Afraid of Falling - Logince & Logicality

Chapter Five

I opened my eyes, squinting in the harsh sunlight. My head pounded and I felt groggy and sick. Someone bustled around behind me but I was too tired to focus on them. I finally managed to open my eyes and realized I was not in my house. Fear struck me as I shot up, only for pain to shoot through my head. Groaning, I tried to blink, the sparks swimming in my vision, attempting to figure out where I was.

"Morning, Holmes," a cheerful voice said from behind me. It sounded familiar.

"Roman?" I croaked, my voice rough. Roman hummed in response, moving in front of me, holding something in his hand. It took me a minute to realize that Roman was trying to hand me something. I took it and realized it was a glass of water.

"Drink and take these," Roman told me, offering two red pills.

"Only if you take one first," I muttered. Roman laughed.

"Don't be an idiot, these will help with your hangover." Hangover? Was I drunk last night? I don't remember anything. What even happened? I took the pills and water and swallowed them, the pills scratchy against my throat.

"Um... what happened last night?" Worry flooded my mind. What did I do? Lord, please don't let me have done something stupid. Roman only laughed in response, adding to my waking anxiety. "Roman? Was I an idiot?"

"No. Well, not really," Roman said with a smirk. "You just got really drunk and suggested we do some more risque things..." Roman trailed off, face burning red. It took me a second to realize what he meant, but when I did my face put tomatoes to shame.

"Oh..." was all I could I say.

"You also kissed me, but I could tell you were really drunk so I tried to take you home, but you couldn't tell me your address so I brought you here."

"Thanks," I said and Roman sat next to me. I snuggled into him a little, finding comfort in his arms.

"Um, there's one more thing..." Roman trailed off, refusing to meet my gaze.

"Yes?" I asked apprehensively.

"You said that you loved me? And I know you were drunk, so you probably didn't mean it-" I cut him off, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.

"I do love you, Roman," I said, staring into his eyes, meaning every word. A dazzling smile broke out on his face as he leaned forward, our foreheads touching.

"Good. I love you too, by the way."

"I should go," I said sadly, glancing at my watch. It was a quarter to ten and I had some tests to grade.

"Okay. But first," Roman pulled me in for a quick kiss, barely a peck. I smiled and headed for the door but paused. I turned back and kissed him again, an arm slipping behind his waist.

The kiss lasted longer, our lips moving sync. He pulled away, much to my dismay.

"While I'd love to continue this, you, mister, need to go." I pouted in response.

"Or," I muttered, leaning in, our lips brushing. "I could stay." Roman wouldn't have it.

"Go!" He practically pushed me towards the door, laughing.

"One more for the road," I told him, pecking him lightly. Roman rolled his eyes.

"Okay, now go."

"As you wish," I told him. I closed the door behind me, a smile on my face. Heading into his driveway, I searched for my car... until I remembered I didn't have mine.

"Oh shhh-" I cut myself off before swearing, and reluctantly trodded up to Roman's door, knocking lightly. He opened confused as to why I was back.

"Yeah, I don't have my car..." Roman let out a boisterous laugh. He grabbed his keys off the coffee table and stepped outside, locking the door.

"Let's go then."

* * *

I waved goodbye and watched as the red car drove away. With a sigh, I headed inside, but I stopped my frown. I actually did like grading my kids' tests. They were smart, so it wasn't easy to find mistakes. They also always added something to make me smile. A little drawing or a fun note.

My favorites were the Hamilton lyrics. Though I was not one for people jumping about on a stage, ranting about things they've never experienced, Hamilton was my guilty pleasure. I mean, it was educational! Not to mention the songs were quite catchy, even if I wasn't the best of singers.

I sat down at my desk, running my hand along the polished teakwood. Grabbing my trusty blue pen, I flipped to the first page of the tests. Page after page, problem after problem passed, and I smiled in appreciation when I got to Cassie Cline's test. She was a smart girl but tended to stress out during tests and her brain essentially shut down. Consequently, her math grades were subpar, but she was working on it, and on her latest test she scored an A. I added a smiley face under her grade with an encouraging note.

As I reached for the next test, my stomach growled. Glancing at my watch, I realized that I had been grading for almost two hours! I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Grabbing my keys, I headed to my car. I had barely pulled out of my driveway, however, when I got a phone call from Roman.

"Hey, Logan?" Roman's voice sounded pained over the line.

"Roman, are you alright?" Concern laced my voice.

"Can you come over? I need you. Like, right now."

"Yeah, sure honey. I'll be right over." I hung up and started driving towards Roman's. It then occurred to me that I had called him "honey". What if he thought I was weird? We hadn't been dating for very long.

Not the time for this Logan! I reminded myself. Roman needs your help. After what seemed like an agonizingly long drive, I parked outside his house. Rushing up to the front door, I frantically rang the doorbell. My phone dinged with a text as I did so.

Roman: Come around to the back, it's unlocked. I quickly ran around to the back of his house and opened the door.

"Roman?" I called out into the seemingly empty house.

"Here," he painfully grunted. Rounding the corner, I saw Roman lying on the ground of his living room, clutching his hands, eyes squeezed shut. His breathing was labored and scarlet blood dripped from his hands.

"Oh my goodness," I breathed as I rushed over. "Roman, what happened?" He opened his mouth to respond but I spoke over him. "No don't answer that. We need to go to the hospital!" Roman shook his head, grimacing a little.

"No, I have bandages in the bathroom." I sighed, caving. Leaning down, I scooped him up, carrying him to the bathroom. I set him down on the pristine tile floor and watched as the marbles stained scarlet. Rummaging around in the cabinets, I let out a cheer when I found the bandages.

"Okay, do you want to inform me of what happened?" I asked, as I gently took his hands in mine, examining them. The skin had been almost shredded. Cuts littered his fingers, none of them too deep, thank God. Even as I wrapped them, the blood started to lessen.

"I was practicing my guitar," Roman said, hissing a little as I cleaned the cuts.

"What was your guitar made of? Knives?" I teased.

"No, I was just playing for too long I think. Maybe two hours?"

"You think? Roman, what was so important that you had to play for two hours?"

"It was..." He trailed off, and I looked at him expectantly. "It was for you..." A small blush formed on my cheeks.

"You were learning a song for me?" He nodded bashfully. I placed a gentle kiss on each of his hands. "That's... that's amazing. No one's ever done that for me. But Roman?" He hummed in response. "Please don't hurt yourself anymore. Okay? I don't want to see you hurt. Promise?"

"Logan-" he began to protest but I cut him off.

"Promise?" I said, raising my voice slightly. He looked into my eyes, and I stared intently back. Finally, he sighed.

"Promise."