[Samuel x Roman]

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"Samuel," Brooklyn began in an irritable tone, before Roman sat bolt upright and glared at his brother over the tubes and through the tears in his eyes. London sat up with him and looped her thin arms around her twin's thin waist as she quietly trembled with emotion.

"Don't you fucking dare have a go at him," Roman hissed, though his voice lacked the impact it would have carried if he hadn't been crying. Brooklyn blinked. "This is not his fault."

He looked at Samuel insistently.

"This is not your fault."

A wave of nausea washed over Roman and he slumped back down into the pillows, London falling with him. Stellan pinched the bridge of his nose as Roman trembled with the tears that wracked his body, incredibly uncharacteristic of him. Roman never cried. Never.

"Roman, please," said Stellan in a tone that almost sounded angry. "I need to know who did this. You don't want them to get away and do it to other people, do you?"

Other people. That made Roman stop. If he didn't tell his dad, then Manuel would probably continue to hit his son for his sexuality. His son. Samuel. Roman's boyfriend. Roman gave Samuel a pained look and reached out and took his hand, squeezing it tightly and blinking back even more tears.

"It -- it was Samuel's father," he barely whispered, before looking at Samuel intently. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.​
 
Hearing Roman finally say what happened was scary. He didn't know how the people in the room would react and he still couldn't find the courage to look up from the ground.

A part of him actually wanted to defend his dad now that it was out, to tell them that he probably hadn't meant for all of this to happen, but he just couldn't. Not when Roman was defending him, despite being in pain and despite crying. And Samuel didn't want Roman to push himself to the point of getting worse, which hastily sitting up probably did.

So he didn't defend his dad, because Romans well-being was worth so much more.

"It's okay, don't apologize" Samuel mumbled and reached out his free hand to wipe away any tears from Romans face that had managed to slip out, the other hand still holding Romans hand because if he didn't he would probably start crying as well, and he really didn't want that, he had no right.
 
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Stellan's eyes darkened a little and he nodded, standing up and stalking out of the room without another word. Brooklyn bit his lip and put his arms around his obviously upset mother's shoulders, leading her out of the room. London climbed out of the bed and stood beside it for a moment.

"Are you okay?" she asked Roman weakly, still holding the hand that wasn't holding Samuel's.

Roman nodded, though he wasn't okay. London sniffled and followed the other Hemlocks out of the room, closing the door behind her. Roman was thankful.

He forced himself to sit up, not caring how dizzy and nauseous it made him feel, and reached out with trembling fingers to turn Samuel's head to face him. It was obvious that he was upset about having told the truth. He hated himself for it, in fact.

"I - I'm so s - sorry," Roman stammered, blinking away his tears. "B - But he would have kept h - hurting you. I didn't do this for me."​
 
Samuel had to admit he was slightly relieved the rest of the family had left, but also scared that he didn't know what would happen, what exactly Romans dad would do with the information, but he had no time to dwell on that because his boyfriend just sat up to get him to look at him while he apologized. As if he actually had a reason to apologize.

"It's fine Roman, you should be laying down" Samuel insisted, trying his best to keep it together. The downside to it only being the two of them in the room was that it was much harder to hold back on his emotions, because he knew it was okay to show them when he was with Roman.

He sat quietly for a moment, getting a proper look at Romans pale, bruised and tearstained face. Roman could have told about it for any reason he had wanted without having anything to apologize for, because he was the one who was hurt.

"I'm sorry" He started his gaze fell back down even though Roman had had to put effort into getting it back up, "This is my fault, I don't think he meant for it to go this far but I knew this could happen, I'm sorry"

With actually speaking more than just a couple of words the tears started welling up again and he kept mumbling apologies.
 
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"Samuel, this is not your fault," Roman snapped, though he immediately regretted his tone. He had not been short with Samuel since that first night, and now, when neither of them needed it, he had snapped again.

