Apartment Mayhem

Odd Ball

{Warning: Past Abuse And Bullying}

       Roman has met Elliot and thought he was alright. Also, he tried to give them some relationship advice, but Elliot shook their head and explained he had a counselor for that. They like each other and I'm glad. Sure. Elliot looks creepy or a wallflower, yet he is really nice and sweet.
           Now, I'm at a local library with Logan as we both needed books for our classes. "Are you sure I'm the best one to be helping you with this?" I ask as I hold a pile of books in my arms.
       "Yes. Patton would be loud and I can't have that and Roman would be sifting through the cds," he mutters as he grabs another book off of a high shelf, "Plus, you needed books, too."
       "Thanks. Glad to be here for you as I try to make sure my arms down fall off."
       "Unrealistic. You might pop it out of place, but it won't fall off your body." He places the last book on the pile and takes his books.
        "Just an expression," I roll my shoulders and follow after him to the check out, "how do carry all those books?"
        "I work out?" He raises and eyebrow at me, "I make sure to exercise regularly and eat nutritious foods, so I can stay healthy."
       "Woah. The smart guy works out? How do you even have time for all of the stuff you do while dating Patton?"
       He scoffs a small smile and checks out the books, "I'm good with time management. I, also, let Patton hang around for company."
       "Uhuh, you two totally never get distracted, ever." I slide my books under the scanner, followed by my library card.
      His cheeks flush pink, along with his ears, "So what if we do? He's my boyfriend after all. I need to love and cherish him........Ugh. Emotions."
      I pat his shoulder, "you're getting better at it."
      He nods and finishes checking out. We start head out as I notice someone out of the corner of my eye.
      He caught my eye because of his mustard yellow shirt that is accented with a dull plum skeleton scarf. He seems to be looking at a Sherlock Holmes book. I guess he notices me staring because he looks up at me.
      I gasp and look away. He caught you staring, just leave. "Virg-" I hear Logan say before I collide into him.
      "Sorry, I was-I was spacing out," I mutter and cover my face with my books.
      "It's fin-Oh no," Logan says and rests a hand on my back, moving away, "We gotta go."
     I lower my book in confusion and notice he's standing beside me, looking back. "Why..?" I look back to see the guy coming closer, like an eagle hunting it's prey.
     Logan and I turn forward and he says through gritted teeth "don't say anything about his face" before the man greets us, "Why hello, Logan. It's not a coincidence that I saw you here."
      His tone sounds plummy, yet honeyed. Logan taps my back and turns around, meaning he wants me to too. I turn and see what he's talking about. I had only seen his left side, but his right side is all mangled up. "Hello, Damien. Glad to see you too, but we were just heading out." Logan says with a rock in his throat.
       "No you aren't, since you should tell me who your friend, who wasn't totally admiring my outfit, is."
        I feel the tension boiling in the air of their irritation. "This is Virgil. He's a new friend of mine."
       "Oh really?"
       "Yes, now if you excu-"
       "What the hell happened to your face?" I blurt on accident.
        Silence falls in between Logan, Damien and I. He smiles eerily, "Well, I was in a horrible accident and I wanted my face to heal to I poked a syringe of reptile serum into my body and it didn't heal right."
       He sticks out his tongue to a forked tongue and cackles. Logan scoffs, "falsehood. Let's go, Virgil."
       Logan pushes me out, but I look back at the stranger with a blind eye.
       We walk to his car and set the books in the back before hopping in the front seats. He sighs and sinks in his seat. "Why'd you rush me out?" I look at him with concern.
      "Just...just wait until we get home."

      We get to the apartment and put our books away before Logan conspires with the others in his room. I wait in the living room, trying to remember why Damien's face looks familiar with out remembering too much.
      They finally exit his room and walk into the living room. Patton and Roman sit on either side of me. Logan adjusts his glasses while straight-faced. "Don't trust Damien. Patton and I have dealt with him before and it didn't end well." Logan looks to his boyfriend who is looking at his hands in his lap, "would you like to elaborate or should I?"
         "Uhm, I can," Patton stands up and Logan takes his spot, "when I first met Damien, I thought he was different and since I just make friends on the fly, we became friends. In the friendship, he manipulated me and made fun of me by being me. He made all my friends leave and it took so long to get my reputation back up."
        I nod, understanding how he was bullied by a 'friend' and it is...shitty. Logan holds out his arms to Patton and Patton sits on his lap, looking to me. "And you, Logan?" I curiously look at Logan.
        Logan grimaces and looks down, holding Patton close. "I might've said I'm grayromatic for Patton, but...Damien is my ex."
        I hear small gasps from the others. I guess he never told them. "Yes, I never told you guys. It was before I met you. He spoke in code and found me interesting. Yet, he would slap his hand over my mouth and hold me a bit too tight. That's why I was semi-mute or 'shy' when I met you guys and it also allowed me to not like physical touch."
       Logan is holding his straight-face well, but I can tell he's breaking up inside. "He doesn't care about you. He only wants you to believe what he says and it's all lies. He is deceitful and manipulative. Do not, under any circumstances, trust him."
       I nod and it clicks. I remember him now. I slide down in my seat. "What is it?" Roman asks, worryingly.
       "I remember him. Damien. He, uh, was a friend of mine in middle school...I believed everything. I had a few more friends but I've blocked them from my memory." I fiddle with my sleeves and Patton hugs me.
       "You're good now," he murmurs then pulls away, "You have us!"
       I smile with one side of my mouth and nod, "Yeah. Same goes for you guys. Wait, Roman? Anything about you wit Damien?"
       He looks at me and blinks before shaking his head, "No, never."
      I nod and Patton pats my shoulder, "how about...movie night with lots of comfort and laughs, huh?"
      Logan nods, rubbing Patton's back, and I look to Roman, who smiles, before responding to Patton, "Sounds like a plan."
      Patton lights up and rushes off. The night goes on as we pick a movie, which happens to be The Incredibles of all things, and laughter fills the the apartment through the night.

{A/N: Damien? Who's she? Never heard of her. Should've said spoiler warning, but here's another side in the story too!}