Assistance Required

Promise

Virgil woke up with his face in a book. He groggily looked around. What happened? He looked down at the book his face was in. It was his history textbook. That's right. He had gone over notes with Patton after class again, like usual. He sat up and felt a weight leave his shoulders. He looked behind him to see a jacket.

"Hey," he heard.

He turned to see Patton smiling at him.

"Hey," he croaked.

"You sleep okay?" he asked softly.

Virgil shrugged.

"How long was I out?"

"Just a few hours."

"What time is it?"

Patton looked at his phone.

"It's almost six. The others went to dinner. I just grabbed something from the cafe to eat here. I didn't want to leave you alone."

Virgil stretched. Gosh, his back was stiff.

"Thanks," he said after he finished.

Patton smiled at him.

"So, did you have trouble sleeping last night?" Patton asked.

"I don't know what it was. I just kept waking up in the night. It was really annoying."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Kiddo!"

Virgil shook his head.

"It's not your fault, Pat. I'll be fine."

Patton frowned.

"Last time you said that you crashed your car."

"I'm not driving anywhere."

"I just worry about you. You could have been killed."

"Maybe next time," Virgil dead-panned.

"Virgil!"

Patton grabbed his arm.

"Sorry! Sorry! I'm not helping."

"You don't still want to-"

"No! I mean... I don't really care whether or not I live, but I don't want to kill myself."

"Promise?"

Virgil looked at the bright blue eyes staring at him. They shined with tears and fear of losing a friend. And Virgil had caused that. His stomach twisted. He had caused all of them so much worry and grief from one act. He had felt so alone and hurt that he went numb and decided to end it. He wanted to end it all and they were there. And they hadn't left. No matter what he did they were there. For him.

"I promise."

Patton smiled and gave him a hug before returning to his work. Virgil opened a book to read before something was thrust in his face. He leaned back to look at it. It was a bracelet? Virgil looked at the hand giving it to him and turned to face a smiling Patton.

"Wha-"

"I want you to have this," Patton said as he fastened it onto Virgil's wrist. "I want this to remind you that you promised never to hurt yourself again. You promised to talk to us if something is hurting you. And you promised to keep living."

Virgil looked at the baby blue bracelet on his wrist and frowned.

"Do you have any other colors? Blue isn't really my style," he asked hesitantly.

"I might have a purple one in my room," Patton said, "I prefer the blue ones, so I don't wear it as often."

"That sounds perfect."

"I'll get it later. Just wear that one for now."

Virgil stared at the bracelet on his wrist for a minute before turning to his book again. If it made him happy, he guessed he could endure.

"What's with the bracelet?" someone asked some time later.

Virgil looked up from his book to see the others sitting down. Janus placed a few napkins holding a couple of slices of pizza in front of him.

"It's to remind Virgil he promised not to hurt himself again," Patton said without looking up from his textbook.

"Oh really?" Roman said.

"Yes, and I expect everyone to hold Virgil to his promise!" Patton said finally looking up. He looked at everyone sternly, "He has to talk to us instead of hurting himself and he has to keep living." Patton turned his gaze to Virgil, "No matter what is happening."

"What if I'm, like, really old and I have cancer or something?" Virgil asked.

"Nope! You made a promise! You aren't allowed to give up on life!" Patton said.

"Patton's going to follow you for the rest of your life now," Joan said.

"Years from now he's just going to randomly pop out your closet, 'DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR PROMISE?!'" Remus said.

The others laughed.

"I don't want to go back in the closet, it's dark in there," Patton said.

"Then you can crash through his window," Remus suggested.

"Great, so I might wake up in the middle of the night to Patton crashing through my window?"

"He'll clean up after himself, right?" Thomas asked.

Patton nodded.

"Of course! I wouldn't just leave a bunch of broken glass in your bedroom! That'd be such a pane to step on."

"I thought you were done with the puns," Logan groaned.

"I just can't help it!" Patton giggled.

Logan rolled his eyes and buried his face in his book, but Virgil caught a slight smile on his lips.

The others continued their banter as they turned to their work. Virgil tried to focus on his book but it hurt. He didn't want to fall too behind in his classes. Especially with midterms coming up in a couple of weeks.

Logan suggested he work in small increments. Work for fifteen minutes and take a break so he wouldn't overwork himself. But Virgil had just taken a nap. He didn't remember falling asleep earlier. He was still tired. He didn't want to read. He wanted to go back to sleep.

He forced himself to keep going. Logan and Patton kept reminding him to take breaks so he wouldn't overexert himself. It didn't take long before he was nodding off again. He tried to keep himself awake, but soon the others noticed. They convinced him to just go to bed early and try again tomorrow. Roman walked him back to the dorms since he "planned on showering anyway." Virgil didn't bother to change. He crawled into the bed and curled up in the blankets. His head hurt and his leg ached.

He covered his eyes with his hand as he tried to block out the extra light. Why did it all feel so bright? He heard the faint rush of water as Roman began his shower. It was fine until Roman started singing. Virgil groaned as he placed a pillow over his head. He placed his hands over his ears as he closed his eyes. He could feel himself sinking into the bed. He could feel his body relaxing as sleep took over. He didn't want to move. He just laid there and waited for Roman to finish. He didn't feel like yelling at him. He didn't have the energy. He couldn't move. He couldn't shout. He could just sit and wait it out.

It could have been worse. At least Roman wasn't blasting his music from across the hall. All he had to do, was wait it out.