The Necklace

12: Patton

Days had passed. There was no sign of Virgil. He wasn't at school, and wasn't in any of the classes that Patton had shared with him. He wasn't at his house, or if he was, no one ever answered when Patton, Roman, and Logan knocked. And what worried them most, was he wasn't even responding to any text messages. That had even tried messaging him over every social media Virgil had - or at least those of which they knew of.

To say that Patton was worried would be an understatement.

He was well rested when he got out of the hospital, not really knowing of Virgil's disappearance. Sure he had been concerned when Virgil didn't visit him, but he figured he'd at least see the boy when he went back to school. Patton hated it, but he felt a bit betrayed by Logan and Roman. They had kept Virgil's disappearance from him but at the same time he knew it was because they wanted him to get better before having to worry about the fact their friend was missing.

But the days following Patton's release from the hospital, he seemed to worsen. It was not due to injuries though, for those were on the correct path to healing fully. No, he started to sleep less, too filled with worry to get a good nights sleep. He often spent the nights after his release tossing and turning or even pacing his room, trying to figure out where Virgil might have gone.

The bags under Patton's eyes were only the first signs of his health going down hill due to how much he was worrying. Soon after he wasn't eating much. It started with him pushing his food away, as he tried to come up with some sort of plan. Then he would get so wrapped up in it all that he would forget the food was there.

Patton's behaviour had not only his family and friends worried, but some strangers from school had even asked him what was wrong and if there was anything they could do to help. Patton was touched by the acts of those people, along with his family and friends. They cared for him, and wanted to make sure he was okay.

Part of Patton knew that he should take better care of himself but he was just so preoccupied with trying to find some way to reach Virgil that the thought seemed small and was often shoved into the back of his mind. Don't get it wrong though, despite all his worrying, he still went to all his classes and tried his best. Even if his best wasn't his usual best due to how distracted he was.

"Patton, that's enough. You need to sit down and eat something. Take a shower, change your clothes. I'm sure you'll feel better afterwards." Roman said. He spent many hours over at Patton's house lately, trying to comfort the usually carefree man. His mother let him stay over whenever and for however long he wanted. Logan would have done the same, but his parents were a little more strict than Roman's were.

"But-"

Roman rose a hand to stop Patton. "Zip." He said, making sure Patton zipped it so he could talk. "I'm sorry to say it, but you're not going to find Virgil by pacing your room. You might as well use this time to shower and eat something as we try to get some sort of idea as to where Virgil went. Plus, Butts are for sitting on." The last little bit was just a lame attempt to lighten the mood.

Patton gave a small smile, his own words being used against him. Not that Patton minded that. If his words were spoken back to him, most of the times it was in the form of a dad joke, just like now. Patton loved dad jokes, they always help brighten his mood, even just a little bit.

"You're right." Patton said, he seemed to only just realize just how bad he stunk. "I'll be on my gay to have a shower." For the first time in Patton's life he wasn't overly excited at the use of puns and dad jokes. It really showed how worried Patton really was.

I can't believe how many reads this has. Thank you all for the support and asking for more chapters. It means a lot. Thank you. All of you leaving comments asking for more really makes my day. ^-^ Love you all.

~FandomFreak55555