After his first year of college was over, Roman happily went back home to fill his family in on what he did and all the new friends he made.

NYU was nothing but heaven for him. Living in New York was the greatest experience. Plus, he got to feel his first ever real winter. He told them about the snow too.

"What about Logan? Have you two been keeping touch?" Mr. Walsh asked.

"Uh, we're not together but we're on good terms. Sometimes we text, but he's always super busy since, y'know, MIT kid things," Roman explained. "He's working in Massachusetts all summer so he can't do the workshop this year."

"Oh, that's disappointing. What a nice boy," Mrs. Walsh said. She laughed. "You should know I liked him far better than Abigail."

"Uhh, actually? I'm thinking of getting back together with Abigail. Probably after I graduate or maybe sooner?"

His parents shared that parental look and turned back to their son.

"Does she make you happy?"

Roman sat there silently, reliving all the dates he had with Abigail and each time he kissed her and called her late at night. "Yeah. She does."

She does, right?

"You had to think about that for an awfully long time."

"I mean, I love her, so she makes me happy," he said, but it didn't come out right. But the only reason it didn't feel right was because they weren't together at that moment. "I've been thinking about her a lot."

That was a complete lie, to both himself and his parents but he tried to believe it. He spent every second thinking about Logan but that was really only because they were best friends.

Like, really good friends.

Really close best friends.

~~~

The summer after his second year of NYU was interesting to say the least.

"Roman! I missed you so much," Abigail said.

Roman squeezed out a welcoming smile and told her he missed her too, but in reality, he hadn't really thought about her the whole year. But it was okay since they were still broken up from senior year.

Why wasn't he happy with her?

He was supposed to be happy with her.

Girls like Abigail were what every guy who liked girls would want. Conventionally attractive, strong, sweet but sarcastic, and a great kisser. And Roman liked girls, so what was he missing?

He had to brush away the fact that he described to himself the female version of Logan.

Whatever.

He was still set on being with her after college. It felt right. That was always his plan.

One day, he asked her, "How do you feel about a guy being bisexual?"

She was a little confused at why he was asking but answered anyway. "I dunno. It's fine. I'm totally cool with any guy as long as he doesn't exclusively like guys because that's kind of gross."

"Oh." He thought she would grow out of her homophobia, but that was probably the stain her parents left there.

"Why?"

He started to sweat. He didn't know coming out would be this strange. "I'm bisexual."

She grinned. "Aw, you didn't have to be afraid to tell me that! I still love you to death, Ro."

He wiped the sweat off his forehead and nodded.

"By the way, I know you said you wanted to date me again after you graduated, but do you think you want to start a bit earlier? I mean, you're pretty used to the whole college thing and you're not super stressed, and we can pull off long distance."

"Um, maybe. I-I'll think about it."

"Okay!"

~~~

The next summer, they were dating again.

He kissed his dream girl on the beach. He had never gone back to workshop since he couldn't be in Florida for the full time that the workshop went on and spent the time he had with friends and family, momentarily stopping by to see the kids who were always ecstatic to see him.

They asked if Logan came with him, which he always had to politely explain that no, he wasn't. That Logan still wasn't making enough money to pay off necessities and school tuition even with the discount he got as valedictorian, so he wouldn't be able to just casually buy a ticket to another state.

Roman had Abigail, and she was perfect if he looked past her bitchy attitude that she had with Logan, but they were both adults now and they hadn't spoken since Logan had started MIT, so they surely were over their childhood feud.

The first person he told about dating Abigail was his roommate. Remy only said one thing in response.

Remy: lmao ur straight?

He rolled his eyes and replied "YES".

"Hey, Logan!" he said on the phone later on.

"Hi, Roman. Why are you calling? It's been months since we last texted."

"Oh, yeah. Well, I just wanted to let you know that I'm dating Abi again but she's totally different, I promise! I really love her."

The other end went silent and Roman thought Logan was cutting out, but he just really wasn't talking.

"Hello?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sorry, I have to go. I'm extremely busy. Congratulations, I'll call you back."

Logan never called him back.

