Hi whoever's reading this! Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read my book, I hope you like it! I'm gonna try my best to update it every Thursday, but don't hold your breath because I am very, very forgetful. I hope you enjoy this chapter, bye!
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  This...is weird.

  I watched as the new girl sunk out back to her room and the Sides began talking again.

  I looked down at my shoes and studied the untied black laces and the rips in the purple fabric.

  Why did I...why did I think that? I-I'm gay...right? Thomas is, so...shouldn't I be?

  I thought back to when we first knew that something was wrong. The rest of the Sides and I could feel that something big was happening.

  I came out of my room and saw the rest of them looking out of theirs. We all noticed the new door next to mine at the same time.

  "Get Thomas." Roman said immediately. Patton immediately sunk out and came back in with him.

  "Guys, what is happening? I was in the middle of a video."

  Roman walked up to Thomas and turned him around so the new door was in his line of sight. He stood there blinking for a moment.

  "Oh."

  None of us knew what to do. Finally, he started to slowly walk up to the door, the rest of us following close behind. He grabbed ahold of the handle and took a deep breath. He slowly pushed the door open, and on the other side we saw...a girl. She was looking in a mirror. She turned around slowly and we saw her face. It didn't look like Thomas'.

  Thomas stepped forward and began to talk to her, but I didn't hear what he said. I only heard my thoughts.

  Wow, she's...she's beautiful. W-Wait, what!? No, no she's not, she's...she's a girl. She's a girl and you're gay, Virgil. Stop it!

  I was shaken from my thoughts by her response to whatever it was Thomas had said. It made my blood run cold.

  "Depression. I am Depression."

  You know that horrible, sinking feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you find out that something bad has happened to someone you love? That was what I felt in that moment. The rest of it was a blur, up until the arguing started. I was jolted back into reality as all of the Sides came at Thomas at once demanding an explanation for why she was here.

  I said a lot of things I didn't mean, and I yelled at Patton. I made him cry. He had started tearing up the moment we found out that Thomas was depressed, but he had been holding it together pretty well for a while.

  He first started crying for real somewhere in the middle of the argument, but no one except for me and Thomas really noticed because he had stopped soon after. When I yelled at him...I made him cry again.

  It was an awful feeling to know that I had caused it, and I immediately felt guilty, but I didn't apologize. I don't know why. I guess I was too angry.

  I was brought back to the present again as Logan snapped his fingers in front of my face. I looked up to see all of the Sides staring at me expectantly.

  "I'm sorry, what?" They all sighed in exasperation.

  "You weren't listening that entire time?" Janus asked, clearly frustrated with me. "I would rather not listen if you're talking, lizard breath." I muttered.

  "What was that?" He asked in a warning tone. I smirked at him. "Nothing Karen." He huffed and tugged on the wrist of one of his gloves, shooting me a glare.

  "That's not my name, and you know it! If you call me Karen one more time, I'll-" Thomas cut in, standing between us. "Guys, come on, let's not fight again. We have a serious issue, remember?"

  We were all silent for a moment before Thomas sighed.

  "Virgil, we were talking about if I should go to a therapist or not. I was just hoping it would go away, but...clearly it didn't."

  Thomas looked down and crossed his arms.

  "If I get medication for this...I don't know if it would affect Y/n. I think I should just try to cope with it better, like I did for you." I cut in before he could say anything else. "But you're not coping with me. I still worry too much and make every situation more difficult for you! I don't think I need to remind you of all the things you've missed out on because of me."

  I mirrored his action, taking my hands out of my pockets and crossing my arms as well. He looked at me, unsure of what to say.

  "But...I can deal with you, Virgil. I know some things to do to make you calm down and to help me cope better, whether you think so or not. I...I think it would help with this too. That's what we were asking, we wanted to know what you thought."

  I sighed and shrugged, putting my hands back in my pockets.

  "Do whatever you think is best, Thomas. I don't know."

  I sunk out to my room and promptly flopped down on my bed. I lay there looking at the ceiling and thinking for longer than I should've.

  Finally, I got up and grabbed my headphones, turning to what always helps me when I need to get out of my head: music.

  I unlocked my phone and went straight to my favorite playlist, putting it on shuffle just 'cause. The first thing I heard was that oh-so-familiar G note.

  I smiled and closed my eyes as the sound of My Chemical Romance took me away from all the problems of the real world.

***

  I woke up to the feeling of someone tapping on my forehead.

  I blinked groggily and took my headphones off.

  Once my eyes could focus properly, I saw Patton standing in front of me. He was smiling and looked like nothing ever happened between us.

  "Hey kiddo. I made dinner, and I'm about to go ask Y/n to join us! It's pasta!" He said.

  I noticed his voice still didn't carry it's usual jovial tone to it. He seemed like he was treading carefully with what he said.

  I nodded and sat up, rubbing my eyes. Patton smiled and turned to walk out the door.

  "Patton, wait." I said, determined to make this better. He stopped and turned back to me.

  "Yes?" He said, looking at me in an inquisitive manner.

  "I..." I sighed and stood up. "I'm...sorry. For yelling at you, I mean. I really shouldn't have done that. The last thing I want to do is make you upset, and...I've managed to do that more often than usual lately..."

  I looked down and ran a hand through my hair.

  "I guess I've been a real screw up, huh?"

  I heard him sigh and soon I felt his arms around me.

