Chapter Text
It had been a hard week for everyone, Thomas had recently gotten out of a 2-year relationship and he’d also been denied a role in a theatre show he loved. It was a bad week for both Thomas and his sides.
The only constant in Thomas’ life was his friends, and they never let him down.
One moment he was having a panic attack and wallowing in self-pity, the next he was 100 miles from home lying on soft warm sand.
Joan and Talyn had decided to cheer Thomas up by taking him to the beach, to relax and forget his sorrows, and it was working, if at all slowly.
Meanwhile, in his mindscape, Roman and Logan had pulled Patton and Virgil out of their rooms and decided to take a vacation of their own. They now all stood by the beach, looking out toward the horizon, the sun high in the sky.
Of course, this was the mindscape, so they were the only four there. Patton had already cheered up on the way there, both him and Roman already dressed in swimming trunks and running towards the ocean with rubber rings and floats. Logan stood in a white tank top printed with a dark blue necktie on the front; he also wore dark trunks, but refrained from going to the water. Instead he walked across the warm, golden sand and conjured a deck chair and a parasol, laying down and taking out his book to read.
Virgil on the other hand was still in his usual attire, black torn jeans, purple top and patchwork jacket. With his hands in his pockets, headphones on, and hood up, he walked across the sand and took a silent seat under Logan’s parasol. Sitting in the shade he simply played with the sand a bit, just grabbing a handful and then letting it sink through his fingers satisfyingly; he did this multiple times for god knows how long.
After a few hours Roman and Patton ran out of the ocean and up to the two sat in the shade. Both having a good time and panting and giggling. Logan glanced up from his book at Patton, his hair was a wet mess and his trunks were a little dishevelled but he couldn’t ignore the huge, pure grin on Patton’s face “I am pleased to see that your positivity has improved”
Patton giggled and nodded his head “Yeah! I feel much better~ Thanks guys for taking us here~” he beamed. Roman nodded, acknowledging his efforts but his glance was on Virgil, who hadn’t improved at all…
Patton and Roman exchanged glanced before coming to a silent agreement, grinning and nodding their heads as they looked back at Virgil.
Virgil had heard the two approaching but was too busy listening to his music and playing the grains of sand to pay any attention to it. That was until he felt their intense gaze on him.
He warily looked up at them through his bangs and knitted his eyebrows “What?”
Roman crouched down and took Virgil’s wrist, making the sand he was currently holding fall into a pile “Come on Virgil! Lets have some fun! Come swim with us, the water feels amazing~! And water is your element remember” Roman winked, remembering, however, Virgil instantly shook his head with wide eyes.
Virgil couldn’t swim. Not that he would ever tell anyone that, he’d tried to a few times but ended up ducking out. He was too anxious to give out this information, another thing the others could easily use against him, not that they ever would, and he knew that, but still…
Roman and Patton pouted together “Aww Come on kiddo~ It might cheer you up a bit~”
And there they were… Patton’s puppy dog eyes… the eyes no one could say ‘no’ to…
Virgil sighed before standing up, he wasn’t afraid of water; he could get a bit wet and stay in the shallow end, but he simply feared drowning, the dread of not being able to breath… having a panic attack was bad enough, he didn’t need the burn of water in his lungs to make it worse…
Nevertheless, Virgil removed his jacket, not wanting it to get wet and placed his phone and headphones on top of it.
“Yay!!” Patton and Roman cheered together, seeing Virgil getting chang-… wait…
“Uh… Virgil? Don’t you have any trunks? You’re not gunna go in the sea with your jeans and top are you?” Roman asked raising a brow.
Virgil narrowed his eyes, putting his fingers in his jean pockets “yes… problem?” he plainly asked, if he was being forced to go into the ocean, then he would do so on his own terms; and that means not exposing his pale body for everyone to see… that would only cause him to be more anxious and self-conscious.
Roman raised his hands in defeat “Nope, nope, you wear whatever you’d like storm cloud” Patton giggled and grabbed Virgil’s hand pulling him to the sea “Lets go~!”
Logan raised a brow, seeing Virgil’s extremely uncomfortable expression, but decided to let it go, as Virgil seemed on edge most of the time lately.
Virgil felt his feet hit the warm water, walking into the shallows. Patton let go of his hand when the water was just above Virgil’s knees, Virgil at this point, refusing to go any deeper, and Patton didn’t force him.
