the night of june 2nd // sanders sides ✔

31 : drive

Virgil sat on a thick branch of the tree at town center, staring into the clear blue summer sky. Despite the sight, this was the most depressing summer he'd ever experienced. The sun hit his face, calming him, though he had to take off a layer.

He'd turned his phone off just to be alone for a while. Jennie was rolling around in the grass below him while playing with a squeaky toy. She stopped every once in a while to stare up at him with her big loving eyes and jump when he warmly smiled back.

He climbed down the tree and sat next to her, leaning against it with her in his lap, still chewing on the squeak toy. He ran his fingers through her fluffy fur and spoke to her with nonsensical words in a high but quiet voice.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling in a bush and he jumped. His hand automatically reached to his pepper spray, but it was just a bunny.

He was a lot more uptight these days.

Wonder why.

Then he just let himself relax against the tree and whispered to Jennie, "I hope Logan is okay," and she brushed her nose against his face with a big precious smile that he loved so much.

He couldn't stop thinking about how he threw his best friend under the bus.

He slumped down, sighing, and wrapping his arms around her. "I really hope he's okay."

On his walk home with Jennie, he had to stop to lean against a wall to calm down. He couldn't stop thinking about Logan and what he was going through. He could already see Logan rolling his eyes, or maybe trembling in fury, or maybe yelling at him about how stupid he was.

While his knees went weak, Jennie cocked her head and brushed her snout against Virgil worriedly.

"I'm okay, baby," he forced out quietly, scratching behind her ears.

He tried to swallow back his sharp breaths but he couldn't do it, so he had fallen to his knees on the sidewalk. Blurry dots of color disrupted his vision and all the sound around him seemed to be muffled, all while his hands went to his head to try to slow his breathing and see clearly again to get home as soon as possible.

Before his head could hit the ground, a hand reached under it to avoid the impact of the concrete.

"...Seymour?" he croaked out, fading in and out of consciousness.

"Yes. It's Declan," the detective replied and handed Virgil a bottle of water. He had crouched next to him. "Do you want a ride home? I can take you. You should definitely rest up."

Virgil blushed profusely. "I could use a ride..."

"Stop burning up even more, you already look like you're going to pass out." Declan helped Virgil to his feet and Jennie jumped on the detective happily, wagging her tail back and forth.

So Virgil sat in the passenger seat, looking into the rear view mirror with an ice pack of Declan's pressed against the back of his neck.

"So what exactly happened?" Declan asked. At a red light, he toyed with the silver chain on his dark pants.

"I've just been feeling really overwhelmed lately and I guess it came out there," Virgil laughed anxiously. He took another sip of water and looked at Jennie, sitting in the back seat, to avoid any eye contact with Declan.

He could stare at Declan's face for hours, just studying it. Holding his pencil up to it and measuring every little detail in a quiet room with only gentle music and the sound of brush strokes calming him down.

One eye was brown and one green, though the green one, in the right light, looked nearly yellow with highlights. And they were in the right light.

Plus the scar along Declan's cheek was something Virgil could never forget about him. It made him look badass.

Without looking at Virgil, Declan asked nonchalantly, "Are you done staring, Virgil?"

Virgil burned up even more at that, causing Declan to smirk.

"You're melting the ice pack. Don't worry, there's a cooler compartment under your seat with extras."

"That's cool."

Declan cocked an eyebrow. "Hm? What's cool?"

"U-Um, I dunno. It just came out of my mouth... or something." He looked out the window again.

"Yeah, right. My job relies on me not being stupid."

Virgil shrugged and grabbed a second ice pack from under his seat like Declan had said.

"Declan?" His voice came thin and frail.

"What?" Declan put a hand on Virgil's thigh. "What's wrong?"

"Logan," he breathed out shakily.

"Nothing bad is going to happen to Logan," the taller one lied. "He's fine."

"You're lying to me and I know it."

Declan glared at him, narrowing his eyes. "Yeah? And what about it? I'm not your friend. This is a murder case, and if I am allowed to tell you something, I might. Don't act like we're close so you can get answers. I'm still a detective and you're still under investigation."

And Virgil had to remember that this was the guy who pulled a taser on him to force information out of him.

So he didn't answer him.

"I know things are difficult," Declan sighed after a few minutes of driving in silence. "But you have a life outside of Roman's death, so just live it while you still can. Unless you're the piece of shit behind all of this, you have nothing to worry about."

Virgil gulped. "Okay."

The detective eyed him carefully before continuing to drive, taking in his body language.

"This is your house, right?" he asked when they came to a stop.

Virgil fumbled while unbuckling his seatbelt. "Yep." He thanked Declan shyly and brought Jennie inside with him.

Declan lingered in his car until he saw Virgil go inside.