Virgil Black didn't have many friends as a child. He was quieter than the other kids in his grade and he wasn't a fan of loud noises and crowds. Throughout elementary school, he never made a single friend. It was when he reached middle school that he finally connected with a couple people.

A boy named Patton Valentine convinced him to hang out with him and his friends, Logan Sharp and Roman Prince. They were a bizarre bunch, especially when Roman's brother was involved and brought his friend along. His friend had a skin condition that made one half of his face appear patchy and he also had heterochromia; he went by the nickname Dee and refused to share his first name. The five of them together was a mess of different personalities, but somehow it worked.

When Virgil joined the group, it seemed to work even better. There were plenty of moments of banter and laughter among them. He started to open up a bit more with time, feeling accepted by his new group of friends.

It was on his fourteenth birthday that he realized how much his friends cared for him. He was having a very small party with his friends and they'd each gotten him a gift. Patton had bought him a giant pack of colored pencils while Logan had bought him a new sketchbook. Dee had gotten him a vinyl of his favorite MCR record. Remus gave him a gag gift that ended up being a bit on the nose: a men's underwear magazine. He'd flushed and flicked him off at the time.

It was Roman's gift that surprised him. He'd insisted on giving it to him in private, claiming he hadn't gotten him anything until the others had left the room. Once they had, he approached him with a smile.

"Hey, I was kind of fibbing before, but not completely," he admitted. "I didn't but you anything, I actually made you something! You know I'm pretty crafty, and I've been getting into crochet-" he pulled out a small cat plush from behind his back, "and I couldn't think of anything good to buy you, so I made you a plushie. It's a cat! You know, cause cats are your favorite!"

He handed him the small plush. Virgil took it, staring down at it in awe. "It's two different shades of purple cause I ran out of the first color, and also I had to use white to stitch it together cause I forgot to leave long enough tails," he laughed. "Oh! And those were the only two buttons I could find, that's why one's green and the other's purple. I figured it was the thought that counted, I'm still pretty new to crochet, so, sorry if it sucks-"

"I love it," Virgil whispered, smiling as he hugged the cat to his chest. "Thank you, so much... I can't believe you remembered I liked cats and that my favorite color's purple. I thought no one was paying attention when I mentioned that."

"I always pay attention to you," Roman said, shrugging. He smiled warmly and hugged him. "Happy birthday Hot Topic!"