You've chosen Dan! If this isn't the decision you wanted, feel free to return to Chapter 80!
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The story you are about to read was written by Rose, mind_writing

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The joyful screams of children playing sounded throughout the bright neighborhood. It was a perfect day outside; the children had been out of school recently, so it was not quite sweltering hot yet.

"And I'm the cop!" Seven-year-old Roman yelled out, even his young voice having a command over any other rules set in place.

"What if you get hurt?" Eight-year-old Logan asked worriedly; he'd been looking into the results of such dangerous jobs instead of the odd appeal young boys saw in it as of late.

"You have to close your eyes," Six-year-old Dan offered helpfully. "I saw a show when daddy fell asleep drinking too much juice. Someone got hurt. Lay down," Dan laid Roman down on the driveway. "Close your eyes. Never wake up. That's how you play the game when you get hurt."

———

Logan woke up with a strangled scream, gripping the sheets as he wiped at his eyes. He hated it when he cried, it felt so unnatural, not to mention it hardly help with anything besides emotional stress.

He looked at his watch. 3:42 AM. Surely the dreams would cease if he just went back to sleep, as they hardly helped in his progression with the case.

They never ceased.

———

"I know I have no right," Logan started. "And that I shouldn't be tampering with the case, but this is merely what I found. I have no grudge against Dan, in fact, we were childhood friends. This was a rather disturbing conclusion to come across."

The police seemed rather insistent on not allowing Logan any access to information about the happenings of the case. They had merely taken his input, thanked him, and politely asked him to leave.

Logan complied, but he was unsure what to do after that. For weeks, he was on this case, urging for answers and links, but now...nothing. He had no idea what to do.

He turned on his phone and called Virgil. After a few rings it picked up. "Um, hi, Lo. You know, my over-the-phone social skills never got any better after high school, I'm still really...awkward."

Logan smiled a little, though it felt odd, something outside himself. "Sorry...would you like to have dinner with me tonight? You can choose the place."

There was a long pause on the line before Virgil answered. "Sure. I guess that beats leftover pizza...and I guess I should get out of the house. Where do you want to go?"

Logan's mind immediately went to Scarlet's, the place Roman had worked, and he hated himself for it. The place had closed down for a while, but it was going to open up again soon with a new show, as Logan had seen on Facebook. He wasn't sure what Virgil thought of that, though he probably didn't use Facebook, so he might have not known.

"Lo?" Virgil asked, snapping Logan out of it. "It's whatever you wanna do, there's enough leftover pizza for both of us, but I figured you wouldn't want that."

Logan suddenly felt his legs get weak, his head feel light almost to the point of nausea. To think, he'd just informed the police of a murderer (the person who murdered his brother)—unknown if they had taken him seriously—and now he was talking about where he wanted to eat. He was the one who had called Virgil, though.

"It's fine, Virgil." His voice came out as a slight slur. "I just wanted to..." he couldn't say anything, really. He'd backed himself into a corner of admitting he might have been asking himself on an odd sort of date in the oddest of circumstances. Romance amongst the murder of Roman. "Talk to you. Outside of...what happened. Although it is illogical, I do not wish to focus on...that particular subject anymore..."

"Oh," Virgil spoke softly after a moment. "Yeah. I honestly thought you were gonna want to talk more about it, and I didn't really want that, but...yeah. That sounds good."

"Alright. I'll be at your apartment shortly."

"Okay...wait, you're okay with the leftover—"

Logan hung up before he finished, then realized Virgil had more to say. He figured it better to reassure Virgil once he got there that it was the company, rather than the food, that he cared about.

Once he got there, Virgil let him in and got the pizza out of the toaster oven. "I normally make this in the microwave at, like, midnight, but I figured I'd make it a little fancier." He was wearing a black hoodie and purple pajama pants.

Logan couldn't help but laugh at how odd—or maybe normal, considering people found Logan odd—Virgil was. He took his plate and thanked Virgil, moving into the kitchen.

Virgil walked in as well, putting on a show called Good Omens as he started to eat. He paused it after a few minutes and glanced at Logan. "Sorry, you said you wanted to talk?"

"Oh, yes..." Logan started. "Well, there's one thing, but it's about the case. And there's this other question I had, but that's about Scarlet's, which is about the case...sorry..."

"It's fine," Virgil sighed. "Now you've got me all curious. What's the question?"

"Are you going to go back to work at Scarlet's?" Logan blurted, sitting up to give Virgil an unintentionally pointed look.

Virgil looked as though he hadn't been considering that. He looked conflicted, deep in his dark brown eyes, and Logan hated that. "I don't know," Virgil muttered with a poorly defensive shrug. "There's just...a lot to think about, I guess. Even if I don't want to think about it."

"I understand," Logan said simply. "You know, there is a lot to catch up on, quite a lot of gossip though the years, yes?"

Virgil grinned, looking at Logan with a glowing appreciative look. "I suppose so..."

They were already leaning close together, though Logan moved a little closer, glancing at Virgil's lips, then back up at him quickly. Even in his hoodie and sweatpants, in the midst of something to do with his life, Virgil still looked amazing. And he was leaning in the rest of the way. Virgil closed the gap, pressing his lips to Logan's.

Virgil was gripping Logan's arms once the kiss broke, looking almost a little dazed. "I knew it," he grinned. "You were asking me on a date, Logan."

"I was," Logan laughed a little at how Virgil just now getting that, the relief of Virgil liking him, the idea that a fancy meal invite turned into this. It was so them, so Virgil, so something Logan entirely liked.

"So that's another thing to catch up on..." Virgil moved over until he was in his lap, facing him. Logan, though flustered, moved his hands to hold Virgil's hips, something he'd thought about for fleeting moments all throughout high school. That, and running his fingers through Virgil's curls, which is just what he did.

"I suppose so..." Logan replied faintly, and Virgil cupped his face, kissing him passionately. The tv showed a screen asking if they were still watching, both of them received texts reading that Dan had been arrested, the pizza was getting cold. Neither of them cared, because they had each other.

And they had a lot to catch up on.

The End.
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