Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“What do you need?”

Roman flinched at Logan’s cold tone and glare.

“I wanted to ask you something but… why don’t I make us some tea? You look like you could use a cup.”

Logan pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses up, and took a deep breath. He released it, opened his eyes, and moved out of the way. Roman stepped inside and made a beeline for the kitchen, knowing his brother’s flat by heart.

“You know, I wasn’t sure you’d be home. Is Remus here?” Roman asked after he spotted Logan leaning against the wall.

He filled the kettle with water and put it on the base.

“No, he’s still at work. I think he won’t be home until six or seven. And I’ve had a long and hard day, so I’d appreciate if you could not be too long, I want to take a nap before Remus gets here.”

When he stopped talking, Logan noticed the smirk on Roman’s face and sighed.

“Roman, please, I know that face; Remus makes it all the time. I don’t need you to be like that too.”

“Well, we are twins, after all.”

Roman turned away and opened a cabinet to fetch two mugs and teabags. He didn’t need to ask Logan what he wanted, he always took the same kind of tea. There was one thing he wanted to ask, however, when he noticed the pack of coffee hiding the tea boxes.

“Why do you still bother to drink coffee? I know you don’t like it, why haven’t you told my brother?”

Logan let out the fondest sigh Roman had ever heard.

“Because sometimes, love means making sacrifices and learning to like what you don’t.”

“So, you’re saying now you like coffee because you love Remus?”

Logan smiled and Roman felt stupid for asking. That was the smile his best friend saved for when he was trying to understand something but didn’t really.

“I’m getting there, and yes, that is the idea.”

“But what has Remus done for you? He’s never made any effort for me.”

“Don’t say that, I’m sure he has. Amongst other things, Remus had to learn that I like calm times. At first, when I moved in with him, we always fought about this, which often resulted in one of us leaving. I earned my quiet moments, but it didn’t make me feel relaxed. When Remus understood what I needed, his first solution was to leave me alone. With time, he started seeing that he could spend a quiet time with me and we both found fulfilment.”

Roman had two things two say after that. He was used to listening to Logan without cutting in, only not on that topic.

“But that means Remus can’t be himself with you.”

“Well, love does that. I’ve changed too.”

I noticed that, Roman thought. But he knew better than to say it.

“You two really love each other, huh?” He sighed as the kettle announced the water had boiled.

He filled the mugs and handed one of them to Logan.

“What was it you wanted to ask me?”

With the new information Roman had, his heart felt heavier than it had when he’d rung the doorbell. When he spoke again, after some time, his voice sounded much smaller.

“I just don’t understand how you did it.”

He removed the teabag and blew on his mug, avoiding Logan’s eyes. The bespectacled man threw his own teabag away and faced his best friend.

“How I did what?”

“You’ve never even looked for love. Like, I’ve known you for what, twenty years? And not once have you been interested in finding love. Moreover, you’ve known Remus for as long as you’ve been friends with me, and nothing ever happened between you two until a year ago. I’ve been trying so hard to be popular and find love, for what? One-night stands and flings with people only interested in my fame and money. You’re gonna tell me love just happened to you?”

Logan sipped his tea and gathered his thoughts. As much as Roman was used to listening to Logan’s explanations, the latter was used to hearing his friend vent.

“I guess you could say that. Some people say that love might come to you when you least expect it.”

Roman grunted but didn’t say anything and drank his tea instead.

“I wasn’t expecting anything to happen with your brother, but it’s a fact that we have many points in common. Do you want any advice?”

“If you have any, please oblige.”

“I’d say the best you can do is to lie low and be patient. You’ve seen what happens when you’re outgoing. Maybe you should be yourself, you know, the “you” that you are when you’re with me or our brothers.”

“I don’t-”

“Roman. Every actor or singer has a separate life and behavior when they’re in the public eye from when they’re with friends and family. You’re no exception to the rule. You know that you behave differently when you’re out for business from when you’re “chilling” at your house.”

The quotation marks that were distinct in Logan’s voice made Roman smile.

“I hope this will help you. Now, as I mentioned before, I’d like to take a nap before Remus comes home.”

“Sure, I’ll leave you to it.”

Roman left his half empty mug on the counter and exited the house with a small goodbye.

Once Roman was outside and started walking, hands in his jeans’ pockets, he frowned. How was he supposed to lie low? After all those years of knowing him, Logan should know that it wasn’t in his genes to stay calm and without moving for more than a few minutes.

Even when they were in school together, Roman had always applied for the most extra-curricular activities he could handle. He’d done choir, theater, band, cheerleading, he’d tried football and swimming before realizing he and sports didn’t really match.

And now that he was a known voice actor and singer, Roman was constantly moving around the town, the state, the country for new jobs and inspiration for songs. He couldn’t just sit around and wait for love to come at him.

Yet it was his life goal to find love, and he felt that Logan’s advice was a good lead to achieve it.

After some more brooding and thinking, Roman realized he’d reached the town’s aquarium. He considered visiting it, sighed and bought a ticket. Once he was inside, he let his feet carry him, just like they’d brought him to this place, and stared at the animals swimming around in tanks or lounging on fake ice.

Logan’s words about patience came back to him and Roman found himself once again in his thoughts.

Roman had never been patient. If he wanted good grades, the lead role in the school’s play or the solo in the band’s latest piece, he made sure to get it. That was how he’d gotten where he was now. Did Logan really think he’d become famous by sitting around and waiting for an opportunity to come to him?

“Be patient and be yourself, right.” Roman muttered as he stopped in front of yet another tank.

He didn’t even know what kind of animal he was staring at. He was too preoccupied by new questions.

Who am I? How can I be myself?

Roman had never realized it, but he could see now that there was one him for when he was acting and singing and attending galas, and one him for when he was venting to Logan, screaming at Remus or having a movie night with Logan, Remus and Patton, Logan’s older brother.

The thing was, that other version of him, the true him, he could see it less and less. He was twenty-seven years old and only now was he starting to question his true identity.

“That’s a peaceful view, wouldn’t you agree?”

Roman jumped as a voice spoke right next to him, pulling him back to reality.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The singer turned to his left, where a man was standing, barely looking at him. He was shorter than him, not by much, and had brown hair died a dirty blonde (Roman could see the roots showing). A small smile was on his face as he watched the dolphins play together.

“You looked like you could use some company, even though I think the dolphins make some pretty great companions.”

Roman looked back at the tank. The guy was right; the dolphins looked like they could cheer up anybody, and Roman knew he wasn’t feeling so down. Yet, he’d been standing in front of them, staring blankly at them for a few minutes, and he wasn’t feeling any better.

“Yeah, they do,” Roman sighed. “I was looking for a distraction, but my thoughts have been stronger than this sight.”

“I’m Damon.” The guy introduced himself and, after a beat, Roman looked at him.

Damon was looking at him, an expecting look on his face, as if he were waiting for Roman to say something.

“Oh! Sorry. I’m Roman.”

With all the years he’d been in the showbusiness, he’d expect almost everyone in this small town to know who he was, yet this guy seemed to have genuinely not known his name. Then again, Roman guessed he was known for his voice more than for his face.

Damon smiled with a little laugh.

“It’s nice to meet you, Roman.”

The man turned his head back to the dolphins and looked as if he were deep in thought.

“I’m a caretaker here. I look after the dolphins, the sharks, and the orcas, mostly. They can teach you some pretty great lessons about life when you know them. And I love to come talk to them when I’m feeling down.”

Roman lifted an eyebrow and looked between the tank and Damon.

“You talk to them?”

“Yes, they’re great listeners. More than some people I’ve talked to.”

Roman thought of his brother and sighed.

“Yeah, I get that.”

Damon suddenly turned back to Roman, his eyes full of something Roman knew very well. Passion.

“Have you already seen the sharks?”

“Probably, I haven’t really been paying attention.”

“Well, let me show you something you haven’t noticed for sure.”

Roman followed after the guy. If he admitted it, he was curious about him. They walked, Roman slightly behind Damon, up to the tank where sharks were swimming around lazily. Roman was surprised when Damon seemed to wave at a shark, and even more so when a shark actually stopped in front of them and stared.

“This one’s my favorite.” Damon said. “His name is Sharpie and we have something in common. Can you see the scar on his face?”

Thinking that it was the first time he was intentionally staring at a shark’s face, Roman noticed a scar on the left side of its face.

“He was trapped by hunters and he bit on a spear. Somehow, he managed to escape, but it opened that side of his jaw. Our team found and rescued him from the other sharks that had begun to smell his blood. We took him in, cured him and now he lives happily with the others. He’s still afraid of people, sometimes, but with me he’s okay. Guess I look familiar somehow.”

At these words, Roman turned to him and Damon shifted, allowing him to see the scar spreading from the corner of his mouth almost up to his ear. He couldn’t have noticed it before, because Damon had been on his left side and had never watched him straight into the eyes.

“I’ve never seen a scar like that. Is your story as sad as Sharpie’s?”

Damon smiled and Roman hoped it wasn’t because of the story.

“My dad was abusive to me and my mom.” Damon introduced.

It had Roman thinking that the smile might have been because his reaction to the scar wasn’t one people usually have. But it wasn’t a thin line on a face that was going to scare Roman.

“My dad was the typical drunk father who didn’t really know what to do with his life and how to take care of himself.” Damon continued. “He couldn’t maintain a job for more than a few weeks, would get drunk or high every day, seemed to be in his own world until he noticed the presence of me or my mom. Most of the time he would just joke with us and pass out on the couch, but a lot of the time, he would get angry for no reason. I watched him be violent towards my mom, shout at her, use ugly insults. When he was done with her, he would usually have the same attitude with me. He never lifted a hand on me but the rest of it was identical.”

Roman was horrified by what he was hearing and wanted to ask so many questions and he had so many things to say about that stupid father, but Damon was ahead of him.

