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It was a bad day.
It was a bad day, and Virgil. was tired. He was tired and anxious and just all-around feeling bad and he really didn’t want to leave his room. He just wanted to crawl back under his covers and stay there all day.
So that’s what he did.
Virgil burrowed under his blankets, blocking out the world. He didn’t want to see or talk to anyone today. He just needed to cut off from everyone for the day. He’d be okay tomorrow. He just couldn’t handle that today.
He’d nearly fallen back asleep when there was a knock at the door.
“Hey, kiddo! You up?”
Virgil didn’t answer, hoping that they would just assume he was still asleep and leave him be.
Soon, he heard footsteps walking away from the door and relaxed…
Until there was another knock at the door ten minutes later.
“C’mon, Emo Nightmare! Patton wants you up!”
Virgil ignored it again, and was thankfully left alone once more. He’d started dozing by the time there was a third knock, thirty minutes later.
“Virgil?”
If he ignored it, it would go away.
“Virgil.” More forceful this time. “You’re not going to starve yourself on Thanksgiving.”
Virgil’s eyes shot open. It was Thanksgiving? Why did he have to get this feeling on Thanksgiving, of all days? It was supposed to be the first Thanksgiving he spent with the other sides and he had ruined it!
“Virgil, I am going to come in now.”
The door creaked open and was shut again quietly.
“Are you alright?” Logan asked, sitting on the edge of his bed.
Virgil shrugged. He wasn’t, but the only way Logan could help was by going away, letting him have the day to be alone.
“Virgil, I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong. I’m no mind reader, despite what you may think.”
Virgil sighed and sat up. “It’s not something you can help.”
“Well, how do you know? Just tell me what’s-”
“I just know, Logan!” Virgil snapped, his temper getting the better of him. This is why he needed a day off, his anger was out of control on these days especially.
“Snapping at me will not make me leave.”
“I just - I need to be alone today.”
“Being alone for you typically isn’t good on days like these, Virgil.”
Virgil half groaned, half growled. “No - I - it’s not - that isn’t –” Virgil cut himself off and muffled a frustrated scream.
“Breathe, Virgil. It’s okay. Take your time.”
Virgil closed his eyes and tried to recenter himself. “I need to be alone. I can’t do people today.”
Logan furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”
Virgil wasn’t sure he’d stay calm long enough to have this conversation. The frustration and anger was already rising again, and he didn’t want to end up snapping at Logan and hurting him. Despite everything he said, the logical side did have feelings.
Virgil took another few deep breaths, trying to find the right words to explain his situation to Logan.
“Sometimes I have these days where I’m just… socially exhausted, I guess. I need time to recharge on my own. I need to be away from people. If I can’t have a day to myself I get angry and irritable and anxious. I need to be left alone today.”
“I understand,” Logan said, and Virgil’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “But Patton will not be happy that you’re missing Thanksgiving. He’s been cooking all morning.”
Virgil shrunk in on himself. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t wanna hurt you guys when I lose my temper.”
Logan sighed. “That is understandable and wise.”
Virgil looked up hopefully.
“I will explain the situation to Patton, as well as bring you up a plate later.”
“Thanks, Logan.”
“Get some rest, Virgil.”
Logan ran a gentle hand through Virgil’s hair before leaving, shutting the door softly behind him.
And so Virgil got his quiet day. He read, he wrote, he drew, he watched YouTube, he looked at memes. At some point Logan brought him two plates of food, knocking on the door and leaving immediately afterward so that Virgil didn’t have to have too much social contact.
Virgil was immensely grateful for what Logan did for him. It meant a lot to him that they all tried to understand how he operated and support him through it.
By the next day, Virgil was completely recharged. His Alone Day had worked wonders, and he was ready to face the music. Patton was probably upset he’d missed Thanksgiving.
But to his surprise, the moral aspect wasn’t. Patton was just happy that Virgil was feeling better, as was Roman. The four of them ended up coming up with a code for next time Virgil needed a day to himself before having what Patton called Second Thanksgiving, since Virgil missed the first one.
He really couldn’t ask for a better family.