Finding The Write Words

Chapter Nineteen

By the time Virgil left Roman's apartment, the four of them had come to a better agreement of what to do in order to get to know Virgil better. He still hadn't given them his phone number, telling them that he preferred writing to them, but he seemed much more open and willing to talk to them by the time he left.

Roman drove him home.

He filled the silence with ramblings about his art class and the upcoming auditions for the musical the local community theater was putting on.

"How do you have time to do all of this?" Virgil asked eventually when Roman stopped to breathe.

He shrugged dramatically, glancing towards Virgil for half a second before redirecting his eyes to the road. "It's not as bad as you think."

"Really? Because it sounds to me like you've got..." he paused, counting in his head, "five pretty big things going on in your life all at once. You've got school, Logan, Patton, dance, and then this musical thing."

"And you. Even though you aren't as big a part of my life yet as the other two, you're still there. Besides, I don't mind my time being spent with you guys, or with things that will only better myself."

"When do you have time to sleep, though?"

"I don't.... Lately." He shrugged again, though this time it was much less dramatic, and he smiled slightly.

In the last month or so, Roman hadn't slept very much at all, to be honest. He was up most nights, painting or studying or practicing his dance moves. Anything to distract him from the crushing homesickness that had crashed down on him shortly after he came to Columbus and hadn't let up since.

He loved Patton and Logan, yes, and he loved spending time with them, and he was sure he would grow to love Virgil as well - he could tell already that he was headed down that road, even though Virgil had been increasingly adamantly against any romance with them. But the at-home feeling that he got with his soulmates wasn't the same as actually being at home.

As much as he hated to admit it, Roman missed his family. He missed his father, who spent a majority of his time at work anyways. He missed his mother, who was always so distant, deflecting as much of her parental duties onto one of his nannies. And he missed his brother, the impulsive asshole.

"As cliche as it sounds, counting sheep helps." Roman glanced towards Virgil, his eyebrows quirking upwards for a fraction of a moment in a silent question. "I've had insomnia since I was seven. My parents, uh, I was in a car crash, and haven't really slept well since."

Roman paused, stopping the car at a red light, and turned to him. Virgil squirmed under the attention, and he turned towards the door, looking out the window. "I'm sorry to hear that, Virgil."

He nodded, and he sat in silence for the rest of the car ride. When they got to Virgil's apartment building, Roman parked the car and cleared his throat.

"Just, um, just so you know, after you get more comfortable with us, you're more than welcome to stay at my place, too. I have a second room where I keep my paints and stuff, but I can move those." He saw panic flicker into life on Virgil's face, and he quickly backtracked. "There's no pressure or rush, though. It's an open invitation with no experation. I just want to be able to help you however I can."

Especially after he saw the way Virgil was currently living, but he knew better than to say that.

Virgil gave a small smile, the most emotion Roman had seen on him since meeting him that wasn't panic, and he nodded. "Thank you, Ro."

He opened the car door and with the smallest of waves, he was gone.

When Roman got home, Patton and Logan were curled up on the couch once more. Logan was leaning against Patton, their legs tucked up underneath themself and their eyes fixated on the t.v. screen at the movie.