Soul Rings (Prinxiety)

Three | Roman

"What was that about?" I whisper to Patton after Virgil turns around. He shrugs and frowns.

"I don't know...maybe it was something I said." I shake my head no.

"I don't think so." I look down at my ring. It's bright blue with stripes of red and light blue. So they're sad, frustrated, and guilty. I'm just glad to see the black gone.

"Roman can we talk about what's upsetting you?" I look over to Patton. Where is Mrs. Shine? I shrug. "Ro come on, it's me."

"I know Patt, it's just...I'm really worried about him." He looks into my eyes, waiting for me to continue. "I don't want to just assume, but when we learned about soulmates in class we learned about the affect of long term negative emotions...what if he...ya know...tries to do something..." I look down at my blue ring with a frown. "I don't want to be alone my whole life. Patton you know how I am, I couldn't live like that."

"I know Ro, but you're not going to have to. You'll find him soon! Don't give up on him yet." I send a small smile Patton's way.

Virgil doesn't talk to us again for the rest of class. I manage to stop him before he leaves.

"Hey do you have lunch next?" He plays with his ring while staring at his feet.

"Yeah."

"Do you want to sit with us? Me, Patton, and Patt's soulmate Logan." He sighs and looks up at me, the mixture of emotions clear in his eyes.

"I guess." His unenthusiastic response makes me frown.

"You don't have to! I mean not that I don't want you to, I do want you to. I just don't want you to do anything you don't want to do, ya know? I don't want to force you to sit-"

"Roman be quiet." He laughs and I smile at him sheepishly. "I want to sit with you guys." I let out a breath of relief.

"Okay cool." He smiles and shakes his head.

"Lead the way Princey." I watch his face heat up at the nickname and I can feel my blush too. I hear Patton exaggerate a cough and he smiles at me suggestively. I glare at him, trying to mentally tell him to shut up. I think it works because he just giggles and we head downstairs to the cafeteria.

It's loud, it's always loud, but it seems especially loud today. Maybe because I'm anxious about the small, nervous boy walking beside me. Virgil just always seems on edge, never calm. I'm sure he isn't a fan of loud environments.

"Hey Patt it's nice out, why don't we eat outside today?" Patton gives me a strange look.

"It's really windy." He points to the big windows and you can clearly see the tree branches swaying. I say a quiet 'oh' and leave it at that.

"I'm okay Roman." I look down at Virgil and he sends me a thumbs up. How did he know I was thinking about him?

"Logan!" Patton hugs his boyfriend from behind as we reach the table. Logan kisses Patton's cheek and Patt giggles, sitting down beside him. I sit across from Patton and Virgil sits beside me.

"Well Virgil if you're going to hang with us you don't have to worry about buying lunch." I say to him with a smile, he tilts his head in confusion and I have to stop myself from cooing out loud. He looks just like a puppy!

"Patton's an excellent cook." Logan says. "He makes us lunch."

"Speaking of which, what's on the menu today, padre?"

A big smile makes its way onto Patton's face. "Well Roman, today I have prepared..." he says as he digs around in his bookbag. He pulls out three containers. He puts them in front of me, Logan, and himself. He pulls the lid off of his own. "A baked mac and cheese with bacon." I moan when the smell hits my nose.

"It smells delicious Patt." I say, taking the lid off of my own. I look over to Virgil who has stayed silent through this. "Do you like mac and cheese, Virgil?" He looks up at me and slowly nods his head. I smile at him. "Perfect! Patt you have an extra fork, right?" Patton hands me two forks. "Thanks. Here Virge." I hand one of the forks to Virgil, who whispers a thank you. Virgil takes a bite of the mac and cheese, his eyes lighting up.

"This is really good Patton." He says quietly. Patton sends him a big smile. I let Virgil eat most of the mac and cheese. I watch as his eyes close every time he puts a forkful into his mouth. How every time he gets this small, almost invisible, smile on his face.

I think I love his smiles, all of them. There's the way he's smiling now, so content and peaceful and then there's the way he smiles at me when he's embarrassed. There's the grin he has when he's trying not to laugh at something, whether it's because he doesn't want me to know he finds it funny or because he doesn't want me to hear his laugh, I'm still unsure.

I feel something hit my leg and I tear my eyes away from Virgil. Patton, not very subtlety, stares at my ring. I look down and see the small bit of yellow is back. I smile and run my finger over my ring. I instinctively glance over at Virgil as I touch my ring, but quickly return to looking at my yellow band. My eyes widen. For the first time in ten years, there's no blue. There's no sadness, no pain. Just as soon as it had disappeared, the blue creeps back into the ring, bringing with it orange, the color of anxiousness. I'm so glad that they're finally feeling a little better. One last glance from my ring to Virgil before I refocus on the food in front of me.

One day at a time, mi amor. I will find you soon. Stay strong.

1026 Words

Sorry this is a few days late. Happy pride everyone! Stay safe!
~Gabby💜