Work Text:
“Get OUT !”
The door slammed so hard it made Virgil flinch, although he was already shaking, still in shock from what had just happened. He gripped his bag tightly in hand, that was all they’d given him before kicking him out the door.
He shouldn’t have done it. He was feeling bold - for once - and he sort of just spat it out, unsure of what the reaction would be. He’d briefly thought it might go well, maybe there would be a rough patch but he’d be accepted for who he was and maybe some light humoured jokes would go around to ease any tension.
But no, he’d only been yelled at, called slurs and thrown out. What he was supposed to do now? He didn’t have anywhere to go. He knew a few people but he could barely call them friends, it’s not like he could suddenly ask them for such a huge favour.
Besides, he’d been too anxious to anyways. He stood there helplessly for a minute before realising he needed to leave, he couldn’t just stand outside the house forever. He tugged the bag on, gripping the straps, taking deep breaths to desperately try and calm himself down.
As if he could be calm, he’d just been kicked out for being gay. It wasn’t his fault, he didn’t choose to like guys, it sort of just, you know, happened. He’d already kept it to himself for years, anxious panic keeping him from even making a casual joke about it or something.
He knew he’d have to say something eventually, every time his family asked a question about if he got a girlfriend yet or if he liked some girl his stomach churned and he had to grit his teeth and just shake his head, trying to get them to drop it.
He started walking, not a clue where he was going, just letting his feet take him wherever. He sort of spaced out, mind running with a million different worries. I’m literally homeless! What if i get mugged? What if i run into some crazy person on the street? What if i have to steal to survive?? What if i starve??
Before he knew it, he was at the park. It wasn’t a bad place to hang out during the day time, it was free at least. He sighed, watching as kids played in the playground and families sat having picnics on the grass.
He felt some sort of emptiness, it felt like he’d lost his family completely in less than a day. And he hadn’t even done anything. Except be gay. Which… he swallowed, that was what got him kicked out, because they said it was wrong.
He’d never really thought about it growing up, no one ever talked about it, and when he realised he liked a boy, he wasn’t sure what to think. But hearing those words coming from the people who raised him… maybe it was wrong, maybe it was a problem.
He stopped, everyone around him… straight couples, everywhere. One man, one woman, by themselves or with their kids. And suddenly he felt singled out, because he wasn’t like them, he was….
“Freak!”
“It’s unnatural!”
“We didn’t raise you to be a faggot!”
He found a tree in the shade, placing down his bag and sitting underneath the leaves, hugging his knees. He didn’t understand why it was so wrong, but his anxiety riddled brain was screaming at him, if they had said it, if everyone else around him were the normal people… then he must be the weird, freaky and unnatural one.
He hugged himself tighter, what was he meant to do? He couldn’t keep it hidden forever, could he? He looked up, realising he’d ended up in an empty part of the park. Looking around, he realised it wasn’t completely void of people, a couple was walking down the path next to the duck pond, holding hands.
And they were both guys. Immediately, he scrambled behind the tree as to not be seen, peaking out to look at them. Okay, maybe it was a bit creepy. Or very creepy. But he couldn’t help it. He’d never actually seen a gay couple in the outside world before, apparently he lived in a very heteronormative town.
One of them, a smaller man with strawberry blonde curls and bright green eyes, gasped and stopped, pointing to the pond, “Look, look ducklings!” He said as he rushed over to the side of the pond, kneeled down and then cooed at the baby ducks.
They were pretty cute, Virgil had to admit. He would have gone over too but the idea of maybe having to talk to these strangers was way too much. He expected the other guy to go over and coo at the ducks as well, but instead, he scoffed, an annoyed look on his face.
“Really, Patton? Ducks? What are you, five?” He said, rolling his eyes. The smaller man, apparently Patton, looked up at him with a sad frown, “But, they’re so cute…!” He argued. One of the ducks quacked at him and he laughed.
This only seemed to annoy the other guy more, what was this dude’s problem ? “Come on, we’re leaving. You're lucky no one is around here so no one saw you being such a childish idiot.” Virgil furrowed his brows, this guy was acting like a total dick.
