Group Home (Discontinued)

Chapter One

I feel a smack on my shoulder. "What is so  important you must interrupt me." I growl at Logan.

"Mister Sanders wants us downstairs. The other three are already down." He pushes his glasses up his thin nose and promptly exits my room.

With a loud sigh I pause Aladdin, the original of course, and gingerly close my laptop. I stand to straighten out my maroon T-shirt and jeans. "Roman!" I hear a yell from downstairs.

"I'm coming!" I shout in return. Running my fingers through my auburn locks as I rush down the stairs.

"Thank you for finally joining us." Logan shoots me a look.

I scrunch up my nose, "My pleasure."

Just as Logan opens his mouth again, probably to scold my attitude, Mister Sanders walks out of his office with a man in a beige cardigan.

"I will be back to check on his condition in a few weeks." He slides a folder into his bag before shouldering it.

"Thank you Dr Picani, may I talk to you in my office? I have a few things I'd like to discuss." Thomas smiles toward the man and gestures to his office. As he turns back to us I notice someone standing hiding behind him.

"A new kid? We haven't had one for like...ten years." Patton mumbles, "We'll probably have to do some room swapping."

"Boys," our attention is brought back to Thomas, "this is Virgil."

A small boy peeks his head out from behind Thomas, hesitantly moving beside him. His clothes seem big on his, his dark sweatshirt hanging off his frail frame. He gives a feeble wave before shoving his shaking hands into his pockets.

"As of now, Virgil is not able to talk. He's come from a rough house, so please be gentle with him." Thomas looks toward my twin when he says this. Remus, is a the whole reason we are here in the first place. Burned down our house, with our parents inside. No one believes me though, and I will never forgive him.

"I'll let you guys get acquainted, I have to talk to Dr. Picani." Thomas gives a gentle smile toward Virgil and walks into his room.

"Greetings Virgil, I'm Logan." He reaches his hand out, only for Virgil to flinch back.

"Oh my," I hear Patton gasp. I look to him and follow his gaze. Virgil's flinching caused his sweatshirt to move, making the dark purple and yellow bruises around his neck visible. "This poor boy."

Virgil reaches out and gently shakes Logan's hand before retreating back into his sweatshirt.

"Hi I'm Patton! I really want to give you a hug, but you'll probably be uncomfortable with that." He chuckles and gently reaches out his hand. Virgil gives him a soft smile and shakes his hand.

"The name's Roman. It's a pleasure." I take his hand and slowly raise it to my lips, his wide eyes following. I kiss his knuckles gently and watch as his face turns a bright shade of red.

Patton nudges my shoulder as the boy brings his jacket up to hide his face. "You're gonna kill the kid from embarrassment." Patton says with a grin causing me to chuckle.

"It's Janus." Our quietest member of the household only nods toward Virgil, which he reciprocates.

I glare toward my brother as a crazed grin creeps onto his face. "He's gonna do something stupid." I whisper toward Patton.

"My name is Remus and I like warm hugs!" With that he launches himself onto Virgil, squeezing him tightly. In seconds, his eyes become the size of saucers and he tries to   push Remus off with no avail.

I quickly grab Remus by the back of the shirt and pull him away, smacking him in the back of the head.

When I turn back to Virgil he's curled up on the ground, Patton kneeling in front of him.

"Virgil, kiddo can you look at me? Just keep your eyes on me buddy." He gently takes both of Virgil's hands in his. "Just count my freckles. Count them until your breathing is normal, okay. It will help."

Virgil nods and keeps his eyes on Patton. It takes a moment, but his breathing once again is normal.

"See, it's safe now. You're safe." Patton helps him off the ground and turns to me. "Logan and Roman, can you please talk to Remus? I'll take Virgil to the living room. He probably needs a rest."

"No problem, Pat." I smile and let them pass, Janus seems to already have slunk off. "C'mon calculator watch, let's knock some sense into my brother."

"Do not call me that," Logan snaps, "Remus is most likely upstairs, in his room." He promptly makes his way up the stairs, I stomp my way up after him.

We walk straight to the end of the hallway, to Remus and Janus's room. And just as predicted, Remus was sitting proudly on his bed.

"Why of Earth did you think do that?!" I shout, "I know you've got a lot of dumb bullshit going through your head at all times, but you can't do that to Virgil. From the little Thomas told us, he came from a rough house and we need to make his time here as nice as possible."

"For once, Roman's right." I glare at Logan as he continues, "Virgil is in a fragile state right now, and if you do something else as stupid as you did today we will have to talk to Mister Sanders. And that could even possibly lead to your removal."

Remus' mischievous grin quickly vanished from his face at Logan's words. "Oh..." His eyes look troubled as if he's pushing all the bad thoughts around in his minuscule mind. "I understand, I promise I won't be as stupid as I was today, I'll try to be better."

"You need to do more than try, brother. You must be better, if not there will be consequences." I shift my glare to Remus, I love my brother but he needs to pull his stick out of his ass before it makes him do something he regrets.

"That is all we need from you Remus, have a good night." With that Logan turns on his heel and exits the room.

"I've got my eyes of you, Remus." I follow Logan back down stairs.

Patton and Virgil are sat on the couch, watching Lilo & Stitch. I glance at Virgil, a smile forming at the site. His dark eyes are glued to the screen, completely entranced by the movie.

I stand a few feet from the couch and notice he starts to lean, his head resting on Patton's shoulder. Just as Virgil's head lands on his shoulder it jolts back. He looks toward up with wide, fearful eyes.

"It's okay, Virgil. You can rest your head on my if you'd like, I don't mind." His eyes look to Patton's shoulder then back to his face with a unsure look. "Rest your head Virgil." Patton sends a gentle smile his way.

He hesitantly leans back down, slowly melting into the warmth. His fingers gently wrap around Patton's arm, the small boy was so careful with everything.

My eyes light up with an idea, and I race to my room. Only to come back down a few seconds later with a ginormous red bean bag. I place it I front of the couch and flop down. Logan much quieter, sits down in the recliner.

My eyes glance back at Virgil, and our eyes meet unexpectedly. He quickly looks away with a red face causing me to chuckle slightly. The four of us are quiet as the movie continues. I don't know who hurt Virgil, but I do know I don't want him to ever have to go through it again.

1303 words! Hot diggity dog! Another book with no plot whatsoever, who woulda thought. Amiright? Please like and comment I love reading what you guys have to say. Until next time, Zoe signing off.