“My mom loved him too much to say anything to the police. The only thing she ever managed to do was to hide me so that my dad couldn’t get to me and she would get all his anger instead of me. I was too young to know that something was wrong with him and that it wasn’t how fathers should behave with their family, because it was all I’d known. The neighbors were the ones to complain, but every time the police came to the house, they couldn’t find evidence of violence.”

Roman finally let out a grunt as his first reaction to that story beside balling his fist and frowning. Damon looked at him and smiled.

“Yeah, I know. My mom was wise enough to lock up all sharp objects in case my dad became too drunk to even know what he was holding. I don’t really know if she did it for him or me. I just know it wasn’t really for herself. But she hadn’t thought that a letter opener would be sharp enough to hurt.”

Roman gasped, beginning to see where this was going.

“One day when he was particularly delirious, he thought he was a circus knife juggler and threw the letter opener. Neither of us had expected that it would catch me in the cheek and open it in half. My mom called 911 and they were able to patch me up. That was enough for the police to lock him away for twenty years.”

“How… how old were you at the time?” Roman asked, his voice a bit shaky after hearing all of this without speaking.

“I was eight, so… he should come out of prison in about two years.”

“You’re twenty-six?” Roman had never been so fast at math.

Damon laughed a little, probably surprised that Roman wasn’t directly reacting to everything he’d just heard.

“Yeah, how old are you?”

“Twenty-seven. But… um, does your scar hurt?”

“No, not anymore,” Damon shook his head. “It hurt a lot in the first few months after it got sewed up, so I didn’t really laugh or smile or even cry during that time. But now it’s okay, even though I can still feel it.”

“Are you close with your mom?”

Damon looked taken aback for a second. He’d probably never spoken to someone with such a range of reactions. But for Roman, it was normal to jump from one subject to another one that wasn’t directly related.

“Yes, but I don’t see her as much. I moved in here four years ago, but I still call and visit her from time to time.”

“That’s good.” Roman nodded.

He didn’t know what to say or do anymore. A man he’d just met had confided in him, told him about his fragile childhood, and he didn’t want to offer pity, because it wasn’t what he felt. He’d gone through doubt, sadness, anger and confusion in a matter of minutes and now he didn’t know how he felt anymore.

“Well, I have to go back to the orcas,” Damon cut the silence for him. “But I would like to get to know you. Are you free in a few hours?”

Roman wasn’t surprised at Damon’s forwardness – he’d had a lot of that because of his career – but he still hesitated before answering. He thought about Logan’s words. Lie low and be patient. For the first time in years, Roman considered refusing the offer, but Logan had said something else that rang louder in his head. Love might come to you when you least expect it. He didn’t know if he’d find love – or if love would find him – with Damon, but it was worth a try.

“I… I think I should go home and rest.” Roman finally spoke up. “But I’d love to get drinks with you tomorrow night, if you’re free?”

Damon’s face lit up with a smile – the first real one since Roman had met him.

“Yes, sure! Why don’t you give me your phone so I can add my number? And you’ll text me the details.”

Roman smiled and relaxed as he handed his phone to Damon. After a few seconds, he put it back in his pocket and said goodbye to Damon before exiting the center.

That afternoon had been a lot, emotionally, but Roman was beginning to see some light through the shadow of his doubts.

*

“Of course, ma’am, thank you! See you tomorrow.”

Patton sighed once the lady was out of his sight. Some people just liked to talk about themselves, didn’t they?

He turned towards his classroom and walked through it, checking that every child had gone home safe with their parents, until he arrived at the drawing corner. He glanced at his watch, which informed him that there was still three minutes to go before it was six.

“What do we have here?” Patton asked as he crouched down next to the boy who was drawing.

The boy – Remy, Patton knew because he was in his class, but it was the first time he stayed after school – looked at him but didn’t say anything. He simply smiled and finished his drawing in silence.

“It’s me and daddy!” Remy announced when he set down his pencils.

Patton accepted the drawing and looked closely at it. For a four-year-old, he’d drawn a lot of details: Patton could see two distinct figures, one tall and apparently dressed in purple and black, one small and dressed in black and white. They seemed to be having a picnic on a green and red quilt, and there were even birds flying around them.

“This is very good, Remy. Are you going to give this to your dad when he comes to pick you up?”

The kid nodded energetically, his smile displaying small white teeth.

“Daddy loves when I give him drawings! He puts them everywhere in the house.”

“Well, that’s cute.” Patton smiled before checking his watch again.

6.02

Now would be a good time to come, Remy’s dad.

When he looked down again, Remy was cleaning the table, putting all the colored pencils in their place.

This kid is so precious, thought Patton as he stood up, seeing him leave for the reading corner.

“Hello? Is someone here?”

“Yes! In here!” Patton called back.

As he turned around, a man came from behind a bookshelf. He bent over, catching his breath as if he’d just been running a marathon, and stood back up to look at Patton. The kindergarten teacher was surprised to see such an emo look on a grown man. The guy was wearing torn, black jeans and a purple shirt with a large, black hoodie, and there was eyeshadow under his eyes. Patton had to admit, though, it suited him.

He didn’t always see the parents of the children in his class, but Patton was sure he’d remember if he’d already seen this man.

“I’m so sorry for being late, I closed the shop a little late and then I was stuck in traffic. I’m sorry that you have to stay so late and-”

“It’s okay,” Patton interrupted him with a warm smile. “It’s my job to look after children and I love it, it’s not a bother at all. Besides, Remy is very quiet, it’s a pleasure to have him here. It’s the first time he stays after school, right?”

The man seemed to relax at these words and smiled.

“Yes, I’ve started a new job and with my schedule, the only possibility for me is to leave him at daycare. I wish there was some other way but… money’s not gonna fall from trees.”

Patton felt his heart squeeze as the guy scratched his neck.

“Right… Remy? Your dad’s here!”

They heard footsteps and Remy came around the corner, his drawing clutched in his hand.

“Daddy!” He leapt in his father’s arms. “I made this for you!”

The man looked at the paper sheet and smiled.

“Thank you, Rem. I’ll put this one in the living room, right?”

Remy nodded and kissed his father on the cheek.

“Aww.” Patton couldn’t help himself.

As if it were a reminder for his presence, the other man looked back at him and cleared his throat.

“Well, thank you for everything, mister Mitchell.”

“Please, call me Patton.”

“Oh um… sure, well, thanks, Patton. I’ll see you tomorrow. Say goodbye, Remy?”

“Bye-bye, Patton!”

The teacher smiled and waved as they made their way out of the room. He then made sure everything was cleaned up, turned off the lights and locked the door.

On the way to his car, Patton found himself thinking of Remy and his dad. He wished the man hadn’t been saying sorry or thanks so much, because he was only doing his job. He’d set up this afterschool daycare for children whose parents couldn’t pick up right at the end of classes, not only in his class but also for other children from the school. It had had a lot of success from the day he started it, two years ago, and nothing made Patton happier than being able to help families.

Then, a weird thought hit him. He didn’t know his name. Well, it wasn’t weird that he didn’t know it, it was weird that it made him feel weird. After all, he didn’t need to know the name of every parent he met; remembering the kids’ names was already hard work. However, Patton felt strongly that he wanted to know the man’s name and be able to help him.

As he sat down in his car, he guessed that he had two choices; he could either look in the register and find his name somehow, or he could ask him directly. Either way, a warm feeling grew in his chest at the thought of getting to know him.

***

Chapter Text

When Roman left his apartment for his date that night, he was feeling more confident and happier than he had been the day before. When he’d decided to ask Logan for advice, he’d known something good would come out of it. That was how they’d worked for most of the time since they’d become friends. When Roman had a problem, he’d ask Logan and Logan always provided useful help. It worked the other way around too, though Logan didn’t usually need as much help as Roman did.

Obviously, Roman had left his friend’s house feeling quite down and surprised, because the discussion hadn’t gone as he’d expected. But when he’d arrived back at his apartment the night before, Roman had felt like something good could happen with Damon, even though he wanted to try and follow Logan’s advice about being patient.

Roman reached the bar where he’d said he’d meet Damon and was surprised to see him already there, waiting for him outside the building.

“Hey, I hope you haven’t been waiting for too long.” Roman started with a smile.

It was nearing the end of October and spending time outside at night wasn’t as comfortable as it was in the summer.

“Oh no, don’t worry, I just got here.” Damon smiled back.

Roman pulled the door open and invited him in. They took a seat at a small table in a corner, hoping to get to know each other without being bothered and while hearing what the other was saying.

“I’ll go get our drinks,” Roman said once they’d taken their coats off. “What do you want?”

“I think I’ll start with a non-alcoholic cocktail.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back.”

Roman strode off to the bar where he asked for two house specials, one alcoholic and one not. As he waited while the bartender made the drinks, Roman turned his head back to Damon. At the same time, Damon lifted his head towards him and smiled when he noticed that he was looking at him. Roman smiled back and wondered how he felt about all of this. He guessed this was just a night out with a new friend, where they would talk and get to know each other, and he would see where he wanted it to go from then.

A minute later, he was sitting back in front of Damon, sliding his drink on the table.

“There you go. I was wondering, do you never drink alcohol? I know it’s something that a lot of people with a past like yours resolve to do.”

Damon sipped his drink before answering.

“Yeah, I decided on this when I was about sixteen or seventeen years old, but with time, I’ve realized that I don’t particularly want to drink alcohol.”

“I understand. Well, maybe I’ll try to drink less when I’m with you.”

Damon smiled at Roman, which made him realize that this seemed very forward. Roman was used to being forward, that was how he was, but this time he wanted to wait for Damon to make the moves, because he definitely didn’t want another unwanted relationship.

“So, why did you come talk to me yesterday?” Roman asked, trying to find out if Damon was the forward type as he was beginning to think.

“I found you attractive at first, but you should know that it’s not all that I look for in a guy.” Damon explained with an honest smile. Roman realized that this might seem like a weird subject for a beginning-of-the-night conversation, but it felt like a normal topic. “I took a closer look at you and noticed that you seemed a bit down, as I mentioned, and I couldn’t understand how someone could look so sad standing in front of dolphins.”

