Bonded by the Blues | A Sander Sides Book

Chapter 25 - Green: Part 1

Oh boy. This is a loooooong chapter. And there's some Virgil angst for those who thirst for it. Enjoy.

---Virgil---

I stared at the squiggles scrawled on my phone screen. My brain must have been slow after all that adrenalin frying my brain, so I took a deep breath and broke down the text into manageable chunks. Hey Virgil. That's easy to understand. How did he know my name? Wait I told him at the café. No... in the note today morning. Why did I do that? I don't like people to know my name. It's as if they own a part of me I can't take back. Hope you are feeling awesome again. When did I ever feel awesome? I hate that word. And why would I ever feel anything close to awesome again? I just turned my world upside down. A little voice I always tried to ignore whispered at the back of my head: "Roman makes me feel as if I can be awesome." No way. Everything okay at the Hostel? No, you nosey prat. I still can't even get in the dormitory coz I don't have the stupid key. "Hold on" whispered the voice. "Roman doesn't know that. What if he only cares if you are okay?" No way. No one cares for me, and I gotta look out for myself. Always have and always will. I hope it's comfy. I've never ever been anywhere comfy. Except last night. NO! I DID NOT MEAN TO THINK THAT OUT LOUD. "Sure," said the voice. If it had eyes it would've rolled them. Call or text me when you wanna talk again. I ground my teeth. I did not want to deal with this. Why did he keep on trying to talk to me? And shouting my name out in public. Always smiling when he looked at me? Trying to protect me and... I groaned. I had a lot on my plate right now. I need to get used to a new life. "Maybe he'll help if you let him in," murmured the voice.

Another text popped up. I hope you do call. Miss ya already.

That's it. My mind screamed no, I dunno if it was 'No, don't answer' or 'No, don't put your phone away'. I put it away. And took it out again. I did miss him. No, I didn't. He was trouble, hellishly so. He literally brought heel with him last night. But that wasn't his fault. Ugh now I'm talking like my voice. I rubbed my eyes. Still keeping them closed, I pressed the screen randomly. Accidently on purpose I must have tapped the call icon.

"OMG! YOU'RE ALIVE!" His voice bloomed in my ear as if he was right here. I had found that so annoying, but now it was kinda filling my dead bones with life.

Then I heard a crash and an 'oof'

"Erm... what was that?" I asked wondering if all the hot air in his head had finally made him crash into the ceiling.

"I was running down some stairs, - ow- but I answered the call, and then slipped and - groan - belly flopped to the hard and merciless floor."

"Whoa. You couldn't have waited until you got off the stairs to answer?"

"No way! I missed ya! Your deadpan voice is a class of its own!"

When is he ever gonna stop complimenting me? Was that a compliment even? An insult? An insult compliment sandwich? How can I help but love that? I did miss the doofus. I miss his voice.

"What was that?" I heard a chuckle. "Something about you missing my voice too?"

Crap did I say that out loud. 'yeah' I mumbled.

"Aw! You're going soft on me, Snapril Ludgate."

"Eh. You're the worst person I've ever met. I want to travel the world with you."

"I can show you the world, shining, shimmering –"

"Can it. No singing or I'll hang up."

"And he's back. How are you doing, though? You looked awfully peaky today morning."