Virgil sat in his homeroom, scrolling through black aesthetics on Tumblr. Yes, that's what he does in his spare time. No, he doesn't care that it's a weird thing to do. Yes, it's a way to pass the time and no, the time doesn't drag past.

His father had been off this morning and it made him feel uncertain. When he woke him up, during breakfast, when Virgil was leaving the house, his father had been grinning and giggling to himself like there was some hilarious joke that Virgil wasn't in on.

It better not be an e-mail Evan's sent. Oh god, if it was an e-mail from Evan, Virgil would beat his ass to Hell and back.

Thomas entered and Waved at Virgil. The emo smirked, trying to ignore the amusing promises of violence against the man he hated so much, and beckoned for his friend to join him. 

"Hey, Vee!"

"Yo, Thomas," Virgil answered back, putting away his phone. Oh no, he was being social. Well, too late now!

Thomas grinned. "How are your lines going?"

Virgil shrugged, leaning against the wall as he put his feet up on his desk. "Pretty well. I've memorised most of them, it's just the cue lines and stuff. How are your cues going, by the way?"

"Awfully..." The technician groaned, slouching. "And, to make it worse, my dad's saying that he can clear up the auditorium sometimes on a Saturday and, if I give him a script, he'll help me rehearse!"

Virgil tossed his head back with an amused scoff. "Yeah, not even Mr Sanders gets to see the anything about the play until the actual day! He keeps trying to bend past the rules bet Remy's super strict about it all."

"It's a blessing and a curse to have the principal as my dad..." Thomas whined with a pout.

"Yep, and now it's the last day before the holidays and you're the only one who spends it with a teacher!"

"Please don't remind me..."

The emo laughed at his friend and waved as Roman came in. Thomas and Roman exchanged a glance and the two beamed quickly at each other. Virgil tilted his head, slightly confused when Roman didn't turn his radiant smile to him. Wait, radiant? No, no, no, not going there! It's just a nice smile!

"Hey, Virgil!~" Roman cooed cheekily, hiding something behind his back.

Virgil bristled instantly. "Princey, if you have a water gun again, I'm going to tear out your throat and feed it to your brother!"

Roman paled. "That's a little rash, now, emo!"

"What does he mean by again?" Thomas asked, but his smile hinted that he was on to whatever was going on.

The princely actor grinned, reaching behind his back.

Virgil stood up, holding his hands up by his chest defensively. "Roman, I swear to god, if that's a water gun, I'm gonna kill you!"

"It's not a water gun!~" Trilled Roman, Thomas helping him conceal whatever it was behind his back.

"If it's glitter, o-or slime that's bright pink or anything that could ruin my outfit and/or reputation, I'll murder you!"

"It's not going to-" Roman paused. "It shouldn't  ruin your reputation."

Virgil raised his shoulders around his neck defensively, almost like a cat, as he hissed, "I don't want whatever it is-"

Roman shoved a bag into Virgil's' hands. "Happy birthday, emo nightmare!"

Virgil blinked, the words processing. "Oh, so that's why Dad was being all weird..."

"You forgot?" Spluttered Thomas, laughing lightly.

"...Maybe?"

"Well, come one, emo! Open it, Panic! At The Everywhere!" Roman complained with a huff.

Virgil peered inside the bag and gasped. It wasn't a cliche gasp, more of a confused gasp. He looked up at Roman, then to the bag. "H-How did you-? I thought they'd all sold out!"

"They did!" Roman said proudly. "I was just scrolling through hoodies online and this popped up on a link that went to E-Bay. Turns out it was too small for the owner but it'd fit you perfectly!"

"Oh my god, Princey!" Virgil hadn't squealed for just over seven years until that moment. He tackled Roman in a hug from across the desk. "I can't believe you actually found one! How much did you have to spend on it?!"

Roman flushed. "Let's not go there. Let's just say the number of chores I did for pocket money and fundraising stuff definitely counts up to way over fifty."

"Are you serious? You didn't need to- Oh my god, this is epic!" Virgil kept interrupting himself with giddiness and there was no surprise. In the bag was a simple black hoodie. To anyone else, it wouldn't be important. But what made it special was the scratchy text that read: 'LONG LIVE THE BLACK PARADE'. An MCR hoodie that Virgil had searched for, for months, even visiting shady sights just to try find one. And now, on his fifteenth birthday, he had it.

Virgil hugged both of his friends way too many times, probably smashing his record of the most physical contact for a year in those three minutes. He finally sat down heavily on his seat, looking slightly breathless with dying adrenaline.

"You know, Virgil, I think I'm going to have bruises from how tight you've hugged me!" Commented Roman, making the emo laugh.

Thomas smiled. "Patton, Logan and I will give you our presents during lunch."

"That's fine, Thomas. That's great." Virgil breathed, forcing the exhilaration to leave his body as he picked up the hoodie. Best birthday ever.

.:*:.

"Virgie, open mine first!" Whined Patton, shoving a box into his friends' hands. It was covered in puppy coated paper and Virgil felt awful about ripping the neatly wrapped package open.

Inside was a cardboard box, that he opened to reveal a framed of Virgil, Patton, Roman, Thomas and Logan at Patton's' icecream.

"I got it printed out for us and then I found this creepy crawly death-dealer frame for it! So, happy birthday, Virgie!" Patton squealed, happily.

Virgil grinned slowly. "Patton, it's awesome! Thank you so much, popstar!"

Patton gasped. "A dad themed nickname!"

"Virgil, this is my gift," Logan said, handing over a large rectangular cuboid. Virgil tore off the black wrapping paper without seeming too eager. There were at least five different books that fell onto the cafeteria table. "These are some shorts by a writer in the 1920s, by H.P. Lovecraft. They hold horror stories, and the vocabulary takes a while to get used to. I hope you like it."

Virgil looked up with a smirk. "Thanks, Logan, I'm sure I'll love them. Who the hell is Cthulu?"

"Ah," Logan said with a smile, "You'll find out."

"My present!" Thomas laughed, shoving a large sketch-book into Virgil's' hands. "I hope you like it!"

Virgil grinned down, flicking through the blank pages. "This is great, Thomas, I've been running out of room in my old one!"

Thomas beamed nervously. "I guess it isn't as cool as Roman's' present, but-"

"I bet my present is cooler than Romans'!" Patton said suddenly.

Roman gasped, looking up from his phone. "Oh, do you?"

"Mhm! It's much better!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really!"

"Well, my present is definitely better than yours! It was way more expensive!"

"But mine is more personal!"

And the two playfully bickered, leaving the others smirking at their friendly argument.

.:*:.

Virgil got home with Roman and Remus for rehearsing. They had to go to his house today because the twins' parents were getting the house ready for a pre-Christmas dinner party and didn't want their sons getting under their feet.

"Aw, but, Lucifer, Gabrial had a great point!" Remus read, holding his script in front of him despite his eyes being closed.

Emile appeared in the lounge. "Hey, boys! I need to talk to Virgil for a bit if you don't mind!"

"Oh, of course, not a problem, Mister Storm!" Roman assured.

Virgil trailed after his father into the kitchen. They talked for about five minutes, voices growing quickly louder. Emile sounded pleading as Virgil just shouted.

The kitchen door banged open and Virgil walked out. "Guys, we're going upstairs. Now. Let's go." And the emo quickly stormed up the stairs, trying to hide furious frustation.

The twins looked at each other and followed after Virgil quickly.