Roman laughed. When you put it like that, it sure seemed like he was depressed, because he loved animals and dolphins are quite cheerful animals.

“Besides, once we got to talking, even if I knew there was still more we could say, I knew that you weren’t just a pretty face.”

“Well, thanks, but I don’t feel like we’ve done a lot of talking.” Roman said, and then realized how weird it sounded. “I mean, you’ve told me your story, I kind of told you why I was there, but other than that… all I know about you is your name, your age and your sad backstory.”

Damon laughed and drank from his glass.

“Yeah, you’re right. But your reaction to my scar and my story gave me enough leads to see where this could go. Besides that, it’s true that I also only know your name and age.”

Roman nodded. “So, how about we actually start getting to know each other?”

Damon, in turn, nodded and set his joined hands down on the table. “Let’s start with your job, since you know mine.”

Roman hesitated for a second. On rare occasions when he’d dated guys who hadn’t come to him because of his fame, he had lied about his career. He knew well enough how people could get if they knew someone famous. Yet somehow, he didn’t feel like lying to Damon.

“I’m a singer and a voice actor. I’ve got one album out and I now have quite a large list of voices in animated movies and cartoons.”

Damon looked impressed and narrowed his eyes. “I thought I’d heard your voice somewhere.”

Roman widened his eyes. At that point, he’d figured Damon absolutely didn’t know who he was, but as he told him his full name – Roman Rossi – and they started talking about some characters he’d voiced, he could see that it wasn’t the case. He was pleasantly surprised, however, when Damon asked what the process of voice acting was instead of asking if he’d met famous people throughout his career, as most people did when they learned who he was.

Roman was happy to talk about his job, because it was the only constant in his life at the moment, the only thing he felt sure of after having reflected upon himself the previous day. He took the chance to ask Damon more about his own job, making it a two-way conversation.

After talking about their jobs for a while, Damon and Roman sipped their cocktails silently. Roman had half a dozen conversation subjects in mind, but he didn’t really know which one to start with. He glanced at Damon and his eyes stopped on his scar.

“So… Why exactly did you tell me your whole backstory when you didn’t even know me?”

Damon set his glass back on the table and shifted so that he was leaning back in his seat. “I guess I felt comfortable telling you. You said you needed a distraction and it was the first thing I thought of.”

Roman laughed. “It was pretty distracting, that’s for sure.”

Damon smiled at him and continued. “I also normally don’t tell strangers my story, because obviously that’s not something everyone should know. But I was interested in getting to know you, as I said, so I figured I’d do it at some point anyway. It was kind of a way to know if I had a chance with you, because I don’t like when people think of the scar more than anything else when they see me.”

Roman lifted his eyebrows. “Do you want to know what I think of when I see you, then?”

Damon smiled and took his glass back in his hand. Roman suddenly found him very classy. “Sure, that way I’ll be certain.”

“When I see you, I think of someone who has gorgeous eyes and a really nice smile that I would love to see a lot. I see someone generous, caring and unafraid of putting others before himself. And I think of someone who doesn’t like me for my fame, and that does me a lot of good.”

Damon nodded, looking as if he didn’t know how to react. “Well, I wasn’t expecting all of that, but I’m glad. Thank you.”

Roman nodded and took his drink to his lips, sensing a blush creeping to his cheeks. He was starting to feel that Logan’s advice to lay low was beginning to fade out to the back of his mind. But before he could regret his words, Damon stood up, interrupting his thoughts.

“I’m going to get another round of drinks, what do you want?”

“Um, anything, same as you.” Roman blurted out. Damon smiled and Roman remembered that it would be rude not to smile back before he left for the bar.

Roman sighed, sliding down on his chair, and rubbed his face with his hands.

He’d told himself that for once he would listen to his best friend’s advice on his love life, because if it had worked for Logan surely it would work for him too, and yet here he was, one day later, completely throwing that advice out the window.

He pretended not to be startled when the sound of glasses being set on the table brought him back to the present, and looked at Damon, who was sitting back down.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask for a while now,” Damon said.

“Go ahead, I’ll try to answer.”

“Can I ask what had you looking so down yesterday?”

Roman took his glass and brought it to his lips, not bothering to ask what Damon had ordered. When he looked back at him and noticed that Damon was still watching him, he sighed. He had begun to think that he would manage to avoid that subject for the night.

“Yeah, I guess. Maybe sharing it will make me feel better.” Roman took one more gulp of his drink before setting the glass back on the table. He glanced back at Damon, who smiled encouragingly without a word, showing that he would listen.

“So… Yesterday, before I came to the aquarium, I went to my best friend’s house- or my brother’s house. I never know what to call it anymore.” He sighed dramatically. “They’ve been together for more than a year, and I’m still not used to it. I must admit, at first I was jealous of my brother because there have been times in my twenty years of friendship with Logan – that’s my best friend – when I’ve doubted my feelings for him, and Remus – my brother – who’s known him for as long as he’s been my friend, suddenly starts dating him and after six months they’re in love and living together. I’ve also been jealous of Logan for finding love when I’ve never found it, but lately… I’ve just been wondering how he did it and what I’m doing wrong.”

Roman drank from his glass to give a break to Damon. And that was only the background.

“I told him that and he said that he didn’t do anything special and that ‘love might come to you when you least expect it’, and he told me to lie low and be patient. As you might have understood by now, I’m generally kind of boisterous and loud, but I realized yesterday that I actually put on a façade with people outside of my family. So… what had me looking so down was that I was wondering who I really am.”

Their eyes met and Roman was surprised to see compassion. Well, not really, because he’d already understood that Damon was the empathetic kind.

“I think that, as humans, the question of who we are is one that haunts us our whole life. But I also think that we can find ourselves thanks to our friends and family, and through what we like. So, what do you like?”

Roman had never been so grateful in his life. He realized this was how Damon must have felt after he saw his reaction to the scar and the story. Damon wasn’t questioning anything or judging his thoughts, he was helping him.

“I like my job, that’s for sure. But I know my job won’t really help me find who I am, because the fun of it is that I get to be different.”

“I’m sure that you like other things,” Damon smiled.

“Yeah, I like music and movies and musicals, which is also basically my job.”

Damon laughed and Roman followed him, feeling some of the tension and insecurity leave.

“Next thing you’re going to tell me that you watch movies the same way you do your job.”

Roman shrugged. “I do try to impersonate people in order to find new voices.”

They laughed again. Damon spent the next twenty minutes helping Roman talk about himself, and Roman realized it was actually a great way to get to know each other, so he tried to do the same with him. They realized it was running late when they were able to hear each other easily.

“I have work tomorrow, so I guess I should head back.” Damon stretched and looked around the bar.

“Yeah, I don’t even know how long it will take me to go back home.”

Damon looked at him with surprise. “You came by foot?”

“By bus, but I doubt that I’ll catch one at this hour. I had originally thought I would be drinking tonight.”

Damon smiled. “I can give you a ride if you want.”

Roman raised an eyebrow. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind being the designated driver. Not that I’ve often played that role.”

“Well then, my feet will thank you.” Roman immediately frowned at that. “What am I even saying.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve heard weirder things from people less drunk than you.”

They got up and dressed and agreed to split the bill in two.

Once in the car, they managed to carry their discussion in between directions. They reached Roman’s apartment and talked for a few more minutes in the car.

“I had a great time,” Damon said after a few seconds of silence in which they both understood that they would be saying goodbye.

“Me too. Actually, I’d love to see you again some time soon.”

Damon hummed. “Well, I’ve heard there is going to be a Halloween horror night in a park nearby and I was planning to go. Maybe you could go with me?”

“Oh gosh yes, I love Halloween!”

“Well then, I guess we’ll see each other in a week. I’ll text you.”

Roman got out of the car and into his apartment. When he lay down in his bed, he was feeling as happy and confident as he was at the beginning of the night.

*

A pair of arms circled Logan’s neck as he was reading a book, sat on a couch with some classical music playing softly through the living room.

“Good evening, darling.”

Logan set down his book and turned around to kiss Remus.

“Hello, love. How was your day?”

“Boring. I had so many reports left behind that the Chief had me sitting in my office all day. I’m sure I missed out on all the fun!” Remus complained while going around the couch to sit down next to his boyfriend. He sighed and lay on his back, laying his head on Logan’s lap. “I bet your day was more interesting.”

“Hmm, compared to yours, I guess it was. I had a few operations but also a lot of check ups on patients. You know that to me, this is as boring as writing reports is for you.”

“Do you have work tomorrow?” Remus asked, stretching his arms above his head.

“No, I have the weekend off.”

“And did you have plans for tonight?”

“No…” Logan frowned lightly. “Remus, you can ask me whatever you want to directly, you know?”

“Yeah, I do, but I wanted to make sure my plans were okay. I want to take you to the cinema. There’s a new post-apocalyptic movie that I’ve been wanting to watch.”

“Oh, sure, that sounds good. Do you want to eat here, or should we go somewhere?”

Remus smiled widely. “It’s been a while since we’ve eaten out.”

“Alright, then it’s settled. Let’s go get ready.” Logan smiled back, gently lifting his boyfriend’s head to stand up.

Half an hour later, they were sitting down at a Chinese restaurant. It reminded Logan of their first date at all, before they agreed to be in a relationship.

Sometimes, even after more than one year, Logan could hardly believe that they fell in love in such a short amount of time after they’d known each other for about twenty years. All it had taken had been one case on which they had happened to work together.

Remus, as a forensics scientist, had come to the hospital for an investigation in which the victim had been badly hurt but had thankfully not died. He and his detective colleague had come to talk to the victim and collect the details of what had happened. Logan was the doctor in charge of doing the report to them, being one of the doctors who took part in the operation. Later, Remus had told him that he had found him very sexy while focused on his job, but at the time, he had only made a snarky remark as always. (“Well I’ll be damned, Logan. Who knew it would take so long for me to see you looking so good.” “I don’t know, Remus, maybe that means for once you’re staying safe.”). They had both spent some days thinking about that moment and remembering some of the time they had spent together, which had proven to be quite a lot.

