I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!!
I took so long to update and I AM SORRY
I got halfway through writing it and my brain went kaputt and I couldn't think of where to go
There were so many rewrites...
But I finally finished it!!
And because I haven't said it enough: I AM SORRY!!!
Also, this chapter is gonna be a little jumpy as it switches between our analogical dumbasses and our royality dumbasses :)

Virgil isn't stupid...most of the time.

They weren't lying when they said that they could hear most of Logan and his sister's conversation, especially when she screamed about him having a crush. The only thing they lied about was not knowing who his crush was. They knew and it terrified them. That's why they were so panicked when Logan wanted to ask them a question, because they had a pretty good idea on what he was going to ask. And as much as they want to be asked out by Logan, they couldn't do it.

Dating and relationships were never anything Virgil was good at. They couldn't do that to Logan. Logan was beautiful and smart and talented and Virgil was a mess of a human being. As much as they wanted to be with Logan, they didn't want him to settle for someone who is definitely not worth his love.

Which is why they've been avoiding Logan all week.

~~~

"Good morning jochie!" Patton beamed as he handed Virgil a plate of pancakes

"Thanks, Pat" Virgil offered a small smile back

"How have you been?"

Patton had taken notice of Virgil's sudden coldness towards Logan and wanted to get to the bottom of it because he shipped these two like FedEx and by God, he was going to make his ship sail!

"I've been okay. Worried about Janus but he's doing much better now"

"That's good to hear. What about you and Logan?"

Virgil froze for a millisecond but that was all Patton needed, "what about him?"

"Well, you two haven't been talking that much recently and I was wondering if something was going on?"

"Nope, nothing going on. I gotta go now, bye!"

Despite being best friends with Janus since they were 5, Virgil couldn't lie for shit. They sped out of the room so fast Patton half expected to see the cartoon smoke effect behind them. Virgil almost took Roman down who was walking into the kitchen at the same time.

"Mira hacia donde vas!"

"Duilich" Virgil muttered before bounding up the stairs two at a time

"What's his problem?" Roman huffed as he sat next to Patton

"I'm not sure, schat"

"What does that mean? I don't think I've heard that one before"

Patton flushed a bright pink and began spluttering as he tried to process what he just called Roman. Luckily he was saved by Logan walking in.

"Logan!" Patton shouted, "there's our favourite smartest guy!"

Logan raised an eyebrow at the pair, "what are you guilty of Patton?"

'Being a dumbass!' Patton wanted to scream

"Ik noemde mjin verliefdheid helemaal niet per ongeluk schat en had toen een homopaniek. Natuurlijk was het in het Nederlands, dus hij weet het niet, maar toch!"

"Patton, Patton take a breath!" Roman laughed lightly, taking Patton's hand which didn't help to calm him.

"Het gaat goed met mij. I'm fine. How are you, Logan?" Patton smiled, ignoring Roman's worried looks

"I'm—" he was interrupted by the front door shutting and Logan visibly deflated at the sound, "I'm adequate, merci."

The trio sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before Roman stood up, dramatically as ever

"Mi gatito y nerd, care to join me on an adventure?"

"Oooh, sure!"

"That depends on what you have in mind"

"It's a surprise!"

"Count me out. I'd rather know where I am going, but you two have fun"

Logan never had any intention of joining them. It was obvious to everyone but those two that they liked each other. So Logan decided that just because his love life crashed and burned before it even started, didn't mean that he couldn't give his friends a little nudge.

"Your loss!" Roman grabbed Patton's hand and pulled him up and out the door.

~~~

"Roman! Where are we going" Patton was giggling as Roman dragged him across the town centre

"You'll see soon gatito!"

Roman eventually pulled them to a stop outside a plain-looking building. There were no recognisable logos or store name, the windows were covered by newspapers, but on the door was an A4 poster reading: This weekend only! Pop-Up Art Studio. Come inside and get creative with our range of different equipment and onsite staff to help you with all your artistic needs. No booking needed, just walk in.

