(Picture is not mine)
Lamp
Human Au

Ages:
Logan: 21
Patton and Virgil: 22 (Patt's 3 months older)
Roman and Remus: 23
Rose: 45
Ria: 47
Emile: 16
Tanner : 50
Silvia: 42
Anna: 6
Erik: 55

TW: Mention of being kicked out, strong language, mentions of neglecting, mentions of alcohol, passing out, mentions of rape, terrible writing, perceived but not actual incest that is not continued until it is cleared up, panic attack

Mind this: I write the attack like mine are.

🕷Virgil's Third Person POV🕷

Virgil shook his hair into his face just slightly and rubbed down the lapels of his plain black suit jacket.

Maybe I'd look better without it after all. Virgil thought as he swung the jacket off and threw it on the bed.

Virgil could now fully see his purple plaid dress shirt, the first few buttons of which were undone. Dark grey suspenders that had a stripe of dark purple down the middle connected to black dress pants. Black dress shoes, black eyeshadow layered under his eyes, and a dark purple choker with a crescent moon charm competed the look.

Logan had gotten it for him as a please-be-our-boyfriend thing.

Virgil heard the door open and Patton's bubbly voice faintly coming from the living room. He sighed discontentedly, and with one last look at himself in the body-length mirror by his bed, he left the room.

You see, Virgil's three boyfriends had somehow roped him into a dinner with all of their families. With no family to come support him because of... problems in his past, he was going into this highly social Thanksgiving dinner, that they all had helped cook, with nothing and no one to speak of.

Many a panic attack, a hard, yet vague, conversation with his boyfriends that (thankfully) didn't include his familial past, and weeks of planning all led up to this point.

Virgil stepped in to the living room, regretting every choice that had led him to this outcome, as his eyes scanned the room.

Hugging Patton's leg was a child that couldn't have been more than 6 and wore a dark green dress, a lighter green bow tied in the back, and bright pink tennis shoes. She had chocolate brown eyes, tan skin, blonde hair, and a spattering of freckles, nothing like her older brothers. She looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place it. Whatever.

In front of Patton was a teenager that looked just as bubbly as the former. He wore a light brown vest and pink tie that had a pin saying 'he/him' stuck in the middle of it. He wore dark brown dress pants and black dress shoes. His fluffy black hair was just as messy as Patton's, and his chestnut skin was just a smidge lighter than Patton's. He had green eyes with brown flecks, which differed from Patton's baby blue ones. Other than that though, they were basically carbon copies.

And then- Virgil's heart almost stopped, and a huge wave of anxiety crashed over him, rooting him to the spot and taking his breath.

Because in front of him stood the two people he hated most and had wished with all his heart never to see again. But wishes never really cone true, do they?

The two in question were Silvia and Tanner, his blood mother and her bastard boyfriend. Though, judging from the intricate rings adorning their fingers, he assumed they had completed the process.

Tears clouded Virgil's vision, but he quickly brushed them out of his eyes just as Patton noticed him.

"Hey Virgie!" He said, coming over and giving him a quick peck on the cheek, somehow failing to notice his panic.

"A little help here?!" Roman called as he struggled with some boxes outside, his voice filtering through there half open door. Logan was off to the left speaking with who Virgil assumed was his father.

"Sure thing kiddo! You guys mind coming?" He asked as he turned to the younger boy. He nodded, and the two started to head towards the door, the little girl bouncing along behind them. "Why don't you three introduce yourselves?" Patton called as he stepped outside and shut the door.

So there Virgil was, staring down his 'parents' who looked just as confused to see him. Virgil scowled, dawning his usual defensive attitude.

With as much sass as he could muster he said, "Well? Is there a particular reason you've decided to cone and run my good mood?"

"You little brat!" Tanner exclaimed, angry already. No surprise there.

"Tanner is Patton's father. I'm his step-mom. We're here for him." Silvia said, before the boys coulda taken anything else. "He's been talking about this nonstop. He's so excited. You wouldn't want to ruin that for him, would you?"

Silvia was right, as much as Virgil hated it. Patton had been so truly happy this past month, since it had been planned. He couldn't do that to Patton. Couldn't ruin the day for him.

