Chapter Text
This was bad.
This was real bad.
Roman already had a hard time falling asleep as it was. His brain was constantly on go-mode, and while dreams were amazing, step one to those particular experiences was to fall asleep. Recently, he started self-medicating to battle his insomnia. On good days, he used melatonin. On bad days, he used alcohol. Today was a bad day, but the night was about to get worse.
He heard noises, loud noises. Banging definitely. Shouting? Who was shouting? And he could almost swear he felt the walls vibrate. “Jeez Roman,” he thought sleepily, “you really do need to cut back.” But that still didn’t account for the raised voices, which he now recognized as belonging to two of his geekier roommates.
Roman glanced at the clock, 2:45am. “For the love of Lea Salonga,” he muttered to himself. They knew he had a big audition for that national tour tomorrow morning! It was an open call too. That meant he’d have to get up in 3 hours, sign his name in person on the waitlist, then sit around a crowded rehearsal hall warming up for Lord knows how long in the hopes of even being seen by the casting assistants. How the hell was he supposed to get his beauty sleep with this kind of racket going on?!
Roman looked in the mirror off to the side of his bed out of habit. He wasn’t as vain as he knew everyone thought he was. To be honest, he was incredibly self conscious. It took him years to shape his body in a way that made him happy, and it was a point of pride that he finally made it. At this moment however, his gaze was focused on the blurry reflection of his face. Puffy eyes stared back at him and he was convinced he could see wrinkles starting to form. Roman briefly considered that his recent spike in drinking probably didn’t help. Maybe it could be something to address for next year’s New Year’s resolution, but he couldn’t think about that now.
Now, he was fuming. Roman could admit that he occasionally came off as extra and over the top, but he took his career very seriously. He explained to all three of his roommates how important this audition was to him and they clearly didn’t care. He felt hot, bordering on the edge of righteous anger. “Not today,” Roman seethed, wrapping his blanket like a cape over his shoulders. He opened his bedroom door to confront the others and give them a piece of his mind.
Or so he thought.
“Virgil, let us in!”
“Open the door, Virgil!”
“GO AWAY!”
Roman staggered in the doorway, having to brace himself against the wall to readjust his stance. Were they having an earthquake? In Florida?
“Logan, can’t you open it?!”
“I’ve been trying!”
“I thought you could pick locks!”
“I can, Patton, but if he’s up against the door itself-”
“What the hell is going on?!” Roman demanded.
A hush fell over the hallway. Logan and Patton both turned to look at the indignant diva before them.
“Apologies for waking you Roman.”
“Roman, we’re so sorry, but Virgil’s-”
“Being difficult!” Logan interrupted.
“In trouble!” Patton proceeded, ignoring Logan’s side eye.
Roman’s scowl changed in an instant. All the heat behind his agitation melted away. An open call was one thing. A friend in need was another matter entirely, and Virgil’s safety was more important to him than anything.
“What’s happened?” he asked, genuine concern in his voice. He walked over to join his other roommates.
At his approach, Patton blanched. The hallway lights were on a dimmer, but Roman could have sworn he saw fear flash behind his shorter friend’s glasses. He absolutely heard a sharp inhale from the other taller bespectacled man standing behind him. Roman’s brain went into wide awake overdrive.
“Is he hurt?” he asked them. Then, a chilling thought came to him. No. No way. But he had to ask, “Did Virgil hurt himself?”
Roman had seen Patton cry before. That sweet cinnamon roll always wore his heart on his sleeve and wasn’t afraid to show it. One time, all four of them were watching Enchanted for their monthly movie night, and Patton flat-out sobbed when “So Close” started playing during the ballroom scene. Roman sometimes wished he was able to turn on his own waterworks as easily. Maybe he’d be cast in more dramas if he could. Honestly, Roman thought Patton’s open emotional vulnerability was one of the most beautiful parts about that Sweet Pea (a nickname Patton adored for its punny nature).
But this was different. For once, Patton was holding back his tears. Roman almost didn’t catch it, save for one rascal that escaped from beneath his buddy’s round lenses.
That was all the answer he needed.
“VIRGIL OPEN THIS DOOR THIS INSTANT OR I SWEAR I WILL BREAK IT DOWN MYSELF!”
Logan gasped. He must have been holding his breath the entire time. “Roman wait-!”
Something akin to a guttural wail sounded all around them. The three roommates in the hallway had to slap their hands over their ears. A large decorative painting of abstract swirls and circles fell off the wall and nearly toppled on top of Patton.
Nearly. Because Logan stopped it in midair.
Roman looked up in awe. Patton was still crouched over, but Logan was upright and had his left arm outstretched with his fingers purposefully extended. The picture dangled above Patton. By itself. For far longer than it should have.
“Wait, what?” Roman whispered. Alcohol had given him the shakes before, but he definitely didn’t have enough to hallucinate this.
Even in the dimmed lighting, Roman could see the usually stoic man blush. Nonetheless, that didn't stop Logan from gently taking ahold of the floating picture with his physical hands and gingerly placing it back on the wall.
“Are you alright, Patton?” Logan inquired softly, ignoring Roman’s response for the moment.
“I’m always alright, kiddo,” Patton said, but he was obviously still shaken.
“Um, maybe I could use a hand?” he added. With Patton’s permission, Logan grabbed onto a sleeve covered arm and swiftly brought his smallest roommate to standing.
“And I could use an explanation,” Roman said.
“Oh Roman,” Patton started sadly, “We wanted to tell you…”
But to both Patton and Logan’s surprise, Roman’s attention wasn’t directed at them. Rather it was directed squarely at their final unseen roommate. He knocked on Virgil’s door.
“Virgil,” Roman spoke evenly, “I don’t know what’s going on, but Patton almost got injured and I think you had something to do with it. Please open the door and let us all inside.”
There was a pause.
Then a faint click was heard of a lock being turned in reverse.
Roman put his hand on the brass doorknob, but another warm hand reached out, hovering above his.
“Let me?” Patton asked.
Then Logan startled Roman from behind, placing his own hand on his roommate’s broader shoulder.
In the time he had lived with him, Roman had never seen Logan initiate physical contact with anyone. Now his touch silently begged Roman to hold back. The situation must be even graver than he had originally thought.
Roman took his hand off the doorknob and only then did Logan release his grasp.
At that, Patton’s hand gently turned the handle and opened Virgil’s door.