XXX
What's this? A rare romance fic? Maybe not actually? Sort of? Sorry if this isn't the best, since I don't really write a whole lot of romance fics. But I had this idea a while ago, so.
Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day…?
XXX
When Virgil heard the knocking at his bedroom door, just about the last side he'd been expecting to see upon opening it up had been Janus. The only person more unexpected would have been Remus, though that was almost entirely because that man never knocked.
But it was, in fact, Janus, and Virgil had the strong urge to simply slam the door in his face. Except he hesitated just a little too long, and that gave the deceitful side the opportunity to open his mouth.
"Hello, Virgil," he greeted with a smirk.
Again, Virgil wanted to just close the door and pretend that Janus had never been there, but against his better judgment, he resisted once more.
"What do you want?" Virgil asked gruffly. "And just get on with it; I'm not gonna sit here trying to unravel whatever bullshit you're up to."
Janus's smirk widened.
"Cruel as ever, I see," he replied dramatically. "Is that any way to talk to your boyfriend?"
That doorknob was looking better by the second.
"You're not my boyfriend," Virgil spat back immediately. "We broke up. What, you have amnesia or something?"
"Did we?" Janus questioned, tapping his chin. "Let's see… I think I remember you yelling that I'm a 'manipulative, slimey asshole', but I don't believe you ever actually said you were breaking up with me."
Virgil rolled his eyes.
"Kind of implied, I think," he responded, crossing his arms. "Now what do you want?"
"I have something important to tell you," Janus told him, and though Virgil waited for him to continue, he didn't.
"Which is…?"
Janus waved a hand at him.
"Oh, I can't tell you right now," he said, handing Virgil a slip of paper. "Meet me here at seven, okay?"
Virgil took the paper and stared at it dubiously.
"Or you can just tell me now and fuck off?"
"Hmmm, no," Janus denied. "If you wanna find out, you're going to just have to meet with me later."
Virgil sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Whatever game Janus was playing, he didn't want to participate.
"Or, I can just not show up," Virgil huffed.
He really doubted that Janus had anything of actual value to say. More than likely, that was just some weak ploy to try to convince him to go along with something, and whatever it was, it was probably annoying at best and disastrous at worst.
"You could," Janus shrugged. "And I suppose you could leave me standing there alone, but then I'm not going to tell you. And who knows what I could be doing. Why, I could be up to something evil, and this is your only chance to stop me!"
At this rate, Virgil was going to end up with a migraine.
"You wouldn't be saying any of this if you were," Virgil pointed out. "Now quit bothering me. Some of us have stuff to do that isn't coming up with stupid schemes."
"You wound me."
"Good."
Janus smiled at him again, a bit different than his typical smirk.
"Very well. See you tonight, Stormcloud."
Virgil slammed the door in his face.
XXX
With a sigh, Janus sank down and appeared back in the Dark Side of the Mindscape, already wondering if he was being an idiot. Sure, technically, Virgil never said the words 'I'm breaking up with you', but only a fool would think that they weren't actually broken up. Even without the words, having a huge fight, being screamed at and insulted, and ultimately having Virgil storm out and leave forever certainly got the point across. He had no delusions that Virgil felt anything other than hate for him now, but he was still hoping his curiosity would get the better of him. As it was, he was already half-expecting that he would have needed to slide his note under Virgil's door, so perhaps he was already lucky enough that he'd been able to invite Virgil directly. Still, more likely than not, all of his planning would go to waste tonight, but for some reason, that wasn't stopping him from trying.
Well, it was too late now. He'd already convinced himself to go and talk to Virgil, so it was now up to the anxious side whether he'd accept Deceit's invitation or not.
Part of him was silently begging that he would.
The other was hoping he wouldn't.
XXX
Virgil felt like an idiot. Here he was, standing in front of the door to the Imagination, as if there was a single reason it was a good idea. It was 6:50, and he was holding the stupid scrap of paper that told him to meet Janus by the tree they used to have picnics at. The paper that Janus had given him instead of just telling him where to meet, or better yet, just telling him what he wanted to say earlier instead of pulling whatever stunt this was.
He was seriously debating just turning around and going back to his room. There was no reason for him to be here doing this, no reason to do anything Janus wanted him to do, but yet, he was here anyway.
Despite his better judgment, he pulled the door open anyway.
