A red rose is love
Pricking those who come too close

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Point of View: Virgil, First Person
Timeline: Present Day

I slipped into the coffee shop - wincing slightly as the bell on the door gave an annoyingly loud clang to announce my arrival. However, no one paid me any mind as I jumped in the back of the line.

I slipped on my headphones – purposely to discourage anyone from coming and trying to talk me. Usually there was at least one person who tried to talk to me anyway – ignoring the universal message to stay away. But it seemed like everyone was rather busy to pay me any attention anyway.

"How can I help you?" the tiny girl asked once I reached the front of the line. Goodness, could she talk any lower? He could barely hear her over the loud bustle of this place.

"Iced Coffee," I basically grunted out.

The tiny brunette gave me the total, handing me back 30 cents in change. I merely shoved it in my wallet – already full of change because I was too anxious to stand there and count out the correct amount of change.

After getting my drink, I took a seat at one of the tables – in fact the only empty table, over by the windows in the corner. The place was full of people – rushing in and rushing out to grab a cup of coffee before leaving for work.

"Pardon, I hate to be a bother, but may I sit here?" a voice came from my right, startling me slightly.

I twisted around to see another man who... quite frankly had seen better days.

He had a brown leather messenger bag slung over his shoulder – with papers seemingly shoved in there either recklessly or quickly. The man was wearing a brown leather jacket, bright plain red shirt underneath. Black skinny jeans following dark red and gold adidas sneakers. He looked a fit frazzled – eyes pleading and wide and his breath was coming out in short puffs, as if he had run here or something.

"I don't talk," I informed him. "But feel free," I said, waving my hand at the seat across from me.

"Oh my stars, thank you so much," the man said gratefully, setting his... massive pile of things on the table and chair. "I have a major deadline due this afternoon - well, multiple deadlines actually - and I simply haven't the time to such back home," he said. "Would you mind watching my things for a short moment?"

I didn't bother to respond verbally, giving the man a curt nod. He gave me a quick grateful smile as he got in line.

I sighed, taking another sip of my drink.

It seemed like only a couple of seconds had passed before the man returned, a drink in hand. "Hot chocolate," he answered smiling.

"...You came to a coffee shop...and got hot chocolate?"

"The smell of coffee helps me think," the man explained as he reached into his messenger bag, pulling out a laptop. "However I do not particularly enjoy the taste."

I raised my eyebrows at that, glancing pointedly at the iced coffee in my hands.

"Uh," the man stammered, cheeks turning a light shade of pink. "Apologies, um, I'm afraid I never caught your name," the man stuttered, cheeks even pinker.

I didn't even bother to give him a response, merely raised my eyebrows at him again.

"Pardon, I should introduce myself," the man said, flushing even further at my silence. "I am called Roman – I mean, my name is Roman," he stuttered, flushing even further, holding his hand out for a handshake. "English is not my first language," he explained, even though there wasn't a trace of an accent in his voice.

I merely stared it before twisting my head towards the window.

Why couldn't I have just stayed home? Then I could've just made myself a cup of coffee, caught up on another conspiracy theory video, maybe clean my room – no, wait not that one.

Well either way that would result in me not getting questioned and judged by this complete stranger.

I heard the man give a weak remark, muttering under his breath - something about focusing - before sitting down across from me. He reached into his bag and pulled out several small notebooks, and a pair of white earbuds himself. However, he didn't put them both in - only pressing one into his ear and leaving the other dangling in the air.

I couldn't help staring as he closed his eyes, pressing his hands against his temples, concentrating on whatever he must've been listening too. I couldn't help being curious, hanging around even after I had finished my iced coffee and leaving momentarily to order a couple of cookies (for some reason they were really good here) and silently wondering what he was working on.

After about two hours of constant silence, Roman yanked the earbud out of his ear with a tiny cry of frustration, frowning at his computer screen. He sat back and pressed against his temples. "Why is it never simple?" he muttered to himself, closing his eyes.

...

Oh my gosh, was he asleep?

Oh my gosh this dude really fell asleep that fast.

Feeling slightly guilty, I reached over and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. Roman let out a tiny whimper of protest, eyes still shut. "Five more minutes," he muttered.

I sighed. Maybe time to let panic kick in for second.

"You just spilled your hot chocolate on your laptop," I lied.

Roman's eyes flew open, panic evident. His eyes flew to his completely dry laptop. He turned to me, confused before it dawned on him. "Oh my stars, did I fall asleep?"

"Uh-huh," I agreed, leaning back, tilting my head to the side at his odd saying.

"Thank you, thank you so much. I had a project due this morning and I pulled an all-nighter in order to finish it in time," he explained. "I've been up for the past fourty-eight hours."

I frowned. "Fourty-eight?"

Roman nodded, eyes already wanting to close. "I... watched my friends kid the other night – little thing, only a couple of months old. But my stars I was so stressed that I didn't catch a wink."

