It was doing it again. His brain was being an asshole and telling him lies about the others. 

Roman doesn't care.

Logan doesn't feel.

Deceit doesn't want him. 

Remus wants him dead.

Patton doesn't love him. 

He feels his heart break with each phrase his mind taunted him with and grabs his fluffy blanket from the Crisis Carpet. Virgil marches out and grabs Roman by the arm, dragging him to the couch.

"My Chemically Imbalanced Romance, may I ask what it is we are doing?" 

"Give me the oxytocin, bitch." He tackles him to the cushions and lies on Roman's chest. 

Roman chuckles and shifts to get comfortable, wrapping a blanket over Virgil while a movie plays in the background. His hand cards soothingly through Virgil's hair and elicits happy noises from the emo nightmare cuddled up to his chest. 

Roman doesn't care how much time he spent with Virgil. He loves every second of it. 

A few days later, Virgil sneaks into Logan's room during an argument between the twins and sits on the floor next to Logan's chair, leaning his head against his thigh. Absentmindedly, Logan started playing with his hair to calm his shaking and when Virgil tapped his lap, he passed him a rubix cube to play with. The soft clicking of the puzzle's mechanics and the colors gave Virgil something to focus on, even if he wasn't trying to solve it. 

Logan doesn't feel panic like Virgil, but he'll help him through the attacks in his own way. He'll gladly be his peace amidst the chaos.

Virgil didn't leave the dark sides on a good note and it was a surprise to both when he cozies up to Deceit under his cape with the excuse of 'I was cold...' 

Sensing the lie, Deceit brought out a 'quiet' game of Uno for the two to play and smiles when he sees Virgil's eyes light up at the familiar, bent cards they had used for years before he left. The duo talks like they had never left each other, after an awkward first few rounds, and their bond slowly starts to heal. 

Deceit doesn't want him on the other side of their broken relationship. He wants to make up and rekindle their friendship. 

After spending some time with Deceit, Virgil paid a visit to Remus' tower in the Imagination with a small book tucked under his arm. He was allowed in, and climbed up the steps to immediately be attacked with a hug at the top. The same process that occurred with Deceit, happened with Remus but this time they were reading dark jokes out of the little book. 

Remus wants Virgil dead from laughter, and would fight anyone who tried to take that smile away. 

It was a while before Virgil was caught stress-baking in the kitchen. Patton had walked out bleary-eyed and rubbing his glasses when he stopped and watched Virgil mix brownie batter intensely. The father figure recognized the wide eyes and pale hands as symptoms of Virgil's stress and quietly corrected his technique with gentle hands. 

"Like this. It's faster and will let you mix the batter more evenly." 

The soft voice helped relieve Virgil and soon, the two were giggling on the couch while the brownies cooled on a rack. 

Patton doesn't love Virgil as much as Virgil loves Pat. 

This was his famILY and Virgil was grateful for them all, despite their ways of expressing their affections. From Logan's passive and contradictory mean to Remus' very open and honest approach, Virgil could see they all loved him, and he loved them. He just hoped they could see it as much as he could see theirs.