*Logan POV*
I'm packing up my stuff, happy with how our project went when Virgil, still on his computer, bursts into tears.
"Virgil, what happened?" I ask, startled at his sudden mood change.
I fear I did something wrong or said something that upset him. He continues sobbing and points to his screen. I see the library's security cameras up. I decide not to ask why or how he got them up and look at the box Virgil is pointing to. Its two guys, kissing. Not that strange, certainly not something to merit tears.
"Do you know those guys? Who are they?" I ask, concern lacing my voice.
"On-one of them is my b-boyfriend." Virgil chokes out, "The other is my best friend."
He goes back to sobbing. Shock goes through my body. In very emotionally charged situations, I try to do what I do best: analyze and find the best possible solution and/or reaction. I analyze. Virgil just found out his boyfriend is cheating on him, or at least unfaithful. I now also know that he's gay, pan, or bi, which is good for me- good to know. I decide that the best possible reaction is to comfort him.
"Virgil, I can try to assure you you'll be ok," I say.
I'm not very well equipped to handle this situation, but I know someone who is.
Hey Pat, I've got a bit of an emotional situation. I need your help I text.
Sure thing. Where are you?
The library, first-floor study room 4.
Omw, should I bring Roman?
It's probably best if you don't
I turn my phone off and go back to comforting Virgil.
"Virgil, remember to breathe. Take a deep breath, hold it, and release." I instruct.
Virgil tries, but can't stop crying. This goes on for a few minutes when Patton shows up. He knocks on the door. I stand up.
"Virgil I'll be right back. Please try to continue to breathe." I say, stepping out of the room.
Patton looks worried.
"What's going on kiddo?" He asks.
"Well, you see, I was here with Virgil, working on our English project. We were about to leave when he saw, um, out the window, his boyfriend kissing his best friend. That was about 10 minutes ago and I can't get him to calm down or stop crying." I explain. I decide its best not to mention the breach in the library's security footage.
"Well, this must be serious because I've never seen you so emotional over something like this." Patton comments, "Let's take him back to your place, I think I left some ice cream in the freezer he can eat."
Patton sees my confusion and adds, "It usually helps when people are sad. And we can figure out what to do in a non-public place."
I nod and go back into the room. Virgil has stopped crying but isn't moving. He's conscious, but I think just can't talk.
"Virgil, would you like to come over to my house? You can calm down there away from them. You can pick up your car later." I say.
Virgil just blankly nods and stands up. I lead him out of the room, making sure we don't leave anything behind.
We get into my car and I let Patton drive. I sit in the back with Virgil to make sure he's ok.
"Patton," I ask, "Where is your car?"
"Oh, I walked here. I was over at the park when you texted." He says.
I look over at Virgil. He's staring blankly out the window. My brows knit together with concern. We make it to my house and we go inside. Patton gets out a bowl and spoon and scoops some ice cream into a bowl.
"Virgil, can you talk to me, please? It's going to be ok, trust me."
"I don't know who I can trust." He hiccups and more tears start to stream down his face.
"Are you sure it was them? Do either of them have brothers or look-a-likes that could have been kissing?" I ask.
"Well," He mumbles, "Remus has a twin brother but J-Jan- it was definitely Jan." He says.
"Who's his brother?" I ask. I am curious, as I've heard of a boy named Remus from Rockview, but I didn't know he had a brother.
"R-Roman." He says.
Both Patton and I freeze. Roman has a brother? A twin brother?
"Royalaton?" I ask.
He nods. I'm shocked, but not as much as Patton. He excuses himself and leaves. He pulls out his phone and walks out the front door.
Virgil finishes his bowl of ice cream and I get up to get him some more.
"Are you absolutely positive it was them? Could you check again? It might have been someone else." I say.
"Doubtful," Virgil mumbles but pulls out his computer nonetheless.
