Virgil stumbled as he ran to the exit. The last part of his school day had been filled with him mostly staring at Princey onstage, which didn't help because it meant that he missed a lot of stage work he should have been doing.

"Hey, Pat," Virgil said, catching up with Patton and Remy. "Who're we waiting for?"

"Picani, Prince, and Logan," Remy moves his arms to adjust his jacket. "They all had to rush to get stuff from Drama again. Picani forgot his damn notebook."

"And Roman and Logan went to help him get a notebook?" Virgil said, raising his eyebrows.

"No," Patton smiled. "They went to get their stuff. Roman needs a script and Logan needs the stage overview, he's writing up what props are for what scenes."

Virgil nodded. "Ah," he said. "Cool. So, what're your plans for tonight?"

"Sleep," Remy said, lowering his glasses to look at Virgil over the edge of them. "Duh."

"I'm having Logan over," Patton hummed. "We're going to work on English together. I'm helping him with narrative writing and he's helping me with formal writing."

"And you?" Remy asked.

"Probably sleep," he says. "Maybe I'll check out tumblr. Sounds weird if you have Logan over again tonight, Patton, didn't you have him over last night?"

"Yep!" Patton smiles. "But we didn't get much English done yesterday." He mumbles.

"What, too busy making out?" Remy chuckles. "With the way he was looking at you after that round of truth or dare it's the only thing that could have happened."

Patton flushes bright red. "Guys..." he says. "He's just my friend."

Virgil couldn't imagine how much that sentence hurt Patton, especially when it was so clear Patton had feelings for him. "Pat," Virgil sighed. "The dude loves you. Just get married at this point, it'll be easier."

Patton swallowed a little. "Haha," he sarcastically said, even if his whole body was screaming 'please be right'. "What about you and Princey? You were pretty close last night."

"Uh, close?" Remy interrupted. "More like literally-on-each-other's-laps-staring-into-their-eyes-like-a-romance-movie. I mean seriously, who even does that platonically?"

"Me and Roman, apparently," Virgil shrugged. "I just had a breakup, give me a break too."

Patton chuckles. "Fair enough," he says. "But you never really loved De, did you?"

That was difficult to answer.

Virgil didn't know. That's what made it difficult. Sure it made him lie awake, and stare at his rooftop, wishing life held some sort of distraction for him, but he didn't know if that was because he loved De or because he missed the idea of loving him.

Was he touch starved, or did he love De?

"I don't know," Virgil mumbled. "It's a little blurry on that front."

Patton gave him that smile that Virgil loved to see. "That's okay, kiddo," he said. "You can feel whatever you want."

Virgil sighed. "Yeah," he says. "Gotta figure out what they are first."

"Labels are like fruit," Remy profoundly stated. "You eat it up, finish it, and move on. Don't get stuck trying to label the fruit, dude, trust me. It's just difficult."

"Easy for you to say, you've got everything figured out!" Virgil couldn't help but let his shoulders slump. He knew he was overreacting, that's what De would say. "I don't. I'm a mess."

"What's this about a mess?" Picani piped up, walking towards the group with a smile. Next to him, Logan and Roman were chatting away about something in deep thought.

Patton took this time to pull Virgil along, linking elbows with him. "What's up?" Virgil asked. "You usually hold my hand."

"Oh, it's nothing," Patton said. "I've just got weird sweaty hands and I figured you didn't want to hold them. Last period was... a difficult time for me."

Virgil nodded. "It's not cause you hate me?" He asked.

"Can't do that kiddo," Patton replied. "Hating you is illegal."

Virgil sighed. "I must be a criminal then."

Patton chuckled. "In my book," he says. "Hating you is illegal. In your book? It's okay not to like yourself. Not everyone can be happy with themselves."

"How are you guys so wise all of a sudden?" Virgil chuckles. "Did I miss a lesson on how to be weirdly deep?"

Patton smiles at him. "Nope," he says. "I think we're all just in a little bit of an extra mood, so we're being profoundly wise."

Virgil looks ahead at the school gates. "Did you... did you think that me and De weren't a real thing?"

