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In hindsight, it probably wasn’t a great idea to stuff Virgil and Roman into the same apartment. Even less of a good idea to try and have a movie marathon with those two around.
Really, their arguments should have been expected at this point. In fact, they probably were, but Patton so desperately wanted them to get along. He wanted to have all his closest friends in one place.
Roman and Virgil were first introduced after Logan and Patton had discovered they were soulmates. Coffee may have been spilled everywhere, but the bright colors flooding their previously black and white vision had made up for it. They instantly exchanged numbers and agreed to meet again when they weren’t soaked in hot coffee.
A few days after that, they introduced their best friends to each other. Patton had dragged Virgil excitedly to a corner of the cafeteria, joined a few moments later by Logan and his overexcited friend, Roman.
While both approved of their best friends’ soulmates, the two of them did not hit it off.
They refused to get within five feet of each other. Every they were together was spent bickering. Some arguments ended in shouting matches, only ending when their throats were too sore to continue. Some ended in Logan or Patton having to break it up. Some ended in threats before one or both of them stormed off.
It was still yet to be seen how this most recent argument would end.
All Patton had wanted was a simple movie night with his closest friends. A binge night of lighthearted Disney, popcorn, and far too many sweets. At least, that had been the plan.
Virgil, cynical as ever, started making biting comments the second Snow White was popped into the DVD player. His jabs were aimed at princes specifically, though at he snarked about a few other aspects of the movie as well.
When his comments started stretching to other Disney princess movies before they’d even finished Snow White, Roman had had enough. He started arguing with everything Virgil said. He leaned over Logan and Patton to yell at Virgil.
Eventually, the argument escalated to the point where Virgil and Roman were both standing in front of the couch, blocking the television from Logan and Patton view.
Logan sighed. “Can we just agree that you’re both being stupid and watch the movie in silence?”
There was no indication that they’d even heard him, advancing on each other. If they got any closer, they would knock heads.
“Guys, please,” Patton pleaded, leaning forward and reaching out, as if to drag them apart.
“You’re upsetting Patton,” Logan tried, nudging Patton to get him to exaggerate his sadness.
Roman turned toward the couch, gesticulating widely. “Well, if Marilyn Morose here would just enjoy a simple movie-”
Roman cut himself off as his wild hand motions led to him accidentally smacking Virgil in the nose and knocking him off balance.
Virgil fell backwards on the floor and stared up in shock, hand holding his nose. Roman froze, hand still in the air.
“What the fuck,” Virgil whispered.
Patton stood, concern flooding his features. “Now, kiddo, I’m sure Roman didn’t mean it, right Rom-”
“No.” Roman said, staring at his hands.
Logan stood as well.
Virgil looked up at them, eyes blown wide. “What the fuck.”
“Virgil-” Logan started, then stopped, glancing between Virgil and Roman.
“No!” Roman said louder, finally snapping out of his stupor. “This is your fault!” He shouted, pointing at Virgil.
“What the FUCK!” Virgil shrieked and scrambled backwards on the floor, eventually hitting the wall with a solid thud.
Patton rushed to his side and began working him through his breathing exercises.
Logan turned to Roman, who was now staring at the television.
“Is that red?” He whispered.
“Roman,” Logan began, placing a hand on Roman’s shoulder. “Are you and Virgil... soulmates?”
Roman turned to Logan slowly, taking in his appearance. He reached out and touched Logan’s polo shirt. “What color is that?” He breathed out.
“Navy blue.” Logan said slowly.
Roman nodded shakily before turning to take in the room once more. Deciding that he was fine, Logan went to help Patton with Virgil.
“Virgil, I need to you look at me,” Patton was saying.
Virgil shook his head. His breathing had evened out, but he refused to open his eyes again.
“It’s not real,” he muttered. “It’s not real. This is a nightmare and it’s not real.”
“It’s real, Virgil,” Logan said as gently as he could, resting his hand on Virgil’s knee.
Virgil’s breathing stuttered.
“A nightmare?” Roman shouted. “This is fantastic!”
Virgil’s eyes snapped open and he glared at Roman.
“Fantastic?” He spat out.
Roman furrowed his brow. “Well, yes. I found my soulmate! I can see colors!” He beamed. “Aren’t they beautiful?”
Virgil stood. “Of course, it’s all about you.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
Virgil just shook his head, moving towards the door. Roman grabbed his arm to stop him.
“You found your soulmate,” Roman tried. “Aren’t you happy?”
Virgil wrenched his arm out of Roman’s grip. “I don’t want to be soulmates with someone who hates me.”
He turned away as the first tears began falling and left Patton’s apartment, slamming the door behind him.
“Roman?” Logan said calmly.
“Yeah?”
“You fucked up.”
“Yeah.”
After a few moments, Patton spoke up. “I should go after him,” he said quietly before slipping out of the apartment.
Roman flopped back on the couch, the excitement from seeing colors for the first time gone. “How do I fix this?”
Logan sighed and sat next to him. “I have no clue. I’m not the one who’s good with emotions. Do you want my suggestion, however?”
Roman nodded.
“I would start with an apology.”
Roman caught Virgil the next day exiting from the campus cafe, the same place Logan and Patton had discovered they were soulmates.
The second Virgil saw Roman coming towards him, he turned and started speed walking in the opposite direction.
“Virgil wait! Please!” He called.
Virgil only sped up.
How in Hades does he walk so fast? Roman thought, breaking into a sprint. He grabbed Virgil’s arm, just like how he had the night before.
“Please, wait.” Roman panted. Man, he really needed to start working out again.
“Why.” Virgil spat out. It didn’t even sound like a question.
“I’m - I’m really sorry, okay?”
