In senior year, Roman fell in love. He fell in love on stage in front of an audience of easily a hundred or more people. He fell hard and became undeniably in love with a boy he'd never would've pegged to be his type. He never saw it coming either, but didn't regret a single thing about it.

It started late in the afternoon in August. Roman Prince had been congratulated all day for landing the lead roll in the musical they were doing this fall, but he hadn't gotten a chance to take a look at the cast list himself yet. Knowing they were beginning rehearsal that afternoon, he headed for the theatre as soon as the bell rang.

His friends greeted him and slapped him on the back as he headed for the cast list that was hanging up on the stage door. He smiled to himself as he pulled a gold, glittery pencil out of his backpack, initialing next to his name with satisfaction.

While he was there, Roman figured he looked at the other parts that were assigned. Directly under his name was a vaguely familiar one that was next to his opposite lead. His jaw fell open slightly with shock.

There was no way he was playing the love interest of Virgil Black.

He was the resident emo of the school, always wearing black and heavy clothing, even in ninety degree weather. He always had these purple headphones on that almost blended into his dyed hair, which was constantly hanging in front of his eyes. He never tried to talk to anyone; most people in the school had never even heard his voice before.

Roman hurried the stage where the students where setting up a table for the named characters and chairs for everyone else. It was already mostly done, so nearly everyone was seated.

The princely boy spotted the person he was looking for in seconds. He was a black spot that stuck out against the colors of the theatre department's kids. He looked out of place and uncomfortable, eyes flicking back and forth around the room as he scribbled in a sketchbook.

Marching over to the director, he put his hands on his hips stubbornly. "May I have a word, Mr. Reyes?"

"I already know what you're going to say Roman, and the answer is no, I'm not reassigning Mr. Black's role to someone else," he said. He opened his mouth to protest, but his teacher was quick to continue. "Have you ever heard him sing? He's got the unique voice needed for Angel's part, and you were just talking to me about ways we could get more recruits. This is a young boy with talent and a fresh face. It may inspire those around the school who've been too skeptical about the casting to join."

Roman frowned and huffed; he was furious that the man had a point. "That's fair, but just because he was able to sing for you doesn't mean he'll be able to do it in front of an audience," he pointed out, glaring at the boy from across the theatre.

Virgil was watching them talk, almost like he could tell he was complaining about him. He had an unreadable expression on his face. It made the princely boy's skin crawl with uncertainty.

He then stood up and approached them, looking nervous but also defeated in a way. "If there's a problem with my presence here, I can let someone else have my part," he said quietly, not looking at Roman.

Guilt stabbed at his stomach at the boy's words; he knew he was being a prick, he was just not sure how well this new kid would be able to handle the pressure of a show.

"There's nothing wrong, Virgil," Mr. Reyes assured him. "Roman here was just worried you'd be uncomfortable with acting out a romantic relationship with him, so he wants to try fake dating to make it easier for you two."

"I what?!" he interjected, eyes widening.

Virgil's eyes were wide too. He looked at the princely boy in shock, but not because he believed he actually suggested that.

"Come now, Roman," the teacher said, amusement flickering in his eyes. "You've always been a bit of a method actor, and he's new to this! It'll be good for the both of you to get to know each other better and get comfortable with pretending to like each other that way."

"Yeah no, that's not happening," he argued, crossing his arms and turning his face away.

Mr. Reyes looked at him with smug expression. "What if I were to say you are to do it as an order from your director, or you'll have trash duty for the next week?"

Roman gaped at him, flushing with embarrassment and anger as the boy next to him watched their interaction.

"Fine," he said through gritted teeth, shooting a glare at Virgil as he headed to his seat.

He could hear Mr. Reyes talking about him as he got further away. "Not to worry, Virgil, he'll warm up to you," he said. "I'm certain of that."

Don't count on it, he thought.

~

Roman didn't like pretending to be something he wasn't; well, when it wasn't for the stage.

