Royal Pain {Prinxiety}

Chapter 6: The Next Morning

Virgil's POV

I fight against consciousness and elect to move closer to this warm...thing. Problem is the warm thing moves. Now my paranoia won't let me sleep until I check what it is. I open my eyes to see Roman? My fight or flight reflexes kick in, and seeing as his arms around me, my body chooses fight. I punch him in the face before I can think better of it, and immediately slap a hand over my mouth.

"Ugh, what the hell?" He asks, his words slurring together after just waking up. That or I messed up his jaw, who knows. Roman looks up at me, "What was that for?"

I laugh, becoming more hysterical by the second. Well, it's better than crying I guess, "I'm sorry! I just woke up cuddled up to you and my mind immediately went to 'blackout drunk, in bed with someone, oh shoot' mode."

"Oh-kay then," He says, dragging out the word. "It's only 4:30." He groans. "I'm going back to bed." I nod, agreeing, then get comfortable under the covers. Roman moves farther away from me to the other side of the bed, and it almost feels like there's an absence. I must be delirious, because I could never actually enjoy being close to Roman, right? Right.

I shake off the thought and burrow deeper into the blankets, trying to find a substitute warmth. Roman must've been really out of it with sleep, because he then rolled over, wrapping his arms around me. He probably just got sick of me moving around.

Time skip provided by my lack of sleep

The next time I'm woken up, I find my eyes being assaulted by sunlight. So much for having blinds on the window. This time I don't completely freak out when I find Roman with his arms around me. Instead, I only worry after seeing the bruise forming on his jaw from me punching him. That'll be fun to explain, I thought bitterly as I tried to sit up. Roman stirred in protest and rewrapped his arms around me, almost pulling me down. So I'm stuck, great. Do I wake him up? Will he hate me if I do? How long will it take him to wake up naturally? I look away from his adorable- I mean sleeping face to check the time; 8:37.

"Roman?" I poke him repeatedly until he opens his eyes.

"Mmn, what?" He says sleepily, burying his face further into my stomach.

"If you'll let me go, I'm gonna get an ice pack for your jaw." I say, feeling guilty as I touch the bruise and he winces.

He mumbles out an "okay" as I slip out of his arms, replacing myself with a pillow. I silently pad out of the room, deciding that the ice packs would probably be in the freezer. The lights downstairs are on and I hear humming from the kitchen. Inside the kitchen is Roman's mom and his aunt, Taylor, cooking what smells like pancakes.

Am I supposed to tell them the truth, or do I just make up a half-ass lie? "Oh, good morning, Virgil, what are you doing up?." Oh crap they noticed me.

C'mon brain make a decision before it gets awkward and they get suspicious. "Morning, I just came down to get an ice pack for Roman." Cue the parental concern.

"The ice packs are in the freezer, but what happened?" Mrs. Prince asks.

Well let's see, if I tell the truth, you'll hate me so, "He fell out of the bed and hit his jaw on my bag." Good going me, you still made it out to sound like it was my fault. Roman's aunt opens the freezer and hands me an ice pack, like the one you'd get from a school nurse.

I trudge back up the stairs, half hoping Roman is asleep so I won't feel even more awkward. I walk into the room to see a dead asleep Roman sprawled across the bed. Thank god. I don't want to wake him up again, but putting the ice pack on him might wake him up. Well, they were making breakfast, so he'd have to wake up sooner or later. I gently set the ice pack on the purple bruise, hoping I didn't cause any real damage. He jerks in his sleep from the cold, and knocks the ice pack off in the process. At this point I consider straight up b!tch-slapping him with it. But that means I'd have to explain to his family why he has two bruises, so I decide that it'll be Plan B. I try for the second time to rest the ice on his face, deciding to hold it in place until I lose patience or until he wakes up.

Of course, just my luck, he wakes up while I'm just sitting over him holding ice to his face. "Uhm, wh-what are you doing?" he asks groggily.

