[Samuel x Roman]

r o m a n
Roman put an arm around Samuel's shoulders and kissed him on the side of the head. He appreciated his boyfriend sticking up for him and hoped that Brooklyn realised that Samuel was right. He couldn't just apologise and then leave it at that. He needed to prove that he meant his words and was willing to make it up to the twins.

"I know," Brooklyn said softly. Allison seemed to have fallen asleep, so Brooklyn carefully stood up with her in his arms and walked her over to the couch where the two couples sat. He placed her carefully in London's lap, then went to sit in one of the two armchairs Roman and Samuel had in their lounge area.

"I know that I should have realised it a long time ago, but I've realised that I was being petty and childish and a terrible brother to the both of you," he said. "And I know I need to actually prove that for you to believe it. But I'm going to try."

"Why should we let you?" London whispered. Even if Roman had been hurt a lot more by Brooklyn than herself, she seemed to be less willing to let him back into their lives.

Brooklyn hesitated. "You shouldn't, really. I don't deserve it. But if you don't want to do it for me or you, do it for Mum, because all she wants is for us to get along."

Roman licked his lips and looked at his twin. They shared a silent moment of communication before London looked at Evan. "What do you think?" she asked her boyfriend, who had yet to weigh in on the issue verbally.
 
Brooklyn was finally saying things that made sense, he had since he came knocking on the door, really, but there was something about urging them not to forgive him that made Samuel trust his apology a tad more. However, he didn’t like that he was bringing up Ingrid because, as sad as it was for a mother to see her children not get along, Samuel felt like this decision should be made solely on the twin’s feelings about Brooklyn, nothing else. Not even Samuel’s opinion, really, he would only step in if Brooklyn hurt either of them again.

“It’s not up to me,” Evan said to London upon being asked about his opinion, he hadn’t really said anything about his opinion yet and Samuel knew that wasn’t because he didn’t have one but rather, as he just had said, because it wasn’t up to him. “I mean, If I'm allowed to be honest I would gladly kick him out right now... But he’s your brother and while he acted like an asshole he is apologising now, so if you want to give him a chance you should, but neither of you should feel like you have to forgive him just because you are related, that’s not how family works”

He was glancing at Allison and Samuel suspected strongly that the reason he didn’t just say the first part and then sat there glaring at Brooklyn was that he wanted his baby to have a good relationship with her uncle if her uncle wanted to be a part of her life. Family was important to Evan and always had been, even if his always had been very small.
 
r o m a n
Everyone listened attentively to Evan and Roman nodded along with his points. He agreed. He didn't think he had to forgive Brooklyn or give him a chance just because he was his brother -- however, the brother status had been what had kept Roman from throwing him out in the first place. The connection was still there, but it alone was not enough for Roman to fully let Brooklyn back into their lives.

London turned to Roman and spoke in French. They had always done this when they had wanted to speak about something in private but had not wanted anyone else to know what they were saying. Brooklyn had taken German in high school rather than French.

"What do you think?"

"I think that if he's going to prove himself we should at least try to give him a chance. He's still our brother -- not that that means we should forgive him. It's just ... I don't know. Family is important."

"I know what you mean..."

The twins talked in French for about half a minute before Roman turned to Brooklyn. "You're on very thin ice. You've hurt us both more than anyone should ever hurt their siblings so you're lucky you're even here. But if you can prove that you're not all full of shit ... well, as you said, we'll be able to sit in a room and not glare at each other."

Brooklyn looked shocked that Roman had even entertained the possibility of his redemption, but he took it, standing up. "Okay -- thank you."

"Don't thank us," London said as the twins stood up.

They walked Brooklyn to the door, exchanging new phone numbers since they had all changed theirs, and then they said goodbyes. Brooklyn still seemed to be in shock when they closed the door.
 
Everyone seemed to listen to what Evan was saying and Samuel was once again hit by the fact that Evan really wasn’t as stupid as he sometimes seemed. Then the twins switched to French to keep their conversation private, Samuel could kind of guess that London had asked Roman about what he thought on the matter, simply because he knew Spanish and could hear a vague similarity in the words, other than that he didn’t understand anything and so everyone let the two speak in private.

