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Virgil didn’t sleep much.
It wasn’t for lack of trying. But with his childhood - and Remus as a brother - he just didn’t get to fall asleep very often before 3am. And when he did, he rarely stayed asleep for very long.
So, there was a reason he’d been dodging his boyfriend’s requests for a sleepover, and not just because the twins were bound to tease him about it for the rest of eternity. No, he really didn’t want Patton to see him like that, nor did he want to wake Patton up and he almost definitely would. His nightmares weren’t exactly light ones.
Still, Patton had been asking to come over to Virgil’s house for weeks, even before they officially got together. It also didn’t help that Patton’s brother, Janus, had been going out with Roman for the last year and stayed over at least twice a week at this point.
Which brought Virgil back to the present, with the two of them sitting in Patton’s favorite coffee shop Saturday morning for their usual date.
“Please, Virgil? I really want to see your home, I’m not gonna make fun of anything.”
Virgil sighed.
“I know, Pat, I just…”
He really didn’t want to hurt Patton’s feelings. The look on his face when Virgil hadn’t responded to his confession right away had burned itself permanently into the back of his mind, and he never wanted to see it again.
“I don’t know…the twins are a lot, and-”
“I know! But Logan already offered to have Remus over for the night and Janus said he could keep Roman out of our way! Please, Virgil, I promise it won’t be as bad as you think it will.”
Patton had been nothing but sweet with him, always working to help Virgil manage his anxiety and try new things in a way that won’t make him nervous.
And, well, he did kinda want to see how cute Patton would look in his pajamas…
“I…okay, if you’re sure…”
Patton jumped and hugged him, thanking Virgil excitedly and promising that they’d have a good time. At that, Virgil couldn’t help but hug back and smile.
The time had come. After their usual date, they’d stopped back at Patton’s house to grab his things and let his dad know the plan. Dr. Picani had been more than understanding, letting Virgil know it was perfectly fine to be nervous and that yes, he’d already talked with Logan about having Remus over. That was perfectly timed, because Remus burst through the door just a few minutes later to tackle-hug Logan off the couch. Logan, of course, responded with a small smile and a pat on the back for Remus. Really, Virgil could not understand how those two managed to get along so well, but they did and Patton snuck a picture on their way out.
They ran into the other two on their walk home, with Roman stopping excitedly to tell Virgil about the surprise date Janus had planned. Janus winked at them and Virgil gave him a grateful smile.
Getting home was when the anxiety started to kick in. Virgil’s room was about as far as he could get from Patton’s, and his mind was flashing through all the different things. So many things Patton might judge, or worry, or-
“Virgil? Are you okay?" Patton asked, squeezing Virgil’s hand gently.
“I…yeah, sorry. Got stuck thinking, uhm…c’mon.”
Thankfully his bedroom was on the first floor, across from his dad’s room (He’d been a clingy baby apparently) so they wouldn’t have to walk past the twins’ room. Virgil led the way and tried to focus on Patton’s hand in his instead of the worries in his head.
“Well…here it is…” He said softly, pushing open the door and immediately turning to watch Patton’s reaction.
Virgil’s room was…dark, to say the least. He kept his blackout curtains closed most of the time and usually forgot the actual light in replacement for his purple fairy lights. His blankets and curtains all had spiderweb patterns, and the shell on the far wall was filled with a few books and his whole collection of horror movies.
He expected something - shock, disgust, even humor - but Patton just looked excited and stepped past Virgil to look around the room better.
“Woahhh ... .Virgil, it's so cool in here!”
“It…it is?” Virgil asked, completely taken aback by Patton’s unfazed excitement.
“Well yeah! The curtains are so cool, did you do it yourself?”
“I…well…” Virgil flushed, as he had done it himself and embroidered several V’s into the web pattern. “I was just messing around…”
“It’s beautiful! And the bed too….Ooh you have Tucker and Dale?”
“You watch horror movies?”
He hadn’t taken Patton for someone who would enjoy any horror movies, even the lighter ones.
“Sometimes, Janus likes them and Logan enjoys the behind-the-scenes stuff. I don’t mind some of them, Tucker and Dale is really cute.”
Virgil relaxed a little, smiling. This really wasn’t has bad as he thought.
Patton gasped.
“Ohhh! You have stuffed animals too?! Why didn’t you tell me!?”
“Oh, uh…I didn’t think to.”
Virgil came over to sit on the bed, watching Patton with a growing smile. He was absolutely adorable and the bright colors of his outfit made him almost seem like he was glowing in Virgil’s dark room.
“Come sit down, let’s turn on a movie then. If you like Tucker and Dale then I’ve got a good one for you.”
“Oooh, really?”
Patton was quick to join Virgil on the bed, leaning into him like they always did on movie nights. He got the movie set up and they were relaxing comfortably until Patton launched off the bed with a scream.
Virgil sat up immediately.
“What? What is it, are you okay?!”
“SPIDER! Oh god there’s a giant disgusting spider on your bed!”
Virgil paused, face immediately going bright red as he saw the tarantula crawl across his blankets.
“Oh…I uh…”
“It’s so gross! Virgil kill it!”
He ducked his head, picking up the spider as he turned away from Patton.
“No, it uh…he’s supposed to be here. I forgot I let her out…”
He carried the spider - Charlotte, aptly named - back to her tank and closed the lid. God, he forgot Patton was scared of spiders. And the night had been going so well, but now…
“Sorry…I…sorry…”
His throat was closing up again, this time from tears. He really didn’t want Patton to leave, he’d actually thought things would go well -
“It…no, it’s fine, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had a pet spider.”
