please forgive me, this idea came to me at 12 am in the form of a little mix song. this chapter features some unrequited rolleigns, a mildly spoiled seth, and a broken-hearted dean.

"Oh, man, I am so happy school is out!"

"Yeah, that's all fine and dandy, but please stop swinging your backpack around, you're gonna hurt someone."

Roman earned a scoff and Seth's favorite finger in his direction. School was finally out, yeah, but there was no point in Seth swinging his piece-of-shit backpack around, by the broken strap no less. Roman had a careless arm thrown over Dean's shoulders while Seth trailed a few feet in front of them, all on their way to Roman's house. He only lived a few blocks away from the school, so his house almost always had Seth and Dean in it.

As previously mentioned, school was out, and damn, it felt good. Miraculously, they all made it to the next grade, Dean by the skin of his teeth, Seth with straight c's (that he was all too proud of), and Roman with flying colors. Being the eldest of the three, Roman was going into his senior year while Dean and Seth were going into their junior year. Roman wasn't sure how he kept his focus this year, especially considering how eventful of a school year it was. A whirlwind would be a gross understatement. Dean was suspended, twice, Seth almost moved, Roman almost died on the football field, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Rome."

"Hm?"

"I thought we were going to your house, not Randy's...?"

Roman hadn't realized that he zoned out, and had practically been dragging Dean for almost a block. He looked over at Dean and chuckled at the blonde's almost frightened face.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that," Roman said sheepishly, turning around and walking back toward his house, where Seth was waiting and still swinging his backpack.

"Forgot where you lived for a second?" Seth laughed and began walking towards Roman's front door.

"Shut up."

The boys barreled into Roman's house, dropping their bags by the door and walking into the living room. They greeted Roman's mom with a chorus of "Hi, mom!"'s - you dicks, she's my mom! - and they went upstairs to Roman's room. Dean pulled his bean bag chair out from under Roman's bed while Roman plopped down on the bed itself, and Seth threw himself across the foot of the bed.

"I can't believe you're a senior already." The youngest of the three muttered, smacking Roman's leg lightly. "You're gonna leave me, you dumb old man."

"What makes you think that?" Roman asked, sitting back against his headboard.

"Your grades are fucking exceptional, and you play football," Seth retorted. "If you don't get into a college then I don't know who will."

"Definitely neither of us," Dean chimed from his spot on the bean bag chair. Roman was still in the dark about where Dean got said chair, but he didn't think he wanted to know. Dean dragged it in one Saturday afternoon, and dumped it in Roman's room without a word.

"Exactly. You're going to college next year, and you're gonna leave me all alone," Seth threw a dramatic hand over his chest. "My Roman is leaving me!"

"Shut up man, you'll have Dean."

"But Dean isn't you."

Dean looked down at his lap. If the truth wasn't clear enough, it was finally spoken: he wasn't Roman. Never was, never will be. Even if they were far away from the day, Roman was still leaving. To where, they didn't know, but he was leaving, and Dean and Seth were going to have to learn to function without the oldest teen. Dean didn't want to think of the future, and how he'd inevitably have to replace Roman for Seth's sake, seeing as it was still a year away. He tried to focus on the conversation that was taking place, but all Dean could think of was Seth's comment. The way he said it, in such an off-handed manner, like he didn't even care that he'd just broken Dean to pieces.

"Well, uh..." Dean cleared his throat and stood up. "I'm gonna go."

"What?" Roman asked, shuffling to the foot of the bed on his knees. "Why? I thought you were sleeping over tonight?"

"Somethin' came up, I gotta go help my mom," Dean said, walking to Roman's door and opening it. "I'll see you guys later." And with that, he was gone.

"You think he's okay?"

Seth sighed and sat up. Roman had been asking about Dean for the past hour-and-a-half, and Seth was getting tired of it. He seemed fine at first, but as time went on Seth could see Roman getting gradually more worried. Hours had passed since Dean left, and with a quick glance at the clock on Roman's nightstand Seth saw that it was almost midnight. The younger teen looked down at Roman, who was laying down on his bed. His long hair was out of its usual ponytail, and was spread across his pillow in a way that resembled the roots of a tree. When his eyes weren't glued to his phone, more than likely waiting for a text from Dean, they were focused on the ceiling, his lips pouting in thought. Seth found himself staring at the plump, pink lips, and he couldn't help but feel almost drawn to them.

Over the last few months, Seth had been feeling things. Like, romantic, sexual things. Of course, that's normal for a 16-year-old, but what wasn't normal - at least, to Seth - was to feel them towards your best friends. Your male best friend. Seth would catch himself staring at Roman like he stared at a girl; watching the way his butt moved as he walked away, looking at his lips when he talked, admiring how pretty his eyes were. The weirdest part was that Seth didn't feel weird about it. He accepted that Roman was really good-looking, and that he probably wasn't as much of a ladies man that he prided himself on being, but he was okay with it. It was actually fun admiring Roman, considering there was so much to admire.

"Seth?"

"Yeah?" Seth dragged his gaze from Roman's big hands - how did it even get there? - and looked at Roman.

"You alright? You've been staring into space for the past, like, five minutes."

Space. Yeah, let's call it that. Seth chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'm good, man."

Roman nodded and checked his phone once more. It bothered Seth a lot more than it should that Dean's non-existent text messages were getting more attention than him. For as long as he could remember, Seth always had Roman's full attention when they were together. Call him spoiled, but Seth had just grown so accustomed to Roman's attentiveness. Roman was a naturally caring person - truthfully, it ran in the family - and Seth was one of the only people who got to experience that side of the older teen. Well, other than Dean.

