But a yellow rose is different
It is not happy or kind 

__________

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

I couldn't help pacing across the room, eyes bouncing off anything and everything as I tried to breathe normally.

Finally Roman glanced up from his phone, eyebrows raised. He looked absolutely stunning in his black suit, bright red vest and gold tie. The sun landed on him just perfectly surrounding him in an aura of gold.

"Pacing isn't going help you know."

"Well it's better than doing nothing," I snapped, running a hand through my hair anxiously. "What if they don't show up again? What if it goes awfully? What if -"

"What if a sink hole opens under the building and aliens kidnap us all?" Roman added, eyebrows raised.

I frowned at him, falling into distressed pacing - a bit faster now. "This is serious," I only said, turning my back to him.

"And you're overthinking," Roman pointed out. "Trust Logan - if he says he can get you guardianship over Ollie, then he can. It'll be okay," Roman said, walking over to me and setting a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Also - can we take a moment to acknowledge how amazing you look in a suit?"

I couldn't help flushing pink, eyes dropping to the floor - not wanting to accept the compliment, but not wanting to reject it either.

I... I didn't really know what Roman and I were. The past two months were... stressful to say the least, and Roman's been there for me through it all. We... well we weren't exactly friends, but we weren't exactly something more either.

Did I even want us to be something more? Or was this better, keeping things like this?

Logan interrupted my thoughts, walking over to me - dressed as usual in black polo and blue tie. His face was grim. "They finally showed up," he informed us. "Are you ready, Virgil?"

I sighed, tucking a hand under the collar of my own shirt, biting my lip anxiously. "Ready as I'll ever be," I admitted.

Roman walked over, slipping his hand into my clammy one and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "You've got this, Purple Boy."

I nodded shakily, heading into the courtroom. Even though Roman knew my name, he still called me Purple Boy for some reason. It wasn't too long ago, actually.

----------

"So," Roman said, sliding into the chair next to me. "Trust me enough to tell me your name, Purple Boy?"

I chucked, shaking my head as I sipped on my Iced Coffee. "I'm not gonna make it that easy for you," I said swirling my straw, ice spinning around.

"I'm going to find out eventually, so you might as well just tell me."

I smirked as I shook my hand, bangs falling over my eyes. "You're gonna have to earn it," I winked, feeling surprisingly brave.

"Doesn't the whole guardianship thing count?"

"Sure," I admitted. "But it's not enough to know my name."

"What is it? Is it something really weird? Like... Bertha?"

I scrunched my nose up at the idea. "Geez, no. Just... no why would you even think that?"

"Well you obviously hate it - oh... it's a nerdy name isn't it?" Roman said, smiling brightly as I winced.

"No," I lied, avoiding his eyes but Roman merely laughed, seeing right through me.

"Clark? George?" he tried.

I scrunched my nose at him in confusion. "Those aren't nerdy names."

"Clark Kent? Superman?" Roman laughed. "And George McFly from Back to the Future."

"Oh," I said, flushing slightly.

"Oh - Oh," Roman said. "It's not from a movie, now is it? Is it from a book?"

I couldn't help shifting slightly under his determined gaze.

"Um what about Simon? Or is it something more uncommon than that?"

I couldn't help laughing. "Yeah, I'd stay it's a bit uncommon."

Roman waved his hands around, like he was trying to use magical powers. "Merlin?"

I snorted a bit at the suggestion, rolling my eyes. "You're getting a bit closer, I guess. Not that far back though."

"William?" Roman tried.

"I literally just told you it's uncommon," I said.

"Eli?"

"No."

"Can't you just tell me?" Roman whined.

"Nope, you gotta earn it," I teased, reaching forward and grabbing the last snickerdoodle cookie.

Roman suddenly stood up, nearly knocking the chair down in the process. He had a wild look in his eyes and I raised my eyebrows at him, waiting.

"Come on," Roman said. "I have to show you something," he said, grabbing his red jacket and tossing it quickly over his shoulders.

I frowned, but stood with him, yanking my hood over my head and holding my half-eaten snickerdoodle in hand. "Um, is everything okay?"

"I'm gonna earn your name," Roman said firmly grabbing my hand and leading me out of the shop.

----------

I glanced around the court room, heart sinking when I saw that my grandfather had come alone - dressed in his Sunday. I had been hoping to get a glimpse of Ollie, but I guess not today. One day, I would.

"Today," the judge said and I blinked, bringing myself out of my thoughts. "We are here to discuss the guardianship of Oliver Christopher-Demetri Shea," the judge said, glancing down at his notes. "Mr. Sanders?" he asked, and Logan rose to his feet, clearing his throat.

