Roman turned his music up a little louder. His playlist consisted of all his favorite love songs, which was admittedly a lot. He hummed along with Taylor as he focused in the mirror. He carefully applied mascara to his eyelashes, trying not to blink too hard and smudge them. Roman liked doing his make-up. It was an easy little routine to do when he needed some 'Me' time. And he couldn't resist how pretty the glitter made him look. (He was always pretty, of course, but a prince deserved to sparkle.)

There was a knock at his door. Without looking up, Roman called, "Come in."

Surprisingly, Virgil poked his head inside. "Hey, I-"

Roman froze, unable to look away from the emo's expression in the mirror. Virgil was staring right back at him, his mouth slightly agape. Roman felt his cheeks heat, and he wasn't fully sure why. The others have seen him in make-up before. Virgil was even wearing some right now! He always wore it! Roman felt foolish for being embarrassed, which only made him more embarrassed.

He placed the mascara lid back on it and said primly, "Can I help you?"

"Uh," Virgil took another second to respond. "No, uh- Logic and Patton wanted to know what- what you'd want to eat." Virgil looked at the Beetlejuice poster on Roman's wall. "For dinner."

Roman tried to look casual as he moved on to his lipstick. "Oh, I'm not eating." He slowly applied the bottom lip, glancing over at Virgil.

"You shouldn't skip meals." Virge said, looking at him again.

"I appreciate the concern," Roman finished the top lip and smiled at him. "But I have a date."

Virgil blinked. "Oh." His expression soured as he said, "Remy."

"And Missy." Roman said, smoothing his hands down his pants. He still needed to pick out an outfit, and maybe paint his nails if he had time. "They invited me to our favorite restaurant."

"Well. Have fun." Virgil said awkwardly.

Roman tilted his head and asked, "You really don't like them, do you?"

"No, it's just-" Virgil sighed. He walked across the room and picked up a make-up brush. "Hold on, you need to blend your blush better."

Roman froze up as Virgil cupped his jaw, tilting his head slightly aside. He felt the gently pressure of the beauty brush against his cheek, and he made awkward eye contact with himself in the mirror. Virgil was focused on his work, his expression serious.

"It's just awkward for me to think of them." Virgil said, filling the silence. "They were sweet, but super overbearing. It's like. Being mad that your parents care too much? I don't know. But-"

He let go of his chin, so Roman slowly turned his head to look up at Virge. He was standing, while Roman sat at his vanity. Looking up at him, he could see when Virgil swallowed.

Virgil looked away, setting the make-up brush down on the counter. "I'm glad they can make you happy."

Roman didn't know what to say to that. His mind was still focused on the spot Virgil touched him. How his cold, slender fingers slid across his neck. Insanely, Roman thought about reaching up, taking Virgil's hand in his own, beg him to caress him more. Heat rushed to Roman' cheeks and he cleared his throat, tilting his head down and away.

"Thanks."

"Don't stay out too late. Patton will worry." Virgil said as he walked to the door. He hesitated, then added, "You can tell Remy and Missy I said 'hi'."

And that was possibly the closest Roman could get to outright approval from Virgil. When he looked in the mirror again, he had a surprised, little smile on his face.

Virge was right, his blush did look better now.


Roman parked further away from the door, not wanting anyone to scratch his car. He arrived early, excited for the evening. He had chosen nice black slacks that hugged his ass nicely, and a red button down with a small decoration of black flowers around the collar. He rolled his sleeves up, so as to not appear too much like a Logic, and to show off his decently toned forearms. He knew Missy liked his arms, and Sleep certainly liked his ass. Roman wasn't expecting to go home with them tonight, but he wasn't not expecting it, either.

Roman went inside and put their name in the queue for a table. He thanked the host and then waited near the door, watching the parking lot for Missy's familiar van.

God, was Roman always this desperate? Even though he saw Remy and their friends a few days ago, and he spent the night with him then, they really haven't hung out much since Roman moved into his new place. He saw Missy even less, since she wasn't interested in adult slumber parties of any kind. He felt his heart flutter as their van drove into the lot. He couldn't help it; he missed them, and sex was fun, but nothing beat a genuine date night.

