Not Related. A Sanders Sides High School AU.

Chapter 37

Roman:
     I wake up to the sound (and smell) of my dad making breakfast in the kitchen. I start to sit up before realizing that Virgil is laying on me. He's still fast asleep, hands tangled in my shirt. He makes a noise of discomfort and tightens his grip until I sit down and shush him quietly.

     I check my phone, 6:20, I have about twenty five minutes before Logan's alarm goes off for us to get ready for school. I decide to make the best of it and wake Virgil in a much more gentle way. I start by rubbing his back gently, he makes a noise, but I can tell he's still asleep. I press a kiss to his forehead. "No..." he mumbles sleepily.

"No what?" I chuckle.

Instead of an answer I get a hand covering my mouth. I remove it gently and put a little more force into rubbing his back.

"Too early..." he whines, scrunching his nose up.

"I know, but do you wanna meet my dad before Logan and Pat wake up?"

At that he opens his eyes. "Oh..."

I kiss the wrinkle in his brow that's appeared. "There's no need to worry. He's gonna be fine with it. With us. He won't be mad. Promise."

     "Okay..." he breathes out.

    I sit us both up and climb out of the blanket fort. Virgil follows me quietly. I lead us both into the kitchen. Virgil hides behind me, with his small frame it's easy.

     "Hey, Ro. You have fun this weekend?" Dad asks as he sets his spatula aside. He walks over and gives me a hug, then he notices Virgil.

"I thought I saw someone new last night," he smiles at Virgil. "Hi, I'm Roman's dad, Emile."

Virgil seems to shrink into himself, "I-I'm Virgil. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Sanders." He sticks his hand out and I hate the way it shakes.

Dad laughs, "Picani, actually. Roman gets his last name from his pops, Remy. I just came back from goin to see him. He should be home in another couple of weeks.

"Yeah, he should be home next Friday. No more delays, he swears." I smile. I'm ready to see Pops, he's been gone for almost three months. He owns a string of nightclubs and had to go up to Georgia to check on a few that were struggling.

"So," Dad turns back to Virgil. "Are you the new guy in the gang? I'm sorry I wasn't here to meet you sooner. I've had a lot of clients needing me recently, but things should be alright."

"Oh, uhm, that's okay. What, uh, what do you do?" Virgil says, he's fidgeting with his hoodie strings.

"I'm a therapist, two of my clients have been considering divorce so it's been a busy few weeks."

Virgil gives a nervous laugh.

Dad frowns, "You have no reason to be nervous, Virgil. Everything's alright, you seem like a very nice young man." He tries for an encouraging smile.

     It doesn't seem to relax Virgil at all, "Th-Thank you, sir."

     I reach for his hand in an attempt to comfort him, but he jerks back. Hard.

     Dad's frown deepens, "Roman, can you watch the pancakes? I'm gonna step out for a moment."

     I nod, I watch Virgil noticeably relax as soon as he leaves. I try again to take his hand. He lets me this time, he's shaking as I pull him towards me. He clutches at my shirt as I wrap him in a hug.

     I rock us back and forth for a moment. We break apart only so that I can flip the pancakes. Then I tug him back to my chest.

     "I'm sorry, Vee. I didn't realize it would be that bad for you. I shouldn't have forced you to do that."

     He takes in a breath, "No, I should've been able to handle that. It wasn't that bad. I should've done better. I'm sorry."

     I kiss his forehead, "No, that was not your fault. I put you in a situation that you weren't comfortable with. This is on me, I'm so sorry."

     He lets me rock him a few more times before he looks up and presses a kiss to my lips, "It'll be okay. Your dad seems great. Also why didn't you mention that you had another dad? Knowing your parents weren't straight would have helped a lot when I was freaking out. When do I have to meet him?"

    I chuckle, "One parent at a time, Mi amor. You think you can handle talking to my dad now?"

     He nods softly and I press one final kiss to his lips before calling Dad back in.