Guilt flickered across his face and Roman gently tugged on Samuel's sleeve. "Come here," he requested softly, pulling on the other boy's sleeve until he was laying on the bed beside him.

Usually Roman would be the 'guy' of the relationship, the top, and therefore be the pillow but now, he rested his head on Samuel's chest and closed his eyes for a moment, simply appreciating how nice it felt to be laying with the person he cared about the most. His boyfriend.

"Samuel, please," Roman begged, his eyes still closed. "This is not your fault. Your father is a prejudiced asshole who couldn't control himself. If anything it's my fault, I egged him on and he snapped." Roman cringed with guilt. He knew his father was going to do whatever it took to incarcerate Samuel's father and there was nothing they could do about it.

"If anyone should be sorry it's me." Roman's voice hitched with tears again. "Y - Your dad is going to get in so much trouble and it's all m - my fault." He was crying again. "I'm so sorry."
 
As Roman snapped at him Samuel flinched slightly, but it seemed to be what he needed to stop his seemingly endless mumbles of I'm sorry's and wipe the tears out of his eyes. As soon as his voice turned gentle again, he crawled up into the bed, let the boy rest his head his chest and then very gently kissed the top of his boyfriend's head, as if he were to be any less careful he would break.

Samuel could not, and would not ever blame Roman for having defended him.
"Don't apologize for that" He just didn't want Roman to cry or blame himself. And really had it not been for the consequences Samuel would have been so grateful. And even if it really hadn't been worth it, he still kind felt at least some gratitude that Roman cared enough about him to stand up to his dad when he couldn't, "you couldn't have known this would happen"

Samuel wondered what would happen next, what the trouble Roman referred to would mean. There was no doubt Romans dad wouldn't let something like this slip what with him actually having the power to do something about it. Samuel still couldn't shake the feeling that saying it was an accident was partly true, though, this was obviously not what had supposed to happen, and had Samuel just been more careful it wouldn't. Then Roman wouldn't be hurt and his dad wouldn't be in trouble.

He almost wanted to keep saying he was sorry because that was how he felt and his thoughts just kept going back to the fact that he could have prevented this. But Roman didn't seem to think so and his opinion counted for something, even if he couldn't bring himself to believe him. So Samuel just kept is moth shut and carefully held his boyfriend, the only sound made being the slight sniffling from all the crying.
 
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Roman stayed quiet, because he knew he was responsible for this shit and there was nothing Samuel could do to change his mind or get him to say otherwise. So he stayed quiet, because they didn't need any more sadness at the moment. They just needed to relax for once.

So, they did. Roman didn't move for a solid hour, until a nurse and a special blood doctor came in to check his vitals and he had to sit up and Samuel had to move off the bed. They deduced that Roman would live, and at the rate he was going, he'd have to stay on the tubes until tomorrow morning and then have another night in hospital. Roman hated hospitals, but he sighed and nodded.

Soon, his mother and sister came back with KFC, which was Roman's favourite, and some proper plates and cutlery. Roman realised he was starving and loaded his plate with four large pieces of chicken and an entire box of chips. Ingrid knew her son's eating habits and had bought extra so Samuel and London could eat.

"Where ... where's Dad?" Roman asked, afraid of the answer.

"I think he's at the police station, sweetie," Ingrid said, coming around the bed to give Samuel a small, motherly embrace. "This isn't your fault, dear."

London, who was sitting on the end of Roman's bed because she refused to part with her twin again, looked at Roman with a saddened expression on her face. "Did ... did he catch you together?"

Roman just nodded. Ingrid sighed and London blinked back tears.​
 
The effort of comfort from Romans mother was appreciated, but it didn't really help much. He still knew the implications of Romans dad being at the police station.

It was weird to know the other three people hated his father. Because even if he maybe should as well it was really hard to disregard that he still was his dad, and for every bad memory Samuel could recall he could also remember a good one. For every time he had been hit for speaking out of line or practically dragged up the stairs to his room for disobeying rules there was getting ice cream on hot days and him taking time off work to see him play soccer. But they didn't know that, they didn't need to know that so Samuel kept quiet without asking what would happen to him.

