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“Should we be worried about them?” Amber questioned as she stood aside with the few other members of Roman’s staff that chose not to vacate the area when shit headed south, keeping her voice low as she watched the meltdown occur in front of her. “I've never seen Zsasz this mad at Roman before. He even threw the vase of flowers he sent him at the wall. You think Roman will kill him over his little outburst?”
“I don't think so.. I mean, the two of them have had fights before.” Ricco mused as he made himself comfortable at the table, sweeping some of the broken glass aside with his clothed arm so he wouldn't cut himself. “I'm sure it'll be fine.”
“If Roman kills him, you owe me a hundred bucks each.” Dinah remarked as she swirled her drink around in her glass, taking a moment to admire the mess of roses on the floor before she spoke again. “Huh.. Roses.. Kind of seems a bit cliche for Roman. I would have expected lilies."
“Not so loud.” Amber hissed out as she covered Dinah's mouth, letting out a relieved sigh when neither of the two men halted their actions towards each other to address the comment, which prompted her to remove her hand. “You think the two of them are done this time?”
"No, but a girl can hope, can't she?” Dinah laughed quietly as she shook her head, reflecting on the last time the two had fought on such a severe level. “Remember the last time Zsasz walked out? Do you remember what happened? One week and he'll be on his knees begging Zsasz to come back to him. What he does while he's on his knees is his own business.”
It had been about an hour since all hell broke loose between Roman and Zsasz, and while shit had been tense between them for the last several weeks, it wasn't until this last hour that it all fell apart between them. No one knew what Roman did to Zsasz, but it was clear that Zsasz was mad at him about something and had been for a while now. He didn't let it affect his work, but the fact that he was mad did, however, affect Roman's mood. Roman had made a few comments to Zsasz to fix his attitude, but when he didn't, Roman started to act nicer to him. He made him sit with him and drink with him, but Zsasz's foul mood didn't waver, and that led Roman to have one of his tantrums, which Zsasz didn't react much to, to Roman's and everyone else's disappointment, as Zsasz proved to be the only one who knew how to calm the man down. It had been a hard week for all of them, but it all came to a head with the flowers. It seemed whatever tolerance Zsasz had left for Roman had vanished in an instant over this action. It was common to see Roman cause issues between them until Zsasz hit his limit and retaliated, but to see Roman make an effort to fix an issue between them and Zsasz act in such a manner was rare. Most of Romans' staff vacated the area when Zsasz threw the vase at the wall, and of course that led them to now.
“You think you can fix this with flowers? Flowers, Roman?” Victor asked in disbelief with a slight laugh as he shook his head, not bothering to hide how pissed he was about the situation as he paced back and forth in front of the other man. “I should have known.. I should have known you'd pull some shit like this.”
“Victor, can't we talk about this?” Roman asked, which caused Victor to cease his pacing, if only for a moment, before doing his best to compose himself as he tried to set him in his place once more. “I've tried to be kind, but I have to draw the line somewhere, and I cannot excuse this kind of behavior.”
“You can't excuse this kind of behavior? Are you fucking kidding me right now?!” Victor questioned in a fit of anger with his voice raised, taking a breath as he shook his head and calmed himself in an abrupt manner. “You know what? Forgot it.”
“Zsasz?” Roman called out as he watched him retrieve his coat and pull it on, quickly following Zsasz to the door similar to how a dog would chase after its master, which stood as a stark contrast from the usual. “Where are you going? I didn't dismiss you!”
“My shift ended half an hour ago. I'm going home.” Victor responded in a much colder tone than he usually used with Roman, tearing his arm out of his grasp when he tried to stop him. “Come off it, Roman.”
“Home? And where might that be? Because last I checked, you've lived upstairs with me for the last decade.” Roman scoffed as he watched the other man zip up his coat, seeming in even more disbelief when Victor actually dared to walk out of his. “Zsasz. Zsasz!”
“Fuck off!” Victor yelled back as he continued to storm off, not even bothering to turn around as he heard Roman linger behind him in the doorway. “I'll be back tomorrow. Until then leave me the fuck alone!”
“Tomorrow?!” Roman screamed out in another fit of anger before Victor took a turn that put him out of his sight, letting out a sigh as he let the door slam shut behind him as he reentered his club. "Goddamnit... Someone clean up this mess!”
To watch Roman and Zsasz fight was like watching a man experience the seven stages of grief. Roman remained in shock for all of five minutes, and then came the denial as he ordered his bartender to make him a drink. He tried to act as if shit was normal, and he expected those around him to act as if it was. Denial faded the more Roman drank, and then came the anger as he ranted about the fact that Zsasz had caused a scene and walked out on him after he had been so kind to him. Then came the bargaining as Roman tried numerous times to call Zsasz, and to claim the voicemails he left made him sound like a desperate ex would be far from an understatement. Roman was past the point of drunk when the guilt flooded in, and with that came the depression. Most would assume that acceptance of the situation would follow as fast as the other stages came, but when it came to the loss of Zsasz, there was no acceptance of that. Dinah knew she should mind her own, as did the rest of Roman's staff, but when Roman was this intoxicated, she knew he wouldn't remember whatever he told her. It was how she found out about Zsasz's birthday.
