Well, here it is, the last chapter. I've spent so, so many months on this fic, and you guys have been so patient with me and my irregular updates! Thank you all so, so much for all of your love and support! I could never have done this without all of you lovely people here, cheering me on!
One last warning, this chapter contains very graphic depictions of violence and rape. Please proceed with caution if these are triggering for you.

Virgil curled in on himself, hands clamped over his ears in a desperate attempt to tune out the sound of the other Sides screaming from the floor below him. It felt like hours had passed since he slammed his door and locked himself away, but he knew it had likely only been a few minutes. He heard a slam and winced, pressing his hands harder over his ears against the sound of Patton raising his voice louder than Virgil had ever heard him.

He knew Roman didn't know – couldn't have known, about why Virgil was so against Deceit's return, but still, the words he had said wouldn't leave him alone. They kept repeating in his head, like a broken record – 'at least he's nicer than you are'.

He doesn't know, Virgil told himself. He doesn't know what Deceit's really like. He's never seen anything but what Deceit wants him to see.

The words became louder.

He didn't mean it! Virgil thought aggressively, shaking his head. He wouldn't ever actually think that, would he?

…But…if he didn't mean it…why would he say it? Tears slid down his face at the realisation that Deceit had managed to manipulate Roman so thoroughly that he thought Deceit was a nicer person than he was.

Virgil squeezed himself tightly, trying to fight off the anxiety attack he could feel building. He tried to breathe, but his chest felt tight, too tight, and he couldn't draw in enough oxygen, his breaths coming in short gasps. His heart was pounding in his chest.

He didn't know how much time had passed since the attack had started, but when he finally calmed down, he noticed with a start that something in his room seemed distinctly…off. His eyes scanned the room, finally settling on a glint in the shadows.

He leapt to his feet and opened his mouth to scream, but before any sound could come out, his hand flew to his mouth without his consent, and his scream came out muffled. A low chuckle echoed through the room and Deceit stepped out of the shadows, an animalistic grin stretched across his face. A pathetic whine of terror sounded in Virgil's throat and he backed away, not daring to take his eyes off the figure before him.

"How've you been, Virgil?" Deceit purred. Virgil whimpered. "It's been too long."

Somehow, Virgil managed to muster enough courage to mutter "Not long enough" behind his hand. Deceit's grin only widened.

He stepped forward.

Virgil moved away as far as he could, until his back hit the wall and a wave of panic washed over him. As Deceit stalked closer to him, he surged forward, shoving past Deceit in an attempt to get to the door. Just as his fingers brushed the doorknob, a hand fisted in the fabric of his hoodie and he was yanked sideways. He thrashed, trying to dislodge Deceit's grip, and for a moment, he thought it was working, but then something slammed into the side of his head and he sagged, groaning, his vision going white as blinding pain lanced through his skull.

Deceit pinned him against the wall with his body, pushing against him. Virgil was trapped. The dark Side leaned down so that his face was level with Virgil's. Even in his dazed state, Virgil flinched at the proximity.

Deceit leaned down a little more, and chills ran down Virgil's spine as he felt the other Side's breath against his face. Virgil felt his hand drop from his mouth, but before he could do anything, Deceit's own gloved hand quickly took its place.

"Ah, Virgil. How I've missed you." Deceit said softly.

"Fuck you." Virgil said shakily against Deceit's hand. He tried to pry himself free from Deceit's hold, but he still felt fuzzy from the blow to his head, and he couldn't muster up enough strength.

"I see you've grown defiant in my absence. Well, we'll just have to fix that, won't we?"

Deceit eased the pressure of his hand against Virgil's mouth so the younger Side could speak, but left it hovering so he could quickly clamp it back if need be. "Why are you here, Deceit?" Virgil demanded through gritted teeth. He stopped struggling for a moment, decided to try and save his strength.

"Isn't it obvious?" Deceit chuckled, leaning down so that his mouth was brushing against Virgil's cheek. "I'm here for you."

A full-body shudder wracked through him, and Virgil had to fight to control his breathing. "You revealed yourself to Thomas just to come and, what? Try and take me back with you. Well hate to burst your bubble, snake-face, but I'm not going anywhere, and you can't make me."

"I'd like to see you try and resist me."

Virgil snarled, ducking down out of Deceit's grip and launching himself forward, right into Deceit's gut. Deceit stumbled backwards with a grunt, and Virgil made another dash for the doorway. As he was fumbling with the handle, he made the mistake of looking over his shoulder.

