Trade Mistakes - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter XVII

Virgil wasn't enjoying himself on tour anymore, though that was a given part of touring. You get sick of the people you've been around too much for too long. You get tired of performing, you get tired of the constant moving, you just want to relax. However, he wasn't enjoying this tour because of many things.

There was the fact that he and De were still not speaking to one another. There was he fact that his feelings for Roman were flaring up more than ever whenever he heard about him. There was the fact that Joan and Luis were both exhausted and the latter of the two was sick.

"Are you sure you're okay to go to Europe?" Virgil asked for the hundredth time as he paced his house. "You sound horrible, Luis!"

The drummer coughed, but he was smiling fondly at him. "Virge, really, it's just a cold!" he reassured him. "Seriously, Europe isn't for three weeks! It'll be gone by then. I appreciate you being super concerned and everything, but please, you're being paranoid."

"Sorry, sorry," he apologized, sighing heavily as he wiped his face. "I'm just worried... Joan should be here with De soon, and god..."

His voice trailed off as he looked down at his feet. At his words, Luis looked up and raised an eyebrow. "You two haven't worked that out at all have you?"

He shook his head as a silence fell over them. Neither of them had spoken to each other since the end of the tour. There hadn't been any discussions about De's departure from the band since he brought it up at the last band meeting either. He didn't mention it for the rest of the tour, he didn't even seem unhappy during the remainder of it. Things seemed to be, slowly but surely, going back to normal.

Virgil was a fool for thinking it would be that easy though. The guitarist and the bassist showed up at his house about twenty minutes later, and when the singer answered the door, the air was still.

It wasn't charged as he walked them to the living room and they said their hellos. He would've thought it would be, charged. After all the fighting, all the drama, the air should be crackling like lightning. It wasn't, yet. De was asking Luis how he was feeling, and Joan was blabbering on about their solo projects. Everything was calm for a little while.

"Okay, well, now that all of that is out of the way," the guitarist interrupted. "You guys have started looking for a guitarist right?"

Everyone fell silent. All eyes turned to him, wide and confused. Virgil laughed a little to break the silence, feeling his heart rate picking up. "What are you talking about? We don't need a guitarist."

De narrowed his eyes at the singer, jaw clenching as his mannerisms changed from calm to aggressive. "Actually, I believe I told you all a month ago that I was quitting."

"Come on, don't be ridiculous," he replied, crossing his arms. "You aren't quitting, we have Europe in three weeks."

"This isn't up for discussion Black," the guitarist snapped, standing up with a glare on his face now. "I'm quitting. I've already talked with our manager, and I'm no longer an official member of our line up. I told you a month ago. I'm out."

There was a deathly silence between them, Joan and Luis not being able to say anything. He could see it in his eyes; this was about them.

"Drake, you surely are not this immature," he started, standing up to face him. "Give me one good reason you're quitting this band that's unrelated to what happened between us, and I'll let you walk out of here with no argument. Give me one reason that's not about us. One. Because all I've seen from you in the past two months is moping and self pity over our little affair as you might call it, and I have tried to tell you before: I AM SORRY."

De raised his chin. "Are you really?!" he snarled in response.

"YES!" Virgil practically screamed. "I know I led you on! I didn't fucking mean to! I didn't think you'd actually fall in love with me! No one's ever loved me in my entire life! What made you any different from Roman?!"

"How dare you compare me to him! He used you!" the guitarist seethed, looking beyond furious. "How can you stand there and say that to my face?"

The singer scoffed and shaking his head as he ran his fingers through his hair. "At least he never resorted to petty silent treatments and immature band departures," he said. "You've been nothing but unfair through this entire conflict. You should've told me how you felt before assuming I felt the same. You should've told me not to flirt or whatever if I wasn't serious. That's all you had to say! And I'm sorry, if you thought I was in love with you even off stage, but I wasn't. I'm sorry for leading you on, but that doesn't give you the right to punish your fellow band mates that have worked just as hard for the success we've got."

De was shaking his head. "After all he's done to you, you'd still pick him," he muttered. "I'm sorry, Joan, Luis, but if you truly care about me, you'll understand that I can't do this."

It was quiet again between the four of them. Virgil was at a loss for what to say. He was seriously going to quit three weeks before their Europe tour, he was going to leave him. "So that's it," he whispered, tears pricking his eyes. "You're really going to leave? After everything we've been through?"

"Virgil, I..." he tried, looking a little choked up as he looked away. They were friends before all this happened; though neither of them wanted to admit still caring about the other, they couldn't deny that bond. De sighed, biting his lip. "Maybe you can give me a call sometime, once things have calmed down, but I can't be in this environment, around you, right now. I need to get myself back together, but once I do... you could probably talk me into being friends again..."

The singer sniffled, a tear rolling down his cheek as he felt guilt and grief wash over him. "God I'm sorry," he breathed rushing to him and pulling him into a tight hug. "I should've never used you like I did."

"No, you shouldn't have..." the other man sighed, hugging him back. "But... I guess I'm not innocent either, I was kind of a dick."

Virgil giggled through his tears, pulling away to look up at him with a sad smile. Joan and Luis each gave their guitarist a hug, and then he was heading for the door. "Hey," he called, making him pause at the doorway. He gave him a smile. "When you're feeling better... don't be a stranger, okay?"

De smiled and nodded, closing the door behind him as he left.