They blabbered on in French for a while, something that would have sounded very lovely in another context but now it was just a moment for the three others to anxiously wait for what they would agree on. And that seemed to be to give Brooklyn another chance. Samuel honestly wasn’t surprised, Roman and London were both very kind people and despite both of them being hesitant Samuel had kind of expected things to end this way. While he wasn’t sure about Brooklyn still, he really hoped this would work out for the Hemlock siblings.

Brooklyn was led out and said goodbye to and it was almost weird to see him leave without anyone shouting or being in a state of anxiety because that is what Samuel had gotten used to when it came to Brooklyn. When the door was closed Samuel exchanged a quick look with Evan, silently asking “what now?”

Samuel decided it was probably best to assess the situation, see how the twins were feeling because it was their feelings that were important right now, not Samuel’s or Evan’s.

“Do you think he’ll change?” Samuel asked, carefully looking over at the two by the door.
 
r o m a n
"I mean, I'd like him to change, but --"

"-- we don't have the highest expectations," Roman finished for his sister.

The twins sighed in unison. They had the same tired posture, the same uncertain expressions, and they had never looked more like twins. It was almost like they were two parts of the same person. London reached up to rub her brother's back at the same time that Roman rubbed hers, and they made their way back to the couch to rejoin their boyfriends.

Roman sat down beside Samuel and leaned against him as London stretched tall, standing in front of Evan and their child. "We should probably be getting her home," he said to Evan, nodding to Allison. She bent down to pick up her dozing baby, resting the little girl's head against her shoulder. She turned to Roman and kissed him on the forehead.

"Happy birthday."

"Happy birthday."

London gave Roman a little smile before she turned to Samuel. "Make sure he doesn't stay up all night brooding, okay?"
 
It was impossible to forget that the pair were twins with how similar they looked but their personalities and fashion taste and things like that differed in a lot of ways so seeing them act like true twins like that, hearing them finish each other sentences and moving in unison was always a little jarring. Still cool though, and it was evidence of how close they really were to each other.

But still, they were separate people and as London said she and her little family had to go home to live their own lives for the rest of the evening.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that won’t happen,”
Samuel laughed in response and gave Evan and London a small wave goodbye and a “see you tomorrow,” before they left.

Samuel then moved his arm to drape it around Roman’s shoulders to gently pull him down even closer so that he could nuzzle his hair for a moment and then kiss the top of his head before actually talking.

“How are you feeling?” Sure this had all gone over well and hopefully Brooklyn would behave like adult from now on, but him coming over and apologising was still a reminder of what he had had to apologise for. He had talked about indie, he had revealed that the woman had cheated on him too, just like Samuel knew Roman had known but also wouldn’t be happy had happened to his brother.
 
r o m a n
"Tired," Roman answered with a small yawn.

He shifted the both of them so Samuel was laying on his back and Roman was laying atop him, his body between his boyfriend's legs, his head rested on the top of his chest. There he lay, nuzzling into Samuel, sighing deeply for a moment before he continued to speak.

"But also happy, because he seems to be coming around." Roman let his eyes close, even though he knew he wouldn't be falling asleep any time soon. He slipped his hands up Samuel's shirt and rubbed his sides, his slightly cold fingers marvelling in the warm temperature of Samuel's skin. He felt the ridges of his muscles and wondered how anyone could possibly be so perfect.

"But also scared," Roman whispered, his hands resting on Samuel's sculpted abdomen. "Because if he does it again, any of it, then it's going to hurt a thousand times worse and I don't know if I can take that."
 
Samuel sighed a little, both because of the nice feeling of Roman’s cold finger against his skin but also at the idea of Brooklyn hurting Roman again. Samuel would want to but knew he couldn’t actually prevent it from happening in this particular case, only Brooklyn could, and he hated that. He hated that Brooklyn could just decide he didn’t want to try to make amends anymore and make Roman feel horrible if he so wanted.

“If it happens, and no matter how little I trust Brooklyn after what he did to you I hope it won't, I’ll be here for you, okay?” Samuel assured his boyfriend, that was what he could do, be there for him in case Brooklyn screwed this up, “Always and forever,”

Samuel slowly moved his hands along Roman’s back as for down as they could reach in the position they were laying in now, letting them rest somewhere around his mid-back, gently rubbing one of them up and down a little to soothe him.