Thankfully, nothing immediately assaulted him, so that was already more than he expected. The door had opened up onto Remus's half of the Imagination, since that's where their tree was. For the most part, Remus's side was a dangerous place full of terrifying beasts, creepy landscapes, and an assortment of disgusting 'who-even-knows' surrounding you in an anxiety-inducing mess of terror. However, Remus had made a little corner of it much more bearable for his and Janus's sakes back when they were kids, mostly because the rest of his side terrified Virgil too much for him to even enter. Before they broke up, Janus would take Virgil there for dates to avoid having something like a giant, ten-eyed goose interrupting them.
He still wasn't fond of this part of the Imagination, so as soon as the door closed behind him, he sank down and appeared at the edge of the not-terrifying area. He could have just appeared directly under the tree, but he'd rather be able to approach slowly and scope out the area in case Janus was really planning something.
As he walked, he noticed little changes from the last time he was here, years ago. Janus had usually taken care of the gardening, and it seemed that he still did, though the plants had changed. Where there used to be roses, there were now hyacinths, and where there had once been sunflowers, now there were snapdragons. Certain areas seemed to be more ignored than others, crawling plants and vines having taken over a bench there or a small statue over there. The abandoned areas seemed random, less like Janus chose to let them become overgrown and more like he just hadn't gotten around to taking care of them in a while. They still looked nice, in an overgrown, sort-of-abandoned way, but he wondered whether Janus had lost some interest in gardening and hadn't been spending as much time on it anymore.
Not that Virgil cared if he did or not.
It didn't take too long for Virgil to get within eyesight of the tree, at which point he paused again to take a look around. He didn't see anything suspicious, but he also didn't see much of anything. He couldn't see Janus standing next to the tree, or even sitting on the ground below it, but that didn't mean he wasn't around somewhere.
He continued walking, making out a checkered cloth with a basket as he got closer, but still not seeing Janus. It quickly became apparent that he was looking at a picnic, but even once he was standing under the tree, the deceitful side was nowhere to be found. He even checked the branches, as he knew the man liked to sit in trees sometimes, but there was still no sign of the snake.
He checked the time on his phone and saw that it was 7:01, and he instantly felt a spike of irritation.
Janus was late to his own meeting.
Was this what he wanted to do? Just annoy Virgil by getting him to show up somewhere and not show up? Just because he knew it would be annoying?
But why was there a picnic, then? If the point was just to annoy him by not showing up, Janus wouldn't have bothered to set up anything. Besides, the fact that something was set up meant that Janus had been there at some point rather recently. Had he left? Was he coming back?
Virgil sat down on the blanket with a huff. He'd give the man five minutes to show up before he'd leave, seeing as he'd come out here.
After about two minutes, Virgil got bored and started looking around. To his surprise, there was an envelope on top of the picnic basket now, one he was pretty sure hadn't been there when he'd arrived. Suspicious, he picked it up carefully, but nothing seemed to happen when he did. He ripped it open with a little less hesitance, pulling out a simple card, the cover completely blank. Inside, there was a simple message:
Open the basket.
Raising an eyebrow at it, Virgil wondered again what Janus was doing.
"I know you're here, Deceit!" Virgil called out. "Are you gonna come out or what?"
He got no response, which was annoying. Janus was obviously there, because he was giving Virgil instructions based on what he wasn't doing. Another minute of silence passed, and Virgil decided to give in and open the stupid basket.
"I swear, if something jumps out at me, I'm gonna kill him," he muttered under his breath.
Still, nothing happened when he opened it, and as he looked inside, he saw that there were a few tupperwares of food. Closer inspection led him to the realization that each tupperware contained one of his favorite foods. It reminded him of one of their first dates, the first picnic under this tree, where Janus had tried to cook something fancy and ended up messing it up so badly that they just ended up eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that Virgil had helped him make at the last second after he saw the mess inside their picnic basket. To be fair, Janus had tried, but he was a terrible cook back then. He'd improved a little as they got older, and it seemed he'd improved even more since Virgil had left based on the food within this basket, but he wasn't going to find out how much. Was Janus expecting him to eat this? Why, was he trying to show him that he'd gotten better at cooking for some reason? If he wanted someone to be proud of his new cooking skills, he would have had a better chance with Patton, especially since those two had become all buddy-buddy recently.
He still wasn't sure what Janus was trying to do, but he did see another envelope tucked between the containers.
This time, the card inside had a badly-drawn picnic basket on the front. The message inside read:
I certainly hope my cooking isn't as bad as the first time.
When you're done, go to the pond.
Virgil stared at the card for a minute. It seemed that Janus did want to show off his cooking skills, but he apparently also had something else in mind.