But seriously, Silvia saying that was like Zeus lecturing people for rape. Burning anger filled him suddenly.

"That's rich, coming fro-!" Virgil stopped himself, taking a deep breath. His expression quickly changed from indignation to calm annoyance. "Fine. I'm going to pretend I don't know either of you then. You're going to do the same. I will tolerate you. But don't test me." Virgil said, then walked to the door and let himself out to help his boyfriends, not allowing room for arguing.

"Oh, hey Virgil!" Patton called. "What was the yelling by about?"

"Oh, um... Ta- your dad was just joking around a bit about football..." Virgil said, hoping that Tanner's attitude toward the sport hadn't changed in the past nine years.

I'm just gonna pretend that Virgil, Silvia, and Tanner are the oblivious ones here, not threat I'm too lazy to change it as it'd f*ck up the whole story. Continue.

"Oh, okay!" Patton said, and Virgil breathed a sigh of relief.

"Virge! Come meet my family!" Roman called, and Virgil walked over to him. Once there, he let Roman rest his arms around V's shoulder and gave a faint smile, mumbling a hello. Roman wrote it off to his anxiety.

He was introduced to Roman's two mothers, Rose and Ria, in a figure hugging yellow dress and a white suit respectively.

Ria had tanned skin and short, dark brown hair, and a mischievous glint seemed to forever rest in her black eyes. He noted these little details to try and ground himself. Keep from having a panic attack. Keep from crying.

Rose, on the other hand, had long black hair, pale skin, and brown eyes. Neither of them looked anything like their sons.

Speaking of, the other son was Roman's twin, Remus. He wore a low cut green shirt, black booty shorts, fishnet stockings, and black boots. His skin was just a smidge paler than Roman's tanned complexion. Both had freckles spattered across their nose and cheeks, blond hair, and sea green eyes. Remus' hair was much messier though, and a mustache rested above his lips. His eyes and mouth gave off a mischievous, almost perverted, look. It would normally put Virgil off, but he could barely keep his breathing in check now. He didn't have the energy to be disgusted.

Before they could make much conversation, Patton whisked him off to officially meet his siblings. The tiny one was named Anna, and the other was Emile; who was apparently an aspiring therapist. Tanner and Silvia has come outside at some point, and we're hanging back slightly.

Lastly, Virgil was brought to meet Logan's father.

The man in question, Erik, was a stern faced man with his piercing stormy blue eyes similar to Logan's and multitude of frown lines. Seriously, if you stretched them all out, they'd be a mile long. He had salt and pepper hair that was shaved close to his head. He wore a full black suit, dark orange petticoat, and tie combination, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. His words swam in Virgil's ears, and he just nodded a bit.

A few minutes later, they were at the table inside and Virgil was in between Roman and Logan. Roman had his arm around Virgil's waist, and Logan was holding his hand. Though, he didn't really know how he'd gotten there. The good news was that his vision wasn't swimming anymore and he could hear what was going on around him a bit better. He latched on to Logan's voice, letting it echo in his head as he tried to keep from shaking.

Logan was saying something about how they all had met. He'd met Ro at a bar, and Ro and Patt had been childhood friends that had always had secret crushes on each other. He and Patton had met Virgil at a study group int he community college, and somewhere along the lines they'd all started dating and moved in together.

The story calmed Virgil a bit more, and his breathing slowed. Throughout the next hour or so he learned all about how Rose and Ris had met, and fell in love, and how when they went to get one child from the adoption center, then came out with two because they couldn't bare to separate the brothers. But they were really little at the time, and only neither really remembered.

Virgil found it strange that they didn't talk about Remus as much, and that Ria sometimes made jokes about Roman being the better twin, but he was still fighting a panic attack, and the thought was pushed from his mind by another wave of anxiety.

Logan's dad, however had been arranged to marry his mother. Lo's mom accidentally got pregnant with him many many years later and died while giving birth. Erik had tried his best to take care of Logan, and for him that meant becoming CEO of a software company, moving to a mansion, and hiring a nanny. Didn't really spend much time with his son until he retired a few years ago, but by that time Logan was off to college. Erik said it was a regret of his, but it didn't show on his face.

