A/N: Hi! I just want to say thank you to everyone who is following/favouriting and reviewing this story. It means so much! Thank you! x

I hope you enjoy this new chapter :)

Warnings -

Bullying, Protective Virgil, Bully Deceit, Deaf Patton, Background Logince

Patton, the new kid, had always longed to be friends with Virgil since he arrived.

He wanted to be closed to him.

To understand him.

To be a part of his world.

From a great distance, Patton would watch as Virgil laughed along with all of his friends. He would smile as Virgil got picked for team leader in gym. He would stare for a little too long at Virgil during lunch. Patton just wanted to be a part of something. He wanted so much to be involved. Maybe being friends with Virgil would help?

"That weird kid is staring at you again..."

Virgil glanced up, still chewing a bite of his sandwich, to see Roman nodding toward the new kid, who was sitting alone at a table across from their's. Following his gaze, Virgil's features contorted into a slight frown. The guy had tussled, honey blond hair, which fell into soft curls and rested against thick framed glasses. He wore a baby blue shirt to match the colour of his eyes, with a grey cardigan draped loosely over his shoulders. How could someone look so cheerful, yet so lonely at the same time? Poor kid. A twinge of pity surged through Virgil's stomach. He shrugged. "Maybe he just wants to make friends?"

"Yeah, 'cause creepily staring is the way to go about making friends." Roman raised a brow, and rested his elbows on the table in front of Virgil.

"Isn't that how you and Logan became friends?" Virgil's lips tugged up into a smirk, eyes teasing.

"Shut up, Virge."

The boy with the magenta hair laughed quietly at his friends response, stopping when he noticed the new kid smiling wider from the corner of his eye. Virgil bit his lip, leaning into the table, hiding his face with one of his hands. "What do you think he wants, then?"

"I dunno, maybe he fancies you - Weird kid could be your soulmate!" Roman's eyes lit up, growing to the size of dinner plates, before all joy deflating from them. "Oh - wait... I forgot. You don't have a soul, do you?"

Virgil leaned back, coffee coloured eyes narrowing a little, lips pursed. "You're completely right. I don't. I sold it to Satan in exchange for better make-up skills." He took another bite out of his sandwich as Logan carefully took a seat beside Roman, sliding down a maths book.

"Salutations, Roman, Virgil..." Logan paused for a short second, adjusting his glasses, glancing between his two friends. "Have I missed something?"

"Na, just the weird kid staring at Virgil again."

"Oh... I see." Logan leaned forward, staring past Roman to get sight of the 'weird kid'. "Have we made a conclusion as to why he is staring?"

"We don't know... he just keeps smiling and staring like a creepy weirdo..."

Logan's brow creased a tad at Roman's response. He turned to him. "Isn't that what you did to get my attention?"

"Shut up, Lo..."

Virgil held back a snort, covering his mouth with a sweater-paw.

"So you mean to say that no one has confronted him?" Logan asked, as if it were a completely obvious thing to have done.

"Uh... nope?" Virgil scrunched up his nose, and sank down into his chair. "Should I?"

Logan sighed and pulled out a few of his flash vocab cards Roman had made for him. "Ahem... Duh!" He quickly leaned to Roman. "Was that the correct context usage?" The other chuckled, but gave a nod of approval.

"Uh... guys..." Virgil's eyes were wider than usual, focused on the scene playing out at the table across from them, gut twisting with anticipation.

Patton liked watching.

He liked pretending that he was a part of people's lives. Some times that was all he could do. Pretend. Not many would invite him to join them. Not many at all. But he didn't mind. He knew it was difficult for them just as it was for him. He didn't want to ruin what was already there with people. He didn't want to mess anything up.

He just wanted friends.

Patton's eyes were transfixed on the small group on the other table, smiling over at them. He wondered what the others were called. Virgil was the only one he knew by name. One time he accidentally got given his art book, and saw his name before the teacher took it back.

Another smile formed on cherry pink lips, faltering when something cold and wet began flowing down his face, trickling down the back of his neck and shoulders. Patton squealed out as milk flooded the lenses of his glasses. The cardigan around his shoulders roughly tugged up and pulled over his head causing him to lose his bearings and fall from his chair.

"Ah, stuh-op..." Patton cried out, tears filling his eyes as he tried to get up from the floor. A foot pushed him back down. What was happening? Had he done something wrong? Why was someone hurting him?

"Why the hell do you keep staring at my brother?!"

"A'm suh-orry... I duh'nt- I -" An uneven squeal left Patton's throat, sobbing as he used a shaky hand to move the cardigan from his face, eyes squinting in the hope of finding lips to read.

"Are you even listening?"

A rough hand slamming down on his shoulder made him tense up. He felt fingers twist around the fabric of his blue polo shirt, before roughly being yanked up from the ground, scrambling to get on his feet.

"What the hell is he doing?!" Virgil's heart thudded ten times faster than it should. He always knew his brother was an idiot, but why was he bullying someone who had done nothing to provoke it? The palms of his hands began to sweat as laughter filled the cafeteria at the expense of the poor guy on the floor. Blood rushing and swooshing in his ears like the waves of the ocean, dulling the laughter around him. Why was no one doing anything to stop it? Where were the teachers in all of this? Why was his brother being such a dick to that guy?

Almost subconsciously, Virgil's hands clenched into fists and he was suddenly getting held back by Logan before his feet could even move. "I do not think that is such a good idea, Virgil." The nerd gave him a concerned frown, lips thinned and eyes narrowed with sadness. "Perhaps it would be best if you don't get involved..."

Virgil hated the way his stomach twisted and churned, intestines tying themselves into a tight knot of guilt. He watched with pity as the boy scrambled away, slipping, and bumping into laughing students as he sobbed his way out of the cafeteria. His heart went out to the guy. "No, I'm going to see if he's alright - I'll deal with my brother later." And with that Virgil stalked out of the cafeteria, leaving Logan and Roman in the middle of the mess.