Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Virgil was tired. He was tired of being okay with how Deceit treated him. He was tired of the lies he spun to keep Virgil in his web. He couldn’t deal with it anymore.

Three years. It had been three years since he had abandoned his old life. Three years since he had willingly handed himself over to an abusive snake. Three years since he had been truly happy.

He was so stupid and naïve to trust the pretty lies Deceit whispered in his ear. Virgil had trusted him. He had believed him when Deceit told him about how he was the only one that could care for him. That he was only the villain in others’ eyes.

And the worst part was that the lies were so fluent and natural. How much do you have to lie for it to become your second-nature?

It doesn’t matter because they’re still lies.

Everything was a lie.

The horrors he told about Logan creating alibis to gain satisfaction from other people because Virgil wasn’t enough.

The words spat about how Patton put on a fake smile until he was tired of faking his emotions toward Virgil. That he would eventually be left to rot in a ditch.

The petty sentences about Roman’s lies that never existed. It’s funny how the liar was the one telling him the other was lying.

He was tired. So, he decided to run.

Tonight, Deceit would be gone. Out doing god knows what. Virgil didn’t honestly care. So long as he was gone, that meant that he had a chance at freedom. A chance at being happy again.

He packed a bag of clothes and photos he had kept of his old life. He stole some money from out of wherever he could find it. Then with one last glance at his prison, he left. Slamming the door and booking it down the streets.

He ran through alleys and climbed fences, getting as far away from his prison as possible. He must’ve ran for about an hour before finally collapsing in an alleyway. It was still too close for comfort, but it would do for now.

So, he sat there, panting heavily with exhaustion. His eyes fluttered shut as he decided to rest. Surely, he would be okay for one night, right?

That was his last conscious thought before he drifted off to sleep.

It had been days now since he had been wandering the streets. Along with that, it had been days since he had eaten too. He had forgone packing food, too afraid it would slow him down.

He was now regretting that decision.

His stomach grumbled, causing a sigh to slip past his lips. Looks like it was time to finally eat something, which meant going into the open and risk being seen.

Well, that or starve to death. But he’ll take his chances with society. Though death sounds fairly tempting at this point.

With his mind finally made, he decided to hide his bag behind a dumpster and walked for a while before coming upon a small but populated café.

There were enough people that he shouldn’t be noticed, but not too many that he would stand out.

It wasn’t exactly ideal, however, he needed to eat soon. So, taking out what money he took from Deceit’s house, he slipped his hoodie on and walked inside. He waited in line patiently, keeping his head down.

“Welcome, what can I get for you, sir?”

His breath caught in his throat. Of course. With his fucking luck, he would run into one of the last people he wanted to see him.

‘Oh god, what if he recognizes me?’

‘What if he sees the bruises? Will he care?’

‘Don’t be stupid of course he wouldn’t! You deserved it, he’ll probably laugh! Besides you left them, why should any of them care about you at all?”

He must’ve been silent for too long because the voice spoke up again, concern lacing their voice. “Sir? Are you okay?”

Clearing his throat, he replied, wincing at how rough and scratchy his voice sounded, “Yeah, um, just a blueberry muffin please.”

He glanced up from under his bangs slightly to see Patton smile before chirping out a quick “Of course, $1.50 Please!”

Handing the money to him, he quickly ripped his hand back and hid it inside his pocket, hiding the bruise. Seems he wasn’t fast enough though, as he heard a quick intake of breath from the other.

A few moments passed in tense silence before he heard a small muttering from the other. “H-Here you go, sir.”

He glanced up slightly to see a bag held out to him. He took it quickly, muttering a small “thank you”

Before rushing out the door and running to find his hiding spot again, unaware that a certain cashier had been watching him retreat.

He ran through the streets retracing his steps back to where he had left his bag. He needed to get out of the light, Deceit could be anywhere looking for him, and Virgil didn’t know if he had the mental or physical strength to fight him.

Hi eyes were frantic as his body shook with tremors.

‘No, no, no! Not right now!’

His thoughts were all over the place telling him that he was being watched. Warning him that he could never be safe. Warning him that when he was found he would wish he had never left.

Finally, after what felt like hours, he found his spot and dived behind the dumpster. His body trembled, and his breaths were shallow and quick.

God dammit, he need to calm down!

Everything was going to be okay. He was safe.

In for 4, hold for 7, out for 8. He practiced his breathing exercises, attempting to calm himself down enough to at the very least think properly.

