Hold On (Book 1 of It's Not Over)

I'm Really Proud of You

I sat quietly on the couch, my headphones on my ears and my phone in my hand. The Kids Aren't Alright by The Offspring was blasting in my ears while I read through some fanfiction on Wattpad. Every so often I'd pick up my pen and scribble some notes on the story I was reading in the notebook on my lap. I felt my headphones being yanked off and my head and shot up so I could glare at the person that dared to touch them. The fight quickly left me when I saw my dad looking at me with a concerned look on his face.

"Virgil, I've been calling you for a good twenty minutes. What's wrong?" He held my headphones out to me and I slowly took them from him.

"N-nothing. Sorry, dad. I guess I didn't hear you."

"Are you sure? You know, if you need to talk I'm here for you."

"I know. It's nothing. I promise."

"Okay," he didn't believe me. I could tell just by his tone. "Well, I went and bought some more boxes. So, you and Patton can get back to work packing. They're upstairs by your door."

"Okay, dad. Thanks," I jumped up off the couch and put my headphones back on before running up the stairs to my room to resume packing."

My dad had gotten a promotion at work. That meant we were getting a new house which was great because as much as I loved my brother I did not love sharing a room with him. Unfortunately, that new position and new house meant packing everything we owned into boxes and moving several states away. Taking a deep breath I opened the door and walked into the room I shared with my twin brother.

"Virgil! Dad brought home more boxes! I hope you don't mind, I started packing your stuff! I noticed you seemed kinda blah today and I figured it was one of those days so I thought I'd help out and-"

"Pat. Bro, chill," I held up a hand to silence my brother. "It's cool. Thanks." Walking over to my half of the room I checked to see what all had been already packed. I was surprised with how much he'd packed since dad got back. Then I reminded myself that it had been twenty minutes and I had taken my time walking up the stairs. Plus, this was Patton we were talking about. Even if I wanted to leave half my stuff behind he wouldn't let me. I guess it also helped that all my clothes were ranger rolled before being tossed in the dresser so packing them was just a matter of tossing little fabric burritos into a box. Which Patton didn't do. No, the sweet little puffball on the other side of the room had neatly stacked each rolled article of clothing in the box by my dresser and had my hoodies neatly folded on my bed. "How long were you at this?"

"Not too long, kiddo. I just wanted to be of some help." I looked over to see the other teen blushing and fidgeting with his hands.

"You're always being helpful, Patton. I'm just useless and lazy," I sighed and plopped down on my bed.

"What?! Nooo!" Patton sat beside me and pulled me into a hug.

"It's true, Patton."

"Stop talking bad about yourself or I will physically fight you."

I gently pulled myself away from my brother and rolled my eyes. We both knew he couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag. It was comforting though. Knowing that he cared so much. I think he got that from our dad. I took more after our mom, always worrying and trying to make sure everyone around me was happy and safe.

We both got back to work packing our room up, Patton trying to fill the silence with small talk and me failing to keep the conversation going. He was right. I was having one of those days. I'm a normally anxious kid, always have been. But, some days it just gets so bad that I can't really be bothered to even get out of bed. It wasn't that bad today, but it was pretty damn close.

When we finished packing I went back down to the living room, Patton following and heading to the kitchen where our dad was flipping through the binder where we keep our takeout menus. Guess we'll be emptying that out tonight.

"What do you guys want for dinner tonight?"

"Pizza," Patton and I responded in unison, causing Patton to giggle and me to grimace. Our dad just chuckled and rolled his eyes before calling to place the order.

I turned my music back on and grabbed up my notebook, frowning when I saw a note written on the open page. It was written in my dad's neat, blocky writing. Looking over to the kitchen where he and Patton were talking, I sat up straight and then turned my attention back to the paper.

Hey, kiddo.

I know this move is a big deal for you and getting ready for it has been taking its toll on you. I just wanted to remind you that I am so proud of you. Every single day you do something that amazes me even more than the day before. You're an amazing kid. Don't forget that. When you're having rough days please don't hesitate to come to your brother or I. You're always doing so much to help us out. It's the least we can do for you.

I also wanted to let you know that although I told you boys you'd be able to pick your rooms when we moved I picked yours for you when I went out last month to check on things with the house. I think you'll like it. I even took a picture of it for you.

Keep up the good work.

Love,

Dad

PS

You got up and had some breakfast today. I'm really proud of you.

I read over the letter twice. I was a little irked that my dad had picked my room for me, but I figured I could let it slide since he's pretty good at figuring out what we do and don't like, even without us telling him. Pulling out my mobile I sent him a quick text asking to see the picture of my room. I then set my phone on the couch beside me and flipped to a clean page in my notebook before starting to doodle. About a minute later my phone chimed, alerting me of a new message from my dad. Opening the message my eyes widened at the pictures that were attached.

The room. My room. It had dark purple walls with one wall being dark purple and black stripes. The carpet was black as well. I knew dad had wanted to get us new furniture when we moved. He said it was because he was too lazy to try and load our stuff into a U-Haul to take from Arizona to Florida and because he figured we'd enjoy having bigger beds. From the looks of the pictures, he'd already bought the furniture. My desk, dresser, nightstands, and bed frame were all black and white striped. On my bed was a Nightmare Before Christmas blanket and there were posters from Tim Burton movies on the solid purple wall behind my bed. The room had one window over the desk and the curtains were solid black. The last picture, from what I could tell was of the outside of my door. On the piece of wood that separated my room from the rest of the house was a black and purple "V" that had been painted to look like it had been scratched into the wood.

I had to admit I was a pretty lucky kid. And I also had to agree with my mum. Why hadn't my dad gone into interior design? He had a real eye for it. I let out a sigh. That had been the last thing my mum and I had talked about before she passed away.