Logic's fingers tapped on his keyboard, the only sound in the soft light of the early morning. His room remained dim, but his laptop screen provided all the light he needed. He woke up two hours ago. After preparing for his day trip with Virgil, he got to work on his studies.

In his bed, curled around Shadow the Cat, Patton slept peacefully. He asked Logic for a "slumber party" shortly after Kyler unfused. Logic agreed. It's been another two nights since then, and Patton continued to share his space. Logic didn't mind. He rather enjoyed it, actually. Patton was always warm to the touch, and Logic noticed his desire to touch him had gotten more frequent. He considered tracking such desires, but he didn't need another distraction from his schooling. Logics made it far in this country, if they earned the proper credentials. If he studied enough then perhaps he would be able to bypass the others during their Established version of the test. His accomplishments could get him as far as a Side can go within their society. But once they were Established, they would have to prove that they still remembered everything Logic had learned. Logic's fingers paused mid-word. He stared at the blinking cursor.

What if they didn't? He thought. What if he did all this work, and their Established self forgot all of it?

Logic's shoulders tensed.

"Mrrw?" Shadow yawned and stretched. She began snurgling Patton's tummy with loud purrs.

Logic forced himself to exhale slowly. There's no point in getting worried about hypotheticals. He still had plenty of time.

A knock at the door startled him. Shadow stopped snurgling, looked at the door, then to Logic, as if to say 'Are you gonna get that?'

Logic stood and shook his head. He must need more sleep, it's foolish to assume the cat understood the concept of knocking. He opened the door, unsurprised to see Virgil waiting.

"Greetings, Virgil." Logic said as all the exhaustion and concern left him. Virgil was a smidgen (that's the scientific word) shorter than Logic. But in this moment, he seemed much smaller, shoulders folding in on themselves. Logic glanced out into the empty hall, then back to Virgil's pout. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine." Virgil said. His gaze slid past Logic. He pointed with his chin; something Logic would never be able to look cool, but Virgil did effortlessly, and asked, "Is Pat alright?"

"Yes." Logic stepped aside to look at the sleeping figure. Virgil moved past him and approached the bed. Shadow had laid down again, her paws slowly twitching after kneading Patton's tummy so well. Virgil didn't even glance at her. Logic added, "He doesn't like sleeping alone."

"Yeah." Virgil said quietly, watching Patton sleep. "He hasn't had nightmares, has he?"

"Not that I'm aware of." Logic said. "He sleeps soundly."

Virgil brushed Patton's hair gently. Logic couldn't see Patton's face, but he saw Virgil freeze up and pull his hand away. A moment later, he heard Patton giggle.

"That felt nice." Patton reached up and guided Virgil's hand back to his hair. Logic glanced back at his computer, not wanting to intrude. The smile in Virgil's eyes was enough evidence that they were having "a moment" that Logic shouldn't interrupt.

Patton's voice was soft from sleep, "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah." Virgil didn't sound excited.

"What's wrong? I thought you wanted to see your sister." Shuffling in the bed. Patton sitting up? Logic saved his Word document.

Virgil hesitated. Logic almost looked over, but forced himself to shut down the laptop instead. Virgil said quickly, "Yeah, no, it'll be fine. I'll be with Logic."

Logic bit his lip and leaned against his desk. He glanced over, unable to help himself. Virgil's hand cupped Patton's cheek. Patton clasped the hand in his own, keeping it in place. He had sat up, which caused Shadow to hop off the bed. She was now inspecting Logic's bookshelf. Patton smiled at Virgil. Without his glasses, he looked closer to Roman. But Roman was tanner than the rest of them, and looked stronger. Patton didn't have the same rough edges. His hair was getting sort of long, he would probably need a hair cut soon. But with the extra inch his chestnut strands have begun to curve in short waves. Logic stared perhaps a tad too long.

He looked to Shadow. She wiggled her back legs, staring up at an empty spot on a shelf. Logic wished he could hear the calculations she was doing in her head as she prepared her jump.

