Hello, hello! Welcome back. Trigger warnings for this chapter are going to be anxiety/borderline metal breakdown, miscommunication, and themes of lying. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Take care of yourself and thank you for reading!

"Thanks for coming out with me today," Remy said.

Virgil could hear the soft sad smile in his voice, but he did his best to ignore it.

"It's whatever, I needed a short break anyways," Virgil replied.

It'd already been two days since he'd gotten in a fight with Remy over the trio and things were still tense between them. He could tell Remy obviously wanted to say something to Virgil every time they spoke but instead he was just choosing his words carefully and doing his best to maintain what remained of the peace between them. Virgil wished he could say the same about himself but he was too emotionally tired to care, he was upset, irritable, anxious, and Remy was there taking reaction or lack thereof in stride. He'd been taking advantage of Remy's friendship.

Virgil raised his head as he sighed, feeling a gust of chilled wind that rushed down the narrow campus street. They were nearing the center of campus now if the sound of foot traffic was any indication. He'd gotten a bit turned around during their walk to a junor's off-campus house so Remy could return some study materials they'd been kind enough to lend him so he could create his own copy to study for the midterms. He supposed he didn't need to know, he had no intention of returning to their house and he trusted both Remy and Ember to know how to get him back to the dorms. A few days ago he would've found enjoyment in teasing Remy for how much more trust he put in his seeing eye dog than the directionally challenged human, but right now it didn't feel right to verbalize. No need to

"You okay, gurl? You're more spacy than usual," Remy asked worriedly.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'll be fine. Just thinking again," Virgil replied.

Remy let out a heavy breath and they fell into an uneasy silence. Better silence than an argument Virgil supposed, even if a bit bitter about that reality.

"Virgil!"

Virgil flinched as he heard the voice. It was still at a distance. They could leave, pretend they didn't hear anything.

"Remy, let's go. Right now, speed would be appreciated," Virgil stated hushedly.

"Virgil! Wait up! Don't you dare try to evade me!"

"I think it's a bit too late to escape without some kind of conversation, Vi-Vi. When the resident drama king sets his mind on something he is too persistent for his own good," Remy said, the teasing tone intended to raise Virgil's spirits even if he was only half joking.

"I didn't want to deal with this," Virgil groaned.

"Well I don't know what else you were expecting when you blocked all of them. They're too stubborn to leave it at that," Remy pointed out.

Virgil just let out a huff as they continued to keep walking in the vain attempt to escape the approaching individual.

"Come on Virgil. I know you've heard me this whole time. You have great hearing," Roman chastised him as he caught up and looped around Virgil to stop him in his tracks. "What the hell is going on? You've blocked all of our numbers without any warning or anything?"

"L-look Princy, I don't want to talk about it," Virgil stumbled nervously.

"But I do. You have some explaining to do. We were getting close, we were all having fun, why would you abandon us? You hurt Patton and Logan… and me," Roman said, the initial almost angry frustration in his voice turning sad.

"King, give Vi some time. He's uncomfortable and needs some space. I'm sure once the stress of midterms is over the four of you can all just sit down and focus purely on being able to talk and stuff. This isn't the time or place," Remy cut in, trying to step between Roman and Virgil, who was visibly trembling with anxiety.

"Stay out of this, Shades. I think you've gotten a bit too involved in this already," Roman growled, pushing Remy aside.

"Back off, Remy has nothing to do with my decision. I simply made the choices that I deemed best for all of us," Virgil countered.

"What kind of selfish mentality is that? You can't just say this is best for everyone. You know Patton, he's in literal shambles. I… I've never even seen Logan this emotional before," Roman fretted.

Virgil flinched again at the way Roman spoke to him. He was just worried about his soulmates who were suffering from emotional pain, he couldn't blame them. He didn't have all of the information. He couldn't blame Roman for being upset. Besides that, no matter how harsh Roman was with him, his heart still continued to weep for a connection with him, a cry he desperately had to ignore.

"Selfish? Wow what a way to get back on good terms with someone," Virgil shot back as he tried to walk away again.

"Look I'm sorry, okay? I just… I find myself clashing with you a lot, but that's just one of the ways I try to get people's attention. It's not a good thing and I'm working at it. But that doesn't matter right now. Please just talk to me Virgil, we… I don't want to lose you," Roman said softly.

He heard Ember whine at his hesitation as he once again stopped walking, nuzzling her nose against his hand to comfort him.

"I don't want to either, but it's for the best. This is goodbye, Roman. Please stop approaching me and let me go. I don't want to talk to you anymore," Virgil said, his voice cold in spite of the wave of emotions he was desperately having to fight back.