Surprisingly for both of them, it was Logan who had reached out first and had asked him out on a date. Remus hadn’t hesitated in saying yes, but he had told Logan much later – when he’d admitted finding him sexy – that he’d hoped he didn’t only have a doctor kink. He had been glad to discover that it was not the case once they’d started talking during dinner. They had found out that they both had a passion for science (hence their jobs and the choice of a sci-fi movie for the night) and that their curiosity was their best trait but also worked for their loss sometimes (like the times when Roman or their colleagues would look at them weirdly because of something they’d found exciting when it wasn’t necessarily their case).

After the dinner and the movie, which they had enjoyed but had secretly preferred the fact that they’d gotten to spend time alone with the other and get to know things they didn’t about the other, Remus had asked Logan how he wanted things to continue and Logan had said he supposed they could start a relationship. In the beginning it had been a lot of talking and spending time just the two of them (they had discovered that they were able to talk more when Roman wasn’t around), until they shared their first kiss and realized that they loved each other. It hadn’t actually been hard to realize that they liked each other, they just hadn’t noticed it before because they hadn’t properly gotten to know each other mainly because of the fact that Remus was Roman’s brother.

“Logan, cutie, what are you thinking about?” Remus pulled him out of his thoughts and back to the awareness of his surroundings.

Logan huffed and smiled gently. “I was remembering our first date and how it all began. Doesn’t it ever seem weird to you?”

“That we’re together?”

Logan tilted his head a little. “That we got together so fast after so many years.”

Remus laughed softly. “I guess, yeah, sometimes it’s still weird to think about it. But look at what happens when Roman isn’t stifling me.”

He extended his hand and took Logan’s in it. Those last words caused Logan to remember his conversation with his best friend at the beginning of the week. They hadn’t talked about it since, so he didn’t know whether he’d taken his advice into consideration at all, but all he could do now was hope that it worked for the best for him.

Logan focused back on Remus and squeezed his hand, before looking at the menu in front of him so that they could order.

After a delicious meal and an exciting time at the cinema, Logan and Remus carried an animated discussion in the car. The bespectacled man had never admitted it, even to himself, but their debates was what he enjoyed the most about going to see a movie with his boyfriend. Most of the time they agreed on everything, so he wouldn’t call that a debate, rather a dialogue displaying their point of views, but the feeling was the same. Whether Logan was simply listening to Remus exploring different theories about what could’ve happened differently, what could happen after the timeline of the movie, or he was interjecting because he had to remind his lover that science could not be neglected, these were treasured times.

“No, but what I’m saying is, he could’ve-”

“Remus, that’s not possible-”

“You’re not even listening to what I’m saying!” Remus chuckled.

“Of course I am, silly. But for the love of science, please stop saying nonsense.”

When he didn’t immediately reply, Logan dared to take his eyes off the road for a second and looked at him. Remus was staring at him with a grin that was amused and evil at the same time, his moustache quirking up at the left side of his mouth, but the look in his eyes was clearly expressing fondness.

“What?” Logan asked, turning his eyes back to the road.

“Do you know that I love when you call me silly?”

Logan almost smiled. “As a matter of fact, I do. I’ve noticed that you tend to act the way you know that will get me to call you that quite often.”

“Okay good, just making sure. Now, must I remind you that I’m a forensics scientist, therefore I know a lot about science?”

Logan rolled his eyes and the sigh that he let out resembled a laugh. “I know that, don’t use big words to get to me.”

“I’m not doing that!” Remus said with feigned ignorance, placating a hand to his chest in such a gesture that Logan saw it even from the corner of his eye. “I just wanted to let you know that I know what I’m saying isn’t logical from a scientific perspective, but the whole movie wasn’t, and I was just making suggestions in the context of the movie.”

“I know that, but your ideas didn’t even make any sense in that context,” Logan countered as he pulled up in their driveway.

“You can just say that you disagree.” Remus giggled and unlocked his seatbelt to turn towards his boyfriend.

Logan turned off the car and undid his own seatbelt before replying. “I disagree with you, because I loved the movie and I wouldn’t want it to have been done any other way.”

“There you go!” Remus smiled before bending over the console and kissing him. Logan kissed back, lifting his hand to his boyfriend’s hair.

“We should go inside.” He pulled away and opened the door. He was in the middle of gathering his phone, wallet, and keys when Remus said, “I love the way you think.”

Logan got out of the car and bent over to look at him.

“You better hurry up before I change my mind.”

***

Chapter Text

Roman spent the following week looking for information about the Halloween night Damon had mentioned, so that when he texted him to set a meeting place and time, Roman was ready. They agreed to meet directly in front of the park, and Roman decided that he would go by foot, because it really wasn’t far from his house. (He actually knew that park very well, because he often took walks through it to gather inspiration for his songs.)

And so, ten minutes before eight, Roman left his apartment, a light bounce in his step and a gentle humming on his lips. He was looking forward to seeing what the park would look like. The town liked to organize events for big holidays, but it was the first time they did one in this park and he didn’t know what to expect.

As he reached the park before Damon, he took the opportunity to look around from where he stood. A lot of people were already there, some still entering and some families leaving; a large banner above the gates said ‘Halloween Fest 2019’ and there were ropes with bats hanging underneath it; from where he was, Roman could spot several food and drink stands and all sorts of Halloween decorations (skeletons, pumpkins, zombies, you name it) all through the park. He also noticed a board with the program of the night, and some direction signs indicating the different spots where special events took place.

“Hi.” A voice surprised him out of his thoughts. Roman turned around and smiled upon seeing Damon. He was wearing a yellow button-up shirt with a bowler hat and black skinny jeans. It was a look that seemed very cartoony to Roman, and he would know, but he suddenly found that it looked great on him. So great in fact, that he felt a bit out of place with his simple plain red hoodie and blue jeans.

Damon tilted his head and the movement made Roman realize that he hadn’t said anything. “Hi. Oh my gosh I’m sorry, you just- you look good.”

The shorter man chuckled. “Thanks, you look good too.”

Roman dismissed this with his hand. “Please, have you seen yourself? I look like a commoner.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, but believe me, this color suits you.”

Unused to people genuinely complementing him, Roman shifted on his feet before turning towards the park. “Shall we?”

He barely saw Damon’s smile and headshake as he walked through the gates, headed to the activities board.

“Did you come by car?” Roman asked, trying to make small talk to distract the other man from his weird behavior.

“Yes, that’s why I was a bit late. I hadn’t anticipated that there would be so many people.”

“It’s no problem. I took a look at the activities on the site, but I haven’t decided what I wanted to start with.”

They stopped in front of the board and Damon read it quickly.

“Well, I was interested in the movie they’re showing at nine, but before that… we could simply walk through the park and stop wherever something seems interesting.”

“Sounds great.”

Their first stop was at a drink truck that sold all sorts of cocktails with funny names and unusual ingredients. As they started walking through the park, sipping on their drinks, Damon spoke up.

“So, how is your soul searching so far?”

Roman could have stopped walking because of his surprise, but he simply glanced at the other man with a raised eyebrow.

“Do you not know that phrase?” Damon asked with amusement and a hint of genuine astonishment. “I mean, have you thought about who you might be, after our discussion last week?”

“Oh.” Roman deadpanned, looking in front of him again. “Of course I know that phrase, I just didn’t see how it was related to me. But um, yeah, I guess I did think about all of that, even though I haven’t found an answer yet.”

Damon must have heard the drop in his tone at the end of that sentence, because he nudged him to look at him. “Hey, it’s okay. I told you that it’s a question we can be asking ourselves for all our life, nobody would expect you to completely know yourself at twenty-seven.”

Once again, Roman averted his gaze and drank from his cup in hopes that Damon wouldn’t see the doubt behind that action.

“Were you thinking that?” How could Roman pretend to be an actor when this new friend saw clearly through him after ten days of knowing him?

“Well…” The singer trailed off, judging it best not to directly lie to him. “It’s just that… Logan and Remus are my age, you know, and I feel like they know perfectly who they are.”

Damon let out a sigh and Roman, by taking one quick glance at him, knew that it was more fond than it was exasperated. Even though he didn’t know exactly why that still made him feel stones in his stomach.

“I know that, being a twin and all, you might be used to comparing yourself to other people. But knowing oneself isn’t about the others, it’s about yourself. So, yeah, maybe your brother and your best friend know who they are and are content with where they are in life, maybe they aren’t. And what does it matter if it’s the case, and how old they are? If you want to find yourself, you should concentrate your thoughts on you. And you know, I’ve been thinking maybe, in order to figure this all out, a bit of change might be good. Maybe you should try new activities, audition for different kinds of roles, meet new people.”

Roman gave him an incredulous look and gestured around. “This is a new activity, and you are a new person.”

“Exactly,” Damon smiled. “How does that make you feel about yourself?”

Roman pondered on it, emptying his cup. He threw it in a garbage bin before replying. “I think that it makes me feel good. I’ve never really had true friends besides Logan, and since he started dating Remus, I guess I’ve distanced myself from them both. I don’t really go out anymore, except for when I go on walks to find inspiration for songs. So, yeah, it’s a good change to have met you.”

They smiled at each other, not needing to add anything more because their looks already conveyed quite a lot of sentiments. Roman broke it, noticing something behind Damon.

“Oh, why did I not see that they were doing this?”

He strode off to a stand that announced ‘Bobbing for apples’, and Damon followed him uncertainly.

“Can we do this? Do you want to try this?”

Damon started to smile at Roman’s excitement, but quickly looked down at his shirt and back to the tank filled with apples floating on the water. “I- I don’t-”

Roman interrupted him by pulling on his hand. “Oh come on, you won’t get wet if you do it properly. Besides, it’s just water. Please?”

