You don't have to be alone

Chapter Four - Edited

It, by far, wasn't the first time that Virgil left his room in the dead of the night. This time however, he was a lot more careful than usually. This time he didn't just went to get a cup of water or anything. He was actually planning on sneaking out, away from his home.

Virgil looked at his surroundings carefully almost constantly, barely breathing in order to be as quiet as possible while his anxiety twisted in his stomach with worries filling his mind. The young side had to admit, he was somewhat afraid. More than usual, that is. How would the others react if they saw him right now? Would they hate him for running away? They already did that and he wasn't actually running away per se, so Virgil had to worry about one thing less.

He slowly made his way to the front door, sticking to the shadows for safety, careful not to make any noise. It seemed to work. Virgil reached his goal without any interruption or unwanted attention and slowly reached out, fingers carefully gripping the cool metal as if it would burn him. A tiny smile crept it's way onto his face, something excited replacing the constant frown. Virgil could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears at a pace and with such intensity that probably wasn't considered the norm. His hands started sweating so the slender fingers tightened around the doorknob as to not loose the grip on it. With closed his eyes, he took multiple deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself.

No one will notice he's gone. There's no reason to worry.

Before Virgil's doubts could grow in size and number or change his mind, the doorknob finally twisted and he took his first step. The fresh breeze of nightly air made him shiver ever so slightly before the anxious side got used to the admittedly refreshing sensation.

Quickly and quietly, the door closed behind him.

As Virgil started walking in an even pace surrounded by silence, the wind that was lightly blowing in his face made the bangs which were usually covering the sides eyes dance around his face, leaving a clean view on the steadily more relaxing face.

He soon reached a small lake, surrounded by trees that kept it from the view of people passing by. That is, if there would be any people at all. The lake that would have a clean blue to slightly green shimmer in the day now seemed to be pitch black, the reflection of stars high above filling the water to the brim.

The boy reluctantly shut his eyes as his features relaxed and put on his headphones, just enjoying the clean air. He couldn't hear the birds singing, since it was nighttime, so instead he turned on a carefully created and selected playlist. Virgil didn't blast it into his ears in an attempt to block everything out like he usually would have. In this place, there was nothing he wanted to block out.

Virgil smiled to himself. An honest, happy smile.

This, he thought, this is it.

He had found his place. His escape. No walls to imprison him in view, the only thing coming close to it were the trees surrounding him and lulling him in with the soft noises of leaves in the wind. No fear of someone entering his private space without ever acknowledging his privacy...

The boy opened his eyes once more to look into the inky black night sky flecked with white dots of different sizes and the beautiful colors of space spiraling around and painting a beautiful picture just for him. It was a new moon. Without any light pollution in the mindscape, (there were only six people total living in here after all,) he could see all everything perfectly. It was a breathtaking view and refused to lose this. He made a silent promise to visit this place as often as possible, which very likely meant every night from now on. Here, it was just him, the calming nature and his favorite playlist.

The youngest side let out a quiet sigh.

He could get used to this peace.

Virgil dropped the smile sadly.

He knew better than that. There will be no peace in his home until he's gone.

The side quickly shook his head, turning the music louder. No need to get depressive thoughts in this magical place.

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In the end, Virgil stayed up all night, looking at the stars and sometimes humming or even singing alongside his favorite songs. That was, until he the cold night air left and he could feel the first warm sunbeams that warmed his heart like a loving, familiar hug. It made Virgil smile as he took in the shift in air, lightly tickling his nose until his eyes ripped open in a panic and his carefree expression changed into a scared frown.

"Shit-"

The darkly dressed contrast to the ever brightening green of nature quickly got up, nearly falling into the lake in the process. He was able to catch himself with the violent swaying of his arms, but not his beloved headphones.

"No!"

Virgil tried to fish them out of the shining water, but they sunk too deep too quick for him to reach. The only result the boy got was that his right arm was now soaking wet and he still had to go back. Patton will wake up soon, quickly followed by Logan and eventually Roman, and the young side was afraid of any consequences his little adventure might have.

So, he watched the last thing that reminded him of his old friends drown with a pained expression, before turning around and running back to his cage.

"Please don't kill me, please don't kill me, please don't kill me...", Virgil mumbled in a panicked state. He knew that they of course would never actually kill him, but a little exaggeration never harmed anyone and it sure as hell felt like it.

He managed to burst into his room a few minutes before the sound of the first food steps in the morning filled the previously quiet air. A deep sigh left the boys throat as he let himself fall onto the comfortable bed.

Everything Virgil was worrying about in that exact moment was, that he hopefully hadn't been noticed by anyone.

Not where he could get new headphones.

Not that he will sneak out again.

Not that he has been watched by a certain snake.

Not that he will most likely sleep through the following day.

Not that he will miss the meals of said day.

He didn't care about all of that, not right now at least. Virgil just spread his limps out and closed his eyes, exhausted from staying up all night and running all the way back like a maniac.

But even though, Virgil smiled none the less.

He forgot this feeling of near carelessness a long time ago and he loved to have it back.

The young side decided that he will go out every night from now on, so he could reach this positive feeling he couldn't seem to achieve in the daytime.

Virgil removed his eyeshadow sloppily in order to not smear it all over his face and pillow while asleep, and prepared everything for the morning (or whenever he woke up), since he didn't know if someone would wake him or if Thomas was going to make a new video. He didn't really know when the man was planning on recording, Virgil left that to Roman and Logan.

Just like he predicted, the boy wasn't able to wake up on his own and sleep more than an hour.

"Come on emo nightmare, get up!", the voice coming from outside Virgil's room yelled as a repeated knocking woke him up, assaulting his ears violently in the process.

"I'm up!", Virgil growled, obvious annoyance lacing his voice. "What do you waaant..."

Even though his voice was quiet, the person outside was able to hear the sleepy side just perfect. But the knocking kept going.

Virgil just rolled his eyes and left his warm, comforting bed. He grabbed the smartly prepared eyeshadow and applied the usual amount before opening the door.

His face was greeted by an angry prince who looked ready to fight something or someone. And honestly? That looked pretty scary. So what was the only logical thing Virgil could think of in the second his fight or flight (or freeze) reflex kicked in? Right. Slam the door in front of the very scary prince.