Archive of Our Own ^beta

Students poured out of classrooms and bustled down the halls, the lunch bell had rung and students were in a hurry to get to their lockers, people talking loudly and doors slamming. The hallways were loud with chatter and the occasional shouting as people grouped together in their cliques to walk to the canteen or drive up to some hot trendy cafe to eat at.

A certain group of teens in particular stayed by the lockers.

"Pat, you know for a fact we can't drive to The Baker's Table every time you crave sweets. Especially when It's within school hours. It's a thirty-minute drive within forty minutes of the lunch period." Logan reprimanded, pushing his glasses up with a sigh

"I know, but they're worth it!" Patton exclaimed

They were gathered around Roman's locker as they discussed where they'd be having lunch, they were the type to go out and grab something more sufficient than whatever they served in the canteen. However, Roman seemed disinterested in the discussion, turning them out as he looked out to the sea of people through the halls. 

He always had the tendency to zone out, there wasn't any particular reason as to why he did but his mind liked to wonder. He often liked to weave stories based on random people that caught his eye, making elaborate and oftentimes silly stories to cure his boredom and pass the time.

This happened to be one of those times. Waiting for the two to settle on a place to eat, his eyes began to look through the hallway. There weren't as many people as there were before, the crowd thinning out and people chatting idly. Nearly no one interesting left. Roman was almost thinking of abandoning his usual strategy of curing boredom to scroll through Instagram

That was until someone caught his eye.

A disgruntled teen with pale skin dressed in purple plaid and a netted undershirt walked out of Ms. Morris' classroom, looking quite done with everything. A total emo, complete with ripped skinny jeans and eyeliner smudged under his eyes.

Roman couldn't quite put his finger on why he felt drawn to him but he was intrigued. Something about this guy just compelled him to know more. Odd, wasn't it?

"Guys?" He called out, snapping the two glasses-clad teens out of their culinary dispute. 

"Yes, Roman? Do you have a suggestion?" Logan asked.

"I fear not, pocket protector. I, however, have a question." Roman said, watching as the emo teen walked up to his locker, inputting his code quickly.

Logan followed his gaze. He quirked a brow, "And what may that be?"

"Do you know who that is?" 

Logan adjusted his tie, "That is Virgil Quinn, He transferred freshman year. He doesn't seem to be the type for socialization nor friends- may I ask why you've taken a sudden interest in him?" 

Roman hummed, plastering a smile, "Nothing much. How about you guys go on without me, I need to do something real quick."

"But what about-"

"Don't worry, If I'm lucky I can get one of those sandwiches from the canteen. Go on." He urged.

Patton and Logan shared a look, a silent agreement to get something for Roman wherever they chose to go for lunch. 

Patton sighed, "Well, if you insist, Kiddo. Make sure you actually eat something, alright?" He said, ruffling his hair.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Roman reassured as he started to wave goodbye, his two friends walking away.

His eyes drifted to Virgil who had just finished his locker business and was now walking away, a small smile settled on the princely teen's face. 

Not one for friends? Let's see about that.

_

Virgil sighed, smoke puffing out of his mouth that danced in the air before dissipating. He sat on the ground, leaning his head back against the brick walls of the school building.

He was frustrated at the moment.

Apparently, he was failing Ms. Morris' class and if he doesn't do something about it soon, he would have to retake the class over the summer and he was not looking forward to spending the summer trapped in school. She offered some extra credit for him to do and he supposed he could do that except for the fact that he was supposed to watch a recording of Shakespeare's play "Merchant of Venice '' somewhere online and read the play. After that, he had to write a good report on it; and she meant in a way of pointing out its good parts. 

What good does he have to say on blatant antisemitism and a plot revolving around that?

That's some bullshit there.

He closed his eyes as he took another drag from the cigarette. He was hoping to have a moment of solace in the silence. He just… needed to forget about everything for a bit.

Unfortunately, someone thought it'd be funny to interrupt that and take that silence away. Soft footsteps were approaching Virgil, almost as if they were hesitant.  

"I can hear you, you know?" He said, prying his eyes open and taking another drag from his cigarette. He looked over to see who exactly interrupted his silence.

"Hi! Um... How are you?"

Tan skin, curly Auburn hair, hazel eyes, deep smooth voice... Roman Mendoza. Of course. Only the obnoxious and theatre nerd would be stupid enough to bother him. Actually; anyone would be stupid to approach him. 

Nonetheless, Virgil looked at him with a deadpan stare, not bothering to hide his annoyance for the thespian.

"Yes? What do you want?" Virgil grumbled

Roman hummed, walking towards him with a soft smile. An annoying charming one but a smile nonetheless, "Nothing in particular, just happened to see you around."

Virgil quirked a brow, "Find that hard to believe seeing as I don't know you." He snarked 

He knew of him but not know him. He only ever passed by him and his loud theatre friends in the halls and heard of passing murmurs of His performances. He was the type of person who was noticeable but not popular- exactly why Virgil already didn't like him. He was loud and headache-inducing.

Roman sat down a few spaces away from Virgil but still close enough to talk, "True, I don't fault you in your suspicion." He said, "But it is true, what I said. I saw you around and wanted to approach."