Virgil was mentally punching himself for this entire conversation, but Patton made it a little better, so it was like... a tight grip on his arm instead.

"Kiddo," Patton's voice is serious. "It's not up to me to decide if you and De were or were not something serious. All I thought about was that it seemed to make you... a little unhappy."

"Really?" Virgil hadn't noticed.

"Yeah," Patton cleared his throat. "You seemed a little... Okay, so, usually you have this little spark around you that makes everyone a feel little safer. You're alert and aware, even if you pretend you don't care, so people feel okay around you because you are aware and present."

Virgil flushed a little at the compliment. He'd never thought of it like that. "But when you and De started dating, this little spark of yours tended to dull or go away. You seemed to loose the part of you that contributed to the world."

"But do I need the spark?" Virgil was a little... too interested in this theory of sparks.

"Of course!" Patton chuckled. "Your spark is the part of you that the earth connects to, I guess."

Virgil smiled. "Well," he said. "I want it back then."

"You've got to find it first." Patton was solemn. "Sometimes someone can take our spark away. Then you need to find it. If it's a new one, that's great, otherwise it'll be the same one as before and that's okay."

Virgil sighed. "Seriously, again with being wise."

"I can't help it," Patton smiled. "It's just the way I feel right now."

Soon Logan had joined Patton's side, taking Patton's hand as they walked, and Roman was on his side, with Remy and Picani up ahead talking about something from before.

This... Picani dude. He didn't trust them entirely, he didn't know what to think but it wasn't going to be an easy open up situation like Remy, who just slotted himself into the group easily, like a missing piece.

"Oh, I forgot to ask," Roman says. "Could I come over to yours tonight? My parents are staying out of town and I kind of don't like being alone."

Virgil thought about it, even if it wasn't necessary because his parents were hardly home anyway. "Sure." He said, even if he was... possibly nervous about the interaction. "I don't have anything else on."

Roman let out a breath. "Okay good," he said. "I was really worried there."

"We're neighbours," Virgil said. "You could've just pestered me either way."

Roman shrugs. "Yeah, But that would've been mean," he says. "Besides, I'd much rather pester you from inside your house. Not across from your house."

"Remind me again how I ended up at the same school as you?" Virgil chuckles. "While you're doing that, how did we become friends?"

Roman smiles. "Easy," he says. "I pestered you."

Virgil nods. "ah," he says. "Good thing you're also a dork that I can put up with."

Roman smiles. "I'm glad to be a dork you can put up with."

"I can't exactly get rid of you, princey," Virgil pulled on his backpack. "You made that obvious when I was sick for a month."

"It was a month!" Roman cried. "How was I supposed to go a whole month without seeing you alive?"

"Awww," Virgil smiles. "You were worried."

Roman pokes his tongue out at Virgil. "I was only worried because I couldn't take Patton being worried." Virgil could've sworn there was blush on both of their faces.

...

...but Virgil had just broken up, and they couldn't get together that fast, right...?

Yeah. It'd be stupid too. It wasn't like Virgil was positively head over heels for Roman or anything. Nope. Not at all.

They walked passed someone that Virgil swore looked familiar, and Roman waved. "Hey," he said, and the stranger passed with a mumbled 'hey'.

"Who was that?" Virgil asked. Had Roman replaced him?

"Oh, just a theatre friend," Roman smiled. "His name is Thomas."

Thomas.

...Thomas.

Thomas. Wake up.

Thomas was so familiar to him.

Why was it so familiar? His head pounded with a sudden headache, causing him to stumble a little. "Oh geez," he said. "I think I'm getting sick."

Roman looked concerned. "Do you need anything? How can I help?" He asked.

"I just need to get home," Virgil said. "Take a painkiller."

