July 15th - 11:00am

The little boy eyes widened as he stared in awe, mouth open in shock. Roman just giggled, sitting opposite the young boy who he was of similar age to, a chicken wire fence separating them from their respective front yards. The area around them was mostly barren as it always had been, with sparse yellow grass and cracked dusty orange ground.

Above the sun shone down onto them with no mercy so it was nice to have a distraction from the everlasting heat.

"Say it again" the boy whispered and Roman smiled brightly. "Déjame comer mis Prawn Crackers en paz" he repeated and the boy giggled again, his whole face lighting up ecstatically as he listened to words he had never heard before - all of his life he's been surrounded by English, never before hearing words from a different language, it interested him to no end.

"Again" the boy asked and Roman agreed, repeating that sentence and a few others to his neighbour who bounced up and down where he sat, his laughter filling the air around them which made both of the young boys very happy indeed.

That was until the moment was ruined.

Roman's vision blurred a little and he fell back in shock at the suddenness of everything. The boy, his friend, wasn't there anymore and his eyes were looking down the barrel of a gun.

His screams echoed across the land seemingly louder than the crack of a gunshot that quickly followed suit.

In a flash Roman whipped up in bed, grabbing the blanket that pooled around his thighs tightly, eyes still blurry even if he woke up but he quickly realised tears were glossed over in his eyes. Breathing quick, quicker than he had ever felt before he slowly slipped out of bed and stood up, one hand subconsciously going down to his waist where his thumb traced over his scar.

He tried to shake himself out of it but nothing seemed to be working. He sat back down on the edge of the bed and held his head in his hands, now his eyes were closed, the sound of his breathing faded out but his chest still heaved - instead the noise was replaced with a sound. With a gunshot. It repeated louder and louder, so much so the loudest one made him gasp, eyes flying open as his arms flew to his sides, grabbing the blanket again for some sort of support.

He couldn't tell what was wrong with him, he has never, ever had a dream like this before. When he was a kid he was traumatised by the experience, sure, but in his early teens the memory had faded into nothing - it would come back if he ever saw his scar or someone questioned his Spanish but other than that he didn't care. In fact when the memory did come back it never scared him, it was just a distant memory that held...nothing.

So why is he so scared?

His legs were shaky as they took him over to his connected bathroom, locking the door behind him to not be disturbed as he splashed cold water onto his face, wiping it dry with a towel quickly afterwards. While gripping the sink he closed his eyes and tried to relax, humming a tune while repeating the breathing technique he had learned from Virgil and subsequently used with him for his future panic attacks.

He still felt sick, his mind telling him he might be sick but he knew he wouldn't - he just kept his eyes closed and focused on keeping his breathing calm knowing once he got it down his body could relax on it's own.

And thankfully, it did. Once he was sure he was okay - about twenty minutes later - he quickly jumped into the shower knowing downstairs Patton and Logan were with Virgil waiting for him to get ready (he was sure) before they'd leave for Spain later in the day.

He had gone to bed late last night which was why Virgil allowed him to sleep in, their flight was booked for the afternoon so Roman wasn't worried about being late.

While washing soap from his hair he felt glad Virgil wasn't there to witness that. Not only did he feel the need to be strong for Virgil (as he experiences way more panic attacks than he did) he also hated being vulnerable in front of people. He knew he should be comfortable being in that state around his fiancé but with the past he had it was a giant leap he would have to overcome in time.

And he hoped Virgil would understand that.

Drying himself off he pulled on his clothes for that day, nothing too uncomfortable and dressy as he knew spending hours in a plane in those clothes would ruin him. Flicking off the light, he made sure all upstairs windows were locked before sliding down the banister (as it was a rule, obviously, if a house has a banister you have to slide down it) and entering the living room.

"Greetings, peasants!" His voice boomed as he crossed the doorway, Logan, Patton and Virgil alike flinching with the suddenness and volume but none of them were surprised.

"Now, now, Roman!" Patton cooed, sitting up from where he leaned on Logan. "Shouldn't Virgil be your king?"

Roman looked from Patton to Virgil and with a smirk he responded with; "no" without missing a beat and Virgil rolled his eyes seeing that coming from a mile away.

"He is my prince" Roman then decided to be lovey-dovey, gliding gracefully down onto the couch and tilting Virgil's head to the side for a kiss but the man swatted him away and pulled a face.

"If he was your prince wouldn't that make you brothers?" And everyone turned to face Logan who shifted and looked the other away awkwardly. "Incest aside" Roman clapped his hands and stood up with an excited bounce in his step.

"I think we should start driving! It's nearing midday and we wouldn't want to accidentally become late in traffic" he then pranced out the room, loudly singing a tune to a musical Patton and Virgil barely knew - Logan was completely in the dark. "Roman? Being responsible? Truly Britain has changed him" Logan quipped and Virgil snorted in amusement, rising up from the couch after making grabby hands at Patton to help him because he was a lazy boy. Judge him all you want you'd do the same.

"And I expect all of you to speak Spanish!" Roman called from somewhere in his and Virgil's home.

"Peut-être si tu as appris français" Logan retorted, Roman's head suddenly appearing in the doorway before they could even leave the room.

"No time for your baguette talk, frenchy! We're traveling to Spain! Not France" and he said the word in mock-disgust which made Logan purse his lips, glare but hold himself back knowing this was silly petty arguing and they were catching a plane in a few hours so they most certainly didn't have any time for this.

Quickly they were all in the car, Logan taking first shift for driving, Patton sat in the passenger seat beside him while Virgil and Roman got the back.

"I think it's time for some Disney~!" Roman cooed while turning on his Bluetooth from his phone. "Isn't the driver supposed to pick the music?" Logan retorted while pulling out the driveway and getting onto the road. Roman let out a short mocking laugh at that.

"Podcasts are not music, specs"

Virgil smirked while Patton turned around and told him off for being mean, but playfully of course, he was enjoying the banter just as much as they all were.

"Dorme avec un œil ouvert, Prep"

Roman opened his mouth to retort in Spanish when a bolt of anxiety shot through him. It was so surprisingly he gasped and pressed his body back into his chair, clutching the door with his free hand, the other still grasping his phone.

Virgil turned to him immediately to see what was wrong but Roman quickly played it off. "I thought I forgot my makeup!" He dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Silly me" he added quietly, quickly turning his attention to his music.

Virgil watched him for a moment longer, he didn't believe him entirely but he also assumed his nerves might be from the fact they were getting married soon. It would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous so he dropped it, but every so often he glanced at his fiancé who stayed unusually quiet for quite some time.

It was...unsettling.