Chemistry - A Sander's Sides Fanfiction

- 26 -

Virgil started to get worried once seven o'clock rolled around and Roman still hadn't called him. He doubted that anything had actually happened to the boy, but the worry was still present, gnawing at the back of his brain. What if it really was a setup and he got beat up again? Virgil asked himself, biting his nails. He was sitting cross legged on the dark comforter of his bed, staring at the wall opposite to him. Just call him if you're so worried, a voice in his head grumbled.

So Virgil did just that. He slowly got up and walked over to his desk by the window. He grabbed his phone and dialed Roman's number on the way back to where he had been sitting.

The phone rang for what felt like hours until Virgil heard the phone click, finally reaching Roman's. "Hello," Virgil heard.

"Roman! Are you --"

"I can't come to the phone right now. Sorry about that! I'm probably out doing something at the moment, but leave a message and I'll call you back!" It was prerecorded. Great.

Virgil sighed, his anxiety only heightening. He waited for the beep and then began to talk. "Roman, I'm worried about you. You said you'd call me and I thought that maybe you'd just forgotten but that's obviously not the case. If you're okay, please, please," Virgil pleaded, "call me back, okay? If you don't call back soon I'm going to go looking for you." Then he sighed out a deep breath and hung up. He really hoped that Roman had just forgotten and fallen asleep or something.

However, after twenty minutes of silence, Virgil couldn't take it any longer. He slipped his phone into his pocket and trotted down the hallway of his empty home. He made his way outside and decided to try Roman's house. If the boy wasn't there, then he decided on sprinting to Corner Park.

Roman's house was lit up but seemed void of movement. Roman's car sat in the driveway but no one else's was there, meaning that Roman was the only one who could be home at the moment. Virgil rushed up the brick pathway and the steps and onto the small, sleek wooden front porch. He passed the manicured lawn, impeccable hedges, and few fairytale birch and willow trees in a blur. He pounded on Roman's red front door with determination.

Virgil waited for a couple of moments and no one answered. He knocked again, furiously, hoping that Roman was in there.

A few more moments passed and he rang the doorbell.

Nothing.

"Roman, if you're in there, you'd better open this damn door!" He voice shook. He cracked his knuckles on the surface of the wood again.

Finally, after an anxious eternity, the lock clicked and very slowly, the door opened. There stood Roman, halfway in Virgil's vision (for he had only opened the door about a foot). He looked tired.

Virgil let out a relieved-yet-frustrated sigh. "There you are," he said softly. "I was worried.

Roman would not meet Virgil's eyes. "I know," he admitted. "I know you called." He looked distraught and Virgil couldn't find it in himself to be angry. All that he cared about was that Roman was okay and he knew it now.

Virgil didn't say a word and pushed the door open further. Roman didn't protest and let the door move past him. Virgil stepped inside, noting how unconfident Roman's stance was. He could tell that the boy was trying to look unaffected by whatever happened during his meeting with Cecelia, but Virgil could see right through it.

Virgil took a faltering, hesitant step towards Roman and made the decision to wrap his arms around him in a tight hug. Roman almost instantly lifted his arms around Virgil's back in silence, resting his chin on the boy's shoulder. "Thanks," he uttered, to which Virgil just nodded.