“Do we have to go?” Patton asked sadly. The guy growled and grabbed Patton’s arm, pulling him up roughly. Patton whimpered, “Micheal, that hurt!” The guy rolled his eyes again, “God, quit being such a baby. You know what, if you can’t listen to me then you can find your own damn way home.”
He shoved Patton down again, the smaller man almost falling in the water from the force, and stormed off. He started to walk in Virgil’s direction, making Virgil freeze and his stomach drop, but the guy didn’t see him. Thank god. He couldn’t help but hear as the the guy pulled out his phone, calling someone up, “Hey babe, i’ve got some free time, so i’m coming over.”
Virgil’s eyes widened, was this guy cheating on his boyfriend? He really shouldn’t of been listening in on their conversation, but now he had… He bit his lip as the guy walked away, peaking about the tree to look at Patton. He was still sitting on the ground by the pond, hugging his knees like Virgil had been doing.
He shouldn’t get into their business. They were strangers. But… Patton turned and Virgil could see tears in his eyes, him sniffling as he tried to wipe them away with his sleeve. He took a sharp inhale of breath, stranger or not, this guy needed someone right now. And his ass of a boyfriend certainly wasn’t going to help.
So, gathering all the strength he could, he got up, grabbing his bag and swinging it over his shoulder before making his way over to the strawberry blonde haired man. He let out the breath he’d been holding before speaking up, “U-uhm… h-hey… are you… alright?”
He cringed at how uneven his voice was. Patton looked up in surprise, quickly pushing himself off the ground and brushing himself off. He cleared his throat, “Of course! Why wouldn’t i be?” He said, tone suddenly cheery and happy, despite the fact he had clearly been upset two seconds ago.
Virgil’s brows creased, “But… that guy was being a total dick to you. Is he your boyfriend?” Patton’s eyes widened, “A… d-word? That’s mean to say! He is my boyfriend, and he’s not a d-word!” Despite the words being defensive, he didn’t sound that defensive, if anything, he sounded like he was tired of saying the words, as if he had to repeat them constantly. Which definitely wasn’t a good sign.
Still, the anxious pit in Virgil’s stomach grew at the words, he shouldn’t be trying to interfere with a stranger's business. He started fiddling with the strap of his bag, glancing at the ducks in the pond, “Sorry… but you know… he was being pretty mean. I like watching the ducks sometimes, and i’m eighteen, not a baby.”
Patton looked at him with surprise once more, “You.. you do?” Virgil nodded, “Yeah, i don’t think there’s anything wrong with that…” He shrugged, “Do you?” He asked. He looked up and met Patton’s eyes, his anxiety went through the roof, eye contact was the worst.
But Patton’s eyes only held sadness, and Virgil suddenly felt the urge to stay with him and make sure he was okay, even if they didn’t know each other. “My name is Virgil.” He said suddenly, words slipping out before he even realised.
Patton gave a small smile, “Patton.”
They ended up in the small cafe in the park, Patton insisted on buying Virgil a drink even when he embarrassedly refused multiple times, pink spreading across his cheeks. They then went and sat at a table, conversation flowing surprisingly easily between them.
Virgil wasn’t very talkative, but Patton seemed to be very chatty, especially once he had genuinely cheered up, happily sipping hot chocolate and bringing up subjects Virgil could actually find himself talking about. They talked about animals, cats and dogs mostly, and movies, disney because they both liked it, although Patton said he didn’t like the sad parts where people died, and much more.
At one point Patton brought up sexuality, to which Virgil went quiet. Patton blinked a few times, confused by the sudden silence, “You okay?” He asked, tilting his head slightly. Virgil nodded, “Yeah…” But he didn’t sound very convincing. Patton racked his brain for why Virgil could of gone quiet, but then it hit him.
“Oh. Do you not…?” He asked quietly, feeling his heart ache at the sudden proposition.
Virgil quickly shook his head, “No, no it’s not that i don’t support it! Well- no- i just... “ He swallowed, seeming nervous, “I- i am… you know… as well.” He admitted, hands gripping tightly to the cup of coffee in his hands.
