The Valentine's Surprise
It’s just a random day in February and Roman bursts through the door, bringing a blast of cold air from outside into Virgil’s room.
“We have a problem!”
“Hm,” Virgil replies without looking up from his book.
“It’s an emergency,” Roman says more emphatically.
Virgil lifts an eyebrow slightly. “Is the house on fire? Should I run for my life?”
“Much worse.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Roman unceremoniously flop down on the armchair next to him, burying his face in his arms.
“We have no date for Valentine’s Day,” he says in a tone of voice in which other people say, ‘I only have six months to live’. “Why do I think of this so late every year? Why? Why is Valentine’s Day always so sudden?”
Virgil smirks behind the pages. “Yes, it’s hard to believe that they put it so spontaneously and completely arbitrarily on February the 14th again. Is it no longer possible to rely on anything in life?”
Roman fishes for a pillow and throws it in Virgil’s direction. “Not funny, Mister Sarcasm!”
It becomes more than clear that Roman, with all his pre-Valentine’s heartbreak, isn’t going anywhere else. Virgil struggles with himself for a moment before finally putting the book aside and turning to Roman.
“Why are you bothering me with this anyway? Patton seems to me the right side to contact for your problem.”
Roman sighs deeply and tragically. “No, it has to be you,” he confesses and comes finally to the point. “You’re the one who can push this problem into focus.”
‘Ah’ thinks Virgil, only mildly surprised. No one ever comes to him for advice. Especially not Roman.
“Listen, Princey, weren’t we all agreeing on not psyching ourself out over some day and instead celebrating love in all its forms?”
He knew that the topic would come up again, no matter how well Roman coped with the whole thing on the outside. You don’t have to be a genius to realize that his thoughts still revolve around Nico Flores and the unclear relationship.
“Ugh.” Roman sighs again. “It’s just…,” he starts to explain and his voice sounds husky, as if he had a cold. “I’m Thomas’s romantic side and I should do something, right? Valentine’s Day makes me sentimental, and I want to throw around grand gestures, but… What’s the point of embracing love if you never get anything back?”
That was too much of an exaggeration, even by Roman’s standards. Virgil would like to make a sarcastic remark again, but he can’t. Not when Roman looks like that, so worked up and hurt. It always causes a strange tug in his chest that he can’t quite explain.
“Wow, that’s a gloomy way of seeing it.” Virgil swings his legs over the edge of the couch and stands up. “Come on, you stayed already for too long in my room. Breathe, okay?”
Roman allows Virgil to grab him by the arm and carefully escort him out of this dark corner of the mind.
“Better?”
“Better,” Roman agrees, but still sounding a little helpless.
It’s unbearable.
“Okay, you know what, let me show you something.”
Almost energetically, Virgil manoeuvres them in the direction of the stairs. It’s kind of surprising how little defensive Roman is about all of it. Usually, he is protesting and whining a lot more. For now, he just raises his arms in a questioning manner.
“Virge, what-” he stops abruptly. Roman has the widened, panicked gaze of a deer on the highway that suddenly and abruptly finds itself in the middle of the headlights of an approaching truck.
“Oh my goodness! Are you kidding me?! What’s… Why…?”
Virgil bites his lower lip, amused. “My pet spider wanted a friend, and you’re always into battling monsters, so…”
“No, no, no… No!”
“Isn’t this what you wanted? Unconditional, requited love.”
Roman looks at Virgil, then at the spider and his tiny self, and finally back to Virgil again.
“You’re unbelievable.”
Virgil crosses his arms over his chest and shrugs. To be honest, he’s just a little smug about it. You can’t choose where Cupid’s arrow will land.
“What can I say, you make my spider feel special and awesome.”
The corners of Roman’s mouth twitch. It looks like a smile he’s suppressing. “I will tolerate this nonsense,” he says benevolently. “But it’s not at all solving my problem.”
Virgil should walk away now, leaving Roman behind with nothing but his self-doubts and fears. That’s at least what the old anxiety would do. Damn it, he is not the one who is usually comforting people! But then again… it’s all about family, right? At least, that’s what Patton would say.
“I can’t believe that I have to point it out.” Virgil sighs and feels a little uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Love always comes around for us when we least expect it. You don’t have to force anything, Roman. Accept and acknowledge what you already have. There’s a lot of affection in different ways and forms around you. You’re just not seeing it clear.”
It’s strange to have said it out loud after it’s been rumbling in his stomach like an ulcer. Strange and relieving at the same time.
Virgil clears his throat. Anyway, it’s not that he meant anyone specific. What matters is, that Roman’s face suddenly lights up with a warm, knowing smile. It makes Virgil feel a whole lot better too.
"I knew I could count on you," says Roman softly, and no one is commenting it.
💜❤️💜❤️💜❤️💜❤️💜❤️💜❤️💜❤️💜❤️
I hope you enjoyed the small (not beta-read) story. I apologize in advance for any grammar or spelling mistakes my german brain wasn't seeing.
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