Title: Falling For You
Summary: Roman and Virgil have been friends for quite awhile now, but Roman's never seen him with his guard down. When he gets the opportunity too... let's just say his heart can't handle it
- side story to my high school au -
Sophomore year was coming to a close, the drama club having just wrapped up their end of year play. Everyone in the club was feeling the post-performance buzz as they worked together taking apart the set and getting everything cleaned up and put away before the end of the day. Cleaning up usually meant joking around and putting off the work for as long as they could because once it was cleaned up, then they weren't allowed backstage until the beginning of the next year. So everyone liked making the most out of the time while they can.
Roman hummed softly as he scrolled through his phone, hitting play on a Disney playlist and music started drifting out through the stereo had set up. He couldn't keep a smile off his face, loving this time of year even though he was always a little sad when a play ends, but it was worth it to see everyone laughing and having a good time together afterwards. He let his gaze flit from group to group, eyes landing on Virgil where he was talking with Logan, perched up on one of the prop boxes and legs swinging idly, feet tapping along to the music. He must have felt eyes on him because he turned his gaze over to Roman, raising an eyebrow when their eyes met. Roman grinned brightly, lifting a hand in a wave, which prompted an eye-roll and a sigh from the other.
"What's got you in such a good mood?" Patton asked, coming up beside him, a dress folded over his arm. "Maybe the person you're making flirty eyes at?" His tone was teasing, a grin tugging at his lips as he watched Roman sputtered.
"I'm not flirting with anyone!" Roman huffed out, crossing his arms. He knew Patton was just teasing him, he knew their relationship wasn't like that at all, but he still felt the need to defend himself. Patton just wiggled his eyebrows at him playfully and he sighed, rolling his eyes. "Fine. I guess Virgil is looking a little cute today." he said, deciding to play along for once.
"Oh? So you do think he's cute!" Patton grinned brightly, clapping his hands together. "Do you think Logan is cute too?"
"You are aware that Virgil and I look the same, don't you?" Logan asked, making his way over to them. He lifted an arm when Patton moved forward for a hug, rolling his eyes fondly down at him.
Roman definitely didn't jump when he suddenly appeared, thank you very much. Even if he did press a hand to his chest dramatically. "You don't look that much alike you know. For example, you wear glasses, like a nerd."
Logan just raised an eyebrow, tilting his head slightly in confusion. "You do know Virgil wears glasses too, don't you? He just prefers to wear his contacts whenever he's out of the house."
Roman blinked once, twice, confused. "He does?" He glanced at Patton for confirmation, frowning slightly when he nodded. "How come I've never seen him in them?" He watched as the other two exchanged a look, already knowing he wasn't going to get an answer. If he wanted to know why, then he was going to have to ask Virgil himself.
Which is how he found himself quietly making his way into the Clarke household, having received a confirmation text from Logan that Virgil was home and in his room with his glasses on. He did feel a little bad about sneaking up on him like this, but this really was the only way to see him completely relaxed. He carefully made his way up the stairs, easily avoiding the creaky parts, slowly inching his way down the hallway. He could see Virgil's bedroom door open and if he leaned just right, he could see him sitting on his bed.
If Roman hadn't know it was Virgil beforehand, he would have thought it was some stranger sitting on the bed instead. Virgil's long hair which normally hide his face was pushed back by a headband, glasses perched on his nose and, from he was able to see, he didn't seem to have any makeup on his face. His lips were barely moving, probably mouthing the words to whatever song he was listening to from the earbuds tucked neatly into his ears and a sketchbook was open, resting on his propped up knees. He looked so... relaxed, unbothered, and Roman found himself slowly inching forward, wanting a closer look but not wanting to startle him.
Unfortunately or him, he forgot about the dog. The second he took another step closer, a small dark head perked up from the end of the bed, looking over at him and wagging her tail. Virgil glanced at her before following her gaze, eyes landing on Roman. Their eyes locked and there was a long moment of silence stretching out between them before he let out a startled yelp, shifting quickly and pulling his blanket up and over his head.
"No! No no no no Virgil!" Roman rushed forward quickly, hands up in a nonthreatening way even though he couldn't be seen. Scaring him like that had been the last thing he had wanted to do and he cursed his curiosity. "It's okay! I didn't mean to sneak up on you like that!"
"What are you doing here Roman?" Virgil's voice sounded small under the blanket and he didn't know how to help make him feel better.
