Listen to Me | Prinxiety

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TW: I'll make a list of triggers as I write this chapter: Harm, abuse, mention of violence/gun-violence/ I'm sorry disneyintrovert /panic-attacks
In which

Princey pumped the accelerator.
—
Roman had his foot pressed hard against the gas pedal, knuckles white as he clutched the steering wheel.

It had been exactly a year since Virgil came to live with the Princeton's. A year in which nothing had been all that eventful, excluding Roman and Virgil coping with a problem that was now fixed...
Now, Roman was juggling speeding around corners to avoid the gun he was sure his dad had in his hand, attempting to somehow be the hero and follow them the moment he woke up...; Roman had also just finished getting the hood to properly fold over the head of the car, the moment it sealed, things were finally quiet, except for the muted roar of the engine and the quiet breathes of a hyperventilating Virgil.
Roman seemed to finally noticed this and without thought simply placed a hand on Virgil's knee, letting out a sigh of relief just that the other was there, even if he was deeply thrown into panic.
Roman was glancing in his rear-view mirror to make sure nobody was following them before he took a nearly 360 spin into an alleyway between two rows of houses and waited it out there as the car jerked to a halt.

Virgil was hardly aware of his surroundings when his side hit the car as it slid to a halt. In his mind, in his world of anxiety, there was tightness, there was no oxygen, no warmth, no cold either, just a blank, tight void in which nothing could pull him out of- that is, nothing but-

Roman's hand shook against Virgil's knee and for the first time Virgil could remember, Roman was sobbing.
Legit ugly-crying, not normal cries or sobs, like- someone just killed a puppy in front of Patton kind of sobbing.
This seemed to snap Virgil out of his world and bring a whole new surge of purpose. A different world. A world he held in his two hands at that very moment, a world so beautiful and so magnificent...
Virgil was holding Roman's face in his hands, "I'm- sorry." This was all Virgil could get out, and the phrase seemed to be void of all emotions...but it meant so much in the moment.

Roman simply took the time to continue to cry but hold Virgil's hand to his cheek, pressing his lips against it, not in a romantic, kissing way, but in a way where he could hide his face in the other boy's caring touch for just a moment, if only that. He couldn't get words out at the moment but simply shook his head.

"Roman I- cant explain it but...I'm just..."

"I-it was a long time coming..." Roman huffed before looking at Virgil with sad eyes, though his sons still racked his body between sentences.

"I...I'm still-"

"You're my life, Virgil- I don't want you to apologize for protecting yourself, I care about you far more than my parents- far more than my home, m-my things, my friends- everything- b-because you're now my everything, okay?"

Virgil really wished this was one of those moments where the one in his shoes could dive forward to layer the other's face with kisses and shower affection about him- however, Virgil still had some form of reputation to uphold, so he simply contained his urge to boof and smiled quietly, "That's all I've ever wanted.."

"I'm glad that's enough..." Roman rubbed a thumb over Virgil's hand against his face.

"You kidding? It's more than enough- you're more than enough- always- Roman, the happiest day of my life was signing up for Phantom because it meant meeting you- and even if I had to go through everything- Tom, your parents, everything- just to get to this moment, I would- I'd do it all over without hesitation." Virgil felt winded because this was the longest compliment he'd ever given someone and actually have meant it.