"Listen," she put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll give you $10 everyday if you become friends with my son." She handed him the money.
       "Okay."

       Virgil was unusually lonely. It wasn't that fact that he didn't want a friend, it was the fact that no one wanted to be his friend.
       He always sat alone at lunch, away from everyone else. He had a loner seat in each of his classes, a seat away from everyone else. But he was top of his school. Always getting straight A's and getting perfect scores on every test. And people despised him for it.
       So when this happened, of course Virgil was shocked beyond belief. He was at a loss for words. Of course, he didn't talk much as it was. Him and his family shared very few words.
       "I want to be your friend." He was handsome, tall, and had a good build. But he was extremely blunt. All Virgil could do was stare at him.
       "W-w-w-what?!" Virgil stepped back, shocked by the sudden words directed towards him.
       "So, what's your answer, I don't got all day." He stared down at him coldly.
       Does this guy even know how to smile?! Virgil thought. He turned around. "Thanks, but I'm fine on my own." He began walking away until he felt a tug on his sleeve.
       "I, uh.. I'm not good with talking to people, so... I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." The kid hid the bottom half of his face with his wrist.
       Virgil blushed. Cute?! He pulled his arm back and avoided looking at the other.
       "I'll consider it. Try smiling, it usually makes you come off as more nice. Instead you just seem like an asshole. I thought you were gonna take my money or something." He turned and began to walk away.
       "Ouch.. that stung.." he mumbled. He jogged to catch up with him. "I'm Roman, by the way." He smiled at him.
       "Tree." Virgil said as Roman ran into a tree. "I'm Virgil."
       Roman rubbed his nose. "Ow.. nice to meet you Virgil!" He looked around at all the kids staring at them. "I, uh.. I'm gonna head to class."
       "It's the end of the day, dumbass. Classes are over." He stared in front of him. He'd noticed the stares from when Roman first started talking to him.
       "Ouch. No wonder you don't have friends." Roman began following him again. "But now I'm here!"
       "Shut up, asshole." Virgil growled. "I never asked you to be here."
       Roman smiled. "You're right. You didn't ask me." He swung his arms behind him.
       "Yo fag! Catch!" A muscular kid threw a football at Roman, who caught it with his face.
       Roman fixed his balance and looked up at the guys. Virgil turned around to watch, thinking about how he was going to take it.
       Roman smiled. Virgil stared shockingly at him. "What?! Beat their asses!" He yelled.
       "Yeah, come get us!" The guys laughed.
       Roman winked at them. "Wouldn't you just love for me to do so?" He picked up the football. "If you want it back, you better come get it." He cooed.
       "Bro, go get it!" The biggest guy pushed out one of the others.
       "What? No! You go get it! It's your ball!"
       Roman's smile dropped as he felt someone take the ball. He watched as Virgil chucked the ball at the tallest guy, hitting him square in the nose.
       "You're pathetic." Virgil said. "Now hurry up." He kept walking, shoving his hands in his pockets.
       Roman watched him walk. He smiled and ran up to him. "You did that for me, right? Right?!" He pointed to himself.
       "Of course not, you bastard!" He slapped the back of his head. "I just hate those kind of guys." He walked at a little bit of a slower pace than Roman, who was practically bouncing up and down. "So you're gay?" He asked.
       "What? No! Of course not! Those guys just like to pick on me. Making up random stuff." He laughed nervously.
       "I'm not judging you. I have a gay aunt, so it's not like I'm homophobic." He shrugged. "But I'm not surprised either."
       "What's that supposed to mean?!" Roman complained. "Do I look gay?!"
       Virgil glanced at him, then averting his eyes to the space in front of him. "Yes."

       "Hey sweetie, how'd your day go?" Virgil's mom popped out from the kitchen, drying a plate.
       Virgil let out a deep breath. Something he's been holding in since he met that kid. He threw his bag down and hugged his mom.
       "I made a friend!" He let go and jumped around the room. "I didn't even do anything, he just came up and asked me! I-I'm so happy!" He fell onto the couch, his cat Winston coming to see what was up. "I've never had one before. It feels so good to have someone to talk to."
       His mother smiled and went back into the kitchen, instantly frowning once she was out of sight. Did I do a good thing?
       Virgil dashed upstairs with his bag and set it in front of his bed. He picked up Winston and held him. "I can't believe it." He sighed.

       "Good morning!" Roman spotted Virgil and ran up to him. "How's my favourite friend?"
       "I'm probably your only friend." Virgil pointed out. "Which I wouldn't be surprised if I were, considering you're annoying."
       "You're stingy. Anyways, I was wondering if I could come over today!"
       "No." Virgil said coldly.
       "What? Why not!" Roman whined. He walked beside the other into the school.
       "I just met you yesterday. I've never had a friend, so I don't know how this works. For all I know, you could be a psychopathic murderer!" He opened his locker and got ready for A-block.
       "Oh please! You're being over dramatic." He leaned against the lockers and waved his hand. "There's no way in hell this adorable face could murder anyone."
        Virgil slammed his locker, causing a jump from the other, and avoided looking at Roman. "Stuff it, Eryns." He said as he walked away.
       "How did he know my last name..?" He noticed how far down the hall he was. "Wait up!" He called, running after him.