R̸̛̖͗̏̃̑̽́͛̈́̾̒͠ͅő̵̢̩͑̎̾̿͗̈̾̅͂m̵̳̣̰̘͍̈͛̐̔̂́̄̋̈́͝ã̴̘͈͓̬͍̠̟̘̣̳ͅn̸̡̬͓̲̦̎̂̈́͗͑́͌͂̿͑̉̌͠-̵̡̜̲̺̮̭͉̥̌̌̒̋͐̿̂̾͠ ̶̛̝̫̮̘̜̜͔̞͌̈́̊̅̔̄̎̂̚͜T̷̨̹̠̥͙̲̯̦̭̒̃̆̓͒̓͑̃̈́̊̆͐́̕͝h̵̢̛͉̰̮̜̻̓̈́͒̍̀͐̀̓́͂̑̓̚͝ͅo̵̺̰͊̂̓̇m̶̞̝̫̼̲̗̕a̵̯̠̬̦͆̌̽͒̉̒̋̈́s̷̯̖̑̀͊̆̅͌͂͗̊̏̀̈̋̚͠-̸̧̭̠̺̫̟͔̥͆̒̄̌̌̍̍͊̚ ̴̫̳͍̜̩͇̲̂͒̀̓̑͐̚͘͠n̶̨̧̡̼̥̩̥̖̈̃̒̌̒̇͒͒o̷͕̹͙͖̱̩̘̘͓̓͊̔̅͗͘͝ͅ.̶̧̲̣̫͖̤̻̣̜̖͉̘̌̀̔͆́̽̌͂̈̊̽͠͝͝͝ͅ ̶̧̧̪͓̯̻̣̺͙̱̃͒͋̒C̵̡̩̻̮͙͍̙̗̭̣̠̙̟̱̎̐̋̿͝ͅr̴̠̲̻̊̅͌͠e̴̢̧͎̰̯̹͓͖̣͓̔̈́̈́̅̀͆͝͝a̴̢̡͓̜̳̻̝̍̉̊̍̂̽͘͜͝t̶̢̲͙̬̼̤͉͂͛̅͆͛į̸͓̭̺͚̖̱̣̰̫̤̲̬̜̔͑͊̓̒͋̎̒͂͌͐͝v̴͔̠̲̲̣̉̀̏̈́͘͝͝ȋ̶̹̦t̸̯͕̊́̆y̴̨̠̺̹͚̖̻͕̳̹͚̖̦̬̆͂̌̇̒͝ͅ-̴̱̦̻̱̳̖͍̌ ̴̨͍͎͈͇̲̪̜̩̄̆̀̍̎̇ͅȐ̶̮̯͍̳̊̃̓̿̅o̴͖͚̟̻̲͚̪̻͆̒͗̍̒͝m̶̨̢̬̠͔̟̲̻̪͈͉̰̯̜͐̄̌̓̇̓̑̏̔̎͌̂a̵͚̞͈͔̪͖̙̠͌͌̓̌̾́͊͠n̴̢̢̨͙̘͎̘̮͙͉̜͌͗́̓̄͒̽̆́͆͝-̴̳̰̮͉̍͌ ̸͙̱̮͖̞͓̣̙̙̻̖͙͕̺̐̔͋̂̾̃̑̊̿̾̆̈̚ͅ

Wait. Okay. Delete.

Roman looked back at him, nodding. "I can stay at my place if that helps." Roman suggested.

"Nah," Virgil said. "I should probably have someone over to make sure I don't pass out."

Roman smiled at him. "I will gladly do so," he says. "It shall become my quest!"

"Yeah alright," Virgil chuckled. "It's not that big."

Logan and Patton had already separated from the group, as well as Remy and Picani, going their seperate ways as Roman and Virgil began the walk down to their houses.

Roman began to talk about anything and everything. Drama, his part, his co-star, makeup, his newfound love for berry smoothies, everything. Virgil could've sworn he never shut up.

But it was nice, and it was better than quiet.

He just couldn't stop thinking about that Thomas guy. "Hey, Ro?" He interrupted. "You know that guy you waved at before, uh, Thomas?"

"No?" Roman looked confused. "I don't know a Thomas, and I certainly haven't waved at anyone. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Virgil lied. That was... weird. Didn't Roman say he knew that guy? "It must be a symptom of the headache. I just... thought I saw someone."

Roman nodded. "Maybe we should take you to the hospital, Hallucinations aren't a good sign." He said.

