7 years old
"No Bill, it's not like that. The roman numeral for five is the letter 'V'." Tom told his seven year old twin brother timidly, pointing at the correct answer on the textbook they were sharing.
Bill sighed softly, tired of trying to answer the stupid math questions. "I don't want to answer anymore. Let's play." The younger twin offered, making his eyes bigger as he looked at his older brother.
Tom only formed his mouth into a thin line. They're mother strictly told them to finish their assignments before they go off to play. "I don't know Bill, let's finish this first." Tom disagreed, somehow, even though they are the same in age, he felt responsible for everything they both have to go through.
"But Tomi, I'm no good with roman thingies… I don't understand them." Bill whined, getting up from his seat next to his twin brother and crossing his arms. Tom sighed again, closing the textbook.
He looked up at his little brother and said "Bill, mom's going to be disappointed in us if we don't finish our homework… come on, I'll teach you." Bill continued to whine, mumbling silly things about math and roman 'thingies'.
Tom, being the older and responsible brother he is, stood up and pushed his twin brother down on one of the seats so that they can start answering again. Tom took the vacant seat and opened the textbook in front of them.
"Always remember that the number five is a V ok?" he repeated, quite firmly. Bill nodded, pouting. The twins continued on with their homework about the roman numerals, 1 up to 10 only though because they were still in first grade.
9 years old
"I hate this." Bill complained, slamming his textbook close before slapping his palm on his forehead. Why do they have to go through roman numerals again?
Tom looked up from his own math textbook and saw his little brother complain. He smiled and looked down at his homework, already finished and Bill's looked like a blank piece of paper.
"You alright?" he asked, raising an eyebrow before he stood up to sit beside his brother, peeking at the homework he started working on 30 minutes ago. Bill sighed exasperatedly and glared at his brother.
"I'm fine. I just can't understand why we need to learn these when we already know the NORMAL numbers… why do we even have to learn the ROMAN ones?" Tom chuckled and moved the textbook so that they could both see it at the same time.
"It's a piece of cake Bill. Just remember that the letter L is equal to 50. And the letter V is equal to 5. X is 10, and C is 100." Bill stared at his brother. How can this person beside him be his twin? If they were twins he should've been good at this roman thingies or maybe the other way around.
"You got it?" Tom asked as he waited for his brother to stop glaring at him. Bill stared at the textbook in front of him again and finally 'kind of' got some questions down.
"Kind of" he replied, shrugging. Tom smiled slightly and explained the concepts of Roman Numerals to his little brother again, just like last time. Only now, they have bigger numbers to figure out.
11 years old
Tom strummed on his guitar, whilst staring at his younger brother scribble on the textbook in front of him. "Well?" He asked after a while, raising an eyebrow at the exasperated boy in front of him.
Bill ran a hand through his hair, rolling his eyes. "Roman numerals again… when will we stop learning this?" he complained, as he watched Tom set the guitar down to sit beside him. "I don't think this is going to stop until we graduate elementary. What don't you get Bill?" he asked, scanning the page Bill was on.
Bill pointed out the one he was trying to answer and prepared to listen to his older brother talk about roman numerals again. "I thought you already got the hang of the hundreds?" Tom questioned, watching his brother play with the pen he was using.
"I have! The thousands are the hard ones." The younger twin complained again, dejected. Tom smiled slightly, "You already know the symbols right? You're having trouble with the equations.
Always remember that if a letter that represents something smaller is before a letter that represents something larger you always have to subtract the amount of that letter from the letter after it." Bill's mouth formed a thin line. He could see that this was going to be a long night.
His eyes landed on the guitar Tom set down and his eyes sparked, "I got some lyrics down earlier today, let's make a song." He offered, grinning. Tom simply glared at him, returning to explaining the roman numerals he is strangely good at, leaving Bill rejected and pouting even more.
15 years old
"I give up! I'm sick of these roman numerals!" Bill shouted, slamming his book close in front of their home teacher and band. The 3 band members and the said teacher chuckled.
