Generation: Fan
Date: 29. July. 2020
Features: Virgil, Remy, Janus, Logan, Roman, Remus, Patton
Word Count: 1,819
AU: Human; band/group; (slight) youtube; fan
WARNING: Descriptions of a panic attack due to crowded venue
**Lyrics written in this oneshot are written by me, they're not from ana actual song.**

👓👑🌩👔🐍🐙

The energy in the room was palpable. The thrum of excitement and the ever growing din of conversations between groups all over the place sent Virgil's bones rattling; but he held steadfast. Mostly. A worried glance to his left showed him that Remy still stood beside him, and that he wasn't completely alone. Granted, this was such a silly thing to be freaking out over- especially when one considers the popularity Virgil himself has under a pseudonym.

Parts of a Whole- or POW! as their fans liked to call them- was a five member group that was crazy diverse in both talent and personality. Virgil- and Remy- were fans of the group from the moment they debuted. Sure, they technically weren't debuted yet; rather, their company had given them a soft debut. (More or less, they were trying the waters to see where the group fit best before the official debut of the group.) Remy had discovered the group because he had found Janus- the lead guitarist/vocalist- on instagram (of all places), and decided his aesthetic was worthy of a follow. Nearly a year later, and Janus started posting in regards to Parts of a Whole and their upcoming debut.

Virgil had overheard Janus singing a line or two when Remy was playing an instagram story and immediately was intrigued, spending far more time than he cared to admit researching the upcoming group and its members. If asked for an opinion on the group, he had plenty; so he was excited when the group announced this small meet and greet in his home town. Then again, maybe "small" wouldn't be the best way to describe this gathering. They weren't terribly far from the table now- maybe five people ahead of them? That; however, did not stop Virgil's growing panic. Especially as the person behind him bumped into him.

Well, this was something he had hoped to avoid.

It wasn't even a minute after that slight bump that Virgil was overwhelmed. The noise, the lights, the crowd it was all too much. As he curdled into a crouched position, arms around his legs, it was all he could do to force out, "Rem-!"

Everything simultaneously became too loud and too quiet as Virgil felt like his head was shoved under water. The sensations of sound almost a foreign concept to the pressure in his ears, and his eyes slammed shut. His spacial awareness dropped down to zero as he he gasped and struggled to get air into his lungs.

The next thing he was aware of was someone singing. It took him a few moments to make out the words, but while his brain tried to process what it was hearing in the background, his other senses slowly started coming back to him as well. His feet were no longer on the ground- he was definitely lying flat on his back- and he felt some sort of sheet under his fingertips. The lighting wasn't as harsh anymore, but it was still fairly bright if the shadows playing on his eyelids were any indication. A slow inhale through his nose revealed that too-clean scent associated with hospitals and infirmary wings. So he must have passed out and-

Now he could make out the lyrics that were being sung. It was the song Parts of a Whole demoed on the members' social media pages. Ghostly Heart, it was a pop ballad song. The lyrics were haunting when analyzed, but the rhythm and energy behind the song were so pure that it made the pop ballad an instant hit with the following the individual members had on social media.

The singing voice trailed off toward the end of the final chorus and Virgil couldn't help himself as he found his voice and quietly added in the last line of the chorus,

"The me I lost when you walked away,
The you I always wished would stay.
The love I reached for and tried to keep,
You break me down until there's nothing left...
There's nothing left...
I've nothing left...
Nothing's left of me..."

"Virgil!" Remy's voice rattled in his ears slightly, causing him to wince before finally slowly peeking open one eye.

"Remy...?" His breath caught as he saw not one or two figures- but at least 6 or 7. The math didn't add up at first because it was definitely only Remy that he came with, and if he passed out he thought only one other person (doctor or nurse) would be there in the room not five or six people. Blinking a few times to clear his vision, he immediately connected the dots, "Oh Sh-"

"Snickerdoodles are delicious! Does anyone want some?" Patton called out, holding out a container of cookies as he purposely covered the curse that was coming from Virgil.

"I just... I..." Virgil continued stumbling over words, unable to form a coherent thought as he realized he just sang their own song in front of them! When words failed him still, he settled on a sound that emphasized his confusion as his pitch raised in tonality to form an almost inquisitive sound.

"Virgil wants to know A) why are you all here, and B) did you all hear him just now," Remy stepped forward and clarified, to which Virgil gave a slight nod, "I can answer B with a clear-cut yeah, babes, we all heard you. Would someone else like to answer A?"