He stood up without touching any of the food and started trudging his way toward the nearby pond. The three of them used to go to the pond to swim when they were younger, and sometimes, Janus and Virgil would go there just to look at the water for a bit.
Janus wasn't at the pond, either, but there was yet another envelope waiting for him, set neatly at the edge of a bench.
This card was adorned with a simple fish and another message:
Remus added some goldfish to the pond a while ago.
He actually fulfilled his promise of them being normal goldfish, and they're quite pretty.
When you're done looking at them, go to the clearing.
Virgil let out a small huff of irritation. Yet another location. Was Janus trying to have him go on some wild goose chase?
He did glance in the pond for a second, catching a glimpse of golden orange scales glittering in the fading light. He remembered telling Janus once that it would be nice to have some goldfish in the pond, thinking it would be relaxing to watch them swim around, but it had been more of an idle thought than a suggestion. Had Janus forgotten that and asked Remus for them because he himself wanted them? He wouldn't have asked for Virgil's sake because Virgil didn't come here anymore, and Janus knew that.
He didn't linger for long, as he knew the sun was going to start setting soon, and he wanted to be back inside the mind palace before it got too dark. Even still, he made his way to the clearing, and to no one's surprise, Janus remained as elusive as ever. A different blanket was laid out on the ground here, with a small lantern set beside it. If it was lit, it would have given off a soft-warm glow, he knew, but it wasn't.
At this point, Virgil was catching onto the pattern.
Earlier, Janus had joked about still being his boyfriend and pointed out that Virgil never 'technically' broke up with him. Then he had him go to the tree where they had picnics and the pond where they used to sit together, and now, he had been led to the clearing where they would occasionally go star-gazing. It wasn't something they did often, as Virgil was always a little more paranoid about one of Remus's monsters sneaking in at night than he was during daylight, but Virgil liked to look at the stars sometimes. The two of them would lay out a thick blanket with the lantern by their heads, blowing out the candle within once it got dark enough, and then they'd look up at the sky together- sometimes in silence, and other times with whispered words and giggles shared between them.
It felt hard to remember Janus giggling now. He had become so bitter and resentful that giggling didn't seem like something he could ever do. Virgil had once been the person to glimpse behind his calculating facade, but he was nowhere near that anymore. Was the old Janus still there, hidden outside of Virgil's view now, or was the side he once knew gone, erased by the fighting and hatred shared between them?
This time, the envelope was tucked beneath the lamp, the card displaying a star on its front. Inside, it read:
I don't know if it's dark enough to see the stars.
I don't even know if you're reading this.
If you are, return to the tree.
Was he serious?
Now he wanted him to go back to the tree? The tree he was just at?
What was the point to all of these detours, when he was supposed to just end up right back where he started? Why was Janus having him return to some of their date spots with these little notes, and why hadn't he shown up yet? Was this just some elaborate joke because Janus realized Virgil never said they were breaking up?
It didn't feel very funny.
In fact, all it was doing was reminding Virgil of how things used to be between them, and further, it reminded him that those times didn't exist anymore, and they never would again. All of these once-happy memories had become tainted by their arguing, by Janus's attempts to mislead Thomas, by his attempts to keep Virgil under his thumb.
Was Janus trying to hurt him?
It would make sense if he was. After all, hadn't the deceitful side always been a bit spiteful? Virgil didn't understand the timing, but he understood that Janus was more than capable of being an asshole when he wanted to be.
But it didn't really feel fair. It's not like Virgil was completely innocent in their arguments, but he only really started them when he felt like Janus was going to end up harming Thomas or when Janus got annoyed about him spending time with the others. He didn't argue with Janus just for the hell of it- he was protecting both Thomas and himself from Janus's bullshit. And it had been years- if Janus was so pissed off about their breakup, why didn't he do anything about it sooner? Why be annoying about it now?
Now feeling a type of sorrow mixing into his anger, Virgil marched back to the tree and almost wanted to yell when he saw that Janus wasn't there, either.
He was about to just storm off and return to his room, but he saw that a new envelope was leaning against one of the tree's roots. With an unnecessary amount of force, he snatched it up and tore it open, accidentally ripping the card itself a bit.
Again, just like the first card, this one was blank. Inside was written a single sentence:
Look inside the tree.
It seemed that Janus's game still hadn't ended.
He assumed that Janus meant to look within the knothole of the tree, and upon following the directions, he found a small, bound book he'd never seen before.