He didn't like the way people were staring at him as he approached Virgil at lunch the next day. There was nothing he could do if Mr. Reyes was going to force him to act like they were dating besides grit his teeth and bare it the best he could.

"So," he mumbled as he sat down next to the emo, making him jump as he reached up to take off his headphones. "Do you always eat alone?"

He blinked a couple times and then the question registered. Virgil swallowed and nodded, looking down at his tray with no appetite. "Yeah, no one really wants to share a table with the freak in black," he said dryly. "What do you want, Princey?"

Roman felt a bit of guilt worm its way into his stomach at his words, but he tried to stay focused and blunt. "We're supposed to pretend we're dating, remember? I figured eating together was a good starting place."

"Ah, so that's it," he replied, a humorless smile on his face as he shook his head. "I should've known."

Something about his tone suggested that there was more to this situation and conversation than he'd realized. It made his temper flare up. "What's that supposed to mean?" the actor demanded.

"It simply means I should've known you'd never talk to me if it wasn't to your benefit," the darkly dressed boy said. He looked at him with an unflinching glare. "Let me just say something here: you are a fantastic actor, Roman, and I... I've respected and admired you for a long time, a lot of people at this school have... but you're selfish. You may not want to hear it, but you're very self centered and selfish sometimes. You don't even know me but you dismissed me immediately upon seeing I was your opposite actor, and why? Because I don't fit your vision of what you wanted me to look like."

Roman was silent and wide eyed at his words. There was truth in everything he said, truth that he'd been ignoring for a while. The boy sighed heavily and stood up with his tray. "Look, I'm not opposed to doing this whole 'fake dating' bullshit, but I'm not going to do it if you're grumbling and forcing yourself to tolerate me," he said. "Come talk to me if you actually want to try this."

With that, he walked away, tossing his untouched lunch into the trash as he exited the cafeteria. The princely boy was left sitting alone at the table, taking in his surroundings in a new light. He glanced at his friends at their table.

A pang struck his heart as he realized the people he'd deemed the "quiet ones" were talking animatedly with the others. They weren't quiet, they just stopped bothering to talk since he was always there talking over them. He swallowed harshly and stood up. He didn't have an appetite anymore either.

He tossed the lunch away and headed for the one place he could trust to make him feel at home.

The theatre was empty during lunch. They hadn't started building the set yet, but they'd start soon; that meant that the theatre would always be bustling with people building, painting, or working on something or other. This might be one of the last times he'd have the theatre to himself for a while.

Roman sighed heavily as he sat down in the middle of an empty stage. He just sat there, breathing in the cool air of the auditorium. It was always interesting to sit in the auditorium when nothing was going on.

It was usually a place full of life but the life comes from the people within it, so what happens when you take away the people?

"Oh... I didn't think anyone would be in here," a voice said behind him. The actor turned, having not heard the emo approach. Virgil looked awkward and uncomfortable. He seemed to have picked up on the fact that his words had struck at nerve. "Are you... are you mad at me?"

"Why be mad when you're right?" he replied with a sigh, looking away.

He heard slow, cautious footsteps getting closer and then felt the presence of the other boy sitting down beside him. "I didn't mean to hurt you, but I felt it would've been cruel to let you keep going on that way with no one telling you how you were behaving. It would get you hurt really bad if you had found out on your own. Trust me, I know..."

Virgil's voice trailed off as he looked out at the empty auditorium. The princely boy's curiosity was peaked; what did he mean by that?

Clearing his throat, he shifted. "Are you comfortable with talking about it? I'd like to know what you mean," he said honestly. He hoped that this showed he was trying to be better about listening to others already. The darkly dressed boy looked at him skeptically.

"Really? I can't help but feel like you're only asking to prove to yourself that you're not as self centered as you think," Virgil pointed out. When he opened his mouth to argue, he laughed and raised his hand for him to stop. "I'm kidding, I'll talk about it, but only because Mr. Reyes wants us to get along."