"Hey stop trying to brush me off!" Roman exclaimed, reaching out to latch onto Virgil's wrist as he tried to leave, causing Virgil to stiffen and drop Ember's leash.

"I'm trying to do what's best for all of us, Roman. Quit trying to stop me, when you don't understand what's going on," Virgil replied, swallowing down the anxious lump in his throat that made him want to break down and cry.

"Best for who, Virgil? What could I possibly not be understanding other than the fact that Logan, as in the emotionally stunted nerd we all care about, was literally crying after your call. None of us want to lose you Virgil, do you not like being around us or something? Because I can't think of any other reason why you're just up and ditching us," Roman accused, his grasp tightening and pulling Virgil closer.

"I'm doing it because I love you, you idiot!" Virgil screamed.

His heart pounded as he processed the words he'd mindlessly shouted in Roman's face. That was it. He finally let it out and surprisingly, even with Roman's stunned silence, it didn't hurt. It was a weight off his shoulders. He had nothing to hide, nothing to protect.

"I love you Roman. Just like I love Logan and Patton. That's why I don't want to be around you guys anymore. Logan confessed to me and I know Patton had a crush on me in high school and he acts like he still has one. But I know one more thing, Roman. I know you. I overheard Remus. I know you said you'd never be with a non-soulmate and you didn't want your soulmates to be with one either and Roman I'm never going to make you have to go through that, I made this choice for you. You know why? Because that's what love is. That's what you do when you are in love, you'd give them the world to make them smile even if it means breaking yourself apart in the process. So don't you dare tell me I'm selfish or I'm hurting them, when I'm saving all of you from only having to hurt so much more in the future," Virgil lectured sternly, tears cascading down his face.

The hand slipped from his wrist, gently moving to hold his hand instead. Virgil grimaced at the tender action.

"Virgil, you're wrong. It's not like that. Not with you," Roman tried to explain.

"Oh so what? You can bend your ideologies when it comes to me? But what about the next person? What if they fall in love with someone else? What will happen then? Will you allow them into your relationship as well? You either date people outside of your soulmate bonds or you don't, it's not rocket science. If you just make exceptions to the boundaries you placed on your relationship, how will people be able to tell what boundaries you actually do and don't care about?" Virgil asked pointedly.

"Because I'm not bending any of my boundaries by letting you join our relationship!" Roman cried, pulling him impossibly close, chests touching, a hand cupping his cheek.

"What? What is that supposed to mean?" Virgil breathed confusedly, his anger dissipating.

"Because you're my soulmate! You always have been!" Roman said, tenderly holding Virgil close.

It didn't feel tender, not with the gross chill that was overcoming Virgil. He felt cold, empty, nauseous. Roman couldn't possibly mean what he said, he meant it metaphorically. It had to be metaphorical because anything else just had to be impossible. He felt Roman's face drawing towards him and he quickly shoved him away with all of his strength, sending him stumbling and almost falling over.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Virgil asked.

"Virgil, I think we should go back to our dorm," Remy suddenly suggested, his panicked voice breaking his former role as a silent onlooker.

"No! Roman, what do you mean, I'm your soulmate? What kind of bullshit are you trying to pull, comparing our friendship to something you supposedly consider a sacred bond?" Virgil inquired, he wasn't sure if he was angry or anxious or just plain upset, but at this point he was sure he wouldn't make it through the conversation without becoming sick.

"I'm not comparing our friendship to anything. You're my real honest to god soulmate. You've been lied to, Virgil. Lisa doesn't exist, we've always been your soulmates."

"But… She has to… That's impossible…" Virgil mumbled breathlessly.

"Please, let's just go back to the dorm, you really aren't looking good," Remy fretted, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Virgil shrugged it off and charged towards Roman again, grabbing him by the chest of his shirt.

"Prove it!"

"Okay here," Roman replied.

He took Virgil's hands from his chest and pulled a pen from his pocket, pressing it into Virgil's hand. He then lent Virgil his own arm.

"Make a mark, you'll feel it too," Roman said confidently.

Virgil hesitated to pop the lid off but when he did he pressed the pen to Roman's skin and made a slash like mark across the forearm. His breath hitched as he felt the tingling along his own arm. He let out a muffled whine of distress before pinching his eyes closed and shoving the pen back at Roman.

"That doesn't prove anything. It's just psychosomatic. Draw on yourself. Don't tell me where until I tell you to," Virgil ordered.

He waited and he felt it again. The tingling of gentle eclectic pressure against his cheek. He swallowed and made no move to indicate where he felt it. It could still be psychosomatic, he knew he should feel something so he did. Roman had to tell him for him to be sure.