“Yeah I…sorry, I meant to tell you I just…forgot…”
Patton stood up, catching his breath before sitting back down on the bed.
“That’s okay, I’m okay. C’mon, let’s finish the movie, it was getting really good.”
Virgil paused again, quietly coming back over to the bed and this time sitting to hug Patton from behind.
“You still wanna stay?”
“Well yeah!” Patton said immediately, turning a little to look up at him. “Of course I do! It’s only been an hour, and we’ve got all night to ourselves. I’m not gonna leave just because of a spider.”
Virgil let out a breath and gave Patton a tight squeeze.
“Right, yeah…thanks…”
And the rest of the night went off without a hitch. They finished the movie (Cooties, great horror comedy with Leigh Whennell and Rainn Wilson) and headed out to get something to eat. Luckily Virgil’s dad had been kind enough to order them a pizza, so they sat and talked until they heard the door open.
“Guess who’s homeeee~” Roman sang, stumbling in with Janus and immediately bursting into a fit of giggles.
“Guess who’s drunk~” Janus sang back, an amused smile on his face. “I thought it would be fun to take him to dinner, but then Remus called and the two managed to find a bottle of vodka. In other news I learned an interesting fact about my father tonight. Logan’s taking care of the other one, but Roman insisted on taking me home.”
Roman mumbled something and leaned harder on Janus, who kept his arm wrapped firmly around the other’s waist.
“Oh, are you staying the night too, Janus?” Patton asked excitedly. Before Janus could answer, Roman spoke up with a snicker.
“Good luck sleeping, you’re gonna need it with him.” Roman pointed at Virgil and snickered again. “Stormcloud keeps all of us awake at night.”
Virgil seriously wished he could climb into a hole and disappear. This was exactly why he hadn’t wanted the twins here.
“Alright dear, let’s get you into bed,” Janus said, pulling Roman away from them.
“Noooo, Jan, ‘m not even tireddd…”
Virgil shrank into himself, fighting the urge to pull his hood up. Patton’s brows were furrowed in that cute way he does when he’s worried.
“What did Roman mean? About you keeping them up?”
He’d been planning on waiting for Patton to fall asleep and then staying up all night to avoid the nightmares, but he hadn’t planned for if Patton asked him about it.
“It wasn’t anything…he’s just wasted, y’know…?”
“It wouldn’t have made you this nervous if it didn’t mean something Vee. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just…stay up late a lot.”
Not technically a lie, but not exactly the truth either.
Patton clearly didn’t believe that was all it was, but he thankfully didn’t push it.
“We should probably get to bed soon anyways. I’m not used to staying up super late, Logan gets onto us about proper sleep schedules.”
Virgil chuckled.
“Really? Pretty sure Remus has talked about how late they stay up texting.”
“Oh for sure, Janus has caught him several times eating jam at three in the morning.”
“Why was Janus up at three in the morning?”
“He always wakes up at night and has to come check on us. Something about being the oldest I guess, him and Dad kinda had to work together when Logan and I were younger.”
They made it back to Virgil’s room and quickly changed into pajamas, which was everything Virgil was hoping for and more. Patton had brought a cat onesie, and Virgil genuinely had to bite back an excited squeak. He threw on his own Jack Skellington onesie just because he could, and the two got cuddled up under Virgil’s covers.
“Mmm…is it weird that I’ve been wanting to do this for a while?” Patton asked, looking up slightly from where his head was tucked under Virgil’s chin. “The cuddling, I mean. Thanks for trusting me with this Vee, I know it was a big step for you.”
Virgil was grateful his fairy lights hid the blush creeping up his face.
“It wasn’t a big deal. G’night Patton.”
He kissed Patton’s forehead and smiled softly, his eyes feeling heavy as he held Patton close. Normally he wouldn’t be this tired, but he always relaxed with Patton and soon enough he was asleep.
“Virgil! Virgil, it's okay!”
Virgil woke up fighting, his arms jerking violently away from whatever was holding on to him.
“Vee, it’s just me, it’s okay!”
Virgil paused, the images of his nightmare fading as he focused on Patton’s panicked face.
“I….Pat? Fuck, I…I’m sorry…”
“No, no it’s okay Virgil, really. Are you okay? You were screaming and hitting things and I didn’t want you to hurt yourself and then-”
“Yeah, yeah I’m f…fine.” He choked out, coughing a few times as he sat up. It was always hard to breathe after these, and he usually kept water on his nightstand but he’d forgotten this time.
Patton seemed to understand what he was looking for though, because he leaned over for his bag and pulled a water bottle out of his bag.
“Here, take a sec and breathe Vee.”
He took several minutes, actually, but eventually managed to get steady airflow again. Thankfully this wasn’t one of the panic attack nights, but it was still something he hadn’t wanted Patton to see.
“I…I’m sorry Patton, I didn’t want to wake you up I…I never wanted you to see that-”
“Why not? Virgil, if you’re having nightmares that bad every night then I want to help. Are they always this bad?”
Virgil hesitated again, but he was exhausted and Patton had always been his weakness.
“Sometimes…today was a good day…”
Patton frowned, then pulled Virgil back down but switched positions.
“Do you wanna talk about it?”
Virgil shook his head, clinging to Patton and hiding in the younger male’s shoulder. Patton always smelled like sugar cookies for some reason, and it was beyond comforting right now.
“That’s okay. Would it help if I talked to you about something?”
Virgil thought for a moment, then nodded. Patton started talking about what he’d been dreaming out while a gentle hand came up to play with Virgil’s hair.
Maybe this wasn’t such a bad night.