"What's up with you?" Jey asked when he saw Roman moping around the back of the school. He was listening to music, scrolling through his phone, and sighing loudly every few minutes. Jimmy was at his twin's side, looking around the immediate area, searching for any signs of the group Roman had been associated with since its creation, finding it odd when he found none. Not even Seth and Dean were in sight. "Where's yah buddies gone, you're girlfriend?" he asked, although he didn't bother elaborating on the girlfriend bit. Everyone in the school knew of the drama of the relationship between Summer, Roman, and Serenity.
"They abandoned me," replied Roman, seemingly ignoring Jey's comments regarding his girlfriend, more because he was unsure who his cousin referred to. The leggy blonde he regretted being with or his baby momma, who had come to hate him over the past few hours. "I gave them a choice; they chose wrong," he added in a solum voice, quieter than usual, as if the day's events had finally hit him. How his friends had chosen Summer over him, Dean and Seth among them, Echo hadn't even spared the time to hear him out, Serenity was expecting, everything he had been working toward was crumbling around him, and Summer seemed more than thrilled by his pain.
"Well, what were expecting Uce? Give them all a dumb decision like that," called Jimmy, a severe expression painted on his lips. "I'd wanna see you suffer too if I was Summer. Plus, don't you have more pressing things to panic about? Like what yah gonna do about fatherhood and your baby momma?" he questioned, a slight grin on his lips. "Yeah, everyone heard that meltdown. Congrats, though," worded Jimmy, suspecting the whole thing with Serenity would be common knowledge by the end of the school day.
Once again, Roman could only sigh, allowing himself to fall further into the pity party he'd thrown himself. He would return things to how they were the year prior and take over Daniel's place but call himself the Tribal Chief instead of King. He'd planned for Summer to be at his side, but that was useless now. She hated him as if he was her worst enemy. The more Roman thought about it, the more he felt like all the plans were becoming pointless. He didn't have Seth and Dean at his side anymore, and they blamed him for their brotherhood becoming obsolete. His other friends, once a part of the popular group, didn't want anything to do with him either, and the darklings, who knew what was going on with them.
"I just wanted things to go back to how they were. Back when everything was simple, we were all carefree and happy," worded Roman, reminiscing about the old times. When Dean worked as a lifeguard at the local pool during the summer holidays, Seth worked at Hot Topics, how the three would hang out at every given chance, so much so it wasn't out of the ordinary to see them together more times than not.
"You royally screwed that up," responded Siko as he walked past, a scrawl on his face, being flanked by the three known as the bad boys—other members of the elite family tree. "You made all those plans and forgot your boy turned everything on its head to prove he wasn't playing games with Demon," he added, recalling all the uncertainty back then, but despite that and diving head first into the unknown, it had worked out for the most part. The family to come from it proved one didn't have to be the same to find their place; they proved opposites could work and be stronger than anything that came before it.
"Try apologizing sincerely this time," voiced Jey, glancing over to Siko and his boys in time to see Tama Tonga rolling his eyes, holding back the comment that threatened to fall from his lips. Jacob was close by, sniggering at something, no doubt the idea of Roman apologizing to those he'd all but gone out of his way to hurt over the months, all of it to become the Tribal Chief.
"I've got a better chance at getting a hug from Bayley than he has at being forgiven," commented Jacob, pointing out the obvious yet also being truthful. Despite Bayley not being as huggable as before, he still stood a better chance at convincing her than Roman did at earning the forgiveness of those he'd once considered friends and family. "I'd bet his baby momma would throw a shoe at him if he tried to get near her again."
"More like a brick," voiced Tama Loa, receiving chuckles from Tonga, Jacob, and Siko. Jimmy and Jey tried their hardest to keep their laughter back, although they couldn't prevent the smirk from appearing across their lips.
"LEAVE ME ALONE," yelled Rhea as she stormed past the group of boys, anger written across her face. Domanik followed behind, a pleading look pasted across his features as he chased after her. No other Darklings were to be found, an unusual sight, typically where one Darkling was, and the others were close behind.
