The World Is Grey

Introductions

  Roman carries your weight and has your arm around his shoulders. Patton leads you both, his hand on your back. You shiver underneath Patton's cardigan and Roman's side, though they both warm you up considerably.

  "T-t-thank y-you," you stammer, you're teeth clattering together. Patton looks over his shoulder and offers you a warm smile. "It's no problem," he replies. 

  "What were you doing out here anyway?" Roman asks, looking down at you. You blush, worrying that they know who you are. You've hidden you're secret this long, but then again, no one has offered to take you in before. "I-I--" you look down at the ground. "--d-don't have a-anywhere t-to l-l-live." Roman and Patton look at each other then at you in pity and sorrow, then continue leading you up to a nice, cozy little house. Patton opens and holds it open for you and Roman. You shiver underneath his cardigan and step lightly and uncertainly into their warm home. You look around, amazed by how neat it is. Every book was organized (not in a certain pattern but still managing to look neat), every little nick-knack had its place, and the paintings and the photos were in a nice order on the wall. It was indeed cozy, but after living in the streets for so long, a garbage can would look nice.

   "Y-you di-didn't have to he-help me," you stammer, not from the cold, but slightly shocked and embarrassed.

  Patton shrugs it off and takes his cardigan from your shoulders. "It's no problem," he repeats. "And besides--" he sets the cardigan on the back of a chair to dry. "--where else were you going to go? We couldn't just turn our noses and walk on by!"

  Every other person did exactly that, you think bitterly. You're head snaps up as you feel someone's hands on your shoulders, then Roman leads you upstairs, gently taking your elbows to help you up. At the top of the stairs, he leads you to the first door on the right, opening it and you see that it's a bathroom. 

  "I thought you might want to shower," Roman says quietly. After showing you where everything was, he left you to clean yourself.

  Patton knocks on the door, waiting for him to open it. Instead of opening the door to greet him, Virgil just talks behind it. "What do you want?"

  Patton bites his lip. "I, uh, I was wondering if you had any extra clothes I could borrow?"

  Virgil tightens his face in confusion and opens the door to see Patton looking pretty nervous. Virgil narrows his eyes at Patton. "Why?" he asks.

  Patton knows that Virgil wouldn't care for the girl they just brought in, but he wouldn't want any part of it. "Roman, uh, needs them..?"  he lies, hopping from foot to foot. Virgil looks unimpressed, but sighs and goes to get some clothing. He tosses some ripped jeans and a pullover hoodie at Patton, who smiles, thanks him and walks off. Virgil leans against the door, crossing his arms and looking at Patton's retreating figure in suspicion.

  Something fishy's going on here... he thinks to himself. He thinks for a moment, then closes his bedroom door behind him before he walks downstairs.

  You wrap yourself in a towel just as you hear a knock on the door. You open it a little to see Patton holding some jeans and a hoodie towards you.

  "These are for you," he says sheepishly. You gently smile at him and take the clothes. He leaves you and you close the door to change. 

  They're a little baggy... but they'll do. You run your fingers through your hair to try and straighten it, then take the towel and leave the bathroom, going downstairs where all the voices are. They sound angry, like they're having an argument. The closer you get, the more you can hear them.

  "Why did you do that?" someone demands. The voice sounds familiar somehow, but you can't put a finger on it.

  "What were we supposed to do?" Roman demands right back.

  "Can we not argue?" Patton asks quietly, almost too quiet for you to hear. You take a few more steps down to the bottom and pause when you hear that voice again.

  "You could have easily left her where she was!" he argues. You decide to enter the room to get them to stop talking about you. Patton and Roman stare at you wide eyed, not expecting you to be the one they helped. A boy in an armchair has his nose buried in a book, trying to ignore the argument around him, but peaks up in surprise. You turn your gaze to the boy arguing, who is staring in surprise like everyone else, but this is a different kind of surprise, one that you share too. You two knew each other for a long time. Your hand flies to the rose necklace around your neck. You both gasp at the same time.

  The boy in front of you was Virgil.