TW: Medication (?), Separation Anxiety, Mentions of Cancer
November 17th | Nine Months Since Remus Died | A Change to Roman's Schedule Ends with Strange Consequences
Roman sat on the couch with a small pill in one hand and a cup of water in the other. He stared down at it with hate as his parents sat across from him. "I don't need this you know," Roman mumbled, "Even if Remus wasn't real, what's the problem with it? I'm not hurting anyone, am I?"
"That's not the point Hijo," Victor said, "We're worried that it'll get worse. It has gotten worse. It used to be just Remus, but now it's others too. And you're hearing things from these 'ghosts', the doctors are worried and frankly Roman, so are we."
Roman rolled his eyes, "What if it's not safe?"
"It's fine." His mother assured him patiently, "This medicine is often prescribed to young adults. It won't have an effect on your recovery, and the side effects are minor."
As if he didn't believe them, though he did and he knew his parents would never allow anything dangerous to pass through his body, Roman picked up the container and looked at the back of the bottle. He sighed quietly, they were right. Most, though not all, of the side effects, were minor. Headaches, dizzy spells, loss of appetite, and more like it.
"I really don't want to." He whispered, his voice almost sounding begging.
"We don't want you to either Roman, trust me, we never wanted this for you. But, we're worried. And you promised."
"I shouldn't have to make promises about this sorta stuff," Roman crinkled his face with dislike, anger in voice.
His mother sighed as she kneeled down on the ground beside him and took his hand, "Roman, please. It's just till New Year, you promised us that much."
Roman watched his mother for a moment before he nodded, "Fine. But I don't need it."
"Thank you," his parents said together as they watched Roman swallow the pill and drink some water. He cringed slightly, it was one of those powdery pills where it tended to melt away in your mouth and leave you with an awfully bitter taste.
"Okay, open," his mother said as she stood up. Roman sighed but opened his mouth, moving his tongue around at his mother's demand so she could make sure he had truly swallowed the pill.
"There, happy?" he asked when his mother let her hand drop. His mother sighed and nodded, "Great, I gotta go catch my bus. It's still okay if I go to Patton's after school, right?"
His father nodded, "Be nice, use your manners."
"And don't forget to invite Logan and Patton's families over for Thanksgiving dinner," his mother reminded as he headed to the door with a thumbs up in their direction.
He sighed quietly as he headed towards the bus stop, briefly pausing to play music on his phone. When the electric jolt of Remus teleporting to him happened, Roman barely even faltered in his walk. With his eyes closed and his earbuds in, Roman was sure that Remus would get the hint that he didn't want to talk.
*****
Roman's leg bounced up and down as he sat down at his desk, fingers and hands tapping along to an imaginary song in his head. He hadn't seen Remus since he arrived at school this morning. Roman knew his brother was probably fine, he was a ghost, after all, nothing could hurt him exactly. And he knew that his brother was within their One hundred sixty-foot range because if he wasn't Roman would probably be in the nurse's office right now. But he hadn't seen him, and Remus hadn't told him where he was going.
He hadn't seen Anxiety or Deceit either, which was odd since Roman had seen both Patton and Logan (Patton was in class with him right now) and it wasn't often that Anxiety and Deceit hung out without them. At least, not unless the three living friends were sleeping, doing homework, or otherwise occupied.
He threw a nervous glance back at Patton as if he was afraid she would disappear too, but Patton was still in their chair and gave Roman a small smile and wave back. Roman nodded and turned back around, his fidgeting didn't ease at all.
Roman had been feeling antsy for a few hours now, it had started during his first period and had continued for a while now. Classmates trying to focus on work threw him annoyed and dirty looks, which Roman ignored as he tried to force himself to take notes, only to start drumming on the desk with his pencil.
"Roman," Mx. Wright said from the front of the class.
Roman jumped slightly at his name and the pencil flew across the room as he lost his grip on it, "Oh. Oops. Yes, Mx. Wright?"
"Do you maybe wanna go take a drink of water?" they asked.
"Oh, Uhm, no. No, I'm good. Not thirsty."
"Are you sure?" Mx Wright asked, "You're awfully fidgety, it's becoming a disruption."
Roman's leg stilled and he laid his hands flat on the table, "Oh. Sorry, uhm. Maybe I will take that drink then?" Roman said it came out as a bit of a question and after looking at his teacher for a nod of approval, stood up and headed out of the classroom, grabbing his pencil on the way out.
