It's Monday again and that means one thing. Mondays are the one day that Roman has a morning class. Actually, it means two things. The other thing was that in this class, Roman had it with Remy —who he usually sat next to. After the fight he had with said man's cousin—who was also his soulmate—on Friday last week, Roman didn't know whether or not he was going to go to class. Of course, he didn't actually want to skip class, but he wasn't ready to face Remy's wrath. During the fight last week, he was saved from Remy's anger by Logan who pulled him to another table. And, Damien had taken Remy out of the cafe, so Roman was glad.

Today, however, Roman was not-so-glad. 'Is it worth it to skip class just because of that?' He thought again. 'I could just sit in another place. The classroom is big, anyway.' He walked into the bathroom to get ready after he made up his mind that he wasn't going to skip class. He had someminor difficulties with his original play project, so he needed to ask the professor for help if possible. 'But then, it'll look like I'm avoiding him. Well, I am, but...' He stopped brushing his already-perfectly-done hair. Yeah, he's not going to skip class just because of a fight.

Making his way to class, Roman felt a sense of dread starting to settle in the pit of his stomach. He tried to convince himself that he can do this without messing up. It's just an hour of lecture, which was not too long. Stepping into the classroom, he scanned the whole place to find an empty seat. To his dismay, the only seat were the one near the back of the class—his usual place where Remy would sit—and one in the very front, which he did not like. Weighing out his options, he thought to himself, 'should I just sit in the front?' After a few seconds, Roman made a decision to stay in his usual seat near the back and he would endure Remy's anger somehow.

As usual, Remy would already be in his seat despite him not being a morning person. He was, surprisingly, never late to morning classes. Roman approached his usual seat carefully, eyeing Remy cautiously as if the man was going to pounce at him.

"Christ, druzhishche, I don't bite! Just sit your ass down." Remy said when he saw Roman creeping closer. "You look like a prey avoiding a predator, y'know, sestra. "

"Um—I, uh—I mean you're not wrong..." Roman said, he sounded small unlike his usual booming voice. "Uh... are you—um—are you still mad at me?" He winced at how scared he sounded.

"Hmm..." Remy placed his hand on his chin in thought, squinting behind his sunglasses. "Nah. I'm not mad, doll. Just, y'know... thought you were better than that." He looked up at Roman who was still standing and patted the seat next to him, indicating Roman should sit. Roman complied.

Remy's words replayed in Roman's mind once more. '...thought you were better than that.' Once again, he had disappointed someone. True, the two of them weren't close friends, but they could have been had Roman not fucked everything up. He let out a heavy sigh and leaned back on his chair. 'At least he's not mad at me.' That's good. 'Right?'

A moment later, the professor walked into the class. " Good morning class. Let's begin."

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An hour later, the class ended. Roman couldn't focus on the lecture at all. His mind would drift to random things. For example, Virgil, his play, Logan and Patton, Virgil, how to talk to Remy, Virgil, more ideas for his play and also Virgil. Okay, it was mostly about Virgil. Roman didn't know what he was supposed to do about his soulmate. He knew he didn't want—or need—a soulmate, but having another friend wouldn't hurt. Sure, maybe he didn't have to be Virgil's friend, but having a supposed enemy did not sit right in Roman's mind. He had always wanted to be liked by everyone no matter who they were. He wanted to build a good relationship with everyone. Right now, Virgil is dirtying his track record of niceness.

After packing his stuff into his bag, he stood and walked out of class, feeling unsettled. Still lost in thought, he walked through the almost-empty corridor of the campus. He was brought back to reality with a light tap on his shoulder. Looking over, he saw Remy with his travelling cup of coffee in one hand and the other hand resting on his hip. Roman felt a sudden surge of nervousness.

"Yes?"

"Well, gurl, I texted my cousin and told him to go home. So, now I can talk to you." Remy said, inspecting his travelling cup as if there wasn't enough coffee in there. Truly a caffeine addict.

"Okay? May I ask, why?" Roman inquired, tilting his head a little. Was this the end. 'Remy was probably just hiding his anger and now he is going to kill me.' He thought to himself. His hands started to become clammy, but he ignored it. He was a good actor after all.

"No reason. C'mon, sugar."

