I wish you weren't my friend (but so much more)

Chapter 8

It took another 2 weeks of Jimmy isolating himself, before a server wide meeting was called. They met in Animalia, Lizzie's kingdom, gathering in the community hall. Pixlriffs stood on the head of the table, trying to quiet the loudly talking group of Emperors. All except Scott were discussing what the meeting was called for and why a certain Sheriff was excluded.

"Quiet!" Katherine suddenly roared, shutting them all up. "Thank you, Katherine," Pix said, slightly impressed by her action. If the Great Witch Shelby was staring at the princess with heart eyes, nobody mentioned it. "Now then, we have some serious business to attend to," Pix said, voice low and stern," Are any of you aware of what's happening in Tumble Town?"

Some Emperors simply shook their heads, others looked curious as to why he asked such a thing. A few stayed very silent. "Why? Is anything wrong?" Gem asked concerned. "Haven't seen him in a while," Joey the Pirate said, shrugging. "He hasn't visited me to buy potions," Shelby added, her fingers twitching nervously. She seemed to reconsider and added softly; "I haven't actually seen him in a long time now..."

Pix looked across the table at the 3 who knew Jimmy best. Scott, Lizzie and Joel shared a look amongst themselves. "He hasn't asked anybody for aid? Trades?" the man asked. "Nothing from the Goblands," fWhip said. "Nor Sanctuary," MysticalSausage added. "Pix," Katherine said, her voice having an edge of fear," What's going on?"

The others fell silent as Pixlriffs sighed. "It has come to my attention that the Sheriff has made no trades, contact or appointments with anybody for quite some time now." He coughed before explaining. "I stationed one of my people in Tumble Town, to keep an eye out after Jimmy failed to respond to multiple of my messages. They mentioned spotting the Sheriff only a couple of times during their stay and there were rumours of abnormal behaviour from the Sheriff, or so they've told me. They also mentioned multiple visits from Emperors, without response from Jimmy."

Scott felt his heart clench at the thought of Jimmy all alone. Had he really pushed everyone away? A voice in the back of his head told him he should be glad he wasn't the only one being ignored, but it only increased his worry. "I'm afraid he's in dire need of help, but unwilling or unable to ask for it," Pix said. His eyes met Scott's. Gem gasped and someone else started to mutter in distress.

"He really hasn't sought out any of us?" Katherine asked softly. Most shook their heads. Joel and Lizzie seemed to have a silent conversation through a staring contest and raised eyebrows. Scott no longer tried to follow, his eyes casted on the table in front of him. Pix's words rang in his ears. 'Dire need', 'unwilling or unable to ask for help', 'no response'. He believed he had been the only one being avoided by Jimmy, somehow thinking it was him who was to blame. Now he learned the other had completely shut himself off from the world, locking himself in his home.

He was wrecking his brain, trying to find answers to all of his questions. Why had Jimmy pushed them away? Why didn't he come to him for help? He began to feel dizzy. "...not even Scott?" False asked, making it go eerily silent. All eyes were on Scott and he was unsure of how to answer. Not trusting his voice, he shook his head. All kinds of questions and shocked statements followed, overwhelming him.

Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes and he sniffled. It quieted down when Lizzie sprang up from her seat, a frown on her face. "That's quite enough!" she barked," Leave him alone, can't you see it's hurting him enough as is?" Her arm was outstretched towards the cyanette. If everybody else had been so shocked by Jimmy not talking to Scott, what did that say about them? Even they believed them to be inseparable. He would be Jimmy's first choice to come to for help, as would the blonde be his. The heavy feeling in his stomach grew in intensity and he found it hard to breath.

"Oh, Scott," Shelby said and quickly made her way over to the other. Arms wrapped around him and he only wanted to cry harder. All he wanted was to be able to be there for Jimmy. To hold him and comfort him, make him smile again. He was doing a horrible job so far. He closed his eyes as he felt another hand on his arm, squeezing in support. "I've tried to visit on multiple occasions," Joel said," to check up on him after-."

He snapped his mouth shut. Lizzie shot him a disbelieving look. It was too late, the others heard enough to get curious. "After what?" Joey asked. "After Scar's party," Lizzie answered. "What happened at the party? I had great fun," Sausage asked curious. Gem gave him a deadpan look. "You were too drunk to notice anything wrong," she said. Sausage looked unapologetic as he shrugged.

"We're not entirely sure what happened..." Lizzie continued," he seemed to have a panic attack, while talking to Scar. He shut down completely and left the party early." Scott looked up, to give her a grateful smile for taking the lead in explaining what happened. "Me and Joel followed shortly after, to see if he was alright. He had made it back home safely, but claimed to be too tired and he would speak to us later. We decided to give him time and space, to recover. Nobody likes having those types of panic attacks, especially not in front of others."

"We just didn't know it would lead to this..." Joel added. Some nodded in understanding. "Sounds like it really drained him," Shelby said," I know I'd need time to get my energy back." Lizzie shared a look with Scott. "Sadly, it seems his condition has only gotten worse," Pix added. "I wished he would talk to me at least..." Scott whispered. Shelby's hold tightened and he could now see it was Oli's hand on his shoulder. He tried to show his appreciation by giving them a watery smile.

"We need to do something about this, help him out," Pix said. Scott nodded, determined yet frustrated he could not fulfil that role. "Is there anybody who could help? Someone he has to listen to?" fWhip asked. A look shared between Joel, Lizzie and Scott, as a lightbulb seemed to go off. They knew just the person they needed to talk to Jimmy.

"Grian."