Chemistry - A Sander's Sides Fanfiction

- 52 -

To Roman, his birthday was one of the best times of the year. Not only was everyone constantly wishing him happy birthday, giving him beautiful cards, and (for the most part) thoughtful gifts, but it also gave him an excuse to throw an awesome party!

It was a surprise to literally no one that Roman liked to party. Who'd waste an opportunity to spend an evening with a giant group of people? Roman reasoned to himself, waking up on Friday. Well, Virgil, I suppose... but that's beside the point.

As wonderful as spending alone time with Virgil was, Roman was really craving a big social gathering. He loved his new friend group with all of his heart -- quite a bit more than his old one, since he'd only had a few people in there that he actually felt really connected to -- but he still wanted to hang out with old friends. He missed them. And because of that, Roman had sent out invitations via text a week before to notify everyone of his party.

So this was the plan:

Go to school Friday, come home and have a peaceful birthday dinner with his family, wake up early on Saturday, decorate the house, help his parents cook, be done setting up by three, have Virgil over to celebrate (for he knew that the boy wouldn't likely stay at the party for long), and then, finally, wait for guests to arrive at four.

Now all he had to do was get through Friday and the fun would begin.

-     -     -

There was really something great about having a boyfriend. This was a thought that crossed Roman's mind as he opened the front door for Virgil to reveal the boy standing there, in his usual monochromatic-and-purple attire, with both a heartstopping smile on his face and a present in his arms.

"Happy birthday," he said after a moment, pushing the wrapped gift towards Roman to take.

Roman took it delicately and instantly set it down on the lone piece of furniture (a side table) that sat in the entryway. "Thank you!" he grinned, and then pulled Virgil in for a huge hug and a number of enthusiastic kisses.

"Ah jeez," Virgil muttered humorously after Roman pulled back and picked up his gift again. "Warn me next time before you attack me, will you?"

"But it's more fun if I don't," Roman winked. He then gestured for Virgil to follow him to the back portion of the house, sitting down on the couch that sat in the middle of the open space.

"You can open it now, if you want," Virgil nodded, indicating to the present.

Roman agreed and took in a deep breath. He looked down at the present, wrapped as neatly as Virgil could manage. The wrapping paper was red (of course) with little yellow crowns all over it. "This is nice," Roman commented as he carefully took off the yellow ribbon.

"Uh-huh," Virgil hummed, leaning over on the couch to lay his chin on Roman's shoulder. He wrapped his right arm under Roman's left and rested his hand on the boy's upper arm. This was exactly what Roman meant about boyfriends being great. Virgil continued his explanation of the wrapping paper: "I'm not gonna lie, I scoured, like, four stores to find good wrapping paper for you."

Roman stopped unwrapping. "Four?" he asked incredulously, turning as far as he could to look at Virgil from where the boy was sat.

Virgil shrugged, a miniscule smile on his face. "Alright, you caught me," he admitted. "More like five."

Roman chuckled and shook his head in disbelief, continuing to unwrap the gift. "What would I do without you," he muttered.

Inside of the wrapping paper was a cardboard box that was just a tad smaller than a shoebox. It was taped shut with one piece of tape, so luckily Roman did not have to get up and find scissors. And inside of the box... was...