The Melting Pot Complex

Chapter Forty-Four ~ Roman

{Possible trigger warnings: swearing, mention of caffeine poisoning/some symptoms, the k word

If I miss something, I apologize and please let me know}

Roman and Patton were met at the door of their apartment by a very worried and disheveled Virgil.

"What's happening-"

"Shh! Shut the f*ck up!" He hissed, grabbing both of them by their sleeves and dragging them into the hallway by their rooms.

"Virgil?" Patton frowned, speaking quietly. "What's wrong?"

Virgil leaned over to peer down the other hallway before leaning down to talk to the two of them.

"Logan's got caffeine poisoning."

"What?!" Patton yelped. Roman gasped and whirled to look down the hallway.

"Shh!" Virgil said again. "There's a doctor with him now... too much coffee, too little sleep, he started seeing things... nearly killed himself in the kitchen because he couldn't stay on his feet."

"Oh my god." Patton whispered, covering his mouth with his hands. "Will he be okay?"

"I think so. The doctor didn't seem too worried." Virgil ran his hands through his hair.

He and Patton continued to talk, but it all faded out to Roman. His heart was pounding in his chest like he'd run a marathon, and his throat was closing up.

'You are not going to cry about this.' He ordered himself sternly. 'He's going to be okay, stop being such a baby.'

The quiet sound of a door closing brought him back to the present, as well as catching Virgil's and Patton's attentions.

The tallest of the three led the way into the living room as a woman in a white coat came out of the other hallway.

"Final verdict?" Virgil asked, hunching his shoulders in. Roman wrung his hands together nervously.

"Well he'll live, but that wasn't really a question." The doctor shrugged. "He'll be... a bit out of it for the next few days. Probably not mentally, but it'll take a little bit for his body to readjust itself. He might be a little sensitive to physical contact, he'll definitely have more headaches."

"Will he be able to leave the apartment tomorrow?" Roman blurted.

The others turned to look at him, and Virgil's eyes widened when he got it first.

"Sh*t, the appeal. I forgot about that."

They looked back at the doctor, who paused.

"I wouldn't suggest letting him go by himself, but yes he could certainly go to a court appeal."

Virgil nodded quickly. "We'll figure it out. Thank you... holy sh*t- Patton, I forgot to tell Thomas."

Patton gasped and darted for the door immediately.

While Virgil sorted things out with the doctor, Roman quietly walked down the hall. Logan's door was mostly closed, and he couldn't see his bed from where he was standing in the hallway.

After a bit of nervous back and forth on the pros and cons, Roman finally lifted his hand and tapped his fingertips lightly against the door. He received a weak grunt in response that he took as an invitation to come in.

Logan was lying on his back, tucked under his navy bedsheets. There was a bottle of water on the nightstand, along with a small bottle of pills.

He lifted his head a bit and grunted when he saw Roman. "I was expecting Patton."

"He went to go get Thomas." Roman crossed the room and gingerly sat on the edge of the bed. "How do you feel?"

"Like sh*t." Logan said flatly, closing his eyes again.

"Yeah... Virgil said you kind of f*cked yourself up."

His roommate sighed. "I didn't think it would do so much damage. I was just focused on getting the appeal done, and I didn't want to do anything else."

"Tunnel vision, Calculator Watch." Roman chided gently, ignoring his elevated heartbeat.

Logan blew a raspberry and waved him off. "It wasn't as if I would die from it... I'm just exhausted."

"Well don't let me keep you up- I'll tell the others you want to sleep."

Roman started to get up, but a gentle hand around his wrist stopped him.

Logan looked incredibly tired, but he was smiling. And god his smile made him so beautiful.

'Knock it off, Roman. Heart eyes to yourself.'

"Tell me about your day."

Roman frowned softly. "Lo, you need sleep-"

"And I'll never get it if I know everyone else is outside worrying about me. Just talk to me until Thomas comes in, he'll placate the others."

It was so easy to give in, Roman almost hated himself for it. He sat down again and began to talk quietly, describing his and Patton's adventure downtown. They'd gone shopping for something Patton could wear to his date with Remy.

As usual, Roman had been recognized. He took photos with some, signed things with others, and dodged even more. Patton had found it hilarious, and vlogged a good portion of it.

The door to Logan's room creaked open quietly. When Roman looked up, Thomas was peeking in.

"Hey." He said quietly.

"Hello." Logan sighed. "I'm fine."

"Not what I heard." Their landlord chuckled, moving farther into the room. He left the door open and Roman could see Virgil and Patton watching from the hallway.

Virgil caught his eye and made a little heart with his hands, smirking.

Roman stuck his tongue out.

"I'm fine, Thomas. Just tired. It'll go away in a few days." Logan was insisting. "I won't miss the appeal, I'll get through it and I swear I'll take it easy after."

"Speaking of the appeal," Virgil spoke up. "Doc said you shouldn't go alone."

Thomas waved him off easily. "I was planning on going with anyway, no big deal."

Logan nodded, then yawned widely.

"Okay, lets let our little lawyer get some sleep." Patton jumped into dad mode immediately. "He'll need it for tomorrow, I'm sure."

"Night, Logan." Virgil was already disappearing down the hallway.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Thomas squeezed his cousin's hand before letting go.

Roman turned and locked eyes with Logan. His roommate smiled tiredly at him.

"Try to take better care of yourself, Lo." He said softly.

Logan huffed. "I'll certainly try in the future. This is awful."

Roman got up. "Sleep well."

He backed out of the room as Patton said a quick goodnight to Logan. Once the others had gone to the living room he let out a long, heavy breath and blew a tiny kiss at the now closed door.

Virgil was nursing what looked like half a glass of wine on the couch, and Patton was racing around the apartment doing who knows what.

"Go back in to cuddle?" The gamer asked.

"F*ck off." Roman rolled his eyes.

{I'm slowly realizing that this book is probably going to be 80 chapters at this rate.... I need to chill}