Assistance Required

Special

TW cursing, anxiety

Mon Feb 1

Virgil yawned as he crawled out of bed. He was tired and his throat was dry. As much as he wanted to stay in his nice warm, comfortable bed, his need for water was greater. He wandered the halls to the water fountain and refilled his water bottle. As he made his way back to the dorm, he heard the alarm go off. He checked the clock on the wall, confused, but it seemed to be morning. He walked into the dorm to a very confused Logan.

"'Sup?" Virgil greeted Logan before sitting on the edge of his bed and taking a sip of water.

Logan looked from the hall to Virgil.

"Were- were you up all night? Where were you?"

"Just... getting water. I woke up like... five minutes ago. I didn't know the time when I left."

"Well, at least I don't have to drag your ass out of bed this morning."

"Trust me, I want to go back to sleep. I hate that I woke up like this and I want to murder everything."

"Alright. While you do that, I'll be in the bathroom."

Logan left the room. Virgil took another sip of water before deciding to get dressed. He was a little upset that he woke up before the alarm but confusing the hell out of Logan kind of made it worth it. He went to the bathroom and finished getting ready before meeting Roman in the hall and walking to class.

"So, are you feeling any better?"

Virgil nodded.

"Yeah, a lot better than last week. My throat still itches, but my headache has gone down a lot and my nose isn't dying anymore."

"Well... that's good, I guess. Will you be sitting with us again after class?"

"I might still stay in my room this week. I'm still not 100 percent and I don't want to get anyone else sick."

"Okay. It's just... we miss you."

"Everyone or just you?" Virgil laughed.

"I'm not the only one! We like having the whole group together! Although, Logan's been spending most of his time in the library recently. I think he's overworking himself."

"That sounds like Logan. I had mentioned something earlier but I think I just pissed him off. We talked again the other day. I think he's letting his fears get the best of him right now. I can try talking to him again tonight. How's Thomas doing?"

"Oh, he's still upset, but he's doing okay. We've just been keeping him company and listening when he wants to talk. Patton says he just needs time."

"Poor dude. I've never been in a relationship before this one. I can only imagine what he's going through right now."

"Breakups are never easy, but eventually you get over them. Sure, it sucks when someone you really care about leaves you, but that doesn't mean you won't find someone new one day. I found you."

Virgil felt his face heat up and turned away.

"St-stop! I'm not even that great of a catch."

Roman grabbed his hand, stopping in his tracks. Virgil looked up at Roman who was staring intensely at him.

"Virgil, I know you don't see any value in yourself, but when I tell you you're worth the world, believe me. I wouldn't have even considered dating you if I didn't see something in you. And I see a lot in you. Just... trust me. You're special."

Virgil felt tears prick his eyes. How often did people say he was special or worth anything? Sure, he knew his friends didn't think he was worthless, but no one ever stopped to tell him he was important or special. Hell, before Patton, no one had even said they loved him in any way. He couldn't believe what Roman was saying. How could he? But just to hear someone say it; he wasn't sure how to feel but he knew he wanted to cry.

He bit his lip as he tried to hold back whatever he was feeling. Roman gave him a gentle smile and led him down the hall. They walked into class and sat down, Roman never letting go of his hand. They sat with their hands intertwined until class started and they needed to take notes. After class, Virgil walked Roman to his next class before going to the student center to start on his Spanish homework.

It was weird having two hours before he needed to be anywhere. He felt like he should be going to astronomy soon, but he had dropped the class. He had to remind himself so he didn't just show up. He knew he'd get used to the schedule change eventually, but for now it was weird. It was nice having this time to just get his homework done. He could probably eat breakfast and study during this time if he really wanted to but he wasn't all that hungry right now.

He managed to get quite a bit done before he had to go to his graphic design class. After class he went to his dorm to do his homework. He did miss being with the others and he knew it'd be better for his mental health to be with them, but he didn't want them to catch his cold. He was mostly over it but he was still coughing from time to time.

He had already finished up his Spanish and was doing his geometry reading when there was a knock at his door.

"Uh, yeah?" he asked awkwardly.

"It's Patton. Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure."

The door opened and Patton made his way over to Virgil's bed, closing the door behind him before sitting down.

"Is everything okay?" Patton asked.

Virgil looked confused. He felt fine for the most part. Despite being a little sick.

"Y-yeah. Why?"

Patton shrugged.

"I just want to be sure. I know you were struggling last week and you're still isolating yourself in your room."

"I don't want to get anyone sick. I'm still a bit gross."

"You do still sound sick but we miss you! You didn't even join us for movie night!"

"I'm sick! I have a cold and Frozen is so overrated I never want to see it again. I don't think I would have joined you if I was healthy."

"So... it had nothing to do with last week?" Patton asked sheepishly.

It took him a minute before he realized what he was talking about.

"Oh. Patton, I-" Virgil sighed. "This is why I didn't want to say anything... you didn't do anything wrong. I just... I'm sorry. I still want to be with you guys and I'll join you for movie nights again. Maybe next week if I like the movie and I'm no longer hacking up lungs. Please don't overthink the nail polish, Patton. It's not your fault. You didn't know."

"First of all, please don't apologize for something you don't have control over. You can't do that to yourself. Second, I'm not upset. I just want to make sure you're okay. I want to help, Virgil. We want to make sure you're comfortable but we can't do that if you don't talk to us. It doesn't matter if you think it might make us feel a little guilty; if it's hurting your mental health, you have to speak up! I'm glad you told me! Now I know and now I can help you prevent another attack."

Virgil sighed.

"I- um... thanks. I guess I didn't really think about all of that. I don't know why it's so hard to talk to you guys sometimes. I was fine over break but it really didn't take long for me to start falling apart again. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Nothing is wrong with you Virgil. Mental health is hard to balance, but it doesn't make you any less of a person. You just need a little help sometimes, and that's okay. It doesn't mean something is wrong with you."

"It feels like it," Virgil chuckled dryly.

"Well that's just your depression talking. Come on, we should go eat dinner. You can't isolate yourself for too long or you'll go crazy."

"You underestimate me. I don't mind being alone. I did it for years."

"Yeah, and now you're in therapy."

A/N I want say thank you guys again for your support. My mental health is doing better now than it was. I'm glad I didn't run out of chapters, I still have a few left and I'm at a better place to write more. Also, I recently reached 10k reads on this story. I'm hoping you guys continue to like what I have to write and thanks again!