Firebug: Chapter 7 - Splitting Hairs

Roman hated parties. Did he mention that? Rubbing elbows with the entire student population of Hill Academy while having his brain liquefied by Nicki Minaj's latest hit cranked up past eleven was not his idea of a good time. On top of that, this was a Chris Fletcher party. If that delinquent was involved, this party was guaranteed to the the wildest shindig west of State U's Delta Gamma Frat House.

The moment Roman set foot in that house, it was clear Chris' reputation was still in-tact.

As he rummaged through the fridge looking for something non-alcoholic to drink, he tried to remind himself why he was there. Sure, there were a million other things he'd rather be doing, and probably should be doing. Luna was always telling him he needed to get out of his comfort zone, though... and right now, there was only one person he was willing to experience this much discomfort for.

Frankly, he was shocked beyond words when Theo expressed interest in going to the party. Roman thought at first - or maybe just hoped - that the Brit was joking. Unfortunately for him, Theo was dead serious. Roman had to have been out of his mind for agreeing to go with him. As usual, though, Roman found himself unable to say "no".

He just couldn't help it... especially not if Theo was involved.

Chris clearly lied about there being plenty of sodas in the fridge, as all he had in there was more beer and bottles of water. Wanting to get back to Theo as soon as possible, Roman grabbed the first two waters he saw. He could only imagine what kind of moves Chris would put on a shy, naive guy like Theo without any witnesses around. Then again, maybe Roman was making mountains out of molehills. Theo might be the quiet, anxious type, but he was still a big boy. Despite all his faults, Roman had to admit Chris was a good-looking, charismatic guy. Maybe Theo was into bad boys, which was fine by Roman.

No matter how hard he tried to shake it, though, Roman couldn't get that look Theo gave him out of his head. He could still feel Theo's unnaturally hot fingers gripping his sleeve, begging him silently not to leave his side. Again, Roman did his best to let it go. Theo was smart. Roman was sure he could handle Chris one-on-one, at least for a few minutes.

There was absolutely nothing to worry about.

"Roman?! Oh-em-gee!!"

Roman barely had time to shut the fridge before a pair of long, skinny arms wrapped around his neck. The next thing he knew, he was being kissed on the mouth. Thankfully it didn't last longer than a few seconds, limiting his exposure to the rancid flavor of cheap beer and Flamin' Hot Cheetos. When he finally recognized the girl who'd kiss-attacked him, he was instantly outraged and confused.

"Luna?!" he blurted, "what the-?!"

Luna interrupted his tirade with another sloppy kiss, giggling like an idiot when she pulled away to let him breathe. "I can't believe you came!" she shouted, grinning so hard it made Roman's face hurt. "You never come to parties! Guess you're not the big, fat killjoy I thought you were! C'mon, lemme grab you a drink!"

"Hard pass," Roman frowned, taking the half-full solo cup from her hand. In the same fluid movement, he tossed it in the trash and gave her one of his water bottles. "Here; drink that instead. Let's go get some air, okay?"

"Nooo," she whined, flopping against him as he tried to lead her outside, "No fair! You're such a buzzkill, Babe! Why can't you just cut loose and have fun for once in your pathetic life?!"

Roman ground his molars, trying to ignore the sudden ache in his chest. She didn't mean it. She was totally trashed, and had no idea what she was even saying. When she sobered up, Luna would apologize. She always did.

While he was steering her drunk carcass toward the back patio, Roman's eye was suddenly drawn to movement on the staircase. He looked up automatically, barely registering what he saw. Immediately afterward, he did a sharp double-take. Chris was on his way upstairs... and he was carrying somebody with blond curly hair.

For all of five seconds, Roman just stood rooted to the spot. He could've been mistaken. The couple he saw moved so quickly, he didn't really get a good look at either of them. He wasn't even sure they were both guys. Still, his instincts wouldn't let him hear the end of it. Thinking it was better to be safe than sorry, he dropped Luna in the first available chair he came across and karate-chopped his way over to the stairs.

There were a lot more rooms upstairs than he bargained for, and almost every door was shut. With no other option, Roman checked them all one by one. It was the only way to be sure. In the process, he cheesed off a good amount of couples trying to get lucky, and saw more of some of his classmates than he ever wanted to see. After walking in on the seventh couple, Roman started to think he was losing his mind. Instinct drove him to check one more door before heading back downstairs to Luna, however... and he was incredibly glad that he did.

The last door he tried had Chris on the other side of it. The blue-haired teen jumped out of his skin and sat up on the bed when Roman opened the door, scrambling to zip up his jeans with a scowl. When he recognized Roman, Chris' mood instantly got a thousand times worse.