"Have fun." Patton said. Logic glanced over again just in time to see Patton kiss Virgil's nose. Virgil let out a squeak of surprise, which caused the both of them to giggle.

Virgil pulled away as Patton laid back down. He helped cover him again with blankets as he said, "Go back to sleep. It's still early."

"M'kay." Patton hummed, "Love you."

"Yeah." Virgil responded, quiet as could be. He turned back to Logic, a redness to his cheeks. He cleared his throat and said, "Ready to go?"

Logic nodded and led the way out of his room and down to his car. Virgil didn't drive often, he noticed. Unless he was going to work, he would assume one of the others was going to drive for him. Logic didn't find this surprising, considering his trait.

As they got in the car, Virgil wasted no time turning to look at him fully.

"Thank you for coming with me." He said, placing a hand on Logic's shoulder.

Logic blinked in surprise at the intensity of his gratitude. He said, "It is no problem. I'm happy to meet your family."

He just had to rearrange his schedule a bit to incorporate missing a full day of homework. He'd have to wake up thirty minutes earlier and go to bed an hour late for the next three days to make up for it; but Logic was happy to be of use. And spending time with Virgil was always a special delight.

"No, you don't get it." Virgil shook his head. "It had to be you."

Logic's heart fluttered strangely in his chest. He said, "Um, thank you, but I'm sure the others would've provided a good impression as well. They can behave, if the situation-"

Virgil shook his head again, leaning closer in the small space. Logic squeezed his hands in his lap. "No, Lo. I would've had to do this alone if you couldn't come. The others don't know."

Logic stared at him, feeling uncharacteristically lost. He knew a lot the others didn't, but he wasn't sure how that related to Virgil's family. He said slowly, "I'm sorry, what do I know?"

Virgil glanced at the front door, lowering his voice. He said, "You know. My rediagnosis."

Understanding slammed into place in Logic's mind. He could only say, "Oh."

He started the car and began to drive towards the interstate. Virgil typed on his phone and a moment later handed it to him. Logic glanced down at the screen briefly to see the blue line indicating directions. He set the phone in his lap and continued the familiar part of the route. Logic licked his lips. Clearly this was bothering Virgil; every three seconds he would fidget in his seat.

"Well, I don't see how it would come up, considering we don't call you 'Anxiety'." Logic said at last. But Virgil wasn't convinced.

"It'll come up." Virgil said, crossing his arms. "They always- they don't believe I even got rediagnosed."

Logic frowned at that. "Did you show them the paperwork?"

"It wouldn't matter. They would just say that doctor got 'D's in medical school or some other bullshit." Virgil put his feet up on the dashboard. His Converse were red with black stars drawn on near the heel. Logic didn't mention how unsafe the position was - if the airbag went off, for instance, the force could severely damage or disable Virgil's legs. He simply checked his mirrors and kept both hands on the wheel.

Logic asked, "Why wouldn't they believe the medical professionals?"

"Cuz they don't want an Anxiety child." Virgil said, bitterness scraping across his snarl.

Logic, still feeling like he was missing something, shook his head. "Okay. But why is your previous diagnosis better? No offense, I simply mean-"

"I know what you mean. I don't get it either." Virgil looked out the window for a long moment. Logic let the silence linger, believing that to be the end of their discussion. They had traveled a fair distance before Virgil spoke again.

"Cuz it's not an Illness." Virgil said.

Logic was startled out of his thoughts - his essay of Fusion Anthropology, and the bones of ancient Fusions that were recently discovered in Ghana. He quickly connected the words with their previous conversation. He said, "But the Illness trait was intended to be more preferable than the Negative one. There's less discrimination against Illness traits and-"

Virgil interrupted, "They don't see it like that." He looked away from the window to watch Logic drive. Logic kept his eyes on the road, but could feel Virgil's gaze. He said, "My parents would rather I be Negative. They think being called a disease-"

"Illness."

"- is the worst label in the whole fuckin' world." He tapped his knees with his fingers restlessly. "They'd rather I be Bad than Broken."

