Trigger Warnings: Slight gore(It's fake, though), slight cursing (It's Remus, so...), fake friends, depressing descriptions.

Roman groaned as his alarm ringed in bird noises. He made that the sound, to make him feel more like a Disney prince. He sat up and looked around his gigantic room. It was filled with everything he needed, wanted. Well- enough so that his parents believed it looks good if he had guests over. Can't have Rachel and Charles Prince's son look like a "commoner." Honestly, he loved playing prince, but his parents act like they actually are royalty. At least Roman's just performing.

Roman was tired. And his blankets were warm and comforting. And he spent all night waiting for his father's business partners to leave, because he had to sit in, to learn the business, and if Charles Prince's son looked interested in learning business, well, looking perfect in his partner's eyes is a welcome bonus.

Roman sighed as he flipped out of bed. See, he would've loved to sleep longer, but what most people don't know- is that he has a twin brother. Remus Prince. Remus is everything his parents despise. He's loud, vulgar, rebellious, independent, wild, uncontrollable. There isn't a day in the Prince Palace, (it's a mansion, but same difference), where Remus Prince wasn't getting yelled at or scolded or grounded. Roman wasn't allowed to like his brother, his parents would go ballistic on him. They wouldn't yell at him. No, the Princes don't yell. But they stare at you with blades of iron as they send ice to grip your gut and push it up through your throat. They guilt you and manipulate you, until there's no doubt that you're their obedient dog. They would increase their control on Roman until he was nothing more than a puppet, all because he didn't hate his twin brother. To be fair, you wouldn't like your friend if they associated pleasantly with a murderer, would you? And, there's no proof on weather or not Remus has killed someone, so...

Even though Roman wasn't allowed to be nice to his brother, he could still help him in subtle ways, so that's why he needed to get up earlier than he would like, to make sure Remus and his parents weren't alone.

Roman threw on his white t-shirt and red Letterman jacket. His left chest sporting a golden R with a silhouette of a crown resting on it. He threw on black jeans and styled his brown-auburn hair to perfection. In reality, Roman truly looked like a modern day prince, if a little stuck up. But, Roman felt like a raging dumpster fire. So, that's what he sees in the mirror, which makes the fire burn more. He takes a deep breath to try and quench his burning chest, and heads down stairs.

Unsurprisingly, Remus was there- sitting on the counter, his hand stuck in a blender splattered with red. Roman gaped at the scene, trying to process what he was seeing. After a moment of dumb downed time, Roman practically tripped down the rest of the stairs and stumbled to his counterpart.

"REMUS, WHAT H- WHAT THE F- WHAT HAPPENED, WHY- WH- !?" Roman could feel the fire flare inside him, and as the fumes rose up his throats, he discovered he couldn't breath. With no escape route at his nose or mouth, the smoke rose to his eyes where it turned to a salty liquid that Roman could just barely fight back.

Remus-...laughed? "Ro-bro, chill. It's just ketchup. Damn, you panicked hard, what happened to not caring about me?" Remus was initially shocked by the panic his twin fell into when he thought Remus blended his hand off. He was confused by the contrast to his normal behavior, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.

Roman sputtered, indignantly. He was stalling while he fought the tears back down and took a deep breath. He glared at his brother, "Not caring about you doesn't mean that I want you to be hopelessly mangled!"

"Hm, but you cared. Not wanting me to be mangled means you care."

"N- well, it- It would look bad on us if you got hurt. So- don't do that," Roman muttered, crossing his arms.

Remus smiled and licked the ketchup off his hand, and Roman gagged. Remus did, too. He forgot it was ketchup on his hand.

Roman lost his appetite, so he just sat at the table, scrolling through his phone as he waited for it to be time to go.

Remus piped up as he put the newly washed blender in the drainer, "Mums and Pops 're gonna be in Paris for a few months."

Roman released a sigh as the fire flickered soothingly. Remus was slightly baffled at the relieved reaction. Remus always saw Roman as a spoiled prince, as someone who thought he was better and more deserving of everything. He thought Roman loved being his parents little puppy, listening to their every command. So, what was this new empathy Roman was displaying? Had Remus misjudged him...?