Still irritated, he opened it and quickly flipped through a few pages, the contents not catching up to him at first.
It was a scrapbook.
There were pictures, mostly of him, some of him with Janus, and there were scraps of fabric, and little notes they'd written each other, and small paragraphs of text with the dates written down on them.
Realizing what this was and not knowing how he felt about it, he flipped back to the beginning.
The book began with some old photos of them as children, what looked to be copies of the photographs that had once been framed on the walls of their living room. Those photos lasted a few pages, the figures getting older as it progressed. Then, there was a page with scraps of grey, black, and yellow. One of the fabrics was something he instantly recognized as the fabric they'd used to make his old hoodie, the one he'd worn the first time he'd appeared in a video. The others seemed to be the ones Janus used for his own outfit, as well as a few scraps they used for a couple other random projects. The next few pages had some of the scribbled patterns and plans for their outfits, though he could tell that they were incomplete. Granted, they'd originally been quite a few pages long, and he was pretty sure they'd thrown away a lot of them.
Then, the book returned to photographs, now showing snapshots of Virgil, some of which he remembered Janus taking and others he suspected Janus took while he wasn't paying attention. There was a photo of their first date, one of the Christmas photos they'd taken, the first time Janus baked an edible cake, Virgil sleeping at the kitchen table, the two of them smiling into the camera as Janus took a selfie, Virgil smiling at whoever (Janus) had been taking the photo, one of Virgil's birthdays. Photo after photo, years of memories. Though, the photos seemed to be concentrated more toward when they were younger than when they were older, which he knew was because Janus hadn't been taking as many photos toward the end of their relationship.
Amongst the photographs, were the notes, most of which were written by his own hand:
Remember to thaw the chicken.
Meet me by the pond at 8?
Heads up: Remus will be running experiments later. You were warned.
I left some dinner in the fridge. Use the microwave and actually heat it up this time, K?
I stole your hat. Come find me if you want it back :P
I Love You.
Some of the notes were written by Janus himself as well. Virgil must have left them behind and Janus ended up holding onto them:
I tried making spaghetti. It's probably edible if you're hungry?
Make sure you don't work too hard. Take breaks and rest when you're done.
Go to bed before 3 AM, alright?
Drink water. Here's a granola bar, too.
I Love You.
I Miss You.
And then there were the paragraphs. Half of them accompanied a photo, but others recorded events that Janus apparently hadn't photographed:
X/X/XXXX
Virgil and I watched a movie today. He wanted to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas again. We've seen it a hundred times, but it makes him so happy to watch it, so I didn't argue. I'd rather watch him than the movie, anyway.
X/X/XXXX
I think I'm almost done making that hoodie for Virgil. It's nothing too fancy, but it's soft, and Virgil designed it himself, so I'm sure he'll like it. I just have to sew the zipper onto the front. I wonder if he'll notice the hidden spider I embroidered?
X/X/XXXX
Virgil actually showed himself in one of Thomas's videos today. I'm honestly surprised, considering how anxious he was about doing it. I don't really know how I feel about it, but what's the worst that can happen? As long as I'm here, Thomas won't know about Remus or I until he's ready. It's not like Virgil's going to tell him or anything. Regardless, I'm proud of him for trying to be heard, even if it didn't work out very well.
He flipped through every page, going as quickly as he could while still looking at everything, until he reached the end. There, on the back cover, was one more envelope. Inside, he found a singular piece of paper rather than a card:
Happy Anniversary, Virgil.
Or, not really, I suppose, but I'm still going to say it.
I'm also going to say: I'm breaking up with you. Perhaps it's a bit stupid, and maybe you don't think I should be the one to say it, but I think one of us had to actually say it at some point, and as you seem to disagree, it seems it'll be me.
You can do whatever you want with this book. I started it before we broke up, and I ended up finishing it for some reason and holding onto it, but I don't really need it anymore, now do I? And I suppose you'd probably prefer I didn't have so many pictures of you anymore.
I did love you Virgil, even at the end, and I'm sorry.
I guess that's all I have to say. Thank you for putting up with this whole thing. I didn't honestly (ha) think you would.
Goodbye, Virgil.
He read the note three times before sliding it back into the book and closing it with a thud.
What the fuck?