It took about 7 minutes to regulate his breathing and even longer to be able to stop his body from shaking.

Yeah. Death was a much more tempting offer than risking society again.

A raspy chuckle left his cracked lips at the thought before he opened the bag and pulled out the muffin. Inside, he also found a note written on the napkin.

‘If you ever need anything please text me. I don’t know what’s going on or who you are but nobody get’s bruises like that from accidents.

xxx-xxx-xxxx’

‘Well at least he doesn’t know who I am.’

With that he sank his teeth into the muffin, humming in delight.

Chapter Text

“Welcome to your new home!” His voice was laced with faux kindness as he guided Virgil inside the apartment. The house was nice. However, something was off. Whether it was because of Deceit or the house, he didn’t know.

The moment he walked through that door, he knew there was no going back. And once the door shut, his freedom was locked out in the real world.

“Virgil?” Gasping, Virgil’s head whipped around to look at Deceit with wide eyes.

No. This was wrong. He had escaped. Why was he back here!?

“Love, you know how I dislike being ignored.” Deceit’s voice was sickeningly sweet as he grinned at him.

“W-What?” Virgil’s breath was coming in short panicked breaths, but he knew that ignoring the problem would not help him. Not when the problem was Deceit.

A sigh sounded from the other man’s lips. “I said what were you thinking, going outside? What if one of the others had seen you?” Virgil wanted to throw up. This couldn’t be real. He couldn’t be back here. He wouldn’t survive!

“I’m sorry! I was just-“ A slam echoed through the room as Virgil flinched back, his breath catching in his throat.

“Don’t lie to me Virgil. I know you’re not sorry. You will be though.” Deceit’s face lit up with psychotic glee as he walked towards Virgil.

Virgil wanted to hide. To run away again, this time far away where he could finally be safe. But his body was frozen in fear. No amount of screaming from his mind could get his feet to move. And so, he watched as his entire world came crashing down around him, Deceits form stalking closer.

“Now be a good boy and serve your master!” He felt a hand on his shoulder as he was shoved down to the floor.

“NO!!” Virgil’s voice echoed in the alley as he woke up screaming. His breathing was heavy and erratic as he scanned his surroundings.

Logically he knew it was a dream, however the thought that it could be reality caused him to panic. He was safe right now, but Deceit could find him any minute now.

Virgil counted his breathing pattern to steady his breathing before standing up. It was time to move. He had already run into one of the people he was trying to avoid. Even though Patton hadn’t recognized him, Virgil really didn’t want to risk him finding out, or one of the others showing up.

There was silence surrounding him. Checking his phone, he realized it was only 2 AM. Virgil grabbed his stuff before flipping his hoodie up and walking out onto the streets. Once again, he didn’t know where he was going, he just knew that he wasn’t going back.

Any place was better than back.

And so, he walked. He walked down the empty streets that soon began to fill with cars and eventually people as the sun began to rise. Even so, Virgil kept walking. No time to stop, it wasn’t safe to stop. Ever.

The day wore on and it was at about 1 PM when he started to get tired. He scanned the street and shops surrounding him and saw he was right next to a book store.

Ok maybe a small, short stop would be okay. He really didn’t feel like walking non-stop. That would not be beneficial in any way.

Virgil looked at the glass and saw his disheveled state. God could he look any worse?

Huffing out a breath, he turned to walk into the bookstore. A bell chimed above him as he opened the door and walked in. The store was mostly empty save for a few teenagers who looked to be studying and two other men behind the counter who seemed to be deep in conversation.

Virgil hesitated before going towards one of the bookshelves and scanning the books. Books weren’t ideal since he could get distracted by them very easily, but he needed to rest, and a good book could hopefully calm his nerves a little.

He looked at the fiction section and found one of his favorites and eagerly reached to grab it. He hadn’t read this since….

Since he had left the others. His hand froze right before grabbing the book as he hesitated.

“Is everything okay, sir?” A voice spoke from behind him, causing him to startle and let out a small yelp.

Virgil turned around to be faced with- Oh god. This couldn’t be happening. First Patton and now Logan?

Virgil felt his chest tighten as his throat closed. His mouth opened and closed as he floundered for words to say. Out. He had to get out. Not safe. NOT SAFE.

