Roman's POV:

So here's the thing when it comes to siblings: some of them are nice and sweet and get along fairly well, while others are a pain in each other's ass their entire lives. Maybe things will change between my brother and I later in life, but during these years of high school, we're just destined to annoy the shit out of each other.

"Seriously, Patton, I'm going to murder him if you and Logan aren't here to stop me," I say into the phone. He giggles through the phone. "It's not funny! He's inviting his weird friends over today! The house will be overrun! I'm gonna kill him with my bare hands!"

"Well, we can't come over, you know that," Logan interrupts. I remember then that I'm on speaker on their end. "We told you about our weekend plans over a month ago Roman, if you didn't make a plan to compensate for our absence, then I'm afraid that's your fault and not really our problem."

I gasp with mock offense. "Harsh much, nerd?" I huff. "I didn't think I would need to make plans. I didn't know until yesterday that Remus was even having his friends over."

"How do you know his friends are bad? Maybe you'll get along with them?" Patton offers.

I roll my eyes at the suggestion. He's such an optimistic guy, thinking of a silver lining or bright side to pretty much any situation. Unfortunately, I highly doubt his suggestion will prove to be beneficial to me today. "Yeah, I don't think so, Pat," I say with a sigh. "I mean, they're sophomores."

"So?" the two of them reply in sync.

"So?! I'm a junior! I'm above the nonsense of sophomores and freshmen!" I say dramatically. I can hear Logan scoff through the phone, making me whine angrily. "I'm serious! They're gonna be sooo immature!"

Logan clears his throat and replies swiftly. "Perfect, you'll fit right in then."

"Hey!" I object as Patton laughs a little in the background. "Look, even if they're freaking mature, they're going to be weird as hell. This is Remus we're talking about guys. You know, 'puts ranch salad dressing on freaking pancakes' Remus? Or 'one time ate deodorant and had to be taken to the hospital while he laughed about how good it tasted' Remus?!"

"Come on, Roman, give them a chance, maybe one of 'em will be cute!" Patton says with a smile clear in his voice. "But we've gotta go, our dinner reservations are in about twenty minutes and you know Logan likes to be early."

I hear him sniff a little. "It's a very good practice to get into," he replies. "One Roman should look more into."

"Okay, I'm hanging up now considering half of this conversation has been you roasting me!" I snap as they laugh. "Have a good date you crazy love birds! I'll text you tomorrow about how this horrendous night goes!"

I hang up after they say their goodbyes and a very aggressive knock sounds on my bedroom door. "Oh big brother!!" Remus sings with horrifically through the door. I nearly cover my ears as I wince at the sound. He throws my door open with little regard for my policy on him entering my room without permission. "Just a reminder that my friends are coming over in just five minutes!"

"Yes, I know," I reply, sighing heavily. "I swear to god if you come in here with them, I'll murder you all."

"Oh sure you will," he says, rolling his eyes as he goes to leave my room. "I just wanted to remind you that since the parents aren't home, feeding us is technically your responsibility as well, so I wouldn't get too busy with any of your projects in here!"

I let out a groan as he closes my bedroom door behind him. Of course our parents decided to go have a date night the same night my little brother's crazy friends are coming over. I pull myself up from my bed and trek downstairs, knowing I'd have to go down there to make dinner for them at some point and that there was really no point in trying to hide in my room.

Remus is setting up the Xbox when I get done to the living room. I instantly recognize Cuphead's introduction song, which catches my attention. "You know that's a two player game right? Like, not three?"

"Well yeah, but V isn't a huge fan of playing video games with me so I figured Dee and I would play," he replies with a cackle.

I shrug, not knowing who Dee or V are or the significance of playing video games with either of them. I lounge on the couch on my phone as I await their arrival. When the doorbell rings, I don't get up to let them in. Remus runs to the door and lets his friends in while I try to appear like the cooler older brother who's unfazed by his friends.

"Welcome guys! I've got Cuphead up and ready to play and Roman here will make us dinner when we get hungry!" he says, gesturing to me.

It's then that I look up to inspect my brother's friends. My eyes land on a boy with large scar on his cheek bone and a skin condition that made half of his face look different from the other. He's wearing a black bowler hat and yellow finger-less gloves. Definitely a person with a more unique style. I look toward the other friend, my eyes widening.

The other boy has purple bangs and is wearing mostly black. He meets my eyes and jolt goes through my spine. His eyes are dark brown and lined with black eye shadow that make him look intimidating and intriguing. I find my heart beating faster as I look at him.

"Roman, this is Dee and Virgil, don't be a jerk to them," Remus says, laughing as he smacks the back of my head.

The slight sting makes me break from my trance and glare at him. "Hey, asshole, I can easily tell the parents your friends are bad influences or something to make sure they don't get to come over anymore," I threaten. He sticks out his tongue at me childishly, which I don't even bother gracing with a response. I turn my gaze on his friends. "As for you two, just don't be annoying and I'll take you guys out for dinner."

"No promises," Dee says with a laugh as he sits down to play Cuphead with Remus.

Virgil, on the other hand, sits down on the couch beside me. He's not super close but it was clear that he chose to sit with me rather than his friends, which made my heart jump. We sit quietly on the same couch while the other two play the video game. Suddenly, he speaks up quietly. "So... Remus mentions you sometimes," he says.

I look up curiously. "Yeah? I'm sure he makes me sound really great," I scoff, smiling at him charmingly. He smiles back shyly, making me blush as I look away.

"I mean, yeah, but I think you're pretty cool," he says quietly. I look at him really then, feeling my heart rate spiking a bit. "You're a theatre guy, right? I've seen you in the shows at the school. You're a really great singer."

"O-Oh," I manage, blushing even more. "Thank you..."

Patton might've been right about one of them being cute...