summary: over the past school year, roman and logan have gotten closer with every interaction. both boys becoming comfortable and more caring around each other than before.
word count: 3197 (0-0)
this is a part 2 to the other one shot of the same name :)) sorry this is so long but i hope this makes up for not posting on saturday, this was taking a super long time and unfortunately my college is still assigning work over the break but here ya go :)
tw/cw// alcohol, kinda non-consensual kissing, bullying, slight violence mentions, transphobic comments, some cussing, injuries mentioned, incest joke, stay safe friends :))
~~~~
"Hey, Logan! Did you hear about the party tonight? Everyone's gonna be there, it's gonna be super cool! Here, I'll send you the address." Patton spoke a million words a minute, rambling so fast that Logan couldn't keep up. He didn't really feel like going to the party but Patton had already sent him the invite, and he wasn't busy after school, so he decided to go. 'What's the worst that can happen?'
Logan arrived at the party and almost immediately made his way to the basement, standing by the wall with a cup of water in his hand. He awkwardly watched as almost everyone was doing at least one illegal thing and the rest were playing spin the bottle or seven minutes in heaven. "Hey, we need another player, anyone wanna play spin the bottle?" Roman shouted out to the other teens in the basement. No one responded.
Roman's eyes fell onto Logan, who was trying to sink into the crowd so he wouldn't get noticed, and he waved him over. "Dr. Robotnik! Come here!" Logan huffed at the nickname and reluctantly made his way over to the group, sitting down in the only empty space between two strangers. "Just suck it up, geek. Okay, let's start." Roman said, knowing Logan was slightly regretting coming to the party right now.
A few people had their turns before the bottle finally landed on Logan. His eyes widened slightly, filled with worry as the drunk girl stumbled her way across the floor and in front of him. She placed a hand on the side of his face and stuck her face onto his, locking lips with the poor nerd.
Unaware to anyone else, Roman watched with a twinge of jealously and anger. Logan wasn't pulling away, but Roman knew he wanted to. Roman wanted to get up, push the drunk girl off Logan, and take to poor nerd out of the party. Roman instead pushed his thoughts always and tried to convince himself what he was feeling was nothing, there wasn't anything there for a loser like Logan, never was, never will be.
The girl finally pulled back and sat back in her spot. Logan desperately wanted to wipe his lips of the cheap lipstick she decided to wear but he felt it would be rude to do so in front of everyone else, so he left it on. He nervously spun the empty beer bottle, desperately wishing he could go home now. The bottle slowed down and landed on Roman.
Roman smirked and crawled over to Logan, wiping off the lipstick with his sleeve while Logan watched him in slight awe. Logan couldn't ignore the fact that Roman looked really attractive right now, the way he took control, how confident and carefree he seemed, Logan would be weak in the knees if he wasn't already sitting down.
"Candy is a terrible kisser, consider yourself lucky I'm doing this, idiot." Logan ignored the insult, instead allowing himself to get lost in the sensation of Roman kissing him. Roman was gently cupping the sides of Logan's face and pulling him in closer for the kiss, taking up as much space as possible between the two. Roman finally pulled back, taking in Logan's red face and awed expression. Roman himself held a slightly shocked expression, realizing how much he really wanted to do that again, just how much he cared for the boy, just how much power Logan held over Roman just by existing without even knowing it.
Roman gulped and plastered on a smirk, although it was obviously less genuine than before. He pulled away and sat back in his spot. Logan stumbled to his feet, muttering a quick apology, leaving the basement and the party.
~~~~
Logan fumbled with his backpack, putting the books he needed into his backpack. The party that had occurred at the start of the weekend gave Logan a lot to think about. Did this complicate his feelings for Roman? Over the past few months, Roman was still annoying as ever but he had become more tolerable, becoming more like a friend than a bully. Despite what happened at the party, Logan didn't see Roman any differently. If anything, he just felt what he'd always felt around him but more intensely.