“Sir?” He saw Logan’s brows furrow in what seemed to be concerned and nearly laughed. Logan stepped forward and made a move as though to reach out towards him, causing Virgil to startle out of his thoughts. Virgil stumbled back and ended up tripping on one of the many stacks of books lying around. “Shi-” His curse was caught off by his back meeting the floor and his head hitting the bookshelf.

“Logan!? What’s going on?” Another voice joined in and Virgil soon recognizes it as Patton’s.

Hurried footsteps pounded through the quaint shop directed towards their location. “Is everythi-” Virgil heard a gasp and looked up, rubbing the back of his head that was sure to be bruised, and saw Patton covering his mouth staring at him.

“You’re the guy from yesterday! Oh, my goodness, are you okay!? You don’t look okay!” Patton’s words were rushed and frantic as he moved to help Virgil. Virgil moved back quickly as he realized that Patton was coming to close.

The whole time this was happening, Logan had been oddly silent. Virgil directed his gaze away from the father figure and turned it to Logan, who stared at him in shock. Confusion filled Virgil’s thoughts before he realized that his head felt rather light. His hood.

His eyes widened in panic as he reached behind his head to pull his hood over his head, shadowing his face from the view of others once again.

This was not how he had planned on relaxing!

The shop was silent as tension hung in the air choking him. He waited in silence for someone to speak, to yell, to hit him. ANYTHING!

“Virgil?” A broken voice croaked from in front of him, causing him to look up at the nerd of the two. Virgil had expected Logan to figure it out, but he hadn’t expected that he would cry!

“H-Hi...” His voice was shaky as he replied. Too late to turn back now.

Chapter Text

Silence surrounded the three men as they all waited for someone to speak up. Virgil’s gaze was glued to the table, his head tilted down as his bangs hid his features. He wasn’t ready for this encounter.

“So…” It was a simple sentence, yet Virgil still flinched when Patton spoke. The youngest man’s frame tensed more than it already was as he braced for screaming and accusations, hell, he wouldn’t be surprised if they decided to hit him or throw things at him. Not like he didn’t deserve it.

A sigh sounded from his left and he glanced out of the corner of his vision to see Logan rubbing his face. He was probably already stressed, and Virgil was just adding even more stress to his life.

The seconds ticked by as they once again fell into silence. That was, until Logan spoke up, “Virgil, what are you doing here?”

He heard a whine sound from Patton and glanced to see the usually happy man, looking at Logan with a frown, tears welling in his eyes. “Logan, don’t be mean!”

Said man’s eyes widened as a look of shock crossed his face. “I was not aiming to offend Virgil. I was merely wondering why he had shown up here of all places, and now of all times?” He spoke in a calm voice. A small smile found it’s way upon Virgil’s face as he thought of how Logan had not changed at all.

“Virgil?” Hearing his name, he shook his head to clear his thoughts before looking up at two of his ex’s. “What are you doing here, kiddo? Not that it’s not great to see you, but it’s been three years. We all thought you were….” Dead. They thought he was dead. Did he blame them? Nope.

Virgil let out a shaky breath before forcing a smile on his face, although it looked more like a grimace. “Y-Yeah, I um, I actually wasn’t p-planning on running into you guys, y-you k-know? Just figured I’d catch up on some r-reading.”  He internally winced at his voice. So much for being a better actor.

“A-Anyways, I d-didn’t know you two w-worked here, o-otherwise I would have g-gone somewhere else.” The two men across from him shared a glance. Realization dawned on Virgil not a second later.

“N-Not that I, you know, w-want to a-avoid you o-or a-anything! I-I just figure, maybe, you know, y-you might wanna a-avoid, um, this k-kind of th-thing…” He rambled.  A moment passed as Virgil stared at Patton and Logan across the table. The atmosphere was tense and awkward as they all stared at one another.

Finally deciding enough was enough, Virgil pushed his chair away from the table and abruptly stood up. “A-Anyways, I’m gonna go now! N-Nice c-catching up!”

Turning to leave, he froze as Logan called his name. His form tensed as he trembled in fear. His eyes clenched tight as he fought the tears that threatened to roll down his cheeks. “Y-Yes?”

“Why did you leave?” There it was. The question that would signify his chance over. He should’ve known they wouldn’t just let him go about his day. No. They cared too much about each other to let go of their final chance to solve the mystery.

Clenching his fists, he struggled to maintain his composure. This wasn’t going how he planned, not at all.