“You and London are being very kind for even giving him that second chance, I don’t think all people would do that, so that’s actually really admirable of you,”
 
r o m a n
"Yeah, well, even if he's a twat, he's still my brother," Roman murmured. His voice was slightly muffled due to the side of his face being pressed to his boyfriend's chest. "And that doesn't give him a pass for being a total and complete piece of shit, but, well, I guess it makes him deserve a chance to redeem himself."

Roman sighed and looked back up at Samuel.

"But enough about Brooklyn, he's lame. Did you see how Matthew was obsessing over Elissa? It was fucking adorable. I ship them so hard."

Roman wriggled up so his face was level with his boyfriend's, and then he kissed him on the lips, which he had been dying to do for hours."
 
"Yeah well, I ship us harder," Samuel chuckled once the kiss was over, then he placed his lips on his boyfriend's again, it was still his special day and now that the guest had left he was going to get as many kisses as he wanted, "happy birthday, love,"

A couple of weeks later they were back on the couch, this time dressed in cozy loitering around the house clothes rather than what they had worn at Roman's birthday party, Samuel in a red hoodie and sweatpants. He had thrown his legs over Roman's and was all cuddled up close to him with his head resting between his neck and his shoulder, it was cozy because Roman's height made Samuel fit almost perfectly like that.

It was a Saturday night and they had decided to watch The Host after realizing they hadn't ever watched the movie together despite both having read and enjoyed the book. They had made popcorn and gotten a large bottle of coke and once the movie was over they had been too comfortable to really move and had settled for channel surfing until they found something else to watch.

They had ended up with a rerun from an old season of ink master, which was a lot of fun to watch with Roman since he could critique the tattoos just as well as the veteran tattoo artists. Currently it was a commercial break, though, which meant there was time to idly chat about things other than what they were watching, unless one of the commercials were really dumb and deserved a comment.

"Hey, Roman, I've been thinking," Samuel started thoughtfully, "and after I graduate and start getting into teaching I think I want to try learn to teach another subject on top of history,"

It was something that had been on his mind more and more lately, he was getting closer to graduating every day, it was still a good while left but it was close enough to start thinking about his future and working as a teacher and things like that and Samuel wanted to discuss those things with his boyfriend because his opinion was always important to him.

"Do you think that's an okay idea? Like I know I wanna do it at some point because it's always good to have more competence as a teacher but I'm not sure if I should maybe wait a couple of years?"
 
r o m a n
"I think it would be good for you to maybe pick up a subject you're already good at, so it's easier for you to teach it," Roman offered thoughtfully as he ran a hand through his lovely brown hair. He didn't know much about being a high school teacher but it was pretty obvious that it would be easier to teach things you liked an enjoyed.

Roman moved his hand down to Samuel's hair and ran it through the gorgeous curly locks. God, he was stunning. Roman loved him so much. He picked his boyfriend on the top of the head before continuing.

"Like, maybe you could teach Spanish," he suggested, since Samuel was half-Spanish and obviously fluent in the language. "Or maybe P.E., since you're all sporty and cool. Or maybe even math, since you're way better at math than me. I hate math."
 
Samuel smiled a little at the nice feeling of Roman's hands in his hair, Samuel tended to play with Roman's hair quite a lot because he knew his boyfriend like it. He also knew why he liked it because it really was a nice feeling.

"I think I'm going to end up teaching Spanish eventually anyways, I just have to show I know the language, which I do, but I think I want to teach some other subject too," Samuel said, his voice clearly a little excited, he was really looking forward to teaching full time at some point in the bit so far future, "but you'r right about doing something I'm already good at and I would obviously want to continue on with something that is somewhat related to history, plus I'm honestly not much better than average at math and I don't think I have it in me to yell at kids to run laps,"

Samuel chuckled a little, he liked soccer and exercise and all but really, he felt like it took a certain type of person to be able to deal with a bunch of teens playing sports, maybe if he hadn't been studying to become a high school teacher he would have considered it.

