Type: angsty romantic/part of Thomas AU

Ship: Roceit

They left the courtroom, finished the video, and Roman hated himself. So it wasn't too different from a normal video. But he really, really, wanted to go to that callback. More than anything. Well, apart from his need for approval from the others. That was somehow even more important than achieving his dream. 

Roman disappeared into his room after the video, not wanting to put on a smile and pretend everything was ok. Because it wasn't.

After a while of him listening to the angstiest and saddest Broadway musical songs that he could find, Roman hears a knock at his door.

"Come in," he says, his tone devoid of its usual energy.

"Aw, is someone very happy with the turnout?" Janus asks, entering.

Roman sits up and takes out his earbuds.

"Oh. Yeah. I'm not," Roman grumbles.

"Then why did you do it? I almost won that case!" Janus says.

"I know, but the others..." Roman says, trailing off.

Janus's expression softens and he goes to sit down next to him.

"What about them?" he asks.

"They'd never forgive me if I went against Patton, and I live with them! Jan, I still want to be a part of them and help Thomas, but I can't do that if they hate me!" Roman says, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

Janus takes Roman's hand into his.

"They'd forgive you. And I can always make sure they listen to you. After all, I have control over when Remus can give his ideas out," he says.

Roman nods.

"I guess. But I- I really wanted to go," he says.

"I know you do. Maybe there's still a chance it will be rescheduled," Janus says.

"Don't lie to me, I know there isn't," Roman says.

Janus sighs.

"Look, why don't we just stay here and sing some Disney songs? Would you feel better then?" he asks.

Roman nods.

"I guess. But-"

"No buts, just us. There's nobody coming in, and nobody's going to be able to say anything anyway," Janus says.

True, his ability had kept Remus from spilling the beans several times.

"What song?" Roman asks.

"I'd usually be asking you that, but I think I See Stars would be great my star," Janus says.

Roman blushes.

"Ok," he says.

Roman loves theater and Disney so much that his room recognized when he started singing and automatically played the music to match.

"Cheap. Fake. Easy to break. That's how I used to be," Roman sings.

That's still how he feels. His ideas are cheap. His smiles are fake. And he feels really close to breaking.

"But now I'm awake, I'll tell you what I see," he continues.

"Plastic don't shine, glitter don't shine, rhinestones don't shine the way you do," Janus cuts in, "You are so real, you are so rare, I see you there,"

He brushes a bit of Roman's hair out of his face.

"I see a star, you are a star tonight. You could make diamonds dull, you are so beautiful," he sings.

Janus knows exactly how to cheer his boyfriend up, and compliments in song form are one of the best ways.

"I see stars. You shine as bright as day, I will look out for you, we'll light each other's way," Janus continues.

Roman hadn't noticed Janus had taken off his gloves.

"You're all stars," Roman sings, "See, I will not hide. That was my problem. Don't be frightened like me. The darker the night, the brighter you shine,"

"Plastic don't shine, glitter don't shine, rhinestones don't shine the way you do. You are on fire, you can rise higher, up in the sky, enjoy the view. You stars!" they sing together.

They hold each other's hands, looking into each other's eyes. Just then, the doorknob turns and Patton enters the room.

"Hey, Ro-" he stops, looking up at the two sides together.

"I can explain-" Roman starts.

"There's nothing to explain. Clearly, you like the Dark Sides more!" Patton says, slamming Roman's door before they could see his tears.

Roman has a look of horror on his face as Patton leaves the room. Instinctively, Janus throws his arms around Roman and shields him with his cape.

"I- he- he knows! Oh, Janus, they're going to kill me!" Roman says, his voice cracking, "And-and Virgil, I've tried so hard-"

Janus strokes Roman's hair gently.

"I don't know if it will be ok, but you'll always have me, my star," he says.

Roman clings onto Janus as he leads him back to his bed. He sits down, tears streaming down his face. Before the others arrive, Janus grabs his gloves and puts them back on.

"I think it would be best if I left. That way, you can deny it ever happened," Janus says.

He wipes one of Roman's tears away and plants a kiss on his forehead.

"Just pretend you're asleep," Janus advises.

Roman nods and grabs his pillow as Janus sinks out. As much as Janus didn't want to hide their relationship. But he knows it's for the best that they do. Or did, now, if Roman can't convince everyone Patton didn't actually see it.

Roman tosses his blanket over himself messes his hair, and rolls onto his side, pretending to sleep. After just a few minutes, he hears a knock at his door. He doesn't answer.

"Roman? Roman, please come out. We need to talk," Logan says.

After a minute, Logan opens the door. He sees Roman sleeping and rips his blanket off. Roman then pretends to wake up.

"Hey, what the heck!?" he says.

Roman's heart was pounding. He had to stay calm. This was just like a performance, and he was the star. Only this time, he could get in a lot of trouble if he failed.

"We need to talk. Patton wants everyone down in the living room right now," Logan says.

"Fine. Just let me fix my hair," Roman grumbles, pushing Logan out of his room.

So far, he was doing well. 

Downstairs, Virgil and Patton anxiously awaited the other two sides. Patton had told Virgil what he saw, as Virgil had the most experience with the Dark Sides.

When Logan and Roman finally came down, Patton's gaze turned into a glare.

"Roman," he says, "Care to explain what I saw you doing?" 

"No thanks. I mean, I don't know what you saw me doing, but-" he says.

"You know exactly what," Patton says.

Roman puts on a convincing look of confusion.

"Just say it," Logan says.

"You are dating Deceit. You love him. The lying, manipulative, Dark Side," Patton says.

To be continued because I am mean

So yeah, it's a two parter. But only because while I can be mean, my Stats thing shows that none of these chapters get above 70% read, and I'm guessing that's because of the length. So I'll have the second part out soon, but in the meantime, requests are open! Peace out, my peeps!