       The bell rang and Roman dashed out of class. He found a familiar dark blue car and ran towards it. "We should hurry, I don't know how fast he gets out here."
       She handed him the money and sighed. "I'm sorry I'm making you do this. He's just so out of place that I want him to feel like he belongs somewhere. You can still back out, if you want." She looked apologetically at him.
       "It's fine." Roman said. He shoved the ten dollars in his pocket. "He's kinda easy to manage. A little rude, but it's okay."
       Roman noticed Virgil walking out of the school and waved. "Over here, emo nightmare!" He called.
       Virgil glared at him as he walked up to the car. "Don't call me that." He opened the passenger car door. "I don't know why you're here, but you better be taking me home."
       She smiled at her son. "I was just inviting your friend here to come study with you."
       Virgil glared out the window at him. "Did you not hear a single word I said this morning?"
       Roman ignored him and hopped in the back seat. He smiled at him.
       Virgil looked away from him. Asshole.
       "You're acting awfully rude. He never usually acts like this, Roman. Oh man, you should've seen him yesterday when he found out he had a friend-"
       "No! Nothing! She's talking about nothing! Absolute nonsense!" Virgil interrupted.
       "No, please, continue." Roman leaned forward.
       "He was crazy. So happy he'd finally made a friend." She smiled sympathetically. "He's never had one before. I've never seen him this happy since he was a little boy. It's something every mother wants to see from their closed-out kid." She wiped the tears that brimmed her eyes.
       Roman looked over at Virgil, who was looking out the window and blushing. He smiled and leaned back in his seat. "Then it will be my duty to make sure this one," he pointed to Virgil. "Has a happy life with one great ass friend!"
       Virgil remained looking out the window. He smiled and kept blushing. "What a great proposal."
       "Thank you. I thought of it as of just now." Roman said proudly.
       "Dork." He chuckled.
       Roman felt heat rising to his cheeks. He smiled and looked at Virgil's mother smiling at him through the mirror.

       "No!" Virgil yelled in frustration. "God! You're absolutely hopeless! Just drop out already!"
       Roman frowned at the other sitting across from him. "Then be a better teacher."
       Virgil looked at him. "Excuse me?"
       Roman let out a little squeak. "I-I-I mean- I-I'll try to understand it better!" He tensed up.
       "You add, then you divide, and finally, multiply it by three. You do that on every equation! It's not that hard!" He watched Roman jot down a few things.
       He held up the paper. "Like that?" He asked.
       "Yes! Yes finally you understand! Oh thank god!" He fell backwards onto the floor and stared at the ceiling. He saw a figure loom over him.
       Roman squatted down and stared at Virgil. "You're cute." He said bluntly.
       Virgil bolted up. "Wh-Wh-What?! Quit spewing nonsense and continue doing your homework!" He blushed and pulled his knees to his chest, refusing to look at the other.
       Roman smiled and sat back down in his spot. "You're right, sorry. I got lost in the moment." He chuckled and looked at the papers sadly.
       "Boys! Dinner's ready!" Virgil's mom called.
       When Roman and Virgil stepped into the kitchen, they noticed a bulky man in a white dress shirt at the dining table.
       Virgil smiled and hugged the man. "Hey dad."
       He hugged back and noticed Roman. "Bah! Who's this?!" He stood up and grabbed him by the shoulders. "My son's got a friend! Honey, did you see this?!"
       She laughed. "Yes, I've seen it sweetie." She gave Roman a look. It was between worry and sadness, but she supressed a smile.
       Virgil looked between the two. He noticed something strange about their atmosphere. They were hiding something. He suddenly remembered the money Roman pocketed at the car. He hung his head low.
       "You're paying him.."  he clenched his fists and stared at the floor.
       "Honey-"
       "You're paying him to be my friend." He gritted his teeth. "I thought someone actually liked me for once, but that's not it at all!" He looked up at them, tears streaming down his face. "How could you do this?" He looked at Roman instead of his mom.
       "No no no! Virgil, wait! You've got it all wron-" Roman began.
       "I've got nothing wrong! Why did I think something like this could magically happen? I got my hopes up for nothing!" He stormed past them and slammed his bedroom door, locking it after throwing Roman's stuff outside of it.
       "Virgil please!" Roman knocked on the door. "Will you let me explain, dammit?!"
       "Go home! And don't talk to me ever again, Eryns!" He yelled through the door.
       Roman listened to the sobs from the other side of the door. He stopped knocking and picked up his stuff. "I didn't want to, Virgil. I want to be your friend." He walked away and waved at his parents before leaving the house.