Roman sighed tiredly as he walked down the hall and towards the water fountain. He took a short drink before heading back toward class, stopping in the bathroom on his way to splash some water on his face. After using some paper towels to dry his face, Roman finished his walk back to class and took a seat at his desk.
Roman tried his best to keep from fidgeting or making too much noise, but it didn't last long. Five minutes into his return and Roman was tapping his leg, and folding his worksheet into shapes despite knowing he should be working on it. Mx. Wright gave him a new one after his became to messy to write on, they also checked in on him again to which Roman had once again assured them he was fine.
His fidgeting continued for the rest of class, even after the girl in front of him asked if he could stop and the guy next to him offered a fidget cube. (A mistake really, the fidget cube had a clicky toy on it and it quickly became Roman's favorite side of the cube and everyone else's newfound annoyance.) When the bell finally rang, Roman jumped from his seat and shoved his things into his bag, barely stopping to put his pencil back in its case as he did. After haphazardly tossing the fidget cube back to the boy he quickly made his way over to Patton's desk, waiting in a not-so-patient manner for his friend to finish packing.
Patton watched with wary and worried eyes as Roman hopped from foot to foot, "Hey kiddo," She started as they put the last of her things away, "I thought you didn't drink coffee."
"I don't. It's disgusting and messes with my nerves." Roman said, making a face of disgust at the thought.
"You're awfully hyper today, are you sure you didn't accidentally drink your dad's coffee by mistake?"
Roman shook his head, "No, my dad's coffee smells good but it's really strong and tastes awful"
With one more small frown, Patton put her backpack on and headed out of the class with Roman. It was lunchtime now, and the two made their way towards the table they normally sat at. Logan was already there, pouring over a new book as he ate his lunch. Roman couldn't help but smile as he sat down.
"How was class?" Logan asked without looking up from his book.
"It was interesting! We learned about the Industrial Revolution and Mx. Wright told us about how it contributed to the modern-day use of fossil fuels and climate change." Patton answered, pulling his own lunch out from their bag.
Logan nodded, "I did not have Mx. Wright in my Junior year, but I do think I would have enjoyed their class."
"They're cool. I like their teaching style. They make learning fun. Also, they check up on me a lot and not a lot of teachers do that unless I'm struggling a lot in class. But I have a good grade and they still check on me..." Roman rambled for a little longer until Logan slowly pulled his head out of his book and gave Roman an odd look, " And sometimes I-... what?"
"Nothing, you're just acting out of character," Logan said calmly as he put his book down.
"What? No, I'm not."
Logan and Patton both looked him up and down, "Roman, while I will be the first to admit that you are a very passionate and energetic person, it's never been to this extent. You're more hyper and fidgety than Patton is when she has caffeine."
"Logan's right kiddo, you sure you didn't-"
"I didn't have any coffee," Roman protested slightly before sighing tiredly, "If we're gonna talk about people acting odd, then are we even gonna mention the fact that none of our ghostly friends have made an appearance? I haven't seen Remus all day but I know he's there because- why are you looking at me like that?"
Logan and Patton once again both looked very confused as they watched Roman with worried expressions while continuing to glance around the table as if checking with invisible entities and making sure they were hearing everything right. "What?" Roman asked, now suddenly a little nervous, "What's wrong?"
"Roman. Remus, Anxiety, and Deceit have been here this whole time. Dee was in class with us, and Remus hasn't left your side at all today." Patton said, continuing to look at an empty bench.
"What-? No, he hasn't. I've been looking for him all day I..." Roman trailed off.
"We figured you were ignoring them." Logan replied with a shrug, "That you were still upset with Anxiety and that Remus and Deceit had done something to warrant the same treatment."
"I haven't been ignoring anyone." Roman claimed a little angrily, "Is this some kind of joke or something? Because it's not funny!"
Logan and Patton continued to give him odd looks, "We wouldn't play a prank like this Roman," Logan assured, "Remus, Anxiety, and Deceit, have been here the entire day. You would know if they haven't, wouldn't you? Didn't you mention you can feel when Remus has left your 'range'?"
