It's December first

It's officially Christmas season

I have one Christmas wish

One; for death, that would be ideal

And two; for Thomas to read my book

He doesn't have to read it, just know it exists that I've spent so much work on this

I know that sounds selfish

I just want to make an impact and I know this is a shit story with lots of triggering topics

And that I don't deserve that I don't deserve that happiness

But I just want Thomas to read my book

Just one good thing for once

That's my dream, my Christmas wish

TRIGGER WARNING : talks about suicide

Virgil POV
There was Wylan.  Asleep on the ground just a couple yards or so from us.  We all started walking hesitantly towards him.

His key was still and there was no sign of breathing.  The farther back we went, the darker it got.  Things became more muddled and voices echoed more.

As we got closer, I could hear Lovely by Billie Eilish playin softly.  I could see an old phone laying next to his head.  Illuminating the area around him.

Upon closer inspection, it became known to us that Wylan has ripped himself apart.  Patton gasped and had to look away.

I forced myself to look.  His metal leg had been ripped off, laying a few feet from him.  The space were the leg once was a broken gears and electricity spitting wires. 

He pulled off his metal arm again that Logan has spent so much time putting back on.  His metal shoulder was frayed and gears had been removed but Wylan was unable to rip that off too.

His key was dislodged a bit, Wylan had obviously tried to shake it out, but it remained stubbornly in his back.

Wylan's hands were bleeding and cut open from pulling and ripping at sharp gears and pieces of metal.  A small pool of dark red blood beneath them.

"What the hell,"  Mumbled Remy, someone finally breaking the silence. 

"Well he obviously wanted to die, or at least get rid of his metal parts,"  Emile said.

"We should let him sleep,"  I said.

"What, why?"  Asked Roman. 

"We need shove him back together and get him up and running,"  Remus complained.  "We don't have an infinite time to fuck glitch mcbitch up."

"Glitch mcbitch?"  Remy laughed.

"Yeah,"  Remy laughed.

"He needs rest,"  I argued.

"We don't have time to rest,"  Logan argued. 

"Wylan needs time, he's been through a lot,"  Quinn mumbled, taking my side. 

"We've all been through a lot,"  Remus said.  "We can't stop just because Wylan threw another fit."

"Don't say that,"  I growled.  "You have done the same for Evan.  If Evan was the one having a breakdown, you would make everyone stop and wait."

"Because I love Evan,"  Remus growled back.  "Wylan is just someone...well someone to help us win."

"Don't say that,"  Quinn said, anger flaring in his eyes.  "He's not a weapon for us to use.  He's still a person."

"He's a ducking cyborg!"  Remy yelled.

"Yes Remy is, somehow, correct about that,"  Logan sighed.  "Wylan is truly human anymore.  He's just a humanoid trait with metal appendages."

"That's fucked up for you to say that about him!"  I yelled at Logan.  "Even if he isn't technically human, he still has feelings."

"Okay well then it works the same as with Quinn,"  Roman said.  "He needs to tell us about that or we can't do anything."

"That's not something you can talk about easily,"  Quinn mumbled.

"And how would you know that?"  Roman yelled, rounding on Quinn. 

Quinn flinched, throwing his arms up in front of him.  Deceit moved quickly, shoving Roman away from him and comforting Quinn.

"Apologies Quinn, I did not think before I spoke,"  Roman apologized, obviously ashamed. 

"When do you ever?"  Smirked Remy.

"Moving on, we need to wake Wylan up," Logan said.

"Logie," Patton whispered. "Wylan needs help. Not more work."

"We can't rest until Corruption is gone," Roman said.

"Wylan has been through more than any of us.  He.  Needs.  A.  Break." I argued.

"He's been dealing with the same shit we have," Remy complained, earning himself a glare from Emile.

"He literally had to watch Draven die in front him," Quinn mumbled.

"Okay, everyone needs to stop right now," Emile said. "Lets all just take a deep breath."

"We can't calm down right now," Roman argued.

"Deep breaths," Emile said in a calm voice. "Take a moment."

"We-"

"Have time to take a moment. To think. To help. To heal," Emile said sternly. "Wylan has suffered enough at Corrutpion's hand."

"But-"

"We can't force him to fight if he doesn't want to!" I yelled.

"He needs time to heal, just like the rest of us," Quinn said, moving to stand next to me in front of Wylan's body.

Logan opened his mouth to argue again but a loud ticking noise sounded. We all looked to Wylan in surprise, there's no way he could be starting back up.

But the ticking wasn't coming from Wylan. We looked up to a small shaking shape pretty far from Wylan.

It started glowing blue before quickly flying across to Wylan. His heart. It slammed back into his chest.

With a deep breath, Wylan's key started back up. He stayed facing away from us but he obviously started crying again.

"Thank you Virgil. Thank you Quinn. Thank you Emile. Thank you Patton," Wylan mumbled. "I know that I'm a bitch. I'm sorry for dragging you all out here. I told you to leave me alone."

"Have you...have you been awake the entire time?" Roman asked sheepishly.

"I'm still conscious if I take out my heart," Wylan mumbled.

"We're sorry," I mumbled. I grabbed Quinn's hand and we sat down next to Wylan.

"It's fine,"  He whispered. 

"It's obviously not,"  Quinn said gently. 

Evan walked over quickly, I barely even heard him.  He sat down next to me, his skirt billowing out around his legs. 

He gently took his flower crown off and laid it on Wylan's head.  He didn't say anything, but we all understood. 

"We'll give you guys some space,"  Emile said, pushing everyone away. 

"But at least be back in an hour so we know your okay!"  Patton yelled as Emile dragged him away.  I smiled to them all before turning back to Wylan.

"I'm sorry,"  Wylan repeated.  "I just thought things would be better if you all forgot about me."

"No one deserves to disappear,"  Evan said, the first thing he's spoken since whatever happened to him when Ignorance and Jealousy did whatever they did to him. 

"We all need to heal,"  Quinn mumbled.

"We have time,"  I told them all. 

I pressed up against Wylan.  Evan leaned against my back, resting his head on Wylan's side.  I looked up at Quinn, holding an arm open.  Quinn laid down, resting his head on my lap. 

"We have time to heal,"  I said. 

We spent the next hour or so talking.  Talking through all our trauma.  Wylan told us everything about his relationship with Corruption.  Quinn actually opened up about his time with Corruption.  I talk about mine.  Evan told us about what happened to him.

There were lots of tears.  But also lots of healing.