Were these feelings always there? Logan wasn't sure. He'd realized a while ago that he did find Roman very attractive and his personality become more lovable as time went on. When Roman mentioned that he wasn't friends with his usual posse because of their rude comments towards Logan, his heart figuratively warmed at that.
So yes, these feelings had been there well before the party. But did Roman feel the same? Logan, again, wasn't sure. Roman seemed to become softer around Logan in the past few months. They'd hung out many times either at the mall or Roman's house, Roman always claiming that Logan needed more clothes or when, in reality, he really didn't. Logan had to admit, however, that he always preferred going to Roman's house because Roman would always pull out a new shirt that he claimed he wasn't using anymore. Logan adored wearing the clothes Roman gave him over the ones he buys because Roman's clothes smelled just like him, the materials were always perfect, they always fit so well, and the designs were always so beautiful.
He also noticed that every time Roman saw him wearing on of his clothes, a small smile would grace his face for a few seconds. And every time, that smile entranced Logan. Maybe Roman did feel the same, but Logan knew better than to get his hopes up. He had to remind himself that not too long ago, Roman was still a huge jerk, still a bully.
"Hey, Robot. Long time, no see." Roman was a jerk, a bully, but never nearly as bad as his ex-best friend, Jake. Logan didn't turn around, hoping to stand his ground. "I don't care if you're a boy, girl, or some kind of genderless freak, when I'm talking to you, you listen." Jake growled, roughly turning Logan around and shoving his back into the lockers, holding him there.
Logan glared at him but there was still a hint of fear in his eyes that amused Jake. "No matter what you say, what you wear, how many bullshit lies you tell Roman, you will never be anything more than the nerdy girl that you always have been. The freak, the loser." Jake's words were laced with venom, Logan tried his best to ignore him. He knew he was wrong, he knew it was just Jake's desperate way of letting Logan know how insecure he was. That didn't stop it from stinging, though.
"What the hell is going on here?" A grin spread across Jake's face as he turned to Roman, who seemed very upset with the situation. "Glad you could make it, Roman." Roman rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Jake?"
"I just wanted to give you one last chance." "For what?" "To quit it with this freak. Don't think we haven't noticed you've been hanging around her." Logan watched the two argue, Roman getting increasingly angrier while Jake stayed confident and cool, casually spewing out slurs directed at Logan, not that Logan was really listening anyways.
Jake finally let go of Logan, two crowds formed behind Jake and Roman respectively. Logan didn't dare move from his spot against the lockers, barely acknowledging Patton coming up beside him. "If that's how it's gonna be, I'm going to have to kick your ass too." "Fine by me, asshole." Roman said lowly. Logan quickly tugged on Roman's arm with wide eyes. "Roman, seriously, it's okay. You don't-"
Roman didn't turn to face Logan, "Patton, get him out of here." Patton nodded and grabbed Logan's arm, dragging him through the crowd. Logan helplessly tried looking over the heads of his classmates but was unable to see anything, only hearing lockers slam and the cheers from other students.
~~~~
It had been two days since Logan had last seen Roman and, since he couldn't see the fight, he had to rely on rumors and gossip. Unfortunately, the rumors were stressing him out even more than knowing a definitive answer.
"Jake totally kicked his ass, I'd be surprised if that loser will show up to school ever again."
"He was already falling off the social ladder, Jake just had to show him his place."
"No way, Roman is still scary as ever. If anything, he destroyed Jake, not the other way around."
"Jake dislocated his arm, he definitely won."
"But Roman broke his nose, that has to count for something."
Logan smiled a little at the thought of Roman absolutely destroying Jake. After all of the torture Jake had put him through, it was definitely refreshing for Jake to get a taste of his own medicine.
Logan let his face fall back to a neutral state, listening for any other information that might soothe his concerns, or just more details on how badly Jake was beaten.