XXX
Janus appeared in his bedroom and immediately went to his bed to grab a pillow to scream into. He couldn't believe he chickened out at the end. All this planning, all this embarrassing himself and bringing up bad memories, and he ended up backing out in the final moments. He was supposed to be waiting for Virgil at the tree. He was supposed to apologize and explain himself and give Virgil that stupid book and say they were breaking up even though they both knew they already had. He was supposed to be able to have a clean, clear-cut end so he could finally move on. Instead, he got cold feet and hastily scribbled down a half-assed note and ran away like kicked puppy.
He'd just wanted some closure.
At first, he really hadn't realized that they'd broken up, just as he hadn't realized Virgil was leaving until his door disappeared. At first, he'd thought it was just like any other fight, that they'd stew for a while, apologize, and things would go back to normal again. Virgil hadn't said he was breaking up with him- he hadn't said anything at all- so Janus didn't know that that fight had been the last straw.
Even after Virgil left, he kept up the vain hope that he would come back for so long. Every day, he would think to himself that, maybe, Virgil would be sitting at the kitchen table or on the couch, or talking to Remus, or listening to music in his room behind a door that would be there. It took forever for Janus to accept that things were over, permanently, that he'd messed up too much. He'd had to dispel every bit of hope from his mind, because that hope would never be answered.
But even after he came to accept it, he couldn't move on. It was too difficult, with everything around him reminding him of Virgil. His mug was in the cabinet, his pictures were on the walls, some of his clothes were left in Janus's room, his favorite coffee was in the kitchen, and soap was still in the bathroom. He could remember Virgil's presence throughout the entire garden, every time he sat under the tree or by the pond or under the stars. Even his very clothing was a reminder.
And every reminder hurt.
And so, he'd come up with this stupid plan to finally get closure by telling Virgil all the things he'd wished he could tell him and let them both be done with it. Virgil could go on for the rest of forever hating him, but at least Janus wouldn't be sitting there feeling like the words and feelings were clogging up his brain.
He wanted to be free.
But he wasn't. Instead, he just dredged everything back up and failed to change anything. That short little note didn't convey everything he wanted to say- just as much as he could write down before Virgil returned.
Janus let out a short, humorless chuckle.
"I'm really pathetic, aren't I?" he mumbled to himself bitterly.
Suddenly, there was a loud banging from his door.
"JANUS, WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK?!"
Ah. Virgil.
Well, shit.
"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR, SNAKE!"
Yes, if something was going to convince him to open the door, it was certainly yelling at him. Virgil was even using his Tempest Tongue, a rarity even in their previous arguments.
He'd certainly fucked up.
Janus hadn't expected Virgil to be quite so angered by all this. Sure, he was practically certain that he would be angry, but he was expecting it to be more the kind of anger that made Virgil ignore him for a while- not the kind of anger that made Virgil charge to his room and start yelling at him.
Even still, it's not like he had to open the door. Janus was more than used to tuning out Virgil's yelling when he had to.
"Oh for- I know you're in there, Janus!" Virgil growled, his Tempest Tongue, but not his anger, fading. "What in the actual fuck is wrong with you?! Do you think it's funny to do all this?"
Of course he didn't think it was funny. He'd put so much effort into everything, and Virgil thought it was all some kind of a joke? Did he really think Janus would have created that whole scrapbook for a joke?
That thought stung quite a bit. He had no illusions about Virgil's low opinion of him, but still. Doing all this required some degree of baring his soul, being honest, and even though he knew Virgil was unlikely to appreciate it, it didn't take away the vulnerability he felt in doing it.
"Janus!"
The sting built up into anger as Virgil continued to yell at him. He wasn't even trying to be an asshole or anything this time- he was just…
He stood up and stomped over to the door, flinging it open with a suddenness that clearly caught Virgil off-guard, as the man jumped back for a second, his hand still poised to knock again. Once Virgil recovered from the momentary shock, his galre returned full-force, and Janus returned it in kind.
He opened his mouth to speak, spit something caustic to get rid of the bitterness inside him, but he found himself suddenly speechless. Instead of some kind of witty greeting, he just gaped like a fish and eventually clamped his mouth shut to stare silently.
In this shared antagonistic silence, Virgil shoved something hard into his chest. A quick glance down confirmed that it was the book.
"What the fuck is this, you asshole?!" Virgil repeated. "Are you really so damn petty that you have to bring everything up again years later? You send me on some stupid goose chase of bullshit, and then you don't even show up?!"
Janus gripped the cover of the book tightly in his hands, resisting the urge to look away.
"If you have something to say, then say it to my face, you coward!" Virgil continued. "Like, seriously?!"
Virgil continued ranting for a while, and the longer he yelled, the more Janus's own anger spiked, steadily eclipsing his more depressing feelings until he could hardly feel anything else.
