Welcome to Hell {Prinxiety}

Chapter 17

Virgil's POV

"Virgil?"

"Roman?" I crouch down in front of him awkwardly.

He pulls me into a tight hug, crying into my shoulder, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," He mumbles repeatedly. I hug him back gently, not knowing what to say, "I'm sorry, I turned you in, you're-" He lets go and looks at my back, "Oh shoot, oh shoot, shoot shoot-"

"It's okay Ro, you weren't yourself," I assure him, causing him to shake his head, "Just consider it karma for me leaving without you."

He doesn't look too happy about that, "I'm glad you left when you had the chance but...why are you here now then?" He asks, seemingly just realizing that I escaped, and yet here I am.

"Well, I came back...?" I reply, not sure how to explain everything, "What all happened while I was gone?" I ask, deciding that's more important.

He seems to agree, "Not much, there hasn't been any new kids so far. The last Gamma generation kid, Bryce, went 'missing' a week or two ago. And I've gotten countless kids in trouble or killed," He summarizes, going back to feeling guilty.

"Roman, stop feeling bad about stuff, that's my job. I don't care what happened, I'm just glad to have my best friend back," He hugs me tighter as I say that.

"I missed you," He mumbles.

"Why do you think I came back?" I point out, hiding my definitely non-existent tears by hiding my face in his shoulder.

I couldn't tell you how long we sat like that, just holding each other. It was strange, but I didn't actually mind the contact for once. As a kid I don't think I minded the times when Roman would hug me or grab my arm, it was all the adults I had a problem with. Even if I was uncomfortable with it I still would have hugged him, he looked like he needed one. I had never seen him cry in all the time we've been here, no matter how hurt he was he never cried in front of me.

"Um..Virgil what's going on?" A quiet voice asks, accompanied by the creaking of a ladder.

I look back and see Jacob hesitantly walking towards us, probably because of Roman's reputation. The latter notices this and looks away, "Hey Jacob, what are you doing up?" I ask, not wanting to wake up anyone else.

"I heard talking and," He looks at Roman, "Are you alright?"

"Doesn't matter if he's alright, I'm trying to sleep," A very tired Reese complains from their bed.

"He's alright, he just is having a little trouble dealing with some memory problems," I tell him, ignoring Reese for the moment.

Jacob sits down next to us, "Oh, what kind of memory problems?" The kid's obviously still unsure of how to treat Roman, but I can't really blame him for that. He does look worried for him though, so I count that as a plus, "Sorry if that's an uncomfortable topic."

"Don't worry about it," Roman starts.

I get up, deciding that Roman can explain it better than me while I shake Will awake, "Wha- Virgil?"

"Can you get Reese out of bed?" I ask, getting a confused nod in response. I'm not entirely sure why I did this, but I do know that I didn't want them thinking that Roman's a bad person.

"I'm just glad you aren't terrified of me or anything," Roman tells Jacob as I sit down again.

"Well, I've never really met you and Virgil seems to trust you," He explains.

"Since when did you start making friends?" He asks me, noticing the other two kids I had roped into the situation. At least he has no problem making our usual banter, even if he still looks upset.

I frown mockingly at him, "Har har, I met them over the course of the past few days. This is Will, Reese, and Jacob."

"Yeah, Virgil got my family's photo back for me!" Jacob declares excitedly, talking louder than he probably should in a room with dozens of sleeping teenagers.

Reese rubs the sleep from their eyes, "Okay, you can not talk that loud unless you want me to suffocate you."

"You might want to watch out for Reese, they're pretty scary," I warn Roman, wondering what would happen if he got on their bad side.

"I'm sorry, what is going on here?" Will asks, confused, "Only like two days ago he sold you out and now you're all buddy-buddy?"

Roman looks down, and without thinking I grab his hand, "It's complicated. Just know that that wasn't really Roman. You don't have to trust him, but at least don't openly hate him."

"Well...as long as he doesn't snitch on anyone then I'll trust him," Will decides, surprising Roman.

"That's like saying if he isn't an a$$hole for two days we'll all be best friends," Reese grumbles, earning an elbow to the side, "Ow! You know it's true!"

Jacob looks worried for Roman, "He seems nice, and Virgil said he had some memory problems. I don't think you can control those, so he can't be all bad," He explains.

Roman sighs, "With or without my memory, I never should have helped Castillo. I never even stopped to think how I had ended up here or why I should help them other than they told me to. So I can't blame you for not trusting me, but I hope you'll give me a chance."

Jacob scooches over and hugs Roman, "I will."

Will puts a hand on Roman's shoulder, "Me too."

Reese groans in defeat, "Don't do anything stupid."

Roman smiles brightly, and pulls all of us into a giant hug, that's only slightly uncomfortable. When he pulls away Will, Reese, and Jacob silently go back to their beds. I watch them get settled down, surprised by how well that went. I only look back at Roman when I notice him putting my journal and the key back in the safe. After a moment's hesitation, he puts the locket in as well.

"I don't want to lose it again," He explains, even though I had already guessed the reason. He offers me a hand and I take it, allowing him to pull me up and directly into a hug, "Selfish as it sounds, I'm glad you came back."

"Stupid as it sounds, I'm glad to be back."

A/N: Don't know where I went with this in the middle but I like the beginning at least XD