"Where did you mark?"

"Our right cheek."

Virgil covered his mouth as he sank to his knees against the concrete ground.

"You believe me now, right? So everything is okay. We can be happy, you don't have to run away anymore," Roman promised.

Virgil's arms moved to wrap around his torso. He felt so nauseous he wasn't sure he'd be able to hold it back and his head was splitting from all the pain emanating from the flow of tears he could no longer even hope to stop.

"Happy? You want me to be happy?" Virgil cried quietly.

"Um, heh, yeah… Isn't this good news?" Roman replied confusedly.

"Himbo, I think it's time you back off, okay? Our favorite emo is getting stressy…" Remy tried to warn.

"You knew… And you didn't tell me. How many people knew?" Virgil asked.

Both Remy and Roman remained silent but he could hear the shuffle of their feet as they fidgeted.

"How many people lied to me? Was it all of you! You all just let me keep going on and on about my soulmate Lisa and how miserable I was with those circumstances and none of you told me? I let the three of you take me out on borderline dates! Were they just jokes to you? Ways to play with me and my feelings? Well it wasn't funny! How could you? And how could you, Remy? Do they know too? Who the hell am I kidding Janus knew you were lying to me so Emile and Remus must have to," Virgil rambled, one of his hands moving up to brush back his hair, scraping at his scalp as he did.

"Virgil, please listen-"

Virgil broke down laughing, unable to hear Remy out.

"Hahaha, everyone in my entire life has lied to me. I haven't met a single honest person. That's just so horribly hilarious isn't it? Who would've thunk? And what have I done to deserve this? What? I'd fix it in an instant if I knew," Virgil said between gasping and hitched breaths that were a weird mix of sobs and laughter.

"Virgil it's not you, it's never been about you," Remy promised.

"Oh so you lied to me because it was a hobby?" Virgil countered.

"Virgil, please calm down so we can talk somewhere more private," Roman requested.

Private. Just that single word brought Virgil back to his senses. He was in the middle of campus, kneeling on the pavement, screaming his head off and crying his heart out. He could hear the quiet mumble of people who'd congregated around them and the sound of phone cameras snapping pictures. He was making a scene and drawing people's attention. He felt like his world was ending and people were watching him like some kind of show. The poor disabled kid was living out a real life soap opera trope in the middle of campus, it was sure to get them all a bunch of views and likes on social media.

"Virgil, breath, you're going to have a panic attack," Remy cautioned, trying to rest a hand on his shoulder again.

"Don't touch me!" He screamed, recoiling and drawing in on himself.

"Virge-"

"Leave me alone! I want to be alone!" Virgil yelled, scrambling away from them to push himself up onto his feet. "Just leave me alone."

"What no! Don't-"

"It's okay, V. You need some time to process all of this. We won't bother you anymore. But really, I'm so sorry. This wasn't what was supposed to happen," Remy said, his voice hollow and empty as he spoke.

Virgil sniffed and rubbed at his face.

"Ember leash," he ordered, waiting for her to come over to him so he could grab hold of the short leash attached to the harness. "Take me home."

Ember began leading him away and he heard others shifting to make an exit to his path, he couldn't help but feel disgusted by the amount of separate footsteps he could make out. He just wanted to go home. He didn't want to deal with this anymore. He didn't want to deal with all of these awful people. He wondered if there really even were decent people in this world. He would have jumped to say Patton was, but Patton had lied to him too. He thought Patton was incapable of lying. He thought Logan cared about him. He thought Remy was his best friend.

Janus was right, that stupid lie Remy had warned him about had come out just when he said it would, and he was right that Virgil would wish he didn't know.

He walked in a daze back to his dorm, wiping away the constant stream of tears. He couldn't have been more glad when he was able to close and lock the solid door behind him, hiding himself away from the rest of the world. He sank down the door frame as he pulled out his phone.

He didn't want this anymore. He didn't want to deal with the trio. He didn't want to deal with Remy or his soulmates. He just wanted to get away from it all.

He ordered his phone to make a call.

"Honey? You haven't called in a while, what- Oh, Baby, why are you crying? Shhh, tell Mommy what happened," the voice soothed over the speakers.

"Don't wanna be here. I wanna go home," Virgil choked out.

"Shh, okay, it's okay. Hang tight, we'll be there in two hours, okay? Call us again if you need us to stay on the line. We're here. I love you so much, Honey," his mother promised before hanging up, presumably to rush out of the house alongside his father.

Virgil curled in on himself where he sat. By the time Remy would be back, Virgil would be long gone and he didn't know if he wanted to come back.