Someone cleared their throat behind him and, for a moment, he feared that maybe Jake had come back. He turned around and slightly relaxed to see Roman standing there. Concern immediately filled his body as he noticed Roman's arm was in a sling, cuts and bruises littering his face and body. Logan placed his hands gently on Roman's face, examining his injuries. "Roman, are you okay? I-I heard about the fight, it sounded really bad-"
Roman shrugged it off with a smirk, Logan let his hands drop back down to his sides. "Nah, you think I'd let Jake beat me in a fight? Couldn't risk my reputation like that." Logan nodded, his eyes still holding worry despite his face being neutral.
Roman watched the boy, his smirk faltering before clearing his throat once more. "Um, a-anyways, why do you care so much, loser? Thought you'd be glad to have me gone." Logan frowned. "I wasn't glad, I was worried. I didn't want you to get hurt, especially not because of me."
Roman's cheeks dusted over with a light pink color, "W-Well, don't feel too bad, it wasn't your fault. Jake just pisses me off to no end, the fight would've happened sooner or later." Logan gave Roman a small smile, silently telling him he'd drop it but he'd still blame himself for the fight.
Roman messed with his backpack strap awkwardly. "I should get to class now." Logan nodded. "Um, just real quick. I really need to get something off my chest. Logan, I..." Roman was bright red now, stuttering out random noises as he tried to say what he wanted to say. Logan watched him expectantly, hoping this was what he thought it was.
Roman, in his frantic search for words, was letting his eyes dart all over the place. At one point, he locked eyes with the nerdy boy and paused for a moment. Logan watched as he let out a small sigh and his tense shoulders deflated. Not in a relaxed way, more in a defeated manner. "Um, just- I'm sorry, for the party. You were kind of put in the game against your will and then the kiss happened, I just wanted to apologize. That's it." Logan could tell that wasn't what he wanted to say but he didn't comment on it.
"It's alright, Roman. I'm not used to, nor am I in favor of, party games. But, I'll admit, that game wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be." 'It certainly stayed in my mind all weekend.' Logan thought to himself. Roman brightened up a bit and returned to his usual self, a mix of pick-up lines and insults that held no real meaning, which in turn brought a small smile to Logan's face.
~~(i like writing roman better so we're gonna switch to roman from now on, okay? okay)~~
Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Roman came back and attempted to confess to Logan. But he chickened out. Despite always making fun of Logan, Roman has always been jealous of how strong and straightforward he was. Even as kids, Logan stood his ground and spoke his mind. He wished he had that kind of strength. He wished he could tell Logan what he so badly wanted to say. He wished he could say a lot of things.
And as badly as Roman wanted to say and do a lot of things, he never had the confidence to do so. He'd established a reputation in school over the years as the badass, the prankster, a guy with no cares in the world.
While it wasn't too far off from his true personality, it wasn't exactly him. He was the type of person that wanted to be as fair as possible to others, he wanted to show off his singing voice proudly, he wanted to geek out over cartoons and Disney. He wanted to be closer to Logan. And, over the school year, it became obvious to Roman, his mom, even Remus (who barely paid attention to anything involving Roman) that Logan was the only person to bring out this side of Roman.
But that stupid lack of confidence kept him back. What if Logan was still hurt by Roman's actions in the past? What if Roman just wasn't likable or redeemable at this point? Roman couldn't blame Logan if that were the case, he was always aware of the impact of his words, he was always aware that what he was doing was wrong, but he never stopped.
"¿Te sientes bien, mijo? Apenas has tocado tu caldo de res." Roman shrugged but didn't say anything. "Creo que tiene muchas cosas en la cabeza, Mami. Dejémoslo solo por ahora." Remus said quietly to their mother, shocking Roman a bit. Roman watched as his mom nodded and placed a kiss onto her sons' heads before putting her bowl in the sink and heading off to bed. Remus didn't look up from his bowl, Roman just stared at the side of his brother's head in confusion.
"You're never usually that nice, what's going on?" Remus shook his head. "You didn't seem to be in the mood for Ma's never ending questions or my teasing. I'm not the monster you paint me out to be, I can tell you're really struggling with something so I'm not gonna make it worse." Remus stood up and brought his bowl to the sink. "I never thought you were a monster, annoying, sure. But not a monster." Remus didn't respond, just keeping his back to Roman.