"Yeah but-! I can't feel them!" Roman yelled suddenly. Because with Logan's words he suddenly realized the truth, this morning the pain of Remus teleporting to his side was much duller than normal and it couldn't have been attributed to him becoming used to the pain because when the very same thing happened the day before it had hurt so bad he had to sit down for a bit and he had been late to his next class. And because normally if Anxiety or Deceit were nearby the space near them would feel colder and sharper. "I can't hear them!" He pulled loosely at his fingers, "I-I can't see them! I can't see my friends! I can't see my brother! Lo-logan! I-I-I can't-"
Logan placed his hands on either side of Roman's shoulders, the pressure was slightly calming but it also felt a bit stifling, "Calm down Roman. Breathe. Anxiety is advising you to take slow breaths, do you need us to count them for you?"
Roman shook his head, the reminder that he couldn't interact with the ghosts at the table hurt slightly, but he remembered the exercise. Logan nodded with understanding and then hesitated, "Both Anxiety and Remus recommend a hug from me. Would that be something you'd benefit from?"
Roman blushed slightly before he quickly hid his face in Logan's shoulder, which seemed to answer the nerds question, "Tell Anxiety and Remus they can step on horse dung."
Logan smiled slightly, "They can hear you just fine, Remus wants you to know he misses the day he could feel dung beneath his shoe."
Roman hummed, "You smell like potting soil you big nerd!" Roman told him as he continued to hug Logan, "And... pumpkin?"
Logan laughed slightly, "My Abba wanted help preparing one of our pumpkins for a pie and we had a little mishap in the kitchen."
"If you ever need any help Logan, I'm always available to provide a few baking tips," Patton offered.
"That would be much appreciated Patton, thank you."
"I can teach you the recipe when we head over to my house today. And Roman, maybe you can teach me that recipe for those cookies Logan spoke so much about? My families always open to new recipes! We haven't had thumbprint cookies in our selection years either."
Roman hummed, "Kinda want to figure out why I suddenly can't see ghosts anymore," he muttered as he still leaned against Logan.
Logan nodded in agreement, "Yes, that might be wise."
"Did you do anything different than normal?"
"Uhm, I started taking antipsychotics, could that be it?"
Logan looked to his left, "Anxiety would like to know if they are for hallucinations."
Roman laughed slightly, "That's the whole reason my parents think I'm crazy because I let slip that I can see my dead brother's ghost."
"Lying is wrong Deceit!" Patton said suddenly, which gave Roman a minor clue to what was suggested.
"Could the medication possibly be the reason?" Logan asked, only slightly surprised when Roman tensed and whimpered slightly in his arms, "Roman, are you alright?"
Roman nodded, "I'm just... if that is true then I worry because maybe that means my parents and the doctors are right."
"It might mean that," Logan said softly, "But I doubt it. Remus and the others have all had physical interactions with the living world. We can all see them and have described them to each other. And when we met you, we were not sure that you could actually see ghosts like we could, not until we each had our separate interactions with you. Not to mention countless other moments of proof."
"But... then why can't I see my brother anymore? It's hard enough with him here, and so much worse when he's gone."
Patton reached a hand across the table to place it on Roman, "Remus wants to remind you that he's still here for you, and always will be."
Roman hiccuped slightly and it was only then that he realized he was crying, Logan rubbed his back gently, "Are you alright Roman? Would you like to call your parents?"
Roman shook his head, "And tell them what? 'Hey, so I can't see the ghosts you call hallucinations, come get me'. No, I can't do that. Besides, I've missed so much school lately, and with everything going on I'm starting to fall behind again, I can't afford to leave early."
Logan hummed, "I'm sure I can help you catch up before your grades are too affected."
Roman smiled lightly, "Yeah," he said with a small nod, "Yeah, thanks. I appreciate it."
"Anxiety wants to know if you still need hugs," Logan asked, and though Roman couldn't hear or see Anxiety he got the hint, and with a small laugh and a subtle understanding nod he pulled away from Logan and went back to his food. They went back to eating quietly, everyone in a while Logan and Patton would catch Roman up on whatever the other three were saying, but Roman seemed to stay relatively quiet for the remainder of lunch.
When the bell rang a few minutes later and they got up to go to classes, Roman moved slowly as to avoid his next class. Though both Logan and Patton quickly seemed to catch on to what he was doing and waited for him patiently. Patton smiled as they dropped him off at his next class, "See you boys in a couple hours alright? I'll meet you outside the library."
The other two nodded before Roman watched them head towards their next class, with a sigh Roman leaned back against the lockers behind him, a hand tapped at the metal platform behind him while Roman took a few deep breaths, "Remus? You're real right? I'm... I'm not just imagining everything?"
A tug at his shoelace had Roman looking down, and with a small smile, he watched as the knot on both shoes came slowly undone.
Word Count: 2777