Hi, all! Just a few notes before we begin: This story will have all six of the sides we've met so far. Prinxiety angst is a thing, possibly more ships to come, but it'll mostly be social awkwardness; I don't know how romance works. I don't know how regular updates work either, but I'll do my best!

UPDATE: I'm a little over halfway through this story, and I have a better idea of where things are going. There will be eventual Intrulogical (nothing explicitly romantic), and the angst gets heavier as we go; there will be angst for all six sides. Also, this story turned into mostly platonic Dukeceit shenanigans and I spilled some Logan angst into this, so... sorry if you clicked for Prinxiety, that ship is mostly a plot device and they spend more time thinking about each other than interacting. It's still a thing, though, and there will be more of it... just towards the end.

Enjoy reading, please leave a review, and stay safe!

...

Roman pulled up to the curb two blocks from Sanders High School. "Get out." The only response he received was a crashing sound from the backseat. He didn't flinch or look behind him; if he was being honest, he didn't want to know what Remus had knocked over this time. Besides, he knew from experience that if he showed a sliver of interest in what his twin was doing, Remus would latch onto that attention like a leech. The sooner they went their separate ways for the day, the better. He suspected Remus felt the same way, but he didn't want to find out whether he'd rather disassociate with Roman or pester him endlessly.

Finally, the car door swung open-so hard it slammed itself shut, on Remus's foot if the ear splitting yowl was anything to go by. A minute and several crashes later, Remus was out of the car. "BYE!" he shouted from the curb. Roman pulled away before he could say anything else, edging into the line going into the senior parking lot.

He found a parking spot right in front of the bike rack near the entrance to the school; hopefully that meant it would be a good day. He grabbed his backpack from the passenger seat and swung it over his shoulder as he got out, starting to jog away almost before he closed the door. Every millisecond he was late to the library would only make Logan more irritable-

"Hey, um-"

He knew that voice. Destiny has called me!

Roman stopped in his tracks and spun around, coming face-to-face with the one and only Virgil Storm. He was parking his old purple bike on the rack, wearing a black hoodie of all things. He always wore it-and Roman definitely didn't know that because he couldn't stop watching him if he wanted to-even though that morning was warm, especially for mid-November. His bangs hung low over his eyes. Roman couldn't decide if he was relieved or not; he suspected Virgil's eyes would be things of beauty, perhaps a deep shade of gray, but if he saw them he might just burst into song on the spot. He couldn't think of anything more romantic and embarrassing.

He cleared his throat, but his voice still cracked when he said, "Virgil, right?"

Virgil ducked his head, color tinging his cheeks. Was he blushing? Had Roman said something wrong? He'd barely said anything, but-

"I don't think you locked your car."

His voice brought Roman back to the present. He stumbled back to his car and gave the door handle a tug, and sure enough, it popped open. He forced a chuckle, but it sounded like he was choking. Maybe Virgil couldn't tell. "Oh. Well. Thanks for letting me know." He locked it and turned, desperate to get out before he left the wrong impression, desperate to stay and get to know the quiet boy better. He glanced over his shoulder and paused, seeing a chance to keep their conversation going a bit longer. "Are you sure you locked your bike enough?"

Virgil reddened again as he glanced at the three padlocks on his bike. "I-I like this bike," he mumbled. Before Roman could think of anything to say-his brain always chose the worst possible moments to go blank-Virgil put earbuds in and pulled his hood down over his face. Their conversation was officially over.

Roman turned and practically ran to the library. Well, that could've gone worse. Right?

…

Only Logan could glower at Roman over the top of his glasses and make it intimidating. Even when he was sitting in a beanbag chair. "So you decided to show up."

Roman opened his mouth before he knew what to say. Something about Virgil just made his brain stop functioning. He'd tried to explain this to Logan before, but he didn't seem to understand, so he didn't try again. "Remus had a hard time getting out of the car," he said instead. It was technically true.

Logan sighed and tucked a bookmark into the book he was reading. "I don't see why you can't both get out in the parking lot. It would be so much more efficient."

Because then Virgil would've seen what my brother is like and thought I'm just like him and hate me forever and-"Clearly you're an only child, Microsoft nerd."

"You know I'm an only child, and you called me that… approximately three weeks ago. Please tell me you did your science homework."

"I did, thank you for having faith in me." Roman sat down in the other beanbag chair and pulled it out, handing it over. He'd never been so grateful for Logan's task-orientation.

His relief vanished at Logan's raised eyebrow. "I didn't realize that part of the homework was to write a love sonnet."

Roman's eyes went so wide it hurt. "I-uh-that's my English homework, hold on-"

"Roman." Logan's tone gave him little choice but to look up. "This is definitely a love sonnet dedicated to one Virgil Storm written in the margins of your science homework."

Roman swallowed. What was he supposed to say now?

Logan beat him to it. "Excellent form. You certainly have a way with words." He nodded in approval and tucked his face into the paper to skim the science part-that way Roman wouldn't see his tiny smirk.

A few moments later, he handed it back. "It's good, for the most part. Just check question seven. Kilograms are bigger than pounds, remember that in the conversions."

Roman took his homework back, trying not to look too pleased with himself; he must be improving a lot if Logan was praising his work even after he was so late. He skimmed down the page to look at question seven-who cares about the density of a star anyway?-but his eyes landed on the sonnet.

