Across the Universe: Book 2~Prinxiety

22. Sleep? What's Sleep? (Roman)

"I'm sorry. I won't ever do that to you again. I love you, Roman. Now please... show me that beautiful magic of yours." Beautiful...My magic is... beautiful? Energy tore through the room as I sat there in Virgil's arms in total shock. The air around us came to life whipping around the room euphoric excitement. Virgil... He called my... I watched as he pulled away from me with this huge smile on his face. "Roman, I..." I just smiled seeing how happy he looked. This is what I wanted. Us... together... I took a deep breath and moved away holding the crystal below my shirt tightly. "Roman?"

"Do we actually have anything for Virgil or is all just for..." Cassidy's eyes darkened and I frowned. "Ok then. Why bother with the book then?"

"It can still teach Virgil things about his magic... Like focus and thought. I thought you would be happy Roman. This is what you asked for..." I glared at him feeling the crystal warm up again and he looked away. 

"Explain the beast." His eyes narrowed and I groaned. "The wolf..."

"Zero." Virgil cut in drawing my attention back to him and I sighed. "His name is Zero and it doesn't matter if I learn magic. For all we know I just won't be able to..."

"You have to, I can't..." I stopped short feeling the anxiety build and looked away. "I won't lose you again, Virgil. That last life... I gave everything to get you back and I couldn't. I literally died trying." Virgil's eyes went dark as I just stared at my hands. "The pain... the blood... those fucking flowers..." His eyes went wide and I saw him reach out to hold my hand. "I will protect you but..." Who will protect you from me? I could hurt you again. I could do so much worse.

"Roman." I looked over at Cassidy in confusion and he just smiled sadly. "You're lying to yourself."

"About what?" I growled and he just raised an eyebrow at me.

"You have more control than you think." I narrowed my eyes and looked over at Virgil. He was watching everything intently but I could see the confusion building. He knows I have magic... It's only a matter of time before he connects the dots... right?

"Teach Virgil." I started to get up when I Virgil finally spoke up.

"You're leaving... Do you even know how to get back?" I sunk down before they could even try and stop me. I don't know why I did. I didn't have to sink at all. I could've just gone back or gone for a walk. Instead, I found myself in Thomas's living room. 

"R-Roman?" I looked over to see Thomas holding a bowl of popcorn and I frowned. He had dark bags under his eyes and his skin looked a bit pasty. 

"H-Hey, Thomas." I smiled a little as he started to relax a bit. He walked over and sat on the couch looking over at me expectantly. I just sat on the arm of the chair lost in thought. Virgil... He called my magic beautiful. How was any of that... How could... My face started to heat up and groaned in frustration as I hid my face in my hands. "T-Thomas?"

"Yeah?" I glanced over and frowned. This wasn't MY Thomas. He didn't know Virgil. Not my Virgil. He just knows what we told him. And I went into explicit detail... Of what happened during the curse. The others they just listened to him. He recounted his experiences like a story. Like... Like an epic adventure. The moment he finished Patton did want to stay. He was already trying to figure out a way to help us by the time Virgil said we had died the first time. Only Thomas was here when I finally spoke about my experiences. Virgil wanted to be but I didn't want him to know. Because I told Thomas EVERYTHING! "Is this about..." He pointed to the crystal and I nodded. When I said everything... I meant everything.

"Cassidy is trying to teach Virgil his magic." His eye lit up and started to fidget. "I just need to get away for a bit."

"Cassidy is back?" I narrowed my eyes and he started to frown. "Was it something I..." I shook my head and he looked away. I hated feeling this constant guilt whenever I was here. Seeing the fear I was giving Thomas, It hurt. Maybe that was why Virgil usually always stuck to the stairs. Maybe that's why he used to never join us in any movie nights. Maybe... Maybe that's why he ducked out now that I'm thinking about it. "Roman?" I was lost in my thoughts. My anxiety was screaming at me I was wrong. Screaming I hurt him... I always felt guilty over him ducking out. I always felt responsible. But since I've been here... Anytime I'm with Thomas, all I see is the fear and I want to leave. I want to go away so he never has to feel it. Was this seriously how Virgil felt every day with us? "Ro..." I snapped out of my thoughts look over to see his worry and I frowned.

"S-Sorry." He just shot me this smile.

"Hey, don't worry about it." He looked back over to the tv just as Merida looked off over a cliff at the beginning of brave, leaving to do whatever since I had just come for a break, and I frowned seeing just how dark the circles are around his eyes. They were even slightly bloodshot. 

"Thomas, are you sleeping alright?" His went wide slightly before he sighed and pushed the bowl of popcorn onto the table. 

"Are you here to scold me?" I shook my head and moved off the arm to sit next to him.

"That would be hypocritical." He narrowed his eyes questioningly and I frowned. "It isn't me keeping up is it?"

"No, Roman... It isn't my anxiety. I actually... don't really know why. I just haven't been able to sleep." I laughed a little remembering all the times my Thomas would whine to Remi. That, of course, confused Thomas as he started to glare at me thinking I was laughing at him. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing I was.." I sighed feeling a little homesick as I pulled my knees up. "I was just thinking of home."