Roman's POV:

I heard voices in the common room, making me pick up my pace. I was curious, hearing Patton gushing over something. When I reached it, my eyes widened and my mouth fell open. "Virgil?"

He turned around looking at me as I entered the room. My breath caught in my throat, a blush rising into my cheeks as I looked him up and down. The anxious emo didn't look like himself. In fact, he didn't even really look like Thomas. He looked like a Disney prince...

"What... what's all this?" I asked, gesturing to his new look.

He shrugged, smiling a little. "I don't know, I just felt like trying something new," he replied, rubbing his arm as he looked down and back at me. The action made my heart flutter. "We can shape shift, why not use it more often?"

"Doesn't he look amazing?" Patton asked, gushing over him. I couldn't help but smile at the way he ruffed his hair, earning an embarrassed laugh from Virgil.

"Thanks Dad," he said, trying to fix it back into it's typical style. "I'm glad you like it and don't think it's freaky... I wouldn't be surprised if Sir Sing-A-Lot over there was biting his tongue with the insults."

He gave me a pointed look, making me gasp and shake my head. I approached, him taking his hand out of instinct. "No, no! I think you look breathtaking!" I said, feeling my heart race in my chest.

Virgil's eyes went wide as his cheeks flushed a little, looking down at his hand being held by mine. Realization dawned on me that this was, in fact, Virgil and not actually a Disney prince. I laughed nervously, face become redder and redder as I let go of his hand.

"I-I mean- uh- my a-apologies, V-Virgil," I managed, taking a step back as he stared at me. Patton was smirking knowingly, making me even more embarrassed as I backed out of the room. "I-I'll see you g-guys later, I've got to t-train."

I didn't see Virgil's thoughtful look toward me as I left in a hurry. Once inside the training room, I let out a wistful sigh. I slapped a hand over my mouth as I blushed more. This was Virgil I was fawning over! What was wrong with me?

Maybe you already like him you idiot, a voice said in my head. Maybe you've always liked him and seeing him like this has just been facts slapping you in the face.

I let out a flustered laugh at my thoughts, starting to realize it was true. I had liked Virgil for a long time, just never realizing it was like that until now. I brushed it off, picking up my sword and changing into workout clothes to start a training sequence in order to get my mind off of the embarrassment of my actions. About twenty minutes later, I had gone through four levels of sequences, each getting harder. I was sweating and feeling hot as I panted, making me pull off my shirt and drink some water before starting the next sequence.

"Well, isn't that a pleasant sight."

My head snapped up to see Virgil leaning against the wall. My face flushed deep red as I realized he'd been watching me. "H-How long have you been there?"

"Eh, about ten minutes," he said with a shrug. He was behaving a little different as he walked towards me. I was drinking water, trying to avoid the fact that I was standing shirtless in front of the person I'd just realized I'd been crushing on who happens to look like the Disney prince of my dreams. "I was just stopping by cause I wanted to know what this morning was about."

I stopped drinking, quickly swallowing the water to avoid spitting it out in shock. I looked up to see his smirk, feeling my face warm even more.

Play it off, you're Princey, remember? I thought, flicking my hair with a smirk.

"Don't think much of it, Hot Topic," I replied, putting up my cocky facade. "Your little prince transformation changes nothing."

Virgil hummed thoughtfully as he smirked more, making my heart race. He took a step toward me, looking down with his head but up at me with his eyes flirtatiously. "Hmm, I beg to differ," he said, making swallowing a lot harder for a second. "By the way, today's Sunday."

"So?" I replied, confused.

The dark prince looking Side smirked and leaned toward me even more as I raised my eyebrow at him. "You never train on Sundays," Virgil said. My facade fell in realization; he was right. "And you like to train when something's bothering you. So..."

He walked toward me, backing me against the wall. I gasped as he pinned me there, pulse rushing, head reeling, and face flushing. "Tell me, Roman," he murmured, smirking. "Do I have you bothered?"

"I-I-" I stammered, unable to function properly with our position. "I-I guess s-so."

"Hmm, and why is that?" Virgil questioned, looking like he already knew the answer.

