you've been amounted to Sam. Fucking disappointment", the reflection mocked, and Sam felt himself shrink a bit, his head ducking in shame as he found himself unable to deny any of what was said.

"I-I'm sorry... I never... I never meant to-to do that..."

"You're doing it again, why the fuck are you apologising to me?"

"Stop it... Who are you? What do you want? Why are you saying these things?!" Sam demanded as he stared into the mirror, the image sneering at him cruelly. He couldn't stand looking for too long though, the coldness within those frosty blue eyes burned through his core and made him feel crippled inside.

"Isn't it obvious Sam?" It spoke up in an almost piteous tone, like it was speaking to an abandoned child. "I'm you, and I'm here to help.... Help you return to your former glory, or at least redeem you to a point where you somewhat deserve being next to Colby".

"You're cruel".

"One must be cruel to be kind, isn't that right Sam?"

"Leave me alone, you're not real".

"Ahhh, saying I'm not real is like saying you're not real", he clicked his fingers and Sam paled a bit, raising his hand and staring at it like it were a foreign object. This couldn't be real, it didn't make sense, it was like he had split into two people and the person he saw in the mirror was no longer himself. Had he truly lost it?

"You should call him", it said, and Sam looked himself in the mirror again, now feeling himself curve the corners of his lips upwards. "Tell him we miss him", he placed his hands on the edge of the basin and leaned closer to the mirror. "Then maybe he'll consider coming home to a disappointment like yourself. If he does, then we better get on our god damn knees and kiss the ground he walks", he sneered and looked around the bathroom in search for his phone, but he felt hesitance rise in his stomach as he went out to the room then returned with the phone in hand, glancing up at his reflection.

"I can sense your reluctance? What's the matter? You don't miss him?"

"No, I... I do, I love him, and I want him home".

"Then call him and tell him that. We both miss him, he should know that. Let's hope he picks up the phone to his needy little burden", he smiled cynically, and Sam felt tears surface his eyes again as he looked down at his phone, Colby's number on the screen with his finger hovering above the call button.

"Do it".

"I... What if he's having fun?"

"What if he's- Damn it you fucking pussy! If he's out having fun, then you fucking accept that! We might as well confirm that much".

"What if I don't want to".

"Call him!" He screamed, and Sam flinched at his own voice, looking down at the phone again before pressing the call button and bringing it to his ear. It only took a couple of rings before Colby picked up, the sound of his voice soothing Sam and he felt his shoulders slump a bit in relief.

"Sam?" He said his name the second time and Sam exhaled deeply before he chuckled to himself, looking up at his reflection again which gleamed at him.

"Colby", it spoke for him.

"Are you okay?" He sounded concerned.

"I don't know where you are", he traced his fingers on the basin idly. "But I hope you come home soon. We miss you", he brought his fingers up to his face and pressed the index finger into the corner of his mouth, pulling it up into a smile.

"We?" Colby said in confusion. "Who's we? Is someone there with you?"

"Come back to us Colby", his eyes welled as he finally spoke for himself. "Please come back... "

"Sam what's going on? I'm on my way, okay? Talk to me baby".

"I'm sorry", Sam retracted his phone from his ear and threw it at the mirror which cracked it, not shattering it as he had wished. "Go away. I don't want to do this".

"What on earth are you doing Sam?" It growled at him, forcing Sam to press his palms against the cracked glass, staring into the split images of himself smiling madly. "You fuck everything up. It's always about you! No wonder- "

"Shut up!" Sam bashed the sides of his fists into the glass which cracked it more. "Shut up! Stop it! You're lying! Everyone is a liar!"

"You idiot", it spoke weakly. "The only one that is lying is you yourself".

_________