"Mr. Virgil Shea is requesting to have complete guardianship over Mr. Oliver Shea," Logan said promptly. "He would also request to have the restraining order on him removed."

The judge raised his eyebrows. "And what is the reason for the restraining order?"

"The previous judge unlawfully pressed the order against my client."

"And why might that be?"

"I wish not to explain further, if I might."

"And I wish for you to explain further," the judge said harshly and I couldn't help flinching.

Logan adjusted his glasses. "The previous judge was homophobic, your honor."

Silence.

"And?"

OhthankgoshohthankthelordhesnotahomophobethatGOSH-

"That was the only reason, your honor."

"Well then I see no reason to keep it. As of right now, the restraining order is to be removed," the judge said, writing something down and I immediately felt like a massive weight was lifted and I literally gasped, momentarily lightheaded.

Logan glanced at me in the corner of his eyes, eyes darkening in concern.

I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder and I twisted to see Roman, who gave me an encouraging smile. I couldn't help smiling back - a real smile, not my usual sarcastic smile.

I'd been giving him quite a few of those recently, more than I had in a long time...

----------

"What are we doing here?" I frowned, stepping out of Roman's car.

"I told you," Roman said neatly. "To earn your name."

"... we are literally in the middle of nowhere."

Roman didn't smirk, as I expected, but only gave me a small smile - sadness filling his eyes. I grew quiet at that, fiddling with the sleeves of my hoodie at his silence.

He walked over to a large elm tree, and I followed, feet naturally slowing as we reached the tree and I noticed the white rose petals littered underneath. I couldn't help my eyes, which flickered to the white rose in Roman's hand - which he had bought at a flower store on the way (he'd picked me up a dark red one, since there were no dark purple roses). I'd assumed he'd bought the rose for himself - it really wasn't that far out of the question, admit it - but the moment I saw the base of the tree I immediately understood.

This was a gravesite.

I made my way to Roman's side, slowly, regretting as I looked up at his face - cheeks wet with tears.

"Ro," I whispered, feeling my own eyes start to burn.

"His name was Thomas, my Tommy," Roman managed, voice breaking all over the place as he barely managed to get the words out. "He - He was a missionary and he'd been traveling for months - to as many 3rd world countries as he could, helping them. And I missed him so freaking much, but he was happy and who was I to take what made him happy away from him? But - But one day-" Roman's voice cut out completely and it took several moments for him to even continue.

"Roman," I whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Y-You don't have to do this," I said.

Roman merely ignored me, hands forming into fists at his sides. "He was going through a town, just passing through, they hadn't even intended to stop there. And he saw a little kid, crying in the middle of the street. He immediately ran to help, but it was a trap and Thomas was mugged, stabbed, and left in the street. By the time the others got to him it was too late, he – he was already -" Roman was nearly sobbing at this point.

"¿Por qué te fuiste tan pronto, mi amor?" Roman whispered, eyes glazed over, lost in his memories - white rose still clutched tightly in his fist.

"... Roman?" I said, brushing my fingers lightly across his. "...W-Why did you bring me here?" I asked, voice shaking.

Roman didn't say anything for a moment, eyes locked on our hands. "I wanted to remind you," Roman said softly, looking up at me.

"...Remind me of what?"

"You're not the only one with a history in a broken heart."

I didn't say anything at first. What could I say to something like that?

"My ex. He was the one that told my grandparents I was gay," I confessed, digging my hands further into my pockets, as deep as I could. "I - I trusted him, and he went behind my back, told them. He convinced them that they should take Ollie away from me – he was the real villain, the one who really got Ollie taken away from me. For why, I don't think I'll ever know. I moved out of his apartment without a goodbye, not even leaving a note. He never came to find me, never even tried to explain. He just left, without a trace - leaving the wreckage behind."

Roman's eyes darkened in pity, eyes still watery with unshed tears.

"It's fine," I said, bitter tone not quite matching my words. "But I just wanted to tell you."

"I... I know that it took a lot of you to trust me with the information. Thank you, Purple Boy," Roman said finally, brushing away a stray tear that managed to fall down his cheek.

"Virgil," I muttered, eyes dropping to the floor.

"What?"

"My name," I repeated, shifting in discomfort. "It's Virgil."

"Oh," Roman said, and I winced as I looked up, waiting for a bad reaction. He didn't look... weirded out. Just surprised. "Thank you... Virgil," Roman smiled and I couldn't help smiling back.