“What if he doesn't come back this time? What if he doesn't love me anymore?” Roman muttered out as he rested his head on his arms on the bar's counter, not seeming to care how much of a mess he looked as he looked up at Dinah with tear-stained cheeks. “He didn't even text me back.. He left me on read.. Can you believe that?”
“I think you've had enough of that for one night.” Dinah remarked as he took Roman's half-empty drink away from him, unable to miss how he reached for it for a moment before giving up entirely as if merely reaching for the glass was too much effort for him. “You want to talk about whatever you two were fighting about?”
“Victor loves that stuff. I don't have much of a taste for it myself, but I miss him.” Roman mumbled as he rested his head on one of his arms once again, not seeming to even acknowledge the question in the slightest. “I miss him.”
“What happened?” Dinah asked once more in a gentler but more forceful tone, taking notice of the saddened look she received in return. “I won't tell. It'll be our little secret.”
“Our little secret.” Roman repeated as he took a deep breath, taking a moment to consider what was said before he spoke again. “There was this incident between us.. in the bedroom. It was an accident, and I, uh... I.. I wasn't nice about it. He wouldn't even come back to bed after that. He moved back into his old room. He.. He started to lock me out of his room. I tried to fix it. I did, but he refused to talk to me about it— You saw! You saw how he acted, and then.. then.. he walked out. He walked out on me. He won't answer my calls. He won't text me back. I don't know how to fix this!”
“That bad, huh?” Dinah questioned as she watched Roman become emotional all over again, hesitating for a moment before she let her curiosity get the better of her once again. “What happened in the bedroom?”
“Shit became.. Emotional.” Roman confessed as he chose to phrase his words carefully, shaking his head as he continued to blame himself for the final outcome. “I didn't think he'd be this upset about it. I didn't think he'd.. I didn't think he'd leave me.”
“He said he'd be back tomorrow.” Dinah reasoned as she decided it was best to end the conversation there, patting Roman's shoulder dismissively in order to comfort him. “I'm sure the two of you will work it out.”
“I can't lose him.” Roman muttered as he buried his face in his arms once more, seeming to become increasingly distressed over the idea that his actions could have made him lose Zsasz forever. “I.. I can't. I can't lose him.”
There was no doubt in Dinah's mind that she had made a mistake with that conversation, but at least now she knew what caused Zsasz's outburst. Roman continued his meltdown for another half hour before he dismissed his staff and stumbled upstairs. It was at that point Dinah had a decision to make, and rather than deal with the aftermath of Roman's heartbreak, she lied and texted Zsasz that someone had hurt Roman. She knew no matter how mad Zsasz was at Roman, that was bound to draw him back to him. She didn't need to mention the fact that it was Roman who hurt Roman or that the weapon of choice had been a bottle of alcohol. In fact, she didn't say anything else other than Roman was hurt. She turned off her phone and went home. She was certain they would work it out before tomorrow.
It was late that afternoon when Roman woke up with a hangover that would have killed a lesser man. The blinds had been drawn, which made it less painful, but it was that small detail that drew his attention. He had the blinds raised the night before so he could admire the view. For them to be closed now meant someone had to have closed them for him. Roman turned fast in bed, which made his head ache, but he was thankful he did, as he was met with a familiar warm body next to him. Zsasz had made it home last night, and he had crawled in bed with him. He still had his pants on, but his shirt was off, which granted Roman a fantastic view of his back. Roman didn't hesitate to run his nails down Zsasz's back. He knew Zsasz loved that. It started to ease him awake, but before Zsasz had a chance to move, Roman closed the distance between them. He rested himself on top of him, which pinned Zsasz down in place.
“I have a headache.” Roman muttered as he settled himself on top of Victor, taking notice of how he hummed in acknowledgment but not much else. “Are you still mad at me?”
“Yes.” Victor responded with a heavy sigh, not bothering to move as he opened his eyes to confront the incident that led him back home. “What the hell happened last night after I left?”
“I have no idea.” Roman answered honestly as he buried his face on Victor's neck, breathing in his scent in order to assure he was really there before he spoke again. “You came back.”
“Yeah.. Yeah, I came back.” Victor sighed as he rolled over onto his back, watching as Roman moved with him before he settled back on top of him. “Roman.”
“These are new.” Roman cut in as he traced over some fresh cuts on Victor's neck, taking notice how he kind of melted into his touch and let his eyes flutter shut. “Zsasz?”
“Hm?” Victor hummed as he opened his eyes again, taking notice of how unsettled and sad Roman seemed overall. “What is it?”
“Don't leave me like that again.” Roman responded in a manner that he knew sounded far too desperate even for him, resting his head on Victor's chest afterwards. “… I love you.”
“Yeah, I know.” Victor sighed as he let his eyes flutter shut once more, allowing the other man to rest on top of him as he tried to go back to sleep. “I'll make breakfast later.”
“Victor?” Roman questioned when he realized that he wasn't about to hear those three little words in return, shaking him a bit as he called out his name again. “Victor..”
“I love you too, Roman.” Victor muttered out with subtle hints of a smile on his face, moving an arm around the other man to keep him close as he spoke again with a yawn. “I'm going back to sleep.”