The Melting Pot Complex

Chapter Thirty-Five ~ Logan

{Possible trigger warnings: swearing, mention of pain

If I miss something, I apologize and please let me know}

Emotions were running high in the apartment, and Logan could not be more irritated about it.

He'd resorted to avoiding Roman completely, in an effort to keep his tongue in check. The crush he'd discussed with Virgil had not gone away, only gotten worse, and he didn't trust himself to internalize the bursts of idiocy that romantic attraction oftentimes brought.

Logan heard one of the hallway doors open and peered down to see who it was.

"Going to work, see you later!" Patton waved as he skipped over to the front door. "Oh- I'm going to get coffee with Remy after my shift too, so I'll be home later."

Logan nodded and went back to his book as his roommate walked out.

"Is he gone?"

"F*cking sh*t!" Logan slammed the book shut, clutching his chest. 

Virgil snickered and dropped onto the couch. "Easy, Spock."

"How do you do that?" Logan asked him.

"Do what?"

"You just sort of... appear." He sighed and set the book on the coffee table. "It is highly disconcerting."

Virgil shrugged and leaned over to look at what he was reading.

"Anatomy of Love? Why are you reading that?"

Logan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I am attempting to understand what my feelings for Roman entail."

Virgil snorted. "So you're reading a book?"

"That is the logical course of action, is it not?" Logan picked up the book again. Virgil grabbed it.

"No. You can't science your way through romance, Logan."

"Well why not?" Logan asked, irritated. "It would make things so much easier."

Virgil tugged the book from his hands and set it on the far end of the coffee table. "That's just not how feelings work. You can try to do research and it might help a little bit, but everyone is unique and you have no guarantee how you're going to measure up to the," he made air quotes, "norm."

Logan blew out a long breath and dropped back in the chair. "Ah yes, the very reason I hate emotions. Unpredictability."

Virgil snorted and got up, walking into the kitchen.

"Gimme a minute to grab what I came out here for and then I'll see if I can help."

He grabbed a soda out of the fridge and cracked it open (which made Logan jump a little, as he hadn't seen what his roommate picked), then rejoined Logan and sat on the couch again.

"M'kay. Let's talk romance."

Logan made a face, but sat up. Virgil made a motion for him to start talking and he took it to mean he could ask whatever he wanted to know.

"Is there any way I could guarantee a positive response from Roman if I brought my feelings for him to light?"

Virgil shrugged. "Not really."

"What would the adverse affects be if I simply kept quiet?"

His roommate scrunched his face up. "Anywhere from a bit of sadness when hanging out with him or missing him to physical pain in your chest."

Logan raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah if it gets really bad it can actually hurt you."

"Okay... what should I do if I bring it up to him and he doesn't feel the same way?"

Virgil shrugged and took a long sip from his soda. "Cry about it? There's not really a specific way to deal with that stuff, Logan, but know that we'll be here to help you. Even if he doesn't feel the same way I'm sure Roman would be willing to attempt it."

"I don't want pity from him." Logan said flatly.

"I know I know, I'm just saying."

He sighed and looked down, thinking about other questions he could ask.

A completely unrelated one popped up and Logan latched onto it quickly.

"How do you know so much about all of this? Pardon my assumptions, but you seem like the last person to deal with romantic interaction on a regular basis."

Virgil snorted into his soda and set it down. "I've had one or two boyfriends... three if you count Patton."

Logan blinked in surprise. "If you count Patton?"

"Yeah, uh... so Patton and I have known each other for forever. He's four years older than I am, so he was a senior when I was a freshman."

Virgil sat up, looking at his drink as he talked. "We went to the same high school, and because of how close we already were people thought we were dating."

"That didn't make anyone apprehensive?" Logan asked. "Freshman and senior couples are often to the point of a power imbalance that can open the relationship up to abuse."

"I dunno, no one said anything. Anyway, Patton thought it was hilarious, and I guess I kinda did too, so we played up to it. Never any actual stuff, but he'd always have his arm around my shoulders when we hung out around school, we held hands sometimes, that sort of stuff."

Logan had a feeling he could see where this was going, and Virgil confirmed it with his next words.

"Eventually the joke got kind of real. I suddenly realized I had a very big crush on Patton." Virgil leaned back and threw his good arm up over the back of the couch. "Aaaand then he left for college."

"How did you take it?" Logan asked him.

"I got over it. He met a girl and dated her for a few years, I put myself out there just enough to find someone else for a bit, neither relationship worked out." Virgil chuckled. "He really affected my type but that's fine."

"Your type?"

"Yeah, like guys I'd typically go for? It's always been a soft sweetheart who wears his emotions on his sleeve." Virgil stood up, stretching. Logan heard his back crack.

"Anything else I can help you with, L?"

"L?"

Virgil grinned. "Hey, I'm allowed to give people nicknames too."

Logan smiled and nodded slowly. "I suppose you are. No, your help has been invaluable but I believe that is all I needed assistance with."

"M'kay. I'm gonna go hole myself up in my room and work on a video."

Logan shook his head at his roommate as he walked away, then called after him. "Open your window, its not good to have your door closed so often."

"Yeah yeah, I will."

{So I originally was gonna have Virge be the only guy in the apartment who ISN'T romantically connected to someone else but I had an idea yesterday so that is going to change}