Gentle chords drifted through the empty house as Virgil strummed his guitar. His eyes were closed and a feeling of serenity had fallen upon him from the moment he picked up the instrument. The darkly dressed junior in high school did this often in the early hours of the morning before the sun rose. His parents, who worked out of town during the week, weren't home, so nothing was around to stop him from playing other than his alarm clock.

His deep brown eyes fluttered open upon hearing its familiar chime, frowning as he leaned over to turn it off. Sighing, he reluctantly put away his guitar, silently wishing that he didn't have to return to the concrete structure of literal hell known as school.

Virgil didn't expect to stay in high school for much longer, or at least hoped he wouldn't. He was a writer, a lyricist. Inspired by great artists like Brendon Urie and Ryan Ross of Panic! At The Disco, Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, and Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, he created stories of fantasy out of his real experiences with the world. His lyrics bordered the line between concerning and relatable while whisking the listener away into his fictional worlds and sharing his secrets behind the cover of the catchy melody and collection of instruments. With parents who'd been neglecting him since he reached middle school, Virgil used his lyrics and music to do everything they failed to do. It was a comfort device, a coping mechanism, a free therapy session in some cases, and no one even had to be around for it to help him; then he'd show the completed lyrics he thought were good enough to be songs to his three bandmates who assisted him with creating instrumental around them.

He smiled a little to himself as he thought about them, thankful to have supportive friends in his life if he couldn't have supportive parents. Picking up his backpack, he sighed again as he began his trek to school.

With an extreme case of anxiety, he wasn't comfortable with riding the bus and he didn't want to burden his friends with the task of driving him if he could help it, so walking was his primary mode of transportation. He didn't mind it so much either; it gave him a chance to put on his headphones, turn up the volume of his favorite songs, and just let his legs take him to wherever he was headed while his mind wandered elsewhere.

After an entire two years of doing this, Virgil began to realize something strange about it. He seemed to fall into a trance, where he wasn't aware of what was around him. He just walked, and continued to walk, not truly noticing or acknowledging if people were around. The only way he could be broken from his trance was for someone to touch him, which he never really liked. However, there was a friend of his who liked to do that often.

"Morning Virgil!"

He flinched as a sudden hand landed on his shoulder, head whipping in the direction of whoever it was touching him. The darkly dressed boy relaxed as recognized his friend Remy, pressing pause on his music and slipping his sound canceling headphones off of his head to rest around his neck.

"Hey Remy," he greeted in a soft voice, letting the corner of his lips quirk upwards in a small smirk to show he was pleased to see him. He looked him up and down, noticing that he was rocking on his feet and holding a Starbucks latte. "You're running on caffeine, aren't you?"

He nodded too much, sipping his drink. "It's so nuts, Virge, literally, it's like I'm so sleep deprived that I can't feel the exhaustion anymore," he explained, wide eyes looking off in some other direction distractedly before snapping back into focus on Virgil. "Oh! I almost forgot! You have to come to my party tonight!"

"Oh, I don't know, Remy..." the darkly dressed boy replied, shoulders bunching up as he became uncomfortable. "You know I hate parties..."

"But girl, everyone's going!! It'll be horrible if you don't!" he wailed comically, throwing himself on his friend. "Virgil! PLEASE? Pretty please? Oh, please come to my party, Virgil, PLEASE! I love you forever my friend, PLEASE!"

Virgil bit his lip at the people looking their direction, quickly quieting him. "Okay! Okay, I'll- I'll come by for a little bit to say hi, alright?" he said, unwrapping the hyper boy's arm from around him.

Remy broke into a wide grin, knowing he could convince him. "Great! You're the best V! Love you girl!" he shouted before gasping and dashing toward another friend to invite.

How did I let him talk me into going to a party? the anxious emo thought to himself as he watched him go. I hate parties so much. I never know what to do, and my friends are always talking to other friends, and then I feel like I'm intruding when I try to join them, and it's always just uncomfortable. If I go, I'm probably going to walk in, say hi to them, grab a snack, and get the hell out of there before they force me to stay.

