Lavender Thorns

Chapter 28

     Virgil bit his lip while simultaneously scrolling through his phone. The past few days of break had been extremely stressful, having to put up with Roman yelling at him for everything he did.

      Granted, he yelled back.

      It was two days before Christmas, and the emo still hadn't gotten presents for all of his roommates. He had already decided to get one for all of them, including the haughty man a few rooms away.

      There was still a small bit of hope lingering in Virgil that maybe he'd wake up, or be able to do it all over again and not have hurt the other. But reality was disappointing, and that wasn't possible.

It all felt strange, for such a small action to start such a large fight. He knew it was most likely just an unconscious coping mechanism for Roman to become defensive, which didn't entirely meld well with Virgil also becoming defensive but more reserved.

     So for now, he just hoped there was a way to make it up to Roman, to get a chance to explain himself. Maybe then, he could pick up the pieces of a withering friendship.

      Virgil stood up from the island, pushing the stool back underneath the ledge and dumping his bowl into the sink. He moved to snatch up his phone, covered in a black case, before leaving the dorm to go to the mall.

...

      Roman ran a hand through his hair, not entirely sure what to do at the moment. Leaving his room meant the possibility of seeing Virgil, and yelling at him for something he didn't even want to yell at him for.

      Roman didn't mean to fight over everything, but the confusion, hurt, and mild anger flared every time he saw the smaller emo. When he was hurt, he acted brash, and he was definitely hurt right now.

      Everything felt broken, particularly his heart and pride. Nothing felt very important anymore, and the man was surprised he even remembered to get presents for his dormmates. Even Virgil, despite how much it hurt to interact with him.

     The holiday coming in a couple days partially stressed him out though, knowing he'd been instructed to spend the day with the darker roommate. If Patton found out they hadn't, they may end up in an even worse situation.

       Roman glanced to the presents as he thought of them, suddenly noticing he hadn't ended up wrapping them quite yet. He took to doing this, mainly to clear his thoughts and give himself something to do rather than moping around and listening to dreary music choices.

...

       "Fuck," Virgil breathed, running a hand through his hair and glancing down at his eyeshadow palette. He was out, and it was Christmas Eve. Stores wouldn't be open until two days later, and he needed eyeshadow.

       The emo stressed himself out a little bit too much, seeing as how he wasn't going to be going anywhere. The problem was, he didn't want to even let Roman see his freckles after what had happened, reinstating his own walls and blocking the man out.

       Anyone else would have just used foundation, but the freckles were so prominent and his foundation was so cheap, that it didn't do much. The eyeshadow was what really helped.

       Virgil keeled over the bathroom sink, gripping the counter tightly and biting his lip. His mind raced to figure out what to do, but he couldn't think of anything other than asking Roman if he had any, but let's just say Virgil'd rather die.

       So, the emo sulked back to his room, hood over his head before closing the door quietly, the only noise being the click of the door handle. He fell onto his bed, glancing lazily over to the clock on his nightstand with half-lidded eyes.