Chapter Text
Sometimes, all that you had was each other. That was the case for their little group of friends.
Northfield was by no means a big town. It was the sort of place where the only fun thing to do other than cause trouble, was going to the single walmart in town. If you wanted some fast food, the closest McDonalds was in the next town over. Everyone knew everyone, which led to close bonds being built over time.
It started with Virgil Tyde and Patton Taylor meeting in daycare. Virgil was the quiet, closed off kid, and Patton was the one who was willing to protect anyone and everything.
They clicked then and there.
After that, the two stuck together like glue. They did pretty much everything together. They had sleepovers almost every night, hung out pretty much every day, they went through their highs and lows, thick and thin. If somebody was having a birthday party, Virgil wouldn’t go without Patton. Of course, there were times where they bickered. But, that was expected when it came to friendship.
Then, Logan Barry moved to town of when they were in first grade. He was immediately the smartest kid in class, always being the one to answer questions and occasionally help the other kids. However, he was also immediately the one who would get teased.
Logan never let this get under his skin. It didn’t bother the little boy, he had worse things to worry about at home. Things that were far too much for a poor seven year old to deal with.
Despite Logan not caring, that didn’t stop Patton. One day, on the playground, Patton and Virgil saw the poor kid getting teased for having glasses. The shorter one immediately ran over, standing up for him. Logan Barry was now apart of the group.
A few years later, in fifth grade, Remus and Roman Mendoza moved to town. The two were twins, but nothing like each other. Remus was the loud kid in class that spoke up at the wrong time. He was the one who would get in trouble for the most random things, like trying to drink a bottle of hand sanitizer, or teaching his classmates about how people have sex.
Roman on the other hand, was instantly popular. He had a lot of the girls his age gushing over him, but he never reciprocated the feelings. He was to focused on theater, and dance, and all that stuff. His family would drive him hours out of town just so he could have these opportunities. They would do the same for Remus if he ever wanted them, but the boy never did.
When the two moved to town, Virgil clicked with Roman immediately. It wasn’t quite positive at first, considering it was mostly bickering. They argued over who would get what recorder during music, and Virgil usually ended up calling him dramatic. Despite this, they grew quite close. Roman had been apart of their friend group, and Remus dragged himself along.
Remus thought he wouldn’t quite fit in here, but it was quite the opposite. Of course, people still thought he was strange. Especially considering some of the things he said as a fifth grader. Except for one person. Logan. Logan still thought he was weird, but he never cared enough to only focus on that aspect of Remus. He instead focused on the positive, typically not even realizing it. Remus would never admit how happy it made him, but he felt accepted,
Finally, there was Janus Orwell. He arrived in eighth grade, and Virgil immediately hated him. He was blatantly rude to Roman, but the other thought he was simply complimenting him. He was always sarcastic. Yeah, Virgil was sarcastic too, but Janus was a rude sarcastic. Despite how much he didn’t want him to join the group, He clicked with Remus and Patton, and sadly joined.
Now they were all about to start their junior year of high school, sitting in the Mendoza’s backyard. Remus and Roman weren’t rich by any means, but they were far more well off than the others in the group. This made their house the usual spot to hang out. It also helped that their dad worked late, and their mom was often traveling for her acting.
“Guys, I’m nervous.” Patton spoke up while the others turned over to him. “I just.. we have to start thinking about college, but, I still feel like we’re eighth graders. I don’t want the summer to be over.”
Roman sighed, swinging his arm around the other. “Don’t worry Padre. If anything gets to be too much, we’ll always have each other in the end. Right guys?” He looked over at everyone, who started agreeing and comforting Patton.
He sighed scratching the back of his head. “Thanks guys. You’re the best.”
“Of course we are! Especially me. I’m the better twin. Roman actually copied me and decided to look like me because I’m just so amazing.” Remus said, laughing as he picked up a beer, taking a swig of it.
“Oh shut up Re! We all know I’m better.” Roman said, grinning.
The two began bickering, forcing Virgil and Janus to pick sides, but Patton still had that uneasy feeling.
“Are you still nervous?” Logan chimed in, talking to Patton. He never really understood how people felt, but he was always willing to try. Especially after all that Patton had done for him. He was there whenever his parents were the worst, so Logan felt like he needed to return the favor.
“Yeah.. but like Roman said, we have each other! I know we’ll never be separated.”
Logan smiled, and the two continued chatting as the others bickered. They all had each other.
Patton had hoped that that stayed the truth.
——————
Roman was ranting to Virgil as he sat down at his mirror. Every morning, the two of them, Janus, and Remus drove to school together. It was tradition at this point. Plus, Roman was the only one with a car, Virgil hated taking the bus, and Janus was Remus’ best friend. It also helped the emo and the actor were dating.
“I’m just saying! Now that we’re juniors, I think that Mrs. Gibson should consider my talents more! She always gives the good roles to Tristian. He can’t even sing, or act! Thank god he’s a senior. I don’t get how he gets all these good roles. He’s not even that attractive..” Roman said, clearly frustrated.
“Ro, of course you deserve those roles. Tristian just has pretty privilege, not that you aren’t very pretty. Plus, we live in the smallest town ever. You really expect your talents to get you anywhere?” Roman gasped at Virgil’s comment.
“Of course I do! Just because we live in a tiny town doesn’t mean I can’t fulfill my dreams.” He sighed, touching up his very subtle makeup. He wished he could do something more extravagant, but that would mean getting teased more than he already did. Roman was the living embodiment of someone jocks loved to tease. He did cheer, dance, theater, choir, all that jazz.
