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Roman’s funeral was held on a Saturday afternoon in October. It had been raining that day, and Logan was almost comforted by the weather. Even the sky was mourning the loss of his husband, the man he had loved more than life itself.
Logan had stayed by the grave for hours, his body frozen from grief and rain. It was near sunset when he finally had the strength to leave his husband behind, and go home.
Their son was waiting, after all.
-
They’d met at a coffee shop, on a Tuesday morning.
“Excuse me?”
Logan sighed internally. He’d been trying to focus on his lesson plans for an hour to no avail, and now he was being interrupted again. Raising an eyebrow, the professor looked up at the one who dared to distract him from his work.
“Yes?”
The man before him froze, eyes wide. Logan smiled slyly as the man blushed. Warm, brown eyes swept over his body, taking in the rolled up sleeves, the tie, and the slacks. After a few moments the man shook his head slightly to clear it and smiled brightly. He adjusted his bag and ran a hand through his hair.
“Uh, sorry to interrupt you. All the other tables are full and I was wondering if I could sit here? I understand if you say no I mean it’s kinda weird for me to ask but I—“
“You can sit here. It’s no bother to me.”
“Hi, this is Roman Prince! Sorry I missed you. I’m probably at rehearsal or with my husband, so it might be awhile before I can get back to you. Just leave a message and I’ll return your call when I can!”
Snowdrifts caught the moonbeams and scattered them through the air, welcoming the new flakes that had begun to fall from the clouds. One of the snowflakes danced its way down and landed on a maroon beanie.
Beside a blue Toyota, a writer kissed his love for the second time.
Logan smiled against Roman’s lips, pulling away from the kiss with a laugh.
“I adore you, Ro.”
“And I, you.”
The writer brushed a stray hair back behind Logan’s ear.
Please record your message after the tone.
*beep*
“Hey, Ro. It’s me.”
“You’re so loud,” Logan whined, pulling the blanket over his head in a futile attempt at blocking out the singing. “Why are you so loud?”
“It’s part of my charm, dearest!”
“Well your charm needs to be quieter so I can sleep!”
The blanket was gently pulled back, revealing a pouting Logan. Roman chuckled softly and pressed a kiss to the professor’s nose, taking his hand and intertwining their fingers. The twin rings clicked against each other quietly, bringing a smile to both of their faces.
“You can’t get rid of me now, Lo.”
“I wouldn’t trade you for all the stars in the sky.”
“And you call me a sap.”
“Shut up and cuddle me.”
“Virgil said his first word today. I’m sure you’ll be happy to know it was dada.”
“Da….da. Dada!”
The little boy made grabby hands frantically, laughing at a photograph Logan couldn’t see.
“Oh, Virgil! What do you see, stormcloud?”
The professor picked up the picture frame and his heart skipped a beat. It was a photo of Roman on their wedding day, standing at the altar.
Baby Virgil clapped his hands and giggled before babbling again.
“Dada! Dada!”
Logan set down the picture frame gently before scooping up his son into his arms, hugging him tightly.
“Yes, Virgil, that’s right. That’s your Dada. Roman is Dada.”
The baby gurgled a little and smiled happily at his father.
“Ro…Ro? Dada! Roro dada!”
Virgil clapped again, and buried his face in Logan’s shoulder.
And the professor cried for the loss Virgil would never know. He’d never get to know his Dada.
He’d never get the chance to.
“You were right, by the way. Virgil loved Disney world. He kept calling the princes RoRo and Dada. I don’t—I don’t think we’re gonna go back there for a while.”
“A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you’re fast asleep.”
Roman’s soft voice lulled Virgil to sleep, but he kept singing and rocking the little boy. A deep, intense feeling of warmth flooded through Logan as he watched the two, and his heart felt like it was going to burst.
“Whatcha smiling at, Lo?”
Roman’s eyes were sparkling with love.
“You, my dear. It’s always you.”
“I… I hope you’re doing well. You deserve this rest. You always were overworked, and I still think you needed more sleep.”
Patton squealed happily upon seeing his nephew.
“Virgil! Ah, he’s so cute!”
“Thank you for this, Patton. I…I appreciate this immensely.”
“Oh, it’s no trouble at all! We’re going to have lots of fun, aren’t we Virgie? Yes we are!”
Virgil giggled at his uncle’s silly face, and Patton giggled back.