They talked about this and that for a while while they picked at the last of their food, until Ria mentioned that they had yet to hear about Patton's family. Virgil's head immediately snapped to Tanner and Silvia, the former of which had been drinking way too much and was already thouroughly drunk. Silvia just looked sad.

She covered it with a smile, laughed a bit, and began to explain how they met. On a bus. He missed it, she saw him running and told the bus driver to stop, he got on, heard what happened, and they exchanged numbers. Love grew. He already had two children, and she married into the happy family. They had Anna a few years later.

She conveniently forgot to mention anything about Virgil's existence. That's what he'd wanted... right? I mean, it's what he'd asked for, and plus, he hadn't seen her for more years than you could count on one hand. He'd come to terms with it.

So why did it hurt so much?

His train of thought was immediately cut off when Tanner said, with slurred speech, "We're completely happy now. All we had to do was get rid of the little b*tch. Ain't that right, hun?"

Virgil bristled, and anger overrode the panic.

Patton was glancing around nervously and asking what he meant. Everyone else was dumbfounded.

Virgil settled into a state of quite rage and leaned back in his chair. He really spoke up for the first time the entire dinner and patronizingly said, "Yeah, Tanner. What do you mean by that?"

All eyes shifted to Virgil, a smirk playing across his lips and fire in his pale grey eyes.

Silvia shot him a pointed glance before stuttering over an answer. "M-My husband just meant that... while I was married before I met him, just like he was.... and em- The man was a bit abusive-"

That was what did it for Virgil. His dad was by no means abusive. He was the sweetest man you'd ever meet, and Silvia dared to try and disrespect him like that?!

A fiery rage flared up in him and he stood up suddenly, knocking over his chair. His entire body shook with rage, and Virgil had to give everything he had not to go off on Tanner and Silvia, the bastard and his b*tch.

Without saying a word he walked quickly over to the door, pulling it open. He was about to step out when, from the dining room, came "You better run."

Virgil's last straw of self control broke, and he spun around. "Run. Run?! I'm trying to not f*cking strangle both of you!" He stomped back into the dining room, his fists clenched at his sides.

"Come over here and try boy! I bet your just as weak as your father." Tanner said, going to pick his beer back up.

"Dad was not weak!" Tears gathered in his eyes, but Virgil wipes them away. He wouldn't give Tanner the satisfaction. "And how f*cking dare you talk about him like that! You never even met him!"

"Silvia's told me enough." Tanner put an arm around her shoulder, and she smiled uncomfortably.

"Really?! I mean, it wouldn't surprise me now! After all the f*cked up sh*t you've done to me, why not bring him into this too?!"

"I was just trying-" Silvia started.

"To do what?! Forget about us? Kill me like you did Dad? Cause that almost worked. Four f*cking times!"

"I didn't-"

"Yes you f*cking did! Don't even try to deny it! Dad wasn't suicidal!"

"How dare you accuse your mother of something like that!" Tanner had stood up by now.

"Again, she's not my f*cking mother! And she never will be!"

Silvia was crying now. Good.

Patton seemed to snap out of his trance and ran over to Virgil. He stood in front of him and grabbed his hand, pressing it to his chest.

"It's alright. Just follow my breathing." His breathing was erratic, but quickly slowed to a semi-calm rhythm.

"Yeah. Listen to your little boyfriend."

That's it. He shoved Patton out of the way, not hard enough to hurt him mind you, and stalked forward. Before anyone could react, his fist met Tanners face, and the bastard collapsed back into his chair.

Everything was blurry and out of focus, so he didn't notice when Tanner stood and got him in the face until he was on the floor, blood already running from his nose.

Suddenly, arms were around his shoulders, lifting him up and slowly moving him backwards, away from Tanner.

Whoever had him moved around to Virgil's front, grabbing his face and making him look down at them.

They were a pale blob with ink black covering their head.

Someone was yelling. The blob had solidified a bit more, and their mouth was moving.

"-il. -rgil. Virgil!"

He fainted.

.....................................

