*Sits down to write chapter*
*Opens computer*
*Sees how many reads this book has*
Omg... 21.2k reads... I just... Y'all are insane!!!!!!
*Looks closer*
1.1K VOTES!!! WHAT THE HECK THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Also, there are people reading this in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Lithuania, Finland, Australia, Indonesia, Malasia, the Philipines, and New Zealand.
Edit: And Japan, and Ireland, and Cuba
I'm, like, in shock...
Anyways, enough of me talking...
Chapter 26!!!!
TW: This wouldn't be a true chapter if there was no crying, so there's that.
|Previous chapter:
I stared at the page, mouth agape and eyes wide. I didn't remember that happening, probably because I had been half asleep. But Roman said that he might like me as more than a friend.
I blinked, looking up at Dr. Picani. "If he might like me as more than a friend, why did he get so upset at me when I didn't hear him?"
"Well," Dr. Picani said slowly, a mischievous grin on his face. "I think someone might have made him just a tad bit jealous."|
Roman POV:
As soon as Virgil's door was shut behind me, I sighed and rested my head against the wall opposite of the door. I had no idea why I had gotten so upset. I mean, yeah, I wish that he had been listening to me, but that was no reason for me to act the way I had.
I groaned to myself. It was all too clear that I had done exactly what I was trying to stop doing; being a jerk towards Virgil.
Pushing off against the wall, I turned back towards Virgil's door, the better half of me wanting to burst in and apologize. I paused, though, with my hand on the doorknob when I heard Picani and Virgil talking.
Groaning again, I took my hand off the doorknob and turned down the hall towards the kitchen. The last thing I wanted to do was interrupt their conversation, seeing as I had dragged Picani to the Mind Palace solely so that the two of them could talk.
I was not even two steps away from Virgil's door when the sound of coughing stopped me. Pausing, I listened for the sound again. It wasn't long before I heard more coughing. I continued walking towards the kitchen, figuring that Dr. Picani would be helping Virgil if he was having a fit, but I immediately stopped when I realized that the sound of coughing got louder the closer I got to Deceit's room.
Tip-toeing up to his door, I put my ear against the door, and I could clearly hear Deceit's coughs. It concerned me that he was coughing this much.
I hope he's not sick.
"Deceit?" I asked during a lull in the noise. "Are you okay?"
It took a few seconds before I heard him croak out, "Yes," only to immediately start coughing again.
"Are you sure? You sound like you're sick."
"It is just a cold," Deceit croaked out again, and I heard footsteps approaching the door. I took a step back, and the door opened a few inches, allowing me to see the side of Deceit's face that wasn't covered in scales. "I will be fine in a few days."
"Alright," I sighed, shoving my hands in the pockets of my pants. "Do you want me to tell Patton so he can make you soup?"
"That would be nice," he said, looking down at the floor.
"O-okay," I said, rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet. "I'll tell him, and I'm almost certain that he'll drop whatever he's doing to make it."
When I said that, Deceit's eye went wide, and it almost looked like his skin paled.
"O-okay..." he mumbled. "I need to rest."
"You do that," I said, starting to walk to the kitchen. "I'll make sure Patton knows."
I heard Deceit's door close behind me as I walked into the kitchen. Patton was still leaning against the counter, an almost empty sleeve of cookies next to him. I could see Logan sitting in the living room working on sudoku.
"Patton?" I called out, and he jumped, shoving the sleeve behind him. "How many cookies have you had?"
"Um..." he said sheepishly. "15..."
I chuckled, shaking my head at him. "That's... that's something, Patt. Something only you could do."
"Well," Patton chuckled, "Good thing there's only one me!"
"Yup," I grinned. "Otherwise we'd be going through two boxes every day."
"Would that really be a bad thing?" Patton asked, grabbing another cookie out of the sleeve.
"I mean, I wouldn't have a problem with it," I reasoned. Looking at Logan, I dropped my voice to a whisper, "But Logan might."
"Very true," Patton said back, munching on the cookie.
