A/N:
Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I'm not ready for thiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssssssssss................

Also, um... y'all are fecking amazing...

Like, 89.5K reads?????????? That's freaking insane.

Also... uh... can you tell that I'm stalling?????

I, like, don't want to accept that this is the last chapter.

Like, this book has been my baby for so long, and it's grown up so fast, and I don't want it to be done. Hhhnnnngggggggggggggggggggggggggg

Ok, ok, ok, ok ok ok ok ok ok ok I can do this...

THE LAST CHAPTER IS HERE

|Previous chapter"

"Do you love me?"|

TW: Anxiety attack, crying, talks about surgery stuff for a bit, swearing, kissing.
THE LAST TWO-THIRDS OF THE CHAPTER ARE ENTIRELY FLUFFFFFF. THE FLUFFIEST FLUFF THIS BOOK HAS SEEN.

Virgil POV:
The first thing I was aware of was someone typing on a computer next to me. The next thing I noticed was how easy it was for me to breathe.

Prying my eyes open, I was momentarily blinded by the lights in the room. My eyes adjusted after a few seconds, and I first noticed Dr. Picani having a whispered conversation with Valerie next to my bed while Valerie typed something into a computer.

After a minute, the noticed I was awake, and they quickly stopped talking.

"Hello, Virgil!" Picani said, coming to sit on the edge of my bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Great," I said, taking a deep breath as I cherished the feeling. "I haven't been able to breathe this well in months. It's amazing."

"Wonderful," Picani nodded, a puzzled expression crossing his face.

"Is something wrong?" I hesitantly ask, the familiar feeling of anxiety pressing in on me.

"No, nothing is wrong, Virgil," Picani quickly reassured, placing a hand on my knee. "It's just that your case has confused all of us greatly."

"Oh??" I hummed, "W-why are you guys confused?"

"Well, to put it simply," Picani started. "After you went under, we took you back for a scan before the surgery, and, by the time we did the scan, all of the petals in your lungs had disappeared."

"What???" I whispered, not fully understanding what he said.

"We ended up not doing the surgery because of that," Picani finished.

"S-so I didn't get the surgery," I hesitantly said, the meaning of what he said hitting me mid-sentence. "Because the petals disappeared..."

"Mhm," Picani hummed, nodding. "I'm going to go tell the others if that's alright with you."

"T-that's fine," I said, looking at my sheets as Picani stood up and left, leaving the door partly open.

As soon as Picani was out of the room, my breathing picked up.

"Holy shit," I murmured, getting up out of my bed and starting to pace the floor. "The petals are gone, and I didn't get the surgery... That means..."

I stopped my pacing mid-sentence, not fully believing what I thought happened.

"That means Roman's in love with me," I whispered, shaking my head even as I spoke, continuing to pace. "No, that's... that's impossible, he hated me for months, and he thinks of me as a friend. He said so himself."

I groaned, flopping onto the bed in frustration. After a few moments of lying there, I heard footsteps walking down the hall towards my room. Not wanting whoever was approaching to see me in this state, I sat up, spreading the sheet on the bed over my legs.

Looking down at the sheet, I noticed a few loose threads on the edge and started playing with them as I tried to get my mind off of my realization.

It was after a few moments of silently fidgeting with the threads that I realized the footsteps had stopped. Sighing to myself, I relaxed slightly, although I was still far from calm.

I continued fidgeting with the sheet, biting my lip as my mind raced.

Is Roman actually in love with me?

Why would he love me? I'm the literal embodiment of anxiety, there's nothing to love.

If he does love me will he want to date me?

What will Deceit think? He and Roman don't get along that well.

What if-

"Virgil?" A voice broke me out of my spiraling thoughts, causing me to flinch slightly, and I instantly knew it was Roman. Looking up at the door, I instantly caught Roman's gaze.

God, his eyes are gorgeous, I thought to myself as we looked at each other silently.

After a few seconds, I decided to break the silence, asking the first question that came to mind.

"Do you love me?" I asked hesitantly, scared of his answer.

Almost immediately, Roman nodded, and I could see tears in his eyes. "I do," he whispered, taking a few steps into the room.

As soon as Roman spoke, I shook my head in disbelief. "You're kidding," I whispered as Roman drew closer to my bed. "This is one giant fucking dream. This isn't real."

Roman shook his head slowly, a smile spreading across his face as he sat down on the edge of my bed. "What if I told you that this isn't a dream and that I'm not kidding."

Hearing Roman say that I shook my head again, one of my hands coming up to cover my mouth as tears started filling my eyes.

"You actually love me?" I asked in a whisper, still not believing that what was happening was true.

"Virgil," Roman said, looking into my eyes and taking my hands in his. "I love you. What else will it take to convince you?"

Roman said it. He said that he loves me.

