Chemistry - A Sander's Sides Fanfiction

- 44 -

Roman was enjoying his time at the bird sanctuary, to say the least.

He loved hearing all of the different noises and the rustling of the leaves, the fresh smell of nature, feeling the weight of a bird on his hand, and, of course, spending time with his favorite people. He also loved the way that Virgil clutched his hand when that bird stepped onto his finger -- and the way he squeaked when Roman kissed him outside of the wooden-walled restrooms.

What? He hadn't been able to kiss Virgil since they left! "Three days is too long," Roman had insisted when Virgil questioned him about it. He got an eye roll -- and a blush, of course -- but an eye roll, mostly.

On their way back to the bridge from the restrooms, Virgil and Roman were passed by a cheerful looking Patton, carrying his glasses in his right hand, almost as though they were infected or something.

"What's up with your glasses?" Roman asked.

Patton stopped walking and held up the frames in front of his face, looking through them with narrowed eyes. "They fell into the water when I was looking over the bridge. Logan got them for me." He smiled, scrunching up his face in a sort of mischievous squint, pushing his eyebrows together.

Roman, understanding where Patton's excitement was coming from, raised his eyebrows and passed Patton a wink. He refrained from saying anything about it and instead told Patton, "We'll be waiting for you at the bridge, then."

Patton nodded enthusiastically. "I'll only take a minute."

The group arrived back at the campground as the late afternoon sun started its slow descent towards White Water Pond's fluid horizon. It stayed light for a long while while they lazed around the campground, regaining the energy that their feet had dispelled upon hours of walking.

Virgil was taking a nap in the tent and Roman spent his time looking through the pictures on his phone. He had documented nearly every large event since he'd gotten his phone in eighth grade; hence, there was a lot to look through. He spent his relaxation time of mindless scrolling drifting between different thoughts -- mainly gravitating towards ones regarding Patton's crush and how that situation would play out, as well as his own current 'boyfriend' of sorts.

At one point, Roman was left alone at the campground while the others -- Logan and Patton -- disappeared to go pick up some firewood. The boy's attention was broken away from his screen when he saw a flash of movement out the top corner of his eye.

He looked up and nearly dropped his phone to the dirt. For there, standing in front of him, staring in gentle curiosity, was a ginormous deer.

She had long, dark eyelashes framing her black marble eyes and a smooth brown pelt that camouflaged her into the backdrop of pine needles and browning leaves. Roman was frozen at the sight of her. He had never seen a deer up close before; she stood a mere three yards from where he sat.

Why a deer was wandering the harsh asphalt of the campground Roman couldn't imagine. Perhaps she had stumbled there unintentionally and was trying to find her way back home. Or perhaps she had been drawn there for some reason -- just to the spot where Roman was sitting.

Suddenly, after an instantaneous eternity, the magical moment was broken. The deer flipped her ear at Roman and heavily swung her head towards the road. She started a slow trot out of Roman's sights. He had the strange urge to follow her.

With careful footsteps and hesitant breaths, Roman crept after the mysterious animal, trying to stay quiet so not to startle her. He shrugged himself past watery bushes and through damp pine needles, weaving after doe. She wound him through the woods, eventually leaving the road and traveling on a narrow, near-invisible trail between the trees.