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Roman didn't seem to bad. Remy could see that under those layers of arrogance and extravagant attitude Roman was hiding something else. He was more than a little bit intrigued by the tall man who was now trailing behind him. Of course he was still a tad bit upset about what happened to Virgil and by the end of that whole mess on Friday, he still didn't find out what was written on the damn note. He wanted to know, but he also knew that forcing either Virgil or Roman to tell him would not work. He had to be patient.

Remy brought Roman to the small cafe right next to campus. It's not as good as Roast & Grind and certainly not as great as Jacked Up Coffee, but it was enough. The cafe, Steamin' Mugs, was small, with only six or seven table in the corners of the cafe. From experience, Remy thought the drinks here aren't bad at all. He picked a seat in the corner, next to the door, where the big window was. He liked seeing the view of the campus outside. Roman followed into the cafe and sat across Remy. He still didn't know what was happening.

"So," Remy started, "What's up?"

"What?" Roman asked, bewildered. "You were the one who brought us here."

"Look, I just wanna get t'know ya. Honestly, I know you're not a jerk, even though you, like, acted like one that day. I just wanna know what's happening." Remy explained, his hands making vague gestures. "Also, what's wrong with making new friends? Like, I know, we like, already know each other, but we never really talk talk. Y'get what I mean, honey? "

"Okay... So, what do you want to talk about?"

"What happened last week? I mean, why were you so angry? From what I could tell you didn't do anything to Virgil and Virgil didn't do anything to you. So, why were y'all so mad?"

Roman pondered on Remy's question for a little while. In truth, he didn't know how to answer the question. He could maybe just tell Remy what happened, but that would mean that he had to tell Remy about the note. Once again, he had to weigh out his options. 'Too much decision to make in one day and it's not even noon yet.'

"I—um, it was just—I'm gonna tell you, but please don't get mad." Roman stammered, squinting his eyes in anticipation. Remy nodded patiently in response. "It's actually uh—you remember the note? Did you read it?"

"Virge didn't let me."

"It's um—the stuff I wrote would probably make him upset... and yeah..." Roman uttered nervously. "At first, I didn't know why he was suddenly so angry, back at the supermarket. Then, you brought up the note, so I think it's that." He explained, avoiding eye contact.

"Kay... and what made you mad?" Remy added another question. This was starting to sound like an interrogation.

"I—it's just... personal reason?" Roman answered, though he said it more like a question. It was a personal reason of him not wanting a soulmate. Remy just stared at him with furrowed brows. Roman realized what the implication of his words were. 'I'm letting my personal problem hurt other people.' He let out a defeated sigh, ready to accept Remy's anger. However, all he felt was a tap on his hand. He looked up to see Remy looking at him from behind his sunglasses.

"You don't have to talk about it." Roman nodded and offered a small smile. Maybe, he could be Remy's friend after all. He didn't realize Remy could be understanding.

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Virgil was sitting on the couch with his laptop when he heard the apartment door open. Remy's back from whatever it was he did. He said he was only going to be out for about an hour, but Remy being Remy, it ended up to be four hours. It's past noon and Virgil hadn't had any lunch. He didn't feel like eating.

"Where are you from?" Virgil asked, still looking at his laptop, as Remy walked in.

"Just talking with Roman."

"Roman?" Even now, the mere mention of the guy's name brought an unsettling feeling in Virgil's guts.

"Ya, gurl! We have class together every Monday. We don't usually talk, but I wanna try to at least be nice. He's your soulmate, so he's gonna be my cousin-in-law someday."

Virgil gave him a look of utter disbelief. Did Remy forget what happened just three days ago? Did he not remember that Roman was a total jerk? The prospect of ever having any kind of relationship—platonic or romantic—was so ridiculous in Virgil's mind. Firstly, that is totally insane, because they did not have a good chemistry, shown by their petty fight last week. Second, Roman already hated him, so of course nothing between them will ever happen.

"Remy, are you sick? Or did you hit your head somewhere? You know Roman and I will never work out. I mean, the guy hates me already and I don't even know why." The reminder that Roman hated him was not the worst feeling he ever felt, but it wasn't a welcomed feeling either. He had once foolishly thought that soulmates are supposed to accept each other and they're supposed to love each other unconditionally. Then again, stories don't always have a happy ending, no matter how hard you try. Virgil sighed and leaned back on the sofa again, occupying himself with his writing. His professor had given him an assignment that morning to write a short story. Since he didn't have anything else to do, he decided to do it as soon as he got home.