"Mami, please, just listen ..." pleaded Domanik, quickening his pace to get ahead of Rhea.
"Trouble in paradise?" called Jimmy, quickly holding his hands up as if to surrender when Rhea's burning glare turned on him. "Damn girl, you can rival Demon with that glare," he added as if to lighten the mood a little bit. To his delight, he received one of Rhea's cheeky grins in response, but only briefly before her deadly glare returned and settled on Domanik again.
"Sorry, Nightmare," voiced Damian before bending down to pull Rhea over his shoulder, ignoring her protests as he walked back up the steps toward the sports fields. Domanik appeared stunned for a moment or two before chasing after the pair, once again trying to plead his case, although it didn't seem to be working even when Rhea was hanging over Damian's shoulder.
"Now, how come he can get away with doing that?" asked Jey before he had a chance to stop the thought from passing through his lips. His cheeks reddening upon noticing how those around him stared back. Jimmy chuckles before patting on the shoulder in a comforting manner.
"The Darklings worked differently from the rest of us, Uce," replied Jimmy, recalling Aleister doing a similar thing with Cross mere weeks before; Finn had done the same with Becky on multiple occasions before the breakup and drama Roman had gone out of his way to commit. "Way to go on, you're not so secret crush. If you're lucky, she'll be free to go to prom with you," he laughed as he teased his twin. "Yah can yeet together."
"Have any of you seen Daddy Dom?" Liv asked, her wide smile on her lips and her eyes sparkling excitedly.
"Now I really want to know what's going on?" said Jimmy. "Seriously, the Darklings disappeared for weeks because of his stupidity. Now they're back in the open, and you get this one practically stalking one of them."
"Me and Daddy Dom are in love," laughed Liv before noticing Roman pointing in the direction Damian had walked off in, Domanik chasing them moments later. With a nod of thanks and a sweet smile, Liv ran off in the direction pointed out to her. Appearing to get even more excitable with every step she took.
"Y'all gonna regret that," spoke Tama Tonga, suspecting there was more than met the eye when it come to the latest relationship drama. "With luck, Domanik won't make the same mistake you did."
"Yeah, Mami is more likely to murder the poor bastard than be fooled like that," replied Jey, suspecting there would be hell to pay for the guy who broke Rhea's heart. "We all learned Demon is calmer than most when her heart's on the line; Rhea will be the one to go on a full-blown killing spree," he laughed, suspecting the rest of the Darklings wouldn't be in the shadows to ensure nothing serious happened.
"Here comes your baby mama," voiced Jacob, softer than his ordinarily gruff voice, shortly after he waved to gain her attention, having little doubt she'd appeared from her hiding place to find Roman, even more so if the anger written across her judgemental features was anything to go by.
"What are you doing?" asked Roman quickly, his eyes flashing with concern.
"Throwing you to the wolves," replied Jacob with little thought. "Pregnant lady gets the right of way on this one," he added before stepping aside to let her pass. Siko could only chuckle, as did Jimmy and Jey.
'I'm sor..." began Roman, before being cut off, when Serenity dragged her manicured hand across his cheek, fury burning in her eyes like a banshee on the war path. She didn't want to hide how she felt, the love she had, the hatred she felt, the confusion over what to do now, the uncertainty over everything she'd learned, the guilt for what she had done, and the regret for failing at the one goal she had set herself.
"When I first came here, I promised myself I would be better than I was before. I promised myself I wouldn't be the queen bitch, the selfish brat everyone hates. I promised myself I would learn from the past and be someone I could be proud of. Instead, I fell in love with you and, by doing so, made the worst decisions I could. Decisions that lead me to being worse than ever, decisions I regret and hope I can make right. I did everything you asked without complaint. I played games, tore apart others' happiness, and turned my back on my family for you," said Serenity, tears in her eyes. She'd caused so much pain and hurt, turned on people who wanted to help her and failed at her goals spectacularly for nothing. "And for what, to be constantly strung along by a pathetic, delusional bastard who'd not only deny being in a relationship with me but also deny my baby too. You may not want this baby, Roman, but I do, so if I have to be a single mom, then I will be; I will do whatever I have to make sure this little one has the life it deserves, starting with correcting my wrongdoings. I gave Stephanie everything: my phone with all the messages on it, my laptop with all the plans you made, everything. Both of us will face the consequences for what we've done; the only difference is I won't fight it 'cause I know I deserve whatever is thrown at me."
