But Now We're Stressed Out

Crying and cookies

Roman POV

"The basement?"  I asked in disbelief. 

"Yes, Henry locked him in there last night when he came home with you."  She answered.  "Henry doesn't like gay people.  Much less his gay son." 

Gay?  Could Virgil be gay?  Wait!  Focus on the issue! 

"Wheres the basement?"  I asked, fingers fiddling with the keys. 

She headed into the house and down the hallway.  She stopped by a door and motioned to it. 

"Get Virgil out of here.  Just for one night.  So Henry can calm down."  She kept mumbling over and over.  I quickly moved to unlock the door. 

I opened it quickly, searching for a light switch.  I found one, but no lights turned on.  I grabbed my phone and turned on the flashlight. 

"Virgil?"  I called out, as I headed down the stairs.  "Virgil where are you?" 

My flashlight hit a moving lump in the corner of the room, farthest from the door. I quickly scramble around boxes to the lump. 

The lump moved again and I saw Virgil's face.  I let out a little sigh of relief and knelt down next to him.  I placed my phone down, letting the phone's flashlight aluminate our faces. 

He was shaking and crying, his eyeliner streaked down his face.  I quickly pulled him out of the pile of old blankets and into my lap. 

He held tightly onto me.  He was freezing.  I wrapped my arms tightly around him, cursing myself for not coming earlier.  For not just immediately coming for him when he didn't show for school and didn't answer my texts. 

I remembered what his mom told me.  I quickly stood up and pulled Virgil with me. 

"Come on, I'm getting you out of here."  I said.  Virgil still hadn't said anything, but he seemed to snap into focus when I said that. 

I followed him as he bolted up the stairs.  He was holding my hand tightly again as he pulled me along with him as he headed towards what I guessed would be his room. 

We headed up the stairs to the second floor and stopped at a door in the hallway.  He let go of my hand and pushed the door open.

I followed him into his room, but stopped for a second to look around.  The walls were painted purple and black with lots of different band posters hanging up.  There was a small messy bed in one corner of the room.  There was a bookshelf that was covered in cds and books. 

There was a desk covered in paper and an open closet, reveling more dark clothing.  I turned to see a old piano with...a cat on top of it? 

Before I could say anything, Virgil was hugging me.  I quickly returned the hug. 

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you."  He mumbled over and over. 

"It's okay, I'm glad your okay now."  I said gently, rubbing his back.  "But we have to get out of here before your dad gets back." 

Virgil nodded and pulled away.  He grabbed his book bag and pulled some clothes into it.  I turned and looked at the piano and the cat again. 

One; I don't know Virgil could play piano.  Now I really want to hear him play.  Two; I didn't peg Virgil to be a cat person.  The cat stood up and walked over to me.

It meowed at me and rubbed up against my leg while purring.  I smiled gently down at it.  The sound of a pill bottle snapped my focus back to Virgil.  He quickly dry swallowed a handful of white pills before setting a pill bottle on his desk.