"I don't think you're either." Logic said.

Virgil closed his mouth and looked away. It was another few moments before he spoke again. Logic was starting to see the long pauses as what they were - not the end of the conversation, but Virgil merely composing himself.

"It's stupid because they think they never should've made an Illness trait. Like, they think only Established people can only have mental illnesses or something." Frustration leaked into Virgil's voice, and Logic could practically hear the remains of years of arguments in his tone. "As if Sides don't get affected by shit?"

Logic spoke slowly, "It appears they simply still view Illness traits as Negatives, as if the distinction was never made."

"Yeah but it's like they hate Illnesses even more because they, like, cheated the system." Virgil made a loud huffing noise. "It's stupid as fuck."

"Indeed." Logic agreed. This time the huff-noise was amused. Logic said, "Although I don't intend to, should I not refer to you as Anxiety?"

Virgil shook his head, "No, actually, only call me Anxiety while we're here."

"Would that cause an argument?" Logic asked.

Virgil picked at the rip in his jeans. He pulled a stray string and muttered, "Oh, yeah."

"And would an argument cause your trait to flare?"

Virgil said, "Maybe, but I would rather be anxious and stand up for myself than be anxious and be pushed around. So like. Just call me my other name today. Like we do with you."

Logic glanced over at him, but nodded. He didn't think the point was worth the effort, but if it meant this much to Virgil, he would be willing to do it.

"Is there anything else I should avoid discussing?" Logic asked.

"Nah, it's really just the diagnosis thing." Virgil shrugged, "Otherwise they're cool."

Logic kept his thoughts about that to himself.

Virgil shook his hands as they approached the front door to his parents house. Logic recognized the action as an attempt to regulate his nervous system, whether Virgil was aware of it or not. Logic placed a hand on Virgil's shoulder and offered a smile.

"It will be alright. We're only staying for the party, and if we must, we can leave early." He told Virgil.

Virge nodded and said, "No, yeah, no. It'll be alright. We got this."

Logic gave his shoulder a small squeeze and then dropped his hand. He wasn't expecting to feel the slight brush of fingertips against his own. Virgil's fingers slowly shifted closer, skin warming skin, and Logic's stomach lit up with delight.

Suddenly, the front door jerked open. Virgil jumped away from him as a girl with dark hair came running out to them.

"There you are! Finally!" The girl shouted as she ran up. She launched herself at Virgil, who managed to not tumble over by the impact.

Virgil greeted, "Annalise!"

Logic looked down at his hand as the siblings embraced. He brushed along his nails and knuckles in the same way Virgil just did. Virgil was reaching for him, for comfort, right? Virgil found him comforting?

"And this is my Logic," Virgil said. He quickly added, "Side. My Logic Side."

Logic forced himself to focus on the present. Annalise was now standing in front of him, looking him over with sharp eyes. Logic tilted his head, but allowed himself to be assessed.

Virgil's sister had long hair and some of the darkest brown eyes Logic had ever seen. Her pupils almost blended into the iris. It was almost unnerving meeting her gaze.

At last she asked, "Are you dating my brother?"

"Not yet." Logic responded politely.

Virgil made an odd choking noise. When Logic looked over at him, he was turned away. Logic hoped he hadn't upset him so early on in their trip.

"Why not?" She asked.

Virgil spoke up then, turning to push her towards the door. "Hey, don't you have friends or something? Go be with them!"

"Alright, but it's either me or the parents." Annalise said with a shrug. She ran towards the door and shouted into the house, "Mom! Dad! Virgil's here!"

"You suck." Virgil told her as he made his way to the door. She stuck out her tongue and darted away.

"Is she diagnosed?" Logic asked in a whisper.

Virgil nodded, responding just as quiet, "Vigilant."

Logic shot him a look that Virgil didn't meet. Vigilant was, essentially, the "positive" version of Virgil's diagnosis. It didn't have the same label as Negative or Illness, being an Emotional-Logical trait. Logic felt a pinch in his brow as he thought. What, exactly, was the criteria for one over the other? He hadn't ever considered the intricacies of Sides that were - what? Synonyms?