“Oh, that’s great, i haven’t met many LGBTQ+ people around here!” Patton said happily. Virgil bit the inside of his cheek, “I- i guess i’m just… feeling bad about it. It feels sort of wrong…”
Patton’s smile faltered, “Wrong…? I… there’s nothing wrong with it, kiddo.” Virgil raised an eyebrow, “Kiddo?” He questioned. Patton shrugged, “Just a nickname i started using. Besides, you're a few years younger than me, so it works out.”
Virgil laughed and shook his head, this guy was really one of a kind, his laugh faded and the creeping feeling he’d had all day came back. He was talking again before he even knew it, “I… i just… well, i don’t want to go dumping my whole sob story on you, but i got kicked out today…”
Patton gasped, “Oh, you poor thing! Just because of that?” He huffed, “Some people…” Virgil looked down at his lap, “But… what if they were right?” Patton was silent for a moment before he reached over, taking one of Virgil’s hands into his.
“Hey, listen to me, okay? I know we don’t really know each other, but even so, i have to say this, they weren’t. Absolutely nothing is wrong with you, i swear on my life. You are perfect just the way you are.”
Hearing him saying that, the words so genuine and so full of emotion, it almost made Virgil cry. This guy… he barely knew him, but he felt like more of a real, authentic friend than Virgil had ever had before.
He squeezed Patton’s hand back, then pulled away, the contact was making him nervous, but it was sweet nonetheless. “Thank you.” He said quietly. Patton smiled and nodded back. They talked for a while longer, then parted ways, but promised to meet each other again at the cafe the next day.
And they did, Virgil dodged any questions about how he’d handled not having a place to go, once again blushing with embarrassment when Patton insisted on buying him something to eat. No matter what he said, he couldn’t change the other’s mind.
And once again, they talked for hours, the conversation flowing naturally, both of them feeling they had quickly become friends. Despite their differences, they also had a lot in common. It went on like that for a few days before Patton suddenly sprung something on Virgil, words that made him almost choke on his coffee.
“If you still need a place to stay, you can come stay with me.” Patton offered, giving a warm smile. “If you don’t feel comfortable with that, that’s alright, but i want you to have a place to sleep at night, you know?”
He said it rather casually, but Virgil couldn’t believe it, they’d barely known each other a week, even if they had grown to know a lot about each other through sometimes five hour long conversations, it was still a shocking offer. But he’d grown to learn Patton had an impossibly big heart, he would offer help to anyone who looked like they needed it, no matter what.
“I- Patton, are you serious? You’d… you’d let me stay with you?” He asked in disbelief. “Of course!” Patton said, nodding rapidly, “I don’t have another bedroom, but you can have the couch. I’ll help you look for a job, too.”
It was an unbelievably kind offer, so kind Virgil wasn’t sure he deserved to take it. But also he knew he wasn’t going to get anything else so good and he couldn’t just stay homeless, and there was no way Patton would offer it again, so he had to take it.
“I… that would be amazing, thank you Patton, so much.” He said, he could feel tears coming on for the third time that week. Patton jumped up, going round the table and pulling Virgil into a hug, “I’m so glad, kiddo! i promise, i’ll help get you back on your feet.” Virgil hugged him back tightly, “Thank you.”
It was two weeks later, Virgil had been living with Patton and it was going good so far, Patton was always kind and insisted on doing things for him even when he told him he didn’t need to.
It was night, it was getting pretty late and Patton wasn’t home yet. Virgil bit his lip, sitting on the couch, hugging a pillow close to his chest. He was getting anxious, like usual, but he couldn’t help it. All sorts of possibilities were starting to cross his mind.
What if Patton got into a car crash? What if he got hurt in some other way? What if he’s stuck somewhere? He squeezed the pillow tighter, he was being overdramatic, Patton was surely fine.
The front door to the apartment clicked open and Virgil jumped. Patton came hurrying through, “Hey.” He said quickly, hand hiding half of his face and he rushed past. “Wait- Patton-?”
