Virgil's a loner. This is and has always been a fact of his life. It bothered him at first, but over time, he stopped caring; at least, stopped caring enough to be upset about it.

It was okay with him; well, not Okay with a capital O, but it was fine, because it's not like it was going to change or anything.

Walking to and from school alone is his routine at this point, and he's memorized every part of his route and neighborhood. There's a non-binary person who's introduced themself as K.C. who always comes outside for a run at 6:40. The old hag with the barking dogs, Mrs. Jenkins, always passes him on the sidewalk with a scrutinizing look at 6:42. Mrs. Gates waters her flowers at 3:15, Mr. Brooks arrives back at his house from walking his dog, Penny, at 3:21, Virgil gets to his house at 3:33 and he looks at the house that's had a 'For Sale' sign in the front yard for four years as he unlocks his front door.

However, when he walks home from school that Friday afternoon, the 'For Sale' sign has a big red sticker on it that reads: 'SOLD'. He doesn't think too much about it as he goes into his house. That house never held onto residents very long. The number of times it had been switched from Sold back to For Sale was way too many for him to take it seriously.

His life continues normally for about a week, until the sign is gone completely and there's a car in the driveway. His eyes widen because someone had actually moved in next door to him.

Virgil didn't really know how he felt about that. He had a neighbor on the other side, but it was just a typical nuclear family whose kids were too young for him to be friends with and parents too conservative for his parents to be friends with.

He bit down on his lip, considering as he went into his house. The darkly dressed boy put his backpack down and tapped his foot a couple times against the floor. With a sigh, he made his way back out the front door and walked nervously along the sidewalk up to the house. He didn't know why he was doing this, but something was drawing him toward the house, like he needed to find out who lived there now.

Swallowing back his nerves, he raised a hand and pushed the doorbell's button, hearing it ring from outside. There was the sound of a dog barking at the noise, making him internally wince. Of course his first impression would include ignoring the shit out of his new neighbors by making their dog go nuts.

Virgil could hear shuffling and a muffled voice behind the door, making him twist his hands together anxiously. What am I doing? he thought, feeling like it was getting harder to breathe. This is so stupid, why am I doing this? What am I even doing?!

He snapped out of his thoughts as someone opened the door. He froze on the spot, eyes going wide and mouth falling open just slightly. The person who opened the door happened to be a kid his age, and a very, very handsome young man. He had this chestnut brown hair that curled into slight waves that fell perfectly on his forehead and these caramel colored eyes that made Virgil's knees weak. He felt frozen in place, just staring at this gorgeous person in awe.

"Uh hey? I'm guessing you're my new neighbor?" the boy greeted, smiling charmingly. He stuck out his hand for him to shake. "Roman Prince! Pleasure to meet you!"

The darkly dressed boy shook it sheepishly, blushing as he realized just how much he'd been staring at him. "Virgil... Virgil Black," he replied, introducing himself the best he could considering how nervous he was. "I- uh- I just wanted to see who had moved in here, um, aren't you in high school?"

"Yeah, I'm starting next Monday so I can settle in and everything, blah blah blah, you know?" Roman explained, smiling. "I guess I can agree that I need to learn my way around this place."

"Well, I could show you around after school if you'd like," Virgil said before he could stop himself. He flushed bright red as the other boy looked at him in surprise. "Uh- I mean- I just meant that um... I've lived here all my life, so I know this place like the back of my hand, so I could show you around if you need someone to..."

He smiled warmly. "I'd love that, Virgil," he said with a nod.

This choice was how Virgil Black found himself walking home, setting his backpack down, and then immediately going over to the other boy's house every day for the next week, the two of them going and exploring the town he already knew by memory. He showed Roman his favorite ice cream place, the movie theatre he always went to, and his favorite ice skating rink. The two of them just seemed to click with every passing day they spent together, and being the gay disaster he was, the darkly dressed boy knew he was head over heels for him.

The problem was, he wasn't sure if Roman felt the same way. Nonetheless, when his mother heard about how much they were getting along, she was more the welcoming about him coming over the hang out.

This was how Virgil Black found himself hurrying up the stairs of his house to his bedroom with the princely boy right behind. He opened the door for him, allowing him to go into his room as he followed behind. He closed the door behind him and turned to speak to Roman when all of a sudden his back was being pressed against the wood of the door and there was a warm breath hovering over his lips.

He gasped a little as the other boy kissed him, but once he got over the initial shock of the action, he smiled and kissed him back, making Roman break into a grin and pull away. "Sorry, I've just been wanting to do that since you showed up at my door."