I hung my head a little as I bit my lip, never having felt so embarrassed before. "B-Because I like you, I-I guess," I managed, looking up to see his reaction. He actually blinked, looking surprised. I frowned. "Was that not the answer you were expecting?"

"I thought it was because I looked different," he said, unpinning me from the wall. My eyes were wide as he started pacing. "It probably is because I look different. You never told me you liked me before I turned into this... dark Disney prince looking person. You must be mistaking your feelings for attraction to my looks, Roman."

I frowned at his response as I reached down to pick up my shirt which had been discarded previously. "Virgil, I know what my feelings are," I said, getting him to look up at me with a skeptical expression. "I'm serious, I have feelings for you."

"No, you don't," he snapped. "You have feelings for this guy."

He was gesturing to himself, clearly talking about his new look. "You don't have feelings for this one," he continued, snapping his fingers and turning back into himself. I blinked a few times, frowning as I tried to figure out how I could convince him I wasn't lying. "Do you, Roman?"

"Yes, I do!" I replied firmly. "It's not about what you look like, Virgil! It's about you! I've had feelings for you for a while! They've just been shoved so far back in my mind that I haven't thought about them again until now! I know, that sounds stupid, but hey! When you're stupid, you have to say stupid things."

That made him gasp a tiny bit, making me immediately regret saying it. I looked away, angry at myself letting one of my insecurities show itself. "Roman, you're not stupid."

"Logan would beg to differ," I replied with a forced laugh. "Shall I list the ways he's told me? Half-wit, slow witted, arrogant, vapid, nonsensical, just stupid, and I could keep going."

I looked at him with a glare as the words stung. Sure, I was the confident prince, the one that's impossible to hurt with insults. That was so untrue it was almost laughable. I was more sensitive than I'd ever let the others know, until now that is. Every word stuck in my mind and resurfaced whenever I screwed up.

I hadn't realized Virgil had approached me until I felt a hand on my shoulder. Still being shirtless, his hand felt cold against my skin, making an almost inaudible gasp escape my lips. He was still himself as I looked at him. "Roman, you need to listen to me," he said, voice firm despite his eyes being gentle. "You are not stupid. I don't think so. Patton doesn't think so. Logan doesn't think so, despite what he's said in the past during videos. How many times have you told me directly and indirectly that you disliked me?"

I winced, looking away as I thought about how much my words must've hurt. "Yeah, a lot," he said, getting me to look back at him. "But I don't think you really don't like me. Do you dislike me, Roman?"

"Of course not!" I replied quickly, feeling guilt in my throat. He smiled a little sadly, looking at me expectantly. I sighed heavily as I broke eye contact. "Okay, so you guys don't think I'm stupid, that doesn't change the fact that I'm the least intelligent of the group."

"I don't believe that to be true," Virgil replied, looking thoughtful. "I think we're all at the same level of intelligence, besides Logan, honestly. Look, I know, believe me, I know, what you're feeling. Those words won't go away, your self doubt is really hard to fight, but you have to at least try, okay? You will feel like this sometimes; it's inevitably in human nature. That doesn't make you a bad person, ignoring the fact that we're Sides of Thomas. We have feelings and emotions too."

I nodded a little, feeling my chest loosen a little at his words. "Next time you're feeling like this, I want you to come to me, alright?" he said, smiling a little.

"A-Alright..." I mumbled, offering a shaky smile in response. We were quiet for a moment before I spoke up again. "So... we kinda got side tracked..."

He chuckled a little as he nodded. "Yeah, we did, but I'm not bothered," he replied, taking his hand off my shoulder. I frown a little at the loss of his contact, but kept it to myself.

"Are you going to believe me when I tell you I like you now?" I asked nervously. Before he could respond, I continued. "Because I've never shared my insecurities with anyone before, and I'm incredibly grateful you listened and helped me and stuff-"

"Roman," he interrupted, making me stop to look at him. Virgil smiled warmly, something I don't get to see very often. "I believe you."

I sighed in relief. "You have them too, assume?" I inquired, earning a small nod from the anxious emo. My heart soared in my chest as I took his hand. "Then, coffee? You and me?"

"Sounds perfect," he replied, lacing our fingers together. He laughed a little, making me confused until he continued, poking my chest. "You might want to put a shirt on first though."