Ship: Prinxiety,
AU: Mindpalace
TW: fighting (verbal & physical), 2 boys with low self-esteem, tears,

-

[Virgil POV]

I woke up from the couch where I was sleeping and stretched. Whatever time it was, it was too early.

I looked at my phone and saw that it was 5am.

Yep, definitely too early.

I pulled the blanket back over my head just when I heard a door open.

I groaned and looked to see who it was.

Oh, would you look at that.

It's Princey.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked, my voice sorta slurring together since I wasn't quite awake yet. "It's pretty early, man."

Roman quickly turned to me, obviously shocked that I was awake. Understandable, since I usually don't get up until 9 or 10.

"I- uh- Hey Virgil."

"Avoiding my question." I accused.

Roman sighed, "Can you just let me do my thing?"

I chuckled and rolled over so I could see his face better, "Not really. I'm Anxiety, after all."

"Look," he started sternly, "If I got up at 5am to do something, don't you think it would be something good?"

"Yes." I admitted, "But I also think it would be something suspicious that you didn't want us to know about."

I repositioned myself on the couch so now I was sitting. Roman sighed and walked to the kitchen, picking up a breakfast muffin.

"I was leaving." Roman said in defeat.

I shot up in my seat, "Don't you even-"

"I was gonna let Remus take ov-"

"YOU SLIMY SON OF A BITCH!" I yelled, standing and throwing a pillow at Roman.

He catches it effortlessly, not looking in my direction.

"Well, he obviously does a better job at being creative." Roman said, his voice still calm.

I stomped up to him, "Yeah, sure, if creative to you is EATING FUCKING DEODORANT!"

Roman stepped back. Obviously I had hit a nerve in him, "YOU don't know him, Virgil! You haven't shared a room with him your entire life! HE'S NOT A BAD REPLACEME-"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY REPLACEMENT!" I yelled, "AND WHO ARE YOU TO ASSUME I'VE NEVER SHARED A ROOM WITH HIM!"

"I'VE always shared a room with him, VIRGIL!" He yelled back, "He may like deodorant, but at least he actually has a functioning imagination!"

"YOU are the fucking EMBODIMENT of Thomas's imagination, Roman!" I grabbed another pillow and threw it at him. He didn't catch this one.

"BUT SO IS-"

"Oooh Remus this Remus that," I said mockingly, "Remus is my brother so I treat him with respect."

"STOP RHYMING your INSULTS!"

"Look." I said quietly, making sure Roman could hear every ounce of venom in my voice, "I've know Remus for a while too. He's a stinky dirtbag."

"And you know what, Virgil? So are you."

" I'M the dirtbag? OH I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm trying to PROTECT Thomas from HIM! "

"AND I'M SORRY I'm trying to PROTECT Thomas from YOU!"

"From ME?? Have you looked at yourself?!"

"Yes, actually I have!" He shouted, " Maybe you haven't! "

Gotta admit, that one confused me a little.

"Are you THAT naive?" I asked, "To think that just because you have a filter means that you can't think!?"

"And you're saying Remus can't?" He shot back.

"NO!" I shouted.

" Look, it's not my fault that you didn't like him-"

"Don't use the past tense." I warned.

"But you can't just not like him just because you bad history with them."

"Don't you dare." I hissed, stepping closer threateningly.

He went on, "Having been a dark side shouldn't shape your opinio-"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" I yelled, stepping forward again. "DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE!"

He dared, "JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT A DARK SIDE ANYMORE DOESN'T MEAN YOU DON'T ACT LIKE ONE!"

I stumbled back a little, hurt.

Roman immediately noticed what he had done, "No, Virgil I'm-"

"I wish you were never born." I spoke through gritted teeth.

"Well," Roman crossed his arms on his chest, looking away from me, "I wish you would kiss me. We don't always get what we want."

I almost lost my balance. Roman seemed to shock himself with what he just said.

"I- I-" I stuttered, trying to find a fitting response. "I'm going to Patton's room..." I mumbled finally.

I knocked on Patton's door and he opened it cautiously. "You okay, kiddo?" He asked quietly. He had obviously heard at least some of the argument.

I shook my head and he nodded, opening the door more so I could come in.

Once the door was closed, Patton hugged me really tight. One of those nice, tight, dad hugs he gives. Comforting, but not comforting enough.

We sat on his bed and he turned on the Lorax. It was the first movie that popped up on Netflix, and Patton knows that I like to cool down a bit before talking.

After about 5 minutes into the movie, I asked him, "How much did you hear?"

"Most of it. From 'don't you say replacement' to that mean statement about your past."

Of course he didn't hear Roman say he wanted to kiss me. He said it with his volume notch on 2.

I felt a tear in my eye, and I'm not exactly sure if it was because of what Roman said or how I responded.

"He did go too far." Patton said, putting his hand on my shoulder, "I'm glad you got yourself out of there."

"He said he wanted to kiss me." I said, still dumbfounded that he said that.

Patton looked shocked. He chuckled nervously, "In the middle of an argument?"

"No at the end." I said, smirking. Patton laughed.

"Maybe he never wanted to fight with you, kiddo." Patton suggested.

"He was the one who brought up replacing himself!"

"No need to get harsh, Virge." He said, picking up the remote and pausing the movie. "But what you just said just proves that you care about him, and that deep down, you didn't want to fight either. You wanted to protect him."

I realized the Patton was right. The only reason I got in that fight with Roman was because I wanted him to stay. Sure, being stuck with Remus again would be unbearable, but if I really wished Roman was never born, I would rather be stuck with Remus than him.

If that makes any sense.

"You should apologize." Patton said. " I'm sure it'll all turn out fine. "

"You're right." I said standing up, "Thanks, Dad! Enjoy your movie!"

I walked out of Patton's room quietly, to see Roman lying on the ground where he was standing before I left. He was just starting at the ceiling. Under any other circumstance, I would've laughed.

"Boo." I said in monotone once I closed the door.

Roman shot up, sitting up within a flash. "Oh hehe, Virgil... buddyyy."

"Don't do that." I said, smirking a little, "Don't just pretend it didn't happen. It was only 10 minutes ago."

"I'm sorry." Roman said as I approached him, "I shouldn't have said any of that. I know you were just trying to protect me." Then he added quickly, "And Thomas of course."

"Mostly you, though." I admitted, "And I should've been less harsh. If I was just calm about it, we could prevent it all."

Roman nodded, "Same goes for me."

A smiled and shook my head.

I plopped on the couch, and Roman sat a respectable 4 feet from me.

After a moment or two of silence, "So you said something about wanting to kiss me?" I said. It wasn't really a question.

Roman scoffed, "And you said something about wanting me dead. We all make slip-ups."

"No- I mean, as they say..." I took a deep breath, part of me not believing I was being this smooth, "'Kiss and make up.'"

Roman turned to me, his face very pink. I'd imagine mine was, too. I smirked at him.

But despite being caught off-guard, he just couldn't pass down the opportunity. "O-okay, s-sure."

I crawled across the couch to where he was sitting, and cupped my hands around his cheeks. His face was as red as a tomato.

I smirked once more before leaning in and connecting our lips. He melted into the kiss and his hands subconsciously went to my hair, brushing through it. I didn't care how messy he made my hair, because right now, we were kissing.

Eventually, he ran out of air and pulled away.

Panting slightly, he turned to me and said, "We should make up more often."

--

Published 4/1/20
Word Count 1444