"I heard that!" Logan shouted from his spot in the living room.
Laughing, I walked over to Patton and grabbed two cookies for myself before he ate them all. I turned and leaned against the counter as well, eating one of my cookies, which turned out to be snickerdoodle.
"Oh, by the way," I said after a few minutes of silence. "I briefly talked to Deceit as I was coming down here because I heard him coughing."
As I was speaking, I noticed that Patton's eyes went wide.
"Coughing?" Logan asked from the living room. I looked over at him and saw that he had set his sudoku to the side. He stood up, adjusted his glasses and tie, and walked over to where we were.
"Yeah," I said, not sure why they were so concerned. "I asked if he was alright and he said that he was fine and tha-"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Logan interrupted, holding his hands up. "Deceit said that he was fine."
"That's what I said," I continued. "He said that it was just a cold."
"Oh no..." Patton murmured, and I turned to see that he was holding a hand over his mouth, his face pale. He looked at Logan, and they seemed to have a silent conversation, ending with Patton nodding and running out of the kitchen.
I stood in my spot, shocked by the reaction my words had elicited. Looking over at Logan, I saw that he looked to be deep in thought.
"What was that about?" I asked, confused by everything that had happened.
At that, Logan jumped a little, reaching up to fix his tie.
"What was what about?" Logan asked, focusing on me.
"That," I said, waving my hands around. "Why did Patton freak out? And since when have you two been able to communicate silently?"
Logan sighed and chuckled slightly. "To address your second question, that's something that kinda just happens when you've been in a relationship for a long period of time. As for your first question..."
He trailed off, looking at the ground.
"That's a long story that I'm not qualified to tell."
"Why aren't you qualified to tell it?" I asked, starting to get the tiniest bit frustrated.
"Because it's not mine to tell," Logan snapped, his gaze shifting from the ground to me.
I shrunk back under the fire of his gaze, starting to regret asking. I opened my mouth to apologize, but Patton raced into the kitchen before I could speak. Stopping in the doorway, he leaned against the wall and tried to catch his breath.
Logan immediately rushed to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Is something wrong, love?"
"Deceit... not... okay..." Patton gasped out, wrapping an arm around Logan's waist. I would have made a remark about how cute they were, but I could tell that now wasn't the time for that.
"What happened?" Logan asked, and I could hear the concern in his voice.
Patton didn't respond for a few seconds as he caught his breath. When he was able to breathe again, he stood up and wrapped his other arm around Logan's waist. Patton placed his head on Logan's shoulder so that he was able to look at me.
It was then that I noticed tears forming in his eyes.
"Deceit, he-" Patton started, only to stop midway as tears rolled down his cheeks.
Logan must have been able to tell that Patton had started to cry, and he wrapped his arms around Patton in a tight hug. I saw him whispering something, but I didn't even try to hear what it was. After a few seconds, Patton nodded, and Logan placed a tender kiss against the top of his head.
"Deceit, he..." Patton started to say again, and the waver in his voice was clear as dawn.
"He has Hanahaki."
A/N:
Whew... that's out in the open now. But it was kinda funny 'cause I got so many comments on chapter 19 asking if De has Hanahaki, and I was just sitting here laughing. I've had this planned for quite a while.
Sorry that it's been so long since the last chapter. School got crazy 'cause we missed an entire week of school, and I slipped into a really bad place mentally.
I'm doing a little better mentally, but school hasn't gotten any less crazy.
Also, I'm going to be doing my school's musical, so practices for that are going to be starting sometime soon, so I'm going to have even less time than I already have until May.
Because of that, updates will probably be few and far between until May or so. (Although I'm hoping to be able to get at least one out during spring break in April)
Like, if I find the time, I'll write and try to update at least every two or three weekends, but it really depends on my schedule.
Thanks for understanding!
Also, I've got so many ideas for where I want this to go and I'm so freaking excited. And there will most definitely be a sequel because IDEAS ARE A THING THAT EXIST.
Until next time,
Take it easy guys, gals, and non-binary pals!
~death_by_fanfic