"Don't worry Bill you're not going to have these, the whole lesson, just a review" their home study teacher named Evelyn, informed him smiling. Bill rolled his eyes, "Why bother then if it's just a review?" Evelyn smiled again, pretty amused at the rock star's reaction.
"Like I said, it's just a review. Don't worry about it." Tom elbowed his twin slightly, grinning. Bill raised an eyebrow at him, questioning him. "I'm here you know, the great god of roman numerals." He joked even though Bill knew that even if he tried his best to copy from Tom, his older twin won't let him.
"What's the matter Bill? What's wrong with roman numerals?" Georg questioned to the singer his pen slightly perched on top of the page of the textbook he was working on. Bill looked at the other band members' faces, they were both questioning.
"I never loved roman numerals and I swear to God they never loved me back as well." The drummer and the bassist nodded in understanding, going back to their activity because they know even though Evelyn didn't say anything, she's still paying attention.
Bill scanned the room, taking in every detail. He thought of everything he can do before he can work on the activity. He was procrastinating in the very most inappropriate place to do it, in front of the teacher.
He glanced at his right side and saw Tom slowly closing the textbook, finished with his activity. Show off.
"Bill, are you alright? Why aren't you working on the activity?" Evelyn asked him as she took Tom's textbook from his older twin. "I'm fine." Bill replied, hastily opening his textbook and trying to recall everything his twin brother explained to him in the past.
Tom plopped down the couch where Bill sat, trying to answer the activity. He smiled to himself, his younger twin can look so adorable when he scrutinized in concentration.
Over all those years Tom tried to teach Bill about roman numerals, Bill still didn't get it.
17 years old
"What time is it?" Bill asked his older brother, raising one of his eyebrows in the process. Tom smiled and motioned towards the clock on the opposite side of the room they were in.
Bill glanced at the clock that was sporting the Roman numeral numbers as its numbers. He concentrated for a minute and smiled, successfully figuring out the time. "I got it." He announced, smiling widely to his twin brother.
Tom chuckled, amused. Bill can be so adorable. He called out his younger twin's name and offered the space on the couch beside him for him to sit on. Bill smiled and willingly sat on the offered space, leaning on his brother for support and comfort.
"You don't have to worry about those roman numerals anymore." Tom commented, playing with his brother's hair. "Yea…" Bill replied, relaxing into Tom's embrace. He really liked cuddling with his twin. It was like both their escape from the world.
Bill glanced up at his brother after a few minutes without the older twin speaking, Tom's face showed thought. "What are you thinking about?" Bill queried, his eyes widening. Tom smiled lightly.
"Well, remember when you just can't stand the fact when you're the only one who says 'I love you' and I don't?" Tom began, getting Bill's interest. The younger twin nodded, "Of course I remember, quite frankly, I'm still not over that fact. Why can't you just say 'I love you' Tomi? Is it that hard?" Bill replied, playing with one's of Tom's dreadlocks, tugging slightly.
Tom just grinned, "I don't say it because I know you already know what I feel about you." Bill sighed, "Still, sometimes I want to get reminded by words, not by actions, even though the actions are quite good." Tom chuckled at Bill's attempt at a joke. Bill can be just so cute.
"You know what Bill? I think there's still one problem about roman numerals you need to face." Tom started, gently sitting up properly, making Bill complain about having to stop their cuddling until he registered the words 'problem, roman, numerals, need, to, face' in his head.
"What are you talking about?" Bill questioned, glaring. He hated thinking about roman numerals. Tom stood up and got a pen and a piece of paper. He plopped down beside Bill and started writing something on the piece of paper.
Once he was finished, he handed it to Bill. "Here, to satisfy your need in reminding yourself about what I feel for you." He said as Bill read what he wrote.
'I stand before fifty five men. Nothing came before five men. Invert three and you will be the last.' Bill read what Tom wrote again and again in his mind, trying to decipher the meaning behind the words.