"Parry!" A woman shouted from inside the house.

"Damn." Virgil muttered, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "New record."

They didn't move away from the door, which Logic closed behind them. After a moment, a man and woman appeared and introduced themselves to Logic as Virgil's parents; Greg and Lauren.

"Lunch is almost ready, and then we'll have Vigilant open her gifts, okay?" Lauren said. She didn't give them time to respond before she asked, "How was your trip? Come and sit with us in the kitchen, tell us everything!"

Virgil grit his teeth as they followed her through the house. Greg said, "You know she wouldn't have to pounce on you like this if you called every once in a while."

"Sorry, can't, I have phone anxiety." Virgil said over his shoulder, barely looking at his father.

The mother scoffed, "That is not funny, Virgil! You should call your mother!"

"Do you ever call me?" Virgil asked under his breath, shooting Logic an annoyed look. Logic realized very quickly that this would not be like a family dinner at his own house. He did his best to adjust his expectations, offering Virgil a sympathetic expression.

"Where'd you get that jacket, Parry?"

"My Creative Side made it." Virgil said, a hint of pride in his voice.

"It's too big for you." Greg said.

Virgil shook his head, "It fits just fine."

The kitchen was rather small, with an overbearing theme of apples. Logic and Virgil sat at the table as the mother inspected whatever was in the oven. It smelled delicious and Logic hoped no one else could see his interest zero in on the meal. He hadn't eaten much - or at all - today, since his focus this morning was on his homework.

He hoped the time before lunch passed quickly so he could eat whatever smelled that good. Some kind of roast maybe? Logic knew it had onions and garlic and that's all that he cared about at the moment.

"How'd you two meet?" Greg asked.

Logic glanced at Virgil, but didn't see any warning signs, so he answered truthfully. "At his tattoo parlor. Our Side was attempting to get one."

"That's nice, do you have any tattoos?" Lauren asked.

Logic stared at her. He said. "I'm a Logic."

For some reason, that made Virgil snort in amusement.

Lauren said, "Oh that's fine, I've met a Logic with a tattoo! It was, oh, that thing? For the elements and the dots?"

Logic stared at her longer. He took an educated guess, "Chemical compounds?"

"Yes! She had the compound for coffee on her wrist, isn't that cute?" The mother laughed.

"Indeed." Logic said hesitantly. He wasn't very good at judging cuteness - his cuteness indicator only seemed to go off around his Sides.

Virgil took out his inhaler from his pocket and shook it. He put it in his mouth and pressed the button while breathing in. Logic watched his shoulders relax for a moment.

Virgil's mother made a disgruntled noise. Logic glanced at her frown. Greg said, "Virgil, you know how your mother feels about those things."

Virgil stared directly at his father as he took another inhale of the medicine.

Logic cleared his throat, "May I ask, why shouldn't Anxiety use anxiety medication specifically made for Anxiety Sides if it benefits him?"

"Because it doesn't!" Lauren said.

"It does." Virgil argued under his breath.

"He's still a nervous wreck, so it doesn't work!" Greg said, raising his voice a tad. "You're just hurting yourself. Who knows what those chemicals do?"

"The chemists that manufactured it." Logic said. "They know. And then they wrote it on the container."

Virgil placed a hand on his knee under the table, and Logic shut his mouth obediently. He glanced over at him, but Virgil was staring at the table.

Logic exhaled and continued with a calmer tone. "The intention of the medication isn't to eradicate all worry from Anxiety, as that could make him sick. The purpose of his medication is to prevent anxiety attacks, and lower blood pressure."

"So it doesn't do anything." Greg responded.

"That is not what I said." Logic said with gritted teeth. "It's just that - you simply cannot take the trait away from the Side. If you attempt to remove all fear from Anxiety, there is nothing left. It's not how we function - his body will reject the medication if it's any stronger. Therefore, it is doing its intended purpose."