They ate, Roman just as much as usual which made Samuel smile a little for the first time in hours, and even though the heaviness of the situation still was very much present in the room things felt an ever so slightly normal for a while.

Samuel really had no idea what would happen next, what would actually end up happening to his dad. He chose to try to stop worrying about that, though. What was important was that Roman was somewhat okay and for now he'd stay with him. as long as he was allowed and as long as he wanted him there.
 
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Roman and the others ate. Roman tried to help clean up but Ingrid wouldn't allow him to get out of bed, and London fussed about her twin, pumping up his pillows and getting him water and pouring out the pills she had taken from his bedside table for him to ingest. She then perched on the end of his bed and settled down a little as Stellan entered the room.

He sighed heavily and looked at his son. "He's at the station," Stellan said quietly, with a considerable lack of his previous rage.

Roman blinked. He hadn't wanted Manuel to be arrested. He hadn't wanted anyone to suffer. Roman nodded and took Samuel's hand, guilt bruised on his face.

Stellan looked at Samuel now. "You can go see him if you want to," he said. Ingrid shifted uncomfortably beside her husband as this was a sore topic for everyone. "I had to tell your mother he was in on assault charges. You should probably call her. I'm sorry, son."​
 
He wasn't sure if he wanted to see his dad any time soon, while he might not blame him as much as the others he still almost killed Roman. He was certain his dad did not want to see him.

But he had left his mum with no explanation of what had happened at all and now he realized he had to call her. Not just to tell her but he just kind of wanted to talk to her as well, Romans family was nice, but they weren't his.

"I'll call her" he mumbled and stood up, not letting go of Romans hand at first, letting it linger, not wanting to leave but also wanting to talk to his mother in private.

He let Romans' hand go, left the room and stopped a bit further down the hallway to call his mother undisturbed.

She picked up as soon as he called and the first thing Samuel did was to apologize. His mother didn't tell him not to, and in a way, it was nice that someone allowed him to take some of the blame. It also felt really horrible that it was his mother that allowed it.

She asked what happened and he told her his father had caused Roman ending up in the hospital. She asked him why and he told her he hadn't had a good reason to. She asked him why he really did it and Samuel finally told her, quietly that he had caught them kissing.

And she was quiet. And Samuel was quiet.

"Why would you do that Samuel" she asked finally and He felt his heart sink, she didn't sound angry but he could detect the disappointment in her voice.

"I'm sorry" he mumbled quietly "I'm... I... We're together, I'm sorry"

And then she was quiet again.

"We'll talk about this later, Samuel" was what she broke the silence with, and then she said goodbye and Samuel couldn't find the strength to try to stop her from hanging up and defend himself so he said goodbye as well and sat down on the ground and leaned against a wall. Not really ready to go back to a room full of Romans family again.
 
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Roman let Samuel go, watching as he left the room and bringing his nails up to his lips to chew on them out of nerves. He hated that this had happened and that he was responsible. He hated that Samuel's family had been torn apart because Roman couldn't keep his fucking mouth shut.

"What's going to happen to him?" Roman asked his dad. "To Samuel's father, I mean."

Stellan sighed and slumped down on a chair. "He's probably going to go to jail on assault charges, Roman."

Roman closed his eyes for a moment. He didn't know what to say to that. He knew Manuel wouldn't be in this much trouble if Stellan were not in a position to actually do something about it.

"I've been removed from the case," said Stellan. "On bias claims. He'll get a fair go, so if he goes to jail it's because a judge has decided he deserves it."

Roman, again, didn't say anything. He just slumped back into the pillows and turned his head away from his family.

"Roman --"

"I want to sleep now," said Roman. "Can you get Samuel?"