Instead the fatherly side splashed Virgil and Roman simultaneously with a cheeky giggle, seeing the reactions of the two being shock. “H-How dare you! My precious hair is ruined!” Roman spoke dramatically before smirking deeply, a smirk so villainous it made Patton squeak and swim away.
Virgil couldn’t help but let his lips curl up into a small smile as he watched Roman chasing after Patton for revenge, ‘okay, this isn’t too bad’ he thought to himself. He knelt down so the water reached his waist as his hands buried under the shallows to pick up pretty shells, collecting them in his pockets.
The day went by faster than they thought and the sun was soon setting. After collecting a few shells Virgil had somehow been dragged into the water fight. Not long after that they’d played some volleyball; Roman insisting he could beat both Virgil and Patton but inevitably lost. They’d also returned to land to eat some food and had a sandcastle building competition; Which Logan even participated in!
The sun was setting; the four decided it was best to start packing up and heading back for the day. Patton packed away the food, while Logan put away his book and set down the parasol. Roman and Virgil ventured back into the shallows to retrieve the floats and rubber rings.
“Hey Virgil! I’ve got all the ones over here! I’m gunna head back, you okay?” Roman asked, Virgil just gave a simple thumbs’ up, collecting the volleyball and a float, but there was still one more he had to get before returning.
“Just got to get one more!” Virgil stated and he walked over to receive the smaller ball, floating atop of the salty water. The water was at his waist by the time he got close to the ball, he thought nothing of it as he felt the solid sand below him, however, Virgil hadn’t noticed the deep crevice up ahead.
Without warning Virgil felt the sand beneath his feet vanish stopping his heart in that moment. Virgil’s eye’s widened; he parted his lips to scream however nothing came out but a small gasp.
With in a millisecond he was submerged underwater.
Stupidly he let go of the float in his hand in an attempt to swim to the surface, but to no avail…
He felt the salt water burning his eyes as he struggled to swim, kicking his legs frantically as he arms reached towards the slowly distancing surface. He could feel and almost hear the pulsation of his heart rapidly beating as it failed to receive any oxygen.
He was trying his best to hold his breath, in fear of the pain he’d receive when trying to take a breath, however, he could no longer hold it…
He coughed and screamed in pain, the salt water burning and ripping into his lungs; though no one could hear him.
He didn’t know how long this pain had gone on for, but the lack of oxygen and the tightness of water in his chest started to take effect… Virgil’s vision began to blur and slowly turned to black.
His worst fear being realised… and his last thought being ‘I’m sorry’
Back on the beach Patton was chatting to Logan, thanking him for cheering him up and even sharing a momentary embrace. They parted when they saw Roman approaching “Did you receive all of the floatation devices?” Logan asked as Roman dropped them all on the sand below “Yep, Virgil’s got the rest” he spoke brushing his fringe out of his face.
Patton blinked, tilting to the side a bit to look behind Roman “Where Virgil? You said he was getting the other floats, right?”
Everything stopped, everyone’s eyes looked towards the calm ocean as the sun began setting over the horizon.
They could see a conglomeration of flotation supply bobbing on top of the water but no Virgil.
“G-Guys… C-Can… Can V-Virgil swim?” Patton asked, his body began to tremble and tears filled his eyes, his heart clenching in worry.
Before Logan or Patton could do anything Roman darted towards the sea once more “VIRGIL!!!” he shouted and swam over to the floaters.
Logan and Patton ran to the shallows of the water, Patton grabbed Logan’s arm and cried into it, hoping and wishing Roman could save him “I-I’m so stupid! W-why didn’t I see it be… before! H-He never s-swam! H-He only stayed where his feet c-could reach! O-Oh God…” he sobbed. Logan put an arm around the other in comfort but couldn’t say anything; his eyes watching as Roman franticly swam, circling the area before suddenly diving down.
It was hard to see anything but after getting to the floaters he found that the sand had turned into a crevice or valley, dipping down deeply. He looked around from the surface in panic before spotting discolouration deep down, he didn’t waste any time diving under and swimming towards Virgil.
Though it was hard to see underwater, Roman could make out Virgil’s pale skin, his lips parted and his eyes closed. Virgil’s body was still, only moving with the current of the ocean. Roman felt a pang of guilt and insane panic wash over him, he grabbed Virgil’s wrist as soon as he’d reached him and quickly made his way to the surface, gasping for air when he breached.
Roman panted heavily, treading water, an arm around Virgil limp body, Roman moved his other hand to hold Virgil’s head up and shake him a little “V-Virge? H-hey… breath… wake up!” he spoke, his voice trembling in fear, he needed to get him to land.