"So I'm thinking either social studies or religious studies because both go kind of hand in hand with history," he had done really well with both subjects back in high school and he could see himself being interested enough in both to want to teach them.
 
r o m a n
Roman's hand stilled, before he moved it out of Samuel's hair and clenched it into a fist at his side. He didn't move Samuel, but looked at him in disbelief. Surely he had heard wrong. Samuel could not have just suggested he teach religious studies when he secured a teaching position after graduation.

"You're joking," Roman said bluntly. His tone was not angry, but it had the sense of irritation it usually held when he spoke of religion.

Roman disagreed with any and all forms of faith. He understood that it was a long-standing tradition and he wasn't going to stop people from believing in what they chose to -- for example, he supported the wear of hijabs and burqas because he thought that if Christians were allowed to wear their crucifixes, then Muslims could wear their garments. But he knew he couldn't actually spend large amounts of time with someone who genuinely supported a religion. It just didn't agree with him.

He knew that not all religious people were bigots, but most bigots were religious. Homophobes. The KKK. Most people who were bad had some kind of faith backing them and while that faith might not have been malignant, the practice of it was in many cases.

"You're not even religious." Roman sat up, only to cross the room into the kitchen to get a new bottle of Coke out of the fridge. "I mean you were, but you're not anymore. Wouldn't they want someone who is religious to teach religious studies?"

Roman was honestly just looking for any excuse for Samuel not to teach religion.
 
Suddenly Roman's hand was no longer in Samuel's hair and Samuel sighed when he realized it was due to Roman's distaste for religion and for a moment he regretted mentioning it because he knew his boyfriend's stance on religion. But then he realized how stupid that would be, he had to be able to talk about this with Roman without him immediately getting annoyed at the concept of religion, he had to be able to consider it as a possibility.

"Why would I have to be religious to teach religious studies?" Samuel said, tone not quite matching Roman's irritated one just yet but clearly getting there, "That doesn't even make sense? You just have to actually know something about it and you can study religion even if you're not religious?"

This was all fairly obvious and Roman was clearly just looking for an excuse to prevent him from teaching it. Which Samuel honestly didn't like, and the look he was giving Roman as he got out another bottle of coke could probably be considered a slight glare, which was an expression Samuel rarely directed at his boyfriend out of anger. Come to think of it he rarely got angry at his boyfriend at all, they just didn't disagree on a lot of things. Except whether or not he should teach religion apparently.

"I just think it's an interesting subject," Samuel stated simply, a little more irritates now, "Roman, I'm allowed to think religion is interesting without being religious. Or do you just not want me to consider teaching it because you don't like it? Because I feel like you should be honest and say that then."
 
r o m a n
"Fine. I don't want you to consider teaching it, because I don't like it."

Roman wasn't one to keep secrets from his partner or hide it when he was annoyed or angry. He was the kind of person to confront his significant other about his problems with them, if he had them, and this was no exception. He had tried to offer other reasons why Samuel shouldn't teach it, and now that that had failed, he was going to be upfront, which he had honestly planned to do in the first place.

Like always, his anger did not show. He looked perfectly calm and collected as he opened the new bottle of Coke and poured himself a glass. In fact, if a stranger were to walk in, they would not be able to tell that Roman was angry at all.

But he was angry. Definitely.

"I mean, sure, it's an interesting subject, like how not even that long ago a woman was forced to marry her rapist," Roman continued. "Or how owning slaves was considered acceptable. Or how in one passage in the Book of Judges, some asshole was being trapped in his house by an angry mob so he sent out his concubine to placate them and they raped her until dawn." Roman set his glass down and turned his head to face Samuel. "Very interesting subject. If you're going to teach it don't dance around those passages like every priest I've ever had to listen to."
 
Samuel could tell Roman was angry, he could tell, it wasn't that hard when you got to know him, he was ranting and his words clearly showed he was displeased. Even in this moment Samuel appreciated this was Roman's way of showing anger, for obvious reason Samuel didn't deal well with yelling, especially not since his ptsd first started properly acting up. But right now he was honestly mostly getting angry.