The first thing he noticed was that he was in a bed under warm, heavy blankets. The second was that none of his boyfriends were with him like they usually were when he woke up.

He gasped, his breathing quickening. He blinked his eyes open and pushed himself up into his hands, pressing against the headboard.

He looked around wildly, but it was too dark to see anything as his eyes hadn't adjusted yet.

"You're awake." Logan. A weight settled on the bed right next to Virgil. His eyes had adjusted enough by now to make out the worried look on his boyfriend's face.

"Hey. Stop worrying. That's my job." Virgil laughed breathily.

"What happened?" Logan asked, then leaned forward and pecked Virgil's nose.

"What do you- oh." The memories of dinner came rushing back. "Yeah, um. I'm sorry. For ruining dinner."

"You have nothing to apologize for. It was not entirely your fault. You had no say over how Tanner acted, and you were quite obviously.... high-strung."

"I do though, Lo. I punched first."

"Yes. That was... unexpected. He was being a 'real jerk' so it is understandable."

Virgil sighed. He guessed he should be grateful Lo didn't hate him. "How long was I out?"

"Only a few hours. I sent Patton and Roman to watch a movie. It would help them calm their nerves, and Roman's pacing was just getting annoying. Would you prefer to see them, or would you like more time?"

"See 'em. I guess I owe you guys an explanation. And I'm really sorry for pushing Patt."  Virgil tried to push himself out of the bed, but Logan stopped him.

"It's alright. I'll get them. I think it's best if you stay here for now. You're most likely still very tired." Logan said and stood up. Virgil's eyes has adjusted entirely now, so he watched Logan walk over to the door and open it. "I'll be right back with them Storm-cloud." He stepped out into the hallway and softly closed the door behind him.

Virgil sighed. What was he supposed to say. 'Oh, hey, Patt apparently your my step-bro- What?!?'

Patton. Was his step-brother. No, no, no, no, no! This was a disaster! He couldn't date his step-brother. Right?

Right. It wasn't right. It was incest. Right? Incest is gross. But he really, really loved Patton.

This wasn't good.

His breathing quickened again and he curled up. The door opened.

The door opened. Why did the door open? What was so important about the door opening?

He couldn't breath. Yes, he could. Barely.

There was a lot of light. Why? Where was is coming from?

Patton hugged him. Patton hugged him. Breathe. In for, what, four? Yeah, four.

Hold for six. No, seven. He tried, but just ended up coughing into his arm.

Patton had released him. Why? Everything was blurry.

"Virgil? Hey, it's okay. Try to count to ten, okay?" Patton wrapped Virgil up again and Virgil did as told, whispering the numbers to himself.

When he got to ten, Patton told him to get to twenty. Then forty. Then seventy, until Virgil was breathing normally and his thoughts had become clearer.

Patton adjusted himself so he was beside Virgil, arms wrapped around the taller boy's waist. Roman sat down on the other side of him, grabbing his hand and leaning into him. Logan was in front of him, holding Roman's hand.

"What happened between you three? Like, before dinner?" Roman asked after a few minutes of silence.

Virgil took a breath, sighing. He knew he's have to answer that. But, Patton. He had to tell him.

Ugh. He hated this. Hated Silvia. Hated Tanner.

He felt that familiar anger bubbling up in him and took a deep breath. Anger had no place here.

"Silvia's my.... my blood mother." He softly unwrapped Patton's arms and pushed him away slightly. "Which makes you my step-brother. I'm so sorry."

Everything was silent. Even the clock in the corner of the room seemed muted, as if noticed the moment.

Then, Logan spoke up. "Well... you're not blood. Correct?"

"Yeah. But what does that have to do with anything?! We're still- sti- s..." Virgil stooped, not being able to get the word out.

"Hey, hey. It's alright, Mi Amor. We'll figure this out." Roman said, taking back his hand from Logan and pressing it against Virgil's face, making the taller look at him.

I just realized I'm making Virgil like that 'i'M BaBy' shit. It's not intentional, but he's had a rough day! And this isn't the kind of situation where you snark. So, I'm sorry. Continue.

