As Roman made his way through the school on Valentine's Day, he'd compiled so many gifts from not-so-secret admirers he could barely carry them all. He managed to get them into his backpack, only having to carry a single red rose. Part of him was a little disappointed, because he knew it was only because of his looks. No one knew him well enough to actually be in love with him. Not to mention everyone had soulmates. Everyone had a small tattoo of a flower on their wrist. When you first met your soulmate, they will give you a flower of the type on your wrist. People often dated in spite of the soulmates everyone knew they had, some not believing in it, others just wanting to experience different loves before settling down with their soulmate. He didn't think he'd ever find his, considering it was a black rose. No one gave black roses on Valentine's Day. Still, he smiled, deciding to take a detour through the park on his walk home to get some time to himself.

Someday I'll meet the one, he thought wistfully. He twirled the deep red rose, smiling. I hope it's soon though.

That's when he heard something. Roman turned around, seeing a small figure curled up under a tree nearby. He frowned thoughtfully, approaching it. "Excuse me? Are you alright?" he asked the curled up boy. He looked his age, and was shaking like he was crying.

"I-I'm fine," he snapped, not looking up as he tensed up.

Roman frowned even more, sitting down next to him and taking off his backpack. There was a discarded black on not to far away from the crying boy, leading to him believe it was his. He was dressed mostly black, with accents of purple. He wore a black and purple flower crown that looked like it was made with real flowers by the boy himself. "Well, I'm not the smartest person in the world, but I can see that's not true," he said, watching him. "Can you please tell me what's wrong?"

"Why should I?" he snapped, looking at him with a teary eyed glare. "You don't even know my name."

"That's true, but I'd like to," Roman replied, making his eyes widen a little in shock. "I don't know your name, or anything about you, but I don't like seeing you crying here by yourself. Please, allow me to help in some way."

The boy looked shell shocked, mouth hanging open slightly. "I hate Valentine's Day..." he murmured, looking away. Roman chuckled a little, twirling the rose.

"I think I do too," he replied, earning an incredulous look from him.

"W-Why? You're one of the most popular kids at school! Everyone hopes they're your soulmate," the boy questioned.

Roman hummed thoughtfully, silently taking into account that he knew who he was. "What do they know about me to be able to say they want to be with me?" he replied, looking in his direction. "Do you desire being my soulmate? Just as I know nothing about you, they don't really know me. I thought I loved this holiday but the more I think about it, the more I come to realize how treacherous of an occasion it is. Spend a day being given gifts by people who don't really care about you... they only do it so they might be the 'lucky one'... that doesn't sound very romantic."

The boy was staring at him with wide eyes, looking breathless. Roman blushed a little. "My apologies, I know the way I speak is a bit strange," he admitted in embarrassment.

"I think it's beautiful," the boy murmured, making him look at him in surprise. He flushed, mouth falling open. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"Not a problem," Roman replied, smiling. "I'm glad you think so. May I ask your name?"

He looked away shyly, bangs falling over his eyes. "It's Virgil," he said, uncurling a little.

"Well, Virgil, why do you dislike Valentine's Day?" he asked.

Virgil looked at his feet, sighing. "It's just... I don't have anyone who cares about me. Seeing everyone else walking around with teddy bears and balloons just reminds me of how much I hate myself," he said quietly.

"I'm sorry to hear that, you seem like a lovely person," Roman said, completely genuine in his statement. He checked the time, realizing he'd have to go to rehearsal for a community theatre show he was in. "Well, unfortunately I have to go. I've a performance at a community theatre that I have rehearsal tonight."

Virgil sighed a little. "Okay, break a leg with that," he said. Roman smiled, handing the rose in his hand to him. "Huh?"

"Happy Valentine's Day," he said, smiling wide. Virgil's eyes were wide as he took the rose from him. "I'm hope I helped you feel at least a little better."

He didn't say anything as he stared at he rose and Roman stood up. He picked up his backpack and started to walk away. "Wait!"

He turned to see Virgil running toward him. He was panting a little, but held up a flower he'd taken out of his flower crown. "Thank you, happy Valentine's Day to you too, Roman," he said with a shaky smile as he handed him the flower. As he took it from him, Virgil hastily said goodbye and hurried away. Roman smiled a little until he looked down at the flower.

Virgil had given him a black rose.

Roman's heart started racing as his eyes went wide. He compared it to the tattoo on his wrist, a smile spreading across his face. He hugged the rose carefully so that he didn't crush it, and blew a kiss in the direction of where Virgil had gone. He smiled as he twirled the rose.

"Happy Valentine's Day indeed."