The shorter man couldn’t hold his laugh. “Yeah, okay, but if I do get wet, you’re going to pay for it.”

“Whatever,” Roman rolled his eyes before going towards the lady hosting the game.

She explained the rules, which he already knew and were pretty evident. Put your hands behind your back and try to catch an apple with your mouth. Roman went to stand beside the tub and turned to Damon again when he didn’t immediately follow him.

“Come on, take your hat off and have some fun.”

It was Damon’s turn to roll his eyes, not unkindly, before he lifted one hand to his head to remove his hat and the other went straight through his hair. Roman suddenly had an urge to do it for him, because it seemed very soft and inviting. Feeling himself blush, he turned back to the tub and got into position, not waiting for a second before plunging his mouth in the water. The movement created waves that sent all surrounding apples floating far from him and splashed him in the face a bit. Roman heard Damon’s soft laugh close to his ear and turned to him, finding him right next to him, bending over.

“I think you have to be a little gentler,” he smiled, leaning towards the water as if he were about to kiss it.

Roman found himself wondering why he had suggested playing this game. He probably wouldn’t have done it, had he known that this kind of sight would send chills running down his spine and along his arms. He focused back to the patch of apples in front of him.

They went at it for a few minutes, occasionally bumping into each other as they chased after apples. It was the kind of activity that always looked easier to accomplish when it wasn’t you that did it, Roman thought. He managed to catch an apple all of five seconds before Damon. It didn’t give him a lot of time to savor his victory before the blonde man leaned back up, water drooling from his mouth. He took the apple out of it with one hand, the other coming up to massage his jaw as he licked his lips. Roman only noticed the wondering look in his eyes when he looked up at them. He immediately looked away and bit into his apple, walking back towards the path.

He wanted to blame it on the alcohol, but it wasn’t as if a single cocktail could make him lose all sense of composure, if he was being honest. He felt Damon’s presence at his side before he spoke up.

“I’m not mad at you, you know?”

Roman gulped down his bite. “That makes one of us.”

“What?”

The singer looked up at him so fast that he thought he heard his neck crack. “I’m mad at myself. I don’t know why I feel like that.”

“Like what?” Damon asked, a brow arched.

“Nothing, forget I said anything.” Roman groaned internally and started walking faster, wanting to distance himself from the other man.

“Hey, Roman,” Damon called after him, like he wanted to show him something.

So, Roman stopped walking and turned around. Damon stood before him, a mischievous grin on his lips. He pointed at his shirt. “Seems I’ve managed to get myself wet.”

This time, Roman’s groan wasn’t internal as he realized the innuendo in this sentence that had already been pronounced without him noticing how weird it might sound. He looked at where Damon was pointing at his shirt, the few drops of water having left small but visible patches even in this lighting.

“And how do you want me to pay you back?” He asked in a tone that he hoped was innocent.

Damon started walking again, Roman scrambling to stay at his side. “I think I saw that they were doing a remake of Thriller’s choreography later tonight. I’d like to see you take part in it.”

Roman let out a relieved breath. “Oh, you’re so on.”

Damon turned to him with a dumbfounded look. “I’m the best at Just Dance. Sorry if that sounded humiliating to you, but I took dance lessons and, like, I thrive for it.”

Damon stared at him for a few more seconds before breaking into a laugh. “Yeah, it was how I meant it to be, but I think I’ll enjoy it either way.”

Feeling the atmosphere around them shift back to something pleasant, Roman felt glad for Damon’s reaction. He noticed the time and suggested they go over to where the movie was being showed. As he bit into his apple, he realized that what he had said before was true, about this night being good for him. He was kind of happy with not having entirely followed Logan’s advice and just acting on instinct. Damon was a good chance of pace for him.

*

After the movie, which Roman honestly didn’t find that scary, as he did for most old horror movies, they grabbed new drinks before heading to the Thriller recreation. As expected, Roman outdid himself and had a great time, and even managed to drag Damon on stage with him.

“You were the one supposed to be humiliated, and now I’m the one who made a fool of himself,” Damon said as they got offstage.

“You were great!” Roman shoved him playfully. “Have you ever considered becoming a dancer? Maybe you could start doing shows with your dolphins.”

Damon glared at him but there was no meanness to it. “Please make sure to tell me if you ever have any other idea to traumatize my animals.”

Roman laughed and they started wandering in the park again, quickly finding a truck that sold all kinds of hot drinks. With their coffees in hand, they fell into a pleasant silence. Roman had never thought he would associate these two words, but surprisingly and for the first time with Damon, he was at ease without talking.

“Is there anything else you want to do?” Damon asked.

Roman looked at the time and around them. It was getting close to eleven. “I don’t know. Don’t you have work tomorrow?”

“No, I took a day off. My co-worker owed me one, and I wanted to be able to enjoy tonight without thinking about tomorrow.”

Roman couldn’t exactly put words on how that made him feel, nor did he really understand why he felt so warm inside. “Oh, great then. I wanted to give ‘Pin the witch’ a go.”

Damon smiled at him. “Good idea.”

They quickly made their way to the place where that game was held. They waited for their turn, chatting idly, until the man in charge explained how the game worked. Excited to see how well he would do with throwing a dart at a cardboard witch, Roman turned to Damon.

“You want to go first?” The end of his sentence died in his throat when he saw the look on the other man’s face. “Are you okay?” Before Damon could reply, Roman’s eyes went down to the darts in his hand and back up at Damon. “Oh, this was a bad idea, wasn’t it? I shouldn’t have-”

“No, it’s okay,” Damon interrupted him. “I just needed a minute. I didn’t think- it’s not so bad anymore, usually, even though it still happens sometimes. I think I’ll never get used to needles.” The reassuring grin he shot at Roman didn’t serve its purpose. He patted his shoulder and turned him back around towards the witch. “Why don’t you go first?”

“You’re sure?” Roman glanced over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes. Go on,” Damon smiled.

Roman hesitantly smiled back and turned around, letting out a small sigh. He slipped the blindfold over his eyes after having assessed the situation. The main aims were the head – specifically in-between the eyes – and the heart. Being as good as he was at sports, Roman would be satisfied if he landed at least one of his three darts on the board. He breathed in and out, took aim, and threw the first dart with all his strength.

“Not bad,” came Damon’s chuckle from his left. “Try a little more to the left, though.”

Roman shifted and threw the second dart. He realized he should have put more force to it before his friend could comment on it and threw the last one without thinking.

“Good!” Roman took off the blindfold and waited for his eyes to adjust to the soft light.

“Huh.” He let out. The dart was pinned right on the witch’s hand that was holding a broom. In other words, he had barely landed it on the cardboard. “Good enough, yeah. Your turn.”

Roman gave the blindfold to Damon and went to fetch the darts from the board. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” He asked before handing them to him.

“Yes, don’t worry about me.” Damon grabbed the darts before he could add anything and got into position. By the time Roman admitted to himself that he did look fine, he’d already thrown the first dart. It landed on the witch’s stomach, at the exact center of the board. Damon peaked over the blindfold to get an idea of how he’d done, since Roman was less verbal in his reaction than he had been.

“I’m… stomached,” he let out.

Damon turned to him and laughed gently. “Good one.”

This seemed to take Roman out of the trance he was apparently in. “Ha, well. I do have the ability to crack a joke from time to time.” Or maybe it was just a result of hanging out with Logan and Patton, who mastered it, but Damon didn’t need to know that and Roman didn’t need to think about it.

He turned back towards the witch, put the blindfold on, and quickly threw his remaining darts. Right into the heart and the spot between the eyes. If Roman had been stomached before, now he… well, now he couldn’t even think of a word play.

“How in the world did you pull that off?”

Damon removed the blindfold, looked at his work and faced Roman with a satisfied smirk. “I might have acquired quite the agility from working with dangerous animals.”

Roman punched him on the arm and they went to the man in charge to restitute the material.

“Awesome job, man!” said the man, gesturing to the shelves behind him. “You’re one of the few who can choose a reward amongst these beauties.”

Roman looked between Damon and the shelves laden with plushies, action figures and the lot, all relatively Halloween-themed. Damon walked to one shelf and picked up a plushie representing a skeleton – which was, admittedly, really cute.

“Thank you guys, have a good night!”

They thanked him and walked away.

“Here, this is for you.” Damon handed the toy to Roman.

He looked at it with wide eyes. “Why? It’s you who deserves it.”

“Yeah, but I want to give it to you, and you can’t refuse a gift, can you?”

Roman accepted the plushie, trying to hide his smile and hoping that his hot cheeks didn’t mean he was blushing. “Thanks. It’s so cute.”

Damon smiled and Roman suddenly remembered what he’d told him the week before, about wanting to see him smile. He didn’t know how he’d achieved that so many times during the night, but apparently it didn’t take much to do it.

They walked in silence for a while, until Damon said, “I think we’ve seen about everything that was interesting, wouldn’t you agree?”

Roman did agree, but he also knew that it meant they would need to part ways and go home. Somehow, he wasn’t sure he wanted that. “Yeah, let’s go,” he said, nonetheless.

They kept walking quietly; Roman didn’t know what to say, turning the plushie over in his hands. The idea of saying goodbye to Damon suddenly made any conversation topic vanish from his head, and he hoped the blonde man was silent for the same reason. Seeing the gates, a thought made him open his mouth.

“You know what’s funny? The day I met you, my best friend was telling me what love is and I had trouble understanding because I’ve never known it, but now I’m thinking I might get what he meant.”

“Because you met me?” Roman didn’t need to turn to Damon to understand that he was surprised. Although maybe after his behavior tonight, he’d expected him to see right through Roman.

“Because with all the people I’ve met before, I’ve never wanted to see them all the time, to tell them about my private life, to get to know them. But with you it’s like the first thing on my mind all the time.”

“Roman…” The singer didn’t let him continue.

“Also like, Logan said that I should be patient and not go look for it, and like, you came to me, and I’ve never wanted to be less patient in my whole life.”