Deceit's fist caught him right in the face and he went down, blinded by the impact. He fell into the door and Deceit yanked him backwards before he could hit the floor, snaking an arm tightly around his waist and pressing a gloved palm harshly against his mouth. Deceit leaned down, pressing Virgil's back into him.

"You will be mine!" He hissed into Virgil's ear, and Virgil flinched. "You will submit to me, even if I have to beat you until you're as purple as your hoodie, or break your bones until they're as broken as your mind." Deceit's fingers slid under the hem of his shirt, digging into his side painfully. "You will be mine!"

Panic set in as Deceit shoved him into the wall, the hand at his waist moving down to undo Virgil's belt. Virgil jerked and tried to scream, but the hand at his mouth rendered him mute. He sobbed as Deceit shoved his pants down roughly, and then undid his own. The anxious Side was still screaming silently as Deceit kicked Virgil's feet apart, forcibly spreading his legs. Virgil had no time to brace himself before Deceit shoved himself into the younger Side.

Virgil's screaming transformed to screams of fear to screams of pain.

Deceit set a brutal pace, pounding into him ruthlessly, tearing Virgil's insides and ignoring his screaming. Blood began to trickle down Virgil's thighs. His voice became hoarse from screaming, and soon he was unable to make any sound at all beyond pained grunts.

Out of nowhere, Deceit abruptly stilled inside of him, pressing his hand even harder over Virgil's mouth. After a moment, a knock sounded on Virgil's door.

"Virgil? Buddy? Are you okay?" Patton called from the other side.

"I'm fine." Deceit called back, mimicking Virgil's voice with such terrifying clarity that Virgil shivered.

"Are…are you sure?" Patton asked, his concern evident. "I really think we should talk about what happened, Virgil. You know it's not healthy to bottle up what you're feeling."

"There's nothing to bottle up, Pat, I promise." Deceit was horrifyingly good it imitating him.

"I really think I should come in –"

"Don't you dare!" Deceit snapped, still using Virgil's voice.

"…Virgil? Are you sure you're okay?" Patton asked hesitantly.

Deceit sighed, his breath tickling against the back of Virgil's neck. "I promise I'm okay, Patton." Deceit lied. "Just please, can you leave me alone?"

"Well…alright. But I'm here if you need me, kiddo." Patton hesitated another moment, then slowly walked away, taking Virgil's last hope with him. His breath hitched when Deceit smiled against the skin of his neck.

"Well, that was easy." The older Side mumbled quietly. "They really do respect you, don't they? How convenient for me."

With Patton gone, Deceit started moving in him again, and Virgil could do nothing but whimper in pain. He pressed the side of his face into the wall, too weak to try to hold his head up any longer as Deceit fucked away his strength.

At some point Deceit realised that Virgil was far too weak to be able to call for help, and he removed the gloved hand from his mouth. Virgil's entire body was trembling. His knees gave out and he would have collapsed to the floor if Deceit didn't still have his arm wrapped around Virgil's waist, holding him upright as the hand that had been at his mouth grabbed at his hip with bruising force.

Eventually, Deceit finished, sliding out of Virgil and lowering him to the floor. The younger Side was far too far gone to complain at the awkward angle – he could barely even keep his eyes open, let alone find the strength to speak. He couldn't find it in himself to protest as Deceit got to his knees and flipped Virgil onto his stomach, knocking his trembling thighs apart and shoving himself back into Virgil's bleeding hole. No noise other than a pained grunt escaped him as Deceit gripped the top of his shoulders tightly in order to hold himself up as he used Virgil once more.

Sometime later, Deceit found his release again, and leaned down low over Virgil. His lips brushed against Virgil's ear.

"You are mine." He whispered. "Do you understand that? All. Mine."

Virgil's skin crawled at the possessiveness in the deceitful Side's voice. A tear rolled down his cheek as Deceit pressed a harsh kiss into the side of his neck, sucking on his skin. He closed his eyes.

./././././././././

Roman exhaled slowly, a hand over his eyes. After spending all morning having Logan and Patton yell at him, he felt drained – both physically and emotionally. He knew that he'd messed up; the moment the words had left his lips he regretted them – and the look of utter betrayal in Virgil's eyes when he'd said them…Roman would never forget that look for as long as he lived.

Roman had gone too far. WAY too far. He hadn't been that blatantly cruel to Virgil since, well. Since before the Accepting Anxiety videos. He was ashamed – deeply ashamed, that he had regressed that far in the span of a few seconds, and for what? Because he was angry? Because he felt unappreciated and ignored? That was no excuse.