The younger twin looked at Tom, how can his brother be so cruel, leaving him with this puzzle or some sort? "Tom, what is this?" Tom simply shrugged and kissed his brother on the forehead before he stood up, "I need to tell David something. Don't lose that ok? You'll know the answer to it if you just remember the things I taught you."
Once again, Tom left Bill, pouting.
20 years old
Bill looked up at the ceiling in his hotel suite. He didn't want to get up. He was too lazy for that. It was one of their rest days and he wanted to sleep in but he just couldn't sleep. Something was bothering him.
He somehow ended up recalling sweet memories the night before and he remembered the day Tom gave him this silly puzzle of some sort he never solved, saying that it was to remind him of how much Tom felt for him. He still has the paper. He never threw it away. It was always in his wallet, neatly folded.
Bill closed his eyes, thinking about it gave him the urge to get up and get it from his wallet, but he didn't want to get up, he wanted to sleep in.
A few minutes of staring at the ceiling passed and he finally managed to force himself up to get his wallet. After searching for the accessory, he finally achieved what he wanted, the piece of paper.
He sat on the edge of the bed, rereading the puzzle. 'I stand before fifty five men. Nothing came before five men. Invert three and you will be the last.' Unfortunately, the singer came up with nothing again.
"You'll know the answer to it if you just remember the things I taught you." Tom had said, after handing this to him. Bill sighed in frustration, how can his twin be so annoying?
He looked around his suite, spotting his ever trusty notebook and pen. His gut told him to reach for it. Funny, the only time his gut felt like that is when he was in the mood for writing another song. He did reach for the two things, knowing not to put off his gut.
He opened the notebook and uncapped the pen, ready to write down nothing. His gaze transferred from the paper and the notebook, clueless.
He reread the puzzle again. 'I stand before fifty five men.' Bill scrutinized that line first, thinking. I? He wrote down the letter 'I' on his notebook, his gaze transferring to the paper again.
Fifty five? Once again, Tom's words rang inside Bill's head, "You'll know the answer to it if you just remember the things I taught you." Bill concentrated, what's fifty five in roman numerals? LV, that's right! Bill jotted down the letters LV after the letter 'I' seeing the puzzle said 'I stand before fifty five men.' Bill smiled at his success before transferring to the paper again, 'Nothing came before five.' What resembles nothing? Zero resembles nothing.
Bill proceeded to write zero before the letter V since the puzzle said nothing came before five. He stared at his notebook, I L O V.
Bill's eyes sparked, he continued on to the puzzle again. 'Invert three and you will be the last.' Invert three? He perched his right hand over his notebook and wrote an inverted three. It formed the letter E.
'and you will be the last' Bill, finally getting the answer, hurriedly wrote down the letter U at the end. He stared at his notebook, I LOVE U. His heart soared, he never felt this happy. Tom never said it aloud but this is just something. He took a few minutes of his time, just staring at his notebook.
"Bill?" a soft knock on the door brought Bill to reality. He swallowed "Come in" he replied softly, still breath taken.
The door opened and closed and in came Tom, looking slightly worried. "What's wrong?" the older twin asked, taking the sight of Bill, dazed, in front of him. Bill set down his notebook, pen and the paper on the bed, standing up just to engulf Tom in the tightest hug he can provide.
"I love you too." He replied, smiling dreamily up at him. Tom's confusion grew bigger. "What?" he asked. Bill giggled, still in Tom's arms, "I solved the puzzle you gave me." He answered making Tom put two on two together. The pen, paper and notebook on the bed were dead giveaways.
Tom grinned. Bringing Bill closer to him, if that was even possible. "I really do Bill, I really do love you." Tom took a pause to lay a kiss on Bill's forehead "So much, actually." He added, making his younger twin smile. "I know." Bill replied, kissing Tom on the lips shortly before adding, "I love you too." Tom sealed their conversation with a long kiss.
Roman numerals have never been so sweet.