Virgil Storm was officially driving him insane.

…

Roman sat down in his car and tried to convince himself to drive away. A bitter laugh slipped from between his teeth. He'd spent the whole day wishing he could be alone so he could sort through his thoughts and feelings-as great as the drama crowd was, they could be overwhelming, especially to his confounded heart-and now that he was alone at last, he was waiting for Virgil to show up and take all three padlocks off of that bike of his and put on that adorable helmet and maybe notice him and smile for once. Even though he knew he'd just drive away in a hurry if he so much as made eye contact with him through his bangs. Those darned bangs. Virgil had to have the most glorious eyes in the world, how could he hide them away?

At least Remus had gone home with his friend, Janus. He didn't have a clue what they did all afternoon, but he knew for a fact that it wasn't homework. As much as Remus drove him crazy, he was glad he had a friend. Especially if it meant he could wallow in his unrequited love for a certain anxious emo in peace.

Ten minutes passed.

Twenty.

No Virgil.

Maybe he had a club after school. Maybe he was running late. Really late. Maybe he was watching through a window, waiting for Roman to leave.

His year was starting to look up. He'd pulled his grades up, made new friends, starred in the early autumn play. But it wasn't enough. All Roman had wanted for three months was a conversation with Virgil, but now all he could think about was how much he must hate him.

He had to know.

After thirty minutes, Roman turned the car on and began the drive home. It felt longer than usual.

The purple bike was still there.

…

Roman liked to think that everyone, at least once in their life, met the embodiment of a ray of sunshine. The kind of person who would drop everything to help you. The kind of person who could brighten anyone's day just by being there. The kind of person who was always supportive and loving, almost terrifyingly so.

For Roman, that friend was Patton.

"Hiya, kiddo! I barely saw you today, how was school?"

Despite everything, Roman found himself smiling. He knew Patton was doing the same on the other end of the phone. "Hey, Pat. School was… school."

A beat of silence. "Roman? What's up? I could come over if you'd like. I'm making cookies, they'll be done in a minute."

"That would be great." They said their goodbyes and hung up. Roman got started on his homework while he waited for Patton to come over. Things were looking up already. Patton was probably the best thing that had ever happened to him. Unless that was Virgil. Who probably hated him. So he was probably the worst distraction Roman could've dreamt up. He didn't even know why he liked him.

"I'm hopeless," he muttered.

Patton couldn't arrive soon enough. Roman let him in and they sat at the kitchen table, fresh chocolate chip cookies between them. The kitchen swelled with their warmth, even though the windows were open.

"Alright, kiddo, what's eating you?" Just like that, Roman had Patton's undivided attention.

Roman pulled a cookie apart. "Remember when I told you a couple months ago… I liked someone?"

Patton blinked. "You like a lot of people."

"I have a crush on Virgil," Roman blurted. "Remember that?" Patton nodded, eyes going wide with understanding. "Well, I talked to him this morning." He recounted the entire conversation to Patton, who was bouncing in his seat, though it was hard to tell whether this was from the exciting news or the sugar in the cookies. Roman knew he always added extra.

When he had finished, Patton was silent for a moment. "You really like him, don't you?"

Roman nodded. Even with Patton's cookies, his soul was still weighed down. "Patton, I've never felt this way before. I mean, sure, I've had crushes, but not like this. I don't know what I'll do if we can't at least become friends, but I can barely talk to him without choking on my tongue!" He stopped himself. That sounded like something Remus would say, but it was exactly how he felt.

Patton patted his hand. "Roman, you're a star. It's impossible to hate you. I have English with Virgil, and I know the two of you will get along once you both loosen up."

"But how are we supposed to loosen up and become friends if neither of us will talk to each other?" He stuffed an entire cookie into his mouth.

Patton's brow furrowed. A long moment passed in silence before he leapt to his feet, his whole face shining, and shouted, "I'VE GOT IT!"

Roman nearly fell out of his chair. "Patton! I swear by all things Disney, if you keep doing that, I will lose it."

Patton sat down, no dimmer, and began to explain while gesturing with a cookie in each hand. "Sorry, Ro. I was just thinking, you could throw a party!"

Roman sat up straighter at that. He'd done it before. He could invite the other theater kids, they'd have a ball! His parents wouldn't mind as long as he cleaned everything up, and they usually went on date nights so they wouldn't notice if Roman was using it as an excuse to flirt-wait. "Patton? I get the feeling Virgil doesn't like parties."

Patton's face fell, but he perked up in no time. "I'll handle that part. You invite me and tell me to bring a friend, and I'll ask him to come. I might just be able to convince him! Besides, he should branch out more. It'll be good for him to try something new."

Roman's head bobbed up and down. "Yes, yes, yes! I throw the party, you get Virgil to come, I talk to him, we become friends, and then boyfriends, and then everyone gets to live happily ever after!" His voice rose to a shout and he was on his feet before he knew it, laughing with sheer glee. It would be wonderful. No, stupendous. No, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! He dashed around the table and swept Patton up in a dance only he could hear.

This was too perfect for words.

Outside, under the kitchen window, Remus pressed a hand against his mouth. So, brother dearest has a crush on old Virge? And he's throwing a party to get him?

He had a feeling things were about to get very… interesting.