"I don't have health insurance, we're not going to the hospital." Virgil stated.

"Okay then," Roman said. "Time to become a fully licensed and practiced doctor in order to diagnose you for free."

"It's the only way, with this economy." Virgil sighed.

Roman chuckled. "I enjoy hanging out with you, you make me laugh." He said. Virgil blushed, awkwardly stammering out a thank you.

Ţ̴̝̹̞̖̯̭̜͂̂̐̀̅̓̒́͆͝h̴͍̝̏̔́͛͋̀̅̐̆͒͠o̴̓͆̀ͅm̶̧̛͎̩̗̤̻̬͔̳̻̀̈́̒́̊̾̈́̒́͗͘͜͝a̸̢̤̥͈̣̭̗̤̮̗̜̭̲̫͂̈́̈͐͆̉s̷͎̅.̸̳̭͕͈̮͙̰̹͐̆̍̽̀́̉̿̇̏̈́̀͑.
̵̢̼̹͉̥͍͉̀̌͐̍̓̆̌̈́́̒͒̚͘.̷̱̦̺͇̪̫̪̟͇͈́̆̍
̶̺̳͇͛͂̈́̀͠Ţ̸̼͙̮͉͓͖̰͈͔̦̘̙͑̎h̴̼̹̲̼̹̉ͅo̶̢̧̡̡̗̩̗͇̹͎̲̗̓̎͒̍͜͠͝͠ͅm̴̯͕͒̎̈́̈̓́͝ą̶̛̣̫̞̳̻͕̤͕͈̝̩͓̤͒̐̐͒̇̎̌̋̐̈̌̈́ͅs̶͚͉̬̺̺̜͖̮̱͂͆̈́̄̈́̇͋̂̅̂̈́̔̍̉̚ ̶̢̞̲͓͙̥̯̠͉͆̅͋̈́͐̈̈́̉̒̉̓͛̏̊͝ͅͅẃ̶̖̀̈́ă̷̢̛̖͉͈̺͈̝̜̟̮͙̇̄̈́̓͋̑̇̂̋͘͝͠k̸̮͇̜͍̦̦̯̬̞̫̑̾̈́͆̿̒̿̐͂̈́̕͝ͅë̸͔͎͐̈́͌̓͆͆̈́̈́͗̏̓̈́ ̴̢̙͊̏̅̊͆̾ǔ̸̡̻̼̜̭̹̪̙̼͚̗̼̗̍́̍͋̈͂͠͝p̴̞̊
.̵̡̛͔̮̜̺̩̠̺̠̞͙͇̩̄̅̂̌͊̓͊̇͋͊͛̔͂͋ͅ ̴̛͇̼͈̣̺̺̥̾̃̋͋̍́́͝