"Morning Virgil!" a voice greeted, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked up, seeing a couple of his best friends. "How you feeling this morning?"

He shrugged. "I could be better, but I'm not... terrible..." Virgil explained, shifting a little under his protective friend's gaze. "Thanks for the concern, Patton."

He always had to be careful under the watchful eyes of his friends. Patton was practically like his adoptive father, concerned with whether or not he was eating enough, getting to sleep on time, or if he was feeling okay. Logan on the other hand, shared his concerns more calmly, and was less vocal about it. Virgil immensely appreciated the sleeping and scheduling tips their intellectually superior friend continued to provide.

"Are you attending Remy's 'party' this evening?" Logan questioned, making his boyfriend gasp as he looked toward the darkly dress boy excited for an answer.

"I- uh... I don't know, you guys know how much I hate social gatherings..." he mumbled, fiddling with the sleeves of his hoodie. "I might just- you know, come by and say hi or something... you guys going?"

Patton nodded enthusiastically, taking a hold of Logan's hand as he giggled. "Yep! It's gonna be so fun!" he said, flashing a smiled that made his boyfriend's cheek flush before continuing. "I hope you come, even if it's just to say hi!"

"Come where?"

Virgil jumped at the voice that suddenly sounded behind him, breathing heavily as he looked at the princely boy with a startled expression. "Jesus Christ!" he gasped, putting a hand on his chest as the three of them chuckled. He calmed down before glaring at him. "Really Roman? You know how much I hate that."

"Sorry it's just really tempting," Roman replied, smirking as he wrapped his arms around him playfully as he scowled. He was the only person that could get away with hugging Virgil, and that was only because of the flaming crush he had on the princely boy. "So, how's my favorite little emo nightmare this morning?"

The darkly dressed boy's cheeks flushed pink as he let out a huff. "I'd be a lot better if you got the fu... frick off me," he replied, shoving him away and censoring himself in the presence of Patton who didn't like swearing.

"Geez, are you two dating yet?" Logan questioned, raising a curious eyebrow.

The two of them blushed a little as they looked at each other. "What? No way!" Roman exclaimed with his typical smug expression. "Why on earth would I date this embodiment of a dark and stormy night, huh? He's such a creepy cookie; who knows if he's like, a vampire or something!"

Virgil hissed at him in displeasure with his name calling. "See?!" the princely boy said, gesturing to the action. "He would totally trick me into his house to kill me. Wait- what if he's fooling us right now into thinking he's our friend?"

"Oh, shut up, you stupid prince," the darkly dressed boy bit back as he cast a suspicious glare at him. "If I had the intention to kill you, I would definitely done so already, so shut up, and besides, Logan and Patton are actually tolerable in the mornings, so I'd have no reason to kill them, just your annoying ass."

Roman made an offended noise as he put a hand on his chest dramatically. "How dare you? I'm not annoying!"

To this, Logan chuckled and Virgil smirked; the two of them shared a knowing look before looking back at the princely boy with raised eyebrows. He glared back at them, making Patton giggle a little before stepping between them.

"Okay, okay, no more bickering so early in the morning!" he protested though he was clearly trying not to laugh anymore. "We're going to be late to class!"

He pulled his boyfriend by the hand off in the direction of their first period, given they both shared AP English Literature in the morning. Roman smiled a little at the darkly dressed boy standing next to him, nodding toward their hallway. They didn't share their first period class, but they were across the hallway from each other and decided to walk together in the mornings. 

The princely boy draped an arm around Virgil's shoulders as they walked. "You know I'm just kidding about all that, right?" he asked to be sure, giving him a warm smile. 

"I was kidding too, except for the bit about you being annoying," he replied with a smirk when Roman laughed a little. "Yeah, but no- I get it, I know you don't mean it, I don't mind the teasing. It's kinda fun, you know?"

He nodded smirking as he leaned in close to his ear. "For the record, I do it cause you're really adorable when you're mad," he said, winking at him before heading inside. Virgil watched him go, blushing as he smiled to himself and continued down the hallway to his first period class.