Tw: Talk about eating disorders, encouragement of eating disorders/suicide, hints at past suicide attempts, mention of past murder, past bullying, mentions of being homeless, self hate, urge to cut(comes close to it), mentions of being disowned for being gay, not wanting to be weighed

Patton went back to work and all of his students were happy to see that he was alive and okay. Virgil was now bored and lonely. He had gotten used to being with Patton all day and he loved it but they had to work or they would be homeless, Virgil shivered at the thought of going through that again. He had tried to focus on his own work but he just couldn't seem to do it. He groaned and accidentally caught Bear's attention. She walked up to him and licked his hand. "Hey Bear." Virgil smiled at the puppy. Bear laid her head on Virgil's hand and looked up at him with her puppy dog eyes. "What do you want?" He hummed and saved his drawing before getting up. He grabbed her leash and as soon as she saw it she went wild with excitement. She tried to sit still in front of Virgil so he could put the leash on her but she was too happy to stay still. She jumped up and ran down the hallway then ran back. "Bear you need to sit still," Virgil laughed. She finally was able to stay still enough that Virgil could attach the leash to her collar. Virgil grabbed his hoodie and hid his wings. He grabbed the house keys along with his phone and after double checking that everything was locked he headed out for a walk.

Bear's tail was a blur as it typically was. She stopped to sniff lots of things, not that Virgil minded. It was nice to get out for reasons other than solving your boyfriend's murder. It was a nice walk up until his past came hurdling at him like a brick. "Virgil?" A man who looked very similar to Virgil but was extremely buff.

Virgil stopped in his tracks and stared at the man. "C-Cloyd?"

"Have you ever heard of how models will starve themselves or make themselves throw up when they eat? I think you should do it."

"You don't deserve to live, you're worthless."

"No one will ever love you."

"Why don't you stop eating fatass?"

"Go fucking kill yourself"

"Mom wanted to get rid of you, but she couldn't. She wish you weren't here."

"God your voice sounds like a dying cat."

"Where have you been bro?" Cloyd exclaimed. "I thought you committed some awful crime or you died. Mom and Dad refused to let anyone even mention you. What did you do to get those two to agree on something?"

"I-I." Virgil was shaking, he didn't expect to see his brother today, or ever again, and Patton wasn't here to support him.

"Why are you crying? You're so weak."

"I'm gay and when they found out they disowned me," Virgil admitted and tried to hold in his anxiety.

"Whoa," Cloyd said. "I never expected that. Are you okay now? You're not homeless, cause you do look like shit right now."

Virgil frowned at the last sentence, it was typical Cloyd to never phrase things like kindly. "Not anymore. I was able to get a house then I got a boyfriend and moved back here to live with him. So I'm fine right now."

"Are you just poor then?" Cloyd asked and wrapped his hand around Virgil's upper arm and his fingers were a less than an inch from touching. "You look like you haven't eaten well."

Virgil awkwardly laughed it off, "I just didn't know how to adult before," Virgil bit back an actually laugh as he remembered his poor innocent boyfriend calling it adultery, "so I would never go out to but food until I ran out then I'd forget to get food. That's improved since I stopped living on my own." Totally didn't have an eating disorder.

"Well I'm glad that you have someone that looks after you now then." 

Oh he looks after me more than you will ever know.

"Yeah it's nice."

Cloyd smiled and looked like he was going to walk away but then he frowned. "Hey Virgil, I know I said some awful things to you when we were kids and I just want you to know that I am deeply sorry for all of it. I'm trying to change my way of thinking now and I want to be nicer. In fact I thought that I was never allowed to mention you was because you killed yourself and it was in part my fault. Ever since then I decided to change."

Oh god you have no idea about what I've done.

Virgil's brother pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the screen to add a contact then handed it to Virgil. "Mom and Dad may be assholes for kicking you out but that doesn't mean that we can't still be brothers. I promise it won't be like the last time we talked but if you don't want to be brothers again I get it dude and I'll pretend that I don't know you."

Virgil smiled and added his number, maybe his brother was better now and if he wasn't Virgil could cut contact. "Text me so I have your number too."

"Will do! Can I get a hug before I go?" Coyld asked.

"I don't really-" Virgil tried to turn down.

"Come on hug!" Cloyd wrapped his arms around his much smaller brother. He furrowed his eyebrows and pulled away. "What's on your back?"

Virgil panicked and said whatever came to mind first. "Oh no, my dog saw a squirrel and now she's chasing it, no." Virgil walked away backwards.

"You're dragging the dog-"

"Ah the squirrel, she's going to get it." Virgil then turned around and walked away quicker.

"Virgil-"

"Ah squirrel," Virgil called back and sped up more.

Soon Virgil was back home. He refilled Bear's water dish after she drank from it. All the while his brother's old words floated through his head.

Fatass.

Ugly.

Worthless.

Soon the words faded into Virgil's own but with his brothers voice.

Grab one of the knifes. Cut. Lines of blood on your wrists. Cut.