As soon as he said that, Roman regretted it. That was too forward, and Damon probably didn’t even-

“Then, you should know that I’ve been meaning to take things slow, but I might be reviewing my ideas.”

Roman finally turned towards Damon. They’d long since stopped walking, having reached the gates without even noticing it.

The look on Damon’s face might have been clear to anyone, but after tonight, Roman didn’t feel like he had a clear head. The shorter man was smiling, albeit shyly, and a tinge of pink colored his cheeks. Roman realized that he must look somewhat like that too, because he felt that this expression was the mirror of his feelings.

“Are you- are you saying…” Roman trailed off, sort of afraid of finishing this sentence the wrong way.

But Damon didn’t have to hear the end of it before he placed his hands on Roman’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

Now, throughout his life, Roman had had a lot of boyfriends and the sort, and had had even more kisses. First kisses, last kisses, heated kisses, quick pecks, you name it. But this, it felt new. Different. Roman was surprised by the force and the gentleness of it, so he gasped and parted his lips to welcome Damon’s tongue. He was quick to bring his own hands up to the other’s neck, but rather than putting them on his nape, he circled his neck with them, thumbs coming up to brush his cheeks. The stones Roman had felt before were back in his stomach, transformed into butterflies, and warmth spread through his body, just like it had a few moments ago.

They pulled away for air, panting, spit connecting their red lips, and looked in each other’s eyes.

“Your eyes are so beautiful,” Roman breathed out. Damon chuckled, probably not expecting that. “I um- my apartment is ten minutes from here by foot, if you want. Or we-”

“Yes,” Damon cut him off with a kiss, before completely pulling apart and taking Roman’s hand. “Lead the way.”

The older man didn’t need anything more to cross the road, dragging Damon with him. The walk could have taken less than ten minutes with the pace they’d set, if it weren’t for their numerous stops to make out on the way. Once they reached the apartment, Roman fumbled for his keys until a hand flattened at the small of his back, calming his nerves – spiking his interest, too – enough to let him know that there was no rush, admittedly.

They entered, locked the door and made their way to Roman’s bedroom, scattering clothes and shoes along the way. Finally, Roman was able to thread his fingers through Damon’s soft hair, leaving his bowler hat on the doorknob to his room. They fell on the bed with a thud, and Damon sat on Roman’s thighs. The taller man sat up, eye to eye with him, and brushed a finger along his scar.

“Are you sure about all of this?” He breathed out.

“About all of you? Yes. Haven’t ever been surer.” Damon smiled genuinely, a small laugh mingling their breaths together.

Roman decided, right then and there, that he was sure too, and that the night was young.

***

Chapter Text

Roman woke up slowly to sunrays poking at his eyelids. He breathed in deeply as he stretched and turned onto his left side as he always did in the morning. That’s when he noticed the still sleeping form of Damon in front of him.

The man was lying on his side too, facing Roman, both hands under his head. His disheveled hair was falling in front of his eyes and the blanket was only covering him up to the middle of his stomach. Roman found himself wanting to brush the hair out of his face and run his hand down his jaw and along his arm, until he remembered that it was kind of rude to stare at someone while they were sleeping. Inhaling sharply, he turned onto his back again, the motion bouncing the mattress ever-so-slightly.

It seemed to wake Damon, as the man let out a sigh and shifted a little. He moved closer to Roman until his head was resting on his shoulder.

“Good morning,” he whispered.

Despite all his knowledge in theater and words, Roman couldn’t exactly name how he was feeling at the moment. After the initial shock of discovering another person still in bed with him had settled in, he felt like happiness and relief were taking over because of Damon’s first actions for the morning.

“Good morning to you. Had a good night?”

Damon snuggled more comfortably in the crook of his neck. “Yep. Slept like a baby.”

“Hm. Babies actually sleep only a few hours at once, don’t they? Where’s that saying come from?”

The blonde man chuckled, his breath tickling Roman’s chest. “Do you always ask yourself such existential questions in the morning? Should I be prepared for that?”

Roman started to laugh at the realization of how intense he was being, but it caught in his throat as something else hit him. Damon had sort of implied that he wanted to wake up next to him for the next days, hadn’t he? “Um… no?”

That must have come out as an exact replica of how he was feeling, because Damon pulled back and leaned his head against the palm of his hand. They got lost in each other’s eyes before he asked, “I say something wrong?”

Roman looked away. “No, just. I wasn’t really expecting to find you still sleeping here this morning and…”

Damon’s breath hitched before Roman trailed off. “Oh. Was it supposed to be just a hook up? I ruined everything, didn’t I? Did you not want last night? Was-”

“No, you didn’t ruin anything,” Roman cut him off, whipping his head back towards him. He lifted a hand to his cheek, thumb tracing just above his scar. “I wanted last night, more than I thought. I had a great time, the whole evening, and then, ending up here with you like that was just… I think I needed it. I mean- at this time of my life, but especially just at this stage of… whatever’s going on between us. It helped me understand how you feel about me, and I think I’m beginning to understand where I want this to go.”

Damon squinted his eyes and his lips fell into a smirk. “Oh? And where’s that?”

Roman laughed a little and removed his hand on Damon’s cheek to take the one that was on his chest and intertwine their fingers. “I want to know even more about you. I want us to take things at a steady pace, but… I think I want to wake up with you from time to time, and I want us to go on more dates.”

Damon’s eyes shone with many things that Roman couldn’t quite make out as he searched his own, before he lowered them to his lips. He leaned in, pressing his lips softly but firmly against Roman’s. “I want all of that too. I’ve never been so sure about someone.”

Roman was quick to disentangle his fingers from Damon and bring both hands to his face to pull him in for a kiss. Damon lifted his left hand to the back of his head, gently pulling on his hair, while he propped himself on his other hand, moving Roman with him. One of his legs came in-between Roman’s as he pressed himself close to him.

The taller man pulled away with a smack. “Okay, as much as I love where this is going, we both have this thing called morning breath, and I’m getting kinda hungry.”

Damon chuckled and lifted himself to his knees. “Yeah, gotta keep our priorities in check.”

“I mean…” Roman grinned, throwing a knowing glance at him. Damon punched him playfully on the arm and hopped over him to get up.

“I call dibs for the bathroom!” He said, before exiting the room.

“No fair! It was my idea!” Roman called after him, jumping out of bed. “It’s the last time I share one of these with you!”

*

After showering together, getting dressed (Roman lent Damon a black t-shirt with a drawing of Dr. Facilier on it, which suited him so well that Roman would have forced it on him if Damon had insisted anymore that wearing his shirt from last night was fine) and having a simple breakfast, Roman and Damon settled on a couch to talk and make out for the better part of the day.

Roman wasn’t really surprised that Damon had suddenly become more affectionate after their night together, hands softly roaming all over the singer’s body while he was situated on his lap or leaning against his side as they watched the kids’ channel absentmindedly (it was the only thing that Roman could bear in the morning). In his mind, this attitude corresponded with his general behavior; a man with such gentle manners, attentive and listening, was bound to be the touchy-feely type. Besides, his comportment when they woke up had been a giver, and Roman wasn’t bothered by it. He thought Damon was the kind of guy he needed after all his previous hook-ups.

“Hey, that’s you, isn’t it?” Damon’s voice brought him back to the present.

Roman focused on the cartoon playing in front of him. “What?”

“That beaver, he has your voice, doesn’t he?” Damon clarified.

The image on TV changed to show a beaver talking animatedly to a group of other animals. It was an educational cartoon in which adventures happened to a different character in each episode, and they would basically recount them to their friends, the morale being what they had learnt through it.

Roman smiled. “Oh, yeah, it’s me. I like that one, because he’s always up for the worst shenanigans and finds the most ingenious ways to get out of them.”

“This is so cool,” Damon said, leaning back to look at Roman. “You get to bring characters to life for kids. You get to be an inspiration for kids that might want to do what your character does or even what you do.”

Roman huffed a soft laugh. That aspect of his job wasn’t one he thought about every day, but he did like the sound of that. After almost eight years in the business, he could tell that it was hard to become a renowned voice actor, and if he could inspire children enough to go through all the steps to being one, he’d be glad. “Yeah, it is kind of cool. What’s cooler is when people realize that there are actual people whose job is to do this. Can you imagine the same show with no voices at all?”

“I can imagine it would be very much less funny.” Damon chuckled.

Roman was happy that the blond man was so enthusiastic about his job, because a lot of people he’d dated called him childish for accepting to do voices in kids’ shows. But in his opinion, it was the people who lost their inner child who were in the wrong.

“You know, I think your job can be inspiring too.”

Damon turned a little more towards him, hooking his legs across Roman’s lap and leaning against his arm that rested on the back of the couch. “How?”

“Well, I think a lot of people can be scared of sharks and killer whales, or even just water, and you work with that on a daily basis. You’re proof that there’s no reason to be afraid of those things.”

“Hmm, yeah, you’re right. Actually, a lot of kids often come to me, saying that they’re impressed because they saw me cleaning a tank, giving food to the sharks or taking care of an injured orca, and when I have time I like to show them that they are inoffensive if you behave correctly.”

Roman brought his hand to Damon’s thigh, stroking it softly. “That’s so nice. I’d love to see you at work.”

“That can be arranged. That said, I’d love to see you too. It’s already great that I can watch a movie or something and hear your voice. But after hearing you talk about the recording process last week, I thought it would be nice to actually see you doing it.”

Roman’s eyebrows rose up his forehead; it was the first time someone asked him that. Well, Patton had expressed the same desire and had come with him one or two times, but he was his best friend’s brother, so that didn’t count. “Oh, sure, I mean, you could probably come along sometime. I’d also like that, I think.”

The smile Damon gave him was so soft and fond that Roman could not do anything but lean in and kiss him. It rapidly turned into a make out session, as it had been the case several times in the morning. Unfortunately, they were interrupted by Roman’s belly gurgling loudly, and decided to order pizza.