Patton wasted no time in throwing open the door as soon as he read the sign, taking Roman's hand and pulling him throw the door with him. He squealed as he took in the large room.

The floor was covered in a plastic sheet and everyone was made to take their shoes off before walking on it. In one corner were some canvas easels, where some people were already painting. In another corner were a bunch of large tables for people to draw and sketch with plenty of room. There was also a pottery station with a couple of pottery wheels and a few workbenches as well as a small portable kiln in the furthest corner. Outside, the garden area was set up for spray painting, fully equipped with masks and pullover jumpsuits.

"Roman I love it...thank you so much!" Patton spun around and hugged him tightly

"It's my pleasure, Patton. Now come on you're gonna have to teach me everything because I always skipped art class at school. Oooh, can we start with the clay spinny thingy and the fire box?"

"Absolutely not. Let's do some sketching first!"

~~~

Virgil was in the aerial studio helping one of their classmates with a set they were learning in class when Logan marched in.

"Virgil, we need to talk" he crossed his arms and stared down at the purple-haired boy

Logan was a reck and had been since Virgil started to ignore him because he couldn't figure out why. The only conclusion he could come up with was that Virgil hated him, and that broke his heart. He wouldn't say that he was in love with the enby, but he definitely liked them, and to have them not even look in his direction hurt a lot more than he thought it would.

"I'm a little busy at the moment Logan" they responded curtly as they held the hoop steady for their classmate

That was the thing that hurt the most for Logan. When Virgil did speak to him, they didn't call him by any of the nicknames he adored and they didn't speak with their usual snarky but still caring tone.

"I don't care, you've been avoiding me all week and I want to know why"

Logan was stubborn and he wasn't going to give up without a fight or explanation. Virgil sighed but nodded their head

"Sorry Ray, we'll continue this later"

"Yeah that's fine," he said, eager to get out of this situation

Ray climbed off the hoop and grabbed his bag, whispering good luck to Virgil as he passed and then again to Logan.

Virgil turned to look at Logan, feigning confidence,

"You wanted to talk, so talk"

"What have I done wrong?"

It came out a lot softer and broken than Logan intended but it did the trick as Virgil's indifferent composure crumbled and their features softened,

"Logan...you didn't do anything"

"Then tell me why are you avoiding me?"

'Because I have a crush on you but I don't deserve you' Virgil wanted to say but instead, they just shook their head and stepped back a little

"Please Virgil, I miss you"

Their head shot up as they looked at Logan bug-eyed,

"Wha—"

"I miss our debates over stupid things, I miss reading books together, I miss your quick comebacks. I miss being around you. You were the first person to talk to me willingly and like a normal human being. You make me laugh, I have laughed more times since I met you than I have in my entire life. I was brought up by strict and formal parents, hence my formal composure but you've helped me to be myself instead of the perfect son my parents want me to be. I have loved spending my time with you..."

As Logan was talking, the pair subconsciously moved closer together until they were within arm's reach of each other

"However, if you do not wish to spend time with me, then just say so and I'll leave you alone"

"I don't want that" Virgil replied quickly, "I'm sorry...I got scared and I pushed you away. I miss you too and I am so grateful for you always being here for me, even though I'm a jerk."

Virgil held out a shaking hand which Logan gently wrapped his one around and pulled Virgil closer to his chest.

"Please don't shut me out" Logan whispered

Virgil shivered slightly as they felt Logan's warm breath on their face,

"Okay Lo, I trust you. Tha mo chridhe nad làmhan"

"I don't know what that last bit means but thank you for trusting me"

~~~

This is it. This how Roman dies. Patton killed him.

After sketching for an hour, Roman decided to try painting. Now he wasn't terrible but he wasn't going to be giving Banksy a run for his money any time soon. Roman decided to do a simple sunset with a tree silhouette in the foreground. It was a little harder than he thought it would be trying to get the colours to blend right but after getting Patton to help, he finished with a fairly decent painting. Patton however really liked one of his sketches to decided to colour it with oil pastels. 