He needed to apologise to Virgil. Needed to sit him down and try to explain what had been going through his head. He needed Virgil to know how deeply sorry he was that he had said such a hurtful thing, and that he hoped they could still be friends.

After what he had said, though, he would not – and could not – blame the anxious Side if he decided their friendship was over for good.

It was nothing less than what Roman deserved after what he'd done.

He spent a good ten minutes pacing up and down his room, trying to work up the courage to knock on Virgil's door and beg for forgiveness. Eventually, he decided against it – after Virgil had refused Patton entry, the creative facet realised that there was no way Virgil would let him into his space.

With no other option that he could think of, he steeled himself, and sank down, rising back up in Virgil's room.

"Virgil I'm really sorry for not knocking but I need to apo-" The words he had prepared died on his lips as he took a second to actually look.

"Well, this is completely expected."

It took a second for his brain to process what he was seeing; Virgil, on his stomach on the floor, crying, bleeding, bleeding from somewhere no one should ever bleed from, and Deceit, on top of him, holding him down, making him bleed!

Roman saw red and a scream of rage tore itself from his throat as his body leapt into action, colliding with Deceit and tearing the villain away from his friend. He shoved Deceit to the floor and punched the snake in the face, again, and again, until Deceit stopped fighting back, unconscious.

Pure hatred coursing through his veins, he stepped away from Deceit, and turned back to his friend.

The hatred melted away into something more akin to anguish, though, as he took in the beaten, bloodied form of his friend. Virgil looked completely broken as he lay there on the floor, and Roman's heart clenched.

"Virgil?" He said softly. He approached slowly, so as not to startle him. "Virge? Are you there, buddy?"

Abruptly, Virgil flinched, and began to sob. His entire body was trembling, and Roman realised with a start that the anxious Side was trying to get to his feet.

"Don't move, buddy." He said as gently as he could. "Hang on, I got you." Roman moved to try to pick him up, his fingertips just grazing Virgil's skin when the younger Side flinched violently.

"Don't touch me!" He gasped.

"Okay, it's okay, I won't touch you if you don't want me to, I promise." Roman assured him, raising his hands so that Virgil could see them. As he did, something in moved in the corner of his vision, and he turned back just in time to see Deceit sink out of the room. He must not have been unconscious after all.

"Shit." He hissed, and Virgil flinched. Roman winced – he hadn't meant to scare the terrified Side even more. "Sorry." He said softly, trying to meet Virgil's gaze. When they finally made eye contact, his heart shattered into tiny pieces at how broken and afraid his friend was.

"What do you need, buddy?" He asked, schooling his voice into something he hoped was comforting. "What do you need me to do?"

"Pat'n." Virgil rasped. "Need…Pat'n." Roman wanted to cry at the desperation in Virgil's voice, wanted to scream at how difficult it had been for Virgil to voice just that much, but he kept it under wrap. This wasn't about him.

"Of course, buddy. I'll go and get him for you –"

"No!" Virgil cried desperately, his hand twitching towards Roman. "Please…don't leave. Might…come back…"

With an aching heart, Roman realised Virgil was terrified that Deceit would come back for him if Roman left him alone for even a second. He nodded.

"Do you want me to summon him?"

"…Please."

That settled it. Roman gestured to a random corner of the room, and raised his hand, Patton quickly rising up with it.

"What do you need Ro –Holy shit, Virgil!"

Roman didn't even comment on Patton's use of inappropriate language as the fatherly Side rushed to Virgil, practically shoving Roman out of the way.

"Virgil, can I touch you?" Patton asked gently. Virgil nodded, and Patton carefully picked up the smaller Side.

"Roman, can you get the door, please?" Patton asked, but it came out as more of an instruction. Roman quickly opened the door for him, and Patton carried Virgil out of his room into the hallway. Roman deduced where he was heading and opened the bathroom door for him before the other Side got there, and Patton threw an appreciate smile his way before bumping the door closed with his hip, sealing Roman out.

At this point, Roman knew the best thing for him to do right now would be to go and find Logan and tell him what had happened, but his legs wouldn't move.

"Easy now Virgil, it's okay, I got you." He heard Patton say through the wall.