Virgil eyed the knife drawer as he faced Bear drinking out of her bowl. He slowly inched over to the drawer. He opened it and grabbed one of the knifes that he had noticed was sharp as Patton would cook. He examined the blade and while thinking of where to cut Bear let out a soft bark. Virgil looked at Bear beyond the blade. "Hey puppy." Virgil refocused on the knife. Bear let out a whimper and licked Virgil's knee through the hole in his jeans. "What's wrong Bear?"

Bear gave Virgil a sad dog face and stretched up and licked Virgil's hand. She whimpered and nudged Virgil's hand that held the knife. Virgil frowned and place the knife back. Bear's tail began to wag happily when the drawer was closed. "You're just protecting me from myself aren't you?" Virgil asked and slid down against the cabinet and onto the floor. Virgil sighed and rubbed her head. The urge was still there and it was overwhelming strong but Bear got into Virgil's lap and licked his face. "You're a good girl," Virgil smiled. "The best girl."

The two stayed cuddled up on the floor until Patton came home from work with a smile on his face. When he saw Virgil on the floor he tilted his head. "Virgil I know you're gay and all so you physically can't sit properly in chairs but why are you on the floor?"

Virgil not really wanting to explain that he was about to self harm and that their dog had to stop him so Virgil just shrugged. "Why not, plus you've seen me sit in weirder places," Virgil said, referencing to when Patton had found Virgil sitting on top of the fridge while he scrolled through Tumblr.

"True," Patton responded and sat beside Virgil on the floor. He smiled at Bear and rubbed the sleeping dog's head who woke up slightly only to move her head into Patton's lap. "So what did you do today?" Patton asked.

"I drew for a bit then took Bear for a walk," Virgil paused and began to mess with Bear's thick coat of fur, "and I saw my brother again."

"Didn't you say that he insulted you a lot?" Patton checked. Virgil nodded.

"You're fucking weak, go kill yourself."

Patton wrapped an arm around Virgil and kissed his temple. "Whatever he said to you isn't true. I love you so much and you're amazing."

Virgil leaned into the touch and shut his eyes. "Do I look like shit?"

"Of course not! Virgil you are beautiful," Patton reassured.

Virgil sighed, "He said that I looked like I hadn't eaten well, which was true, but then he wrapped his hand around my arm and it's making it feel real that I gained weight but I guess I still don't look healthy."

"Well yeah  you still are thin and I don't know if you're no longer underweight but it's good that you're gaining because that means you're becoming healthier."

"I know, It's good and I'm happy to be getting better."

"We should really weigh you to see how far you've gotten."

Virgil groaned, "I had hoped you'd never bring it up because I really don't want to step on a scale ever again."

"You really should Love."

Virgil hid his face into Patton's shoulder. "I know, just not right now please."

"I've learned your tricks Virge. You try to get me to agree to later so that it won't happen."

"Damn it, why do you have to know me so well!"

"It's because I love you and I don't want you getting hurt so I had to learn your schemes."

Virgil groaned and buried his head farther into Patton, "What if we just cuddle then weigh after dinner?"

"You're going to find a way to convince me to put it off until tomorrow and you won't remind me so that I forget."

Virgil went silent as he tried to find a way to get out but Patton knew him too well and knew he was trying to get out of it. He finally sighed, "Fine, we'll do it now."

Patton grinned and pecked Virgil's lips. "We can cuddle and watch whatever you want afterwards." Bear got off their laps and the two stood up and headed towards the upstairs bathroom. Patton pulled the scale out from under the sink and set it in front of Virgil. Virgil slipped off his hoodie and memories of stripping to get a more accurate weight then feeling so cold and frustrated that he hadn't lost anything. He began to shake at the painful memories.

"-Virgil," Patton's concerned voice and hands on his shoulders took Virgil back to reality.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"I was asking if you know how much you used to weigh but are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," Virgil shook his head as he spoke as if to shake away the memories. "Just reliving some shit. And I used to weigh a hundred pounds, I know because I had stopped loosing weight and I was really frustrated that I couldn't loose anymore. It was one of the reasons I tried to-" Virgil cut himself off, not wanting to say more.

Patton frowned and pulled Virgil into a hug. He knew that that was extremely low, so low that it was a miracle Virgil was alive. "Why did you never tell me? You never said anything when you were disowned, when your brother was bullying you, when you were beginning to suffering from an eating disorder, when you were starting to think of suicide. Everything else. You never said a word. Why?"

"I just kinda felt like you would never care, no one really ever cared this much before and I kinda thought that you were always so happy that if I were to say anything to make you sad that I was a monster."

Patton pulled away and cupped Virgil's face with his hands. "I'm not like everyone else. If you even feel slightly down I will do anything I can to help you. You could never be a monster to me and it's natural to feel sad so if I feel sad, no matter what it's caused by, it's okay because I'm human."

Virgil nodded and didn't speak.

Patton softly smiled. "Why don't you get on the scale real quick then we'll go downstairs and cuddle."

Virgil stepped hesitantly onto the scale and refused to look at the number. Patton was glowing as he wrote down the number and grinned at it. It was a healthy weight for Virgil, still on the lower side but much better than before. Patton pecked his lips and they walked downstairs and onto the couch. Patton wrapped his arms protectively around Virgil. He picked out Goosebumps and they began to watch the old T.V. show in peace.