Assistance Required

Virgil's Mom

TW cursing, panic attack, mention of suicide and abuse

Wed Dec 2

Virgil woke up to someone lightly shaking him. He groaned and swatted them away.

"Leave me alone!"

"Virgil, it's time to go," Patton said. "Class is over."

Virgil sat upright and looked around. Sure enough he was sitting in a classroom and everyone was leaving.

"Shit," Virgil muttered.

"Hey!"

Virgil slid his hands over his face trying to wake up before standing up and walking out of the room with Patton.

"I'm sorry, Patton," Virgil said. "I couldn't sleep last night."

"Did you-"

"No, I didn't hurt myself or anything. I wasn't hating myself, I was just stressed."

"You stay up at night just hating yourself?"

"I just told you that wasn't why I was up late last night. I'm stressing!"

"I... I know. I'm concerned about both."

"Finals, Patton! Finals are coming up and I'm stressed as hell!"

Virgil sat down at the student center in a huff. Patton slid in next to him.

"Okay! Okay! Why don't we talk to the others about it? Logan might be able to help you schedule your time again. And I know Roman can help you with Spanish. And I can manage history if you're too stressed to help, I don't mind."

"No, I can still help you study, don't worry about that. I'm just stressed in general. I have to write my papers and finish reading the last book for pulp fiction. I have to complete my painting for my final art project and make sure I've finished all of the assignments over the second half of the semester! I haven't even fucking started! I forgot all about them! I only have the ones I did before the accident! And I suck at Spanish! I'm freaking out over the oral portion of the exam especially! I can barely understand the language when they talk to me! How am I supposed to hold up a conversation?! And I have to remember the authors of all the books we've read in pulp fiction. Dammit! I don't remember anyone's names!"

"Virgil! In for four!"

Virgil did as he was told.

"Hold for seven."

They waited for a few seconds.

"Now, out for eight."

Virgil released his breath. They repeated the process a few times. Virgil ran a hand through his hair. It was starting to get greasy. He really needed to shower.

"Okay, you're focusing on too much at a time. Pick one thing on the list and focus on that right now. We can try to help you plan the rest out later."

Virgil nodded slowly as he thought it over.

"We can go over the notes. I know I fell asleep but I can still-"

"No. No. It's fine! Focus on something from your list. Why don't you work on one of those papers?" Patton suggested.

"Are you sure?"

"I'll be fine. Just focus on one of your papers. Logan can help you schedule out your time when he gets here. I don't want you to be too stressed."

"Thanks, Patton."

Patton smiled before pulling out his textbook. Virgil pulled out the laptop to work on his paper. He still wasn't used to having it and it felt weird bringing it out and using it. He really didn't deserve such a gift. He took a deep breath before turning it on and logging in. Patton gave him a concerned look.

"Is everything okay?" Patton asked.

Virgil nodded.

"I'm still getting used to having this," he said gesturing to the laptop.

"Oh, where'd you even get it?" Patton asked.

Virgil tugged on his sleeves.

"Oh... um... well... uh... it was... Logan's."

"Logan gave it to you?"

Virgil sighed and nodded.

"Yeah... he said it was his old one and his parents were okay with it. I still feel kind of bad taking it but he insisted."

Patton smiled.

"That was really sweet of him."

"Yeah," Virgil said slowly. "You picked a good one. All of you are too kind sometimes. I don't know how to deal with it, honestly."

"Well, that's not a bad problem to have."

"I suppose not," Virgil sighed. "But I still feel like I don't deserve it. I didn't do anything to deserve any of you guys."

"Don't say that!" Patton said pulling him into a hug. "Everyone deserves a little kindness in their life. You're our friend and we love you, platonically of course. We want to do these things."

"Do you think even my dad deserves kindness?" Virgil asked hesitantly as he pulled out of the hug.

Patton frowned.

"The greatest kindness we can give him is not murdering him. I'm sure if Remus, Janus, or Roman had your address he wouldn't be here right now. Logan and Joan are close to murder but I don't think they'd go so far. Thomas and I may not actually condone violence but we might turn a blind eye."

Virgil let out a small laugh.

"I guess I can understand that, but... you have to understand-"

"Virgil, there is absolutely no excuse for abusing your child. I don't care what it is."

"No, that's not what I was going to say. He's still an ass, but he wasn't so bad when I was little. It wasn't until he started drinking that he started beating on Mom until she couldn't take it anymore."

"I... I don't think I've ever heard you talk about your mom before."

Virgil picked at a hangnail on his finger.

"Yeah, I... I don't talk about her much."

"If you don't want to-"

"No, it's fine. She um... she killed herself when I was in middle school. I found the body when I came home from school. I didn't know what to do. I was shocked. I kept trying to get her to wake up but she wouldn't move. I don't remember how they got there, but eventually the police came and some medics took her away. I guess a neighbor heard me screaming or something. I don't know. After that... Dad started drinking more and turned on me. I look more like my mom than my dad. I think that bothered him. I know he used to love us. He might still but he's more aggressive when he's drunk. He drinks all the time now."

Patton sat there silently while he processed Virgil's story. He pulled Virgil into another hug.

"I'm sorry, Kiddo," he said softly. "That couldn't have been easy."

"It was a long time ago."

"But that doesn't make it easier."

"I do still miss her, but... I have you guys now. It was just me and my dad for a long time. I didn't really have any friends in middle or high school. I was too shy. Everyone thought I was a loner and left me alone. You're the first person to give me a chance."

"I just asked for help in class. I didn't know I'd be getting such a close friend. But I'm glad I did!" Patton beamed.

"Yeah... I'm glad you did too."