"He – he, he came back, Pat." Virgil sobbed. "I th-thought – I thought I was s-safe here but he –"

"Sshhh, I know sweetie, I know." Patton said softly. Roman's eyebrows furrowed. What did Virgil mean, 'he came back'? Had this…Oh God…had this happened before? Roman's stomach churned sickly.

The sound of running water – Patton was drawing Virge a bath? – and the fatherly figure's quiet voice. "I'm sorry Virgil." Patton said, so quietly Roman had to press his ear guiltily against the wall to hear what he was saying. "I should have followed you up and let Logan deal with Roman on his own. I – I should have known Deceit would try something, after everything you told me. I'm so sorry kiddo!"

"S'not your fault, Pat." Virgil tried to assure him. "I should've known better by now how far he'll go to get me back."

Wait…what?

"Please don't blame yourself, Virge. If it's not my fault then it's not yours either, okay?"

"…Okay, Pat."

Roman stopped listening then, deciding that he really should go and inform Logan of the situation. With a heavy heart, he descended the staircase, his gaze seeking out the logical Side, who was sitting on the couch, perusing a book. Roman sat down next to him without a word, putting his head in his hands. Distantly, he heard Logan put down his book.

"Roman, are you okay? Your shoulders are shaking…"

Roman huffed a breath, setting his hands down in his lap, gaze fixed to the floor. God…how was he supposed to explain to Logan that Virgil had been–

"Roman…you're crying." Logan paused, tentatively reaching out a hand to place on Roman's shoulder. "What's wrong?" Roman brushed his cheeks and realised that Logan was right – he really was crying. He drew in a shuddering breath.

"Logan." He said shakily. "Virgil…he…"

It was painful, explaining to Logan what he had seen, and how terrible a state Virgil had been in when he'd found him. Explaining how he'd ripped the deceitful Side off him and pounded his face into the ground, but it still didn't feel enough. Explaining how Roman had tried to help Virgil, but how only Patton could comfort him.

"And then, I know I shouldn't have listened, but I couldn't move my legs! I…heard Virgil say something. Something that…has me confused."

"What did he say?" Logan said cautiously.

"He said that Deceit 'would do anything to get him back'. What does that mean, Logan? Were they, like? An item or something?"

"Of course they weren't an item!" Logan snapped, before his eyes widened. He swore to himself, and Roman's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Logan…what do you know?" Logan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Look. This is not my story to tell, it is Virgil's, and I will not betray his trust by giving away to you information he told me in confidence. I'm sorry, Roman, but if you want to know Virgil's story, you're going to have to ask him yourself."

"…No, that's okay. If it's private information, I won't force you to betray Virgil like that. God knows that's the last thing he needs right now after what he's just been through."

"Thank you, Roman." Logan sighed again, taking his palm off Roman's shoulder in order to wring his hands together. A few moments of silence passed between them. "I really could murder Deceit, you know." Logan murmured.

"Sorry?" Roman blinked; shocked that Logan would say such a thing. "I mean, I don't disagree with you – I myself would be more than happy to run him through with my katana, but…I never expected you to–"

"Deceit is the scum of the Earth." Logan said simply. "And if Thomas didn't need him, I would have done so already."

Roman knew Logan wouldn't have, really. The logical Side didn't have it in him to end someone else's life. He was too good a person…but when he looked into Logan's eyes, he saw that despite this, at that moment, Logan truly wanted nothing else than to put down the one who had done the unspeakable to his friend.

He wasn't alone.

He exhaled a heavy breath. "I don't know what to do, Logan." He admitted. "I mean, what am I even supposed to do after something like this?"

Logan thought for a moment before responding. "I think all we can do is be there for him, Roman. There's nothing else we can do."

"I can split Deceit's skull open." Roman growled.

"As cathartic as that would be for us, it would only negatively impact Thomas. Unfortunately."

"But he's a Dark Side!" Roman exclaimed. "Surely Thomas doesn't need him!"

Logan sighed. "Sometimes lying is necessary, for the safety of oneself and for the safety of others. Think about it this way, if we take away Thomas' ability to lie, he might –however accidentally– forcibly out several of his friends to people they have not come out to yet. Do you really want to be the one to do that?"

"…No." Roman grumbled, admitting defeat. "But just because we can't kill Deceit, doesn't mean we can't beat the shit out of him for what he's done."

For a while, Logan did not respond. When he did, he didn't look at Roman at all, instead focusing very intently on the coffee table in front of them.

"I should hope that I would never see you do such a thing, right, Roman?" Roman took a moment to think on Logan's choice of wording, before nodding to himself, fighting back a smile.

