EDITED

It was a tradition in our friend group that once a month we would gather at Patton's house to have a movie night. I'm sure that if it was up to Patton it would be at least every two weeks. But Patton's Dad, Mr. Thomas, said that we could only do it once a month during the school year.

If it had been up to me we would do a movie marathon of some kind every month. But once again, Mr. Thomas said we could only watch one movie and that it couldn't be longer than ninety minutes. The last rule was made after I tried to get everyone to watch 'The Sound of Music' which is two hours and fifty-five minutes.

The way our movie nights worked was that we rotated each month on who got to pick the movie. Last month it had been Logan's turn which meant that we watched some boring space documentary. But this month it was my turn!

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I walked up to the front door of the Sanders' household with five different DVD cases in my hand. I know that we were only allowed to watch one film but I still like to get Patton and Logan's opinion on which to watch.

Standing on the front porch I rang the bell. I could hear Patton's joyful yell and the sound of running footsteps, I smiled as he threw open the door and flung his arms around me.

"Roman! You're here!" He yelled "I missed you."

"You just saw me at school." I laughed, hugging him back.

I chuckled lightly as I pulled away from the hug and Patton led me inside and to the kitchen where Logan was. "Hey Nerd," I said.

Logan rolled his eyes, keeping them in the book he was reading.

"So I see that Roman's here." I looked over to see Patton's dad standing in the entryway that led into the kitchen.

"Hello Mr. Thomas," I said with a smile.

The man laughed "Roman, how many times do I have to tell you? It's just Thomas."

"Sure thing Mr. Thomas," I replied with a cheeky grin.

Thomas playfully rolled his eyes at me and moved to the kitchen table where he opened his laptop. Most likely to get some work done, not like that's any of my business. I started chatting with Patton before his foster brother came downstairs.

"Well, if it isn't the Emo Nightmare!" I said with a smirk. Virgil looked over at me with a scoff of annoyance before moving to the fridge and pulling out a water bottle.

"So," Patton said, returning to our conversation. "What are we watching tonight Roman?"

"I haven't decided yet but I do know that it will be one of these movies," I said pulling out the DVD cases I had brought.

Logan set his book aside and looked at the cases "why do you always choose Disney movies?"

"I don't always choose Disney!" I protested "sometimes I chose a musical." I heard Virgil snort and I turned to him "what? You have a problem with Disney?!"

"No," He said. "I, too, am a Disney fan."

"You?" I laughed.

"What? Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Disney movies are the embodiment of goodness and purity, something you would know nothing about!" I said, still laughing.

"Be nice kiddo" Patton scolded.

"Disney movies have such wonderful and empowering messages!" I said to Virgil.

Virgil gave me a dark smirk and leaned up against the kitchen counter, still holding his water bottle."You must not be watching the same movies then." He said, "because the movies I know have much more sinister undertones."

He looked over at Logan and Patton "Come on, you must sense it. I'm just making sure you're alert to all of the messages in those films, whether they were intentional or not."

"Actually, this is kind of intriguing," Logan said.

"What?" I cried.

"So you think every movie has a darker meaning or a misleading message?" Logan clarified.

"Oh yeah."

"This is ridiculous!" I yelled "you besmirch the name of Disney. This time, you have gone too far!"

"Really?" Virgil raised an eyebrow, setting aside his water. "This is where you cross the line?"

"Well, how 'bout this?" Patton cut in "Logan and I will throw out some Disney movies and you two tell us what we're supposed to learn from each movie."

The two of us agreed and Patton got started. I'm sure I'll win. There was no way that evil villain will be able to find anything wrong with such perfect movies.

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"Okay, movie one. Cinderella." Patton said.

"Ha! Easy." I said, "believe in your dreams and one day, they will come true."

"Sure, just literally wait around your entire life, subjecting yourself to the cruelty of your ungrateful, ignorant family members, until some magical fairy comes along to save you." Virgil said sarcastically "don't take action yourself."

"She had mice, too!" I protested.

"Not to mention, men can't memorize the face of a woman they've been dancing around with for hours, they have to rely on the shoe." The darker teen added, "ergo... men are idiots."

"He was a very busy prince! He had a lot on his mind!"

"Let's just move to another." Patton said, "um, Snow White!"

"Okay, so this time the message is to not do what the princess did." I said, "don't accept random fruit from strangers."