       I should've known he was just toying with me. Virgil ignored his mother saying goodbye as he left the house. And it was her idea, too. The thought of his mother doing something like that pained him.
       Roman tried talking to him all throughout the day, but Virgil was giving him nothing. All he did was ignore him, not even look in his direction.
       "Virgil." Roman firmly grabbed Virgil's arm, who freaked out and pulled it back. "Ah, sorry.. listen to me, will you? Forget about all of that. Forget everything that happened. At first, yeah, I was just doing it to help out a mom with her son and being paid for it, but now, I don't care, I want to be your friend." He looked pleadingly at him.
       "You tricked me." Virgil began, his voice hoarse from crying in the bathrooms. "You went against me. All those things you did and said, you were being paid for." He clenched his fists. "I never knew what it felt like to have a friend, and I felt like the happiest person in the whole universe when I heard those first words come out of your mouth. A friend is all I wanted. Not someone who was being forced to hang out with me." He looked up at Roman. "Leave me the fuck alone."
       Roman watched as he walked away. He wanted to yell, run after him, but he couldn't. He was frozen solid. He just watched as his friend, best friend, favourite person, crush, walked away.

       Virgil walked down the dark streets. He plugged his earbuds in and focused on his footsteps. He watched as the sidewalk lit up every so often from the street lamps he walked by.
       He hummed along to My Chemical Romance and Evanescence songs. He walked up to a street light and saw people walking past him. He guided himself so he wouldn't run into him.
       He felt a tug at his arm, and the next thing he knew, he was up against the pole, two dirty looking guys smiling in front of him.
       "What's a kid like you walkin' about alone in the dark?" He ripped out his earbuds and threw it to the ground, along with the phone which came flying out of his pocket.
       As he got all up in his face, Virgil punched the guy. Once he was free, he gave a quick kick to the balls then stood over the guy as he crumpled to the floor.
       "You disturbed my thinking." He said coldly, giving a pained smile. "You fucking asshole." He went down and beat his ass.
       "Virgil!" Someone called.
       Virgil let go of the guy and dropped him on the ground as he saw a figure running towards them. He watched as the second guy scurried off. He picked up his now cracked phone and earbuds.
       "You're late." Virgil looked up at Roman through his bangs. "What do you want?"
       "A-Are you okay?!" He went to reach for his face, but his hand was swatted away.
       "I'm fine. Why are you here?" He asked, dusting off his clothes.
       "I-I was going for a nighttime jog, then I saw this, and so I came sprinting. Ah, but it seems you already have it taken care of.." he looked at his feet, the at the guy who was trying to get up and run off.
       "You should've kept running. I'm going home." He plugged back in his earbuds.
       "God fucking dammit Virgil!" That caught his attention. He whirled around to see Roman, trying to be angry, but instead breaking into tears. "I-If you'd just listen for one fucking second, maybe you'd reconsider!" He clenched his fists. "I want to be your friend! I always lost friends because I was gay. But you stuck around." His voice softened. "You said you didn't care. Those guys who were making fun of my sexuality, well, you kicked their asses with a single football! And I'm so god damn thankful for that. For you. You're the first real friend I've ever had. Forget the money! I don't want shit! All I want is to continue being your friend." He wiped his tears the best he could, but they kept falling.
       Virgil held out his hand to grab him, but retracted it. He shoved his earbuds in his pocket and walked closer to the boy. "I-I don't know.. how..." he said. "But I'll try my best.. to be a good friend." He held out his arms, and almost instantly, Roman ran into them, crying into his shoulder. Virgil held him, messing with his hair.
       "Aw, how cute." The guy coughed. He earned a glare from Virgil, which was enough to get him up on his feet and scurrying away.

       Virgil and Roman walked to his room. Virgil's mom smiled when she saw the two boys together. She nudged her husband, who had a wide grin on his face.
       "You sounded real cheesy back there. It made me cringe." Virgil said, grabbing two pillows and putting them in front of his bed so him and Roman could sit on the floor.
       "I was caught up in the moment, okay? I didn't even know what I was saying anymore!" He sat down and crossed his arms.
       "Dork." Virgil chuckled. He sat next to him. "Say it already."
       "Say what?" Roman asked. He uncrossed his arms and faced the other.
       "Y'know, your confession. I've been waiting all night, but it still hasn't come." He sighed and put his arms behind his head.
       Roman blushed and scooted back, running into the bookshelf. "W-w-what?! C-confession?! What are you talking about?!" He covered his face with his hands.
       Virgil glanced over at him and smiled. "I'm just teasing you, Roman, geez. Of course you don't like me, that's nonsense." He closed his eyes and smiled more.
       Roman dropped his hands. "Yeah.. of course I don't. That'd be crazy. Absolutely insane. It'd be so weird if I di-"
       "Shut the fuck up, Eryns." Virgil put his arms down and looked at him with a straight face. "It's no secret that you like me."
       "I-I-I'm sorry!" Roman stuttered.
       Virgil suddenly smiled and scooted closer to Roman, setting his head in his lap. The other blushed wildly, trying to contain himself.
       Virgil reached up and pulled Roman down for a kiss. "You owe'd me for taking care of those jocks for you." He winked.
       Roman's face was red all over. He looked down at Virgil, who had his eyes closed. He smiled and played with his hair.
       "I can live with this." He said.

REQUESTS ARE OPEN

This was requested by the lovely K3A3P3