He paused to take a deep breath before launching into his story. "It was in middle school," he began softly. "I started to realize I was... not straight. I liked this boy named Damien, and I thought that he felt the same way, but I was wrong. I flirted with him and hinted that I was attracted to him, and he just shrugged it off but didn't say anything about it. He told me that maybe he'd go out with me if I helped him make his ex jealous, and I agreed because I was desperate. My friends stopped talking to me, and when I asked why they told me I was acting like a slut, and it didn't even matter because he lied to me. He wasn't interested in me at all."

Roman felt his stomach churn uncomfortably at the thought. There were so many guilty parties in that situation. "I stopped putting myself out there after that," Virgil said, gesturing to the dark clothing. "I stopped bothering to make friends because they could've just told me in the first place that they didn't like the way I was acting and let me change before ditching me. Maybe I would've had someone to turn to when Damien lied to me..."

"I'm sorry that happened," the princely boy said earnestly, putting his hand on his shoulder. He looked up with a look of surprise. "You didn't deserve that. If they had issues with your behavior, they should've told you, and that Damien guy is a dick."

Virgil laughed a little, painfully, reaching up to wipe his slightly watery eyes. "Yeah, he was," he mumbled. "Thanks... for listening, you know? I've actually never told anyone about that."

"I'm glad to have helped," Roman replied. He tried to put on a charming smile, testing the waters as he leaned closer to him. The darkly dressed boy looked at him in confusion as he moved his hand lower and began to wrap his arms around his waist. "You looked like you could use a hug."

He seemed stiff from shock, but then he leaned against him with a grateful smile on his face. "You're not so bad, Princey," he said.

"You're not so bad either, Hot Topic," the princely boy replied with a grin.

~

Over the next week, the two found themselves growing closer. Maybe that was due to the fact that they had to act like they were dating, but maybe it was just because they had begun to like each other. Roman wasn't sure, but he did know that seeing him across the courtyard made him smile.

"I'll be right back guys," he told his friends before heading off toward him.

The darkly dressed boy was sitting cross legged on a bench with a sketchbook in his lap. He had his headphones on, so he didn't notice him until he was standing directly in front of him. "Hey Virgil!" he greeted, grinning.

"Jesus!" the boy gasped out, gripping his chest as Roman laughed. "I've told you not to be so... enthusiastic with your greetings when I didn't see you coming first."

"I can't help it, I'm supposed to be excited to see my boyfriend," he said, a flirtatious and teasing smile on his lips. Virgil rolled his eyes and they exchanged a couple words before the princely boy returned to his friend group. They had been watching them, and Rose was looking at him suspiciously. He raised his eyebrow at him in confusion. "What?"

She nodded toward the emo. "I thought you two were dating," she said, fixing her dark reddish-brown hair. "But like... I've never seen you hold hands or kiss or anything. Are you guys like a no-affection couple? Cause when you were dating Lucas, you couldn't keep your hands off him."

Roman opened his mouth and then closed it again, chewing on his bottom lip. He was supposed to be fake dating him. He should be doing a good enough job to fool his friends, but clearly just saying 'we're dating' wouldn't convince them. Thinking, he wondered if Virgil would be okay taking this to another level. They would have to kiss in the show, several times in fact.

"No we're just dating, I just forgot to give him a kiss. I'll be right back!" he said, sticking out his tongue childishly as he headed back over to the darkly dressed boy.

Virgil saw him approaching this time and he looked up, raising an eyebrow in confusion. He marched up to him, leaning into his personal space and making him flush and stammer out a question that he cut off. "I'm gonna do something kind of crazy 'cause we're not doing a good enough job pretending," he murmured softly before connecting their lips gently. The other boy froze under the touch but didn't pull away. When Roman broke the kiss, he gave him a quick smile before returning to his friends. "See? I just forgot!"

They shrugged it off and they headed to class. Before the princely boy followed them, he looked back to where Virgil was sitting. He was touching his lips as though he couldn't believe what just happened. What Roman couldn't believe was how nice it felt to kiss him.