I swear my face goes as red as his jacket. "Helping you, jackass," I say, trying to cover up my embarrassment. "After all, I was the one who punched you, but your family doesn't know that." He goes to take the ice pack, now being capable of holding it himself, and ends up with his hand on top of mine. I freeze in place for a moment, before finding my senses and taking my hand back. Am I crazy or does he look...disappointed? No, that can't be right. We're just pretending, aren't we? Well maybe I don't want this to be fake. With that...revelation, I look away from Roman as he sits up, my face refusing to return to normal.

"Are you okay?" he asks, noticing my inflamed cheeks.

"Y-y-yeah...." God, why did I have to stutter? Maybe it's because I'm totally not thinking about you. "How about we go get breakfast, I say your mom and aunt were making pancakes," I say, deciding to change the subject.

"Yeah, sure," Roman says, so we go downstairs to eat. Once we make it into the dining room, pre-made plates are shoved into our hands before we're unceremoniously pushed into the dining room.

"It's already 8:45! Where on earth have you two been??" Mrs. Prince says, exasperated. Apparently the Prince family eats really early, or maybe it seems that way because I don't leave my room until twelve.

The crowded dining room is filled with screaming children. Remus is standing on the table shouting revolution sympathies in Spanish. "Viva la Resistance!" Evan rallies up the smaller kids into a counter-rebellion, and it isn't long before the food starts flying. I duck behind Roman for cover, not wanting to be hit. I may like watching food fights, but only from a distance. Roman chuckles, and moves to the side a little. I immediately think he's betraying me, so I get ready to smack him in the face with a pancake.

Then I notice him holding out his hand to one of his smaller cousins that clearly wasn't having a good time, Michael. He takes Roman's hand and hides behind Roman like I am. "C'mon, let's let them fight it out, you won't want to be here when Sasha gets her hands on the syrup," Roman says, guiding us away from the chaos and into the living room. I give him a small, thankful smile and he returns it with one of his own dazzling smiles.

We sit down on the couch and Michael immediately makes grabby hands for the remote. "Paw Patrol! Paw Patrol!"

"Uh, I think he wants to watch Paw Patrol, Ro."

"I noticed," He says, grabbing the remote and turning on Paw Patrol, blushing slightly from the nickname.

A/N: Seriously tho, my baby cousin is obsessed with that show

We watch Paw Patrol with as much interest as possible, considering the fact it was made for four year olds. I hear Mrs. Prince call out from the dining room, "Chris, are the canoes out yet?" Chris? Canoes??

A man shouts back from somewhere outside, "I'm putting them out right now."

Michael perks up, turning his head away from the TV for the first time, "Uncle Chris is getting the canoes?! Do I get to go on one this year?" he asks excitedly. So Chris is probably Roman's dad then.

"We'll have to check with your mom first, but I don't see a reason why not," Roman smiles at him, "Why don't you go ask her now, and I'll handle your dishes," Michael eagerly jumps up from the floor in search of his mom. Roman stands up from the couch to get Michael's plate and I stand to help.

Before he leaves the room, I look at him with slight panic. He tilts his head to the side a bit (adorably, might I add), so I huff and explain, "Canoes?? You didn't say anything about canoes!"

"Oh, I didn't think they were important enough to mention," he shrugs nonchalantly, "Why? What's the problem?"

"As the most anxious person you know, you thought that I would like going out, on a tiny, easily-tipped boat, with some dinky lifevest to support me??" I cry out in a panic.

"I didn't think of that," he says slowly, "Eh, I'm sure it'll be fine."

A/N: Bum, bum, buuuuum. Honestly tho canoes are the epitome of teamwork. If you're stuck in one of those things with someone you don't like, you're screwed.

Co-A/N: I've never been in a canoe so I wouldn't know 🤷🏻‍♀️. I kinda want to try tho and now I'm scared :(