"Serenity," called Roman, after she walked away, a proud smile coming to her lips as she did so, finally she was free from what she believed was holding her back. Finally, she could move on like Summer could, like the rest of the mix-and-match family could. Finally, she could improve herself and make amends for those she'd hurt. "Serenity," repeated Roman, raising his voice to gain her attention, but again, she ignored it. It was as if telling him he was no longer her present or future but the past she was determined to leave behind once and for all.
"Guess you'll be explaining to Auntie why you got your ass suspended and telling her she's gonna be a grandma," joked Siko, laughing to the tune of his own words while ignoring the horror to pass over Roman's features. How would he tell his mom she was going to be a grandma? How was he going to explain the circumstances and his relationship with Serenity? How would he tell her what he'd done if he was suspended?
"Yeah, I'm yeeting out of this one," announced Jey, a broad grin on his lips as he thought about what to do next. "I'm going to go make some signs for the tournament finals. Maybe ask Rhea to go to prom with me," he added, determined to support the school wrestling team in the finals. Yet he also looked toward the future. Rhea may appreciate the opportunity for change and respond favorably to him.
"I'm gonna go break up the catfight between my girl and Tiffy Time," spoke Jimmy, making up an excuse to leave quickly. After all, everyone knew Naomi didn't get on with Tiffany; the two were opposites. Sparks always flew when they were near each other.
"Better you than us," replied Tama Loa, a bright grin on his lips. "Avoid the claws," he threw after Jimmy as the latter disappeared around the corner, heading towards the shaded quad.
Roman soon sighed before walking up the stone steps toward the sports fields, his eyes dull as the day's events began to set in truly. All his plans were worthless now. His family was content with making him the butt of jokes or staying as far from his drama as possible. His friends had abandoned him in a move he least expected; Seth and Dean had chosen Summer; his baby momma hated him and ensured his downfall; his mother would be disappointed at best and furious at worst. In a matter of hours, he lost everything: his popularity, his plans, his hope for how things could be, and potentially everything else, too.
Serenity had well and truly rejected him now, and Summer wanted to see him suffer. All he could do was attempt to get back into the good graces of his friends. If not, then those locked in the little room with him would have to do. Otherwise, he would be left alone, forced to listen to his thoughts and common sense, as it yelled at him that he'd been an idiot and getting what he deserved.
"Hurts, doesn't it," came a voice from the shadows near the glass door leading to the six-form common area. When Roman turned, he was met with Finn, the Irish teen who didn't care about how Roman felt at that moment or even what he'd been going through lately. From the prospective of the Irish teen, Roman had brought it all on himself, he was getting exactly what he deserved. "When family betrays you." he elaborated, his voice as cold as ice, his glare just as deadly.
"What do you want, Finn?" sighed Roman, stopping just feet from him. He knew Finn hated him now. Any friendship that had once been growing between them had long since died, as it had likely with the rest of the Darklings. After all, most of them ignored him now or were cold if they had to interact in class.
"From you?" threw Finn in response. "Nothing," he replied, his expression still serious. "All I want is to protect my family, Darklings and otherwise. If I have to stand between them and you, then I will. You've put them through enough. Leave them alone and let them heal and move on."
"Or what?" asked Roman, knowingly pushing his luck, but didn't care. "You gonna make me?"
"Nope, but I won't stop them either. You continue to pesture them, and they will bite back. You'll only have yourself to blame when they do,'" replied Finn before pushing off the wall and sauntering away. With a slight smile, he was protecting his family, even if that was from someone they'd previously trusted and seen as one of them.