The Bane Of My Existence ~ Analogical

Boyfriend

Logan's POV:

Patton's eyes redirected from my own to something behind me. I turned in my chair to see that Virgil had returned with Roman, and even his plus-one.
"So... who's this?" I asked, looking suspiciously at Roman, who did his very best to hide his obvious embarrassment. Virgil returned to his seat, leaving Roman and a man I had never seen before standing beside the table.
"This is my, uh, boyfriend. Remy." I raised my eyebrows at this statement, recalling what he had said just three days earlier, about a girlfriend of his. Had he felt the need to lie about his gender around us, or was this somebody completely different? Surely he hadn't the chance to meet someone new in such a short amount of time... I turned to Patton who seemed to be just as surprised as I was, even though I had thought that Roman and he were inseparable. His expression had just a tinge of annoyance about it. Virgil seemed rather amused, still.

Finally, the tension mostly cleared, Roman and Remy sat with us at the table, and we all introduced ourselves. Remy had the same loud, extroverted attitude as Roman, but seemed like more of a relaxed kind of person, and I was pretty sure we would still get along. Virgil and Patton started to discuss plans for the following day or two, and I noticed that neither of them seemed particularly comfortable around this new addition to our ensemble. I knew from personal experience that Virgil tended to be a little on-edge with people that he didn't know particularly well, but I wondered why Patton hadn't been his usual welcoming self with Remy. Had he already something against him?

"So does Pat make the plans around here or what?" Remy questioned with a mouthful of whatever was in his sandwich, clearly not sensing Patton's discomfort even after he flinched at the nickname. Roman explained to him that Patton had the whole trip "pretty much clocked" and that we trusted him with his ideas. Patton thanked him with a smile that I would say was faked, or at least forced. Remy shrugged and seemed to be alright with that setup. I then wondered if Roman would be bringing him along or if he had other plans.
"Roman," Patton looked over between forkfuls of food and gestured towards the men's bathroom, "can we talk alone for a second?" The other man nodded, after searching Remy's face for confirmation. Patton then hurriedly ushered Roman away towards the bathroom, leaving the three of us at the table.

I sighed with relief when Virgil and Remy started to hit it off; I didn't know what I'd do if the others couldn't get along, as I wasn't the master of conversation myself. We learnt plenty that morning about Roman's boyfriend, including that he couldn't go a functional day without a Starbucks (which I was sure was hyperbole, but wasn't willing to put that to the test), that he loved trap music and about how long he had known Roman for.

Roman's POV:

My heart was racing as Patton pulled me aside from the group. He was such an honest and supportive friend, and I felt guilty for not telling him about Remy.
"What's going on, Ro?" Turning to see his confused and slightly betrayed eyes staring back at me broke my heart a little.
"It's the truth, Pat. He is my boyfriend." He continued to watch me in silence, unimpressed. "I've known him since, like, forever but we've only been going out for a few weeks."
"Then what was the use in lying? Why tell me you're not over your ex? Why tell the others you're still dating her?" He looked almost exasperated at this point,
"I think... I think it was just easier this way, Patton. Everything's going fine with him and I can get over her, I know I can." Patton was shaking his head as I spoke. "You said it yourself— it's okay to express your feelings," I continued.
"Yes, and I stand by that, but lying to me, lying to Remy and lying to yourself... that's unfair to everybody involved." I turned to face the tiled wall, staring intently at a spot as if it would save me from my own stupid problems. I couldn't find the words to respond to that: it was true. I was the asshole, he was right, as ever. Who knows what I was supposed to say? Anger was welling up in my chest, probably at myself, but I couldn't risk snapping at Patton. Without warning, the bathroom door was swinging open and I was gone, leaving Patton like a startled puppy.

Logan's POV:

I was engaged in a conversation with Remy and Virgil when Roman returned. I was in one of those strange slightly-tired moods where I found everything a little more humorous than they perhaps should have been. As I suppressed laughter at crude joke Virgil had made, I saw a distressed-looking Roman stride past behind where Remy was sat watching me unsurely. He didn't stop, however, he simply marched on past us towards to elevator. Patton followed shortly, but instead sat with us. The three of us asked him what happened almost simultaneously. Insisting it was fine, he tried to move on from talking about whatever it was that happened. Patton had a habit of pretending to be okay.