Trade Mistakes - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter XIV

Virgil let out a sigh as he blinked his eyes open to see the top of his bunk. Every time he woke up was a reminder of where he was. Well, that he was on tour, he'd lost track of what city they were in, not that it really mattered until show time when he had to greet the audience. 

He was tired, stressed, and depressed; there was high tensions between he and De after the encounter at his place where they'd confessed that the guitarist was in love with him, but he didn't return the interests despite their shared interactions on stage and off. They wouldn't talk to one another except for the bare minimum communication required to be in a band. 

The guilt the singer felt was overwhelming. He really hadn't meant to lead him on, he'd just thought they were messing around. He should've stopped as soon as he had even an idea that De felt something more toward him. Now they weren't speaking, and his words haunted his mind at every moment of the day. They left him laying awake at night, thinking of both his past and present situations, wondering if he really was the cause of the problems.

"I never even stopped to consider that you were just as bad."

The words made Virgil's throat dry. Was he just as bad to De as Roman had been to him? Surely this was different, he didn't know that the guitarist was actually falling for him; but then again, neither did Roman those years ago. 

However, the princely man had said he was in love with him the whole time at the concert that night. If he was really in love with him, why wouldn't he have said yes when he asked about a relationship? Was Roman really cruel enough to make him question everything that had happened between them two whole years after it had happened? 

Virgil shook his head to himself, wishing his mind would just shut up. This wasn't about him and Roman. This was about him and what he'd done to De. 

With a heavy sigh, he got out of his bunk and stretched. All the other bunks had their curtains drawn, and when he held his breath he could hear the other members of his band and the crew breathing deeply as they continued to sleep. The singer was often the first to wake up. He enjoyed it, having some peace and quiet to himself as he sat down on the couch with his phone. 

He was scrolling through Twitter when something caught his eye on the explore page. A highlight was that Roman Prince, renown Broadway actor, was appearing in the lead role of a movie getting released in a couple months. Virgil's eyes widened as he saw his smiling face; he was as handsome as he was in high school if not more now. His smiled still made his heart rate increase, and his eyes still shimmered with life. He wasn't sure if he was happy or saddened to know that he was doing fine without him.

I shouldn't even be looking at this stuff, he thought to himself as he gnawed on his lip. It doesn't do me any good to dwell on the past like this, and yet...

There was a link to an interview about the film. With a guilty glance toward the door to the bunks, he clicked on it, breath catching in his throat as he watched the man he'd been in love with in high school smiling and talking to the host. 

"So, Roman, you've been doing Broadway for quite some time now," the host said, earning an affirming nod from the actor. "You've been in Wicked, Heathers, and Dear Evan Hansen, playing Fiyero, Jason Dean, and Evan Hansen himself. It seems you can do anything and play anyone you want with your talents."

The actor laughed, looking flattered and embarrassed by the host's praise and the studio audience's applause. "I wouldn't say that, but I'm flattered you think so highly of me," he said easily, practically dripping with charisma.

"With so many opportunities on Broadway, what made you decide to go into film?" the host asked curiously.

Roman just shrugged a little as he opened his mouth to answer. "I just felt, there was more to acting than just the stage. I've grown up with movies and I love them, so when the director of this film approached me about playing this role, I couldn't say no. I'm so excited for you guys to see this film!"

The audience applauded, and before he could catch himself, Virgil smiled at his phone. His heart was warmed by his enthusiasm and excitement. The interview continued with some questions about his time on Broadway and the upcoming film, but he was distracted by the bunk door sliding open. De exited and their eyes met. 

The two of them froze. They avoided being alone together as much as possible nowadays, and clearly the guitarist hadn't expected to stumble upon him watching an interview about his ex-boyfriend of sorts.

"Watching your prince I see," De said venomously as he moved to get coffee from the machine on the counter. 

"De, watch it," Virgil warned, not wanting to get into another argument about this. His past with Roman was between him and Roman, and had nothing to do with the guitarist. If he wanted to discuss what happened between them, that was fine by him, but he wasn't about to start trying to justify what he thought of him watching an interview of someone he used to be best friends with. "I'm not in the mood for this."

He glared at the singer with clear hatred in his eyes. "Of course, if you're not in the mood then we won't talk about it," he said sarcastically. "Because that's all that matters, how you feel."

"I'm not having this fucking argument again, Drake," he snarled in response, rising to his feet. "You didn't want to hear me out when you started this fight, so I gave up trying to explain myself to you, but that doesn't give you the right to treat me like shit every chance you get."

"Oh, my bad your fucking highness," De snapped, stepping up to him so that their faces were centimeters apart. "I'm starting to wish that Roman had just kept you as his bitch."

Virgil felt rage rush through his veins so hot that he might've actually taken a swing at the guitarist if the bunk door hadn't slid open to reveal Luis looking at them with sleepy, confused eyes. They landed on them and he suddenly looked very awake. "Uh, guys?"

"You've no idea what it felt like," the singer muttered to him, feeling angered but his heart rate was accelerating with anxiety as well.

"There you go again, playing the fucking martyr," he seethed in response. "You're so caught up in your own bullshit that you haven't realized you did the exact same thing to me as Roman did to you, and just because he did it to you and hurt you doesn't fucking justify hurting me! So yeah, I wish he'd just kept you as his bitch and that I'd never joined this stupid band."

With that, he whirled around and walked off of the bus, leaving Virgil standing and staring after him in shock, his insides swirling uncomfortably at his words.