Crimson

Chapter 16: A Lit Weekend

"Let go of me," you murmured, under his iron grip.

Roman swiftly and with efficiency, carried you in a headlock down the secluded castle walls. Your kicking had very little effect.

"I said let go."

Roman leered through the archway, then released you as you took a few breaths.

"You good?" He asked. Roman might as well have been waiting for a younger sibling to finish soccer practice, the way he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"What?!" You exclaimed, walking right up to him and his bright orange hair and unbuttoned uniform. "You're the one who dragged me here."

Roman rolled his eyes.

"Come on, let's get lunch." He said, meeting your stare at last.

The two of you- well, even that sounded a bit odd. You didn't really have anything against Roman. But the only real times you'd seen him were when he was with other people...when he scared you in the dark of The Lair. His incessant eye rolling was enough to leave you with the impression that Roman had serious attitude.

But that wasn't quite what bothered you. Out of all the night class students you'd met, Roman seemed to be the only one who didn't like you. And that's life- at your old school, you remember who didn't like you. You remember who you didn't like.

But now that the disinterested, offhand Roman was being even the tiniest bit more thoughtful- you were willing to see what the deal was. Because you remember dancing with him, and how Theo spoke of him- and to be honest, you felt Roman could be a good guy if he wanted to.

If he ever wanted to.

"Lucian isn't the only one who knows his way around the castle," Roman said.

"Do you guys just get together after hours and gossip about who I'm with and what shenanigans I'm getting up to?" You asked jokingly.

"Yeah, sure y/n." He said, with a breath of air. "We have nothing better to do than worry about a second year idiot."

"Hey!"

You tried to sock him in the arm but before your knuckle could grace his lower shoulder, he caught your fist in his hand without even looking at you. Roman squeezed.

"Ow- geez-" You said, trying to pull away. He didn't let go.

"See, I was right." He said, still looking ahead. Your hand was released. "Only an idiot would try something like that on me."

You glared at him.

"Yeah, well, you deserve it." You pouted. Roman raised an eyebrow- finally looking at you.

"I highly doubt you know what I deserve and don't deserve, y/n." He said. "But I really don't deserve anything. In here."

He motioned towards a passageway in the wall you don't remember being there. It was... cozy... and dark enough that you couldn't see the end.

"In there?" You asked. It was fairly similar to the passages Lucian showed you, except those weren't dark. And Lucian wasn't an annoying ginger.

Roman groaned.

His hand promptly pulled yours like a child through a busy crowd- except there was just the two of you. There was hardly enough room to turn around once you'd entered, but as you did, the entry closed.

"This is really dark- and- where exactly are we going?" you asked in a hushed voice.

"Are you afraid of the dark?" He asked. You could practically feel the smirk radiating off him in the darkness.