Patton didn’t stop, so Virgil jumped off the couch and went after him, grabbing his shoulder halfway down the hall. “Patton! What happened?--” He cut himself off as he tugged Patton’s shoulder, spinning him around.
The hand covering his face had fallen, and there was a big red mark on his cheek, and tear stains on his face as new tears started to fall. “Oh, patt…” He murmured, immediately knowing what had happened.
He opened his arms and Patton flinched, making Virgil’s heart drop. But in a second, Patton was sobbing into Virgil’s chest, clutching his shirt and wailing. Virgil wrapped his arms around him tight, not caring that there was a wet spot on his shirt, that wasn’t what mattered right then.
Patton was what mattered, and every bad feeling Virgil had had about that damn boyfriend of his turned out be right. He held back his anger for then, Patton didn’t need him to make a revenge plan, he needed support. He guided Patton to the couch, then went to the kitchen to make two hot drinks, fully determined to talk about this and get Patton to finally break up with that dickhead.
He went back into the living room, carrying two mugs of hot tea and placed them down on the coffee table. Thank god Patton never moved in with that guy, it would be a disaster to try and untangle that mess. Patton was still sniffling, wiping away his last few tears as Virgil sat down.
“Thank you.” He said, voice rough from his crying spell. They sat in silence for a while, only the sips of tea to be heard, until eventually Virgil decided he just needed to rip the bandaid off, to say it and get it out into the air.
He took a breath, “Patton, you need to break up with Micheal.” Patton’s breath hitched in his throat. Virgil turned to him, placing his mug down, “You really do. I know your brain is probably scrambling for any excuse than you don’t need to, but you can’t come up with any reasonable excuse for this happening, you know that.”
Patton shook his head, “B-but… i can’t.” Virgil placed his hand over Patton’s, voice firm yet gentle at the same time, “Yes you can.”
Patton could feel a fresh wave of tears coming, he had thought about it a lot of times, but it always seemed so daunting, he could already imagine all the yelling and screaming… it was too much .
But Virgil was looking at him, such desperation in his eyes, Patton knew his friend didn’t want to see him hurt. “I- i’ll think about it.” He murmured, it was the best he could give for then. It was too much.
Virgil sighed, “Okay. Please, really do. You deserve better than this.”
You deserve better than this. The words rang in Patton’s brain a lot, over and over, every time something happened, the yells and the just too tight grips on his arm, but he still couldn’t bring himself to break it off. He’d been in the relationship for about two years at that point, it wasn’t an easy feat.
He stayed with him for a couple more months, as Patton noticed his boyfriend disappearing a lot, on the phone a lot, too. He would never do something like go through his partner’s phone, but he couldn’t deny he was curious… and worried.
It’s not that he thought Micheal would cheat on him, never , but it was so often, surely he had to be talking to someone important? And why did he never tell Patton who it was? He asked once, but got no response, only got barked at to mind his own business.
But surely it couldn’t be someone else he was involved with, right? He wouldn’t do that to Patton, would he? They’d been in a committed relationship for years, he wouldn’t just throw it away like that.
But then again… maybe he would.
He was out with Virgil one night, neither of them really drank that much so they weren’t really in their environment in a bar, so they were about to leave, laughing about how they were dumb to come here when they could of should of gone to a pizza place or something. But then Patton spotted something that made his heart stop.
Across the room, he could see a face he wished wasn’t so familiar. It was sort of in the bar, but he could still recognize the face of the man he’d given two years of his life too. Who was currently pressing another guy up against the wall, kissing him intensely.
“Patton? What-?” Virgil began, but froze, eyes landing on the same sight as Patton’s had. His face grew angry, “That bastard- ” Patton barely heard him, getting lost in his own mind, he’d known it, somewhere deep down, he’d known. He just never wanted to believe it.
It was too hurtful of a thought. It was always easier to push the thoughts away.