Credit goes to my amazing Great-Aunt Christine McCarthy (RIP)

"Holy shit Patton, that's amazing!"

"Really?" like every artist, he was never satisfied and could see all the flaws in it

"Patton, you're so talented it's unreal!"

He blushed and giggled as Roman continued to shower him with compliments.

The pair stayed at the studio until it closed - Roman wanted to leave a few hours ago but stayed because Patton was having fun. He had fallen hard for the adorkable boy, and he's never been happier. They were walking back to campus when Patton pulled them to a stop.

"Is everything okay, gatito?"

"Yeah, I um...I had a lot of fun today and I have a lot of fun whenever we hang out and I um I really like you so I was wondering if um maybe wilde je met me uitgaan?"

Roman raised an eyebrow, "what was that last bit?"

Patton took a deep breath, "would you like to go on a date...with me?"

Their hearts were hammering against both of their ribcages. Patton was looking down, a deep blush covering his face as Roman's eyes widened with a large smile.

"I would love to"

~~~

Virgil and Logan were sat on the couch with a documentary on the planets playing on the TV, but they weren't really paying much attention to it. They were discussing something much more important.

"What do you mean you've never been to Hot Topic?"

"I'm from France Virgil, there aren't any Hot Topics there"

"That is unacceptable. Come on, to your feet!"

"What?"

"Get up, I'm taking you to Hot Topic!"

"I don't really-"

"That's cute, you think you have a choice, now COME ON!"

Virgil dragged Logan out of the dorm where they walked past Remus and Janus, who raised an eyebrow that them

"Help me"

Remus chuckled, "you're on your own pal, they've got their Hot Topic face on. Good luck"

Virgil stopped dragging Logan once they were sure that he wouldn't run back to the dorm. They made it to the store surprisingly quick - Virgil knew all the shortcuts.

"Welcome to my second home!"

"Very nice Virgil, can we go now?"

"Nope! You're getting a Hot Topic makeover!"

"I really don't think-"

"Hush, you'll like it. Now just sit there while I get you some things to try on"

After half an hour Virgil had, what they thought to be, a decent outfit for Logan. So they walked over and shoved the clothes into his arms and told him to go and change. Logan grumbled something in French, along the lines of 'you're lucky you're cute. Virgil didn't hear as they got distracted by a black and white striped shortalls with 'Beetlejuice' sewn in purple on the chest pocket - they bought it as Logan changed.

"I look ridiculous!"

"I'm sure you don't. Come out please?"

"I am homoromantic demisexual"

"Funny, now come on I want to see! Please mo rionnag"

"Fine"

Virgil's breath caught in their throat and a blush crept up their face. Logan was wearing a black shirt with 3/4 length sleeves and a red tie hanging loosely around his neck. He also had a sleeveless denim jacket with space inspired badges along the lapels and the Nasa logo on the back. He wore ripped black jeans with two chains hanging from the belt loops.

"I look absurd"

"No" Virgil breathed out before shaking themself out of their shocked state, "no, you look incredible. You definitely suit punk"

"Really?" Logan turned to look at himself in the mirror again, a smile spreading across his face

"Yeah Lo, you look amazing"

"Thank you"

"Right get changed, I'm getting it for you"

"No, you don't have to"

"I want to, think of it as the first part of my apology to you for being a jerk"

They stared at each other for a few seconds, trying to see who would cave in first,

"If I don't get it for you now, I'll just come back later and get it"

"Okay, but I'm buying dinner"

"Deal"

yayy i did it!! phew

i hope you enjoyed and feel free to point out any mistakes :)

my brain is still kinda kaputt so if y'all wanna comment who you want the next chapter(s) to be focused on, I'll be eternally grateful (if no one responds/cares I'll use the all-powerful wheel decider)

~remy<3