"Oh, do shut up, Virgil!" he eventually shouted.
"Like hell I will! What's your deal?"
"I don't have a deal!"
"Oh, yes you do!"
"No, I DON'T!"
The book dropped out of his grip as he momentarily loosened his hold, falling to the floor with a loud thud, momentarily stopping the both of them from talking. Janus tilted his head down for a moment, staring down at the now-opened page, a photo of him and Virgil laughing, returning his gaze.
He didn't even bother trying to pick it up before turning around, intending to close the door behind him- it wasn't like he wanted to keep it anymore, anyway.
He was stopped by a tight, though not painful, grip on his wrist.
"Hey!"
Janus wrenched his arm out of the grip forcefully, half-turning back toward Virgil with his glare renewed.
"You are not going to just close the door on me," Virgil growled.
"Well, why not? You only entertained my presence for a few minutes before doing so when I knocked on your door," Janus pointed out. "I think I've entertained you at least that long."
"Huh?!"
"Fair's fair," Janus returned with a shrug, shifting his foot slightly.
Virgil let out a breath through his nose.
"You know what, I don't really care about fair right now, but if you want to talk fairness fine," Virgil spoke, his voice deceptively calm. "In case you don't remember, this whole thing was on you. I'm not the one who gave you a vague invitation to some fucked up trip down memory lane. I wouldn't be standing here right now if you didn't decide to pull your little stunt!"
Janus tensed his jaw.
"It wasn't a stunt," he muttered, not quite loud enough for Virgil to hear him.
"Hm?"
"I said it wasn't a stunt!" Janus repeated, much louder this time.
"Well, what was it, then?!"
Janus tightened his hands into fists at his sides, the sting building itself back up again.
"Closure, Virgil!" Janus admitted, feeling the human half of his face burning with something other than rage. "That's fucking it! It wasn't some stupid evil scheme or anything! I just wanted closure!"
"Closure for what?!" Virgil yelled back. "We broke up! We've been broken up! You had your 'closure' years ago!"
"Except I didn't!" Janus denied, matching Virgil's volume. "You just stormed out after an argument and fucking left to go live with the light sides! I didn't even know we had broken up until you were gone! How the fuck is that closure?!"
"I don't know, I thought me leaving 'cuz I couldn't stand to be around you is pretty damn obvious!"
"Except it isn't!" Janus argued. "We had plenty of other arguments that didn't end in a breakup or you leaving, so how the fuck was I supposed to know?! Just because I got the memo eventually doesn't mean there was closure!"
"Well, maybe I don't owe you closure!"
Janus should be used to the cutting sting of Virgil's words by now, but that statement made it rather clear that he wasn't.
"Then maybe you should fuck off!" Janus shot back. "You wanted to know what the point of this was, and now you do! So why are you even still here?!"
"Because I don't believe you!"
Of course he didn't.
Janus felt a burning by one of his eyes, building up just like the sting within his chest.
He took a short breath into his lungs, just enough to spit out two last words:
"Then don't."
This time, Janus succeeded in closing the door, leaving Virgil to stand alone in the hallway. He took a few steps into the room and sank onto his bed, forcing himself to remain absolutely silent.
After all, he didn't want to give Virgil the satisfaction of hearing him cry.
He didn't have to hold back for long, though, as he heard Virgil's footsteps retreating only about a minute later.
XXX
The next morning, when Janus left his room to get some coffee, he found the book still lying there on the floor, though the cover had apparently been closed. He debated leaving it there as well, but he didn't want to end up tripping over it, so he picked it up and momentarily returned to his room.
He really didn't need this thing anymore.
He didn't even want it anymore.
He'd gotten his closure, and if Virgil didn't want to dispose of this himself, then fine.
Just like saying the words, perhaps Janus would just have to do it himself.
And so, he held it over his trash can, hesitating.
And with a sigh, he shoved it onto his shelf instead.
"I'll get rid of it later."
XXX
I legitimately tried to make this romantic, but it just wasn't working. I really like the idea of Virgil and Janus being exes, and I guess having them get back together didn't really work out here ;w;.
Like I said, romance isn't usually the genre I like to write (unless it's funny, I guess), and I just couldn't seem to get this fic to go in the direction I was trying for. I really couldn't imagine Virgil not being super angry about this, and I couldn't think of any way to really resolve that anger without turning this into some 30K+ words thing that I didn't want to turn it into. *Shrug*