But now he was forced to look, to see the truth, and as much as he wanted to look away, he couldn’t pull his eyes away. He watched as the other guy pushed Micheal off, saying something Patton couldn’t hear over the crowd. The guy, he had interesting features, blonde hair and lighter patches of skin on his face.
All of a sudden, the mystery man’s eyes met his, looking at him quizzically, making Patton jump slightly. He probably noticed Patton was staring at him. Virgil tugged at his arm, “Let’s leave, Patt. You can deal with him later, we should get out of here.” He mumbled, but Patton wasn’t listening.
The blonde guy said something to Micheal, eyes still locked with Patton’s. Micheal raised an eyebrow and he glanced in Patton’s direction before doing a double take and jumping, eyes going wide.
He tried to make a run for it, dragging the blonde guy with him, but Virgil was having none of it. He stormed over and, apparently the one drink they had had was enough to kick Virgil’s anxiety out the window for a minute as he started angrily accusing Micheal right there.
Patton quickly rushed after him, people were starting to look, and he finally got close enough to hear what they were saying. “Go away, you little rat.” Micheal spat. Virgil growled in response. “Virgil! I-” Patton froze upon looking at Micheal’s face. He swallowed.
“You… you’ve been cheating on me this entire time, haven’t you?” He asked, voice quiet and hesitant, but he knew he’d been heard. “Wait, what?!” The blonde guy suddenly shot, “You bitch ! Are you kidding? You’ve been dating him and me both this entire time?”
Micheal scoffed, “Don’t flatter yourself, you're just a side piece sweetie.” Patton felt his heart ache for this guy, he had no idea Patton even existed. They’d both been played, and it hurt so badly for Patton, he knew it must of hurt for this guy as well. He still looked pissed, but Patton saw the flash of hurt pass his face.
And that was the breaking point for him, when someone else got hurt, Patton couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. “Hey!” He yelled suddenly, catching Micheal off gaurd and taking him by surprise. Patton balled his hands into fists, “You are such a… a… a DICK! ”
Micheal’s eyes were only wide for a second before he turned mad and opened his mouth, but Patton beat him too it, a rare anger still coursing through him, “Get out , leave me alone, and never talk to me or him ever again! ”
He was so loud, everyone else in the bar was staring, but he didn’t care, he was done, done with everything, done with all of this. He did deserve better. With everyone staring at him, Micheal scurried off, embarrassment written all over his face.
Patton hoped he’d never see him again.
After a minute, everyone went back to their business, although a few were still glancing at them. Leaving Patton and Virgil standing there with this other guy who’d also just found out he’d been being cheated on, and also been called the side piece. Ouch.
Patton took in a breath, for some reason he felt bad, despite the fact he’d done nothing to hurt this man. But as Virgil had said many times, he had a heart so big he seemed to feel everyone else’s feelings too.
He offered his hand, “My name is Patton. Do you think we should get out of here?” The blonde guy looked up in surprise, but nodded, “Yeah… probably. I’m Janus.” He said, shaking Patton’s hand. Patton smiled, “Well it’s nice to meet you. Me and Virgil were about to head out anyway, you wanna join us for some pizza? I know you must be upset.”
Janus shrugged, rubbing his arm up and down, “I... yeah. Feels pretty shitty... but he was really an ass. He was always yelling in my face and acting like he owns me or something." Patton winced at Janus' words, he knew that too well, "Pizza sounds great though, i can drown my sorrows in food.” Janus said, making Virgil snort, “That’s a mood.”
The three left together, heading to the nearby pizza shop and grabbing a couple pizza’s and striking up a conversation with each other.
“So, Janus, huh? Unique name.” Virgil said as he took a bite of pizza. Janus shrugged, “Virgil’s weird too, man. And Patton isn’t exactly common.” Virgil shrugged, “Fair enough.” Patton smiled at them both, he felt a similar way as he did when he was with Virgil that first day in the cafe.
Maybe Janus would end up becoming a friend, he and Virgil seemed to get along, which was good. Patton liked him too, he was definitely a little out there, but hey, all the best people are, right?
They couldn’t predict the future, but hey, maybe one day, they’d be great friends.