The Golden Rule || Sanders Sides AU

Anxiety

Hey, look a new Chapter.  Hey, look at that title. Y'all probs gon hate me but it's all good cuz sometimes I hate me too.

Trigger Warnings Maybe??: Panic attacks, implied abusive relationships. The usual yada yada yada.

Patton saw Virgil three times in the next two weeks. Once, on a holiday weekend and none of them had anything to do. They all hung out in the living room, and Virgil surprised them by joining around two PM.

"I couldn't sleep." He said as his only explanation.

"Been there," Roman said, shuffling the UNO cards as Patton and Logan scooted over to make room for Virgil in the circle. "Who votes we listen to the entire Disney soundtrack on repeat?"

"Oh, yes!" Patton said, hand flying up in the air. "Come on Virge, Logan, let's make it unanimous."

"Sounds good." Virgil shrugged.

"Sounds like my ears will be bleeding." Logan sighed, adjusting his glasses. Patton snickered, shaking his head.

"Was that a joke, Lo?" Logan blinked, then hurriedly shook his head.

"No, of course not. I'm serious, I wear a necktie."

"Serious people wear neckties." Patton agreed.

"Who wants to deal the cards so I can turn it-" Roman fell silent as the music started playing from Virgil's iPod on the floor. It was 'In The Dark of the Night'  from the movie Anastasia.

"What?" Virgil asked irritably as they stared at him.

"Oh, nothing Kiddo!" Patton said, forcing a wide smile. "I guess we just didn't peg you like the Disney type!"

"I met you two days ago." Virgil pointed out. Roman sighed, flipping his hair before dealing the cards.

"But of all the songs to begin with, must you choose the darkest?"

"Yeah," Virgil said, picking up his cards. "Basically."

"Sound doesn't have dark or light value," Logan muttered. "It's just... airwaves."

"You go first, Patt!" Roman said, flipping the top card over. Patton glanced at it, then his hand.

"Okay, but are we playing regular, sudden death, or reverse Uno?" he asked, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"What?"

"Regular is the rules on the box," Patton said, picking up the battered Uno case. "Sudden death is where we can put down as many as qualify in one turn. The reverse is where we do the exact opposite of the rules." he beamed. "So, what are we playing?"

"...regular," Virgil said in unison with Roman's

"SUDDEN DEATH!" He said it violently, and Patton saw Logan jump slightly, then scowl.

"Regular, if you don't mind," Logan said, doing a good job of composing himself.

"Well, it looks like majority rules." Patton sighed, shaking his head. He set down his card, smiling slightly. "Draw four, Lo."

"You're kidding me."

The second time Patton saw Virgil, it was the middle of the night. Roman had stayed up too late again, and he was trying to get his friend calmed down enough to sleep. Pages upon pages of the notebook had been filled already with a tale of princes and dragons and the like, and Roman didn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

"There's just so much that's never been done!" he mourned, sharpening his pencil once again. Patton nodded, rubbing his eyes.

"Princey, how long do you think you'll be up?"