Trade Mistakes - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter XXIV

Roman knew that partying was a part of touring for musicians from movies and books, plus stories he'd been told by musical acquaintances he'd made over the years, but he never saw himself actually going to one. He hadn't gone to a party since high school because of how he'd acted toward Virgil due to the alcohol he'd had that night. 

Yet, here he was, at a party. It was a wild one to say the least. Everyone seemed to be drunk out of their mind, high off of some kind of drug or another, and in the mood for some sex, so it sort of went without saying that Roman felt extremely uncomfortable standing in the smoke filled air, slowly nursing his simple soda. Though he may have gone to parties where people were drinking, this was a whole other ball game. People were smoking what most certainly did not look or smell like cigarettes. There was suspicious powders on the table tops, along with discarded laundry cards. Not to mention, there seemed to be enough booze all around to fill an entire lake. 

He was way out of his comfort zone, and he couldn't imagine why the band had decided to come to this. Luis and Joan would drink alcohol, sure, but they wouldn't start snorting snow or anything would they? There was also the concerning fact that Virgil was here tonight in spite of his best efforts to make him stay on the bus. 

The guitarist was searching for him, memories of the last time they got drunk together circling into his mind constantly. This was one of the reasons he was drinking only soda tonight. He refused to let things go the way they had when they were younger.

The same could not be said for Virgil. 

He was drunk at this point, and he'd admit it to anyone who asked without a second thought. His head had been killing him, but he didn't want to leave Roman's company, so he came along to get drunk to dull the pain. Unfortunately, his mind seemed to think he was trying to dull a different kind of pain, the emotional it seemed. 

It was reminding him of their past together, and it was making him restless and impatient. He wanted Roman.

"PRINCEY!" he exclaimed, finding a seat next to him. His face was flushed red with a blush induced by the alcohol, and the guitarist recognized the drunk haze in his gaze almost immediately. He looked for an escape route, but it was too late. "Princey! I'm so happy you're here!"

He let out a strained chuckle. "You say that like you didn't know I was here," he pointed out, swallowing nervously. "How much have you had to drink? This environment cannot be good for you after your head injury."

"Tsk, I'm fine!" he said, dragging out the word with an intoxicated giggle. "I'd be a lot better if we stopped talking and started kissing."

Virgil didn't know what was going through his mind, but he couldn't help himself. He leaned forward, closing the gap between them with a kiss. Roman gasped and reeled back, pushing him away with a horrified expression. 

"W-What are you doing?" he stammered out, feeling though he was about to cry.

"Oh come now, it's just a little kiss, just some practice for when we hit the stage," the darkly dressed man said, waving him off drunkenly as he leaned back in for another. He chuckled, somehow making the noise sound sinister despite his intoxicated state. Virgil's eyes traveled up to meet his, half lidded and black-looking. "I mean, it's not like it has to change anything, we're just friends, am I right?"

Roman felt an invisible dagger shoot into his heart at the man's words. He wasn't stupid, he knew whose words he was repeating. They were his own from many years ago, when this whole mess got started.

"Virgil-"

"Am I right, Roman?" he repeated. "It doesn't have to mean anything, just some practice for the stage, since you've always been quite the actor."

He winced and looked away as he stood up. "I think you need to go to bed, you've had far too much to drink," he managed to say as he guided him to lean on him. "We're going back to the bus. Come on..."

All of the singer's words were like needles being stabbed carefully into his most painful places of his memories. Roman was battling back tears as he thought about how bitterly he'd repeated his words to him. Those words were the worst things he'd ever spoken in his life. They'd caused so much pain to both him and Virgil, and it seemed that nothing he ever did would make up for that pain. 

Once they got back to the bus, they found it nearly empty. Virgil was swaying on his feet and had fallen silent on their walk back. The guitarist carefully let him sit down on the sofa in the lounge, moving away to head to his bunk before a hand grabbed his wrist. 

"W-Wait..." a broken gasp came from the singer. Roman looked down at him to see him gazing up at him with wide tearful eyes. "Why... Why didn't it mean something to you?"

His eyes widened, throat closing up as tears started to drip down the darkly dressed man's cheeks. He knelt down beside the couch to comfort him. This was all his fault, this was all his doing- "It was all my fault, I should've told you I loved you from the moment I kissed you," Virgil whispered, shaking as he curled up on the couch.

"Wait- V-Virgil- What do you-"

He already fallen asleep, clearly exhausted from the day's events and the emotional strain the drinking had put on him. Roman closed his eyes tightly as a single hot tear escaped his eye and dripped down onto bus floor. He thought he could handle being friends with Virgil, but it was clear that neither of them would ever be able to be friends.