Open Doors

Chapter 17

"V, how much do you know about your roommate's abusive boyfriend?"

"Ex." Virgil corrected. He had been focused on his music, but the realization of Dee's question slowly dawned on him. Sitting up, he yanked out his headphones and looked at Dee who was fighting back a sly smile. He couldn't forget his brother was manipulative and very good at getting information. He had promised Logan he wouldn't say anything so he had to be careful. "Besides, how did you find out?" He had already admitted it, backpedaling wouldn't do him any good. Instead he had to go on the defensive, ask questions rather than answer. He really didn't want to hurt the nerd.

The sly man sat cross legged on Virgil's bed. He could see his brother growing guard. Dee knew he would need to tread carefully. Virgil's anxiety could really get out of control, but he really didn't mean any harm. "Sorry, I didn't realize that they were exes, they seemed pretty close when I saw them together." Add legitimacy to his knowledge, show Virgil he wasn't prying, just curious.

Virgil's thoughts began to spiral. Was Lewis hounding Logan again? Logan would tell him right? They had gotten closer over the past few weeks, he wasn't going to try to fight this alone. Momentarily Virgil bit at his thumbnail, the way it clicked against his teeth gave him a focus. His free hand wrapped around his wrist, thumbing at his scars. He still hadn't verified if Logan was cutting, and he was just beginning to break down his walls. Lewis could ruin all of that.

Seeing his brother rub at his old scars, scars that Dee has always blamed himself for, changed Dee's attitude immediately. His smirk fell. His confident aura crumbled. This was no longer a fun game of play the player. This was serious.

He grabbed Virgil's hand gently, pulling it away and forcing Virgil to focus on him. "You are too easy to read." Dee chastised his older brother softly. "This ex, is he causing your roommate to cut?" Dee looked down at the scars on Virgil's wrist, trying not to squeeze Virgil's wrist too tightly. They both knew it wasn't that simple. It wasn't outside forces that caused scars like these but the thoughts inside your own head that you couldn't avoid. Still, others could make it worse, even if that wasn't their intention.

"I..." Virgil looked up at Dee, his normally callous smile gone, replaced with a look of pain and devastation. This is why Dee frustrated Virgil. All he had to do was look into Virgil's eyes and Virgil's defenses fell. They both blamed themselves for things that had been out of their control. Virgil looked at the tattoo on Dee's face, it hid a deep scar which was now hard to see under the glittering fake scales. This close though, Virgil could see it. He had memorized every line. Guilt washed over him. They were both damaged, but maybe together they could help Logan. "I don't know. He hasn't told me that he has, but he shows some of the same signs as..." his voice failed him.

"The same signs as when you..." It didn't really need to be spoken.

"Yeah." Virgil's voice sounded a bit defeated. He had recovered. He had no problem talking about these issues with other people but with Dee it was different. Pulling his hands away, Virgil pointed to his shoulder where he expected Logan's scar would be. "Not the wrists, I suspect he is too smart for that."

Slowly Dee nodded. So they were talking about different roommates. Roman seemed like the type to just cover up his scars with makeup or accessories. He also didn't necessarily seem smart, at least not intellectually. Creatively smart, that was a different argument to be had. "Do you want me to find out?"

Did he? He wanted to respect Logan's privacy but some times, especially in situations like these, privacy was not a luxury you could afford. Logan was smart, but if Lewis was harassing him again, what if it all became too much? Virgil hesitated but slowly nodded.

"Okay." Dee had no problem investigating all three of them. It gave him something to do. It was a good avoidance tactic for his own problems. Thus far, Patton seemed the most likely to have an abusive ex, his constant need to smile and prove everything was okay a classic sign, but Logan was closed off, almost as if he was afraid of being hurt. Normally Dee would find joy in having a little game to play, but thinking back to his brothers scars, he was just angry. What gave anyone the right to treat people like this?

Virgil had given up the pretense of trying to hide this from his brother. He wouldn't be specific, but if Dee was going to help, he needed to know. "What did you want to know about the ex?"

"Oh, right, do you know if it was physical or emotional abuse?" This wasn't going to help him with Roman but it could at least help him with the other roommate, which ever one it was. The fact that Virgil has jumped to conclusions that it was someone else concerned Dee, were all of them that stupid?

Virgil began to bite his thumb nail again, as he thought. "We don't talk about it a lot since it is a sensitive subject, but he assured me it was only ever verbal abuse. In fact, he says that's his excuse for why it took him so long to break things off. Now when did you see them together?"

"The other night." Dee knew he was going to have to manipulate the truth a bit if Virgil kept pushing. He didn't want his brother blaming himself for giving away secrets. Virgil was kind, but he was too anxious to get things done when they needed to be.

"What were they doing together?"

"Just talking, it didn't seem heated but you can just tell from the outside."

Virgil nodded. "I know... " he almost said Logan's name, "my roommate, said he wasn't violent, but that doesn't mean he can't be. Don't get yourself into a dangerous situation, okay?"

"No, that's your job."

Virgil flinched but gave Dee a sarcastic smile and an eye roll.

Shit, that wasn't what he had meant. He pretended not to notice the flinch, "I mean, what kind of moron moves in with three people he has never met without at least a background check. You should have let me follow them for a few weeks."

"Aren't you the one who told me I needed to stop being so anxious? Also, I'm the older one here, I'm supposed to be protecting you."

He completely waved off the older sibling comment. "I said less anxious, not more stupid. This society is filled with people who are just waiting to crush you the first chance they get. You got lucky. Surprisingly, none of them are assholes." Dee adjusted his black and yellow beanie.

"Now who's acting anxious."

"Whatever, I know you are strong enough to protect yourself if things go down, but you are all I have left. You can't take stupid risk."

"Yeah, same for you."

"Awe shoot." He tried to break the tension but they both could still feel it in the air. "Don't get all sappy on me." He smiled weakly and they both smile. "Well I'm going to sit here silently and make a plan, you go back to your emo music."

Virgil lightly punched him, but he put his headphones in and went back to his music, thoughts falling on Logan. Worry began to flood his mind. Logan had been teaching him about blackholes recently, and all he could imagine was Lewis being a black hole that slowly drained the light from Logan, a star that could burn so brightly if he didn't have the looming darkness behind him. What did that make Virgil? He had gotten stronger, better at helping and protecting others, but did he really have the ability to save Logan? What was Logan to him? The sun? No, that was too bright. Logan was more like the moon, reflecting the light of the sun and softening it. His metaphor was getting mixed.

As he heard the opening riff to Starlight by Muse, Virgil's eyes began to slowly slide close. A yawn escaped his mouth. What an appropriate song after his thoughts on blackholes, but what about his revelation. Was he willing to admit it? No, not yet. That would have to remain his silent secret for now.

For once sleep came easily to him and Virgil didn't notice his brother slip out of the room. 

AN: As promised here is your update only a few hours late. I really love this one because I got the chance to build a relationship between Deceit and Virgil. Tell me what you think! I really do hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.