Ingrid nodded and proceeded to shepherd her daughter and husband out of the room. On the way, she ducked down next to Samuel. "He's asking for you," Ingrid said softly, squeezing Samuel's shoulder before standing up and leaving with London and Stellan.​
 
Samuel didn't stand up right away, instead, he watched the rest of the Hemlock family leave, feeling too defeated to really do anything. His dad not accepting him for who he was one thing. He knew that would happen. But he had actually thought his mother would think it was okay, or at least would have pretended to after all of this.

He didn't know how much longer he sat there, probably not more than a couple of minutes, but it seemed like more. It also didn't feel like enough, he still forced himself to stand up and dragging his feet back to Romans room.

Without saying anything he sat down in one of the chairs next to Romans bed and instinctively intertwined his fingers with his boyfriends. Everything was still horrible but holding Romans hand made things feel a little better.

At first, Samuel thought of not saying anything, Roman looked tired and he really didn't want there to be more things for him to be sad over. But he knew Roman always could tell when things were wrong, so telling him would save him the effort of trying to drag it out of him.

"I don't think my mum approves"
 
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Roman let out a small sigh and closed his eyes for a moment, squeezing Samuel's hand with his own. He knew this wasn't his pain to feel, the pain of a mother not accepting her child. But it hurt him, too, because he knew this would affect Samuel greatly. And so soon after facing the rejection of his father.

"I'm sorry." Not because of what he did, but because of the cruel world they had to live in.

Visiting hours were over, but Roman argued with a nurse until she let Samuel stay overnight. He insisted on Samuel sleeping on the bed since he wouldn't let his boyfriend sleep in an uncomfortable chair. So, he wriggled over to make room for him and leaned his head against Samuel's chest like before.

"Try and get some sleep," he whispered. ​
 
He was glad Roman made sure he could stay, not only because he didn't have to leave Roman alone in the hospital after everything that had happened, but also because he didn't think he even could go home right now. He couldn't actually face his mom, couldn't go home to a house his dad wouldn't come home to in who knew how long. Not yet at least.

"you too" he whispered back and kissed the top of his head gently.

Samuel was tired, but it was still difficult to even try going to sleep with his head being filled with such a muddle of thoughts, none of them good. He simply stared up at the ceiling for what felt like forever while listening to Roman breathing, until at some point he fell asleep.
 
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Roman had to stay in the hospital for all of Saturday, which he hated, but Bella, Elliot and Blake came to see him and made him feel better. They didn't blame Samuel for anything that had happened, simply because Roman had told them the truth and they had all determined it was Manuel's fault.

Roman didn't know if he agreed to that.

Roman was let out on Sunday, and his family helped him home, with Samuel there because Roman had insisted he stay. Stellan and Brooklyn helped him into his bedroom, where he was told to stay in bed for the next couple of days while he recovered from the massive blood loss and the headaches that had ensued due to the impact of his head hitting that table. Ingrid and London fussed over him like nurses.

"Mum, seriously, I'm fine," Roman protested as his mother tried to wipe his forehead free of sweat.

"Okay, sorry, dear." Ingrid straightened up, bit her lip and turned to Samuel. "Sweetheart ... would you like to invite your mother over for dinner? You haven't seen her in a couple of days. Maybe we could all talk about the issue?"​
 
Even though nothing really had changed, Roman getting out of the hospital really made things feel a lot brighter, even if he still was bedridden. There were significantly less sad faces and crying now that the initial shock of the situation was over and Roman seemed to be getting better. Somehow Samuel had almost managed to push how horrible everything really was, to the point that when Ingrid mentioned his mum he had almost forgotten he did need to talk with her.

Under normal circumstances, Samuel was pretty sure his mother would have really liked the family. She had already shown that she thought Ingrid was nice, and she had seemed to like Roman, of course, that was before she knew he wasn't just a friend.

This was certainly not normal circumstances, though. Her husband had been arrested, her son was gay, and Roman was very much involved in both of those things, even if neither was his fault.

Part of him knew that maybe it'd be better to speak to her around people he knew accepted him, part of him just really didn't want Romans family to dislike her.

