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Virgil had always been there to support his little brother in anything he did. Start volunteering at an animal shelter? Virgil went with him. Get a veterinary degree? Virgil was there to quiz him on anything. Lost a friend? Virgil spent the entire day with him until he cheered up, and then some more time for good measure.
Patton had always reciprocated that. MCR concert? Patton pitched in for tickets. Panic attack? Patton was there to help him breathe through it. Tough day in general? Patton was someone he could vent to without being judged or even criticized. Bullies? Don’t let the cheerful attitude fool you, he’s fierce when someone he cares about gets hurt.
Patton was Virgil’s rock, and Virgil was the wind in Patton’s sails. Any hardships, they got through together. Any triumphs, they celebrated together.
So when Patton called Virgil and their parents into the living room to make an announcement, Virgil was ready to support him in whatever he did.
Virgil watched curiously as Patton walked into the living room, hand in hand with his closest friend, Logan. “Mom, Dad, Virgil,” Patton said, clearly nervous. “I want you to meet Logan, my classmate, tutor..” Patton trailed off, then glanced at Logan, who gave him a small nod. “And boyfriend.”
Virgil tried his hardest to bite back a squeal. “Oh my god Pat you didn’t tell me you two were dating!!” Virgil ran up to Logan. “I can't tell you how exciting this is. Patton's never dated anyone before, at least not that he’s told me but I’m his brother so I’m pretty sure he’d tell me if he was dating anyone but either way this is just—“ Virgil had to stop and breathe. “Anyways, my point is that this is super exciting. I was worried he would be single forever!”
“You worry way too much,” Patton replied.
“It’s my job, how else am I supposed to make sure you live the best life you can in case I die young?”
“Ok, that argument is getting really tired.”
“So?” Virgil remembered why he had run up to Patton in the first place. He smirked, then lightly shoved Logan into Patton, both of them turning red immediately. “You’re still my little brother, and always will be.” With that, Virgil walked off, chuckling to himself. Not only was his brother gay, he had found someone he was gay for.
~*~🤍~*~💜~*~
A couple of days later, Virgil caught Patton limping as they went to bed. “Pat, is everything ok?” he asked, startling Patton.
“Yep! Everything’s fine, Virge, my foot’s just asleep,” Patton replied cheerfully. Virgil suspected he was faking it, but he didn’t get the chance to ask, as Patton was already in his room. Virgil shrugged it off and settled in for the night.
~*~🤍~*~💜~*~
But then it got worse. Multiple times, Virgil had seen Patton start at loud noises, or clutch his wrist after writing, or try to hide himself holding his ribs after a long run around the shelter or a mad dash to reach his next class, or squeak when someone accidentally bumped into him. Whenever Virgil asked what was wrong, Patton brushed it off, saying he was just tired, or it was a writing cramp, or he was caught off guard, but Virgil didn’t buy it.
After a week of this, Virgil sought out Logan. He found him in the school library, studying during their free period. Predictable. Virgil walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Virgil,” Logan greeted, voice at an acceptable level for the library. “Is everything alright?” Virgil shook his head. Leave it to Logan to know exactly what he wanted.
“I need to have an open, honest talk with you,” he replied, matching Logan’s volume. “Can we go outside?” Logan nodded and closed his book, then grabbed his notebook and a pencil.
“Shall we take a walk?” Virgil sighed in relief and nodded. He was absolutely restless and needed to move around.
“Have you noticed anything.. odd going on with Patton?” Virgil asked once they were in the hallway.
“Define ‘odd’.” Logan had his notebook out and open.
“Well, he’s been skittish lately, but it’s not just that. It seems like he’s in pain, but every time I ask him, he acts like nothing’s wrong. But something is wrong, I know it is, and I can’t figure out what!!” Virgil started to tear up in frustration.
“Virgil.” Logan stopped walking and placed a hand on Virgil’s shoulder. “Breathe. We will figure this out together.” Virgil nodded and wiped his eyes. “Now, if you don’t mind, may I have some examples?”
“Well, it started a couple weeks ago. He was limping and when I asked him why, he just said his foot was asleep.
“Then a couple of days later he was running around the animal shelter that we volunteer at, and I saw him leaning against the wall and clutching his rib. He looked like he was in pain, too.
“And sometimes in class I’ll catch him holding his wrist after writing a lot, which he brushes off as a writing cramp.
“And if someone bumps against him in the halls, he’s visibly scared. He’s actually whimpered a couple of times.
“And he seems to be really reactive to sudden noises. Whether it’s the bell catching him off guard or an unpredicted bark from one of the dogs at the shelter, sometimes even Dad’s sharp laugh will freak him out momentarily.
“And just the other day, I playfully shoved him, and he was terrified for a few seconds. He tried to tell me he wasn’t, but I saw it in his eyes, he’s scared and he’s hiding something and I don’t know what it is but it’s hurting him and I can’t—!” Virgil stopped walking, actually taking a couple of steps back, and grasped his arms, fighting back the oncoming tears. “He’s my little brother, I have to protect him, but I can’t do that if I don’t know what to fight...”