"Geez, Durant! Knock much?!" he snapped, "What do you want?! I'm a little busy here!"

Roman barely heard a word Chris said. His full attention was on the person beneath Chris. It was Theo: flopped across the mattress like a rag doll, barely conscious and mumbling incoherently. The Brit's shirt was fully unbuttoned, and his jeans were wadded up on the floor. Thankfully his shorts were still on, but if Roman had been just a second slower-

No. No, he didn't even want to think about it.

Something deep inside Roman snapped, seeing Theo like that. His vision turned red, and every muscle in his body quaked uncontrollably. Although Roman was obviously unbelievably angry, Chris had the nerve to smile at him smugly.

"What's the matter, Durant?" he jeered, "Not jealous, are you?" His beady, black eyes flicked back down to Theo for a second and his smile grew, fanning the flames of Roman's rage. "Tell you what: gimme a little privacy here, then he's all yours. I only need a few minutes."

That did it.

Roman had no idea what happened. One second he was in the doorway, fit to explode; the next, his knuckles crashed into Chris' stupid, smug face. He stopped himself before he totally lost control, throwing the creep into the adjoining bathroom a second later. Chris tumbled head over heels across the shiny slate tiles, landing in the shower so hard that it rattled the pipes. Roman obviously didn't know his own strength, as the impact was jarring enough to make the pipes under the sink and toilet shudder, too. Within seconds, water was pouring out of all the drains like the fountain at Caesar's Palace, drenching Chris from head to toe. Instead of listening to his sputtering cries for help, Roman just shut the door and locked it from the outside.

With Chris dealt with, he turned his attention back to Theo. As quickly and gently as he could, Roman re-dressed his friend, sighing when the job was done. He might've prevented an unspeakable act from taking place, but there was still a huge problem on his hands. Theo was in no shape to go home; not like this. The way Theo talked about his dad, Mr. Quill would be livid if Roman brought him home in such a state. The worst part was, none of this was Theo's fault.

Roman was completely to blame. He knew he shouldn't have left Theo alone. If he hadn't...

Deciding not to think about it for now, Roman carefully dug his hands under Theo's body. The Brit was surprisingly light, weighing less than a feather in Roman's arms. He carried Theo back downstairs as quickly as he could, not stopping until he reached his faithful old Jeep. He was still buckling Theo into the passenger seat when he heard an irritated screech behind him.

"Ro-munn?! Where do you think you're going, you stupid asshole?!"

Biting back an angry reply, Roman took a deep breath before turning around. "Sorry, Luna," he said, "I can't stay. Theo's in bad shape; I've gotta take him home. If you want, I can drop you off at your dorm on the way."

"I'm not going anywhere!" she slurred, grabbing his arm possessively. "Come back and party with me some more, or else!"

"I think you've already partied plenty for the both of us," Roman frowned. "C'mon, Lu; just get in. Or, if you'd rather, I can call you an Uber instead. Regardless, I'm not going back in there... and I don't think you should either."

Luna stood there glaring at him for a long minute, angrier than a cat that just had a bucket of ice water thrown on it. He thought for sure she was about to start yelling at him again. A few seconds later, she leaned forward suddenly and up-chucked all over his shoes.

"I hate you," she mumbled, "Fine: take me home... loser."

The drive back to Hill Academy was both long and wildly unpleasant. Luna spent the duration hurling countless insults at Roman, accusing him of never loving her and cheating with every girl he ever looked at. There was no point arguing with her in that state, so Roman just endured it all in silence. When he finally dropped her off at Willow Hall, he released his pent-up frustration with a heavy sigh. He did his best to hold it together, looking over at the unconscious Brit riding shotgun. This had to be one of the worst evenings of their lives. With any luck, though, Theo - at least - wouldn't remember it.

Just as Roman's bottled-up emotions reached their peak, it began drizzling rain. A perfect end, he figured, to this less-than-stellar night. Before they both got totally soaked, Roman drove around the lot to Cedar Hall, his home-away-from-home until graduation. Ten minutes later, he was carrying Theo across the threshold of his fourth-floor digs.

Roman had never been so glad to not have a roommate before. He was in no mood to explain why he was dragging an unconscious person into his room, let alone why they were both dripping wet. As quickly as he could, he peeled off Theo's wet clothes and dressed him in some spare sweats, just so he wouldn't catch cold. Afterwards, Roman tucked Theo into bed and unrolled a sleeping bag for himself on the floor.

"Night, Theo," he whispered, "I'm so sorry."