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

Thanksgiving

"VIRGIL!!!" I turned as my name was yelled out in the crowded corridor with just enough time to brace myself for impact. The wind was still knocked out of my as Patton threw himself at me and caused me to collide with Roman who was walking to the cafeteria with me.

"Pat. Pat. Air. Can't. Breathe," I wheezed out, trying to pry my brother off and ignore Roman chuckling.

He and I had been hanging out a bit more since the Halloween trip to Disney. I've also been hanging out a bit more with Logan, but he hadn't come to school today. Apparently his dad always takes him out a day before Thanksgiving break starts so they can go visit family for the holiday.

"Sorry, kiddo. I'm just super excited," he loosened his grip and I took a few gulps of air.

"About what?"

"Mom and Mum invited Patton and his family over to our place for thanksgiving dinner," Remus said, walking over towards us with his hands in his pockets.

"That's wonderful!"

I let out a yelp as Roman lifted me into the air and hugged me tightly. I swear I was gonna end up with a broken rib by the end of the day. "Will you and Patton please stop trying to kill me!"

The other three teens chuckled as Roman set me down and we began walking to the cafeteria again. We went to sit out our usual table, but were shocked by the site before us. De was sitting there with someone. What shocked us wasn't that De was sitting there, he'd been known to skip class sometimes to hang out with us. What shocked us was that the person he was sitting with was a distraught looking Logan.

Patton ran over to our friend and hugged him tightly while the rest of us silently sat at the table.

"What're you doing here, Logan?" Remus has an uncharacteristically concerned look on his face which made me even more concerned.

Logan shook his head and then glanced at me for a moment before staring back down at the table.

"I've been trying to get him to talk since he showed up last period. I decided to bring him here figuring he'd talk to one of you guys."

I walked around the table and placed a hand on Logan's shoulder. "I forgot something at my locker. Come with me to get it?"

With a slight nod of his head Logan stood up and walked with me out of the cafeteria. Instead of heading to my locker we went outside and sat down under a tree. "Wanna talk about it?"

"My father decided that he was tired of the constant reminder of his dead wife and told me I could either leave or die too. So I left."

"When?"

"Last night."

"Got any place to go?"

"No."

"Can you go back and get your belongings?" I pulled out my mobile and text my dad.

"I am fairly certain he would be agreeable to the idea of me removing any trace of my presence from his home."

"Okay. We're leaving school early. My dad is on his way to get us."

"What? Virgil. No. I can't."

"Too late. He's on his way. You can stay with us while we work on getting you emancipated."

"Emancipated?"

"Yes. If we try to get you just taken out of your dad's home they'll put you with another family member. We can do that if you want."

"No. They all blame me for her death."

I nodded and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Wanna talk about it?"

"My mother died in childbirth. My father tried his best to raise me and take care of me. It seems that as I got older the more I looked like her. That upset him a lot. He couldn't handle it. I threw myself into my studies so that he did not have any reason to deal with me really. I even took on a lot of pain xtra curricular activities to be at home as little as possible. Two years ago I started cutting because the stress was getting too much. Music and my studies weren't even helping anymore."

My heart broke for my friend. No one needed to go through that.

"Perhaps it would be easier for everyone if I had died instead of my mother. Or even if I was just dead right now."

"Nope. None of that talk. Especially not around Patton, he will physically fight you. I know." I got him to chuckle a little which was a relief. "You aren't on your own in this, Logan. I've got your back. We all do."

"Please don't tell the others."

"Don't worry. I won't."

***

Logan and I met up with the others at Roman's house after my dad got the guest room situated for Logan. We were immediately chewed out by Patton for making him worry. We both knew that we had to tell him and our other friends something. We just didn't know what.

"My apologies, Patton. My grandmother fell ill and my father needed to leave town to take care of her. He left in the middle of the night and forgot to notify me so I was a bit scared and out of it when I got up this morning. Like Virgil, I too am prone to anxiety attacks. Your father has offered to allow me to stay with you all until my grandmother is better and my father returns to Florida." His little lie seemed to have appeased Patton and the others. They all felt bad about Logan's grandmother feeling well. Patton wanted to give Logan's father a piece of his mind for leaving in the middle of the night, even if it was an emergency. Logan assures him that his father had explained that he thought he had woken him up and told him and felt really bad about the confusion.

I'm not a fan of lying to Patton, but I couldn't tell Logan how to handle his personal shit. So, I kept my mouth shut.

***

"How? Why? What?"

"It's a simple yes or no question, Virgil. Will you go out with me?"

Roman and I were sitting alone in his room while everyone else was downstairs talking and/or cooking. It was Thanksgiving Day. The day I had been dreading because I had been doing an excellent job of avoiding meeting the parents of my friends, but there was no avoiding them here. Most parents didn't approve of me. I was too dark and edgy in their opinion and they didn't want me being a negative influence on their kids. Mrs and Mrs Wulf, and Mrs Pettus had all taken a liking to me as soon as I showed up with Patton, Logan, and my dad. I have to admit that had been a relief, but it had also scared the heck outta me.

I had learned a lot about my friends in the hour before Roman had asked to talk to me in private. De's parents had adopted him and his brother. Their dad was a cardio thoracic surgeon and had been called in on an emergency last minute so he couldn't join us. Roman and Remus had the same father, but their mothers each carried one of them. They said it took a lot of planning to make sure they had both boys on the exact same day. That's some dedication. They had also insisted that we call them by their first names, Juno and Minerva. It was going pretty well. Then Roman asked to talk to me. I had been scared. But when I heard his question I got even more scared.

"Earth to Virgil."

"Right. Umm..." I stared up at him in disbelief. What do I say? Why was he asking me out? Was this some kind of joke? Before my brain could come up with any more questions my mouth opened up and an answer came forward. "Sure."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I nodded my head.

"I'll pick you up Friday evening. We can go catch a movie."

"O-okay..."

"If you don't want to, Virgil, I'll—"

"No. I want to. You just kinda caught me off guard. I've never been asked out before."

"Oh," he smiled.

We blushed.

I silently praise I wouldn't fuck this up.

Later while we all sat around the table and everyone said what they were thankful for I thought to myself: I'm thankful to have met someone who has seen me at my worst and still wants to be my friend or maybe more. I said aloud, "I'm thankful for friends who actually accept me even after seeing how bad my anxiety can get."