Patton and Logan saw Roman resurface, their eyes widened as they saw a lifeless Virgil in Romans arms, quickly trying to get back to shore. Patton gasped and covered his mouth with both hands, hot tears streaming down his face. Even Logan was trembling a bit; shock and fear filling him, as he knew Virgil had drowned and was most probably not breathing.
Once Roman’s feet felt the sand below him he quickly picked Virgil up bridal-style and ran as fast as he could toward the beach before laying him down gently, Patton and Logan kneeling around the pale still figure.
As soon as Virgil was safely on dry land Roman placed his ear by Virgil’s nose and mouth his eyes widening as the youngest was not breathing! He then pressed his ear to Virgil’s chest, he could hear weak pulsations of his heart but…
“H-He’s not breathing!” Roman exclaimed, looking up at the other two with tears falling down his cheeks as well.
Patton shook Virgil’s shoulder “V-Virgil? K-Kiddo… P-Please... Say something!” he begged not knowing what to do, however, Logan took action.
“Roman, you need to give him CPR!” Logan shouted at him, in panic more than aggression.
“30 chest compressions!” Logan instructed, seeing Roman unsure of how to do this.
“B-But, I don’t… Why me… Logan you know how to do it! You do it!” he shouted, scared that he’d do something wrong and kill his best friend and crush. On the other hand, he knew why he had to be the one to do it, because he wouldn’t give up…
Remembering what he’d seen in movies he leaned over Virgil slightly, Placing one hand over the other on Virgil’s chest and began the compressions.
After 30 he sat back and looked at Virgil’s form, but nothing… Roman continued frantically, while Patton and Logan watched in fear.
Seconds turned into minutes, after 10 minutes had passed Logan set his trembling hand on Roman’s shoulder “S-Stop… I-It’s been too long…” he hesitantly spoke. He knew from textbooks and Thomas’ lifeguard training that a person without oxygen for more then 15 minute could result in death or major brain damage…
Patton’s blank gaze moved from Logan to Roman and back down to Virgil, his lips now blue and skin cold to the touch “N-No… No… P-Please… No…”
Roman let out a strangled cry. He couldn’t lose him! He hadn’t confessed yet! He hadn’t given Virgil his present he’d spent weeks on for his birthday next week!
“NO! I’m not giving up!!” he shouted, continuing his relentless acts to save the youngest, he then moved to Virgil’s head, pinching his nose and sealing his lips over the drowned form, giving him air for 2 second before moving back to chest compressions. Logan flinched as he heard Virgil’s ribs fracture a little over the prolonged CPR, he couldn’t hold back any longer, as tears fell from his eyes “P-Please… Please Roman… S-Stop… I-I can’t…” he buried his face in his hands, Logan, Logic, had cracked.
Roman sobbed, his final attempt of mouth to mouth slowly turned into a kiss before placing his head on Virgil’s chest, crying hard and loudly, he didn’t care how ugly it looked or sounded.
“COME BACK TO ME!!” Roman screamed raising his head and shook the still form one last time.
Suddenly, Virgil flinched and water began gargling out of his mouth. Everyone sat and stared in utter shock, Logan was the first to break the shock “Turn him over so he can dislodge the water!” he ordered, leaning forward and helping Virgil roll to his side as the youngest coughed heavily, violently expelling the ocean from his lungs.
After a few minutes of coughing and vomiting, Virgil finally calmed down, able to breath. “V-Virgil? O-Oh my god… I thought we’d lost you kiddo…” Patton took his first proper breath in what felt like hours.
“A-Are you okay, Virge?” Roman asked, shuffling forward to bring the youngest into his arms comfortably.
However, all hearts stopped as Virgil’s head hung limply. He was breathing but he hadn’t regained an inch of consciousness.
“V-Virge? Hey, w-wake up… Virgil? V-Virge Please!” Roman shook the other gently before looking to Logan for an explanation, but Logan had none.
“Lets get him back to the mindscape, his body and mind went though a lot of shock, it might take him a while to awaken” Logan told the other two; they nodded in response.
Roman carefully picked up Virgil and Patton followed, his eyes never tearing away from their youngest family member. Logan watched them both sadly, he’d lied, he had no idea what would happen, he only told them that to ease their mind a bit, leaving him with the burden that Virgil may never wake up…
Logan was snapped out of his horrifying thoughts when Patton called for him, quickly joining the others.
The drive home was silent.