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Virgil sat comfortably on his bed, rain rattling his window. He hugged his knees to his chest, as he listened to the rain. The pit in his stomach grew, and the unfamiliar emotions were creeping in. Everything felt impossible to do, half the time he wasn't able to get out of bed, leaving the others to worry about him. Since he started feeling this way, Patton (like the dad he is) has been checking on Virgil routinely. Sitting on Virgil's bed with him hoping that he'd talk to him about what was wrong.
Today was another one of those days where Patton would check on him. Virgil was waiting for him to come in and attempt to make small talk before Patton realised that he wasn't paying attention. Except today was different. Virgil had started finding ways to deal with the unlabeled emotion he felt in his stomach. A rather unorthodox and ideal way. The dull thrum of pain coursed through his arm, reminding him of the metallic tang of blood.
Virgil glanced away. Shame burned his throat, leaving a bitter aftertaste. He closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the rain for comfort. As he sought comfort in the sound the floorboard of his room creaked announcing Patton's routine arrival. He sat down next to Virgil, his khaki pants and bright blue shirt contrasting the dark bedspread.
"Hi Kiddo" he smiles looking at Virgil, Virgil kept his attention on the window. Patton might not have Logan's abilities when it comes to logic, however, he was able to tell when something was wrong. Virgil was more off than he had been in the past few days. He was too quiet. He didn't even have his headphones on, he just sat with his knees to his chest watching the rain. Patton reached out to give him a comforting touch on the arm, Virgil tensed at the touch. A flicker of pain crossed his face as he pulled his arm away and pulled his knees even tighter to his chest.
Patton watched the actions intensely, trying to figure out what was wrong. "Virgil, kiddo, is there something you need to talk about?" he asked. Virgil shifted uncomfortably, becoming aware of how Patton was practically staring him down as he held his arm closer to him. Virgil shook his head, and Patton sighed. He knows something's wrong, but he doesn't want to push Virgil. In a last-ditch effort to cheer him up, Patton began cracking dad jokes and talking about schemes he and Roman had gotten into despite Logan telling them not to. Patton's jokes, usually a welcome distraction, just felt like noise now.
Shame continued to burn in Virgil's throat, the blood under the sleeve of his black hoodie becoming too heavy of a burden to carry. The need for connection, for understanding, was stronger. "I-I can't do this anymore," he choked out, stray tears falling from Virgil's eyes. Patton's smile fell and his eyes slightly widened behind his glasses, he, the other sides and Thomas had never seen Virgil like this before. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but what's wrong, kiddo?" Patton said softly, his voice full of concern. "I don't- I don't know" Virgil spoke.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But you know I'm always here, okay? Even if you just want to sit here for a while." Patton reassured. "I just... I can't keep hurting myself like this," he confessed, his voice trailing off, shame and the pit in his stomach threatening to take away his voice. "Hurting yourself?" Patton was visibly confused, he moved closer to Virgil to provide him physical comfort. His hand brushed against a cold, metallic object hidden on Virgil's bedspread. Patton picked it up, the weight of the discovery settling in his stomach. He held the blade in his shaking hand, eyes meeting Virgil's.
The realization set in, Virgil meant that kind of hurting himself. "Oh Virgil" he whispered, "I-I'm sorry" Virgil muttered, he felt broken and lost. Patton hesitantly put down the blade and to the best of his ability comforted Virgil by rubbing his back. "I'm scared, Patton. Scared of what's wrong with me, scared I can't stop," he explained. Patton took a moment to collect himself, "Virgil, listen to me," he said, his voice calm and steady. "Hurting yourself isn't the answer, there are better ways to deal with this. You don't have to go through this alone either, you have me, Logan, Thomas, Roman.." he looked at Virgil for some form of understanding.
"The point is, you don't have to hurt yourself or deal with this alone to get better," he concluded, Virgil nodded. "Okay," he pauses, "What... what do I do instead?" he asks vulnerably, Patton thinks about it. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," he says. The door to Virgil's room is swung open. "Patton, Hot Topic! We're watching Beauty And The Beast" Roman announces, quickly leaving again. Patton stands up, "I assume you won't join us?" he asks. Virgil gets up "I think I will,"
As they watched the movie, Virgil looked at the people he lived with and for once, Virgil felt like everything would be okay.