“Hey, I get what you mean. I’m sure you can get there, just, I don’t want you getting your hopes up.” Virgil stood up, walking over to his boyfriend and kissing his cheek.
“Well of that’s the case, don’t get your hopes up about meeting Gerard Way.” Roman scoffed, sort of mumbling it. “Do you want me to make you look even more sleep deprived than you already are?” He asked, holding up the eyeliner pencil and black eyeshadow as he stood up.
Virgil rolled his eyes, and sat down in the chair Roman was just in. “Well don’t put it like that, but yes.” Roman chuckled, and started playing some showtunes on his phone. He sang along as he did his boyfriend’s messy makeup, occasionally stopping to belt out Pinnochio’s parts in Freak Flag and Story of My Life.
“Okay, you’re do-“ Roman was cut off by the sound of his name being yelled.
“Roman! Can you cook pancakes? We still have like an hour until we need to leave!” Remus shouted from the kitchen, making the twin roll his eyes.
“Well, let’s go. My annoying brother wants me to cook for him.” He sighed, packing up his makeup and putting the bag into his school bag.
“Maybe you should put egg shells in his pancakes. Wait, no, he’d probably eat it still.” Virgil recommended, laughing at his own comment. He adjusted his purple and black hoodie that was falling apart, even if he insisted it wasn’t. It reeked of cigarettes, which weren’t his own, but Remus loved smoking around all of his friends and the stench just stuck. Virgil was never one to care about his looks to much, but Roman on the other hand, was the opposite.
He would get up at 5:00 am on the dot every morning to shower, do his skincare, get dressed, do his makeup, do his hair, and then eat breakfast. He also did all this while warming up his voice, scolding Remus, and talking to his boyfriend.
The two made their way downstairs, and Roman immediately started on the pancakes. Virgil walked into the living room where Remus, Gabriel Mendoza, and Janus were sitting on the couch. Gabriel was the twins dad. He was a doctor, so he made a lot of money, thus letting them afford this house.
Virgil was grateful for the two of them moving to town. As nice as Patton was, he had an extremely strict family. So, whenever he went to his house for a breakdown, it didn’t typically help anything. The Mendozas though, were extremely welcoming and kind.
“Virgil, tell me this, do you think I should be allowed to take lessons at the shooting range?” Remus questioned, taking a sip of his father’s beer, only for it to get ripped out of his hands.
“What? No. You’re like the least responsible person I know. I’d trust Roman with a gun more than you!” Virgil laughed, sitting down, slouching over as he scrolled through his Tumblr feed.
“God, you’re all the same. Just because I can be a bit eccentric doesn’t mean I’m not able to be trusted.” Remus said, crossing his arms.
“Oh yeah, because you have the best track record when it comes to being non-violent.” Janus rolled his eyes, not looking up from his phone.
Remus looked offended at this. “What do you guys think I’m gonna do?! Slaughter the whole town? No! I’m not fucking crazy!”
“I beg to differ.” Janus replied, snorting.
The two of them continued bickering, before Will spoke up to speak to Virgil.
“You treating my son right?” He asked, sipping the beer he had to pry away from Remus. “If you aren’t you better know what’s coming.”
Virgil stumbled at his words, only making Gabriel laugh. “Relax kid. I’m just teasing you. I know you’re treating him right, he’s crazy about you. Don’t tell him I told you this, but my kid doesn’t shut up about you half the time.”
Virgil blushed a deep red, and stumbled over his words even more. He knew Roman was happy to be with him, but he didn’t realize how star struck his boyfriend was. Virgil never really realized his worth, but Roman was always there to help him see it. If only he knew how much Roman needed to see his own.
The four of them continued their conversations before Roman called out about how breakfast was ready. They made their way to the table as Roman served the pancakes, except for his twin who had gone to the fridge to get out some ketchup, he then went to the table, and put it over his pancakes like it was syrup. Roman and Virgil gagged at this, Janus side eyed him, and their father paid no attention.
“You’re disgusting. I cannot believe you’re my brother.”
“Well you better believe it! People are gonna wanna know about you when I’m rich and famous for my art one day.” Remus said, chewing on his food.
“Oh please, the only people who will buy your art are going to be psychopaths.” Roman replied, causing yet another argument between the twins. Virgil and Janus looked to each other. Despite not having the best relationship in the friend group, they were able to get along during these moments.
When breakfast was done, they all made their way to Roman’s jeep. It was a deep red, had leather seats, a loud radio, and amazing ac. It was everything he ever wanted.
Roman and Virgil climbed into the front, while the other two sat in the back. Roman turned on the radio, and began playing some show tunes which he was belting out. Remus simply groaned in response, and Virgil smiled at his boyfriend’s antics. He was so happy he had Roman.
If he was entirely honest, he didn’t quite know how it had happened. The two used to be rivals, but they eventually began bonding over certain things. Especially Disney. That’s pretty much when they clicked. Virgil hadn’t realized it until Roman asked him out to their sophomore year Homecoming, but he had a massive crush on him. He happily obliged, and the romance just continued to blossom from there.
As they got closer to the school, Roman parked and turned off the radio, stepping out of the car. Patton and Logan were leaning against a fence that surrounded the parking lot, and the shorter of the two waved as soon as he saw them. They all made their way to each other and then stared at the school.
This was it, a brand new year of Northfield High School.