Logan, who wrote down everything Virgil had said, closed his notebook and took Virgil’s hand in his. “I understand that desire, Virgil,” he said, voice surprisingly tender. “I have a younger brother of my own. I understand how it feels to want to protect him from anything and everything, but I also understand that there are some things he must learn.”
Just then, the bell rang. “Will you notify me if there are any developments?” Logan asked. Virgil smiled softly, nodded, and pulled his hand out of Logan’s before racing off to his next class.
~*~🤍~*~💜~*~
Later that night, Virgil spotted something draped over the back of his desk chair. He got up to see what it was, and laughed a little bit when he found his brother’s cat hoodie. “Guess I’d better go give this back, huh?”
Patton and Virgil’s rooms were right across from each other, so it wasn’t a far walk at all. Virgil knocked on Patton’s door. “Pat, you left your hoodie in my room,” he announced.
“Leave it outside!” Patton replied, and was Virgil imagining it or was Patton’s voice shaking?
“You sure?”
“I’m sure! Just leave it in front of my door, I’ll get it in a second!”
“Why can’t you get it now??”
“Just.. trust me!!”
Virgil sighed. “Fine, I’ll leave it outside.” And he did.
When he checked five minutes later, it was already gone. Virgil groaned in frustration. What the hell was his brother not telling him?!
~*~🤍~*~💜~*~
About a week later, Virgil was in his room listening to music when he heard something. He pushed back his headphones. Was someone.. crying?
Virgil listened harder. Sure enough, there were muffled sobs coming from across the hallway. Wait. Across the hall.. Patton!
Virgil leapt up, then raced to his brother’s door. Yes, he was definitely crying! Virgil tried to open the door, but it was locked. “What’s wrong??” Virgil asked. The sobs immediately stopped.
“N-nothing, Virge!” Patton replied, an obvious lie.
“Patton, I heard you crying from my room. You’re clearly not ok! Please, talk to me...”
“Virgil, I told you, everything is perfectly fine!!”
Virgil thought for a moment. Patton’s door was locked. To open it, he’d need a lock pick. But he never carried lock picks on him!! What everyday item functions like a lock pick.. Bobby pins!
Virgil raced to their parents’ bathroom and found a spare bobby pin in his mom’s makeup bag. He smirked. Leave it to Mom’s fancy updos to involve makeshift lock picks.
Virgil raced back. Patton had started crying again, harder this time. As he started to wiggle his way in, the sobbing immediately stopped once more, and was replaced by.. whimpering?! Virgil swore under his breath, then worked even faster.
When he finally got the door unlocked, he threw it open and the light from the hallway barely illuminated Patton, who was curled up tightly into a ball and shivering like a leaf.
“Pat..?” Virgil called out, slowly moving to flick on the overhead light. Patton immediately buried his face in his knees. “Is it too bright?” Virgil asked softly. “I can turn it off..”
“Please,” was Patton’s tear-choked response. So Virgil turned the light off and walked forward to meet his little brother.
“What’s wrong..?” he asked, sitting down in front of Patton.
“Y-you should go..” Patton said instead. “Th-they could be back any minute...”
“Who? Who could be back?”
“M-Mom and Dad..!”
Virgil bit back a stream of cuss words. “What did they do.” Virgil’s voice had taken on a hard edge. Patton flinched back, slightly turning his head. Virgil caught a glimpse of.. something, it looked like a bruise.
“Patton..” Virgil’s voice softened again. “Let me see your face.” Patton whimpered softly. “Please. I promise I won’t hurt you, you already look hurt enough.”
That seemed to get through to Patton, because he tilted his head and, sure enough, there was a bruise developing on his left jawbone. Virgil blinked as tears sprung to his eyes. “Mom and Dad, did they..?” There was just enough light for Virgil to see Patton nod.
Virgil swore under his breath. “That’s it, we’re going to my room so I can get you bandaged up.”
“Virgil, I really don’t think—“
“Too late, we’re going.” Virgil stood up, then pulled Patton to his feet cautiously. “I’m not going to stand by and let my baby brother be hurt when there’s something I can do to help him.”
The first thing Virgil did was send Logan a text, explaining everything that was happening. The response was a request for a video call. Virgil showed it to Patton, who just nodded.
“Well, I certainly did not expect your parents to be homophobic,” Logan said the moment the call started.
“I think that’s all three of us, Lo,” Patton replied softly. Virgil wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder, his other hand holding his phone.
"I'm sorry," Patton whispered. "This is all my fault..."
"Patton, no," Virgil insisted, gripping his younger brother's shoulder firmly. "None of this is anyone's fault but our parents. Speaking of whom, I will fucking murder them."
"Language, Virgil," Patton scolded halfheartedly.
"English," Logan replied. Normally, Patton would at least smile at that, but he remained downcast.
"Hey.. look at me, Pat." He did, his normally glittering blue eyes now dulled. “It's ok. I'll keep you safe, ok?” Patton just nodded, and Virgil pulled him into a hug. “We’re always here for you. I promise.”