~

"So what was that kiss about?" Virgil practically demanded as soon as he entered the theatre that afternoon.

The princely boy blinked in surprise at the question, hoping he handed crossed a line. "Oh, it's just that we're supposed to be fake dating, but my friends weren't convinced cause they'd never seen us do anything couples do, you know, like kiss or hold hands," he explained quickly, flushing with embarrassment. "I was meaning to ask you if we could take the whole 'fake dating' thing to another level anyway, but I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable?"

"Well, it didn't make me uncomfortable, I just was surprised," the darkly dressed boy mumbled, rubbing his arm as a blush dusted his cheeks under his eye shadow. "And what did you have in mind for the whole... 'another level' thing?"

The actor began to explain that they should be more touchy with each other because his friends knew him to be affectionate when he was in a relationship. They agreed that they could hold hands and lean into one another when they were sitting together. Virgil requested that they keep kissing to the cheek unless absolutely necessary because he wasn't completely ready to kiss him on the lips every time they hung out.

"Cool, so let's go get instructions for rehearsal," Roman said, taking his hand in his.

Virgil looked down at the action, a smile so small it wasn't even noticeable spreading across his lips as they headed for the house.

~

The plan was working. Mr. Reyes applauded their on stage relationship, saying that it had to be the result of their growing off stage relationship. In his eyes, the fake dating was a brilliant idea. He found their performance brilliant and their relationship on stage to be so real he was almost in tears during the dress rehearsal.

Roman was really glad he agreed to do this because it was working, and Virgil was really cool. Because they were 'dating', he started sitting with him and his friends at lunch and was coming out of his shell a little.

"Hey babe," he greeted, slinging an arm around his shoulder and leaning in to kiss him on the cheek.

Virgil blushed a little and smiled warmly at him. "You know you two don't have to fake date anymore right?" one of their friends pointed out with a laugh. "It was just for the show, so that you guys could be convincing on stage, but you guys did that so you don't have to fake it anymore."

They walked away, leaving the two of them to stare after them in shock at the truth their statement held. "So... do you wanna stop?" Roman asked with a forced smile.

"What if... what if we didn't?" Virgil replied quietly, keeping his gaze low as he gripped the princely boy's hand and laced their fingers together. The actor's eyes went wide and he opened his mouth to speak but he was cut off. "I might've... I might've forgotten to mention when we first started doing this that I had a crush on you."

Roman was speechless for a moment before a smile spread across his lips. "I'd love to keep 'fake' dating you, Virgil Black," he said with a chuckle. "Although I think we should go on a REAL date sometime soon to make it official.

~

The opening night of the show came and Virgil was so nervous he'd locked himself in a bathroom stall because he was scared he was going to vomit. His boyfriend had been told and now he was knocking on the stall door anxiously. "Virge? Baby, it's Roman, can you unlock the door?" he called.

A few seconds later there was the slide and click of the lock and the door swung open. Virgil was shaking and paler than ever, which was terrifying. "Hey, hey, it's gonna be okay," he said, quickly pulling him close to his chest. "Shh... just focus on me when we're up there, okay? It's just like rehearsal. It's just like how we practiced, you and me, okay? Nothing's going to go wrong, I promise, and even if something somehow does, we'll roll with it, because that's what actors do, okay?"

"Okay, okay, thanks," he murmured quickly, slowly beginning to calm down. "Thanks Ro..."

"No problem, now let's head for stage."

The show did go by without a single mistake or snag. It was flawless. Roman couldn't think of a time the department had been able to pull off a completely perfect show, but this one was truly perfect.

If he had to choose his favorite part, it would be when he and Virgil sang their duet, because he could remember to this day how he'd realized how in love with him he was, how his heart seemed to swell inside his chest. He recalled the goosebumps that had risen along his skin at the sound of his voice and how a smile that no acting was required for had spread across his lips.

They always say showmances never last, but as he gazed at his sleeping husband seven years later, he had to laugh.