"Of course, Logan."

./././././././././

The next few days passed in a blur for Virgil. He felt so numb, but at the same time, so hyperaware of everything around him, and it was exhausting. Patton tried to get him to eat, but everything he put into his mouth tasted like cardboard. He felt bad, and tried to apologise to Patton for putting his hard work at cooking to waste, but Patton would not let him, insisting he had nothing to apologise for.

He disagreed.

He knew the others were worried about him – it had been days since he'd left Patton's room to do anything except use the bathroom, and even then trips outside his safety net were rare. Patton insisted he didn't mind letting Virgil use his room, but Virgil knew his friend wished he would leave it more often.

He still couldn't bring himself to go into his own room.

It had been days since…since what had happened, but he still couldn't open his own door and walk into his own space. It didn't feel like his anymore. Deceit had ruined this for him, too.

A knock at the door startled him, but Patton's cheery voice quickly calmed him down.

"Hey Virge, it's just me. Can I come in?"

"Of course you can come in, Pat. It's your room."

"You know what I mean, Virgil."

Virgil sighed, knowing exactly what he meant. "Yeah, Pat, you can come in."

"Great!" Patton entered his room, shutting the door softly, and sat down cross-legged on the floor beside Virgil. "So, what're we doing today?" He asked hopefully.

"I, uh…I dunno…" Virgil could sense Patton's disappointment at the response, and shrunk into himself a little bit. "Sorry…"

"Don't worry about it, kiddo. No one expects you to be up an around right away." Virgil didn't say anything. "That being said…"

Virgil immediately tensed.

"I really think that…that you should talk to Roman."

Virgil leapt to his feet, staring at Patton incredulously. "What? Why the Hell would I talk to Roman?"

"Virgil, he's really worried about you. I think you should tell him about –"

"NO!"

Patton startled at Virgil's outburst, and Virgil immediately felt horrible, but he didn't sit back down.

"Virgil, I'm not trying to pressure you, it's just that…Roman is scared. He's scared for you, and he knows that Logan and I know more than we're letting on, and he respects our decision to not give away your personal information, but…It's driving him insane, knowing something's wrong but not knowing what it is."

"Bullshit!" Virgil snapped. "What, isn't how he found me 'wrong' enough for him? Does he need to dive deep into my past to determine whether or not my behaviours are justified, or something? Because if that's the case Roman can fuck all the way off!"

"No Virgil, of course that's not it! Why would you think that?"

"Because Roman's never liked me! He made it perfectly clear the other day that he prefers Deceit over me, so why the fuck should I trust him with all my shit?"

"Virgil you know Roman didn't mean what he said the other day!" Patton exclaimed desperately. "Surely you –" Patton stopped, and drew in a deep breath.

"Virgil, why don't you want Roman to know about what happened?"

"BECAUSE HE'LL FUCKING HATE ME!"

Patton looked absolutely horrified.

"Virgil! Roman would never hate you!" Patton said when he eventually found his voice.

"You don't know that!" Virgil insisted.

"Actually, he does."

Virgil jumped, his heart doing flips in his chest. There, in the doorway, was Roman, looking rather hurt.

"See, Virgil!" Patton stood, placing a hand on Virgil's shoulder in a comforting manner. He lowered the tone of his voice into something gentler. "Roman does not, and will not hate you, Virgil. I promise."

"I wish I could believe you, Patton." Virgil said quietly.

"Virgil." Roman moved out from underneath the doorway and stopped just outside Virgil's personal bubble. "Whatever it is, you can trust me. I may have been pretty horrible to you in the past, but I swear to you, I will never behave like that again." He paused for a moment. "Please, let me help you."

Virgil let loose a shuddering breath, and sat back down on the floor, Patton following him down. Virgil gestured for Roman to do the same.

For a good thirty seconds, Virgil struggled to find the words to begin his tale. It was Patton placing a comforting hand on his knee that finally gave him the clarity he needed to let the words flow.

And let them flow he did. For the third time this week, Virgil told his story, from the day Deceit found him in the subconscious to the moment Roman rose up in his room and ripped Deceit off him. It wasn't as hard as the first time, but it still wasn't easy. He cried several times, wiping at the tears angrily and forcing himself to continue.

Roman cried with him.

When Virgil was finally done; when his story had been told and he had no more secrets left to tell, he sagged, leaning into Patton and letting the moral Side comfort him wordlessly, as they allowed Roman to take some time to process everything he'd just learned.