̷̲̿̄́̊̔̽̈́̅͠I̷̗̳̥͕͖̣̿̇͒͐̊̈́̚͜͠f̵̡̡̤̼͎͇̝̣̫̣̥͈̉̈̄̐̾̕ ̶̧͉̟̰̭̙̠͚͔̂̀̀̄̅͐̏̒̓ͅy̶̡͚̭̙̱̆̇̂͑̈́̅̇õ̷̡̨̳̦̬͈͚̪͉͈̣̲͇̏̀͒̈́͌̈́̐̒͋̌̔̎͝ũ̴̹̜̯̦͘͜ ̷̧̰̦̻̥̯͖̱̦̬̮͕̲͒̓͗̀̉̋̔͂͋͘͘͘͝͠d̵̨͖͙̳̼̫̞̆̀̌͘͜ǫ̵̥͍͈̞̭̲͙̯̪̤̃̑̒n̵̡̧̗̩͇̝̜̦̫͙̞̗͓̈̈́̋̏̎̓'̸͖̣̠̰͇̯̤͔̊̏̐̋̅̆͜͝t̸̨̙̪̗̺̺͓̹͈̮͈̊̂̅͒̑́ ̷̡̩̰̟̱̠͈̦́͛͒̓̽̎͋̽̉̇̌͘w̴̧̛͈͇̺̠͙̬͎̙͕͖͐̈́̿̒̈́̈́̂̄̌̓̓̕ą̴̢̛̹̙͇̭̟͔̩͈̮͍̤̘̅̄̓̀͒͂͆̔́̃̆ͅǩ̵̜͓͙̜͎ͅe̸̡̼͇̭̠̻̜̤̾̾̂̊͐̏͐̑́͒̏̊ ̴̓̇͑̀͂́̀̍͝ͅu̴̧̢̡̡̟̱̞̱͍͕͔͆́̅̚͘p̸̜̪͂̂̓͒̐̄̐̎͛̕͝͝,̴̢̨͕̟̩̠̪̰̫̤̮̖̄̃́ ̴̼͕̣̗͊̔͜t̷̡̛͚͉͉̗͕̞̎͗̆̀͂̀̒̏ȟ̴̩̑̎͋̉̿̈́͒̚͘͘͝͝e̶̹͍͚̦̻̟̙̦͍̰͂ͅy̸̱̙͖̮̻̙̭͚̩̭̲̘̲͊̐͂̐̒͋ͅ ̴̛̻͈̓͗̄́̉͠ç̷̡̱̹͚̌̉̈́̓̈́̎ȃ̵̧̼̝̏̈́̌̐̄͗͑̈́͆͋̽͜͝͝͠ͅn̸̟̭̮̺͓̑͐̒̽́̈̍̚'̵̬͓͈͈̗̪͈͔̯̜̰̋̿͌̿t̴̮̀̒̒ ̵̭̤͍͎͚̻͖̹̭̘̃̀̈́̐̋̈́̕͜ͅͅg̵̨̬̤͊͋̒́̓̏̃̔͝ȅ̸̡̘̘͙͇̠̪̠̭̥̜̤̺̺̓̏̑̎͊͗͒͋̂͆͋̂͋͗͜ṫ̸̬̘̫̬̻̗͈̬̓̒͝͝ ̴̡̢͍̰̤̤̺̦̗̤̦͙̌̋͊̈̌̉̊̋̀̇̇ͅö̵̯̰̍̊͂̇̌̀͘̕u̸͔̘͕̟̮̅͌t̴͓̮̖̻̥͈̫̭̼͍̘͈̲̹̾͑̾̉
̵̨̧̠͍̼̼̦̩̯̦̼̭̳͂̿̓̈́́̃̈̾̑̒̓͘͠ͅT̴̮̞̤̹̙͍͉̩̦̳̅̀̇́͛͌̒͐͘͝h̵̢̢̯̥͖͉̱͕̠̣̗̣͓̹̝͘ŏ̵̡̧̥̯̪͖̣̩̻̪̳͖̞͆́̓̿͊͊̄́̑̌̉͐̚͝ͅͅm̷̡̖̬̜̭̯̲͉̬͚̀̆͜͜a̸̛̻̞̺͓̓͑̇̊̈́̽͋͘͠ș̷͑͂̑̈̈́̔̒͌͑͘͠.

̷̨̜̖̗͕̫̬̺͗͋̐̈́͂́.̵̦̥̟̥̈́̉̑̈̃͋͆̓͒̏͘.̵̨̬͎͎̲̗̻͖̯͇̮͋̈́̏̐͘
̵̢̪͚̬̜̥̝͇̯̝̝͕͐̈͜͜͜͝T̸̛̗͈͕̘̤̘̰̭̮͎̬̥̉͛͒́̉͝͝ḫ̷̨̛͚͓̪̞͎̠͔͛̋̃̑͑̆̎̂͝ơ̵̛̟̜͎̤͍͕̙͕͊̅́̃̄̇͋̿̑̚m̶̡̢̡̫͇̜̳̳̗̳̜̩̰͕͑͛̐̏̍̓̈̏̽͌͝͝͝ā̸̳̺̗̮̮̅͘ŝ̶͎͝!̸̡̮̪͖̻̝̩̪̯͕̖̓̆̉̕͠ ̸̢̬͓̥̖͚͕͉̻̱̞̊͌̏