All he wanted was freedom, to get away from the lying bastard that had caught Virgil in his web. He wanted freedom and peace of mind that he could be okay.

Was that too much to ask for?

Apparently, it was, because now he stood with his back turned towards two of the only people that had ever shown him any affection. Now he stood, with racing thoughts with two of the people he loved most, and had abandoned, behind him.

It was too much.

He could handle the screaming and yelling they should’ve been doing. He could handle them throwing books at him and beating him within an inch of his life. He could handle all of that, after all he had lived with that for so long. He deserved it too.

However, Logan and Patton weren’t like that. Hell, even Roman wouldn’t hit Virgil. Well, maybe not when they were together. Now though….

Of course, they weren’t like Deceit. They were kind and gentle. They didn’t accuse him of leaving, instead they asked why, which was so much worse.

Virgil wished they would hurt him. He knew how to deal with pain. He knew how to deal with the physical and emotional blows they could throw at him.

But he couldn’t handle them tearing his wall down, stripping him of the only defense he had. It was the only thing he had left. And here they were, threatening to take his entire wall down. With one sentence, his defenses were quivering and cracking, ready to collapse at just the slightest give.

Now it was just a matter of what would give out first. His defenses. Or his body.

He got his answer within seconds of that thought as his knees gave out and his body tumbled to the floor as the darkness surrounding his vision, shrouded him completely into the void.

Chapter Text

The bell above the door dinged, signaling that someone had entered the shop. Through the door, a man came in a wide grin on his face as he walked with pep in his step. “Greetings, my lovely-” His voice died down as he focused on the two men talking in hushed whispers behind the counter.

Patton glanced at him, allowing a small but sad smile to spread across his face as he took in the sight of his exuberant boyfriend. Logan sighed as he pushed the glasses up on the bridge of his nose, seeming stressed beyond belief.

Roman’s attitude took a turn as he quickly took in the severity of whatever had happened. “What happened?”

~*~

“So you’re telling me that Gloom and Doom has the gall to just show up after disappearing for years and that he just so happened to show up here of all places? Are you kidding me!” The two men had explained the situation to their boyfriend, only stopping after Roman had burst into an angry rant about their...ex.

“He runs off to Disney knows where, and then decides to just, what? Run back to us? Did he expect us to welcome him with open arms after he left us fearing for him? After he left us broken and torn apart?” The air had become tense and heated as emotions rose high in the bookstore.

“Roman, honey, please try to calm down. Aren’t you happy that he’s still alive?” Patton was quick to try to reassure and calm his seething boyfriend who was sure to put a hole in the floor if he didn’t stop pacing. Unfortunately, Patton’s words only worked to further feed Roman’s fiery temper.

“Happy? Oh sure, he goes off to live a happy life, leaving us to suffer from his disappearance! I’m so fucking happy he’s back to ruin lives that he is no longer a part of!” Patton mutters a small “language” with no real heat behind it.

Patton, ever the sweet man, is prepared to try to calm his boyfriend once again, only to startle as Roman’s pacing comes to a sudden halt. “Where is he?” Patton stares at his lover confused for a moment before turning his gaze to the door leading to the back room where all the stored books are, waiting to be put out on the shelves.

Before he can utter another word, Roman is stomping past him and slamming the door open, revealing…. A bunch of books in piles and boxes. No Virgil in sight.

“He’s gone!” Roman’s voice is harsh as he calls out to his partners of the disappearance of their ex. Hurried footsteps sound behind him as his boyfriends rush to see if the previous unconscious man had really escaped.  

Patton hurries into the room, frantically looking around, searching for the missing man. “Virgil? Virgil!” His voice is desperate and Roman can see the glassy look in his eyes as tears well. If he was honest, he was slightly upset that the other was once again missing. However, the anger won out as he thought about how much pain and suffering he was causing them, even now.

A sharp gasp echoes from behind a stack of books stowed away in the corner of the room. Not a moment later, Patton rushes over and cries out upon find the frail man trembling with his knees pulled to his chest. His right hand was covering his ears while his teeth bit down on his left, stifling any sounds he could make. The sight of it broke Patton’s heart and later shattered it upon finding that the others teeth had pierced the skin, allowing the crimson life to seep out into the open where it should never have been.

Roman was quickly ushered out of the room by Logan, leaving Patton to take care of the ‘intruder’.

