8 Seconds Going On Forever

Chapter 8 The Dance

Roman hung out with them the rest of the night, surprising Virgil. He put up with Dallas's drunk musings on how society was going to be the death of them, Remus's attack on the homophobic cowboy that had sneered at him and Dallas kissing, and most surprising of all, Virgil's awkwardness. It was probably one of the most fun celebration nights he had had ever. Roman added a dramatic flair to the group and melded well with all of them as if he had always been part of the gang.

"Where did Dallas and Remus run off to?" Roman asked as he stood next to Virgil and scanned the crowd. Virgil took a sip of his beer and shook his head. He had had a few more than usual at this point and his head was starting to grow fuzzy.

"You do not want to know and I don't suggest looking for them. They do this all the time. They'll show back up around the time to leave tomorrow," Virgil informed him. The look on Roman's face made Virgil smile. Roman turned to Virgil as he picked up his own can.

"So what do you do when they ditch you to go romp in the hay?" Virgil looked away, not able to bring himself to look at the other man. Now that it was just them, Virgil wasn't sure what to do. To give himself time to compose himself he took another swig of his beer.

"That's usually my cue to head back to the trailer and sleep. That way I can be up early enough to get going. I like to leave before the others so I can avoid the rush." And all of the cowboys recovering from their major hangovers. Some of them could be downright mean when dealing with the splitting headaches. It was easier to just avoid them then deal with it.

"Well don't let me keep you," Roman threw his now empty can into the nearby trash barrel. "I'll walk with you back to your trailer if you want." Virgil looked around the beer tent. Almost everyone that was left was so drunk they wouldn't remember a thing about tonight, which meant they would soon be doing stupid things and throwing up. Things that Virgil could definitely do without but he didn't want his time with Roman to end. On the other side he did need to get to bed if he was going to head out in time to meet Logan and Patton for lunch tomorrow.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Together they walked around the dance floor and away from the stage blaring music that could be heard throughout the campsite. Virgil took his hat off and pushed his dark hair out of his eyes.

"Whoa, hold on." Roman stopped in front of him and leaned in closer to exam his hair. "Is that purple in your hair?" Virgil instinctively looked up towards it, straining his eyes. He thought it had definitely washed out by now. "Oh, it is! You don't strike me as the dye my hair purple type."

"It's kind of a long story. With a bet from Remus and he won but he felt sorry for me so he bleached a piece of his hair too. It was bright purple but that was a while ago and it faded," Virgil tried to explain. He had hated it at first, it was too loud and people stared too much. Then he had grown to like it, it gave him that little extra spunk that he wished he actually had in him.

"I think you would look great with purple hair. You should dye it again sometime! I could help you and we could order pizza. Maybe even watch a cheesy movie or two," Roman offered. Virgil smiled at the idea. Was Roman implying that he wanted to hang out with Virgil more by himself? Virgil shrugged and put his hat back on his head, hiding the purple hues.

"That sounds like fun but I'm not sure I want to go full purple again. It's not really a popular thing to do for a bull rider." That was true but Virgil wasn't a typical bull rider. There weren't many of them that were gay. As far as Virgil new it was just the three of them in the Dark Sides Bull rider group. That was the main reason for forming it and the name was kind of a joke between the three of them. They were like the dark side of the moon, mysterious and never seen.

"It should be though. I think it would look great on you and somehow Remus's little bleach streak fits him. Has he redone his? He must have it still looks new." Virgil hadn't really noticed it but Remus must have. " So how long have you wanted to be a bull rider?"

"As long as I can remember. When I was real little, I saw this one giant black bull. He was the sweetest creature but when he was strapped up and had a rider, he was epic. I remember watching him throw rider after rider as he was going through training. Then this one rider came, John something, I think. He was the first person I had ever seen stay on that bull for the full eight seconds. I decided that I wanted to do that." He gave a small chuckle. "And now look at me. Once you start, its hard to stop."

"Personally I don't see the appeal. Why would you want to ride a bull like that. It seems scary." Virgil turned off of the dirt path and towards his trailer. Bucephalus nickered when he saw him coming. Virgil smiled and patted his nose.

"It is scary at first but you just.... get used to it I guess. And the rush of it, it's like a drug." Roman came up beside him and petted Buce's neck after letting the gelding sniff his palm. The song changed from its fast beat to one slower. Roman's face lit up.

"Garth Brooks! Oh I love his songs!" Virgil glanced over as Roman turned to him. "Dance with me?" Virgil just stared at his out stretched hand.

"Um.. I don't dance."

"Come on Virg, it's just me and you. Its been so long since I've danced and I promise I won't tell anyone if you step on my toes." Virgil hesitated. What if he messed this up, he hadn't actually slow danced in years. Roman turned his smile down, in a fake pout. "Please Virgil?" Virgil smiled and put his hand in Roman's. There was no way he could resist that face.

"Fine, don't go crying on me." Roman immediately broke into another bright smile and gently placed his other hand on Virgil's waist, making him automatically tense up. His breathing hitched. A second later he remembered the needed to move his own hand and placed it on Roman's shoulder. They were so close now that they were face to face, well as face to face as they could be since Roman was a handful of inches taller than him.

After a few seconds of swaying, Roman had started singing along. His beautiful voice calmed Virgil's nerves. Virgil caught himself staring at Roman's lips as they formed the words that made up the song, he quickly looked away.

"Your really good at singing." Roman stopped singing then.

"I've had a few years of practice in the church choir. My mom made me join when I was little because she said I had the voice of an angel." He gave a chuckle at the idea. "I enjoyed it though." They continued dancing for a bit longer before the song came to a close. As the last note rang out, Virgil let Roman move their connected hands to twirl him slowly out of their position. Virgil blushed before catching Roman's eyes. Roman bowed down and brought his lips to the back of Virgil's hand, sending a bolt of electricity up him. Roman slowly slipped his hand out of the bull rider's as he started to walk away.

"Goodnight, Virgil." Virgil stood there frozen as he watched him walk away, his eyes glued to the back of his head until he was out of sight. Several seconds later he shook himself out of it.

"Goodnight Roman." Then he smiled and made his way to his trailer.