"Roman that's part of the point," Samuel said, despite not liking it when people used angry tones he was pretty quick to start using one himself, "you know I don't like religion because of all of those reasons. I know it's fucked up in a million different ways but that is what makes it interesting. Or fuck let's not use interesting since you apparently got hung up on that word, let's use important instead."

Roman was making this about what it wasn't. It was about teaching religion not about how it was bad to think unpleasant things were interesting, which wasn't even what Samuel had meant and he was fairly certain Roman knew that.

"It's important because Unbiased Religious studies aren't Christian studies or pushing down your own faith into children studies, even if a lot of people teach it like that, it's about where religions stems from, why they exist, how different religions relate to one other, how people practice them and the conflict caused by them. Teaching religion in the right way would allow kids to be more accepting even if they have more faith. Unlike just getting angry as soon as you hear the word because all that does is set a stop for productive discussion."

Samuel stayed on his spot in the couch, he felt better there, it made the fact that they were arguing feel like less of a big deal even if Samuel's voice was to loud to deny that they were angry at each other at that point.

"If I want to teach religion it's to teach it in a way that actually allows them to think critically and not just automatically decide that one religion is good and one is bad and things like that, it's a fucking important subject to learn about because, like it or not it's an important part of our society."
 
r o m a n
Roman listened, his eyes, now resembling icy chips of green glass, trained on his boyfriend, unwavering. He listened and he was able to recognise that Samuel was making good points. Teaching religion in an objective and neutral way, not glorifying it, would allow people to formulate their own opinions on it, and to teach people to be more accepting of other faiths.

Samuel was raising good points but it did nothing to change Roman's opinion. This was something he felt too strongly about and he doubted his opinion was ever going to shift.

"Look, I get what you're saying and it's a nice sentiment and you have pure intentions but it's never going to work," Roman said quietly. "Even if you teach the kids about it from an objective point, they're going to have their parents at home telling them one thing and then the media telling them the other. You're going to have fucking idiots like Trump running countries and then people using the religious freedoms he's claiming to protect as excuses for shooting up schools and running people over on the street."

Roman stepped away from the bench, moving slightly closer to Samuel, not in an intimidating way, but just to stress his next point.

"And you're going to have people in this country protecting outdated religious freedoms as an excuse to not allow same-sex marriage." Roman's voice was very, very quiet, because this was something that directly affected them. "Religion is literally the only reason we can't get married right now, Samuel. It's the only reason we don't have the same rights as London and Evan or Matthew and Elissa or Elliot and Matilda."
 
As Roman started talking about marriage equality Samuel got even angrier. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know how religion affected them because they weren’t straight. Hell, Samuel had even experienced that on a closer level than he was sure Roman ever had.

“Oh wow, thanks for the reminder, I totally forgot why half of my relatives don’t want to talk to me anymore,” Samuel said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

He stayed in spot but crossed his arms across his chest, he wasn’t stepping down about this. Samuel rarely got angry at Roman, actually, he couldn’t actually think of any time other than a conversation years ago where he had been jealous where he had raised his voice like this at Roman and back then Samuel had been in the wrong, but he wasn’t now. Samuel knew Roman’s frustration with the subject came from hating all the horrible things religion had caused in the world, but his arguments weren't even really making sense in Samuel’s mind.

“So, correct me if I’m wrong, but what you’re saying is that we shouldn’t even try to give children more tolerant religious studies because their parents will just shove their beliefs on them anyways? And none of them would ever think to even question it a little? And biased media is just going to get them confused? You know, for someone who keeps claiming that things are going to change and that we are going to have the same right to marry someday you don’t seem very open to actually doing anything? How the fuck do you think change happens? By arguing with your boyfriend about the fact that religion makes you angry?”

At this point, Samuel realised his voice was getting a little too loud for comfort so he stopped himself to take a deep breath and once he had he managed to speak a little calmer

“If we don’t talk about it, if we just ignore it because it makes us mad, we’re never going to get married. Change happens with every new generation because they grow up in different times and they see the world in a new perspective thanks to people talking about it. It doesn’t have to be through teaching but if they don’t get any influences about religion from any other place than their parents and media, which I can assure you over religious parents try to restrict, they are definitely going to keep their opinions,”

Part of what Roman was saying was honestly kind of offending Samuel, because he had been one of the kids who decided not blindly listen to his parents and it felt like Roman was just closing his eyes to that fact.

