Trade Mistakes - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter XVI

Virgil woke up and the first thing he did was check his phone. His eyes widened as he realized what he was seeing all over the news. Roman Prince had become a big hit over the past couple years in movies and Broadway theatre.

He'd been in a multitude of different acclaimed shows. From Wicked, to Heathers, to Dear Evan Hansen, to Kinky Boots, to Phantom of the Opera, to Hamilton, to Be More Chill, to Rent, and the list just kept on growing with every passing month. Not only theatre, but he'd been in several hit movies as the lead or side role. He was one of the hottest stars from Hollywood to New York. He was sought by countless directors, and was one of the stars other celebrities wanted to work with. There was seemingly no stopping Roman Prince.

Now, all the headlines shouted that he was going to take a break for a little while.

That doesn't make any sense, he thought to himself as his eyes scanned over the Twitter moment one more time. He's a huge hit, he's an overworking, overachieving actor determined to make his mark on the world. It doesn't add up. He'd never stop unless something was wrong.

The alternative rock star quickly opened his laptop to search for answers. While they hadn't been speaking to each other, he shamefully admitted to following his work. He had to in order to keep his sanity in tack. Virgil knew he shouldn't want to, shouldn't need to, but as much as he didn't want to admit, he missed Roman.

Ever since he and De had started fighting, he'd had no one he felt comfortable talking or touching. Having been ignored by his parents most of his life, he was touch starved and desperately need physical contact. De had been able to provide that while he was under the impression they were in love, but now he refused to even give him a warm look. That was something about Roman that no one he'd ever met had been able to do for him; he'd be there to touch him when he needed it, but immediately backed off when he was told to do so while still helping as much as he could with just his voice and words. Even if he was upset, he'd been there to comfort the darkly dressed boy.

He shook away the thoughts as he focused back on trying to solve the mystery of why he was taking a break. He found an interview he'd done the night before he'd missed because he'd been performing. Virgil clicked it quickly, heart fluttering the tiniest bit upon seeing him sitting there with that smile.

"Good evening Mr. Prince, it's nice to have you here!" the host said as the audience clapped.

"It's good to be here, thank you for having me," Roman replied, still smiling. There was something forced about it; he could tell.

The host then went on. "So, you've become quite a successful young man, did you ever see yourself getting here?"

"No, not at all," he replied as he look down a little. "This feels like some dream that I'll wake up from any minute now because I don't deserve all this."

Roman laughed as the host and audience tried to convince him otherwise, but Virgil recognized that forced laugh. He used to do it whenever he was upset but didn't want to tell anyone. He frowned as he kept watching.

"Now you're taking a break, what's that all about?"

The actor sighed a little but smiled nonetheless. "I've just got a lot of things going on in my personal life and things up here," he gestured to his head, "haven't exactly been all pleasant. I feel like it's been affecting my work ethic and performance, so I've decided to take a step back for a little while to sort that out. Don't worry, you'll hopefully see me again soon."

Virgil frowned again, not quite sure what was wrong but something felt off. "Well, we'll miss you during your absence, but we support you to our fullest extent Mr. Prince," the host said. "Now, looking back at how far you've come, do you have any regrets you'd be comfortable sharing?"

Roman's face immediately changed before he shook his head the tiniest bit with a sad smile. "Telling my best friend we were nothing more than 'friends with benefits' instead of asking him out on a goddamn date," he said confidently. Virgil's eyes widened as he his hand flew to his mouth. Had he just said what he'd thought he'd said? The audience awed sadly at his confession as he shook his head.

"Aw, what happened?" the host asked.

"I was an idiotic teenager with raging hormones and no common sense," Roman explained with a frown. "He practically asked me if I'd want to be his boyfriend and I laughed in his face. I was too scared to say yes, so I tried to play it cool and made everything worse. I've only spoken to him once in person since that happened, and even then I made things even worse by attacking him about his current relationship, and that's... that's just not who I am. I've regretted nothing more ever since."

The audience awed sadly again as Roman finished. The host frowned sadly. "Well, do you at least know if he's doing well?" he asked, earning a wistful laugh from the actor that made Virgil's heart throb.

"Oh, he's definitely doing well," he replied with a genuine smile. "I won't tell you who I'm talking about because that's up to him to decide if he wants the public to know, but he's definitely doing well."

That was it; the host wrapped it up and the video ended, leaving Virgil sitting in his bed slack jawed as he thought about what Roman had said. The princely man had told him the last time they'd seen each other that he'd loved him, but he never believed it. Either he was lying to everyone, or he'd been telling him the truth when he said he'd loved him. He couldn't comprehend the idea that the actor had been too scared to admit his feelings.

He was telling you the truth that night... he thought, feeling tears well up in his eyes. He was in love with you...