Greg opened his mouth to argue more, but the oven dinged. Lauren said with a gasp, "Oh! It's ready! Parry, can you go get the girls?"

Virgil stood up with a sigh.

After lunch, Virgil paced back and forth in his room. Logic watched him for a moment before he decided to step in.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked.

Logic placed a hand on Virgil's back. Virgil flinched and Logic pulled away. "Sorry!" He said, "Did I touch your-?"

"No, no. You just surprised me." Virgil said, giving him a small smile.

The parents were still in the kitchen, cleaning up after their meal. Virgil brought Logic upstairs to his room so he could decompress for a minute. Logic tried his best to not explore every childhood memory tucked inside those walls.

"What was that?" A voice said.

They turned to see Vigilant standing in the doorway, door cracked open. Her two friends stood behind her. She was staring at Virgil.

"You little sh-"

"What was that?" Before either of them could react, she darted behind Virgil and yanked his shirt up.

Virgil twisted around and away immediately, but it was no use. The girls had already seen the nasty, red handprint in the center of his spine.

"Who did that?" Vigilant said, covering her face with her hand.

One of her friends asked, "Is that a Fusion burn?"

Vigilant said in horror, "Fusion did that to you?"

"Technically, it was Fission-" Logic cut himself off as Virgil smacked him in the tummy. It didn't hurt, but Logic was startled to find his clarification wasn't helping.

Virgil said, "Ann, it's not a big deal-"

"Virgil, they hurt you!" The anger in her voice laced through each word, although her volume remained low.

Virgil shook his head. He placed his hands on her shoulders and said, "Ann, you don't know the story. Fission burns are super common, it's okay." He looked into her eyes, and she stared back with a quiet fury. Virgil spoke gently. "I'm okay. I promise."

Annalise watched him for a moment, and Logic could see the metaphorical gears turning in her head. With a nod, she decided to trust him. Logic glanced over at Virgil's covered back. He felt something heavy settle in his chest: the understanding that some wounds are heavy, and they cannot be set down.

It was dark as they got home. But that didn't mean much. The days were getting shorter as the planet made its journey around the sun. Logic didn't mind the longer nights. He found peace in the darkness. Virgil didn't speak much on the ride home, but the silence was easy and soothing. Logic appreciated anyone who could sit quietly and not have the silence hang heavily with awkwardness. Roman wasn't good with quiet. Janus was, usually, but could get fidgety. The same was true for Patton, Logic was learning. But Virgil was always the mouse of the group; thriving in stillness.

They got out of the car slowly. The exhaustion from their journey started to set it. Logic began cataloging how much of his essay he could get done before he had to sleep. Maybe he could push back his bed time. Patton might argue with that, but if he waited until Patton was asleep and then snuck back to his desk, then-

Virgil grabbed his hand. Logic stopped, once again startled by the warmth Virgil provided with a simple touch. They hadn't even made it to the front porch yet. Logic looked down at their hands, loosely connected. Virgil dropped the hold immediately, and Logic regrets looking. Virgil's affection was like a Weeping Angel it seemed; only inching closer when the target was unaware.

"You won't tell the others, right?" Virgil asked, not meeting his eye.

Logic shook his head. He knew what Virgil was truly saying, finally feeling on the same page with him. "I see no reason for them to know. You aren't Paranoid. You're Anxiety. And even more importantly: you're Virgil." Logic smiled, "That's all that matters to me."

Virgil's eyes widened slightly, and Logic feared he may have said something wrong. But before he could correct his mistake, Virgil pulled him into a fierce hug. Logic felt his insides warm, fluttering up and filling his limbs and throat until even his head felt hot from the embrace. He returned the hold, wrapping his arms securely around Virgil's middle.

Virgil's lips brushed across Logic's neck in a way that sent shivers along his skin. He tried to brush it off as an accident as Virgil repeated, "Thank you."

"Of course." Logic whispered, committing every aspect of the hug to memory. Virgil's warmth was something he didn't intend to ever forget.

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