Broken (Prinxiety)

12

     TW: Mentions of self-harm

     "I want to tell Logan and Patton. They need to know, Virgil!" 

      Virgil was nearly having a heart attack as he sat on the Prince's bed, not wanting him to tell Logan or Patton anything. He didn't know what he would do if the other two found out about his bad habit. 

      "Roman, please don't tell them!" Virgil's voice rose slightly. "Please, I'll do anything!" 

      Roman paced slightly in front of his abnormally white bed. Everything about his room was bright; it gave Virgil a bit of a headache. 

      "Fine." Roman stopped in front of Virgil and knelt before him, gently taking one of his hands. "I won't tell them, as long as you promise me something."

      "What is it?"

      "Tell me if you do it again, or if you have the urge to hurt yourself. Or better yet--promise to tell me whenever you start to feel down."

      Virgil was hesitant to go through with this. He didn't know how comfortable he was with telling Roman things like that. And besides, what if Patton or Logan were around when he started feeling bad? As if noticing his concern, Roman started to speak again.

      "We can come up with some sort of code," Roman told him, giving his hand a quick squeeze. "How about when you start feeling bad, and the others are around, you say that you gotta touch up your eye shadow?"

      Virgil was silent, thinking about this. Finally he nodded, knowing that it would work well enough. It was something that the others wouldn't be suspicious of, but it also is obvious enough that Roman would know what he meant when he said it. 

      "Great!" Roman gave him a bright smile and reached out, ruffling his hair. Virgil hissed half-halfheartedly and pushed his hand away. 

      "Okay, now I'm gonna go through your room and get all of the things that you can hurt yourself with. Is that okay?"

      Virgil wasn't so sure about that. He looked away, before shaking his head no. Even if he was trying to stop his self-harm, it still would make him feel better to have the knife around just in case he ever needed it.

      "Virgil, please let me do it...I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore."

      Virgil wouldn't have agreed if it weren't for the tone of voice Roman had used. Roman sounded so afraid, as if he was worried that Virgil was going to do worse. 

      Virgil sighed softly, looking down. "Fine...you can go through my room. I want to be with you, though." 

      Roman gave him a soft smile and nodded. "Yeah...deal! If you don't mind, can you show me where you keep what you use?" Virgil just nodded. 

      Virgil got to his feet, and the two made their way to his room. Virgil immediately went to the nightstand beside his bed and hesitated as he reached towards the second drawer, before pulling it open. He picked up the knife within it, before turning towards Roman and holding it out despite how much he wanted to keep it hidden. He was willing to try to stop for Roman, though. 

      "Thanks." Roman took the knife and pocketed it, before poking around Virgil's dark room for any trace of anything that he could use to hurt himself.  

      Virgil settled down on his bed, taking a deep breath to keep himself calm. This did nothing to stop a rise of panic as he saw Roman open a drawer and pull out a folded piece of paper. Virgil's eyes went wide as he saw his name on it, and he realized that Roman had found the note that Deceit had left him. 

      Virgil stood and strode over to Roman, snatching the note from him before he could read it. "Hey, leave that alone! It's private!" 

      Roman reached for the note, but Virgil stuffed it into his pocket. 

      "Why can't I read it," Roman asked, sounding confused. "Come on...it can't be that bad!"

      Virgil hesitated for a moment, trying to think of a believable lie. Finally he said, "I don't want you to read it! It--it's from an old diary that I used to keep. It's private."

      Roman's eyes went wide, and he got a mischievous look on his face. "Aww...does it say who your crush is? How cute! You should let me read it!"

      Virgil took a step back. This was one thing he would not budge on, especially since the note mentioned Depression. He was not going to tell Roman about his brother, as even just knowing about him can give him power over you.

      "No." Virgil tried to make his voice firm, but it ended up shaking a little, causing him to silently curse. "I don't want you to read it, so just drop it, okay?"

      Roman's smile dipped when he noticed how defensive Virgil was being. He put his hands up as if in surrender. "Okay, I promise that I won't look. Though I am curious about who you like. Let me guess--it's Logan! That dude is pretty cool."

      Virgil rolled his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down after the spike of anxiety he just had. "No, it's not Logan. Though even if it was, there is no way that I would tell you. You'd probably try to find a way to set us up!"

      "You're darn right," Roman said, looking pleased with himself. "Of course I would try to set you up! Don't you want true love?"

      Virgil did, but he didn't deserve it. And he knew that Roman deserved better than some emo with anxiety and low self-esteem. 

      "No," he lied. "I have no time for love. I have Thomas to watch out for, and that's enough. But if you want to set someone up, try getting Patton and Logan together. It's obvious that they both like each other."

      Roman gave a gasp. "I know, right? I'm always trying to get them together, but they're both so oblivious to each other's feelings!" 

      Virgil nodded in response, glad that he had gotten the focus off of him. His mind began to wander as Roman rambled on about Patton and Logan, and his gaze drifted around his room.

      That is, until he caught sight of Depression behind Roman.