Roman's P.O.V.
It was Valentine's Day of 2019, and everyone was ecstatic. Sure, it wasn't the first Valentines Day that we'd ever had. But—considering that we completely forgot the ever so romantic value of February 14 in 2018 because Camille had night terrors the night before, Virgil had multiple attacks, Thomas was more busy with us and his friends than anything else, and of course, the events at Stoneman Douglas High School—we were hoping to make up for every singular moment of romance we had ever missed. For once, even Virgil and Logan were anticipating the day. A week prior to the day, Patton and suggested we throw a party to celebrate.

"Let's all take a vote," Logan said after the eight of us Sides debated the idea for a couple minutes. "All in favor of throwing a party, raise your hand." Patton, Milly, Camille, Anthony, Owen, and I all raised our hands, outnumbering Logan and Virgil's nay vote 6-2. Virgil sighed, placing his head in his hands, and Logan crossed his arms.

"Oh," I said. "We can't just throw a party at someone's house when not all the residents are okay with it!" I said. "I do think we should throw a party, but how about we have it in my castle rather than here? That way, anyone who needs to leave or doesn't want to go isn't forced into anything."

"That's sounds like a great plan!" Patton said happily, a proud look on his face. "What do you think guys?" Everyone nodded in agreement to the idea. I spent the next few days in my kingdom making arrangements for the Valentines Day party and making sure the word spread to every civilian in the kingdom.

Milly spent the entire day before decorating the ballroom of my castle with Valentines decorations. Logan was there to make sure everything she did  was doable, Virgil was there to give constructive criticism and check to see that the decor was harmless, and I was there to oversee the decorations and give some more ideas. When Milly arrived that day—she was there before and after Logan, Virgil, and I—the sun was not even up yet, but when she left the sun had already set. But her long and hard efforts certainly were not for nothing.

The ballroom was decorated in red, pink, purple, and black, the black being Virgil's suggestion. Now that I think of it, he was probably joking when he said, "Add in some black 'cause hey, some people are gonna be alone on Valentines Day." Still, the dark color looked perfect when blended in with the other brighter colors.

Crepe streamers were hanging from the ceiling, draped from wall to wall loosely. The chandelier had plastic hearts hanging from it, ranging in color and design from red and sparkly to rainbow and shiny. The tables lining the walls were decorated with red tablecloths and colorful bouquets in glass vases.

"The ballroom is absolutely beautiful!" I told Milly when she called me back to see the finished product. "This party is going to be one of the best ones I've ever thrown, thanks to you and these decorations."

"Aw, thanks Ro." Milly said. "Anything else you think I should add?"

"No," I answered. "Let's just go on home so you can rest-I'm sure you're tired, right?" Milly nodded, grabbing my hand and teleporting us to the house. We were greeted by the other six Sides, then she disappeared upstairs, not even eating dinner. It wasn't the first time she had skipped a meal or left to her room; she did this all the time, and she still does, but she was doing this almost every night at the time. I mentioned this to Patton after dinner.

"Patton," I said after he brought me to his room to ensure the conversation was private. "Haven't you noticed that Milly's been a little more distant lately?" Patton thought for a moment, nodding slowly.

"Well," he said. "She's a teenager now, and she might just want some space, some time to herself. I really don't think you need to be so worried. But, if you're really concerned, I think Virgil's the best person to talk to, since he spends more time with Milly than anyone else."

"Thanks, Patton." I said, patting his shoulder and leaving to find Virgil. He was, of course, in his room. I knocked on his door, hearing shuffling for a couple seconds before he opened the door just enough to peak out.

"Oh, hey, Roman," he said. "What is it?"

"Oh, um, I was wondering if I could talk to you." I said. Virgil nodded and opened his door wide enough to let me in. I stepped in and he closed it behind me, leading me to sit on his bed.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked, sitting on his bed cross-legged.

"Milly," I said. "She's been skipping dinner almost every night, and she's spending more time in her room everyday. I'm worried about her, Virge, I feel like something's wrong." Virgil smiled, but whether it was a grin or a sad smile I don't know.

"Roman, you're starting to sound like Patton. Look, she just wants some time alone. She's got things on her mind, a lot of things, but she's fine." I smiled, grabbing Virgil's hand.

"Thank you, darling." I leaned over and kissed him on his cheek, then stood to leave. Virgil waved goodbye as I left to go to my own room. As I walked through the hallway, I stopped to think for a moment. Despite Patton and even Virgil saying that there was nothing to worry about, I just couldn't help but think that there was something to worry about. Not even just about Milly, but about something else, something I couldn't quite put my finger on. I knew there was something wrong.

Camille's P.O.V.
I frowned as Milly left for her room without a single word. I knew she must have been tired, but not even a single word. There's got to be something wrong, I thought to myself. Within a matter of minutes, I was alone at the table, everyone having left to go do their own things. So, I went upstairs to go see Milly. I knocked on her shamrock green door, not surprised when at first she didn't answer it. I knocked on the door a little louder, and there were some shuffling noises inside the room, followed by a loud thud.

"Come in!" Milly yelled from behind the door. I opened it, seeing Milly on the ground tangled in a pile of jeans and T-shirts. I tried my best to contain my laugh as I rushed over to help Milly up.

"What happened?" I asked, helping her untangle herself from a pair of ripped up jeans that had made the entanglement much worse.

"Well," she said, also appearing to hold back a laugh. "I tried to throw some more clothes on, but I tripped and pulled out a couple drawers, and here we are." We finally managed to get her out of the jeans she was stuck in, and I found myself staring at her.

