"Because I was one of them..."

Virgil collapsed onto his bed, the look on Thomas's face imprinted in his mind. 

Betrayed. Hurt. Broken. Confused. Lost. Scared.

Thomas was feeling that and all because Virgil wanted to tell him that he used to be a Dark Side. Virgil should have seen this coming. He should have known that Thomas would react that way.

But, oh, how Virgil wished it could have gone differently. 

You think you do the right thing,
But incidentally

A sudden knock at his door pulled him from his thoughts.

"Yeah?" he called wearily.

"Virgil, come out now. We need to talk," a voice called from the other side

"O-okay," Virgil murmured, wondering who it was that was at his door. Begrudgingly, Virgil stumbled out of his bed and across the room, opening the door and coming face-to-face with a frowning Logan.

"Oh, hey Lo," Virgil said, starting to wonder why Logan wanted to talk to him.

"Greetings, Virgil," Logan responded.

Greetings??? Virgil thought to himself. Logan hasn't said that to any of us in months. What's going on?????

"Patton, Roman, and I would like to speak to you in the common room," Logan stated, stepping back from Virgil's door and motioning for the anxious trait to go ahead of him.

You find the whole world would prefer it
Differently

"Is everything okay?" Virgil asked as he started to walk down the hall, feeling his chest tighten as tendrils of anxiety crept in.

The anxiety was only heightened when Logan didn't respond. Instead, the logical trait clasped his hands behind his back and kept his eyes focused on something just beyond Virgil.

"Lo?" Virgil asked again, desperation creeping into his voice as he felt the anxiety start to take over him. "What's going on? Please, you're really freaking me out."

"You will find out momentarily," Logan responded as they reached the common room.

You go from being fair
To falling flat

Patton and Roman were sitting on the couch, one of Roman's arms over Patton's shoulder as the moral trait hid his face in the creative trait's chest. When Virgil and Logan entered, Patton raised his head, and Virgil let out a small gasp as he saw that Patton's eyes were red from crying, and Roman's were slightly pink as if he was trying not to cry.

"Patton?" Virgil asked, taking a step towards Patton, wanting to comfort the trait that had acted as his father the entire time he had been in the Mind Space.

Instead of responding, Patton flinched, letting out a whimper as he curled further into Roman. When he saw that, Virgil took a step back, scared that he had done something to hurt Patton.

"How could you?" Roman asked, venom dripping from his voice as he stared daggers into Virgil, his arm still wrapped protectively around Patton.

You see what's there
You find you're at
The wrong end of the stick

"How could I what?" Virgil asked defensively, fidgeting with his hands as he wracked his brain to try and find what he had done."

"Y-you w-we-were... a-a..." Patton lifted his head slightly, looking at Virgil with a face full of pain. "A... d-dark s-si-side..."

Oh... Virgil's heart plummeted to his feet. Panic swept over him, making his breath ragged and uneven. They must hate me. Even more than Thomas does.

And you're starting to get sick
Of when
The story drops you hard
Into the pavement

"Why didn't you tell us when you arrived?" Logan asked, walking to stand next to Patton and Roman.

"I-I didn't..." Virgil stuttered, trying to form the words despite his anxiety. "Didn't want you to... to hate me."

"So you lied to us?" Roman practically shouted, causing Virgil to flinch away from him. "You're no better than Deceit or Remus."

Even though you thought you knew what
"To behave meant

"No," Virgil whispered, shaking his head slightly as he shut his eyes and tried not to cry. 

"I wanted... t-to keep... k-keep you... safe... and..." Virgil stuttered, cutting himself off when he realized what he was about to say.

But you find out you were thinking wrong
And you wind up back where you belong

"And what?" Roman demanded, removing his arm from around Patton and standing to face Virgil.

And you try to get it right
But instead, it just comes back
To bite you

"And I didn't want you to see me as the bad guy," Virgil whispered, closing his eyes as tears started to well in his eyes.

I never wanted to be the bad guy

"Well, you utterly failed at that," Roman scoffed, walking towards the door and slamming his shoulder into Virgil's as he passed.

The bad guy

Virgil staggered back, trying to keep his balance as he tried not to panic. Opening his eyes, he looked up and saw Logan comforting Patton as the moral trait cried.

The bad guy

"Patt?" Virgil whispered, hoping so hard that Patton would look at him and tell him that he was still his kiddo.

Never wanted to be the bad guy

Patton did look at Virgil, tear tracks lining his face. Instead of saying what Virgil wanted to hear, he said something that absolutely broke Virgil's heart.

"What did you do with my kiddo?" Patton asked as tears started flowing down his face again.

But that's just how the story goes...