Difference

Prologue

Hewwo! Welcome to this emotional roller-coaster that will probably crush your soul! :D 

ANYWAY! No traumatic/triggering events yet, but I will make sure to warn you before! (Don't kill me plz) XD

They had always been best friends. It wasn't much of a surprise, either. They lived right across the street from each other, they were in all the same classes and electives. Not to mention, for obvious reasons, they both were outcasts.

Daniel, who was always a very strange kid. He wasn't exactly crazy, just... different. Not a normal kid. But somehow, he became interested and maybe, sort of, slightly obsessed with another strange kid.

Virgil Storm. See, Virgil avoided everything he possibly could. He hated school activities, events, basically anything that involved crowds of people. It wasn't that he exactly hated people, even though they did suck, he just struggled with social interaction. It made his anxiety levels sky rocket, and he would end up having an attack ninety--five percent of the time. Needless to say, he had no friends. No one understood him, so they avoided him. Which was fine with Virgil. He didn't need anyone. At least that's what he thought.

It was a gradual process. Daniel was the one to approach first, which was a huge shock to Virgil. But despite Virgil's best efforts to avoid the other kid, he just kept showing up. At lunch, he would sit with Virgil, he'd make conversation while they switched classes. Honestly, it creeped Virgil out.

"Okay, what's your problem?" he growled, spinning to glare at Daniel, who blinked.

"Well, I have a lot of problems, which one are you referring to?" Virgil stared at him, brows furrowed.

"...What-"

"I'm joking." Daniel chuckled.

"...Right." Virgil mumbled, stepping back. "Will you just leave me alone already? You're being weird." the other kid tilted his head, grinning a bit.

"I'm just trying to be nice," he replied. Virgil paused, narrowing his eyes.

"Nice...? Why in the heck would you wanna do that?" This had to be some trick. A prank. No one wanted to be nice to him, he was an outcast.

"Well, to be your friend of course!" Daniel beamed. Virgil blinked. What...

"Wow... you're hilarious. That's a good one." he snorted, not knowing how else to react. This had to be a sick joke.

Except it wasn't. Daniel really did want to be friends. Why, Virgil had no clue. But... it was nice. He'd never had a friend before, and Daniel seemed to actually care. He was there for Virgil, he knew how to help with his anxiety attacks. Virgil was there for Daniel, when his parents would start fighting, he'd just go over to Virgil's house. It worked out, it helped both of them. It was like that for years. Nothing changed, they were each other's rock, change didn't happen.

Until it did.

Virgil nearly screamed and fell off his bed when a hard and frantic knock echoed off the glass of his window. He tore his headphones off, looking over with wide eyes, and freezing at what he saw. Daniel was knocking on his bedroom window, Virgil had no idea how he got onto the roof, but didn't have time to question it. He quickly rushed over to the window, unlocking and opening it, catching his friend before he fell onto the floor as he tried to get inside.

"Daniel, what are you doing?! What's going...." Virgil trailed off, staring at his friend's face. Daniel was holding a hand to his face, cupping his cheek, which had a long gash across it. Virgil swallowed thickly. "What the hell did he do?"

Daniel just shook his head, pushing away from Virgil and rushing out of the room, towards the bathroom down the hall. Virgil chased after him, eyes wide and heart hammering. This... this wasn't good at all.

"Daniel! Danny, open the door!" Virgil said frantically when Daniel slammed it in his face. Daniel didn't answer, but Virgil could hear the water running. "Daniel, please..." Virgil begged softly, he'd never been so panicked, and that was saying something. But thankfully, seconds later, the bathroom door unlocked. Virgil rushed in, staring at Daniel, who was holding a rag to his face, sitting on the edge of the tub. The purple haired teen closed the bathroom door behind him, even though his parents weren't home then. "Daniel... what happened?"

"What do you think happened!" Daniel snapped, glaring up at him, eyes bloodshot and filled with tears. Virgil flinched slightly. "My dad, Virgil! He was saying stuff about people like us!... and I just... I told him."

"...You told him you're gay?" Virgil asked, dumbfounded. "I thought you were never going to..."

"Well obviously I didn't want to! Because I knew this would happen!" Daniel growled, ripping the cloth away to reveal a large, still bleeding gash. It was obviously going to be a scar.

"Daniel..."

"And now he's gone!" Daniel continued. "My stupid mom finally decided this was the last straw, and now he's gone! And you know what, Virgil?" Virgil blinked. "It's my fault!"

"What? How is it-"

"Don't even try to comfort me about it, it's the truth." Daniel said softly. "I should have just... I shouldn't be alive." Virgil's eyes widened and he rushed over, crouching down and hugging his friend tightly.

"Don't you dare say that! Don't you freaking say that again!" he said softly. Daniel snorted softly, leaning his head on Virgil's shoulder.

"Why not? It's true... my dad never wanted me."

"Your dad's a piece of shit, so..." Virgil smiled when Daniel chuckled softly. "Besides, who cares about anyone else? We have each other, and that's all we need." Daniel stared at him, and Virgil looked to the side, slightly confused. "What?"

"Nothing, just..." Daniel trailed off, and Virgil looked back at his friend.

"What is i-" but his words were cut off when Daniel's lips suddenly crashed into his. Virgil's eyes widened in shock, but he didn't pull away, he didn't even move for a long moment. And when he did, it was to wrap his arms around Daniel's neck, both of them pulling the other closer. It was unexpected, and definitely not planned. It was a drastic change, but Virgil never had any objections.