"Patton, come on, hurry up or we're gonna be late!" Yelled Roman from the doorway.

Today was the first day of their senior year, and his twin brother had finally been transferred to his school, and for that he was glad. The only thought of Patton in his old school, getting bullied each and every day made the blood boil in his veins.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, geez..." The bubbly guy mumbled, rushing down the stairs wearing his usual attire. Only when he had almost reached the door Roman noticed he was not wearing his signature gray cardigan over his shoulders, leaving his usual baby blue polo weirdly naked.

"Wait, where's your cardigan?" He asked, brows furrowed. Patton forced a small smile, lowering his eyes.

"I, uhm, I thought maybe I could leave it here for today..." He said hesitantly, making Roman's heart ache, his blood boil and his fists clench.

Gently, he put a hand on his twin's shoulder.

"Go put it on. No one will say anything about it, or they will have to put up with me," He said seriously before offering a reassuring smile and a movement of the head. "Come on, I'll wait for you here."

With a thankful smile, the kind and bubbly guy ran upstairs, just to come down again this time with the item of clothing wrapped around his shoulders, which made Roman smile affectionately.

Patton took a deep breath, trying to make his nerves go away. "Okay, let's go."

***

Patton was anxious. Of course he was. Years spent in a place where pretty much everyone hates you for apparently no reason are going to have some kind of consequence on a person. For example, it made him insecure. It made him think that maybe he was the problem. That he was the issue. What other reason was there to hate someone?

So he slowly started to listen to what people were telling him: they would say 'your jokes are shit', so he would stop making them; they'd say 'you talk too much' so he would stop talking; they said his cardigan was weird so he stopped wearing it; They'd say he was too childish, too stupid, too clingy, too babish, too positive, too annoying... So he eventually just stopped interacting with anyone all together, isolating himself in hope of being left alone.

"Okay, so this is your first class," Roman said, interrupting his train of thoughts, "I'll come back here at the end of the period to walk you to your next class, okay?"

He nodded stiffly, shuffling his feet slightly and anxiously looking around, his thoughts once again taking over until the touch of his brother's hand grounded him.

"Hey. You're gonna be okay. Just be yourself." Roman smiled gently.

Just as Patton was about to answer, though, a guy bumped into Roman's shoulder, making him stumble slightly.

"Hey! Look where you're going!" Patton's brother snapped as the guy mumbled a small sorry, before going to sit in the back of the class.

Patton's eyes followed the boy for a second, out of the corner of his eye he could see his brother dusting off and adjust his jacket.

"That stupid-"

"Hey! Stop it." Patton immediately interrupted Roman's grumbling. "He apologized, there's no reason for you to insult him."

His brother looked at him a little irritated, "He didn't even hear me," He said grumpily, not looking at him.

"I don't care. You shouldn't go around insulting people, whether they can hear you or not." He continued, his 'dad-mode' officially on, making Roman sigh and nod in reluctant defeat.

"Fine. I have to go to class now, or else I'll be late," he commented, looking at his watch before starting to walk backwards towards his class, "I'll meet you here at the end of the period, and remember: just be yourself!" And just like that he turned the corner and disappeared.

Patton stayed in the doorway for a few more seconds, wiping his sweaty hands on his jeans and looking around the classroom to find a seat.

But just as he was about to just sit at one of the first desks he saw, his eyes met the slumped figure of the guy who bumped into his brother. His head was leaning on his hand as he doodled invisible drawings on the wooden surface of the table, his purple bangs slightly covered the tired and bored expression on his face and he just looked so... lonely. And Patton knew he hated feeling lonely. Everyone did. And he wouldn't let someone feel that way, not if he could help it.

So, acting on impulse and pushing his nerves in the back of his mind, Patton quickly made his way towards the guy.

"Hey!" He said happily, "Can I sit here?"

He smiled at the guy who was scanning him with a weird and suspecting look on his face, as they both did their best to ignore the whispers and murmurs and chuckles of the other kids looking at them.

After a few seconds, that to the kind guy felt like hours, the lonely kid nodded and observed curiously as Patton let out a breath of relief and sat down.

"I'm Patton, nice to meet you." He said after putting down his bag and offering his hand.

He looked at it for a second before taking it into his own.

"Virgil." He mumbled, voice quiet, not really meeting his eyes. This made Patton raise a questioning eyebrow, but he still smiled kindly, shaking his hand gently.

"So, ready for senior year?" He began, trying to make conversation. Just as Virgil was about to answer him, the guy in front of them turned around, a mocking smile on his lips.

"Wow, you must be really stupid to sit with the loser of the school, uh, new kid?" He asked, a cruel smile still on his face. Parton immediately looked down, hands closing into fists, as he tried to ignore the memories of his old school and avoiding confrontation.

"You know what? Yeah, maybe he is, or maybe he isn't, either way that's none of your business, and last time I checked no one asked for your opinion." Virgil retorted suddenly in a low voice, slightly leaning forward, staring at him straight in the eyes. The guy shot him a nervous and angry glare but didn't say anything and turned back around, grumbling. Just then the teacher walked into the room and started the lesson.

Virgil took a couple of deep breaths. He didn't like confrontation, let alone social interaction, but he couldn't just ignore it when things like that happened, not when the person being insulted was the first and only person actually attempting to befriend him.

"Thank you." Whispered Patton with a small smile when he finally recovered from the surprise. No one ever stood up for him apart from his family. Everyone just stood there and watched, so the simple fact that this guy, whom he didn't even know, went out of his way to help him, made him want to become his friend even more.

Virgil let a small smile appear on his lips too. He knew he would do it again with no hesitation. People usually didn't dare talk to him, and the ones who did, usually immediately gave up when they saw how long it took him to answer, thinking he was staying silent out of annoyance, when in reality it was just his anxiety acting up. Patton was the first one to really give him a chance.

"No problem." He whispered back, before hesitantly adding, "Don't listen to what people like him say, they're just pathetic jocks waiting for validation. You do what you want, and it shouldn't be anyone's business."

Patton's smile widened as he looked at the one who helped him anxiously fidget with his hoodie sleeves.

"I'll keep that in mind." He answered, holding back the need to hug him, knowing it would be weird, and turned back to the teacher, leaving Virgil to his doodling.

Once the period ended, the shy emo guy was about to bolt out of the room, already wanting to go home, but was stopped by a tap on his shoulder.

He slowly turned around, facing Patton's smiley face.

"Hey, I was wondering, would you like to sit with me and my brother at lunch?" He asked, swinging slightly on the ball of his heels. Virgil stopped, thinking about it for a second.

"Who's your brother?" He asked hesitantly after a while, slightly biting his lip nervously.

As if someone had summoned him, they both turned around towards Roman who had just called Patton and was now glaring at him, leaning on the classroom door frame.

"That's him!" The bubbly guy said happily, but his delightful behaviour immediately disappeared when he saw Virgil shake his head letting out a small chuckle that to him seemed to have a slightly sad undertone.

"I'm sorry Patton, I'm 'fraid that your brother wouldn't appreciate my presence. But thank you for the offer I would have enjoyed it." Virgil offered the guy a small, crooked smirk before walking away with a small wave of his hand, passing by Roman and feeling his glare burn on the back of his head as he walked away.

Here's chapter 1  too! Let us know what you think!

Bye!

AnxiouslyShipping and Ali c: