Squeeeeeeee, I've been so excited for y'all to read this for the past few days, AND I'M FINALLY FINISHED AND Y'ALL CAN READ IT

Alright, BubblesCanGame, here's my contribution to the challenge.

Very basic summary: Roman's a huge geek for theatre, and it has led to him being bullied on many occasions. Virgil's the school "emo" that no one dares mess with. Oh, he also has no tolerance for bullying.

TW: slight panic attack, bullying, one (1) slur, crying, 

Roman was used to it. The names that were thrown out when he walked through the halls, the hands that reached out and knocked his books to the floor, the feet that stuck out and tripped him on his way to class. He was used to it all, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

His best friend, Patton, always told him to tell Virgil whenever Roman talked about the bullying, but Roman never had the courage. 

He'd only heard about Virgil Black in passing. He heard all the stories about how Virgil could get people to stop bullying with a single look, but he had never seen the emo in the halls. 

By the time Roman got to be a junior, he knew when to expect the assaults, and this caused him to dread going to school every day. He always arrived minutes before school started to avoid his antagonizers, and he always tried to leave as soon as the final bell rang. 

Most days, Roman was able to leave the school before those that bullied him, but there were always days where he was not so fortunate. 

"Roman! Can I see you for a few minutes?" his Spanish teacher, Ms. Torres-Rosario, said right as the bell rang.

"Y-yeah, sure," Roman replied, walking to where her desk stood in the front of the classroom.
"I just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes," she started, smiling calmly. "You're not in trouble, there's just something I've been noticing."

He tried to listen as she spoke, he truly did, but he couldn't focus on what she was saying. Instead, Roman's mind was racing as he tried to figure out how to avoid his assailants, his heart pounding and breathing shallow.

Of out the corner of his eye, Roman saw someone stop outside the room. Turning to look, he saw Damion Rodriguez, the leader of the group of students that took delight in tormenting Roman. Damion smirked before slowly continuing past the room towards the direction of the front door.
Roman could feel the familiar sense of dread fill his chest as he thought about what he knew was to come. His breathing became even more ragged as tears pricked the corners of his eyes.

"Roman, are you alright?" Ms. Torres-Rosario asked, and Roman scrambled to get his stuff together.

"I-I'm s-sorry, I-I ha-have to, to go," Roman stuttered, rushing towards the door before Ms. Torres-Rosario could say anything else.

When he reached the hall, Roman turned in the opposite direction Damion had gone, planning on going out the door beside the band room. Just as he was about to turn the corner of the hall, a voice made him freeze.

"Hey, faggot, where do you think you're going?"

Roman turned around and stared down the hall as Damion led his group down the hall towards him. 

"Oh, please," Roman scoffed, feigning confidence that was nowhere to be found. "We both know you're just as gay as I am."

"Shut it, Prince," Damion growled, coming to a stop mere inches from Roman. "I was thinking of going easy on you today, but I think I've changed my mind."

As soon as he was finished speaking, the wind was knocked out of Roman as Damion punched him square in the stomach. Roman doubled over, clutching his stomach as he tried desperately to regain his breath. 

Before he could, however, one of Damion's followers walked behind Roman and grabbed his arm, pinning it behind his back. Roman hissed as his arm twisted unnaturally, eyes focused on his shoes as he tried not to cry.

"Awww, does that hurt, nerd?" Damion crowed, lifting Roman's chin up with a finger, making it so that Roman was forced to look at him. Turning to the rest of the group, Damion's smirked. "What do you say we have the geek sing us a song. Maybe if it's good, I might decide to go easy on him after all."

Damion's group laughed when he finished speaking. Damion grinned, turning back to Roman. "On second thought, what's the fun in going easy?"

Roman's eyes widened as Damion spoke, and the sinister student laughed before throwing a punch that hit the theatrical student squarely in the jaw. Roman groaned, knowing that he would have to use extra makeup the next day to cover the bruise that was sure to form. 

Before he had fully recovered from the punch, Roman felt someone kick the back of one of his knees, and he found himself kneeling on the floor. More pressure was applied to his arm, causing a whimper to escape his lips.

"P-please," he whispered, almost inaudibly. "Please stop."

A kick to the side of his ribs caused Roman to cry out, tears starting to blur his vision. 

"Don't you remember what I've said about begging, Princey?" Damion hissed as even more pressure was applied to Roman's arm. A sob escaped Roman as tears ran down his face. "It's only gonna bet you beat up worse. Ssssuck up, and we'll be done before you know it."

Roman braced himself for the next blow as tears continued to pour from his eyes, but a voice rang through the hallway before it could land.

"And just what do you think you're doing, Damion?" the voice called out, loud, clear, and confident. The pressure on Roman's arm suddenly vanished, and he let out a series of muffled whimpers as he tried to straighten it out. Once his arm was out from behind his back, Roman clutched it to his chest, letting his tears fall freely. 

Through his tears, Roman faintly saw someone kneel down in front of him, and he flinched away, not wanting to get beat up anymore.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," the person said in a soft voice. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I wanna help, okay?"

Roman faintly nodded, but he didn't move or say anything.

"Can I touch you?" the person asked, holding out their hand for Roman to see.

He nodded again, and the hand came closer, reaching up to touch his jaw. Roman hissed and flinched back when their fingers came in contact with his skin, his jaw surprisingly tender from the punch it had received. 

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," the person said, drawing their hand away slightly. "I didn't think it'd bruise up that quickly."

"'S okay," Roman whispered, glancing up at the person. They had dark black hair that was dyed purple at the ends. It fell into their face, slightly shielding their chocolate eyes, which were accentuated by their black eyeliner. Black eye shadow was smudged underneath their eyes.

"No, it's not okay," the stranger said, reaching out again to barely brush their fingertips along Roman's jaw. Their fingers were soft and warm, and Roman couldn't help but melt into the touch, not used to anyone besides Patton touching him in a way that didn't end with him getting hurt. 

It's not that his parents didn't care about him, but they always made sure to let him know when he had done something wrong. So sitting there with a stranger touching his jaw in the gentlest way possible was quite different from what he was used to, especially after a run in with Damion.  

"You're Roman, right?" the stranger asked, hand still resting on Roman's jaw. 

"H-how do you... how do you know my name?" Roman asked, raising one eyebrow slightly.

The stranger leaned forward and breathed out an answer. "Between you and me, I am quite fond of theatre, although I'd never be up on stage. I prefer to stay in the shadows."

"So you're a stagehand?" Roman asked, wondering why he'd never seen this person at any practices.

"Nah, I'm part of tech," they said. 

Roman hummed, trying to think of who was part of the tech crew. "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name." 

The stranger across from Roman chuckled, shaking their head. "Oh, yeah, I guess I didn't tell you. My name's Virgil Black."

Roman's eyes went wide. Virgil Black, the Virgil Black that stood up to bullies, was sitting right across from him. 

Virgil continued speaking, not seeming to notice Roman's slight freak out. "I'm so sorry that I didn't stop Damion sooner. I didn't even know that he had been bullying you until Ms. Torres-Rosario said something to me after I had her class during 4th hour. And we had planned that she would talk to you until I could get there to make sure you were okay, but then you rushed out, and I'm so sorry that Damion did that, and oh my god, I'm rambling, aren't I?"

Roman chuckled lightly, a small smile coming to his face. "I mean, maybe a tiny bit."

Vigil chuckled as well. "C'mon, let's go talk to Ms. Torres-Rosario. She'll be able to get you some ice."

Roman nodded, and Virgil stood up, holding a hand out to help Roman stand. Roman took Virgil's hand, and, with some difficulty due to his stomach and ribs being quite sore, Roman managed to stand up. The walk back to the Spanish classroom was a slow one, as Roman had to stop often because applying pressure hurt the leg that had been kicked. 

When they finally made it to the classroom, Roman immediately sat down at the first desk he came to, vaguely aware of Virgil talking to Ms. Torres-Rosario. Roman placed the arm that hadn't been forced behind his back on the desk, resting his chin in his hand. A hand cupping his cheek brought Roman out of his thoughts, and it was then that he realized that he had started crying again.

Looking up, he saw Virgil sitting next to him in a chair that he had pulled up, a small smile on his face.

"Hey, don't cry," Virgil said softly, wiping away Roman's tears with his thumb. "Damion won't be bothering you ever again, okay?"

Roman nodded slightly, but tears still streamed from his eyes.

"Alright, Virgil," Ms. Torres-Rosario said, walking over to where the two boys sat. "The office should be able to get that schedule change taken care of right away."

"Schedule change?" Roman asked, perking up slightly and looking between the two of them.

"Yeah," Virgil said sheepishly and pulled his hand away from Roman's cheek, only to start playing with the strings of his hoodie. "I was talking to Ms. Torres-Rosario after my Spanish class about possibly transferring classes so that you won't be alone."

"Wha-I, wait, what?" Roman gaped, slightly flabbergasted.

"We're gonna have basically the same schedule," Virgil confirmed, his smile growing. "I might even join your theatre class."

"But... why?" Roman asked, rather confused.

"What can I say?" Virgil said with a slight shrug. "Theatre geeks gotta stick together."