Motorcycles and Lies (Anxceit)

Sleep Awake

He couldn’t get the image out of his head. The grabbing, the yanking, it all felt so real. He made a noise of pain, the phantom pains of the imagined events still playing out in his head. The weight on his arms, the pull of his legs, it was all too much, but he had no idea how to get rid of it.

    Patton awoke to the noises of whines, almost like a sad puppy. He sat up and looked around, turning on the lamp to his left. He looked to his right and saw Virgil with his eyes squeezed shut, hands gripping the blanket that was also clenched between his teeth. They had been staying together in Virgil’s room ever since that night when Virgil returned late from the hospital a few weeks ago. Patton bit the inside of his lip, unsure of what the safest course of action was. Should he wake up Virgil physically but risk him panicking more or wake up verbally and risk waking up their mom? He finally chose and gently shook Virgil, deciding that it was the safest choice for both of them. Virgil seemed to get worse from the sudden touch, but eventually his eyes shot open, him heaving from the stress of the nightmare. 

    “Are you okay? Nobody got you, right? No one is here?” Virgil’s words are rushed and flowing from his mouth uncontrollably.

    “Vee, you just had a nightmare,” Patton whispered gently, his voice thick with worry. Virgil fell back against the wall, leaning against one of the pillows on his bed. He gently held Patton’s hand to ground himself, taking in shuddery breaths. Soon, his breathing returned to mostly normal and his body stilled, leaving Virgil exhausted and tingly. 

    There was a while of silence before Virgil sat up with a gentle sigh. “Want to go for a ride?”

    Patton, who was used to these nightly escapes, nodded eagerly. 

    “Get your school stuff together, okay? Be ready in ten, we’ll sleep in our spot.”

    They both got to work, collecting clothes and homework before throwing their backpacks out the window, the boys soon following behind by climbing down the nearby tree. They were fast and silent, basically trained how to survive in their world. They grabbed their bags at the bottom, throwing their coats on to keep out the chilly, autumn air. Virgil unchained his bike and hopped on, scooting forward to make room for Patton to get on. Once Patton was securely in place and had his hands around Virgil’s waist, Virgil started up the motorcycle.

    They drove for a while, Virgil making a lap around the block once before getting gas and a snack for each of them. He headed out after that, going to the highway nearby to just stay in the public eye while he drove. Patton relaxed against Virgil, the padding of his helmet only doing so much to stop the uncomfortable banging of his head against Virgil’s back. 

     Once they were on a quieter road, Patton whispered. “Virgil?”

     “Yes?” Virgil replied.

     "Can you drop me off at Logan’s? He lives nearby here, and he won’t mind me coming.”

     Virgil chuckled softly at the tired and lovesick brother, “Of course. Just text him once I pull over to make sure.”

     Virgil found a junction and pulled over, allowing Patton to safely pull his phone out and shoot a text to his partner. 

     “He said it’s fine. I’m more concerned at why he’s up at almost one am on a school night.”

     "Maybe he was worried about you? He has your location in case Mom decides to do something, right? Maybe he was concerned that you were moving around so much.”
    Patton blushed at the prospect that someone would care for him like that, “I dunno…”