“What time do you think you’ll be back? Don’t feel like you have to rush or anything though, okay? Take all the time you need.”
“I will. But I don’t know how long that will be.”
“Just text me when you’re on your way back, Lo.”
“Alright.”
“I’m actually a bit overworked, myself. All this is starting to take its toll. Thankfully, your brother agreed to take care of Virgil for tonight. It’s raining, but I think I will go for a walk. The park by my old apartment isn’t too far.”
“This is incredibly stupid.”
“Yep!”
“We might get sick.”
“Yep! We might!”
“Then why are we doing this?”
“Because it’s fun!”
Roman smiled cheekily, and pulled his husband into a dance. Logan rolled his eyes fondly and drew himself closer. The raindrops showered down around them, soaking their clothes and flattening their hair.
“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Logan.”
“Hm,” the professor cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t think I believe you, starlight.”
The two of them swayed and spun, their movements almost second nature. Roman pressed a kiss to the shorter man’s lips, pulling Logan’s lower lip in between his teeth.
“Ro-“
“The most beautiful. Nothing else even comes close.”
“I love you, Roman. So much.”
“I love you too, my dear. I love you too.”
“I really miss you, Ro.”
Patton’s door shut behind him with a loud slam. Logan braced himself, opened the umbrella, and stepped out into the rain.
“Everyday I wake up and pray when I open my eyes, you’ll be there beside me. It hurts worse every time you aren’t there. I feel so cold all the time. So alone.”
A snowball the size of an apple exploded on Logan’s face. Roman’s high pitched giggling floated over the snow, and Logan couldn’t resist joining in. He wiped the remnants of the frozen projectile from his glasses and glared playfully at the still giggling man.
“I will give you one chance to surrender.”
“Bring it on, Specs! I haven’t lost a snowball fight since primary school!”
And they were off. Roman dove behind a pine tree and immediately began forming his frozen arsenal. Logan snuck behind his friend and pelted him with a snowball, the icy pieces crumbling upon impact with Roman’s back.
“No fair!”
“All’s fair in love and war. This just happens to be both.”
The teacher sprinted through the park, laughing and dodging snowballs as he went. Roman was fully invested in their war now.
“You’re going down, Lo!”
“Never!”
A snowball flew straight past the teacher’s ear, landing a few yards away. Logan retaliated with a well aimed throw. A half a second later and then—
“Dammit!”
Another snowball flew harmlessly past. Peeking out from behind the cover of his birch tree, Logan taunted his foe.
“You’ll have to try harder than that, Shakespeare!”
“I am trying my best, you fiend!”
“Try harder!”
“I don’t know how to live without you. I’m-I just-dammit, Roman.”
Logan had just reached the end of the street when the car hydroplaned.
“You were everything to me. My entire world.”
The driver slammed on his brakes, and the pedestrian froze in shock. The car hit the professor at a neck breaking speed and sent his body flying backwards, landing on the asphalt with a terrible crack of bones.
“I’m running out of time on this message so I should wrap it up.”
Blood pooled around his head, and faintly, he heard the squeal of tires as the car drove away.
“I love you, Roman. I’ll… live on, for you. I’ll get my doctorate like you always said I should. I’ll raise our son and tell him all about his dada and what a wonderful man he was.”
Everything was going dark. But he couldn’t d ie! Virgil needed him! He would not leave his son without parents. He wouldn’t!
But his vision was fading and his mind was fogging over.
“I’ll keep going, because I know you would want me to. And when the time comes, and I’ll see you again. I’ll tell you everything I did.”
The world went black.
“Goodbye, my love.”
“Excuse me?”
Logan froze. It wasn’t possible. It simply was not possible. But his heart forced the word out of his lips.
“Yes?”
A light broke though the void of inky black. A light that seemed familiar. A light shaped like a man.
Familiar brown eyes met striking blue ones, brimming with tears.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you, my dear. You seemed to be lost in thought.“
“Oh, it’s no bother to me.”
The man made of stars and suns and moons held open his arms, a smile on his lips. Logan’s heart swelled. This was cruel. It had to be fake, Roman was dead.
But…. wasn’t he dead too?
“Roman?”
“Come to me, sweetheart. It’s time to go.”
Slowly, Logan took a step forward.
It was real.
So he flung himself into his husband’s arms, and cried.
As the heavens sang around them, a writer kissed his love like it was the last time.