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“It just does not make sense!” Logan said, clearly unaware of how loud he was getting.
“Well, that’s how the story goes,” Roman said, pouting and crossing his arms over his chest.
“Your storytelling leaves something desired,” Logan quipped. “People don’t just fall in love the second their eyes meet. They can be attracted to each other, yes, maybe even infatuated, but not before at least one conversation.”
“And love?” Roman asked from his side of the couch, glaring at Logan. “What would you know of that.”
He regretted it the instant it left his mouth. Roman watched as hurt flashed through Logan’s eyes before he straightened himself in his seat and cleared his throat.
“More than you might think.” Logan replied coldly.
“Oh yeah? Like what.”
It was Logan’s turn to glare. “Love takes time. It takes effort. Both sides, or more depending on the number of people involved, need to be putting in equal work into the relationship for it to be successful. It’s not something that simply happens.”
“And what of love that doesn’t involve people in relationships,” Roman asked hesitantly. “And I do mean romantic love, not how like Patton loves us.”
Once again, regretted it the instant it left his mouth. He really didn’t want Logan to rip his heart out with his views on love. After all, what would he say if he knew Roman was in love with him? And had been for who knows how long?
Logan cleared his throat again and loosened his tie, obviously trying to avoid answering the question for as long as he could.
“Sorry, never mind, I’ll just-”
“That love is valid.” Logan said quickly, stopping Roman from trying to escape the room.
Roman settled back on the couch cushions, slightly closer to Logan.
Another clearing of his throat, a slight flush on his cheeks. He was avoiding Roman’s gaze.
“At least, I do believe it is. But that love is not instant either. It - it requires time, time spent with the person of your-your affection, time spent observing them, time thinking about them. It requires an-an understanding of their flaws, yet not faulting them because of them. Love requires an appreciation and-and-and fondness for the personality, not just their appearance, which is-is all your ‘love at first sight’ is.”
Roman swallowed. Logan stuttering was rare and usually reserved for moments of high stress. He had no clue what about this situation was stressful to Logan, but he definitely regretted putting him in it.
“Lo?” Roman scooted closer, ignoring the way his heart sang when Logan didn’t shift away like he normally did. Now was not the time.
Logan kept his gaze on his hands, staring at them intensely. They were clasped tightly in his lap, knuckles going white.
Roman carefully put his hand on Logan’s shoulder, seemingly successfully snapping Logan out of whatever trance he was in. He met Roman’s eyes, his own becoming glassy.
“And it hurts,” Logan finished, his voice cracking.
Roman ignored the shattering of his heart, the screaming of his thoughts (hedoesn’tloveyouhecouldneverloveyouwhowouldloveyou) and pulled Logan into his chest. He rubbed up and down Logan’s back to sooth him.
Logan’s arms hesitantly came up and wrapped around Roman in turn.
“Who is it?” Roman asked softly, trying not to betray his own feelings through his voice.
He suddenly regretted his comment about Patton earlier. What if Logan did love Patton like that? Roman could’ve just torn out his heart without meaning to. And it wasn’t like he actually knew that Patton didn’t love Logan, or any of them, for that matter, in that way.
He held Logan tighter, as if that would make up for it, but Logan was already trying to pull away. Roman reluctantly let him go.
Logan’s glasses were crooked from being pressed against Roman’s shoulder. His eyes were still watery and the confused expression on his face just broke Roman’s heart even more.
“What do you mean?” Logan asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
Roman narrowed his eyes in response. “What do you mean, ‘what do I mean?’”
Logan’s own eyes narrowed further. Roman resisted the urge to take it as a challenge and narrow his own further. They didn’t need to start a stupid competition right now.
“You-you truly haven’t figured it out. This discussion was not to mock me.”
“I have no clue what you’re saying.”
Logan’s face went slack for a second before twisting up again. He looked away, fidgeting with his hands in his lap, muttering something about hating emotions.
“Logan?” Roman prompted.
“You.” He said quietly.
Roman furrowed his brow. “Me what?”
Logan looked back at Roman, the flush had returned to his cheeks with a vengeance. Roman understood what he meant barely a moment before he repeated it.
“It’s you, Roman.”
Roman was certain his face was on fire. His heart beat wildly in his chest as he rejoiced, but he felt frozen with how flustered he’d become.
“O-oh.” He managed to choke out, unable to move his eyes from Logan’s.
Unfortunately, that also meant he had to watch something shatter in them as Logan misunderstood his response.
“My apologies, I will-” Logan started to stand.
It was finally enough to snap Roman out of it (though his face still hadn’t returned to a more healthy shade).
“No!” He cried, grabbing Logan’s wrist.
Logan tried to pull away. “You’ve already made that quite clear-”
“No. It’s you, too.”
Logan froze, hesitantly meeting Roman’s eyes. There was a fragile hope in them. One wrong word and he’d have to watch it shatter all over again.
“It’s always been you.” He whispered.
Logan stopped trying to pull away, so Roman gently tugged him back onto the couch, leaning in...
“Patton you owe me twenty bucks!”
A shout from the kitchen sent them flying apart.
Virgil stood there in the window to the kitchen, watching them smugly.
There were footsteps from upstairs and Patton was suddenly flying down the steps.
“Logan said it first?” He exclaimed.
Now it was Logan’s turn to mimic a cherry.
Virgil smirked in their direction. “Well, he didn’t say ‘I love you’ exactly, but it was heavily implied. And he confessed first, which I think counts.”
Patton sighed, finally making his way to Virgil and gazing at them through the kitchen window. “I was counting on you, Roman,” he whined teasingly.
“Do you mind?” Roman managed to get out.
He honestly couldn’t tell what was redder at this point: his sash (which he took pride in being so vibrantly red), Logan’s face, or his own.
Virgil chuckled and started pulling Patton out of the room and back upstairs.
“C’mon, Pat. Give them their privacy.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Patton called out before Virgil managed to tug him up to the landing. They heard a door shut soon after.
“Where were we?” Roman asked, trying to lower his voice into something more seductive to recapture the mood.
Judging by Logan’s eyebrow raise, he failed. “I believe you were failing to sweep me off my feet,” he teased.
Roman made an exaggerated offended face, relishing in the laughter it produced from Logan.
“You should do that more often.”
Logan smirked at him. “Laugh at you?”
“Laugh. It suits you.”
Logan’s blush, which had calmed into a dusting of pink, flared up again.
“Your eyes light up and your dimples appear, and I swear it’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.”
Logan moved to cover his face, but Roman gently caught his wrists before he could.
Logan was blushing madly, grinning widely. his bottom lip caught in his teeth as he tried to compose himself. He was sinking in on himself a bit with embarrassment.
It was completely uncharacteristic of him and Roman felt a happy, bubbly feeling pass through him as he realized that he had caused this.
“You’re adorable,” Roman said softly.
Logan squirmed, his face growing a bit redder.
Roman leaned in close, watching Logan’s eyes grow wide. He smiled smugly. “So,” he said huskily, “am I still failing?”
Logan stared at him for a few moments, before one of his hands managed to shoot out of Roman’s grip and grab his sash, yanking him forward into a heated kiss.
Though Roman tried to gain control of it, Logan managed to remain in charge. Eventually, Roman let go and let him take over completely. Logan pulled away a few moments later, leaving Roman dazed and flushing.
“No,” he said, then his smile turned teasing. “Though I do believe I am winning.”
And if Roman thought he was in love before?
It was nothing compared to now.