"Or, don't eat fruit...?" Patton said.

"No," Thomas called from the kitchen table.

"No?"

"The bigger message is to just run away from your problems and become the housekeeper for seven men," Virgil said.

"Sometimes the best solution is to get out of a bad situation!"

"Not to mention, a prince comes out of nowhere and plants a kiss on a seemingly sleeping girl?" He adds "I guess consent isn't really that important."

"I never did understand that," Logan said to himself.

"He thought she was dead! It was a farewell kiss!" I yelled, "what's with all the prince hate?"

"I wonder," Virgil said in a sarcastic tone that I've grown to hate.

"Well, how about something a little bit more recent: Frozen," Patton suggested.

"A sister's love triumphs overall!" I said.

"And don't trust random princes. I can get behind that" Virgil added.

"I swear..."

"Also, when Elsa passes away, Olaf's gonna die too, 'cause the magic will be gone. So just prolong the inevitable?" Immediately Patton and I cried out about how dark that was. Virgil just shrugged saying that he'd warned us.

"How about we lighten it up with Peter Pan?" Patton suggested.

"Don't let your childhood spirit ever die" I said.

"Also, it's totally fine to believe a random stranger when they tell you to jump out the window after they've broken into your house." Virgil said "but I would guess that's how your whole being would die."

I groaned "urgh..."

"Okay, how about Aladdin? My favorite!" Thomas said, moving to lean up against the table. Watching us with interest.

"The value of a person is not determined by wealth." I told them "a diamond in the rough can be found anywhere, even someone who may be considered a street rat."

"And they can get what they want by lying and deceiving their way right into the castle and getting the princess." Virgil smirked.

"Oh, come on!" I cried "he came clean in the end! He even freed the Genie!"

"Yeah, he did." Virgil agreed "but not before his way lying and deceiving right into the castle and getting the princess."

"How about Fox and the Hound?" Patton asked.

"True friendship overcomes any boundaries set by society." I said, folding my arms and glaring at Virgil.

"But then that friendship will be immediately be terminated by that society, and the two must learn their place in the world." He added.

"Beauty and the Beast" Logan suggested.

"Okay, I know what you're gonna say, you're gonna say--"

"Stockholm Syndrome." Virgil and I said in unison.

"But," I said "it is more than just a prisoner falling in love with her kidnapper! It is about a love that transcends outward appearance. Even a beastly, hairy, animal-- you're right, that doesn't sound much better." Hums of agreement floated around the room "But come on, can you really look down so harshly on these movies?"

"I still like them," Virgil said "there's just some darker messages that we don't first see."

"Bambi?" I asked.

"Man is dangerous."

"Pocahontas!"

"White man is dangerous."

"Sleeping Beauty!"

"Well, now we're back to the lack of consent with sleeping women." He responded with a smirk.

"It was to lift a curse!" I yelled.

"The Little Mermaid?" Thomas asked.

"Don't just sign a contract without having your mer-lawyer look over all the fine print and stipulations. That one's just common sense." Virgil said.

"Or learn to write, or use sign language." Logan added "there's more than one way to tell the prince you're the girl that saved him." I couldn't help but silently agree with both Virgil and Logan.

"Well then, how about we just concede that Disney movies have a lot of different, interesting messages within them" Patton said.

"Duh, that's what I've been saying." Virgil said "I never said Princey was wrong."

I was surprised "you didn't?"

"No."

"Well," I said slowly "then I suppose I shall concede a few points to you."

"Great." Virgil began to leave the kitchen, water bottle in hand, when I called out to him.

"Wait," he stopped and slowly turned around "there's one movie you forgot" I said.

"Which one?"

"Tangled."

Virgil stiffened "there are those in your life who are supposed love and care for you but sometimes all they do is hurt you." He answered quietly.

Everyone in the room went silent. Virgil ducked his head and flipped up his hood, hiding his face from view. And he quickly disappeared down the hall.

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A/N: Man, this was a long chapter. 

The title for this chapter comes from the Disney song "Go The Distance" from Hercules. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Also, yes. This chapter was heavily inspired by the Sander Sides episode "The Dark Side of Disney."

So, we got some more hints at Virgil's past, don't worry in a few chapters you will receive his full backstory. Feel free to leave your theories on what it is.

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Take it easy Guys, Gals, and Non-Binary Pals. PEACE OUT!

-Isabel