  "All is forgiven my dark, strange son!"

  I stood there for a moment before returning his hug and smiling softly. He let go, now beaming and looking happier than I had seen him all day.

  "Come downstairs whenever you want for dinner! If you decide to stay up here, I'll make you a plate and put it in the fridge!" He said before turning and walking out happily.

  I smiled at the doorway in his absence. He always went the extra mile for me. Every time I missed dinner, he had a plate waiting for me in the fridge.

  He knows how much I love midnight snacks.

  I chuckled at the thought and watched him exit from Y/n's room and head back downstairs.

  I walked out, curious to know if she was coming to dinner or not. She stepped out of her room and I immediately retracted back into mine.

  She walked down the hall, peering into my open door for a second. Her eyes widened and a small blush spread across her cheeks as she saw me looking back at her. She quickly turned away, walking down the stairs to the kitchen.

  I blushed as well and shut my door, suddenly losing my appetite. I didn't want to go down there if she would be there too. It would be too awkward.

  I need to talk to Thomas when no one else is around. The only way I can do that is if I bring him back here into my room or say something when we're all in the mind palace, or else the others could still hear if they were listening.

  I thought it over, planning to ask Thomas after dinner so he could eat before I bothered him again. I wanted desperately to ask him about this whole liking-a-girl-thing. I didn't know if we could have separate sexualities or if Thomas had realized he wasn't completely gay or something. I didn't know what to think.

  I sighed and lay back down on my bed, picking my phone up and unplugging my headphones.

  I scrolled through social media for a while, not really taking anything in. I was mostly thinking.

  I checked the time and saw that it was only four-fifteen. I sighed.

  I'm in for a long wait.

---

  They...invited me for dinner? Why? I've done nothing but cause problems since I got here. It's probably pity. Yeah, that's it. It's gotta be.

  I thought about it as I watched Patton exit my room, shutting the door behind him.

  I stood up and looked in my mirror.

  There was no emotion in my face, which wasn't a surprise. I had yet to physically express any emotions.

  Maybe it's just because I'm new, or maybe because I haven't really felt anything yet. Oh well, it doesn't really bother me.

  I turned and walked to my door, deciding that I would go to dinner. I was hungry anyway, so what did I have to lose?

  As I opened my door I heard footsteps walking quickly, but I didn't see anyone in the hallway. I noticed Virgil's door was open, so naturally, I peeked in, curious to see what his room was like. I was met with his eyes looking back at me and instantly became embarrassed.

  Great, he probably thinks I'm some kind of creeper now!

  I felt my face heat up and turned away, quick to walk down the stairs and get away from the situation.

  Well, at least I know I can feel things now.

  I walked into the kitchen and suddenly, all eyes were on me. The Sides all stopped to look at me as I entered the room. I shoved my hands in my pockets to try and hide the Band-Aids from them, at least for the time being.

  Patton gave me a warm smile and the others just kind of looked. I noticed that Janus and Remus weren't there. Neither was Virgil, but I had already seen that.

  "Hey kiddo, glad to see you decided to come down! You can sit here next to me if you want!" Patton said, patting the seat next to him. Logan was on the other side of it, placing his attention away from me and to the plate of food in front of him.

  I nodded and walked up to the counter, where two plates of food were waiting. I grabbed one and sat in the seat Patton had provided.

  I waited for a moment, watching the others eat before reluctantly taking my hand out of my pocket to dig in to my own food.

  Patton glanced over at me, a forkful of pasta halfway in his mouth. He took it out and looked at my hand, like I figured he would.

  "Hey kiddo, what happened to your hand?" He asked.

  I shrugged.

  "I just cut my fingers on something in my room. It's no big deal."

  His gaze lingered on my hand for a moment before he looked back to his plate and stuck the fork in his mouth. The others didn't seem to pay much attention to it, allowing me to let out a silent sigh of relief. I hesitantly took a bite, unsure of how it would taste.

  Wow...this is pretty good.

  I swallowed and began twirling another bite onto my fork.

  "So where are the other ones?" I asked, not really caring if I sounded rude at the moment. I guess not all of my emotions had taken effect.

  Roman tensed up before answering me.

  "They...don't eat with us. In fact, we try to spend as little time with them as possible, as should you." He said. I looked back to my food, not wanting to press the issue any further.

  Dinner was quiet and kind of awkward. Virgil never came down, neither did Remus or Janus. I finished my food first and rinsed my plate off, eager to get away from the tension.

  "I'm gonna head back to my room. Thanks for dinner, it was really good." I said, shooting Patton a small smile. He beamed at my words, seemingly proud of himself.

  I quickly walked back up the stairs. Virgil's door was shut now, and I considered knocking on it to see if he was okay, but I decided against it.

  He's probably fine. Besides, he most likely stayed up here so he wouldn't have to see me anyway.

  I studied the patterns on his door, noticing how they looked nearly identical to the patterns on his jacket, save for a few minor differences. I ran my hand over the letter V in the center, enjoying the feeling of the oddly cold wood beneath my palm.

  The Band-Aids made small crinkling noises as I curled my fingers, almost convincing myself to knock, but ultimately going with my first decision and walking back to my room.

  I shut the door and flopped down on the bed, hugging Terry to my chest. I curled up in a ball, not bothering to take my shoes off.

  I felt myself slowly drift off to sleep. I thought of nothing that night, and the only thing I heard was a peaceful silence.