It's not like Seth didn't like Dean, because he did, he just didnt understand how easily he caught Roman's attention. Dean didn't even want it at first. He hated Roman when they first met, but Roman had to go and be his charming-ass self and make Dean like him. Seth was still convinced that Dean didn't like him, even if the older teen constantly assured him that he had nothing against him. That didn't stop Seth from being suspicious, though. He sighed, just loud enough to catch Roman's attention, and got no reaction. He sighed again, this time louder and a bit more dramatic, and Roman sat up, placing his phone on his nightstand and looking at Seth.

"Yes, Seth?"

"You're ignoring me," Seth says flatly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"No I'm not," Roman chuckled. Abruptly, though, he stopped, seeing as Seth wasn't laughing, or even smiling. "Why would you say that?"

"You keep looking at your phone. It's like I'm not even here." Seth fell back onto Roman's bed, burying his face in one of Roman's pillows.

"I'm not ignoring you, Seth," Roman says softly, placing a hand on Seth's back. "I'm just worried about Dean." And he was. Dean never left like that, ever.

"You're always worried about Dean," Seth rolled over onto his back, prompting Roman to retract his hand. "What happened to me? Do you like him better or something?"

Roman hesitated. Like, opened-his-mouth-but-closed-it-really-quickly hesitated. He seemed to recover rather quickly, though, and Seth didn't like it. "Seth, what is up with you? I like you two equally, you're both my best friends. You're still my favorite little drama queen," Roman reached out and ruffled Seth's dark hair, which was now brushing over his shoulders. Seth pushed his hand away, but Roman could see the little smile playing on his lips. "What's wrong, Seth?"

Seth just shook his head and reached for Roman's hand. "Nothin'..." He mumbles, idly playing with Roman's fingers. Roman raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. "I said nothing, dude."

"Alright..." Roman sighed, using his free hand to run through his hair.

"There we go," Seth smiled slightly and used his grip on Roman's hand to pull him down next to him. "Now stay here. I'm cold." Seth rolled from his back on onto his stomach, half him on top of Roman.

"How are you cold?" Roman asked, looking down at Seth with confusion. But he still wriggled his arm out from under Seth and threw it around the smaller teen's shoulders, his other hand resting on his back.

"Your house is cold, dude." Seth laid his head on Roman's chest and closed his eyes. Things like this were normal for them. What would be considered cuddling by others was considered just hanging out to them, and Seth loved it.

Roman an just shook his head and let his own eyes drift closed, but not without a final glance at his phone.

Dean raked a hand through his disheveled hair and sighed as his phone buzzed again, more than likely with another text from Roman. Part of him wanted to appreciate Roman's concern, and tell the older teen that he was alright, but that part was the minority in this dispute. Instead of giving Roman peace-of-mind, he opted to give him an anxiety attack and not respond. Dean loved Roman, no doubt, but the kid was too fucking attentive, clingy almost. Constantly checking up on Dean, making sure he was safe and hadn't gotten himself into trouble. A normal, smart person would be grateful for such a friend, but Dean was neither, and he often called Roman out on his behavior. The older would back off, but as soon as Dean left his house, Dean would be getting his mother-like text messages: "Are you alright?", "Did you get home okay?", "Text me when you get home please." Good intentions, but annoying as fuck. Dean hated it.

Which was funny, considering that was the literal only way to describe Seth, and Dean liked him just fine. A bit more than he should, really. Dean saw nothing wrong with the way he felt about Seth, he just saw it as liking him better than he likes anyone else. Seth was funny, and surprisingly innocent, considering who his best friends were. Not to mention he was kind of adorable as hell. The way his dark eyes seemed to light up when something he liked, like wrestling or his favorite band, was mentioned, and the little gap in his front teeth that made his otherwise perfect smile even better; Dean liked it all. The one problem was that Seth didn't feel the same way. He hardly treated Dean as the "best friend" he called him, let alone like a potential crush.

Crush. How appropriate, because that was the only way to describe how Dean felt. As soon as he got home, he went to his room and locked himself inside. His phone was somewhere on the floor, the ringer just loud enough that he could hear Roman's messages coming in, but he wasn't focused on that. No, Dean was focused on a certain comment from Seth.

Dean isn't you.

As if he didn't know. Roman was literally an angel on earth, and Dean was...Dean. He wasn't anything special, he was a below-average student with a shitty attitude that lived a lower-middle-class life. But Roman, man, he was something else. He was polite, and sweet, and caring, and was smart as can be, and not to mention he was already a fucking stud in the looks department. Everyone liked him, including Seth. But Dean would never blame Seth's apparent distaste for him on Roman, though. Not only was he nice and caring and all that bullshit, but he was ridiculously humble. He fucking blushed when anyone complemented anything of his.

Dean was in over his head. Like, fucking drowning in feelings for Seth. The younger teen didn't like him, and Dean had accepted that, but he still liked Seth. He didn't want to think about his feelings, at least, not right now. He reached over and turned his lamp off before falling back onto his bed and closing his eyes, still fully clothed. He'd deal with his clothes tomorrow, just like he'd deal with Roman's over-bearing-ness and Seth's annoying attractive face.

well. this is my other chapter story! this is the single longest thing i've written on here (2,363 words w/o author's notes), and i'm really proud. i'm not sure where my character portrayals came from, but i think we can all deal with a spoiled, dramatic, roman-itized seth and a lovesick dean. next chapter we'll get some insight into the mind of roman himself, and we'll get a little more rolleigns. reviews are welcomed with open arms!