I should quickly mention, before I continue, that secondary Sides-Sides that their creator made and was not born with-have to grow up from whatever age they're created to look like. But, they have to catch up with their creator. What Milly, Owen, Anthony, and I agreed on was that we aged about one year's worth every two months. So, around Valentines Day of 2019, we counted Owen and as sixteen, Anthony and I as seventeen, and Milly as eighteen.

Anyway, yes, I found myself staring at Milly, who was visibly only wearing a sports bra and shorts, and she stared back at me. We both blushed and laughed with embarrassment a few seconds later, and Milly carefully put on a pair of jeans and a shirt.

"So, uh.." she said awkwardly. "Did you need something?"

"Oh, no," I said. "No, I just wanted to talk to you. I can leave if y-"

"No, that's fine, we can talk. Come, sit down." Milly quickly rushed me to the corner of her room with a plush green rug on the floor and an assortment of pillows lining the walls.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked once we were sitting down.

"You," I said. "You've got me worried, and I think you've got Roman worried too."

"Why?"

"You've been skipping meals, spending a lot of time alone, and it's got us wondering. Is there something wrong? Are you alright?" Milly sighed, looking down at the rug for a moment.

"I'm fine, I've just got a lot on my mind. I'm skipping meals and spending more time alone so I can get more work done, that's all."

"What are you working on?"

"Um, a couple things, I guess." She looked down again. "I don't know, it's kinda like I got artist's block or something. I've been working on some really important stuff, but I just can't get anywhere. I mean, I am literally an embodiment of art and creation, how can I getting artist's block? Am I even me if I can't make art?" Her fists were balled up tightly, her knuckles white. I couldn't tell if she was about to cry or punch something, but she looked like she was about to break down either way. So, I wrapped my left arm around her and put my right hand over her fists.

Quickly, Milly seemed to almost melt into relaxation. She unclenched her fists and leaned her head against my shoulder. I froze, suddenly feeling somehow both comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. After sitting there with Milly for a few minutes, I felt her head grow heavy on my shoulder. I turned slightly and saw that she had fallen asleep. I panicked, wondering if I should take her to her bed and leave or just not move. But, as I looked at her peacefully sleeping face, my own eyelids began to feel heavy. Suddenly, I found myself falling asleep.

Milly's P.O.V.
My eyes fluttered open slowly, but I quickly noticed the arm around me. Camille, I thought, I fell asleep on Camille. My heart rate began to soar as I realized that Camille was also asleep. Panicking, I checked the time on the clock on the wall: 1:19am. The only ones that could be awake now are Virgil and Logan... I'll risk it.

I wriggled out of Camille's arms and picked her up bridal style. Then I carried her down the hallway to her room, trying as hard as I could to not wake her up or make any noise. I finally got made it into her room and sat her down on her bed, taking off her hot pink glasses and sitting them on her bedside table. Carefully, I pulled the covers up over her and tucked her in as if I were Patton.

"Goodnight, Camy." I whispered as I left her room. As I snuck back to my room, I noticed something I didn't see when I went to put Camille in her bed: Virgil's door was propped ever so slightly open, letting out a little light from his room.  Maybe, just maybe, I thought, Virgil's asleep and just forgot to close his door and turn off his light, and he didn't notice me sneaking around. That thought was quickly shut down, as I remembered that Virgil had to have his door closed to sleep.

"Kid?" said a quiet voice behind me. I jumped at the sudden voice, but quickly turned around and realized it was Virgil. "What are you doing out here at.." He checked the time on his watch. "1:23 in the morning?"

"Oh, um, I was taking Camille back to her room since she fell asleep in mine last night. What are you doing out here?"

"Getting some water." he replied, showing me the bottle of water in his hand. "Go on and get back to bed, kid, skipping sleep is me and Logan's job." Virgil waved and walked past me to his room, shutting the door behind him. But, only a few seconds later, the door opened again and out stepped Virgil.

"Hey, kid, I forgot, there's something I need to ask you real quick." I nodded and walked over to Virgil. He brought me inside and turned to face me.

"Roman's really worried about you, Milly." he said. "He came to talk to me about it a couple hours ago, said he was worried about you skipping meals and spending time alone. I told him nothing's wrong, but, honestly Milly, is something wrong?" I hesitated to answer, not willing to tell even him about what was really going on.

"Artist's block," I said, being sure to keep my lies simple and consistent. "It's keeping me from getting work done, or being satisfied with anything I do. I've also got a lot of things on my mind.. I don't know, I guess I'm just feeling confused about everything."

"Well, you certainly are still doing a great job at making art. I mean, the decorations you put up in the ballroom are awesome. Besides, you are Art, you'll always be good at art, even if you don't feel like it. So, what kind of things do you have on your mind?"

"P-Personal things..." The look Virgil gave me told me that he wasn't satisfied with my answer, but he didn't question me about it. Instead, he just said, "Alright then, kid, you can go on back to your room. But remember: if you really need to talk to someone, you've got me, and Roman, and Patton, and Thomas, and a whole bunch of other people that could help you. Night, Milly."

"Night, Virge." I said with a smile as I left his room and went back to my own. When I reached my room I jumped onto my bed and snapped my handmade nightlight on, projecting stars onto my ceiling. As I began to fall asleep, a creeping a thought made its way into my brain. It was the same thoughts that had haunted me, pushed me away from my family, hidden me in my room, forced me to lie, and shoved down my feelings. It was the faded, echoing, distant sound of a memory. The shaking, fearful, warning voice of Rossane.

A.N.
Hola everyone! Man, it's been a while, and I'm so excited for you guys to read this book. Glad to have you all here again and I'll see you in the next part. Adiós guys, gals, and non-binary pals.