When Roman finally stopped crying, Virgil held his breath.

"I should have hit him harder." Roman growled. Virgil flinched, just a little, but it was enough for Roman to notice, and instantly the hardness in the creative Side's eyes faded into something softer as he scooted forward, and, with permission, lay a gentle hand on Virgil's shoulder.

"Do you want a hug, Virgil?" He offered. Hesitantly, Virgil pushed himself off Patton and let himself fall into Roman's strong embrace. He buried his face in Roman's chest, and Roman rested his chin on top of Virgil's head.

"I'm so sorry, Virgil." He murmured, and Virgil could hear the pain in his voice. "I'm so, so sorry that you had to go through that." Roman's whole body was trembling, and Virgil held him tightly.

"Don't be." He implored. "It wasn't your fault."

"I know, but," Roman hiccupped, and Virgil realised abruptly that the creative Side had started crying again. "If only I had opened the door faster that day, things might never have gotten so bad for you. If only I hadn't been such a rude bastard when you finally left him, you might not have spent so many years alone."

"Maybe." Virgil conceded. "Maybe not. It doesn't matter now."

Roman didn't respond.

The two stayed there, held tightly in each other's embrace. Before long, Patton, too, scooted over and joined in. Not too long after, Logan rose up – Virgil suspected that Patton had summoned him – and added himself to the cuddle-pile. The four of them stayed that way for what could have been hours or minutes, before the slight awkwardness of their positions forced them apart.

Roman looked at him. "Virgil." He said.

"…yeah?"

"There's just one thing that I can't wrap my head around." Roman admitted.

"What?" Virgil asked timidly. Oh God please don't ask why I stayed for so long, please, please, please, please, don't–

"Why on Earth would you think I would hate you over this?"

Oh.

Virgil ducked his head shamefully. If Roman hadn't figured it out by now, then surely, if he explained it Roman would–

"Virge?"

"…You're the romantic Side." Virgil stated, looking up at Roman through his bangs. Please, don't make me spell this out for you.

"And…what does that have to do with it?" Roman asked, his head tilted slightly in confusion. Virgil's cheeks flushed.

"And, sex is…sex is supposed to be a…a romantic thing! Something two people who love each other, do to, to I don't know, to show each other that! But…but when Deceit had sex with me, it was…it was never like that!" He snapped his head up abruptly. "Don't you get it?"

Roman blinked. "No?"

"I think I do." Virgil was surprised to hear Logan say, and he turned to look at the logical Side. Logan swallowed uncomfortably, and pushed up his glasses. "You think that because you and Deceit engaged in what is supposed to be a romantic gesture, without the context of romance, that Roman would resent you for making a mockery of something that he considers to be special. Is that correct?"

Virgil hung his head again, nodding.

"Oh." Roman whispered. "Oh Virgil, Virgil no! I could never!" Virgil flinched as the creative Side placed his hands on Virgil's biceps. "Virgil, please…please look at me."

Slowly, shamefully, Virgil raised his head, flickering his eyes back and forth, still too afraid of what Roman might say next to maintain eye contact.

"Virgil…what Deceit did to you was wrong. So, so wrong!" Roman affirmed."And yes, romance, in all its forms, is dear to me, but…but I could never, ever, hold Deceit's deplorable actions against you!"

He paused for a moment before speaking again, his voice softer than Virgil had ever heard from him.

"I could never, ever hate you. Especially not over something you had no control of. Do you…do you understand, Virgil?"

Virgil, tears streaking down his face, nodded.

"Oh thank God!" Roman whispered, pulling Virgil close. Virgil didn't pull away.

./././././././././

Over the following weeks, Roman and Virgil quickly grew closer than they had ever been. His bonds with the other two strengthened as well, particularly his bond with Patton.

Virgil still had frequent nightmares, but he found that waking up in Patton's arms every time they chased him from his slumber was much better than waking up alone.

Virgil smiled as he felt Patton's arms tighten around him as the moral Side slept, and snuggled into his embrace. In Patton's arms, it was much easier to chase thoughts of Deceit away, far from his mind.

He knew Deceit would come back. Knew that he would probably never stop coming back, but he also knew that with his friends by his side, Virgil would never have to face Deceit alone ever again.

There would still be struggles. Revealing his past didn't mean all of their problems were going to be magically erased from existence – but it did mean that they had a better understanding of him and how to help him. They did their best, and, beyond that, they loved him.

And that was all Virgil needed them to do.