Trustfall || Sanders Sides Equestrian AU

Chapter 14 - Heaven Only Knows

Roman no longer had one unwritten agreement regarding his daily arrival at school. Now he had two.

The first was, naturally, the agreement between the twins that no word would be swapped between them in public. It was the only promise Remus had ever loyally stuck with.

The second was the unwritten agreement that Roman and Virgil would enter the school together each day. The one who arrived first would wait for the other to arrive, and no words were needed as the two made their way in.

As Roman left his car this morning, though, eyes already searching the area for his friend, he felt different in a way. As though he had the urge to do something new.

The needed not utter a word for each of them to understand what the other was thinking about when they met at the gates; Patton. Roman twisted his head to snatch a glance behind his shoulder, before returning it to Virgil.

"Feel like skipping?" he said.

The boy released a sigh. "... Yeah, actually."

-

The traffic was light to non-existent these hours of the morning, and at his peripheral Roman couldn't help but catch a glimpse of Virgil looking around almost relieved.

"Where are we going, Princey?"

The question caused a smile to climb across Roman's face, although he couldn't tell why. "Remember that bakery I told you about?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, they make Patton's favourite chocolate chip cookies. I'm sure we'll manage to cheer him up a bit if we surprise him with them."

Virgil caught up to his pace so they now walked side by side, and a dark lock of hair fell on his eye when he glanced at him. "How long do you think he'll be staying home?"

"Well... I'm not sure. I've known him most of my life, but this is a first for me. He usually doesn't skip school."

The look on Virgil's face as they walked down the street told Roman his thoughts weren't particularly pleasant. Roman's brain immediately sprang to work.

"Hey, Emo," he said with a smile, gently nudging his friend's shoulder. "Have I told you about that one time Jasper tripped into this large bucket of water and seriously thought he was drowning?"

"I was there, Princey. He was about as dramatic as you were when they stopped making those gummy bears that you like."

"Oof. Too soon, storm cloud. The loss is still fresh."

Although picking a random light-hearted incident without checking his memory to see whether Virgil was there or not was a stupid move, it appeared to have worked just as well. They sank into a conversation as fast as they always did. By the time they arrived at the bakery, Virgil looked quite cheered up.

A pleasant ding greeted them when Roman pushed the door open. Though he knew the aroma of the bakery like the back of his hand, it never failed to strike him. He found himself immediately glancing at Virgil beside him; the look on his face told Roman he liked the sweet scent just as much.

The bakery was simply structured; the display windows before the counter exhibited a variety of eye-grabbing pastries, practically begging Roman to come closer. The counter ended at a ninety-degree turn on the right side of the store to leave space for a dozen of elegant round tables. A small white door behind the counter led to the kitchen. Roman had been allowed to go in as a kid before, and all he could remember from the experience was mouthwatering pastries getting baked in the ovens around him and a strong, sweet scent of vanilla.