"No it's fine, there's no need to talk to her, right now" Sure she had told him they should talk about the whole thing later, Samuel didn't know what that would mean, but he was sure his mother didn't want to take it in front of other people "besides, I'm sure she doesn't want to leave Daisy home all alone"

Samuel was pretty sure he must have mentioned the dog at some point during one of his breakfasts at the Hemlock household. She seemed to be the best excuse he could come up was probably not very convincing, Daisy was home alone all day when everyone was away from the house.
 
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Roman bit his lip, since he knew that excuse was bullshit but he didn't know that inviting Susan over for dinner was his mother's best decision in this situation. Ingrid nodded and left the room, and Roman reached over and took Samuel's hand, pulling him over to the bed and seating him down beside him.

"You don't have to do anything until you're ready," Roman told his boyfriend, cuddling up to his side as he took the TV remote and absently scrolled through Netflix. He wasn't trying to find something to watch, but rather hating himself because he had caused his precious Samuel so much pain due to his idiocy.

"You can stay here overnight," he continued. "You can stay for as long as you need to. My school tops will probably fit you since I'm so tall and everything I own is baggy." Roman didn't want to keep Samuel from his home and his mother but he didn't want him to return to a hostile environment, so he would provide for Samuel if needed.​
 
"I don't wanna go to school" Samuel whined, mostly as a joke but he actually did have a hard time imagining going back to school. He didn't know how much would have gotten out to other people by now and since Roman still was recovering he wouldn't be there with him. And right now Roman was kind of what kept him together.

"I'll talk to her soon, there's just kind of a lot of things happening at the same time," he said in a more normal tone. He was really happy he could stay for now, even if he really was planning on speaking to his mother within the next couple of days. It had probably been easier to bring himself to talk to her, had the situation had been different. Like if his dad had found out and he'd been at Romans place after being kicked out, but this was not only his dad finding out, it was also Roman getting hurt, himself still feeling guilty and his mum finding out in the worst way possible.

Samuel sighed heavily without even really thinking about it before pulling a small smile and kissed his boyfriend while simultaneously grabbing the remote.

"you're slow, let's watch something nice" he mumbled and chose the first Disney Pixar movie he could find, which had as little to do with shitty parents as possible. Which turned out to be Cars, aka probably the movie with the dumbest concept in the world.
 
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Roman could tell that Samuel wanted to change the subject, and he was courteous enough to comply with his boyfriend's wishes, even if he was the one who had nearly bled to death not three days previously.

"Yay, Pixar," Roman said, clapping his hands like a little kid even though he was being completely serious. He loved Disney and Pixar almost as much as he loved horror movies, which was an awful lot. Roman loved most kinds of movies.

Pulling the blankets back so they could slip under and then snuggling up beside his boyfriend with his arms around the other, Roman returned Samuel's kiss to the lips and turned to watch the movie, which he actually didn't hate despite its stupid plot and reputation for being shit.

"The Film Theorists did a video on Cars," he said, referencing one of his favourite YouTube channels. "They basically decided that this is set way into the future on the Pixar timeline, like, after Wall-E and shit, and the cars are just super evolved forms of insects. Like, the exterior of the car is the exoskeleton and shit? I'm bad at explaining things, it makes more sense if you watch the video."​
 
Being cuddled up close to Roman watching a movie felt like such a normal thing, if it wasn't for the wave of guilt that rushed over him every time he saw the bruising on his boyfriends face he would have probably been able to forget about the rest of the world for a while, just like he usually did when hanging out with Roman.

Whenever he had felt guilty throughout the past days he would simply kiss Roman on his cheek, or hand, or mouth depending on how many other people were there, in a silent apology because he knew Roman wouldn't let him say he was sorry anymore.

"Why would a bug evolve into a car, Roman that doesn't make sense" he laughed quietly, not fully ready to accept this crazy theory about a movie he grew up with "I can buy that it's set in the future or whatever, but what evolutional purpose does being a firetruck have"
 
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