*Virgil POV*
I feel empty inside. My boyfriend of almost two years is cheating on me, and with my best friend. Logan suggests I make sure it's them, so I open up my computer. I log in and the home screen makes me cry again. As this is my personal computer and not my school one, my wallpaper is a picture of Remus, Jan and I, Junior year on Halloween. Remus is on the left in a sparkly black suit with a green sash, his hair has the pale streak but he doesn't have a mustache yet. Jan is on the right in a kind of robe thing, with a yellow undershirt and scale make-up on the side of his face. That was his inspiration for his tattoo. I'm in the middle, wearing fake fangs and giant bat wings. I was a literal vampire bat. We were all so happy and laughing.
Logan rushes back over and takes over handling my computer. He pulls up the tab with the footage and rewinds it to the exact moment. I burst into more tears, seeing them kiss again. He rewinds is again, and I see what led up to it. They were talking, walking around, and making sure Roman didn't show up when Remus says something. Jan looks at him and walks over and kisses him. He then says something. The footage doesn't have audio, so I can't tell. But it shatters me to know Jan intentionally did this. I guess Logan could tell because he pulls up a chair and sits next to me. He pats my back.
"Virgil, I want you to name five things you can see." He instructs.
"Floor, computer, ice cream, you, lack of a happy future," I say.
Logan raises his eyebrow but doesn't object.
"Now four things you can feel."
"Tears, heartbreak, sweatshirt, and pants."
"Three things you can hear?"
"The lawnmower outside, your breathing-" his phone buzzes, "and my phone."
"Great. Now two things you can smell."
"The ice cream and my deodorant."
"And one thing you can taste."
"The leftover mint chocolate chip flavor in my mouth," I say.
My breathing has slowed down and my tears have dried.
"Would you like to walk back to the library so we can drive your car home?" Logan asks.
I nod. The library isn't too far of a walk from here. I don't fully know where 'here' is, just that it's Logan's house. We grab my stuff and I half walk, half get carried by Logan because I can barely stand properly. We eventually make it to the library and I see Remus and Jan turn the corner, holding hands. I suddenly wonder, how long has this been going on? I have no more tears left at this point and just hunch over in defeat. We make it to my car and Logan offers to drive. I hand him my keys because I can barely focus right now, so it's probably not good if I drive. I put my apartment into my GPS and Logan drives. I wouldn't normally trust someone this fast, but he seems genuinely nice, and I trusted Jan and Remus, and look where that led me.
We pull up to my apartment and I tell Logan where to park. I get out, he hands me my keys, and I thank him. Then I walk into the building. I get up to my apartment and open the door. I wave to my mom, who's cleaning and listening to music. She waves back but doesn't notice my runny eyeshadow or red eyes. I look around. Dad isn't home. Thank god. If he was I would be in for a long month of 'I-told-you-so's for trusting Jan and Remus.
I walk into my room and shut the door. I grab my nice headphones and play some music. I think about what I'll do. I'm not dependant on Remus or Jan for anything, but I don't want to sever our friendship just yet. I decide I won't let them know that I know they're cheating. My phone buzzes. I check it. Its a FaceTime call from Jan. I quickly touch up my eyeshadow and answer. I put on my 'happy' face.
"Hey snake, what's up?" I ask.
"Dude where are you? I texted you and you never responded! Are you still at the library?" Jan asks.
I hear Remus in the background, "If he answered you then I swear I am going to push that baby bird into an airplane!"
I snort.
"Sorry Jan, yeah I'm at home. I forgot to text you, my partner-" I rack my brain for an excuse, "Was being super dorky and I didn't want anyone to see me with him. I had to get out of there fast." I say.
I feel bad for insulting Logan, who had just helped me, but Jan seems to buy it.
"Ok. I'm just glad you're ok. See ya tomorrow!" He says.
"Wait, tomorr-" I start to say when Jan hangs up.
I look at my calendar. I see that I have a date night scheduled with him. Great. I'll have to act all not sad for hours tomorrow. I'd rather spend the day listening to Remus after he had a bunch of sugar at the zoo.
Wow, I'm cutting it close to my deadline here. Whoops. Well, I hope you enjoyed reading! It's nice to write a bit more fluff over the emotional rollercoaster that is my other story. As always, feel free to leave any thoughts, tips, criticism, and theory bits in the comments and have a pleasant day you magnificent peep!