A week had gone by, and Virgil's band was having no luck finding a guitarist. The European tour was scheduled to begin next week with a kick off show in New York before they flew to the UK. Virgil felt himself trying not to panic as it hit him. What were they going to do without a guitarist? They needed to find one and fast, or they wouldn't be able to play the show, they would have to cancel the Euro tour.

A thought came to mind that made his stomach drop. It was nuts. It was insane. There was no way he could do it. He didn't think he could even bring himself to, but they needed a guitarist.

There were rumors of Roman Prince dabbling in music lately. He knew from high school that he could play the guitar and the piano a bit, so he wasn't entirely surprised when he heard the news. After all, one of the things the actor had said about his hiatus from the stage was that he wanted to try some new things he'd always been interested in. It was quite possible that Virgil could convince him to fill in for De until they found a long term replacement.

The problem was, he hadn't talked to him in well over a year. The problem was, he was still kind of in love with him. The problem was, he'd called him a liar when he confessed at the concert that night in New York. The problem was... he was scared.

Come on, just do it, a voice in his head murmured. You've been talking yourself out of reconciling with him for years. You've never stopped loving him, but he's surely stopped loving you by now. You two can just go back to being friends, the way it was before that party, before you kissed that night. Or are you that much of a wuss that you won't even try?

Virgil growled to himself as he closed his laptop, got dressed, and grabbed his bag and keys. His mind was a hurricane as he drove to the address he subconsciously memorized since Patton gave it to him, trying to figure out if he was actually going through with it. He shook out his head as he pulled into the driveway. The alternative rockstar checked his appearance once more and exited the car. He swung his bag onto his shoulder and mustered his confidence as he rang the doorbell.

There was barking from inside and a muffled voice from behind the door. Virgil's heart raced as the actor opened it with a smile. It fell into one of shock upon seeing him, as though he'd never expected to see him standing at his doorway.

"V-Virgil Black, greetings," Roman said, stammering in surprise. He gasped as the dog he was keeping behind his legs pushed through them and jumped up at the alternative rockstar. "No! Cookie! Don't do that!"

He went to pull the golden retriever back inside, but Virgil knelt down to pet him. "You got a dog?" he questioned, trying to sound bored. He didn't want Roman to think he was crawling back to him or anything. He may be willing to be friends again, and he may have mostly forgiven what happened, but he wasn't a prissy guy who's going to fall to his knees and beg him to come back. 

"Actually, no, this is Patton's dog," the actor explained with a small smile. "He's on a vacation with Logan, and I offered to take care of Cookie for him."

"Of course Patton would name his dog Cookie," Virgil replied with a smile as Roman laughed a little in agreement. There was suddenly an awkward silence between them as the rockstar stood up. "Could I talk to you?"

Roman's eyes widened, fear flashing through them despite his smile as he beckoned him inside. Virgil entered his house, looking around in awe. The actor had definitely done well. The successes of his film and stage careers was displayed all around the large living room; he'd be lying if he didn't admit that the Oscar award he'd won last year didn't momentarily take his breath away. He led the rockstar to his couch, though he was the only one to sit down.

Virgil stood in front of him, lifting his chin as he mustered his confidence yet again. This was a difficult thing to word gently, so he decided to go right for it. "I want you to join my band."

"Wait, what?" he questioned, laughing in disbelief. "What are you talking about?"

"We need a guitarist," he said firmly. "You play guitar. It's really not that hard."

Roman was shaking his head, standing up as he tried to comprehend. He looked at Virgil's face to see if he was kidding. "You're- you're being serious," he said, mostly to himself. His eyes suddenly darkened a little. "Why would you need a guitarist? You have one... and don't you play?"

"I haven't played guitar in years, I'm just the singer now," he explained. "De left, he was our guitarist, Look, if you don't want to fill in for very long, you can at least fill in until we find someone else hopefully before the Euro tour, but we need someone for the New York show in a few days."

"Why'd De leave?" he questioned before he could stop himself.

He winced upon seeing the hurt flash through Virgil's gaze. The darkly dressed man sucked in a breath and swallowed before answering more calmly than he'd expected him to. "It really doesn't matter, all you need to know is that you were... sort of right, if that's what you want to hear," he said. "We had a misunderstanding on both sides, we both hurt each other, there was a fall out, he needs to take break from being around me in particular and he decided to quit. The details would make it a much longer story, so long story short, he left and I don't play guitar anymore so I need you to."

The actor looked overwhelmed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Virgil, this is crazy, I'm an actor!" he exclaimed. "Not to mention your band's style isn't really... no, it's nothing like mine, I'd look ridiculous, and what would the media say?"

"Since when do I care about the media?" Virgil replied, crossing his arms. "We'll make sure you're comfortable in whatever outfit we get for you, alright? You're taking a break, I saw the news. There's been rumors that you've been dabbling with music too, don't play dumb. Please, Roman."

The alternative rockstar looked intimidating, but his eyes looked pleading. Roman's breath caught in his throat. He hadn't seen him in person in years, and here he was asking him to be in his band. He felt like he owed it to him after how he'd treated him. Not only that, but he could see the hurt and pain in his gaze that was more than likely from De's departure; Roman recalled that he'd probably had feelings of some kind for him back when they'd spoken briefly.

"Alright," he said, putting his hands up in defeat. Virgil's eyes widened as his mouth fell open a little. The actor raised his eyebrows at his expression. "You look surprised."

"I... I didn't actually think you'd agree..." he explained as he looked down at his hands. He shook out his head, regaining his composure.

Roman laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Neither did I," he replied softly. "But I owe it to you..."

The rockstar looked him up and down briefly, seeing the way he was keeping his gaze low. He's nervous... he's actually nervous around you, his mind told him. Remember what he said... he wasn't lying...

"Uh, Roman?"

When the princely man looked up, Virgil immediately regretted speaking. He wasn't even sure why he was about to say what he was going to. "I... I saw your interview too..." he started, seeing his eyes widen. "For closure, I... I know you weren't lying now... I forgive you, and I'm sorry..."

Roman looked absolutely shell shocked that he was apologizing to him. When he was speechless for a minute, he snapped out of his thoughts, laughing anxiously. "Well, I don't really know why you're apologizing, but I forgive you, and I can't say I'm sorry enough."

"Like I said, it's okay..." the darkly dressed man said again. As their eyes met, everything seemed to slow down. Virgil felt his old feelings he'd kept trapped in a caged corner of his heart kicking at the bars. He scolded himself, feeling dirty and furious at his mind and feelings. How could he be so quick to fall back in love with Roman after everything he'd put him through and right after De left? He felt disgusting...

He shook out his head, realizing an awkward silence had settled over them again.

"Okay, right, well, here's the address where we practice. I don't know if you have an electric guitar, but we have them if you need one. Here's my number."

The rockstar handed him a slip of paper with the information on it, making Roman freeze. He slowly took it from him, looking down at the writing. "O-Okay," he replied nervously.

"I'll send you the sheet music and stuff later, and you can meet us on Saturday at 10:00 AM for rehearsal," Virgil said as he put his bag on his shoulder. "I guess I'll see you then..."

He left, Roman waving as he drove away. He closed the door, Cookie bumping against his leg and barking happily. The actor pet the dog gently as he smiled nervously. "I guess I'm Virgil's guitarist then..."