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"So, how's the project with Janus going?" asked Virgil.

Roman had come over to Virgil's house to play video games, so the two of them were sprawled across the extra-large bean bags piled in front of the TV in the basement. They'd finished the last round a few minutes ago and had started chattering about school, with Virgil eventually stumbling into the current bane of Roman's existence.

"Ugh, don't even remind me," Roman groaned, flopping over dramatically. "Of all the people I could've been partnered up with, it just had to be him. I'd rather be paired up with Remy at this point."

"That bad, huh?"

"Uh, yes?" Roman confirmed. "He wouldn't even help me at all at first, so I had to go over to Patton's to make him help me! And he just- God, he's such a jerk! He treated Patton like shit- like he always does- and he just flat-out refused to help! He thought it was funny that I couldn't make him help me!"

"So, he still isn't helping, then?"

At this question, Roman calmed down the slightest bit.

"No, I got him to agree to help eventually. I had to yell at him and shake him a bit, though," Roman told him.

"I'm surprised he didn't punch you or something."

"Yeah, well… He did push me, but that was only after I grabbed his shoulders. I think he might've thought I was going to punch him," Roman admitted.

"What?"

"Well, he agreed weirdly quickly after that. And he actually looked a little freaked out?" Roman explained. "I mean, I wasn't really trying to scare him that much, and I wasn't intending to actually hit him or anything. I was just trying to get him to realize what an asshole he was being."

"In that case, I'm extra surprised he didn't punch you."

Roman huffed.

"I really don't get how the two of you were ever friends," he mused.

Virgil let out a sigh, looking up at the ceiling.

"It's a little complicated, Princey," Virgil told him. "I mean, to begin with, he wasn't always this much of a jerk."

Roman put a hand to his chin and thought.

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that. I mean, I never really talked to him much but he used to come over to hang out with Remus a lot, and I went over to hang out with Patton. He was always a jerk, but… he wasn't so angry all the time, I guess?"

"Eh, kinda," Virgil replied, waving his hand in a so-so motion. "He was still angry a lot, but he didn't take it out on other people as much. It really got bad when we got into high school, though."

"What's his deal, anyway?" Roman sighed.

"I don't really know," Virgil shrugged.

At this, Roman sat back up a little.

"Wait, you don't know? But weren't you two, like, best friends?"

Virgil looked away.

"We were," he agreed. "But he never really was the type to talk about himself, and any time Remus or I tried to ask him what was up, he'd find some way to avoid answering. We always knew something was wrong with him, but we never knew what it was."

Roman saw the other teen's shoulders sag.

"That's really what ended things, you know," Virgil admitted. "I mean, like I said, he started really acting like a jerk in high school. We'd always kinda teased each other, but he started to say things that actually really hurt, and then he started getting into fights and shit, too."

Before continuing, Virgil ran a hand through his hair, making it even messier than it already had been.

"It was getting really hard to deal with, you know? It's not like he ever got violent with me or Remus, but the way he got so angry, sometimes without warning, and the way he acted…," Virgil spoke slowly. "It started scaring me, ya know? And I don't do too well in stressful situations, so I started avoiding him a bit…"

He bit his lip.

"That's when I started talking to Patton," he continued. "I started avoiding Janus and Remus during lunch, so I was sitting alone and Patton came over to talk to me. And we'd been sitting next to each other in English, so."

Roman reached out and placed a comforting hand on Virgil's shoulder.

"I used to think Patton was annoying, actually," Virgil confessed with a laugh. "I never really talked to him before that, and Janus was always complaining about him, so I didn't realize how nice he was. I actually only responded to him that day because I was trying to ask him what was wrong with Janus, to see if maybe their parents could try to help him or something."

A pause.

"But I ended up being friends with Patton, and Janus… Janus didn't like that," Virgil spoke quietly. "He blew up at me and accused me of betraying him or something because I was friends with his brother, and I… I just couldn't do it anymore after that, you know? Hanging out with him was really fucking with my mental health, and he didn't ever want to even try to figure his crap out!"

Virgil took another moment to calm himself down, not wanting to let himself get too worked up over this.

"I really just wish he'd work out his issues, whatever they are. I really do miss him sometimes, but I can't be friends with him while he's acting like this. And he can't keep treating everyone like garbage all the time! I mean, Patton's his brother, and he's, like, the sweetest guy in the school, and Janus fricking hates him! But Patton's my friend now, and I really hate seeing how upset he is over it… Just, I don't know, Janus really needs some kind of therapy or something."

Roman stared at Virgil for a long while as he mulled over the information.

To an extent, it wasn't exactly anything new. He hadn't known why Virgil had suddenly joined their friend group aside from him being tired of Janus being an asshole (and Roman still felt bad about rejecting Virgil at first on account of his friendship with Janus), but he had more-or-less been present for the events he was describing. He'd known Janus as long as he'd known Patton, even if he didn't know him as well, and even he had noticed that Janus had slowly changed over the years. He certainly didn't blame Virgil for growing tired of it.

Thinking it over, though, he could also understand that Virgil hadn't completely stopped caring about him, either.

It was a crappy situation, caring about someone who wasn't good for you to be around.

"I'm sorry. That really sucks."

Virgil shrugged.

"It's how it is," Virgil sighed. "I just hope it doesn't stay this way."

Roman nodded.

Though he wasn't as invested in the situation as Virgil was, Janus affected the people around him- his friends and his brother. Even just for the sake of those he cared about, he hoped Janus got some sort of help.

And the more forgiving side of him hoped Janus would get help for his own sake, too.

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