Virgil was staring at the ground, feeling overwhelmed with anxiety and fear of returning to school. He was going into fifth grade, and it was starting to come to his attention that he'd be in middle school before he knew it.

Middle school is when everything goes wrong, he thought gloomily as he scuffed his foot against the floor. I don't want to go back to school, the kids all think I'm crazy and too weird to be friends with. I don't care about the things they teach. I'll just forget it all in a month. It's miserable there.

"Alright kiddo, here's your backpack," his dad, Patton said, walking over and kneeling down to put it onto his back for him. Virgil continued to look away, eyes watering. His dad frowned sadly, knowing how upset he was to be going back to school. He took his hands in his, getting him to look up. "Hey, it's going to be alright, Virgil. You'll be okay, I promise. Let's get you to the car."

He nodded, reluctantly letting him lead him to the car. He stayed silent the entire drive, peering out the window as they pulled into the drop off pavilion. Patton looked in the rear view mirror, frowning at the still frightened look on his son's face. He sighed, looking for a way to cheer him up when he noticed a boy standing around, looking at the passing cars. He seemed to be waiting for someone, and he realized who it was upon seeing his handmade crown sitting atop his wavy brown hair.

"Hey Virge! Look who it is!" he said, gesturing toward him. The darkly dressed boy's eyes widened as he saw him, looking a little less sad now. "Roman's waiting for you! Go, have fun on your first day!"

"Okay..." he murmured in reply quietly as he took a deep breath. He leaned forward across the back seats to kiss his dad on the cheek before getting out of the car in a hurry. "Love you Dad."

Patton smiled affectionately at him. "Love you too, Virgil," he said as the boy quirked the corner of his lips up enough to make it almost look like a smile. He then pulled away from the school heading back home with a heavy sigh of relief.

It was a miracle that Roman had been waiting there, given his son enough motivation to get out of the car without bursting into tears. He smiled as he thought back to the way his son's eyes lit up slightly upon seeing him. Their crush was obvious and he found it absolutely adorable. Knowing the princely boy was a good kid, he hoped that once they were older they could become more than friends. Virgil was the type of person who needed someone to balance out his anxiety and reassure his worth constantly, and it was clear Roman could do both of those things, even now when they were only children. It just made Patton's heart feel warm to see.

He was tired as he returned to their house, being a stay at home dad. His husband was drinking coffee before getting ready to leave for his offices, greeting him with a smile. "Morning Patton, was Virgil alright this morning?" he asked, a slightly concerned look in his eyes.

"Yeah, he was really bummed about school and really anxious, but Roman was waiting for him to get there, so he was alright," he explained, sitting down and leaning into his husband's shoulder, feeling tired. Logan reached up, massaging his scalp slightly to make him sigh happily.

"Don't stress too much, love," he advised. "Virgil is almost in middle school. He'll soon be looking after himself."

Patton nodded in agreement, sighing again. "It feels like just yesterday we adopted him and brought him home for the first time, and now all of sudden he's about to enter his teen years," he said, feeling emotional all of a sudden as he sniffled tearfully. "He's growing up so fast."

Logan nodded in agreement as a comfortable silence fell between them. Once he finished his coffee, he got his bags together and kissed his husband goodbye.

Meanwhile back at the elementary school, Virgil was shyly walking toward the boy with a crown on his head, feeling self conscious and awkward. The boy however grinned upon seeing him, rushing forward to hug him and spin him around in his arms.

"Virgil!" he exclaimed, clearly not caring about the attention it brought to them as he held him tightly. "I was waiting for you! I missed you so much over the summer! I'm sorry my parents took me on vacation out of the country. Like, it was fun, but I really missed you."

Roman gave him a pouting expression as they pulled back to further solidify his point as the darkly dressed boy's cheeks warmed. "I uh... I missed you too," he replied, fidgeting nervously. The other boy noticed this looking worried as he took his hands.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked to make sure.

Virgil nodded, squeezing his hand as he replied. "Y-Yeah, just really nervous to be back here," he explained with a sad look as he met his friend's eyes. "I'm really glad you're here though, thank you, for waiting for me like that."

"Of course!" Roman said happily, smiling wide. "Now come on! We got the same teacher this year!"