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Damian had been friends with Remus for as long as he could remember, they had both been the outcasts on the playground and bonded over being excluded, Damian due to his vitiligo and Remus due to his more feral temperament. Despite Remus’ near-insanity at times, Damian did consider him his closest friend and was often the voice of reason that Remus seemed to lack. And because of this friendship, Damian had also known Remus’ twin brother, Roman, for most of his life.
Roman was almost an exact opposite to Remus; he was taller, he radiated confidence that bordered on arrogance, he was loved by the entire school, and he was even more tanned than Remus, who was quite pale. Roman was loud, and often spoke with everybody except for his brother and Damian, but that didn’t stop Damian from developing the biggest crush on him.
Damian had known he was gay almost as long as he had known Remus, although there was no correlation. Damian did love his living dumpster fire of a friend, but not like that. No, Damian’s ‘gay awakening’, if you could call it that, had come from a crummy school dance when he was around eight years old. He was standing in the corner, waiting for Remus so he wouldn’t be completely alone, and had watched as Roman strolled into the hall, and at that moment, he was the prettiest thing Damian had ever seen in his life.
Of course, Roman never paid much attention to Damian, he was just his brother’s friend. Even when Roman had hand-delivered Damian tickets to his many performances throughout the years, it was only because he always gave Remus a free ticket and Damian just happened to be there as well. It was likely out of pity, or guilt, even if Damian treasured every single ticket and smile. Still, Roman never seemed to see him as anything other than the one person able to put up with his brother.
That was made clear when Remus and Damian returned to the former’s house after high school and found Roman on the couch with some emo kid from their science class. It was heart-shattering to witness, even if they were only cuddling, and Damian had to clench nearly every muscle in his body to stop himself from breaking down right then and there.
As it turned out, Roman’s new boyfriend, Virgil, was actually really nice. He listened to a lot of the same music as Remus and Damian did, and didn't even bat an eye when first meeting Damian, which was a shock in itself. And, honestly, Damian wished that Virgil was a prick, it would be so much easier to hate him if he was horrible.
Even now, now that they had all graduated and were working, Damian was still fruitlessly pining for a love that could never be. Roman and Virgil seemed so *so* happy together, and as much as his own heart was aching, Damian refused to do anything to ruin Roman’s relationship. He was in love, he wasn't heartless. Which is why it was so jarring for Damien when Roman started acting differently around him, on the night that Damien’s life changed.
It was late. Remus had held a giant sleepover at his apartment and had invited all of Roman’s friend group, as well as Damian, and everyone had already gone to bed at this point. Patton, Emile and Remy, a poly throuple who all seemed rather nice, had taken one spare room, Roman and Virgil had taken the other, and Remus and his queerplatonic partner Logan were in Remus’ room, leaving Damian out on the couch alone. Not that he minded, Damian had often taken to be alone as of late. It helped him think through his feelings, such as the ache in his heart after seeing Roman and Virgil curled up together when Remus insisted they watch horror movies. Damien sighed, shaking his head before going to the kitchen to make himself a hot chocolate. He knew Remus wouldn’t mind, and honestly, Damien doubted he’d be able to sleep at all tonight.
Just as Damian had finished making his drink and sat down at the dining room table, a door creaked open, and Damien looked up to see Roman stepping out of his room, dressed only in pyjamas covered in tiny, golden crowns. Roman seemed surprised at seeing Damian still awake, but he came over and sat across from him.
“Can’t sleep?” Roman’s voice was deeper than normal, supposedly because he had just woken up himself, and Damian had to take a large gulp of his drink to avoid the gay panic that swept through him.
”No, I *want* to stay up till five in the morning.”
”Sure you do,” Roman smirked before silence fell for a few minutes. “Have I ever told you how pretty you are?” were the next words Roman said, as Damian was taking a sip of his drink, causing Damian to splutter and nearly choke, hastily putting his mug back down as he tried to recover.
“What is that supposed to mean!?” Damian whisper-yelled, remembering that everybody else in the apartment was fast asleep, once his coughing fit had subsided. Roman, however, was still just smirking, leaning his head on his arm now.