They spent the afternoon lounging on Roman’s couch, flicking through different channels on TV, talking and snogging, sometimes quite heavily if Roman did say so himself. Around six in the evening, Damon said he had some chores waiting for him at home, even though he’d have gladly stayed longer. Roman walked him back to his car, parked a few streets from the park which looked different since every decoration had been taken down during the day.

After a few more long kisses, and settling for a dinner date the next Tuesday, Damon climbed into his car and Roman walked back home, whistling joyfully.

*

It had been exactly eleven days since Patton had met Remy’s dad, and quite a few things had changed since then. Patton had noticed and learnt a lot of things, and so had Remy’s father. One of those things, as the teacher had hoped, had been his first name.

Patton had pulled quite the trick, just the day after their meeting, in order to learn the other man’s name. At the second he’d appeared in the classroom, once again after every other child had left with their parents, he called “Hi mister Adams” with a big smile, to which Remy’s dad had blushed and prompted him to call him Virgil. The kindergarten teacher hadn’t exactly expected that reaction, though he’d sort of hoped for it, but he was glad to see how fast they’d gotten from Mister Mitchell and Mister Adams to Patton and Virgil. It just made talking together easier, and they’d done a lot of that for the past two weeks.

Among the things Patton had learnt, one was that the shop Virgil had mentioned working at was a bookstore, and that while it wasn’t his first choice for a job, it came in close second. Virgil had told him that his dream job was to own a music store, and though Patton had easily guessed that the other man must love music, he’d been happy to ask what kind he preferred, glad to see some of his apparent nervousness leave Virgil. When he had seen how excited Virgil had got talking about wanting to sell instruments, particularly guitars and basses, both instruments which he’d learned to play but had had to put on hold after Remy was born, Patton had been glad he’d asked.

Not wanting Virgil to be alone in the nervous sharing of his job, dreams and family, Patton had retaliated with info of his own. (Even if the emo man had hidden his anxiousness behind his passion, Patton had been able to see it through his eyes that wouldn’t quite meet his own.) He’d shared his dreams of having a big family with kids and dogs – but no cats, he was allergic – and how he felt that he was halfway there with the children in his different classes and the lovely dog waiting for him at home. Virgil had almost seemed in awe when he’d learnt that Patton had kept the same job – and only one – for five years, but Patton hadn’t wanted to pry since he felt that reaction meant it was a touchy subject.

There were a few things that Patton had noticed, too, like the fact that they’d grown naturally closer simply by talking a little bit almost every day. That made a warm feeling bloom inside Patton’s heart, because he had a habit of losing his words with guys he liked or thought were cute. And Virgil was gradually starting to belong to both categories.

Another thing he’d noticed was that Virgil always came around six to pick up Remy, and Patton felt that, unlike the first time, and more often than not, he was doing it to talk with him rather than because he was held up at the shop. That might not be what was happening, but well, one can always hope.

Today was a bit different. Virgil came in the classroom two minutes before six, when all the kids had gone and Remy was quietly reading. That much was a common occurrence. Patton automatically moved to the door to greet him, but slowed down when he understood that he was on the phone. That didn’t stop him from hearing what he was saying throughout the empty and silent room.

“… please, you’re my last hope! All the other babysitters I know aren’t available… No, I understand but… Don’t you have friends who could do it?... So, you don’t know anyone?”

Virgil’s sigh made Patton realize he’d been holding his breath since he’d understood what that was about.

“Yeah, I got it. Have a good time.” The tone in the other man’s voice had clearly become bitter by the time he hung up.

Patton finished making his way over. Virgil seemed startled to see him, as if he’d forgotten where he was, his anger and deception still easily readable on his face. He was quick to put on a smile when he realized the teacher was in front of him. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Patton took a hesitant step forward, not knowing how to say that he’d heard him without seeming nosy, but was cut off before he could say anything by a small dark-haired boy running past him.

“Daddy!” Remy shouted, jumping into his father’s arms, as per usual.

Virgil backed a little under the force of his child. “Hi baby boy. Did you have fun today?”

“Yes. Patton asked me to say what today was, and I know it’s Friday!”

“Hmm, and how do you know that, smart boy?” Virgil grinned.

Patton loved being able to watch those father-son interactions, because they were the times when Virgil looked the most at ease, all his day’s worry washed away. But today, he watched his smile slowly fade away with Remy’s response.

“Because after today you stay with me. For two days!”

Patton’s heart squeezed at the pained expression on Virgil’s face. “Oh, um… you see, Rems…”

“Virgil, if I may…” Patton spoke up. “I… overheard you on the phone earlier, and… well, maybe I can help.”

The emo man turned to him, his eyes wide, and Patton glanced at Remy, focused on the strings coming out of his dad’s hoodie, before offering a smile. “You want to baby- watch Remy?”

“I don’t know what your exact situation is, but I heard that you needed someone, and I want to help.”

Virgil stared at him for a few more seconds before looking at his son. “Um, okay… So… Remy, remember when Jessica was at home and played with you while daddy was at work, last week?” The boy nodded. “Would it be okay if Patton did that?”

Remy looked at his teacher with a wondering face. “Patton will come home and play with me?”

Virgil nodded, worry all over his facial features. “Yes, that’s it.”

“And he can read with me? And draw? And we can build a train?”

Patton chuckled, allowing Virgil to let out a relieved breath.

“We can do all that, yes,” Patton answered.

“It’s okay,” Remy said in reply to his dad’s original question. “I would like to do that with Patton, because he’s nice.”

Virgil laughed softly and put his son down. “Good. That’s for tomorrow, okay? Do you have all your stuff with you? Can you get ready to leave and wait for daddy?”

Remy nodded fervently and started to head towards the door, half running, half bouncing, when Patton called after him. “Remy, no running in the classroom!”

“Sorry mister Patton!” The boy said without turning around, slowing his pace before disappearing through the door into the hallway.

Patton turned towards Virgil, not surprised to see his nerves showing.

“Are you sure you want to do this? You’re his teacher, you already see him every day, and I’m sure I can find-”

“Virgil, it’s okay. “Patton assured him. “You sounded like you had no other option but to leave him alone. I already told you that I love children, and Remy really is a great kid.”

“Yeah, he is…” Virgil sighed, a smile tugging at his lips. “I just wanted to make sure. My coworker called in sick today, and the manager asked me to take over his shift tomorrow. As it’s last minute, none of his usual babysitters are free, and I can’t really bring him to my parents, because he’s going there next weekend. I don’t want to bother them- not that I- I mean, I don’t want to bother you either…”

The teacher chuckled and stepped closer, glad that the other man had explained the situation without him even asking. “I promise you, it’s not a bother. I’m glad to help. I’d do it anytime.”

Virgil’s chest moved when he let out a hard sigh of relief. “Oh, thank you Pat! On… Patton. Sorry.”

“You wouldn’t be the first to call me that, don’t worry.” Patton reassured him, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach.

“Yeah but it’s a rather intimate nickname. I- I mean, I think only people you’re really close to should- would call you that.”

“I don’t mind.”

Their eyes locked, until Patton realized that this seemed like he was coming strong onto him and looked away.

“Right, so, I’ll just come by your house tomorrow. What time do you want me to be there?”

“Um, at eight thirty in the morning would be great, but it-”

“Eight thirty. Perfect, I’ll be there.” When Patton looked at him again, he noticed Virgil was still looking at him with some uncertainty. “I have your address from Remy’s info, and no, it’s not too early.”

Virgil finally seemed to relax, letting out a small laugh, when Remy called from the hallway. “Well, I have to go. Thank you again, so much, and I’ll… we’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You’re welcome. Good night.”

*

When Patton stood in front of the Adams’ door, he found himself quite nervous. He knew he didn’t have any reason to be, but he thought that, deep inside, something was telling him it might not be the last time he came here. That hope was making him anxious and he was a little scared that the reassurance of being able to talk normally to Virgil would burst into flames the moment he knocked on the door.

With one deep breath, and the thought that he’d already made it inside the complex, he raised his hand and brought three light knocks to the door. He unconsciously held his breath and heard some rustling on the other side. Then, the wood disappeared, and Virgil was standing in front of him.

“Hi!” He said, moving aside to let Patton in.

But the taller man didn’t budge. Instead, he took in Virgil’s look, which was not at all different from any day he saw him during the week. But his jeans had more holes in them, and his jacket was different, patched with big, purple threads and band logos, and the Black Parade t-shirt he wore, Patton had never seen before. So, all in all, he felt like he was staring at a different man, and forgot he was holding his breath.

“Hi,” he finally let out, all his air flowing out with that one word.

Virgil grinned and arched an eyebrow. “Nervous?”

Maybe it was the change of place, maybe it was because it was his home, but the emo man seemed so much more at ease than he did when he came to pick up Remy at Patton’s school.

“No, nope, not at all.” Patton wanted to slap himself in the face. “I… like your clothes, they look good on you.”

Virgil blushed and looked down at himself. “Oh… thanks… Well, come in.”

Patton flashed him a smile and entered, letting the other man close the door behind him. He took a quick look around, immediately noticing in the arrangement of furniture and the different doors that this was a small apartment. It was not that surprising, since he’d already understood that it was only Virgil and Remy. Patton distantly remembered something about the kid saying how his dad liked to hang up his drawings around the house, as he found himself looking at dozens of them; they were on the walls, the fridge, the cupboards, in the kitchen, the living room, the hallway.

“You have a nice home,” he said as Virgil walked in front of him.

“Thank you. Um… before I take you to Remy, I just wanted to make sure about lunch,” he said, walking to the kitchen. “I wasn’t sure if you liked to cook, so I bought a few frozen pizzas. But there’s also plenty of food in the fridge, you can do as you want.”

Patton smiled at him. “You did well, because kitchenware and I don’t agree. I usually order in, so pizza sounds great.”

Virgil smiled back, and Patton could see that he was trying to hold a laugh.

“You can mock me if you want. I mean, what twenty-nine-year-old man doesn’t know how to cook?”

