Sleight of Hand - Sanders Sides

Chapter Eleven

It was now the next day. The magician had gone to bed much later than he usually would. His mind was too wrapped up in the web that was his new boyfriend. He spent the remainder of his night scrolling through Patton's Instagram, a smile stuck to his face like concrete.

Roman was awoken at exactly 12:00 pm by the sounds of his phone giving off an ear-piercing ring. He opened his bright green eyes groggily. Sleep was pulling his eyes down again, but then he got a look at the caller ID. Patton Sanders.

Roman's eyes sprang open like rockets. His body jerked upwards to grab his phone. In his fit of blind and tired panic, he dropped his phone to the floor. The young man laughed at himself, leaning over his bed to pick it up again and unplug his phone its charger. A wave of relief drown him when he saw the call hadn't gone to voice mail yet.

"Hello, my darling," Roman mumbled. Patton giggled over the phone.

"Did you just wake up, Princey?" Even though he couldn't see it, Roman grew a red flare across his cheeks. He turned his head away from the phone and coughed the drowsiness from his dry throat.

"Of course not." He responded, turning back to the phone.

"Sure thing, Sleeping Beauty." Patton chuckled again. Roman found a soft smile settle into curves of his face. He adored him. He was so glad they had met. "Anyway, I didn't call just to be your alarm. The placements for the competition came out. When are you free?"

"R-Really? Where am I placed?" Roman stuttered, throwing his sheets over him and hopping out of bed.

"Guess." Patton put simply. Roman silently congratulated himself while running into his bathroom. "You still didn't answer my question."

"Uh...I can meet you at 1. How about a coffee shop? I know a place." Roman smirked.

"Great! Send me the directions and I'll see you there!" With that Patton hung up the phone, leaving the magician with a happy smile. He turned his phone screen to his music app of choice. He turned on his favorite playlist, full of Disney songs and tunes that made him feel powerful.

He turned on his shower, stripping himself down to his tan skin. The young man felt the water again, feeling that it was at his desired temperature. As he was applying shampoo to his thickly rooted, dark brown hair, he heard his favorite song play. "I don't really care, you can keep the things we used to share!"

"But what did you do with my heart?" Roman sang along. As the song came to a close, Roman exited his shower. He quickly dried himself off and blow-dried his hair from sopping wet to slightly damp. He then ran back to his room and put on a new pair of blue jeans, his favorite red leather jacket over a normal white t-shirt. His feet dawned pearly white converse that he had had for years. He knew it was silly to clean his shoes as religiously as he did, but who would he be if he didn't?

Roman finally walked out of his apartment at 12:40. He knew how early he was but, the bus system in his town was a little unpredictable. Once at the bus station, the man sat on his phone for about 5 minutes before the bus squeaked to a stop in front of him. Showing off his bus pass, he took a seat near the doors. He was now on a time crunch with the help of the late arrival of the bus.

A couple of minutes later, the bus pulled up to his stop. He eagerly hopped off the bus with a large smile. The bus had dropped him in front of the theater, but it's exactly where he wanted to be. This was the closet stop from where he wanted to be.

A warm hand found its way onto his shoulder, making Roman jump. When he whirled around, he saw Patton, graciously smile at him. Roman's jaw felt a little. Instead of the normal theater black he has only seen him in, Patton wore a bright blue V-neck with a gray cardigan around his shoulders. He also wore tan pants and white sneakers, but Roman thought it was a big improvement.

"Hey." Patton greeted. Roman's hand floated on top of Patton's, grabbing it with a comforting squeeze.

"Hello, pop star," Roman said, making Patton let out an adorable chuckle. "You didn't have to wait for me."

"I know. It's just...I don't like walking alone on this part of town anymore. It's kind of a long story," Patton chuckled awkwardly. Roman brought him into a hug, stroking his hair.

"Of course, my darling." With that, hand in hand, the two walked down the street. Patton kept checking their surrounding. Roman watched him, biting his lip. He wished he could take away all his fear, but he couldn't. All he could do was watch.

As they arrived, Roman held the door of The Daily Brew open for his boyfriend. Patton blushed and walked inside. The heavy door shut, causing Remy to turned around from behind the counter. He smiled at Roman but his smile turned to surprise when he noticed their hands were intertwined.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my old friends." Remy spoke, putting an elbow on the counter, giving the two flirty eyes.

"Friends? You know Patton too?" Roman questioned. Remy and Patton looked at each other before bursting out in laughter.

"Emile his brother, you idiot!" Remy gasped through laughter.

"Really" Roman gaped. The two nodded, coming out of their laughing fits. Roman pushed Patton playfully who promptly punched him back weakly.

"Take a seat, you two. I'll get you your usuals." Remy told the two. They nodded and went to take a seat in the corner. It was a couch seat, so Patton quietly inched closer and closer to the magician before they ended up cuddling. Roman's curiosity started to eat away at him, making his skin crawl.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you afraid of this side of town? I mean, the theater is here. Remy is here. What's to fear?"

"Oh," Patton said, fidgeting with the napkin on the table. "Well, the day before we met, I was jumped. These two dudes grabbed me and pulled me into an alleyway. One pulled a knife on me, cutting my cheek." Patton pointed to the red scar on his face. "I was so paralyzed in fear, I think I blacked out. Because the next thing I knew, someone was helping me up. I ran from them." Patton looked up to Roman with slightly watery eyes. "Isn't that right?"

"Y-You knew that was me that night?" Roman asked surprised. Patton shrugged.

"Kind of. That's why I had a hard time finding my words when I ran into you at the theater. I knew I recognized you, but I couldn't place from where. It only hit me later on." Remy came along a couple of seconds later with their drinks. They grabbed them, Roman absorbing the warmth from his red velvet hot chocolate, and Patton taking a sip of his cinnamon and hazelnut mocha.

"So, about the competition." Patton started, pulling out his phone and opening his calendar. "You made the highest level. Which means, your first competitor battle is tomorrow at 5:00 pm." Roman nodded, getting slowly more excited for the event. But the excitement subsided in his mind. He spent the rest of his afternoon talking with the precious boyfriend in his arms. He hadn't even realized, how many hours had passed as when he went to check his phone again, the time was 4:30 pm.

Roman's eyes widened. He had a dinner date with Virgil in 30 minutes.