Finals had come around and now it was time to tell Virgil that his choice was to stay here at Westward for the next year so Roman could stay with him. But they were also supposed to be working on a project for a class that they were to present to the class during their finals time. As Roman stood at the purple door and debated how he was going to tell Virgil and held his hand out to the door about to knock.

He was in this position for about ten minutes. Michael was also standing with him, as he had come with Roman and had been waiting for him to knock on the door.

"What are you waiting for?" He whispered.

"I don't know." Roman said back.

"Do you know how to knock?" Michael asked and Roman glared at him. "Just checking." He said.

"I am just nervous, I guess." Roman responded.

"Why? It's just Virgil." Michael commented. Roman gave him a look. "I am right though."

After another few minutes, Michael got fed up or bored and decided to knock on the door himself. He turned and sprinted down the hallway. Roman snapped his head over towards him and glared, what he didn't realize was that his eyes flashed a bright red and there were some red lights that appeared near Michael's feet.

Michael tripped as he was running and then the door opened to reveal Virgil which tore Roman's attention away from Michael.

"Hi." Roman said and Virgil confusedly waved to him and then walked into the dorm room. Roman followed and closed the door.

Roman was not sure why he was so nervous, he had been in this room countless times in the almost nine months that Roman has been at Westward and like Michael said, this was Virgil. He shouldn't have to be worried, but he was.

Roman was scared of how Virgil was going to react to Roman staying. Was he going to be upset? Was he going to be happy? Roman would assume that he was going to be happy that Roman would be returning but was that true?

Roman was not sure because those who he assumed were his friends did not react all that well. Matt was upset for a little bit, but a little while later he texted Roman to tell him that he was upset that he would be leaving but Matt was happy that he had found a place where he was happy and met someone who made him happy. Roman was more worried about the other person.

Pranks did not take it as well. When Roman told him, Pranks got upset and started swearing and calling the people he knew about names. When he got to Virgil, he called him a slew of things that Roman did not take kindly to. Once Pranks accused Roman of staying because Virgil put out and called him a slut, Roman snapped and punched him square in the face.

If Remus did not intervene when he did, Roman would have done a lot more than land a few punches. Unconsciously, Roman flexed his hands like they were still bruised and sore from that interaction. Roman had been staring at the same wall and standing for a few minutes before he noticed that Virgil was trying to get his attention.

And by getting his attention, he got hit in the face with a pillow.

And then another pillow.

And lastly a stuffed animal.

Once Virgil threw the second stuffed animal, Roman caught it before it hit his face. "Yes?" He asked.

Virgil handed him a note. You weren't saying anything and just staring into space, I got worried something else was going on.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something." Roman responded, something flashed in Virgil's eyes before he nodded and then sat down on his couch. "Anyway, what were you thinking about for our project?" Roman asked as he sat down and unpacked.

I was thinking, since it was centered around a lot of the two World Wars, we could compare and contrast the two in terms of events and how they impacted each other to the start of the wars and then the effects after they ended. Virgil wrote, Roman nodded.

"I do like that idea, I think we should do that. Should we split this up between the two of us and work that way? Like you take the after effects and I can put together the stuff that lead up to the wars being fought?" Roman asked.

Virgil nodded and the two of them got to work on their part of the project while checking in with each other periodically. They decided they were going to create a Venn Diagram for each part of the project and they would present that.

Virgil was good with being able to manipulate figures so he made the document with the Venn Diagram and then Roman started putting the information in when he was done with the first one as Virgil created the second. And then when he was done, he edited the work Roman did while he put the information for the second one. Then the two worked on the editing before they made the document a little more creative.

This took them a few hours as they both wanted to get this done before they had to study for tests in other classes, and Virgil needed to put together presentations for his religion classes. The bell rang for dinner and they both got ready for it. Roman was packing his stuff up and he was debating when he should tell Virgil. He should have when Virgil noticed something was going on but he was not sure if that was a good time.

And he was not going to bring it up during the project and interpret the work that they were doing and prolong the end of the project and possibly have an argument before they were done with the project.

It felt weird to prioritize their homework over emotions, but Roman was making sure Virgil did not freak out about doing something that impacted so much of their grade. Roman was not about to let whatever he was going to say to Virgil block their grade as lower grades did not sit well with Virgil.

Roman did not say anything as they left for dinner and met up with Patton and Logan. He did not say anything when they found the table that sat with their friends combined. He didn't say anything when he brought Virgil his dinner.

Instead he joked with their friends and smiled when people made jokes at his expense. He shared his schedule for finals and when he was free because Michael was trying to do some game nights to relieve stress from everyone by planning sessions where they could come and just relax for a bit without having to think too hard.

Michael gave him looks of question as Roman was not looking at Virgil as much because he was worried. Roman didn't look at him because he knew the look would make him feel worse. Virgil has this way of just pulling the truth or really anything out of him without even trying.

Virgil did not need to say anything for Roman to know he was worried, because he got dragged back to Virgil's dorm where Virgil pushed him to the couch and made him sit while Virgil paced in front of him and then finally sat down and stared at him. Finally, he handed Roman a note. And Roman knew it was the moment of truth before he even laid eyes on the piece of paper.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Roman wasn't giving him the same amount of attention at dinner, Virgil feared that all his worries had come true. That Roman was going to leave and he would be left with a broken heart and empty promises that Roman made.

