Patton hummed as he stuffed his cheerleading outfit in his bag and zipped it up. It had certainly been a long practice but now it was all over with and he could go collect Virgil from his Debate Club meeting and go get some sodas and other snacks for movie night.
He slung his bag over his shoulder and headed out of the door from the change room. Patton covered his mouth and closed his eyes as a yawn escaped him. He really couldn’t wait until he was at his kiddo’s house where they could have a good cuddle, movie session. He just wished that there wouldn’t be any delays on his way home because he really didn’t want to deal with no one besides his precious Virgil.
“Patton!” Well, almost no one else.
Patton made a sound that sounded like a mix between a yelp and a squeak (how embarrassing!) He turned around and fixed a smile on his face to greet Roman, who was running down the hall toward him with a big smile on his face.
“Hello, Roman!” Patton chirped. He folded his hands behind his back and tilted his head, hoping that he wasn’t acting weird or anything like that. “How can I help you?”
Roman reached Patton and doubled over, placing his hands on his knees and taking deep breaths. He straightened up and grinned at Patton. “Hi, Patton. I’m sorry to bother you but I really need your help.”
Patton’s heart leapt into his throat because Roman Prince needed his help! His help! “Oh, it’s no bother,” Patton shrugged, playing it off. “I’d be glad to help with whatever you needed. But, I really do need to go pick up my friend soon. He’s at Debate practice. Me and Virgil are going to watch some Star Wars tonight and he’s really excited to watch it. He loves space stuff”
Roman nodded and reached into his bag, pulling out a page of paper that Patton recognized as something their shared Drama teacher. “Have you finished this yet? I’m totally stuck on the last question and I was hoping you’d know.”
“Oh! Yeah, my friend helped me with it!” Patton shifted a little closer and tried to ignore Roman’s strong arms brushing up against his. “It’s a tricky question!” He pointed to the question that Roman was having trouble with. “It’s three beats! I think Mr. Sanders went over it with us early on in the term so I’m not surprised you didn’t remember. I needed help with it too.”
Roman grinned at him and Patton had to fight not to swoon. “Thanks a lot, Patton! You really helped me out. I was afraid that I wasn’t going to figure it out by tomorrow.”
Patton smiled at him kindly. “You would’ve figured it out, Roman! You’re so smart when it comes to drama.” He inwardly smacked himself for coming on so forward but Roman seemed to like it, beaming with happiness.
Roman brushed his hair back from his eyes. “Why, thank you! But, really, you completely saved me here.” He stuffed his paper back into his bag and gave Patton another bright smile. “I need to go pick up Logan from Robotics. Thanks again, Patty!”
Patton’s heart screeched with joy at the nickname but forced himself to turn away and wave goodbye to Roman over his shoulder. “No problem! Just glad I could help.” He waited until he turned the corner and then practically flew down the halls to get to where Virgil was waiting for him in the parking lot.
Virgil yelped when Patton jumped on him suddenly and squealed in his ear. “Patton! What-”
“Roman talked to me!” Patton squealed. “He stopped me in the hallway and asked me for help with his homework!”
Virgil gasped and pulled Patton to his car. “Okay, we are going to get snacks and you are going to spill the freaking tea! He actually talked to you?”
Patton nodded eagerly. “He did! Oh, he actually smiled at me, VeeVee! It was amazing!” He sighed and leaned his head on Virgil’s shoulder as Virgil dug through his hoodie pockets for his keys. “I know he didn’t feel the same way, but it felt magical.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’m telling you, Lo, it was magical!”
Roman had his head in Logan’s lap and telling Logan all about his meeting with Patton in the hallway. The two were hanging out in Logan’s room to talk about Roman’s run-in with Patton.
“It certainly sounds like it,” Logan chuckled. “Though, didn’t you complete your drama homework in class?”
Roman smiled bashfully up at his friend. “I started a conversation with him and panicked! I’m just glad I grabbed an extra page by accident.” He sighed and his grin turned soft. “I’m just so happy right now! I talked to him! Oh, I almost forgot!”
He shifted his head off of Logan’s lap and sat up next to him. “Patton told me that your emo crush loves space. Apparently, he and Virgil are watching Star Wars tonight to cater to Virgil’s love of the stars.”
Logan’s smile turned soft and affectionate. “I wonder what he would think of stargazing,” he wondered aloud.
Roman snorted and punched his arm gently. “You have to ask him out first.”
Logan rolled his eyes. “Like that’s ever going to happen.”
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