Trade Mistakes - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter XXI

Roman felt the energy of a show buzzing in his veins. The guitar in his hands seemed to be coursing with the same electricity, making his fingers dance along the neck, subconsciously practicing without actually strumming the strings. He was sitting in the dressing room of some English venue he hadn't been told the name of. He felt anxious for this show.

Virgil had been smiling at him a lot more, he'd been flirting with him a lot more, and it was freaking him out. He knew he kind of asked for it in the airport the other day, but when he was going to be living in an enclosed bus for several weeks, he was worried about how that would affect their tension. Said tension was still really high whenever they were alone together; it was hard for the two of them to slip back into their old friendship. Their old friendship was always flirty and teasing, and with their past of being friends with some benefits and the heartbreak it had caused them, that wasn't healthy for them.

The princely man was worried about tonight's show, which would be starting in forty-five minutes. "Roman?" a familiar voice said as they entered the room. He looked up to see the drummer. 

"Oh, hey Luis, what can I do for you?" he said, putting his guitar down as the other man sat down next to him. 

He looked down, biting down on his lip with a bit of a shrug. "We have a press meeting in a few. There's a few interviewers that are gonna come in and ask you questions about what it's like to be in our band, but... I'm worried about you and Virgil," Luis said honestly. "You two... you guys have a complicated past, I know that, we all know that. You hurt him, really, really bad back in the day, but ever since you showed up, he's seemed happier."

Roman felt guilt surge through his gut upon the mention of the pain he'd caused the boy in their youth. He was fully aware of the suffering he'd caused Virgil. There were traces of it everywhere in the alternative rockstar's music and makeup. He still remembered the time he'd seen them performing on T.V. and he had a broken gold heart on his cheek. He didn't have to be a mind reader to know what that meant to him. 

However, another part of Luis' statement caught his attention. "He's been happier?" he questioned. The drummer nodded shyly, looking down. "I... I just want to make up for the pain I caused him. I've never regretted anything more in my life than telling him we were friends with benefits."

"I know," he said, smiling slightly. He was about to continue when Virgil and Joan entered the room, followed by three interviewers with press badges around their necks. "Well, we'll talk later."

Roman nodded to him as the singer and the bassist sat down on the couch beside them. Virgil gave them a questioning look, having caught his statement about talking later. He tried to shrug and shake his head to say it was nothing, but the slightly concerned expression remained on his face. 

"Afternoon!" a blond interviewer greeted. "We're with Alternative Press, and we'd love to talk to you guys about this European tour."

They nodded and Joan spoke up. "Well, we've been talking about this Euro tour since the beginning of our last US tour," they explained. "We didn't know we'd lose a guitarist between then and now, but we're very glad to have Roman filling in."

"So, are you the official guitarist of Anxious Storms, Malicious Roses?" the brunette boy beside the blond asked, notepad at the ready. 

The princely man shook his head. "No, for the time being I'm just the fill-in guitarist until the end of this tour," he said. "They were really tight on time for finding a guitarist, and I was available, so bang, I'm the replacement until they have time to find another. Pretty simple."

The interview continued as questions bounced between them and then it was showtime. Virgil was shaking out his limbs and warming up his voice in the wings, cracking his neck and clearly psyching himself up to go on stage. 

The bassist and drummer each made their way to the stage and Roman moved to follow, but the singer came up behind him. "You asked for it," he muttered lowly in his ear, making him go rigid and give him a questioning look. Virgil just gave him a knowing smirk and pushed him toward the stage.

The show moved without a hitch, but when it came to their cover of I Write Sins Not Tragedies, Virgil was hot, sweaty, and extremely pumped with adrenaline. He was definitely not thinking clearly as he strutted over to Roman and pulled him close so that they could share the mic. While he was shocked, the guitarist played along, not minding the act as they teasingly moved their heads around the mic as if they were kissing before Virgil moved away.

Roman smiled at the playful wink he shot him as he did so, rolling his eyes as he continued. Throughout the song, he'd come over to tease him, but it was at the last chorus that was the most fun.

The singer beckoned him over so that they were facing each other as he sang. "I chimed in, 'Haven't you people ever heard of, closing the GODDAMN DOOR?' No!" he exclaimed as the crowd sang along. He grinned at Roman mischievously. "It's better to face these kinds of things, with a sense of poise and rationality."

As he sang the iconic line, Virgil reached out to run a hand down his chest as he slid to his knees and sang up to him with a slight rock of his hips against Roman's leg while sending a wink up at him before getting back to his feet and spinning around in seconds. The guitarist's face was red to say the least but he kept playing through the rest and the last song with as straight a face as he could manage, thankful when Virgil finished naming off the band members and they left the stage.

Roman was sure that their actions that night would make the headlines, and he couldn't stop thinking about it as he slipped off to sleep in his hotel room that night.