Assistance Required

Panic

TW cursing, panic attack

Sat Feb 6

Virgil woke up slowly. He went to the bathroom and walked back to his room. He laid on his back and stared at the ceiling as he contemplated going back to sleep or actually getting started on his day. The sun was up and the halls were empty; he couldn't hear any movement, at least.

He was too comfortable to really get out of bed. Why would he want to leave his bed? Today was a good day for a bed day, but he knew he'd need to get up eventually. His friends would worry and he had work he needed to do. But for now, he decided to just scroll through Tumblr for a bit.

After some time scrolling, he finally decided to be a somewhat productive human being. He got dressed and put on his makeup before going downstairs to meet his friends. He heard them talking as he walked up to them but didn't really pay attention until he heard his name.

"Look! It's Virgil!" Patton said.

Virgil looked around the table confused. He was even more confused when he noticed some sort of tension.

"W-What's going on?" he asked.

"My... my parents want to have dinner with me tonight. They just called. They want to meet you guys," Logan said slowly.

Virgil wasn't used to seeing Logan so unsure of himself. He knew Logan had issues with his parents, but to see him so nervous made Virgil somewhat uneasy.

"Oh... tonight? Don't you have work?"

"They want to meet before then. They invited you guys too, but you don't have to come. I don't really think you should."

"We know how you feel about your family, Logan. We'll support you," Thomas said.

"Yeah! We'll be there!" Patton agreed.

"Don't go starting anything!" Logan said pointing to Janus and Remus.

"What?" Janus said indignantly. "When have I ever-"

"Dammit! I wanted to have at least a little fun," Remus pouted.

"Remus, I think Logan's stressed out enough. He doesn't need your jokes," Roman muttered.

"Sorry," Remus said.

"It'll be fine. It's just dinner right? And you're going to work afterwards. It's not like you have to spend that much time with them," Joan said.

"Yeah, but I don't really want to hear about how I could be doing better with my life. It's tiring and school's stressful enough without my parents telling me what I'm doing wrong."

"We'll be there too, so we can try to change the topics!" Thomas said.

"Yeah, I'm sure we can think of stuff to talk about!" Patton said.

"I'm not that bad at improv," Roman said.

"Don't overdo it, Princey," Virgil said as he finally sat down.

Logan buried his face in his hands and groaned.

"I can already feel the headache," he muttered.

"Why don't you go take a shower or read for a bit?" Patton suggested. "Just try to take your mind off of tonight. You're just going to stress yourself out more."

Logan nodded and stood up. They watched him walk away and disappear around the corner.

"Do you really think he should be alone right now?" Janus asked.

"He just needs a few minutes to collect himself. He'll be okay," Patton said.

Virgil wasn't sure what to do or how to deal with everything going on. He wanted to help Logan, but Patton was right. He needed a bit of time to collect himself. So the only thing he could really do was what he came down for- his homework. He decided to do his geology reading for a bit. He needed something that didn't require much thought. He wasn't sure how much brain activity was actually happening in him at the moment. By his guess, not much.

Logan returned an hour later. By then everyone was quietly working. No one said anything as Logan settled back in his seat and started on his homework. Virgil couldn't help but notice Patton rest his hands on top of Logan's. Logan froze. Virgil knew he wasn't a fan of physical contact, so he was a little surprised when Logan actually allowed Patton to hold his hands. It was kind of cute in a way. He smiled to himself. He was glad he brought them together.

He went to his reading when he suddenly felt that familiar tug at his chest. But why now? Now was a horrible time! Not in front of all his friends! Not again! He stared at the book in front of him. He felt like he couldn't move. He was trying to get his breathing under control again but he was distracted by all the noise around him. Were laptops always so loud? Who was tapping their pencil? It was annoying and he needed it to stop. He squeezed his eyes shut. The lights were too bright on the paper. He can't be panicking right now. He can't. Now isn't a good time. How would his friends react to this? Logan needed help right now. Logan has a problem. He didn't want to distract from it.

He slowly managed to get up and walk to the bathroom. He locked himself in a stall and curled in on himself. He grabbed his hair and lost himself in the panicking feeling. Why was he so panicked? What was going on? Why wouldn't it stop? He wanted to cry but no tears would come. He closed his eyes again and tried to breathe. Four. In for four. Okay. He could do this. Hold for seven, right? Yeah, seven. Then out for eight. It was shaky, but he was breathing. He just had to try again. In for four. Hold for seven. Out for eight. He focused on just breathing for a bit before he decided to leave the bathroom and rejoin his friends.

He sat down and went back to his reading. He could still feel his hands shaking a little but at least he wasn't full on panicking anymore.

"You okay?" Janus asked.

Virgil nodded as he grabbed his pencil. Janus glanced around and leaned forward.

"Your hand is shaking," Janus said quietly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Y-yeah. Just-just a l-little shaky. It's fine."

He cursed himself for stuttering so much. Why was it so much worse right now? Couldn't he talk like a normal person?

"I... I don't know if I believe you."

Virgil shrugged and tried to focus on his reading. He might tell them about these attacks, but now wasn't a good time. Logan had a problem now and he didn't want to make it seem like he was taking attention away from him. He'd be fine. Besides, was it really likely to happen again so soon?