Sanders Sides One Shots: Volume 1 [COMPLETED]

Northern Downpour (Prinxiety)

Kind of a Ryden AU for Prinxiety... sorta... you'll see...

Virgil bit his lip as he looked out the window. The rain was hitting his window, providing a soothing, yet haunting, cacophony in the back of his mind. He was staring into his glass of tea, thoughts wandering down the dangerous path of the past. The rain wasn't helping.

He pushed his tea away as he stood from his seat at his breakfast bar. Virgil didn't realize what he was doing until he picked up his dusty acoustic guitar. He felt his heart clench; it was as if touching it unlocked the memories he'd been suppressing for years. 

His fingers plucked at the strings without being told, immediately finding familiar notes as muscle memory took over. His breathing started to become shallower as his eyes began to water. Virgil couldn't bring himself to stop as he began to play the old song he'd written ten years ago. 

"If all our life is but a dream, fantastic posing greed, then we should feed our jewelry to the sea," he sang softly as his lip quivered. He didn't know why he was thinking about him today, but he was. "For diamonds do appear to be, just like broken glass to me..."

Roman was home alone that night, his husband away on vacation to visit family. He wasn't sure what had come over him, but he was watching old videos of him performing. Not just him, but old friends from before they'd left him. Not just old friends, but one in particular that made his heart ache. He watched as his younger self sang passionately into a mic, prancing across the stage in his crazy makeup and outfits. His chest tightened as his younger self threw a smirk in the direction of that old friend, who returned it as he stepped playfully close to him. 

He clicked a different video, instantly regretting it upon hearing those guitar chords and his younger voice sing the first part of the song. A hand flew to his mouth as he choked on a sudden sob. 

"And then she said she can't believe, genius only comes along, in storms of fabled foreign tongues," Virgil continued in his home, tears starting to drip down his cheeks. He couldn't stop thinking about him, and how much he missed him. It was his fault. "Tripping eyes, and flooded lungs, northern downpour sends its love..."

Roman felt like he couldn't breathe as he watched his past self sing, feeling an indescribable connection at that moment. "Hey moon, please forget to fall down, hey moon, don't you go down..."

"Sugarcane in the easy mornin', weather-vanes my one and lonely..." Virgil sang in time as Roman watched the video from somewhere else in the country.

The two of them broke down, one stopping his strumming and the other pausing the video. Neither of them could see clearly through the tears as they were overwhelmed by the past. Virgil felt regret's jagged claws raking through his heart yet again, knowing the pain he felt was his own fault. 

"W-Why'd you leave..." Roman sobbed, thankful his husband wasn't home to see him falling apart at the seams over a past lover. It had been almost ten whole years, why was he still torn up over this? "Virgil..."

"Roman..." the ex-guitarist choked out, hugging his instrument close. He should've given it more of a chance. If he hadn't given up so easily, he could be with him right then; but Virgil had left. He'd walked out, leaving both of them shattered without the other to help pick up the pieces. 

"I'm so sorry..."