The Melting Pot Complex

Chapter Twenty-Four ~ Roman

{Possible trigger warnings: some cursing, more yelling, crying, missing person, bruises, broken bone, jumping from a high up place

If I miss something, I apologize and please let me know}

"Why do I have to go check on him?" Roman complained.

"Because you called him a bad word." Patton's tone was abnormally sharp.

"He's called me plenty of bad words-"

Logan interrupted. "Roman, it was clearly more than just a bad word to him. He was incredibly upset that you called him that, and you have been a catalyst in arguments multiple times before."

Roman made an indignant noise, throwing his hands in the air. "I am not the 'catalyst'! He always starts it!"

"I have watched the videos you made about his channel." Logan shook his head. "You have always been quite aggressive about the situation, and I believe it pushes him farther because you upset him."

"I upset him?! That's rich- he started the whole thing in the first place-"

"Saying you don't like a person's brand of content is not a personal attack!"

Roman and Logan both turned to look at Patton in surprise. Their normally excitable and happy roommate had jumped to his feet, tears in his eyes.

"That's all Virgil said!" Patton continued, his voice cracking. "He never said he hated you, he never said your videos were bad, he said he personally didn't like them! It's not fair to him to say all the things you have because of that and now you go check on him because you are the problem right now!"

Roman stared at him. Patton very rarely raised his voice, and even when he did it was never full on yelling. Patton began to cry fully and quickly ran down the hallway to his own room.

Logan turned and shot Roman a look, pointing towards Virgil's room. "Go check on him. And consider apologizing."

Then Roman was alone in the living room as the theorist followed Patton.

Gritting his teeth, he made his way to Virgil's room and knocked on the door.

No answer.

"Hailstorm? Patton and Logan said I have to check on you."

Roman rolled his eyes when the room stayed silent and tried the doorknob. It was surprisingly unlocked.

"I'm coming in because if I tell them you didn't answer me they're gonna freak and I guess I have to make sure you're okay."

He opened the room and squinted in the dim light.

It took a moment or two, but Roman finally realized that Virgil wasn't in the room.

Moments later he noticed that the small window was open.

"Oh sh*t."

~~~Two Hours Later~~~

"He's still not answering his phone." Patton muttered, chewing his lip.

Roman had gotten his roommates immediately. They lived on the second floor, but Virgil was clearly not underneath the window outside, so he must have landed safely.

"What do we do? We've all called him-"

"I don't see why you made me try, he wasn't going to answer me anyway." Roman grumbled. Patton shot him a look.

"We have to think logically through this. Where would Virgil go if he were extremely upset and didn't want to see us?" Logan paced back and forth across the living room. "If we can identify where he would go, perhaps we can find him."

Roman and Logan both turned to look at Patton, who was still staring at his phone worriedly.

"Patton?"

"Wha- oh, sorry. I was texting him... again."

"Where would Virgil go if he was upset like this?" Logan asked. "You know him best."

Patton sniffled and frowned, thinking.

"Joan. Oh my god, Joan!"

He ran out of the room. Logan and Roman exchanged confused glances.

Patton returned with a jacket and his keys, racing for the door.

"Hang on, Patton- give us a moment to get ourselves together." Logan ducked into the hallway towards his room.

Roman sighed and went to get his jacket.

They piled into Patton's Highlander in silence. Patton drove through the quiet evening streets to the other side of town, then stopped in front of an apartment complex not too different from their own.

A lady leaving the building let them in, recognizing Patton, and the three made their way upstairs to the third floor. Patton stopped in front of Apartment 312 and knocked.

Roman flashed a smile and turned on the charm as the door opened. "Ah, hello, you must be Joan."

"Nope." The person standing in front of them put a hand on their hip. "Hi Patton."

Patton smiled weakly. "Hi Talyn... guys this is Talyn, Joan's spouse. Talyn, is Virgil here?"

Talyn frowned. "No."

Patton deflated and they kept talking quickly. "But I think Joan got a call from him about twenty minutes ago."

"Could we wait here for them?" Patton asked, his voice wavering a little.

Talyn nodded and stepped aside, letting them in.

Roman looked around as Patton led the way to the living room. The apartment was decorated sparingly, and he could see a few photos of the owners, with Virgil in some as well.

It was a cute little place, but he couldn't focus on it with the worry forming in the pit of his stomach. What if Virgil was hurt? Or lost? They didn't like each other, sure, but Roman didn't want him injured or in danger.

"They're at the hospital right now." Talyn informed them after a few minutes on the phone. "Virgil called Joan and asked them to pick him up and take him. They'll be home soon."

"Why are they there?" Roman blurted.

"Didn't say." Talyn shrugged.

Patton's leg bounced up and down as he sat on the couch, and Roman could feel his nervousness growing, along with a heavy weight of guilt. This was all his fault.

They heard the front door open and Talyn leapt to their feet and left the room. Patton made to follow but Logan stopped him. "Give them a moment to warn him, he might not want to see... us."

Roman grimaced.

Talyn returned a few moments later with another person about the same height. "Joan, these are Virgil's roommates."

"Oh god- I didn't realize you meant they were here."

Patton leapt to his feet. "Virgil! Are you- oh my god!"

Virgil grimaced. "Yeah I look like sh*t, I'm aware."

He had a nasty black eye and some bruising on the side of his face, and his jacket was torn in a few places, but the worst part of his appearance was the huge sling holding his arm to his chest.

"I'm staying here tonight. And maybe tomorrow. Goodnight." He disappeared down the hallway.

Patton made a worried noise and looked at Joan. "What happened?"

Joan shrugged. "He said he jumped out the window of his room. Shouldn't have caused any problems, we used to jump off the upstairs balcony when we were kids, with no problem. But he landed funny, fell, and snapped his collarbone. You'll have to ask him for the whole story, but I guess he called me right after that."

{YouTube drama is very easy to write, but I don't know if that's because I watch a lot of it or it just happens too much}