“Apology not accepted, bye.” Virgil tried to pull his arm away.
“Virgil, please.”
Virgil stopped walking and sighed. “I’m going to be late,” he said.
“I’ll walk with you,” Roman quickly replied. “Please, just let me explain.”
Virgil started walking. “What is there to explain?” He asked, cocking his head to the side as Roman caught up and matched his pace. “You hate me, I tolerate you. The end.”
“You’re wrong.” Roman said. “I never hated you. Sure, we argued some-”
Virgil shot him a look.
“- Okay, a lot, but I never hated you. Yeah, you were kind of frustrating, and you made me angry, but never hate. It takes a lot to make me hate someone.”
“But you don’t like me,” Virgil said.
“I’m sorry,” Roman said, putting as much emotion as he could into it.
Based on the way Virgil whipped his head around to look at him, it worked.
“I never really gave you a chance. I never bothered to get to know you. How am I supposed to decide if I like you or not if I don’t even know you?”
Virgil was silent for a few moments. They were getting closer and closer to the English department. Roman was sweating from the stress.
“I’m sorry too,” Virgil said eventually, partially hiding behind his coffee cup. “After that first time... I never really gave you a chance either. I would deliberately push your buttons because I knew -- because I thought you didn’t like me, so I was trying to get back at you in some childish, stupid way?”
“I’m sorry for starting that first argument,” Roman said, holding the door open for Virgil.
Virgil shook his head as he stepped inside. Roman stepped in after him.
“Will you... try to give this a chance?”
Virgil’s shoulders started to hunch up and he shifted uncomfortably.
“I-I don’t mean dating!” Roman explained as quickly as he could, trying to continue with a more calm tone when Virgil looked at him in confusion. “I mean, there’s such thing as platonic soulmates, too, you know. Plus, it’s kind of weird to jump into dating someone you just thought hated you. Let’s just... try to be friends? Maybe start over.”
Virgil paused outside of a lecture hall, his back facing Roman. After a few moments, he turned around and held out his hand. Confused, Roman slowly grasped it in his own. Virgil gave it a strong shake before releasing him.
“Hey, I’m Virgil. Patton’s best friend.”
Roman grinned. “I’m Roman, nice to meet you.”
Virgil smirked and tried to hide it behind his coffee cup. “You too.”
And then he slipped inside the lecture hall, leaving Roman standing outside, grinning like an idiot.
Weeks passed, and Virgil and Roman were carefully becoming acquainted with each other.
Some days, it felt like they were walking on glass around each other, trying so hard not to revert back to old habits. Other days, they acted like they had known each other for years.
Though it was rare, their arguments did not stop completely, but they were soon able to work through them on their own. Some of them even turned playful.
Patton and Logan was overjoyed (not that Logan would admit he was) to see their two best friends getting along. They could finally have group outings without having to worry about Virgil and Roman making a scene or halting another movie night.
It was after one such movie night that Roman found himself at a loss for words. He had volunteered to drive Virgil home that night in hopes of spending more time with him.
He found himself fighting to keep his focus on the road, the dim street lights casting dramatic shadows on Virgil’s beautiful face.
He hadn’t even realized he had been falling for him. It made sense, as they were soulmates after all, but he’d been too busy trying to have fun with Virgil to notice the feelings developing alongside that.
Virgil shot him a look from the corner of his eye. “Eyes on the road, Princey,” he smirked.
Roman blushed and turned his gaze to the street in front of him.
“What’s so distracting over here that you keep looking over, anyway?”
“You.” Roman said before he could bite his tongue.
“What?!” Virgil said incredulously.
Roman parked in front of Virgil’s apartment complex and gripped the steering wheel tightly. He didn’t know where to go from here. He didn’t know what to say.
“Ro? Is - is there something wrong?”
Roman whipped his head around to face Virgil. “No! No, of course not.”
Virgil bit his lip. Obviously, he didn’t believe Roman.
Roman turned his body to face Virgil completely, reaching for his hands. Virgil offered them and grasped Roman’s hands tightly.
“What’s going on, Roman? You’ve been acting weird since we got in the car.”
Roman took a deep breath. “I may or may not have had a revelation.”
Virgil squeezed Roman’s hands, as if to try and calm him. It didn’t work, but Roman appreciated the effort.
“And what might that revelation be?”
Roman started and stopped his sentence at least five times before he took a deep breath and managed to find the right words.
“I... may or may not have started developing romantic feelings for you.”
Virgil’s eyes went wide. His jaw fell open.
“I - I -”
“I understand if you don’t feel the same way. I’m incredibly sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“No!”
Roman flinched back and tried to pull his hands back.
“Sorry, I’ll just-”
“No, Roman wait! I mean, no you didn’t make me uncomfortable! I just -”
Virgil cut himself off with a frustrated huff. Roman waited patiently for him to find the right words. He let go of one of Roman’s hands, using both to play with and bend Roman’s fingers as he thought out what he was going to say.
“You’ve... you’ve shown me what love can feel like,” Virgil whispered, then his eyes went wide. “I - I mean, not that I’m saying like ‘I love you’ or anything, like it’s way too soon for that, we’re not even dating and I don’t know if I even feel that way, I just meant that you’ve been really good to me and I might like you too - ugh, that sounds so stupid and childish! I just mean that - I’m sorry, I just - I really feel like -”
Roman pulled his hand away from Virgil and placed both of them on Virgil’s jaw.
“Virgil,” he chuckled gently, “it’s okay. I know what you meant.”
Virgil relaxed and smiled up at him. Then he looked down and started fidgeting with his hands again. “So, um, date?”
Roman laughed, long and loud. Virgil joined in chuckling nervously.
“Yes, Virgil. Date.”