----------

I couldn't stop my hands from shaking. The trial was a bit of blur now, actually. All I heard was that the judge had made a decision and I – I just bolted, gasping and trying to get away from the summer heat, eventually collapsing on a bench under this massive elm tree, shutting my eyes and trying to keep my hands from shaking.

"Just breathe," I coaxed myself. "Nice and slow. Yes, that's good. Okay, now let's count okay?" I told myself. "One, t-two, th-three, seven – wait, no – no, it's okay, just take deeps breaths, nice and slow. Nice and slow," I forced – trying to at least get my hands to stop shaking.

"Virgil?"

Roman.

"Virgil," Roman said – voice so much softer than usual, trying not to scare me as he settled down next to me. "Is it okay for me to hold your hand?"

I nodded slowly, feeling his hand wrap tightly around mine and my eyes opened and I just stared, stared at our intertwined fingers. And how... right... it felt.

"Ro?" I whispered.

"Hmm?"

"I'm scared," I managed, unintentionally squeezing his hand tighter.

"No worries, Purple Boy – Logan is great at his job, you have nothing to worry about," Roman said confidently with a typical charming smile, wrongly assuming that I was scared about the judge's decision.

I shook my head, purple bangs falling over my eyes. "That's not why I'm scared," I said, holding up our hands between us.

Roman grew quiet at that.

Then slowly he twisted our hands and brushed the lightest of kisses across the tips of my fingers and I tried not to flush bright red. "Maybe we can both be scared together, if you're ready," he offered, head tilting to the side questioningly something not unlike hope flickering in his eyes.

"I... I think I'm ready."

----------

I collapsed into my chair, still stunned. It didn't feel real yet, it hadn't hit me. After all this time...

I GOT OLLIE BACK.

Patton legit tackled Logan - sending them both stumbling backwards - Logan barely managing to keep the both of them upright.  But Patton hardly cared, grabbing his tie and pulling him into a kiss, the both of them smiling brightly.

I could hear Roman cheering loudly from across the room, but my eyes were locked on the door, waiting for Ollie to walk in. They hadn't let him be here for the trial, hanging out in the room next door – reading or doing homework or something like that.

This would be the first time I'd legally see Ollie in more than a year.

It was too much.

I twisted in the circle, dazed eyes somehow landing on Roman.

Roman gave me a concerned frown, making his way across the room and over to me. "Hey, what's - hey, don't cry," he said, brushing his hand across my cheeks, wiping away the tears that had only just started to fall.

I pulled Roman closer, sobbing into his shoulder and I felt terrible since he looked so nice, but I couldn't help it, I was just a mess. I held him closer, for once finding comfort in the strong arms around me and burying my face into his shoulder, holding him with no intentions of letting go.

Roman leaped over the barrier between us with ease, in order to hug me better.  And I was all the more thankful for it, pulling him as close as I could - finding comfort in his familiar smell of coffee and cinnamon.

The relief... gosh, it was... overwhelming.

"Hey," Roman said, tapping my shoulder. I pulled back, a red-eyed, puffy, tear-stained mess. Roman gestured to the doors.

Ollie.

His eyes scanned the room eagerly searching for me. His lavender glasses were just like I remembered, but still he had changed so much in the short year. His blond hair had gotten a couple shades darker and he had grown some too.

But he was here, finally he was here.

I spun out of Roman's arms, running instantly. Ollie caught sight of me and with a loud shout of my name met me halfway. I dropped to my knees – Ollie tossed his arms around my neck, sobbing into my shoulder. I couldn't help sobbing with him, whispering half-finished apologies and holding him as tight as I could. I was never going to let him go again.

Gosh, it felt to good to be real.

"I love you so much, Vee," Ollie whispered once he found his words.

"Love you too," I said, hugging him again - smiling.

I would never let him go again.

I glanced up, realizing that Roman was now in my vision, smiling brightly at the both of us - eyes watery from all the emotions surely running through the both of us.

This time, things would be different.

____________________

AFTER SO LONG, THEY'RE FINALLY BACK T O G E T H E R 

No joke, nothing gets me more emotional than picturing Virgil and Ollie hugging - both of them just so flippin happy to see each other - and I've written some emotional ish XD

And sorry if this chapter is a little rough, I'm trying it's been so long it might take me a second to get back in the swing of things :3  

Um... *hums thinking of other important things to say* There's only one more chapter, which hopefully be released soon... um...

OH! I didn't include the actual trial, but would you guys want me to? I kinda just assumed that most people would find it really boring and stuff so I skipped over it.  But if you wanted it, (or rather flashbacks in the last chapter) then I'd totally add it (plus this chapter was already mega long already XP)

- Max :3