Not for another hour, or another day, or another year.

~~~

Abigail was really pretty.

Like, really pretty.

He didn't know if he constantly reminded himself about how great she was because he actually thought about it or if he needed the affirmations.

It was summer after graduating college finally, and he temporarily worked minimum wage as he was finding other jobs.

Since he hadn't spoken to Logan in quite a long time, they just drifted and tried to forget about each other to move on to other aspects of their lives.

So Roman wasn't thinking about Logan. He was thinking about guys in general. He hooked up with a couple guys in his first and second year, and tried to get more girls as well in his third year before getting back with Abigail in the summer.

But hooking up with girls was awkward and Roman would usually leave before anything got serious.

It's just since Abi asked me if I wanted to date her again and I wanted her instead of these other girls, he convinced himself.

She was creative and loved to think of extravagant pieces of clothing with Roman. That was Roman's favorite thing about her. How she could distract him with her designs. In her last year of college, she made herself a full on huge princess ballgown from scratch.

When their foreheads were pressed together and he looked into her eyes, he saw a someone that he wanted to be with for the rest of his life.

Definitely unrelated, but wasn't it funny how Abigail and Logan had the same eyes?

Anyways.

~~~

Rewind.

Logan loved MIT and spending all his time with Virgil, who took the place of his best friend since he was distanced from Roman.

One of the first days in the new school, he wore the red sweater and it caught Virgil's eye. "Is... Is that Roman's?" He turned Logan around and saw the tiny crown embroidered on by the neck.

"Uh. Yes?"

"Are you guys like, a thing?"

"No. I thought we were but then he chose my dumbass sister over me. So yeah. But we ended up on good terms and we're friends. We still text sometimes."

Virgil winced. "God, that shit must suck. He seriously chose Abi over you? She's a bitch! When we did Into the Woods, she saw that I had my nails painted and called me a fag."

"Yeah. He said even though he was basically acting like my boyfriend, he didn't actually feel anything like that towards me and wants to get back with Abi after we graduate."

"I hear he's bisexual now. Can't he realize that he's just straight up fucking gay? He's so far in the closet it's painful to watch. Even he doesn't know it yet."

After they bonded over their mutual distaste for Roman's interest in homophobic women, the school year ended quicker than both had expected.

Logan worked over the summer at his minimum wage job and tutoring teenagers, and couldn't afford to go back to Florida. But it was okay. Virgil wasn't going back to visit either.

~~~

The next summer was about the same.

~~~

The third summer, it was about the same except he was allowed to drink alcohol. He wasn't much of a drinker, and neither was Virgil, but they enjoyed it every once in a while.

Well, Logan thought it would be about the same until he received a very specific call from Roman.

And didn't call him again.

He had an unbelievable urge to snap his phone in half. Throw it off a cliff. Have someone put it in a blender and drink it as a smoothie. Chop it up and slather it on a piece of steak like a rich seasoning.

Fucking anything.

Virgil saw Logan laying face down on his bed and sat down next to him.

"You don't have your glasses on, right?" Virgil asked.

"No, I'm not a moron. They're on my desk next to my lamp." His words were muffled since he refused to move.

So Virgil laid down next to him. "Is it Roman?"

"Yes. He's so fucking stupid. He's the dumbest fucking cretin I've ever come across, yet I have feelings for him?! I've had straight A's all my life and won awards in every area, yet it's some dumbass like Roman who-" He stopped to breathe. "Ugh! Virge?"

"Yeah?" He never told Logan to use that nickname, Logan just started using that at times. But Virgil liked it. It sounded sick.

"He's officially dating Abi again."

Virgil began laughing hysterically. "What the fuck! What an idiot!"

Logan couldn't help but laugh too. "He told me, 'she's different now' or some bullshit. Abigail hasn't spoken to me in almost three years. There's no way she changed for the better."

~~~

Logan was doing fine without Roman. Still he thought about him, but it would be okay.

He would forget someday.

He wasn't going to spend graduation day crying over a boy with horrible taste in women.

A new life was what he always wanted.

With his diploma in hand, a new life he would get.