Roman opened the door for them as they approached. They were both gorgeous; Missy wore a short, green dress, while Remy had his favorite black leather jacket and skinny jeans. When they saw him, Missy smiled and waved, while Remy pushed his sunglasses higher on his face.

He hugged Missy, who stepped back shortly after and gave him a tight smile. Roman squeezed her hand, a question on his tongue, when Remy bumped his fist against Roman's shoulder.

"Hey, man." Remy said.

A smile spread across Roman's face as he took Remy's hand and held it to his lips. He said, "Glad I still maintain my masculinity while in a full face of make-up."

He pressed a kiss to Remy's knuckles, expected to get a laugh out of him. And he did, but the laugh was less bubbly and more rocky. Roman glanced between the two of them, beginning to grow uneasy.

"Is everything-?"

"Party of 3 for Roman?" The host called, and Roman let the awkwardness pass. They were led to their table in near silence. Remy and Missy sat together on one side, Roman on the other. That wasn't unusual, sometimes Remy would sit by him, but again, it wasn't anything to sweat over. Oh, Gods, why was he sweating?

Missy leaned up against Remy, curling her head under his chin. Her eyes seemed distant, which was odd for her. Sleep was the spacey one. He wondered if she was sick?

"So, uh, how have you two been?" Roman asked.

"Good." Remy responded. The word hung in the air for a moment too long before he added, "We've been, uh, traveling a lot."

"Where to?" Roman asked, he wasn't aware they were going anywhere.

Missy shrugged, "Just to Tampa and back."

"Oh, again? For your family? Is everything ok?"

Before either of them could respond, the waitress showed up for their orders. The three of them usually ordered the same things when they came here, so he began to order for them.

"Actually," Remy interrupted, "I'd like the sea-food salad. Wanted to mix it up a bit."

The waitress continued graciously, not commenting on any of the weird vibes she was definitely picking up on. The vibes were weird, right? Usually their dates were as easy as breathing, but Roman felt like he was swimming through sand.

Missy's phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her purse. She began typing, a small frown on her lips. Roman couldn't tell (because sunglasses) but he was pretty sure Remy was reading what she was saying over her shoulder.

Roman awkwardly cleared his throat and said, "So, uh, I've had to take more dance classes, and I really like it. I could show you how to make some moves, if you want…?"

He tried to be coy, running his foot up Remy's leg. Instead all he did was kick him in the shin.

"Ow! What?" Remy looked over to him sharply.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Why don't you tell us about your acting class? The one you did that play thing for? Any more play things?" Remy didn't sound interested in the slightest, but Roman hoped it was just because he was tired.

He talked about his class, since he asked, but Remy had the audacity to pull out his own phone during his story. As Roman talked, he watched as Missy's phone would buzz, then Remy's, then Miss's again. Roman realized with horror they must've been talking to each other, and probably not about how great this date was going.

Desperately, Roman said, "Virge said 'hello'." Roman thought, maybe they'd be more interested in Virgil, but even that topic didn't seem to breach their invisible force field. "He, uh, doesn't mind us being together."

The waitress came back, dropping off their food. She gave Roman a pitying look, which only made him feel like absolute horseshit.

Roman picked at his pasta, well aware that neither of them so much as even looked at their food. Suddenly, Roman didn't feel very hungry either. Bile rose in the back of his throat as he looked down at his plate of delicious cheesy, tomato-y, goodness. He pushed some noodles around, trying to figure out what to say.

"Is this a bad time?" He asked, clearly missing something. "Do you guys need to go? We can reschedule, or…?"

"Roman, dear." Missy said, finally setting her phone down and looking up at him. She chewed her lip nervously. "We need to talk."

"Oh, good." Roman said, forcing himself to relax into his seat. He smiled easily as he continued, "As I was saying, I-"

It was Remy who spoke. He took off his sunglasses and looked at him with red-rimmed eyes. Roman's stomach plummeted at his expression. "No, Roman. It's our turn to talk."


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