When Virgil was five he realized he had a telepathic link with someone else, he could hear a voice in his head and they were a kind person who made him smile. Virgil talked with that person almost every day, quickly learning that his name was Logan. Virgil knew they would be best friends forever.

When Virgil was nine he realized he could pretty much control what Logan heard and what Logan didn't. They had been close and had been talking for so long that Virgil assumed that Logan could hear everything happening around him. It didn't quite work that way unless Virgil wanted it to. So, at the age of nine, Virgil started restricting what he said and sent to Logan, not wanting him to worry, not wanting him to understand what was going on.

When Virgil was thirteen, he had his first panic attack. Logan had noticed his distance and had questioned him on it. Virgil had already been on edge from the bullying at school and the constant yelling at home. Logan's question had pushed him over an edge he didn't know that he had. When he woke up at 4 am after passing out, only silence greeted him.

By the age of seventeen, Virgil had stopped communicating with his soulmate, not completely but he might as well have. Logan would still speak to him, talk about his day, his classes but Virgil had taken to only responding with memes or something similar. He was too afraid to let his soulmate really know him, too nervous to think that Logan would still put up with him if he knew about the anxiety, and the neglect, and the relocation. Virgil had moved in with his gay uncles after his parents passed away. It was a gruesome affair and Virgil didn't like talking about it.

When Virgil was twenty-three, he finally spoke something directly to Logan. It had been so many years but Logan never gave up talking to him. He started with a short sentence but a powerful one.

'I want to meet you.'

Logan had been there for him, even when he didn't want to talk to him, even when Virgil responded in ways that are confusing, Logan was still there.

The response was almost immediate. 'We do not know where each other lives, but I would appreciate meeting with you as well. I live in Orlando, Florida, is that near where you live?'

'Yeah, it is.'

'Would the coffee shop on 4th street be adequate?'

'Sure, tomorrow?'

'I can make it at eleven at the earliest.'

'Okay,' Virgil wasn't sure what else to say but he could already feel his nerves getting to him so he just stopped the connection. He could talk to Logan tomorrow, for now he needed to prepare himself.

Despite knowing that it was coming Virgil had been extremely nervous the entire night. He was exhausted by the time he needed to get ready. He tried to look like less of a mess but eventually gave up and began walking to the coffee store. "Dads, I'll be back later." He called, shoving his hands in his pockets.

The walk to the coffee shop felt longer than it actually was and he was thankful when he found a booth off to the side that he could curl up into.

'I am here in the back booth, black and purple hoodie.'

It took a while for anything to happen, or maybe that was just Virgil's inability to understand time. Finally, a tall man walked up to him, frame slender with dark black hair.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to intrude, but are you, Virgil?"

"Yeah, um, Logan."

"Yes, um, wait a moment, I have a card for this." Logan pulled out a stack of note cards. He flipped through them until he found one. "Are you good fam?"

Virgil was stunned, staring at Logan before he burst out laughing. "What was that?"

"Ah, well, there was a time where you communicated in a very strange way, I have been attempting to learn the meaning of these 'memes' in order to help myself communicate better. Did I use the wrong one?"

"No..." Virgil said with a laugh. "No, you did a great job. Come sit down." That one interaction had calmed Virgil down quite a bit. He still felt the nervous energy pulling through him, but he felt a lot better.

AN: One story left.