Roman was hesitant to trust Patton alone with the other man but gave in upon seeing Logan’s tired face. He knew they were in for a tough time as soon as he heard whimpers and cries from the back room.

And if tears appeared in his eyes at the thought of Virgil possibly returning to them, well nobody else had to know the reason but him.

Chapter Text

As soon as Roman had left, Patton was rushing to Virgil’s side. The fragile man was trembling and tears were racing down his face. Small whines sounded from his throat but were muffled by the hand currently trapped between his teeth. Blood raced down his hand, his teeth digging into the flesh and creating wounds that would likely leave scars once they healed.

Patton wanted nothing more than to cry and pull the trembling man into his arms. To protect him from everything, including himself. However, he knew that he couldn’t. Not yet at least, not when Virgil didn’t trust them anymore. Didn’t love them.

Taking a deep breath, Patton reached his hands forward to gently take hold of Virgil’s injured hand. He softly whispered soothing words in reassurance in hopes that Virgil would calm down a bit, at least enough so that he wouldn’t fight Patton when he tried to help him. It took a few minutes to coax the other man to release his hand from between his teeth, but eventually, he relented, allowing Patton to cradle the wounded hand.

He winced, carefully inspecting the teeth marks. He blinked back tears in his eyes, not willing to let himself break down right now. Right now, Virgil was his top priority. His emotions could wait.

“Virgil? I’m going to touch you, is that okay?” His words were soft as he spoke, and for a second he thought the other may not have heard him. Just as he was about to repeat the question, Virgil nodded his head, though it was more like a jerk, making Patton sigh in relief.

Carefully scooting closer to Virgil, Patton slowly maneuvered his arms to wrap around the other’s shaking form. He felt the other tense at the touch, but he made no move to pull away.

They sat like that for a while, Patton unconsciously pulling Virgil closer to him till the frail man was leaning against his chest. Soft reassurances spilled from his lips in hopes of comforting the other.

Slowly but surely the other’s trembling died down until the two men sat in silence, the only sounds being that of their breaths.

Thoughts raced through their minds. Each fearing what may be spoken once the silence was broken.

Patton was the first to speak. His words were quiet and had the room not been doused in silence before, Virgil was sure he would not have heard him. However, the words were quite clear. “Why did you leave?”

There was no accusation. No anger. Nothing resembling sadness or fear. It was just a question with no hint of emotion behind it. Stemmed from curiosity. Somehow though, it still caused Virgil to flinch as tears once again began to shimmer in his eyes.

The silence was shattered completely when Virgil broke away from Patton, his eyes wide as he stared at Patton guiltily. Choked sobs left his mouth as he yelled apologies at the other man. His form that had just settled began shaking once more, exhaustion was cast away, ignored in favor of trying to convey his guilt and sorrow.

Patton sat there with wide eyes, staring at the scene in front of him. His breath caught in his throat and his hands curled into fists, his nails digging into the palms of his hands leaving deep indents in the flesh.

Just as he was about to surge forward to embrace the other man again, a phrase stopped him.

“I’m sorry, I made a mistake! I made so many!”

Most of the things Virgil was saying were cut off by sobs or were unintelligible. However, this phrase was loud and clear and it only served to further confuse Patton. To be truthful Patton was starting to get angry. Angry about how cryptic Virgil was being. Angry that he couldn’t understand. That he couldn’t be more helpful to the man in front of him.

“Why won’t you just tell me? Why do you have to be so confusing about everything?” He yelled. He panted for a bit before his eyes widened with the realization that he just shouted at Virgil. Looking at the man in front of him, it wasn’t hard to tell that the shouting had caused him to lock up.

Gritting his teeth, Patton stood up before making his way towards the door leading to the library. Tears streamed down his face silently as he closed the door behind him. His eyes met those of his two boyfriends before he turned his gaze to the floor. He walked between them, mumbling that they could go in now, before picking up a stack of books and proceeding to place them back in their correct spots on the shelves.

Chapter Text

So I'm sorry to say that this story is going to be rewritten from the beginning. When I began writing it, I loved how it was turning out, however over time it became harder to write and I kind of wrote myself into a dead end where I'm just not happy with what I've written. Hence why I'm rewriting it. The first chapter is up here:  Run Away (Rewrite)

I'm really sorry. I know a lot of you guys were waiting for the next chapter and now I'm basically just saying "Nope!" and laughing in your face. Anyways I hope you'll like the rewrite just as much, if not more than you liked the original!