There was an exchange of glances before Logan stepped forward, adjusting his glasses, "As for why we all are here, it isn't everyday that you have a fan pass out at your first home-state meet and greet. Granted, you have been in here for," Logan paused to glance at the watch on his wrist, "Just shy of three hours."

"Correct! We all wanted to make sure you were fine and dandy after such an incident, and still give you a chance to meet us!" Roman cut in, only to have Remus push forward immediately after.

"Little did we know you would treat us to a treat! Where'd you get those pipes little organ?"

Janus rolled his eyes and placed his own hand over Remus' mouth, "He means to ask where'd you learn to sing like that?"

"Yeah, kiddo! You're really good!" Patton added.

This was very surprising to Virgil and his wide eyes turn to Remy for assistance. His friend lowered his sunglasses to meet his gaze before letting out a heavy sigh, "Virge here is very shy," Remy started, crossing his arms over his chest as he tried to put up his best tough exterior (knowing it brought a sense of security to his best friend that he had someone so steadfast beside him), "He has always been a good singer, but he doesn't like singing in front of other people when they can see who is singing."

The group members immediately started talking over one another in curiosity, trying to understand what Remy meant it only took a shared look between the friends before Virgil spoke again. His voice quiet in the otherwise loud room.

"You can tell them."

"You sure, hon?"

Virgil hesitated, looking at the group, "Swear to secrecy?"

Remy turned to the group, "Well, do you guys swear that what I'm about to share with you stays between us?" Receiving five confirmations, Remy nods and pulls his phone from his pocket. A few taps on his screen later, he passes the device to Logan and presses play on the screen.

Within moments Virgil's singing filled the room once more. Only now it came from a youtube video that was all too familiar to the group. It was the most popular cover of Ghostly Heart. The youtuber in question was never seen without their notorious purple mask and went by the username "Lavender Storm."

"Well, dang! Why would you be at our meet and greet? We should be at yours!" Roman exclaimed, turning to Virgil once more, "If it wasn't for your channel, some of us may not have given this thing a chance!"

"Wh-what?"

Janus nodded in affirmation, "It's true, I've been following Lavender Storm on youtube since before we even discussed becoming a group. Your covers and originals were so inspiring, it gave me the push forward to accept the group proposal when Logan and Roman approached me with it!"

"Yeah!" Patton hopped in, grinning as wide as he could, "We actually always watch your new uploads together too! Can you imagine how thrilled we were to hear you cover our song?"

"This is true, and statistically, you have a much larger following than we do at present."

"That can't be true-"

"It is, emo! Our channel is at 1.2 million! Lavender Storm is at 4.5 million! I may not be the brains of this operation but 4 is definitely greater than 1!" Remus interjected, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Oh my Disney! What if- only if you're comfortable of course- we did a collab! We could do something for your channel and we could work on a song for our group! We could even make it a charity drive song!" Roman exclaimed looking to Virgil with hope in his eyes as he gently took the other's hand between both of his, "What do you say? Will you think about it?"

"A charity drive song could be a good idea," Logan added to back up Roman's sudden tangent.

"I... can think about it? I'm not sure I'd be the best fit though..."

Patton seemed upset by Virgil's word choice though, "Nonsense! You'd be the perfect fit! I don't think there's anyone better to work with Parts of a Whole than the very person that inspired us to begin with!"

Virgil glanced to Remy for his input,but for all he was worth, Remy couldn't answer this one for him. They both knew that. This was Virgil's decision alone to make.

"Which one is in charge of the majority of your songwriting?" Virgil finally acquiesced.

"That would be Roman, Janus and myself; depending on song genres."

A soft hum from Virgil later, he pulled his hand from Roman's grasp and pointed to Logan, "Phone."

Receiving Logan's phone, he took the device and immediately opened the text messages and created a group. Grateful he assumed correct in that Logan would be the easiest contact list to navigate. Adding the band members to a group, he finished the list by typing in his number and sending a message to the group stating simply to "add the unlisted number -Virgil."

Passing the phone back to Logan, Virgil watched as all five added him to their phone contact list and spoke once more, "I won't share your numbers, and you won't share mine, deal?"

Maybe passing out wasn't the worst thing to happen, especially if the six of then could produce something amazing from this whole event.