"You do realize how creepy that sounds, right? Nobody just 'approaches'. You sound like a stalker." 

Roman looked offended for a second before a heat rose to his cheeks, turning them deep red. He must've finally realized the extent of his creepiness. Good. 

"Look, I just-"

"Save it. Don't you have a little theatre group to attend to? Why don't you go run along and bother them instead of me? Maybe tell them about your stalker tendencies." Virgil 

Snarked, breathing in another lung-full of smoke.

Roman scoffed, offended, "Says the loner who smokes behind the school, as if hiding behind a wall will hide that you're smoking." He grumbled 

Virgil rolled his eyes. That was pitifully weak. "Is that it? Are you done?" He asked, "Can you leave me alone now?" 

"Nope, I'm afraid not." 

"And why is that?" Virgil took a drag

"I've yet to befriend you"

Virgil choked, sputtering as he coughed hard- smoke coming out in puffs. He gasped for air. "I- excuse me?" He wheezed. "What the fuck ?" He exclaimed, eyes wide as he took in a deep breath.

Roman smiled, "You heard me." He hummed. "Although we've had a rocky start, I believe we can kindle a friendship."

Virgil looked at him incredulously, "I- are you dumb?" He asked, "Are you delusional? Why the fuck would you want to.."

"Because I find you interesting."

Virgil couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Interesting", that's such a vague answer. What kind of fairy tale YA novel kind of shit does Roman expect to happen? The most interesting thing that's going on for him is a possibility of lung cancer. 

Honestly, he was starting to believe Roman was set up by his little theatre friends to pretend to be his friend for laughs.

"That's some Bullshit right there but sure." He mumbled, "You can try." Virgil huffed, turning back to finish his still-burning cigarette.

How long would this little prank last?

_

Weeks . Almost a month. This "Prank" has been going on for almost a month. Virgil was honestly starting to get frustrated with it all.

He thought these sort of things only lasted a week but no- It turns out that the prince decided to commit to it and now the Emo had to deal with incessant pestering nearly every day.

It doesn't matter whether it was after school or at lunch, Roman was almost always up in his face acting all friendly-like. Always Asking about his day, if he had any free time on the weekends, when he'll stop smoking… all that wonderful jazz.

Virgil huffed, pulling his hoodie over himself as he walked down the halls. He was starting to doubt his assumption of this being a prank.

Roman had once invited him to meet his other friends and have lunch with them which was weird. Not because he was being asked out for lunch, no, because Roman actually wanted him to meet his friends. He was smiling and all, saying; "It's fine if you don't! Just figured you could meet other people."

Obviously, Virgil was skeptical so he refused.

And another time, he hunted him down the school halls just to give him a purple spider charm for a keychain. A keychain . Roman literally ran down the hall, keychain in hand, and called out for him until he caught up. Virgil was confused as soon as he was given the spider charm and when asked why Roman responded with; "It reminded me of you." With a stupid beaming grin and all.

And another time, Virgil was walking out of school, headphones on and listening to music when out of the blue, Roman appeared to ask him if he was busy and wanted to hang out. He wanted to hang out . Fortunately (perhaps unfortunately?) He had a shift at work that day so he had to decline, although the offer seems to never leave the teen's mind the entire shift.

It was all too confusing. 

He thought Roman was just pretending, why was he still being so nice and friendly? It's not like Virgil had anything to benefit from besides second-hand smoking. No one just comes up to you and says "Hey, I like you. Can we be friends?" like back in kindergarten. He must have an ulterior motive.

He… He definitely does, Right ?

Virgil grumbled to himself as he walked to the back of the school- a safe spot for him besides the library. God, He was doing just fine before Roman came along. He was fine being alone , just himself and the grass and smoke. It wasn't like anyone cared that he was alone before, no classmate, teacher, or even his parents.

Virgil slid to the ground with a sigh, tucking his legs to his chest as he stared out at the grass. He needed to get his mind off of this.

 his hand reached into his pocket, trying to find his lighter and pack of smokes to find for his hand to come out with the lighter.

Oh yeah, he ran out. 

Virgil sighed once again, burying himself further in his hoodie. He didn't know why he was so worked up about this whole Roman thing. Maybe he really was just that perfect and nice... Maybe Roman could be good. Maybe they really could be friends. Maybe they... 

...What was he thinking? 

Virgil pulled his legs closer to his chest, feeling his hands shake a bit, but he paid no mind to it. He was a bit too consumed in his thoughts to notice the sound of steps through the grass. He didn't notice how it came closer nor how it paused.

"You doing ok there, Emo nightmare?"

Almost violently, Virgil flinched, nearly falling over. As soon as he got over the few seconds of shock, he looked over to see the exact teen who had been tormenting his mind for the past few days.

Roman had a worried frown on his face, his hazel eyes shining in genuine concern. Fuck him and his almost perfect features.

Virgil huffed, burrowing himself further into his hoodie, "What're you doing here?" He grumbled, glaring at Roman from under the hood.