He sighed. Then his eyes lit up, idea sparkling in them – the sunlight coming through the window making them momentarily gold to magnify the effect.

"Do you like music?"

I snorted at that. "Don't most people?" I returned.

"You'd be surprised," he responded. "Do you really like music? Like to record and edit music?"

I frowned, but nodded, not sure where he was going with this.

"Listen to this," he said, holding the tiny earbud out to me. "Tell me what you think," he said.

Hesitantly, I slid my headphones down – hood falling with them. I shook my head a little, purple hair falling in front of my eyes and I watched Roman stare, mouth open, as I slipped the earbud in and waiting.

The music that came through was full of drum kits and electronic instruments – I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows in surprise. He didn't seem like the kind to listen to... this.

Little over two minutes later, the song finished and I held the earbud out to the other man, who was shifting nervously – awaiting my verdict. "Neat," I finished finally. "You made that?"

Roman nodded slowly, confirming. "I've listening to it a hundred and ten times, and something is wrong, would you happen to have any idea what?"

"It sounds great to me," I tried, not really wanting to attack his work harshly.

Roman frowned at me. "Please, if there's something you noticed – please don't hesitate to mention it to me."

I shifted, tucking my hands into my jacket pocket. "Are you doing this on Logic Pro?" I asked. A common recording editing software.

Roman nodded.

I stood up and walked over to him, hands hovering over the laptop. "Is this okay?"

Roman waved a hand, granting me permission. I spun the laptop to completely face me, slipping the earbud back in. It took a couple of minutes, but soon enough I held out the earbud to Roman.

"Try that," I suggested, glancing up at – wow.

The sun had dropped considerably since we'd arrived and now the sun was doing amazing things to his face, brown hair lighting up a soft gold. He... he looked... incredible.

He's probably not even gay, I thought, pouting slightly at the thought. Pull yourself together!

Roman popped the earbud in and listened patiently, smiling as the song went on. When he finished, he was grinning at me too much.

"THANK YOU," he gasped out finally. "Thank was PERFECT!!"

"Um, yeah," I said, shoving my hands deeper in my pockets. "No problem, I guess."

"HIYA PRINCE!!"

"Gah!" I said, jumping – immediately falling on the defensive.

"Whoops, sorry kiddo – didn't mean to scare ya!" the loud voice apologized with a giggle. I spun around to see a man in a light blue polo and gray cardigan... which was on tied together that sleeves, resting on his shoulders and back.

The man turned to Roman. "You meet the deadline, kiddo?"

Roman nodded, looking relieved. "Yeah," he gestured to me. "He was a lifesaver."

The man turned to face me – smiling WAY too wide for this time of day.

I grabbed my now empty coffee cup and walked over to a nearby recycling bin. I glanced back to see Roman and the other man talking adamantly about something, so I made my way towards the door.

That was me. Forgotten as soon as I was no longer important.

That stupid bell rang while I was on my way out but I didn't even hear it, slipping on my headphones and yanking my hood over my head.

I made it nearly a block or so before a hand landed on my shoulder. I jumped in surprise and spun around to see... Roman, surprisingly, cheeks pink.

"You -uh - really saved me today," he said.

I shrugged, tugging my sleeves over my hands – too nervous to give a nervous response.

"I – I have to go," I said quietly, backing away. No, I could already feel the tiny butterflies filling up in my stomach. No, no crush. I can't. He's probably got some girl-friend and –

Roman let out a tiny puff, running a hand through his hair. It was then when I noticed the tiny bracelet on his wrist. Mostly black with some colored stripes on the small silver clasp area –

Oh my gosh he's gay.

And how did I know that this bracelet meant he was gay?

Because I'm wearing the exact same one.

"You're gay," I blurted out instinctively.

Oh my gosh I did not just say that out loud.

Oh my gosh I just said that out loud.

Panicpanicpanicpanicpanicpanic-

Roman looked surprised, before noticing my eyes on the bracelet. "Yeah," he admitted finally. "Is... that a problem?" he asked, suddenly wary.

"No, no, no! I – I , um, I'm - uh," I gave up trying to explain and rolled my sleeve up a little, showing him my own.

His eyes widened at that.

"Hey, um, I know this is... a little crazy," Roman started, fixing his hair again. His cheeks darkened a little. "But, um, are you free Friday night...?"

I immediately curled into myself. Gosh I would love to say yes – it had been forever since I'd been on a date with a gorgeous dude – well, even just a date in general. But... I wasn't ready and that wasn't fair to him.

"I – I'm sorry, I just got out of... a really bad breakup and I – I'm not ready to be in a relationship right now," I felt my cheeks heat up, surely bright red.

Roman flushed at my words. "Just as... friends then?" he tried.

Friends? With a dude this hot? Nah.

I shook my head, already backing away. "I'm sorry, but... I can't," I said, spinning around and walking away, trying and failing to hold onto the shattered remains of my dignity and my heart.

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