"I just.. I was thinking that we never really spend time together. Just the two of us." Roman came to a stop by the bed, crouching down next to it and hesitantly reaching a hand out, hand hovering over Virgil's covered form. "I should have asked if it was okay for me to come by, and I'm sorry."
There was a moment of silence before Virgil let out a soft sigh, forcing himself to sit up. When he pulled the blanket off from his head, his glasses were no longer on his face and Roman figured he was hiding them for some reason. "It's.. fine. I would have liked a little warning, but I don't mind spending time with you." He grabbed his thrown notebook, flipping the cover closed and fingers playing with an edge, not looking directly at him. He did pat the bed, scooting over a little in invitation.
Roman waited a few seconds before taking up the offer, carefully sitting on the edge of the bed, wanting to give Virgil some space. "You can wear your glasses you know. I'm not going to, you know, judge you or anything." He may just want a closer look at the sight, but he did want him to see.
Virgil just gave a little shrug, pulling the glasses out from beneath the blanket but not putting them on. "I don't really like the way I look in them, so I try not to wear them that much."
"I think you look good!" Roman had to mentally scold himself for sounding a little to enthusiastic. He didn't want to make him feel like he was just screwing around with him. "Not to say you don't look good normally! But -" He cut himself off when Virgil huffed out a laugh, shaking his slightly.
"I get it. Don't get all tongue-tied there princey." He reached over, nudging him slightly before sighing and putting the glasses back on. "Better?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes! You look..." Roman turned to face him fully, feeling the words die in his throat. He couldn't help but notice the splattering of freckles across Virgil's cheeks and nose and he was finding it hard to look away. "You have freckles."
"I do." Virgil gave a little shrug, gaze very pointedly looking at his lap. "They're kind of -"
"Cute." Roman cut him off, already knowing where his train of thought was going and wanting to cut it off before it could fully form. "You look very cute right now."
Virgil blinked, an embarrassed flush spreading across his face, cheeks slowly turning pink up to his ears and he glanced at Roman from beneath his lashes. "You think I look cute?"
Roman could feel his heart thump heavily in his chest at the look, his mouth going dry. 'Holy shit I'm gay..' How was he supposed to respond to that? He couldn't exactly lie about it, and he didn't want to anyway. "Uh.. yeah. I do. You look cute like this."
Their eyes met and silence stretched between them, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as Roman would think it would be. He had the overwhelming urge to lean in for a kiss, and he had to tear his gaze away before he actually gave in to it. Him and Virgil were just friends and he wasn't going to risk ruining it for some impulsive feelings. He turned his attention to the sketchbook still on Virgil's lap and he remembered seeing him drawing something in it when he first came in. "So um.. what were you working on?" he asked, nodding towards the notebook curiously.
"Oh! It's nothing really. I was just.. making something for Patton for his anniversary with Logan next month." Virgil flipped the pages open and Roman very pointedly didn't mention seeing glimpses of drawings that looked kind of like him. Even if he was curious. He could always ask about it later. He came to a stop of drawing of Logan and Patton in what appeared to be Hogwarts robes. He held the notebook out to Roman to take, and he looked away self-consciously.
"Virgil! This is really good!" Roman praised, taking his time admiring the work. He could tell it was still just a rough sketch, but the details were easy to see and he could tell a lot of work was going in to it. The quality already alone was enough to tell that the finished product will be amazing. No wonder Virgil was in the art club.
"It still has a lot of work left to do for it, but it is reassuring to know it's looking okay." Virgil flickered his gaze over to Roman, hesitantly returning the bright smile being directed at him. He could only hold it for a moment before he looked away again.
Roman wasn't offended though, but he felt the need to get some space between them before he did something he'd regret. So he hopped up from the bed and held out a hand in invitation. "It's getting close to lunch time. So how about we order some pizza and put on a movie?" he offered, giving his eyebrows and over-exaggerated wiggle to elicit an amused snort from Virgil. He considered it a victory when he agreed and they made their way downstairs, Lilith following behind with the bell on her collar jingling cheerfully.
And, if Roman had to fight the urge to hold Virgil's hand later while they were watching the movie, well, no one needed to know. These were feelings he was going to have to keep to himself. For now at least, until he could figure out what exactly it was he was feeling. He had an idea, and watching Virgil smile and laugh at the movie, expression carefree, it was becoming very clear to him that he had indeed developed a crush... and he didn't know what to do about that.
areudirty
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