Sander Sides One-Shots

Roman & All - Flowers

    Roman woke up and walked out of his room, stretching his back on the way. He quietly made his way to the kitchen, seeing Logan drinking his coffee. "Hey," he greeted quietly, reaching into the cereal cabinet. "Hello Roman," Logan replied, "how did you sleep?" "Good, you?" Roman asked, grabbing a bowl and milk. "Satisfactory," Logan replied as usual. Roman took his now full bowl of cereal to the table and sat across from Logan. After a few minutes of silence, Logan gave a frustrated sigh and rubbed his temples. "What's wrong?" Roman asked, just now noticing the book in front of him. "Nothing, I'm just having trouble focusing on my work because of a headache," Logan explained, returning to his book.

"What time did you go to bed last night?" Roman asked, maybe the headache was a cause of too little sleep. "Same time as always, though I did not sleep well during the night," Logan explained, drinking some of his coffee when he was done. About thirty minutes later, there was a slight clatter upstairs before Patton came down. "Hey kiddos," Patton greeted cheerfully before grabbing a cup of water. "How'd you guys sleep last night?" Patton asked, starting a conversation. They discussed their plans for the day, Logan planned to go to the library while Roman planned to go to his theater practice. It was nearly 8:30 when Patton announced he had to leave for work and wished them a good day. "When is your practice?" Logan asked after Patton left. "Shorty after two o'clock," Roman replied as he put his now empty bowl in the sink. Just then, Virgil came running down the stairs, frantically looking for something.

"Virgil, slow down. What are you looking for?" Logan asked calmly, walking over to him. Virgil stopped for a moment and took a deep breath before replying, "A bowl and a towel, Thomas just got sick." "Oh dear," Logan sympathized, quickly grabbed a bowl from under the sink and following Virgil upstairs after he found a towel. Roman had followed too but was stopped by Virgil angrily turning on him. "How about you leave us alone, you're the reason he got sick in the first place. He wouldn't leave until he finished his plate of the concoction you called 'dinner' last night. He only offered to try some of it so that you wouldn't feel bad," he snapped venomously. The door was shut violently before Logan came out a few minutes later, smelling like cleaning spray. "Virgil does not mean to be rude, he is just being protective over Thomas," Logan explained, knowing that Roman would feel bad about getting Thomas sick.

"Shh, It's okay Thomas. Logan and I cleaned up, you can go to sleep" Roman heard Virgil say quietly before the door was closed. A hand was on Roman's back, leading him downstairs. "How about we watching a movie together?" Logan offered, knowing it would make Roman feel better. "If you mean 'you watch a movie while you read' then fine," Roman said, causing both of them to laugh lightly. The movie that Roman picked ended up being a science documentary instead of a Disney movie. The documentary was about space, one of Logan's favorite subjects. Logan watched it with him, but fell asleep a quarter towards the end of the second show, due to lack of sleep the night before. Roman bookmarked the spot for him, knowing he'd want to watch the rest of it later. Roman took off his glasses, set them on the coffee table, and covered him with a blanket before leaving to check on the other two.

Roman quietly made his way upstairs and towards Thomas' room. He wanted to check on him and Virgil before he left. He felt bad for getting Thomas sick, and Virgil's words kept ringing in his ears. "He only offered to try some so you wouldn't feel bad". "Plate of the concoction you called 'dinner' last night." He quietly opened the door to Thomas' room and looked in to see him asleep with his head resting on Virgil's lap. Virgil was running his fingers through Thomas' hair while on his phone with headphones on. Virgil was faced away from the door so he couldn't see him. Roman smiled sadly as he left the room as quietly as he came, thinking about the close bond his brothers had. He headed downstairs, grabbed his keys, and drove to his theater practice.

Roman's practice had run over another hour because of technical and sound problems. Patton had also called in the middle to say he had picked up another shift and wouldn't be home until 10pm. He also knew the others weren't having a good day and decided to stop by a flower shop on the way home. He thoughtfully picked out and bought four flowers before driving home to see his family. When he got home, the house was silent and he could see Logan still asleep on the couch. Roman brewed a cup of coffee for him, set it on the table along with a Purple Iris, and gently woke him up. He went upstairs into Patton's room next and placed a Alstroemeria on his night stand with a note wishing him a good night. He walked into Thomas' room last, knowing Virgil would be awake and make this process harder. When he entered, however, they were in the bathroom since Thomas threw up again. He set down a Peony for Virgil where he was sitting and a Statice for Thomas on his night stand before leaving.

Even though he spent the rest of his night in his room, Roman knew the others had found the flowers he got for them. He could hear Logan downstairs getting cups of water for the flowers. He could hear him going into Patton's room and placing the flower in the water, the same heard from Thomas' room. They said nothing about it the next morning, knowing Roman would get a little too boastful from all the attention. They always kept his flowers, until they rotted anyway. Roman always gave out flowers if someone had a bad day or if someone was angry with him.

What the flowers mean:
Alstroemeria- prosperity
Purple Iris- wisdom
Peony- shame
Statice- sympathy
Suggestions and creative criticism are always welcome!