Patton had pressed into Logan with tears filling his eyes, and Logan wipes them away as he continued. "You're not blood related. And how strong of a familial connection to you feel towards Silvia and Tanner?"

Virgil quieted and looked at Logan. "I don't. They're both horrible people that can go drown for all I care."

Patton flinched, but Logan went on anyway. "Exactly. So, even if you had met Patton as Tanner's son, would you really consider him a brother?"

"N-no. Probably not." Virgil guessed. Patton had mostly stopped crying at this point and was looking between the two.

"And Patton, were you aware Virgil even existed before meeting him with me? And before today, did you know about him as your kind of step-brother.

Patton shook his head.

Logan smirked a bit. "How did Silvia.... how did you part with her and Tanner, Virgil?"

"... Kicked me out. Silvia told me I wasn't her son anymore as I walked out."

"She disowned you?"

Virgil nodded.

"Then, especially now that you're a legal adult, only blood connects you to her as family, and that is taken out of the equation when it comes to Patton. In most senses, you aren't related at all. Logan looked proud of himself, and Roman was smiling widely.

Patton was sniffling and had a light smile on his face.

Virgil just looked happily dumbfounded.

"That means... we're okay? Right Logie?" Patton asked softly.

"Yes, Patton. We're okay." He responded with a soft smile.

Patton leaned forward and kissed Virgil, pulling back after a few moments, a dopey smile on his face.

"You never really answered my question, y'know. And you totally don't have to, if your not comfortable." Roman, who was basically in Virgil's lap at this point, said.

"No, no. It's... fine. I should." Virgil took a deep breath. "When I was 10, my dad died. The police said he jumped off the apartment building, but he'd seemed so happy beforehand. I was asleep... when it happened."

"You think Silvia pushed him," Virgil looked at Logan in surprise. "You mentioned it when you were yelling at them at dinner."

"Right... Well, I don't know. I was upset, and not being totally rational. But..." He glanced at Patton, who was frowning. "Whatever. I wasn't being rational. Probably not." Roman and Logan glanced at each other, but didn't say anything.

"A couple years later, when I was eleven, she and Tanner met. He came home one night and... well, I never liked him. I thought he was hurting Silvia. We fought a lot. He hit me a couple times. Silvia just let it go.

"She and I started fighting too, because of him. One day, he and I were screaming at each other and he suddenly... He told her to choose. He said both of us couldn't be in her life."

Patton gasped audibly, and Roman squeezes Virgil a bit harder, trying to be comforting, and get comfort (though he'd never admit it.)

Virgil ran his fingers through Roman's hair and continued. "She chose him. Told me they were going out and if I wasn't gone by the time they got back.... She couldn' think of anything and just went to the door. Tanner finished, said he'd kill me if he saw me there ever again."

Patton was crying again at this point, and Roman had gathering tears. Logan looked horrified.

"So I packed up, but I was slow. They got back just as I was on my way out. They were mad. Silvia shouted that I wasn't her son, so why the hell was I at her house. She went inside. Tanner chased me for a while, but I hid in a dumpster and he left.

"A guy named Deceit was managing a craft store and let me work/live there. I went tot community college, and then I met you guys.... Yeah. There's my life story."

No one said anything for a while. Finally, Patton broke the silence by whispering "I'm so sorry. How did I never know?"

"Hey, hey. It's not your fault. I honestly didn't think you existed either. They were good at hiding us, I guess." Virgil rushed to comfort him.

"I guess." Patton whispered.

After a few more minutes of awkward silence,
Roman slipped off the bed, though still maintaining contact with Virgil, and said "Why don't we go watch Disney?"

They all agreed that it was a good idea, and some enough they were all curled up in the couch with a bowl of popcorn. Roman was, of course, snuggling deeply into Virgil, though he was still touching the other two. He had been touch-starved most of his life, as that hadn't really been Ria or Rose's thing, and definitely not Remus'. So, as you can imagine with touch as his main love language, he was a bit clingy.

(Ha, sAmE!)

They fell asleep not long after, Aladdin playing in the background.

...I know that sucked but Heeeyyyy! The story and bolder words in/above it amount to exactly 4130 words.

Longest I've written yet.

I'll go now. Byyyeee!