That was the main reason behind the pacing as he was reciting a meditation in his head with each step he took, he could feel his anxiety leave. As good as psychology was, Virgil felt it was just modern witchcraft that was widely accepted because you could write papers on the mind, but not what manifestation could do for everyone's mental health.

What is going on with you? He finally was able to write when he sat on his coffee table. Virgil knew that Roman knew that he needed to come clean, and Virgil was scared what that meant for their relationship.

Was he going to have to mourn the relationship that never happened but could have or would he be pleasantly surprised?

"I need to tell you some stuff about next year." Roman started. "And for some reason I am super nervous about it, but I don't think I should be."

Virgil swallowed and nodded. He waited as Roman gathered his thoughts while his own mind raced.

"Virgil, relax. You must be calm right now." His grandfather was here, he stood behind him. "Take a look at his aura, you will see then." Virgil sighed as quietly as he could. He was never good at auras but he could maintain the connection for a few seconds to determine the color.

He focused for a little bit and found Roman's energy that was right in front of him. He mentally grabbed that energy and pulled it towards him ever so slightly so when he looked up, he would see a color around Roman.

When he did, a deep red that was almost scarlet was surrounding him which indicated that he was nervous. But red can attract and repel things, but when the person was spiraling it was not good.

And Roman was spiraling.

Whatever it is, I am sure it will be okay. Take your time to tell me, unless you don't want to tell me. Virgil wrote. Before he could give it to Roman, Roman spoke.

"I wanted to tell you that I had made my choice about what my decision was and what that means for me and you." Roman said. "And I do not know how you will react to this. So in case it is something that you do not want to hear, I am sorry and I will do everything in my power to make it up, if you let me."

Virgil then got back up and then walked over to his window that used to be next to his bed, but since he moved everything around before finals so he could be more comfortable and focus better so he now had access to it.

He mainly wanted to go over there in case he cried and he didn't want Roman to see him cry. He was sure that if Roman did, then it would guilt him into staying and he wanted Roman to stay based on his own choice not to stay because it made Virgil happy. Thinking about this did make him cry, because there was a possibility that Roman was going to say something like he hates Virgil and he was pretending to care so Patton wouldn't sick Janus on him again because they all realized that he liked Roman but maybe Roman didn't like him.

Roman was an actor, and was rough around the edges when he met Virgil so any awkwardness in finding the right way to play the character he was given could just be blamed on him still getting accustomed to the school.

What if this was him realizing that lying was no longer worth it because he was returning to public school and it was easier to come clean than to lead this lie into the summer?

By now, Virgil was crying but was trying to hide it from Roman. Roman was behind him and gave him a hug from behind.

"You okay?" He asked. Virgil slightly shook his head. "What's wrong?"

If you are going to leave, just rip the Band-Aid off please. Don't prolong it for dramatic effect. Virgil wrote.

"What are you talking about, Virgil?" Roman asked.

If you were lying this whole time, please don't be dramatic about it despite it literally going against everything in your nature. I don't want to do this whole heartbreak thing for the both of us. Virgil wrote.

"Heartbreak? Wait," Roman made him turn to face him, "Do you think that I am going to tell you that I am not coming back?"

Aren't you? Why else would you prolong this, go tell my cousin and Logan that they don't have to worry about me. I'll be over it before we go on summer break. Virgil wrote.

"Virgil, I am so nervous because I am telling you that I am staying for our senior year. I am not going back to public school. I was just nervous to tell you because of how both Matt and Pranks reacted. Not to mention, I had to get support to convince my dad from my grandmother who basically told him to shut up. I don't want to leave this place, I like it a lot. I feel like I belong here, and maybe that is because I belong with you." Roman wiped his tears from his cheeks.

Virgil looked at him to see if he was lying. Roman was never one to lie but who knows. He told his dad that he was staying and refused to go to public school, he got that from his eyes. The message that Virgil meant something to him that he never knew before.

"I want to come back to you, maybe by then you will talk to me and I will be able to hold up my end of the bargain. One date that's it, and if it's weird then we will not do it again, but if it's awkward then we will have to just try again and again until it's not. But the point is that I want to, not because of anything that someone asked me to do. But because I like it here, the people I have met are nice because they took the time to get to know me, not some version of me that can help them gain popularity or freak people out. I don't need to be on guard because I am finally a person that people accept. I guess that was what I have always been looking for, and you were the first person to do that. Accept me as I am, flaws and all. And I thank you for that, but please don't cry. It hurts to think that you would assume that I would tell you if this was all fabricated by your cousin and your friends. My family is already rich and Remus is fucking crazy. All bases are covered, what else would they have to offer me but acceptance?" Roman told him.

Virgil fell into his arms and started sobbing. Roman held him until he calmed down, that was a few minutes after he had sat on the floor. "I want to come back because you make me smile, and then we can decide what happens after that if you want to. But for now, let's focus on finals and summer. Have the time of our lives as teenagers should and then blow through our senior year as fast as this year went."

Virgil smiled and nodded. Be a teenager like he should, he never actually did that before Roman.