~ Wings ~ Sanders Sides ~

~ Chapter Thirty-two ~ Virgil ~

A quick note, there is a bad word in this. I censored it, but it's still there.

About an hour later, Hailey, Remy, and Emile run in. "We heard what happened, is Patton ok??" Emile asks.

"Relatively," I reply, stroking Patton's head, which is in my lap. "I knew Camden could be a b*tch, but this is extreme."

"Wait, this was my COUSIN!?" Hailey exclaims. "Ooh, where is he?! I swear, I'm gonna kill him!" Hailey's wings extend even further.

"Hailey, NO," Remy orders, his voice firm. "We are not killing anyone."

"W-well then, I-I'll break his arm!" Hailey stutters in reply. She still sounds angry, but her wings are retracting.

"Violence isn't the right way to go about this, Hope," I say, catching Hailey off guard by using her attribute. "Trust me, I understand. I wanna snap his neck a thousand times over just to hear it, but Patton wouldn't want that." Hailey sighs.

"Yeah, I guess not..." she replies reluctantly. "But when he wakes up, could you ask him for permission?"

I chuckle. "No problem, Hai," I reply.

"Cmon, let's leave them be," Emile says, turning around to walk out. Remy and Hailey follow. Hailey glances back over her shoulder and gives me what I can only guess is a sympathetic look before heading out.

~*——__——*~

That evening, Logan comes in. "Virgil, would you like to come downstairs and eat dinner with us?" he asks, eyeing me and Patton with something close to... jealousy?

"No thanks, Lo," I reply, shaking my head. "I'd rather stay with Patton."

Logan nods. "If you insist. Just realize that you cannot stay by his side at all times. You will need to take breaks to rest, nourish, and relieve yourself."

"Yeah, I get that, it's just... I feel like this is my fault, yknow?" Logan motions for me to continue. "It's just.. I'm the protector of the group, and then Patton got hurt, and it's just..." I sigh. "I don't even know anymore, Logan. It's just this complicated jumble of obligations and guilt and a lot of other stuff, and I feel like staying is the only way to make sense of what's going on."

"Very well, then. If this is what it requires to untangle your convoluted ball of emotions, I shall leave you be." With that, Logan sinks out. I sigh and take another look at Patton.

Normally, when he sleeps, he has a calm smile, but this time his face has remnants of fear on it. I run my thumb over his cheek, wiping away a stray tear. Soon my own eyelids grow heavy. I settle so my head is next to Patton's, then close my eyes and let a light sleep overtake me.