"Can I, uh, ask you something? You're a lot more experienced in this stuff than me. I like this guy but we don't have the best...history. We've gotten closer this year but I'm pretty sure he still sees me as the jerk I was before. I just- I'm not sure if I should tell him or not at this point."
Remus came back to the dining room table and sat in his previous seat. "This about the kid with the glasses, right?" Roman reluctantly nodded. "Okay, well, he seems to be nervous a lot of the times but also blunt and honest. Plus, a while back, while you were getting some bags from your car, he told me that he loved spending time with you and he'd come to trust you a lot." "Really?" "Eh, in so many words. He said, "Something, something, I appreciate his company. Something, something, he's a trustworthy friend." I honestly kind of blanked out while he was talking but I got the general idea."
Roman chuckled lightly, pausing before speaking again, "Thank you, Remus. You really are a great brother." Remus scoffed lightly but smiled sincerely. "Let's go to bed before Ma comes down here and yells at us."
~~~~
Roman took a deep breath, watching Logan talking to Patton in the distance. "Okay so, one more time. Who are you talking to?" Remus asked in a review type of way, rubbing Roman's left shoulder in the process. (He lightly massaged his right shoulder but was still careful as his arm was still healing from being dislocated.) "Logan." "What do you build up with?" "I completely respect your reaction and response to what I'm about to say. Don't feel obligated to say anything, take your time, I just needed to get this off of my chest."
"And after that?" Remus pulled Roman to face him, holding him by the shoulders. "I know we haven't had the best history but, honestly, I've always been jealous of how strong and confident you are, how proud you are to be yourself. And over this past year, getting closer to you, I care about you, a lot. And...I like you in a romantic sense."
Someone passing by gave the brothers a strange look, "What in the Alabama?" They mumbled before walking off. Remus watched them, confused, before shaking his head and turning back to Roman. "Okay, you're ready. Just remember what we went over and you'll be good."
"But what if I-" Remus cut him off, "No time, catch up to him! Good luck, Brother." Remus shoved him in Logan's direction and waved him off. Roman stumbled in front of Logan, who was walking to his first period class up stopped upon seeing Roman.
"Oh, Roman, are you okay?" Roman blushed out of embarrassment, "Uh, don't say anything. I was a jerk. I like you." He stuttered out. Remus, who was three yards away, face palmed and quickly walked away out of second-hand embarrassment. Logan's eyes widened, "Wait, what?" Patton looked between the two before awkwardly excusing himself and walking away.
Roman gulped and stood up straight, not making eye contact with the boy in front of him.. "What I meant to say was, you don't have to feel obligated to say anything, I respect however you feel after this. I know I was a jerk, and I still can be, so I don't expect the feeling to be...mutual. But, uh, I just needed to get this off of my chest.
"Ever since I met you, you've been one of the strongest people I know. I've always been jealous of you for that. But getting to know you this year, getting closer to you, I've come to care about you a lot. I constantly think about you, I try to come up with different excuses to talk to you. I can never get enough of how gorgeous you look, especially with my clothes on, every time you're around me, I feel so at peace and happy. I just felt like you should know that before you inevitably stop talking to me forever." Roman trailed off.
"Do you really mean that, Ro?" Roman's face reddened more at the nickname as he shyly nodded. "Well, I can't say I completely trust you yet. Why don't you win my trust during dinner on...Friday, maybe? Is Friday good?" Roman looked at Logan in shock. "Wh- Uh, yeah. Friday's perfect." "Well, Roman Jiménez, I just recently got my driver's license so why don't I pick you up at 7?" Roman nodded dumbly.
Logan giggled a bit before walking off. Roman let a wide grin slip onto his face.
~~~~
ahh okay so break has officially started for me, i felt like crying all day today but you know what? i made it through today, you made it through today, and that in itself is an accomplishment :)) anywho, hope you enjoyed this (it took me like two weeks), love you all, stay safe, buh bye!!
11/24/20