all the world's a stage // prinxiety ✔

♡ 36 - never ♡

So basically, Roman and Virgil were avoiding each other as much as possible, except for when they were in their shared dressing room and on stage.

Roman desperately wanted to apologize, but after thinking each possible scenario through, he figured it was likely that reaching out would put even more pressure on Virgil.

Meanwhile, Virgil was in his closet grabbing the biggest bag of Doritos he could find and shoving the chips into his mouth. On the dining table was the bouquet of roses, and it was fucked up how everything could change in just a few days.

He couldn't be in love with Roman.

Not now. Not ever.

♡

"Roman, look. I don't care," Logan said.

The entire cast was together in a large studio to create the cast recording, and during their lunch break, Roman was asking Logan if he could let his standby go on for one night and tried to explain that there was something tense going on between him and Virgil that may mess up the performance.

"Virgil has had it rough, and he is still standing. You'll have to be professional, get past this, and give your all up there like always. If you aren't sick, needed somewhere else for emergency or business, in need of a mental health day, or dying, I suggest you act like you can handle it. Not everything will work in your favor. It especially didn't work in Virgil's. If you avoid him, he will know why, and your relationship with him may become even more damaged."

Logan's eyes were blank, and his tone was both sincere and bland at the same time.

Roman was taken aback, and he gulped. He knew Logan was right.

Suddenly, Patton walked into the studio and as soon Logan saw him, his whole face lit up as he said, "Hello, Patton. How are you?" His voice had more bounce in it than Roman had ever expected from him and he was baffled.

His typically rude, brutally honest director had a soft spot after all.

Virgil came up behind them, running up to Patton to give him a hug. He purposefully avoided eye contact with Roman.

"I'm great, Lo!" Patton replied, shooting Logan a charming smile. "How's one of my best friends in the whole wide world doing?"

"Very well, thank you."

Roman raised an eyebrow when he caught Logan's cheeks turning pink.

"Hi, Virgil," Patton said with a short laugh as he hugged his friend back.

"What are you doing in the studio?" Virgil asked.

"I came to support you. Also," he said, turning to Logan, "I wanted to thank Logan in person for the adorable gift and letter he gave me."

Surprised that Virgil thought this was normal behavior for their director and techie, Roman looked at Logan with wide, confused eyes.

Logan blushed. "Why in person? A call or text would suffice. Not that I don't want you here, but I feel you have other plans, don't you?"

"Well..." Patton laughed nervously. "I can't kiss you through a call or text."

Roman nearly choked. Logan? Kissing someone? Yeah, right.

"The... romantic kind?" the director asked shyly, biting his lip.

Virgil mumbled, "If you're gonna start making out right now, I'm just gonna hang out with Valerie and Lyra."

"If you want it," Patton told Logan, not hearing what Virgil said. "Because I do. I kinda came here to confess my feelings but I said I was supporting Virgil so that if you rejected me, I would have something to fall back onto instead of being crushed by agonizing emotional pain."

Logan's jaw dropped. "You can't possibly mean that seriously. You want to kiss me? Romantically?"

"The word 'seriously' in that sentence is redundant." Patton smirked.

"You are extremely attractive when you outsmart me."

Virgil, for the first time in what felt like years, looked up at Roman and snickered. "This is such a nerd fest."

"Agreed," Roman responded quietly. "So... are you still mad at me?"

Virgil bit his lip and looked down. "I was never mad at you."

Roman lowered his voice to a whisper while Patton and Logan had their moment. "The way you freaked out, yelled incoherently, and stormed away from me said otherwise."

"Can we talk about this later?"

"No. I know what you mean by later; it means never, and I'm an impatient bitch who needs attention."

"Roman."

"What? You've been driving me crazy!" he continued to whisper shout. "Just say you don't feel the same way and be over with it, okay? You don't need to make me feel better, I just want the truth, alright? I can't just sit there while you ignore me."

"We will talk about this later..."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

The two awkwardly turned their attention back to Logan and Patton, who were now asking each other several times if the other was sure if they wanted this.

Finally, Logan became impatient and pulled Patton closer by his hips and kissed him surprisingly gently. Roman thought that after all the buildup he'd be a lot rougher.

"You're perfect," Logan whispered with a warm smile when they pulled away, his hands still on Patton's hips.

Patton looked down and gasped. He held Logan's right arm. "The bracelet! You do wear it! Oh, how did I not notice earlier?" He held up his wrist with the matching bracelet and put it next to Logan's giddily.

"This is so weird," Roman muttered, barely audible.

Virgil nodded in agreement. "But pretty cute."

Roman hoped these little interactions would heal things. Maybe they'd be like Patton and Logan someday. Not very soon, he knew, but someday.