“But no, sure, you’re totally right, all kids will just preach their parent's religions even after realising there are other things out there. I guess I just didn’t get the memo, sorry about that, I’m going to church tomorrow, I promise, maybe I'll even start trying to be straight again because that’s what God would have wanted and apparently I believe in the guy,”
 
r o m a n
Roman stayed still and quiet as Samuel talked. It occurred to him that this was the first time he could remember where Samuel had actually been properly mad at him. They had had disagreements every now and then, and they had bickered, but it had never escalated to this point before. It had never gone this far.

Roman listened and he came to the realisation that Samuel was right, and that he was being an asshole. He had not thought of Samuel's experience with religion and sexuality and had obviously brought up unpleasant memories, and reminded him of his family and his childhood. Roman hated himself for that. There was no reason that religion couldn't be taught objectively in schools, even if Roman wouldn't want his own kids to undergo those classes. And he was being a hypocrite. He was an advocate for change, but was rejecting one of the easiest ways they could all achieve said change.

It took a lot for Roman to admit he was wrong. He was the kind of person to literally not talk to people for extended periods of time because he was petty and wouldn't admit it when he had done or said the wrong thing. But Samuel was an exception to that rule. He wasn't going to lose Samuel over a stupid topic such as this, and especially not when Samuel was correct and he was in the wrong.

"You're right," Roman said quietly, his eyes softening and turning to the ground. "I'm sorry." Roman hesitated for another moment, before he took his keys from the kitchen bench. He then crossed to the coatrack nailed to the wall by the door and picked up his leather jacket, and stuffed his feet into his shoes that were sitting on the floor.

"I'm going to go to the shops, so we both have a chance to calm down. We're out of toothpaste anyway," Roman said. He always figured it was best to give both parties a break from one another. He looked up at Samuel.

"I love you," he reminded him softly, before opening the door, stepping out into the crisp spring night air, and closing the door behind him.
 
Samuel’s eyes widened a little as Roman just… admitted he was wrong. Just like that, no more objections only an apology. He sounded very sincere and Samuel knew Roman wouldn’t ever apologise just to stop an argument from happening. Samuel instantly felt a lot calmer after hearing that. Of course, he was still angry, that feeling wasn’t just going to disappear like that, so, when Roman said he was going out for a moment Samuel didn’t object. He just muttered an “I love you too,” that he wasn’t even sure Roman heard. He just always made sure he mentioned whenever any of them left the other and Samuel was going to keep that up even if they had been fighting.

Once Roman had left Samuel stood up and turned off the TV, then he got the first of their pets he could find, Lola apparently, Malfoy seemed to be hiding somewhere and Samuel was fairly certain Lady was taking the moment when they weren’t there to chill in their bed. He got back to the couch and laid down there with Lola on his chest, gently petting her soft fur to calm himself down. He didn’t want to go into their bedroom and lay there while he was mad at Roman, that felt weird.

He spent the time it took for Roman to go to the store and back just thinking about what had happened. Samuel still didn’t think he had been wrong, not at all, but he felt kind of bad about the whole thing. He and Roman rarely fought, sure they bickered about things like any couple living with each other, but this was something that didn’t really happen, and even something did happen to make one of them angry it was usually Roman who was and who had good reason to, mainly because of Samuel’s jealousy.

Samuel didn’t like being mad at Roman. He loved him and wouldn’t ever stop doing that so being angry at him actually kind of hurt, but he also knew Roman’s words had made him feel bad so it was a good thing that he had stood up for what he had believed and he didn’t regret it.

Samuel stayed there on the couch, calming down, petting Lola and anxiously waiting for Roman to come back to see what would happen next. When he heard someone coming up the stairs outside, which he knew was Roman because he recognized the sound of his steps, he but Lola back on the ground, moved into a sitting position and when Roman came in through the door he held out his arms in a motion that clearly meant “I want a hug,” and quietly said, “come here please,” while hoping Roman too had calmed down enough to want to be affectionate again.