Like Patchwork

Chapter 2

Trigger Warning. Please check the end note for more details.

Monday, August 23rd, 2019: 4:57 PM

"We should check on him," Logan said, breaking the silence that had overtaken the house for the better part of an hour, "He may assume that we are mad at him. We... we should eat dinner, and talk this over."

"We should order pizza," Patton said, trying, and failing, to look excited.

Roman, who had been mostly silent since Virgil had stormed off, nodded, "Yeah, pizza sounds great Pat,"

Patton smiled at Roman, before standing up and moving towards the stairs, the other two following behind. Logan turned to Roman, murmuring "Are you... alright?"

Roman sighed, stopping in the hallway. He ran a hand through his hair and turned to Logan, "I don't... I don't know, Lo. We need to talk to Virgil first and... we can talk later, alright?"

Before Logan could respond, they were at Virgil's room. Patton quickly knocked on the door, shifting on his feet when there was no response. After a few moments, he tried again, yelling "Virgil?" through the door. The room remained eerily silent, there not even being a creak to insinuate that Virgil had heard them and moved towards the door. Patton's hand drifted down to the doorknob, attempting to open the door only to find it locked.

"I'll... I'll go get the key," Logan said softly, attempting to stay calm. There was no use in panicking, Virgil was most likely just being an angry teen ignoring his parents. Panicking would not help the situation so Logan would stay calm.

Finally getting the door unlocked, Logan gave one last warning call before opening the door, only to find Virgil's room empty. Patton, having noticed the light on in the adjoining bathroom, quickly moved through the room, before throwing open the bathroom door. Patton gasped, taking a step back. Roman quickly moved to Patton, only to freeze at the sight before him.

Virgil was awkwardly slumped on the floor, Roman thought it would have looked like he was simply taking an uncomfortable nap if it wasn't for the blood. There was so much blood.

"No!" Roman murmured, collapsing next to his son on the floor, "Virgil, no!" Roman cradled Virgil's face with his hands, bringing him into his lap. "Your okay, you're gonna be okay," Roman wasn't completely sure what he was even saying anymore, muttering words like prayers to a God he didn't believe in.

The next few hours were a blur. Patton sobbing, Logan on the phone, Logan giving him some rags and maneuvering him and Patton to help put pressure on the wounds, the ambulance ride.

Roman wasn't sure if he stopped muttering the entire time. He didn't notice the blood that was still covering his hands until much, much later.

———

Tuesday, August 11th, 2020: 3:26 PM

Virgil's focus was drawn away from his art project as someone sat down in the chair next to him in the art room at school. Confused, Virgil took off his headphones, and turned to the person next to him.

"Hey," Remy said, smiling.

"Um, hey," Virgil responded. They had texted some in the past few days, but Virgil still worried he was being awkward.

"Whatcha working on?" Virgil shifted so that Remy could look over his shoulder at the painting he was working on, "Woah," they breathed, leaning a little closer, "That's cool as fuck," Virgil smiled, looking down at the painting of a storm he was working.