I opened my mouth, wanting to say that I love him, too, but I couldn't speak. Instead of making a fool out of myself by stuttering, I reached out and wrapped my arms around Roman in a hug.

Roman instantly returned the hug, enveloping me in his arms and running a hand through my hair.

Letting out a sigh, I buried my face into the crook of Roman's neck. Never in my wildest dream had I imagined that Roman would ever love me back. I had always imagined that I would die from the disease.

"Virgil? Are you alright?" Roman asked, pulling away from me and placing a hand on my cheek.

It was then that I noticed that I was crying, tears rolling down my cheeks.

"Yeah," I sniffed, reaching up to wipe away a few tears. "I'm just really happy, I guess. I never thought this would happen."

"I never thought this would happen either," Roman admitted with a chuckle, making me laugh as well.

"What made you realize that you love me?" I asked suddenly, tilting my head from where it rested on Roman's shoulder so that I could see him better.

"That's... that's a long story," Roman said, sightly gently. "Do you think we could lie down while I tell you?"

"That sounds nice," I said, moving back slightly so Roman could lie down. After a few seconds, Roman pulled me down so that I was lying next to him with my head resting on his shoulder. Placing one of my arms on Roman's chest, I closed my eyes, letting out a content sigh as I curled closer to Roman.

While my eyes were still closed, I felt Roman press his lips to my forehead, placing a gently kiss there.

"I love you, Virgil" he whispered, lips brushing my forehead as he spoke.

"And I love you, Roman," I whispered back, tilting my head up so that I was looking at Roman.

Doing that, I realized just how close our faces were to each other. Each breath that Roman took fanned out on my lips, and I couldn't help but drop my gaze to his.

After a few seconds, I looked away from Roman's lips and back up to his eyes. When I did so, I saw that he was also looking at my lips, and I couldn't help the soft giggle that escaped me.

"What's so funny?" Roman asked, his gaze traveling up to meet mine, a slight smirk on his lips.

"May I kiss you?" I asked suddenly, the words bursting out of me before I could think.

"Of course," Roman whispered.

With the hand that had been resting on Roman's chest, I reached up and cupped his cheek, Roman doing the same with the hand that wasn't wrapped around me. Closing my eyes, I leaned in, closing the distance between our lips in a tender kiss.

The kiss wasn't rushed or desperate in any way. It was gentle, sweet, loving, all the things that I had never dared to dream of experiencing because of my Hanahaki.

After a few seconds, the kiss ended, and I dropped my head to Roman's chest, feeling a blush cover my cheeks.

"Wow," I breathed, not knowing how else to express what I felt inside.

"Wow, indeed," Roman said, wrapping both his arms around me.

We were silent for a few seconds, simply soaking in each other's presence. After a while, I chuckled, lifting my head so that it rested on his shoulder.

"You haven't answered my question yet," I murmured, smiling lightly.

"What question is that?" Roman asked, smiling as well as he looked at me.

"What made you realize you love me?" I asked again, and I saw Roman nod slightly.

"Well, this goes back to a year ago," Roman started. "I first realized that I love you after the Accepting Anxiety videos."

"Then why didn't you have Hanahaki?" I asked

"I told myself that there was no possible way that you'd ever love me back, and so I convinced myself that I hated you," Roman admitted, looking up at the ceiling for a few seconds before looking back at me. "That explains part of why I acted the way I did for so long."

"Oh, Roman..." I whispered, feeling like I should say something but not knowing what else to say.

"But then, when Patton asked me not to bother you because you were sick, I said that I didn't like you," Roman continued, smirking slightly. "After Patton left the room, Deceit walked in, accusing me of lying when I said that I didn't like you. And, well... let's just say that I was slightly mad at him."

"Classic De," I chuckled, shaking my head at the thought.

"And then," Roman went on. "Earlier tonight, I was walking from the hospital to the Mind Space, and I ran into Remus. I talked to him for a while about how horrible I felt for how I treated you, and I guess talking to him reminded me of the feelings I had denied. After I realized they were still there, I raced to the hospital, and here we are..."

Roman finished speaking with a little shrug, looking down at me as he smiled.

"I never thought I would say this, but Remus finally did something right," I laughed, closing my eyes as I smiled.

"Yes, yes he did," Roman agreed, tightening his arms around me as he rested his chin on the top of my head.

Lying there, Roman's arms around me and my head resting on his chest, allowing me to hear his heartbeat, I knew that it'd be hard to forget the past few months. But I knew that I could, so long as I had Roman there to help.

A/N:
Oh god... oh my god I did it...

This is the last actual chapter of this book. Like, there's still the epilogue, but, like, this is the last chapter.

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Until next time,

Take it easy guys, gals, and non-binary pals!!!!!!

~death_by_fanfic