Assistance Required

Thanksgiving Break Part 1

TW mention of homophobia, threats of violence

Fri Nov 20

Virgil could barely pay attention during his classes. It was the last day before break. Barely anyone was even in class. After his classes he said his goodbyes to Thomas and Joan who had to leave early to catch their flights back to Florida.

Mon Nov 23

Virgil had decided to work the weekend. He and the twins planned on leaving on Monday. Over the weekend, they packed and said goodbye to the others. Roman and Remus took turns driving on Monday. Roman didn't trust Remus to drive, but he didn't want to drive the whole way there and Virgil couldn't drive with a broken leg. Virgil ended up falling asleep in the backseat.

He woke up to Roman gently calling his name. He sat up and looked around groggily to see a small light blue one-story house with a dark gray roof. Remus jumped out of the car after parking and opened up the rear doors to grab his stuff.

"Home sweet home!" he said grinning.

He walked over to the house and threw the door open. Virgil unbuckled himself as Roman grabbed the rest of the stuff.

"Come on, my mom's excited to meet you."

Virgil shuffled out of the car and adjusted himself before taking a deep breath and walking into the house. Roman set his stuff down in the doorway and walked over to a woman talking to Remus. She had the same wavy dark auburn hair as the twins. Roman wrapped his arms around her as she smiled.

"Roman! It's so good to see you! Where's that boyfriend of yours?" she laughed.

"He's still in the door. He's a little shy," Roman said turning to look at him.

Virgil curled in on himself a little when she turned to look at him.

"Oh! Is that him?" she asked.

Roman nodded and she walked over to him.

"Come in, Dear. Why don't you sit down? Robert and I were planning on making tuna melts for lunch. Does that sound good?" she asked as she led him to the couch.

Virgil nodded.

"It sounds just fine," he said quietly kicking himself for how awkward he sounded.

She laughed as he sat down.

"Are you thirsty?" she asked.

Virgil shook his head. Roman sat down next to Virgil and Remus walked off to the kitchen. Virgil heard a man he didn't recognize start talking from the kitchen and Remus laughed. Roman's mom walked in and sat down next to Virgil placing a cup of water in front of him.

"Oh, thanks," he muttered.

"So, tell me about yourself. I only know what Roman tells me," she said warmly.

"Oh, well... I like art and I listen to emo music. Um... I guess I like your son." She laughed. "And I was a commuter for a few weeks before I moved in with Logan."

"Logan's one of your friends?"

They both nodded.

"Yeah, he's the really nerdy one I told you about. The one who's always reading."

"Oh right! The half Asian boy, right?"

"That's the one!"

"Oh, I didn't know that," Virgil said.

"That Logan's half Asian? His mom is Chinese I think," Roman said. "I met her when we all moved in."

"Right, you guys met each other a week before school started. I keep forgetting."

"Hey, it's no big deal! We met Virgil a couple weeks after the semester started. Patton introduced us after he fell asleep in the student center."

"I hadn't gotten any sleep that night," Virgil said sheepishly.

"No wonder you were so tired."

"So why did you choose to move on campus?" his mother asked.

"Oh... well... um... my dad... found out I was... gay and... uh-"

"Oh... oh, I'm so sorry, Dear. I hope you understand that isn't a problem here."

"Yeah, thanks."

They continued to chat until lunch. They all moved to the dining room and Roman's step-dad, Robert, brought in the sandwiches. He had black hair with a receding hairline and a round face. He wore thin framed glasses and a warm smile. The man sat down and joined the conversation.

After lunch, they all watched TV in the living room. Virgil was only half paying attention. He was a lot less nervous after sharing a meal and conversation with the family. He was glad he already knew Remus so he wasn't nervous about him. He was happy with Roman's arm wrapped around him while they watched TV.

Later, the adults went to bed and the boys continued to sit on the couch.

"Want to watch another movie?" Roman asked.

"Why don't you go check your collection and see what you want to watch. I'm good with whatever," Remus shrugged.

"Virgil?" Roman asked.

"I'm not watching Frozen. Anything else is fine, I guess."

Roman nodded and left the room. Once he was out of sight Remus wrapped his arm around him and pulled him close.

"Listen, Virgil," Remus said quietly. "I like you, I really do, but I need you to understand something. Just because we're friends doesn't mean I won't try to bash your head in if you hurt my brother. He falls for people too easily and I've seen his heart get broken too many times. I don't care who you are or where you're coming from, you better treat him with the love and care he deserves, understand?"

Virgil nodded his head.

"Good!" Remus smiled and let Virgil go.

He sat there going over everything. Sure, Remus said some weird things, but he's never seen that look in his eye before. He rarely saw him serious. Roman entered the room a few minutes later with a movie. Roman wrapped his arm around Virgil while they watched.

After the movie, they went to their respective rooms. Virgil looked around at the guest room after getting changed. It was painted red with white sheets on the bed. Virgil realized there were Disney posters on the wall and smiled. Roman gave up his room. He laid down in the bed laying his crutches on the floor and stared at the ceiling. He gasped as he noticed stars painted in glow-in-the-dark paint. He smiled as he stared at them and slowly drifted off to sleep.