Roman, despite the glare, sat next to him at a respectable distance. He gave a small apologetic smile, "I, uh, I just noticed you seemed frustrated by something."

Yeah, you .

Virgil rolled his eyes, "Why do you care?"

A hum, "Because I consider you a friend."

Immediately the Emo teen's head turned, "When did I ever say we were friends?" He asked, glaring

Roman averted his eyes, "I- You didn't but that's why I said I consider you a friend. You don't have to consider me one, But I do care about you and I want to be friends. Real ones– And I will continue to until you tell me to stop trying."

He was too nice. 

He was too caring. 

He was too sweet.

Virgil just didn't understand why out of all people, Roman wanted to befriend him. Roman shouldn't need to mingle with him. He gritted his teeth. He had enough of this.

" Why? "

"Why..?” Roman seemed confused, “Virgil, I alr-"

"Why the fuck do you care so much?” Virgil snapped, “Why- why do you want to be my friend so badly?" he had had enough and he lashed out, a weird blaze of confusion and frustrated anger gleaming in his eyes. It was enough to shut Roman up 

 "I'm just no one. There are hundreds of people in school. You could have been friends with someone else— and they'd be happy . You could have picked literally anyone else and they would have been a better choice." 

Roman didn't speak, he wasn't sure if he knew what to say. He could only stare at Virgil as he talked, helpless as to what he should do.

"Jesus Christ Roman, I am alone . I am a fucking loner who no one wants and hasn't been since middle school and all of a sudden some perfect prince strolls up wants to be friends!" He scoffed, "This must be some kind of dare. Because not even a squirrel would approach me like that," Virgil had a sarcastic smile, "Because, guess what; No one wants to stick to the weird emo kid who looks and smells like they smoke 5 packs a day."

Roman opened his mouth to try and speak but nothing came out. He just wanted to be friends.

"Not even adults care as much as you." Virgil mumbled, “You know, what, I’m surprised you even stuck around for this long. Anyone else would have given up, I should know.” he sighed,” It didn’t take long for my parents to give up trying to ‘fix’ me.”

What the fuck did he just say?

Virgil’s eyes shone with regret and panic. Immediately, he slapped his hand over his mouth. His mind was running. Fuck, fuck, fuck, he wasn’t supposed to tell Roman that- He let it slip that he had a terrible relationship with his parents, Roman could easily take that and spin a story and tell everyone. People liked him, they'd believe him.

 Virgil wanted nothing more than to stand up and run, to just get away. But he was frozen.

Roman, however, wasn’t thinking about that all.

 Why did they give up on him? Why did no one care? Why.. Why did no one notice Virgil at all? God, What had Virgil been through? All he wanted to do was reach out and hold his hand, ask what was wrong, ask if he could do anything to help. But he didn’t do that. He didn’t want to make things worse nor alert Virgil even further. Instead, he willed himself to finally talk;

“I.. your parents?” he mumbled

“Yes, My parents.” Virgil repeated, brows furrowing, “What? Finally gonna leave after that? Just as I expected.”

“No, I- I just, Your parents gave up on you? 

Virgil huffed, "Are you that surprised? I literally work part-time and smoke." He mumbled. "...So what? Are you going to finally come clean and reveal it was fake? Tell this little tale to you friends?" He asked, shrinking even further into his hoodie.

"Fake? Who said anything about any of this being fake?" Roman's brows were furrowed, a confused frown on his face. Why would Virgil ever... Well , he supposed how he did it was quite odd, wasn't it?

There was a small beat of silence, the two teens staring at each other. Neither could exactly tell what was going through the others' mind. The silence stretched for almost a minute, that is, until Virgil spoke up.

"This… you were being serious?" He asked

Roman gave a small nod

"So you really want to be friends?"

Another nod.

All of a sudden, Virgil slouched over and he hid his face, "God, what the fuck?" He mumbled, "why didn't you say so, Now I seem like an asshole."

"I- well- I- I thought you knew?" Roman stuttered, not sure how to comfort the emo teen, "I did say I wanted to be your friend-!"

"I thought it was part of the act!" He paused,  "Well- Now I know it's not." He tacked on, face flushed. 

Oh. That was cute...Roman couldn't help but smile, he was actually quite adorable under his defensiveness, "So… what do you say… friends?" He hummed. "For real, this time."

Virgil glanced at Roman, "You don't plan to drop me after a couple of months, do you?" He picked at his nails. "Because if you do, I will poison you." He threatened

Instead of a sneer or a look of alarm, Roman laughed. A soft but genuine one, his eyes only holding what could be described as fondness in it.

"I would never dream of it," he smiled, "but if it ever happens, You are free to do so. Strangle me, even; I'd never forgive myself for such a betrayal." 

Virgil raised an eyebrow, "I'll hold you to it, Princey." He said, slowly lowering his hood to see Roman, eye-to-eye. 

"Please do, I'll even pinky swear it." The Princely teen said, holding his hand out with his pinky extended. 

Virgil stared at it for a moment, "I'm not gonna question it. It's a promise." He mumbled, doing the same, wringing his pinky around Roman's 

"It's a promise." Roman smiled.