Remy walked over to stand behind the couch where Virgil was sitting, messing up his cousin's hair and walked back to his room. He was, to say the least, worried for his cousin. He knew that Virgil had lived with so much negativity, especially when his mother died. He had plunged into a deep pit of depression and his dad couldn't help much. Plus, his anxiety didn't help either. Remy was a little scared for Virgil. He just wanted everything to end well. During the four hours of talking with Roman, they didn't really talk about any heavy topics. All they talked about were really random things and mostly art, since that's what they're both interested in. He could see that Roman was not a bad guy. He still didn't know what was happening between Virgil and Roman, but he concluded that with time, it will all reveal itself.

After another hour or so of sitting on the couch in living room, Virgil was finally done with his writing. His professor wanted a hard copy to be submitted, so he would have to print it. And since he didn't have a printer, he would have to go to the campus library to use their printer. 'It's so far away...' He didn't actually feel like going out to the library, but he didn't really have a good excuse other than feeling lazy. Besides, he didn't really have anything to do in the apartment, anway. Fortunately, he used an Google Docs to write his assignment, so he didn't need a USB drive.

"Rem!" He shouted from the living room, "I'm going to the library." After hearing Remy's shout of acknowledgement, he went off to the library.

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Talking with Remy really gave him a lot to think about. Roman would have thought that Remy would be angry after the whole thing. Of course, Remy would defend his cousin. However, the only time they really talked about the fight was during the first thirty or so minutes of their conversation. After that, they had talked and talked for four hours. Admittedly, Remy was a really fun guy with an equally fun personality. No one could ever beat his sass game.

Once he was back in his apartment, he tried to finish the script for his play. He'd figure out all the plot and the characters. All he needed to do was write all the dialogues. However, just like the past few days, his brain didn't seem to want to cooperate. He had ran out of ideas on what to do to keep his brain working. 'Where is a nice place I could go to?' He tapped his pen on the desk, feeling restless. 'Cafe? No, cuz' I have to spend money or else it'll be awkward. The park? No. No desk there. The library?' He paused for a second. Yes, he's going to the library.

After packing everything he needed into his bag, he slung the bag over his shoulder and walked out the door, locking it behind him. Walking to the library, he enjoyed the usual sunny weather of Florida. It was still two in the afternoon, the sun was still high and small animals could be seen up in the trees as he walked past the park. After about ten minutes, he was standing in the foyer of the library. The library looked as majestic as ever. The humongous bookshelves and the giant wooden table reminded him of those libraries they have in movies. Smaller tables and reading spots were scattered around the library. Not too many people actually sit on the big table.

Choosing to sit on one of the table near the window, Roman put all his stuff down on the floor and took out his notebook and pen. Slowly, ideas after ideas started to come up in his mind and he worked with ease. It was a story that he adapted from classic fairy tales. The classic story of Rapunzel, but he altered the story so it was somewhat fractured.

It was the story of a girl who was locked up in a tower. The king and queen of the land had been searching for her for years, but they never found her. The girl struggled with her identity, not knowing where she truly belonged. She felt trapped in the tower, but was too scared come out as her mother told her it was dangerous. Her mother never told her why it was dangerous, though.

One day, the girl asked her mother if she could leave the tower. Her mother, again, told her that it was dangerous, but she felt sympathy for her daughter. So, putting both of them in disguise, the mother accompanied her daughter. When they reached a village, the girl became careless and left her mother. She became lost without her mother's guidance. When the patrol royal guard spotted the mother in the village, they tried to capture her, but was unsuccessful. The girl watched the guards pursue her mother from her hiding place in the crowd.

Then, she saw a bulletin board with a poster of her mother and a child—who she thought looked very much like herself. At the bottom of the poster was written, "Wanted, DEAD or ALIVE." It was then that she understood why the outside world was dangerous. Now, the girl had to go back to her tower, where her mother would be, safely without getting captured. Later on, she met a girl who told her that she would help, but it was revealed that she was actually the kingdom's youngest spy.

People would never assumed that Roman liked dark twists in stories. And it was true that Roman didn't usually go for dark or thriller stories, but he liked reading those kinds of stories sometimes. Not too often, though. After an hour and a half of writing he looked up from his hunched position. His eyes wandered around the library, finally drifting to the computer section. When he saw a boy with bangs over his face, his eyes widened.

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Notes:

Russian stuff (roast me when you spot a mistake):

druzhishche
дружище
[Buddy; pal; mate]

Sestra
Сестра
[Sister]