Trigger Warning: I can't really think of any particular ones but this is an angsty chapter so be warned
Roman was the romantic, creative, egotistical prince.
That was how it'd always been and always would be.
The others had accepted that was just how Roman acted but none of them noticed that was all it was.
Just an act.
He was brilliant at what he did.
Faking smiles and confidence like a pro, throwing around witty comebacks with a genuine sounding laugh, he had everyone fooled.
Well, almost everyone. There was one person he couldn't fool and that was the master of lying and pretending himself.
Deceit knew that behind all the smiles and laughs was a deeply troubled and unhappy person.
He knew why Roman was lying to everyone too but he didn't feel comfortable calling Roman out because it was none of his business, besides, calling Roman out and telling everyone would just make things worse.
The last thing Roman needed was Deceit telling everyone he was still struggling to get over Virgil.
None of the others even knew the two had dated for a few months. Virgil had wanted to keep it quiet because he didn't like the attention he was sure to get if it came out the Prinxiety ship had sailed.
The ship had sprung a leak though and Virgil got off in time but Roman was still on board, unable to do anything as the water rose around him.
Deceit had watched from the sidelines holding himself back from getting involved because, although the others understood he was a necessary part of Thomas, things were still a little tense and they weren't quite ready to trust him yet.
Things were sort of improving as Romans smiles became less fake and he seemed to slowly be recovering from the breakup.
Then of course everything went to shit.
Deceit had been trying to sleep on the couch when Virgil and Roman had come in, neither of them spotting him as they were too focused on themselves to really check their surroundings.
"I want to talk about what happened 6 months ago." Virgil muttered.
Roman was silent for a few seconds and then asked "what about it?"
Virgil took a deep breath and blurted out "I want to get back together."
Deceit had to hold back a noise of surprise and it seemed Roman was just as shocked because he didn't speak for a long time.
When he eventually found his voice it was shaky and low "Why? Why now?"
"Because I realised I still have feelings for you." Virgil said and there was another long pause which was broken by Roman letting out a bitter chuckle.
"Oh, so it took you 6 months to realise you had feelings for me? Or did you maybe see that I was finally starting to get over you and you decided to try and get me hooked all over again?"
"No, of course that's not..." Virgil started but Roman cut him off.
"or maybe this is just a ruse to see if I still love you so you can laugh at how pathetic I am to be pining after you like some dumb ass dog that's been abandoned on the side of the road but still expects its owner to come back at some point!"
Romans voice rose so he was almost shouting but it was evident by the way it cracked on certain words that he was close to breaking.
Deceit waited with baited breath for Virgils response, hoping he had something to say that would placate Romans bitter mood.
"This is why I broke up with you in the first place." Virgil muttered with a frown and Deceit felt his heart sink as he realised there was no way of the situation ending well.
"What do you mean?" Roman asked.
"You always make everything about you! It's always how you'll look or how something will effect you, never us as a couple. You're too self absorbed to care about anyone but yourself." Virgil was the one nearly shouting now and Deceit wondered how neither Logan nor Patton had heard them yet.
"That's not true! I fucking love you!" Roman exclaimed loudly, catching Virgil off guard slightly but he recovered quickly enough.
"No Roman. You don't. You think you do but really you're in love with the idea of being in love. The only person you truly love is yourself. I thought maybe you might have changed or I could overlook that but now I see breaking up with you was for the best. I'm sorry for wasting your time."
Virgil walked out of the room, leaving Roman staring after him in stunned silence.
Deceit poked his head over the back of the couch and winced as he witnessed Roman sinking to his knees in defeat with a whispered "I don't love myself though."
Deceit wanted to go to the now sobbing trait and try to comfort him with little white lies of how everything would be fine but he didn't want Roman to lash out at him if he thought Deceit had overheard everything.
Deceit struggled to work out what to do for such a long while that when he eventually made up his mind Roman had already disappeared, presumably back to his room.
Over the next few months Roman rarely left his room which was worrying at first but became normal, especially when Logan and Virgil suddenly announced they were in a relationship.
After that announcement Roman stopped leaving his room altogether although Deceit caught sight of him in the imagination once and it was clear the creative trait was not in a healthy state at all.
His skin was pale and he had bags under his eyes to rival Virgils, his usually perfectly styled hair was greasy and tangled, he looked thinner and his eyes had lost their lively spark. All in all he looked a complete wreck.
Deceit hadn't had a chance to speak to him as Roman had fled back to his room the second he spotted Deceit.
Deceit paced in his room trying to work out how to fix everything and decided he'd just wing it and go talk to Roman in the hopes he'd listen to him.
He walked down the corridor towards Romans room but before he could even knock a cold wind blew down the corridor and an alarm went off.
Deceit froze in terror not even caring as he heard the footsteps of the others. His mismatched eyes were focused on the locked door in front of him, his arm still raised ready to knock.
"Deceit? What..." Patton began to ask but cut himself off with a horrified gasp as the door in front of them slowly faded out of existence, leaving a blank expanse of wall as if nothing had been there in the first place.
"W... What?" Virgil asked in a hushed voice and Deceit turned to look at him with tears in his eyes.
"He totally loved himself."
Deceit walked down the corridor back to his room, leaving the others to register exactly what he meant by what he'd said.
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Thomas Sanders Sides One-shots
FanfictionA group of Thomas Sanders Sides One-shots. I'll take requests and/or prompts too.