Weeks went by and Roman seemed to be getting so much better. His arms were no longer sliced up like paper and old scars slowly began to heal. He finished paintings and made money again, helping part time in Patton's cafe. He held charity ball after ball to raise money for anything he could.

Tonight was a charity ball to raise awareness for Suicide Prevention. Roman looked at himself in the mirror, fixing his bow tie and let out a soft breath, "What do you think, Virgil?" He met his reflection's tired gaze and ran a hand through his hair, is that what he truly looked like? Exhausted...
His eyes trailed up to the picture in the corner of the mirror. It was of him and Virgil, both standing next to each other. Virgil looked absolutely annoyed with the tuxedo he had to wear, his bow tie hanging slack from his neck as he had untied it. Roman looked genuinely happy with his arm wrapped around Virgil's waist to pull him in range of the picture.
"Roman, why do I have to wear this stupid outfit?" Virgil growled, annoyed with the fancy clothing. Roman merely chuckled and pulled Virgil close so he could fix his tie, "Because the ball is a fancy occasion and we can't wear whatever we please." Virgil made another sound of annoyance that was silenced by Roman's soft lips. He pulled back, "I'll make it up to you with a very special surprise, okay?" "Okay." Virgil sighed in defeat before leaning against Roman, "I love you, my Creativity." "I love you too, my Anxiety." Roman purred back.
Roman blinked as a soft knock came from his door, followed by Patton peeking inside, "Roman, are you ready?" Roman looked over at Patton and gave him a weak smile. The smaller male walked over and began to fix Roman's tie, "You look great and I want you to know that Virgil would be very proud of you." He dusted off any fuzz that clung to the tuxedo. Roman gave Patton a hug before they made their way out of the room and down the hall that went from dark and silent to warm glow lighting and a bit of noise as people chatted among themselves. Roman looked around the room before he took another breath and headed towards the stage where all the paintings were sitting, waiting to be sold and raise money. A man walked over to the microphone and taped on it to gain the attention of the room. Slowly it fell into silence and the man began to speak, "Good evening ladies, gentlemen, and non binary beauties, we are all here to support this charity ball for Suicide Prevention." He paused for the clapping that had started and then quickly disappeared, "The founder of this event, Roman Kingsley, has added in his own paintings to raise money." The man gestured to Roman and the spotlight slid over to him and his gave a gentle smile before joining the man on stage, taking the microphone "Thank you all for coming, it means a lot for so many people out there fighting the silent battle. I want them to know that they are not alone." He handed off the microphone as people cheered him on. When they bidding started, Roman walked over to the banquet table and grabbed himself a drink. "You've always been a man of few words." The familiar voice made him turn around, "Ah, Thomas, good to see you again and thank you for introducing the charity." Thomas smiled and gave a brief nod, "I know what it's like to lose someone to suicide." Roman blinked and recognized the same exhausted look buried in Thomas' eyes, "Really?" The question wasn't meant to come across as rude but in mere curiosity. Thomas took a small sip of his drink, "Walk with me?" And the two sharply dressed men walked away from the buzzing room and out into the cool air on the balcony. Thomas leaned his arms on the railing, slowly swishing his drink around in the small whisky glass, "My dearest friend Joan..." He trailed off before he shifted as he tried to let the words leave his mouth. "It's been two years but it feels like just yesterday..."
"Thomas! I'm going to visit the large Cherry Blossom tree near the edge of town." Joan spoke and shifted in their chair, knowing Thomas was quite busy at work. "Okay Joan, I'll see you at dinner tonight." Thomas smiled before he giggled, "My boss is getting angry, I better go okay?" "Okay, oh and Thomas?" Joan started before hearing Thomas say a quick yeah on the other side of the phone call before they continued, "I love you." They hung up before Thomas could respond. Thomas stared at his cell phone in confusion, ignoring his boss. Joan never ended a phone call like that and it felt weird. His anxiety began to nag him as he set his phone aside and continued his work. When he got off work, he quickly got some takeout before calling Joan back, he frowned even more when the phone just went to voice mail. The bad feeling grew and he headed over to their apartment. No car, no lights, nothing to show that Joan had even come home yet. He hurried up the stairs and shakily unlocked the door, walking around in search of any sign of Joan, groaning out in worry as the phone call went back to voice mail. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a piece of paper and grabbed it; recognizing the handwriting almost immediately.
Thomas nearly tripped over himself as he raced out of the apartment and down to his car, jumped in and frantically tried to start it as he called Talyn; shouting into the phone as he reversed and then headed towards the old park at the edge of town that had a giant cherry blossom tree right in the middle of it. He parked at a horrible angle as he flew out of his car and raced to the tree only to scream at the sight before him. Joan was hung from the tree.
Thomas blinked and wiped away then tears that fell down his face before he cleared his throat and took another drink. "I'm so sorry, Thomas." Roman whispered, knowing that it was pointless to say sorry. That five letter word couldn't fix their broken hearts, couldn't heal their physical wounds nor mend their tortured minds. Thomas just shook his head and gazed up at the sky. Roman took a small breath, "I lost my fiance. He slit his wrists while he waded in the bathtub." He watched Thomas from the corner of his eye before also looking up at the sky. "I'm so sorry." Thomas whispered before the two fell into silence. It wasn't awkward but mutual respect for one another as they understood each other on a deeper level. Thomas tilted his head, "You don't have to answer but will you ever fall in love again?" Roman gave a rare smile, "No, because my heart still belongs to him." He carefully placed his hand against the ring that clung to his neck. Thomas returned the rare smile before he stood and faced the doors, "Well, do you think we should return to the Ball?" Roman turned to face Thomas, "Probably." And they opened the doors, walked in and disappeared into the crowd.