summary: virgil gets into an argument with his father, resulting in the two not speaking for a week. virgil dies and becomes a ghost, never getting the chance to apologize to his dad. maybe, thirty years later, they'll both get closure.
word count: 1043
so this is based on julie and the phantoms. all you need to know is virgil, and his band died in the '90s on the day they had a huge gig that could've made them famous. roman found the ghosts and is the only one that's able to see and talk to them :)) (also, I included the song/mv up there just to add to that extra feeling of sadness :D)
tw/cw// arguing/yelling, crying, mention of de*th, sadness (ahaha, this one is sad, but there's closure :D)
~~~~
Virgil stormed into the living room, shoving his writing journal into his backpack, zipping it up, and slinging it over his shoulder. "Virgil, get back here! We're not done talking about this." His dad, Patton, entered the living room. Virgil rolled his eyes and whipped around. "You've never once believed in me! You're always calling it a hobby; it's not a hobby for me!"
Patton laughed humorlessly. "I understand that you're passionate about this but, trust me, dreams don't always come true. When I was your age, I wanted to be a traveling activist; look at me now, I'm nowhere near where I wanted to be." Virgil groaned in frustration. "This isn't some dumb dream! We have a gig at the Orpheum Theatre; do you realize how big that is?"
Patton sighed. "I know you're excited, kiddo, but you can't go. I'm sorry, it's just too far, and you have school-" Virgil's eyes watered as he scoffed and left the front door. Patton ran after him. "Wait, Virgil!" Virgil grabbed his bike and rode as fast as he could away from his house. Patton tried running after him, eventually slowing and breaking down.
~~~~
"It should be somewhere in there." Virgil mumbled, watching Roman search through a box of the ghost band's possessions from before they died. Roman never expected to become friends with ghosts that died in the '90s, but he also never expected to join a band, yet here he was.
"Is it a tattered composition book?" Roman asked. Virgil, Remus, and Janus nodded quickly. Roman smiled as he gingerly pulled the notebook from the box and lightly dusted it off. "So, we've already established that Remy stole most of your songs after you guys died." Virgil rolled his eyes and nodded. "But there should be something in here that he couldn't have stolen." Virgil shrugged. "We'll see."
Roman searched through the pages, instantly recognizing most of the songs. A worn-out piece of paper fell from the notebook; the human boy bent down and carefully grabbed the paper. The title said 'Unsaid Emily'. "Who's Emily?" Virgil went to snatch the paper before his hand phased through Roman's hand. "Please don't read that." He said in a panicked voice.
Roman eyed Virgil for a second, deciding to push further. "Can I know what it's about?" Virgil chewed his lip then quietly replied, "Emily isn't really the person it's for. It's just a last name, my last name." Roman nodded, tabling that issue for another day.
~~~~
After a long, private conversation, Roman found out that Virgil wrote the song for his dad, Patton. The emo had gotten in a fight with his father a week before the band's gig at the Orpheum Theatre. While away from home, Virgil coped with his guilt by writing a song for Patton, planning to either apologize in person or through the song once they made it big. Unfortunately, the night the band was meant to perform at the Orpheum, Virgil, Remus, and Janus died.
Roman talked Virgil into visiting Patton and giving him the song. "I don't know about this Roman; he might've just moved on by now. It's been like 30 years; why would he even care about me anymore?" Roman gave Virgil a pointed look as he knocked on the door, silently telling the emo his doubts were irrational.
An older man answered the door, thick glasses resting on his cheeks. He smiled warmly at Roman. "Hi, can I help you?" Roman nodded. "I was looking through my attic at my house, and I found this box of things that I think might hold some significance to you." The teenager lightly gestured to the small box in his left hand. Patton slightly tilted his head in confusion and nodded, allowing Roman to enter his house.
Patton closed the door and gestured for Roman to sit with him in the living room. "Would you like anything to drink?" Roman declined and sat beside the man on the couch. Virgil leaned against the wall, staring at Patton with a blank expression. "So, I found this box, and there was an address in a notebook, so I figured you might've had something to do with the items in here."
Roman took the cover off the box and took out the first item, a t-shirt of Virgil's band, Sunset Curve. Patton took the shirt, tears pooling in his eyes. "Oh, I haven't seen this logo in years." The man said with a fond smile. "It was my son's band. They were amazing, and I loved listening to them perform." Patton chuckled.
Roman smiled, sparing a glance at Virgil as he decided to move from the wall to the chair beside Patton. "Um, I found this too; I'm assuming this is your son's music." Roman handed the CD to Patton, who took the disc and smiled even wider.
Roman shared a look with Virgil, asking if he could show the song now. Virgil nodded quickly, wiping the tears from his eyes. "And, I'm not sure if this is anything, but I also found this paper; I'm assuming it's a song, 'Unsaid Emily'. Does that mean anything to you?" Patton looked up as Roman handed him the paper. A frown was etched on Patton's face as he began reading.
'First things first, we start the scene in reverse. All of the lines rehearsed disappeared from my mind. When things got loud, one of us running out. I should have turned around, but I had too much pride. No time for goodbyes, didn't get to apologize, pieces of a clock broken. If I could take us back, if I could just do that, and write in every empty space the words "I love you" in replace, then maybe time would not erase me. If you could only know, I'd never let you go. And the words I most regret are the ones I never meant to leave, unsaid Emily.'
The song continued from there, leaving Patton in tears. When he was done reading, he looked up at Roman. "Thank you so much. I really needed this." Roman nodded and hugged the man. Virgil wiped the tears from his face, leaving red marks over his cheeks.
"Thank you, Roman. Seriously." Virgil whispered.
~~~~
i have been obsessed with this song since jatp was first released dkfhksj i literally cried like five times while writing this so really hope y'all enjoyed the angst, love you all, stay safe, buh bye!!
5/4/21
YOU ARE READING
Sanders Sides One-Shots
Fanfiction~ every ship except remrom, thomas x sides, and no x reader :) (a lot of poly ships aren't in here but that's just bc there's so many variations that it'd be hard to get all of them djfhksk) ~ NO smut here, just angst and fluff :)) ~ posting on satu...