"Hey, dump truck, what are you staring at?" Came a snarky voice. And, just as quickly as the kindness appeared- it was gone, again. Guess he hadn't misjudged him.

"Your dick," Remus deadpanned, as Roman glared.

"Vulgar, don't let mother and father discover you've been acting up while they're away."

"Pfft- like you'll let me."

"Dirtier version of me, I don't have time to babysit you. Just don't let anything you do be traced back to me, and we're cool."

Remus was confused, "You're not gonna keep me on a leash?"

"You rabious dog, you'd chew through it," and with that, Roman snatched up his bag and walked away.

Remus is confused.

-School-

Roman walked into the school, immediately eyes are drawn to him. With Roman, you either love him, or you hate him. But the people who loved him don't care about him. His friend group consists of the children from his parents' business partners and whoever else they approved of.

"Ah, I see you have arrived approximately 2 minutes and 39 seconds late," Logan said in a human version of a robot's voice.

Janus rolled his eyes, "How disgraceful."

Janus Lies and Logan Logos(yes, their parents did that to them.) The only two of his friends that were actually friends. He enjoyed spending time with each other. They all understood each other, being children of like minded rich parents helps with that. They all know what it feels like to be nothing more than a tool, and not being able to do anything about it. They know what it's like to be forced to burn themselves out, until it was just a habit they adopted. They all know what it's like to be broken, but have to shove the left over pieces into a pit in their chests until it catches on fire, and then they just have to let it burn. Because if anyone saw that they weren't happily perfect, their parents would make them forget what happiness feels like. So, yes. They're very good friends.

Roman laughs, "My deepest apologies."

Logan sighs, but a fond smile threatens to tug at his lips, "How do I handle you two?"

The vitiligo boy winked at the mechanical one, "You don't."

It wasn't long until the trio's other friends caught up to them, and they all had to pretend like they enjoyed the extra company. Logan wasn't a particularly social guy, he's introverted, and all of his friends are loud and obnoxious, including Roman when he's playing along. Janus hates how obviously fake everyone is, how hurtful they're willing to let their lies be, just because the three were the richest and most successful. Roman hated having to act all the time, how he had to be confident and arrogant and loud and rude and- "perfect". All the time. Because that's who he was. He envies Remus. He's brave enough to defy their parents and be imperfect. And he's free to just be whatever, because he makes it that way. Roman envies Virgil, the loner emo of the school, because no one pays attention to him. He's not expected to be perfect, and smart, and talented, and no one cares if his hair is a purple mess or if this jacket has one too many wrinkles. He's confident and open about his anxiety (ironically, enough). He lets everyone know that he's messed up, because that's a part of him. Trauma, anxiety, fears, emo-ness, that's all a part of Virgil. And does being so open terrify him? Duh! He's a teenager with anxiety! But he's never been told to hide it, and he never will. What you see is what you get, with Virgil.

Roman isn't that brave. Roman's gonna keep hiding behind his comedy mask. He's gonna follow the path his parents set for him. He's gonna keep his imperfections and insecurities tucked away to burn inside that dumpster. Because Roman isn't brave. Roman isn't strong. Roman isn't confident. Roman isn't free. Because Roman cares about what people think about him. Roman's pathetic. Roman's a coward. And Roman's a puppet. And Roman's rude. Roman's a jerk. Roman's stuck up. Roman's a bully. And Roman's not not not a hero, to anyone. He used to dream of being knight, or a prince, or an superhero, but he's not. Roman's evil evil evil. Because Roman's nothing nothing nothing. And Roman's scared, Roman's confused, Roman's lost, Roman's broken... And Roman needs help...

...

Roman hadn't realized that he'd been walking through the empty halls- until he smacked into a wall.

He glanced up in shock, and looked back at his snickering friends, as Logan asked if he was okay and Janus glared at the giggling others. Roman just smiled and affirmed that he's alright and kept walking.