”That you’ve become really cute over the years, obviously.”
“You’re talking to the wrong person there, Preston.”
“I’m not. You were really cute when we were kids, and now?”
“Don’t act as if you noticed me back then,” Damian spoke before he could stop himself, staring down at his half-drunk mug.
“What are you talking about? Of course I noticed you! It was pretty hard not to with Rem inviting you round every other day.”
“Right.” Damian sighed. The way he said that sounded like Damian was just a nuisance to him, and now his previously sweet drink was starting to taste bitter as if his own cynicism had mixed with it. Just because Damien wanted Roman to be happy didn’t stop him from being jealous that he wasn’t the one making Roman feel that way.
“I mean, you were always there. Surprised it took me so long to do this…” Roman trailed off, biting his lip nervously, and now Damian was concerned. When had Roman ever been nervous?
“Do what-“ Before Damian could finish his sentence, Roman had gotten up to lean across the table and had pushed his lips against Damian’s, and the latter’s mind ground to a halt at that moment. He couldn’t believe it, that Roman Preston, his one and only crush, was actually kissing him. This had to be a dream, yet Roman’s lips felt so *real,* it was so completely foreign to Damian. It was unlike what Remus had ever told him kissing was like; it was sweet and soft, like the purest summer day, but also gone too soon, as Roman slowly pulled away and sat back in his seat, cheeks as red as Damian imagined his own to be.
“That,” Roman breathed out, his hand tentatively resting on top of Damian’s hand.
“I-“ Damian tried to choke out, his brain trying to conjure up any sort of response but coming up empty, causing him to stutter out a broken “But-” and “Virg-”
“If you’re worried about what Virgil will think, don’t be. I told him about my feelings for you years ago. He understands.”
“I don’t,” Damian retorted, mind still wheeling. Roman merely smiled softly.
“Have you heard of the word polyamorous?” Damian shook his head. While it sounded vaguely familiar, he had no idea what the word meant. “Simply put, it means that I’m able to love multiple people romantically. I love Virgil, and I really like you too. And, if you’ll have me, I would really like to be your boyfriend as well as Virg’s.”
Damian was utterly stunned. After all these years, after a million dreamt up ideas to confess his love for Roman, countless scrapped love letters, and endless nights lying awake, heart aching, Roman was here saying that he wanted to be Damian’s boyfriend? This was more farfetched than any of Damian’s dreams, and if his mind was a computer, it would’ve blue-screened already.
“I-”
“I get it if you don’t like me back, I can accept that, but I couldn’t not tell you-” This time, Damian was the one cutting Roman off, his hand gripping the taller’s as his brain slowly rebooted.
“Of course I do,” Damian managed to say, finally able to find his words again. “I’ve liked you since we were eight years old, you moron.” Roman burst into laughter at that, his face flushing red.
“So you’ll be my boyfriend?”
“Remus would literally slaughter me if I said no,” Damian couldn’t help but smile, and then Roman was leaning in for another kiss, and this time Damian would be ready and actually enjoy it-
“JUST FUCK ALREADY, LOSERS!” The shout from one of the bedrooms caught both of them off guard, and they pulled away, struggling to hold in giggles. Looks like Remus had heard the whole thing.
The next morning, when Damian woke up, he was curled up against something solid and warm, and after a few moments, remembered what had transpired the night before. Roman actually felt the same way about him, and they had fallen asleep together on the couch after discussing more details about where to go from here, although Virgil would have to be present for future discussions about that.
Speaking of, when Virgil walked through to the living room and saw Damian curled up to Roman, seeming to have been waking up, he couldn’t help but smile. Roman had been so excited about potentially dating both of his long-term crushes, and judging by the scene, it had gone down successfully. That warmed Virgil’s heart, especially since Remus had secretly told him that Damian had felt the same way for quite some time, and the idea of them both dating Roman just felt… right. And strangely natural. Even if Virgil and Damian didn’t like each other in that way, they both loved Roman, and Roman loved both of them, and that was really all that mattered.