The other man laughed a little but shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I’m sure you have plenty of other talents.” Patton didn’t really know how to react to this, so he didn’t. “Right, so, I actually have to leave soon, and I’m sure Rems wants to see you. He’s been talking about all the games he wants to play, and I think one day won’t be enough.”

Patton followed Virgil to a door that must lead to Remy’s room. “I guess I’ll have to come back if it’s the case.”

The shorter man didn’t comment or turn around, but Patton could see the blush on his neck and how his shoulders stiffened, and he wished he could take it back. He did want to come back, but it didn’t mean it was the case for Virgil. After all, he was only here to look after Remy.

Virgil opened the door and they walked in. “Hey Rems.”

The kid, who was sat on the floor, taking cars out of a plastic box, looked up and jumped to his feet. “Hello!” He said, hurrying towards the men. He hugged Patton’s legs, and the teacher put a hand on his head, ruffling his hair.

“Hi Remy. How are you doing today?”

“I’m good. I’m happy because you’re here and we’re going to play, even if daddy is going to work.” Remy let go of his legs and grabbed Virgil’s hand.

“Well, I’m happy to be here.” He looked up at the other man, wanting to convey his words to him as much as he did to his kid.

“Thank you again,” Virgil said, and dug in his jeans’ pocket, retrieving a small post-it note. “Um, here is my number, in case you need it. I didn’t know if you already had it or not. You can call me if anything happens or if you have a question, but I’m sure Remy will guide you through the day.”

He looked down at his child, who frowned and pushed his thigh. “Yes, but now you have to go. You have work and I have to play with Patton.”

Patton and Virgil shared a look, and both let out a small chuckle.

“Okay, I’m going. Can I have a goodbye kiss?” Virgil crouched down.

Remy threw his hands around his dad’s neck and kissed him on the cheek, before going back to his job of getting his cars out. The emo man stood back up and smoothed his shirt.

“Oh yeah, I forgot. Remy usually naps in the afternoon, and I know that he doesn’t want to do it when there’s a babysitter, so don’t let him talk you into any exciting activity right after lunch.”

Patton smiled. “Okay, noted. I’ll call you if anything comes up.”

“Right. Thank you again. I’ll see you tonight. Bye Remy!”

“Bye daddy!”

“See you, Virgil.”

Once he was out, Patton sat down next to Remy. “So, what are we playing first?”

***

Chapter Text

Remy Adams was, as many four-year-old children were, a very energetic kid. Patton quickly noticed that, even though he was calm and quiet in class and with his classmates, at home it was like his barriers fell down. That Saturday morning passed by quickly, as both were engrossed in several games.

Patton had expected two possible behaviors from Remy, from what he knew about children his age. He would either start an activity and be bored by it after mere minutes, or he would stay focused on it for hours. As it turned out, Remy could spend an hour or so playing with cars before asking to move on to the building of an entire Lego house.

When that was done, it was close to noon and the boy mentioned feeling hungry. Patton managed to convince him to pack away the cars and Lego pieces they had used (he hadn’t been able to make him clean up the first activity before Remy had taken out his Lego box) while he would start on reheating the pizzas.

Patton was proud of himself for finding out how to work the oven in a stranger’s house (most of the time, he avoided using his own, as he was not sure what the different functions were for), and even prouder when they started eating and he found that the pizzas were cooked just right. Remy thanked him for the food and cleared his plate, immediately asking to build a train circuit. Remembering Virgil’s words about a nap and an exciting activity, Patton talked the boy into brushing his teeth before meeting him in his bedroom and suggesting they read a book first.

Remy, quite oblivious to his teacher’s maneuvering, eagerly climbed into bed and leaned against him as Patton started reading. It wasn’t long before his head nodded forward, a telling sign of his slumber. The bespectacled man lay him down and exited the room, taking a seat at the dining table, from where he could keep an eye on him as he planned his week’s work.

About an hour later, Remy showed up in the dining room, his hair ruffled and his fingers rubbing his tired eyes.

“Hi, Remy,” Patton welcomed him with a smile, clearing the table and standing up. “Did you sleep well?”

The boy nodded. “Mh-hm. I want to play now.”

“Sure. Do you still want to build that train circuit?”

The reminder seemed to wake him up completely and Remy grabbed Patton’s hand, pulling him towards his bedroom. “Yes! Grandpa gave me a new bridge piece, and daddy gave me new wagons, I want to show you!”

The boy’s excitement would never cease to amuse Patton, the teacher thought as he followed him and sat down in the center of the room. They spent a good amount of time building the rails before playing a little with different kinds of trains. Patton couldn’t help the part of him that wanted to educate the kid, and he continuously asked what kinds of trains they were, and what the different parts were called, and was pleasantly surprised when Remy answered all his questions with detailed precision.

They were in the middle of drawing when the main door opened and Virgil came in.

“Daddy!” Remy shouted, climbing off his chair and running up towards the man.

“Hi Rems,” Virgil said with a groan as he lifted the child in his arms. “I missed you so much. How was your day?”

“It was great! We played lotsa games, and we had pizza for lunch, and I made drawings of what we did!”

“Good, I can’t wait to see them.” Virgil brushed Remy’s hair from his face. “And was Patton nice? Was it like the other babysitters?”

The boy squirmed under the attention. “Patton is really nice. But I already know that. He played all the games I wanted, and we even read two books! Can I go? I need to finish my drawing.”

Virgil laughed softly and put Remy down. “Yeah, ok.” He looked at his kid until he was sat back at the table, and finally lifted his gaze to Patton, who had stood up and come near them without intruding. He nodded towards the couch and went to sit on it without a word. Patton followed. “Thank you again. His usual babysitters are good, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy and excited. Normally he can’t stop asking when I’m coming back, and they grow tired of it.”

“Oh, well, maybe it’s because he actually took a nap. Gave him back his energy.”

Virgil widened his eyes at him. “You managed to make him sleep?”

Patton nodded with a smile. “For a whole hour. I think he was just so happy that I was saying yes to the previous activities, that when I suggested reading a book, he couldn’t see the trick.”

The emo man glanced at his son and back at Patton. “That’s what I was saying. There’s such a connection between you two, I’ve never seen him behave like that with anyone outside my family.”

Patton couldn’t have stopped his blushing if he’d tried. Virgil probably didn’t mean anything by that, but he couldn’t help seeing the implication of that sentence.

“Do you want to stay for dinner, as a repayment? I can make something quickly.”

Patton tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach at Virgil’s words and the look on his face when he answered. “I would love to, but I don’t want to intrude, and I probably should get some work done for the weekend.”

Virgil’s face seemed to decompose for a second before he stood up and walked towards the door. “Right. Yes, I already took all of your time for the day, I’m so sorry.” He continued to mumble to himself as Patton gathered his things. “I said I didn’t want to be dependent on my parents and where does that leave me? I’m so ashamed of myself right-” He cut himself off when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Virgil, why are you beating yourself up?” Patton asked, a worried look in his eyes in spite of himself. “I already told you that I would do this anytime. I really don’t feel like you or Remy have taken my time today, and neither should you. I just think you should get to enjoy the time that was taken from you with your son.” He felt the shorter man gradually relax in his grip and let go, adding with a playful tone, “And you could always invite me for coffee next week if it helps you feel better.”

When Virgil looked up at him, Patton couldn’t decipher the look in his eyes. “I… Yeah, you’re right. I’ll consider it.”

“Are you leaving, mister Patton?” Remy’s voice made them both look at him.

Patton chuckled lightly. No matter how much he reminded his students to simply call him by his name – no ‘mister Patton’ or ‘mister Mitchell’ – they kept slipping up. “Yes, since your dad is back, my job here is done.”

Remy jumped from his seat and quickly made his way to them, a paper sheet clutched in his hand. “This is for you.”

Patton accepted the drawing and looked at it, feeling Virgil glancing at it over his shoulder. Now, the teacher was used to getting gifts from the children in his classes, but none of them held the emotion of this one. Remy had drawn himself between his dad and Patton, surrounded by books and trains and cars. They all had big smiles on their faces, but the detail that made Patton’s heart skip a beat was that the three figures were holding hands. They looked like a family.

It took a few seconds to push back the lump in his throat. “Thank you, Remy. This is beautiful, and very good. You know, I think I’ll hang this one up right in my living room.” He bent down to give the child a hug, which he returned wholeheartedly.

“You’re welcome. Now I’m gonna draw more! Goodbye!”

“Bye Remy, I’ll see you on Monday.”

He turned to Virgil in time to see him take his hand from his mouth to the door handle. “Thank you again for everything, and… I’ll also see you on Monday.”

“Yes. You’re welcome, I had a really good day. And I mean it when I say I’d do it anytime, don’t hesitate to come to me if you need someone to watch over him.”

Virgil nodded and opened the door, and with a last goodbye, Patton was out of the apartment.

He made his way to his car and, once he was sitting in it, he looked at the drawing again. He didn’t want to read into Virgil and Remy’s behaviors, but he had a strong feeling that they could, one day, become a family.

*

It was only once they had eaten, and Remy was asleep in his bed and Virgil staring at the ceiling in his own, that he allowed himself to think back on what had happened that day. Or what had been happening for the past two weeks, to be more exact.

He hadn’t really had much to think about until then, in his opinion, but he was forced to admit that some of the things Patton had said since the day before were starting to bother him; not bother him in a bad way, necessarily, but he felt like his mind and his heart were struggling to agree on some stuff.

Virgil hadn’t wanted to jump into things and call the teacher a friend too soon, but since he had suggested coming over to watch over Remy himself, he’d known they were at a stage that friendship was a good word to describe. Except… Well, he wasn’t naïve enough to misunderstand what Patton had kept implying.

“I think only people you’re really close to should- would call you that.”

I don’t mind.

I… like your clothes, they look good on you.

I guess I’ll have to come back if it’s the case.

I’m happy to be here.

And you could always invite me for coffee next week if it helps you feel better.

Virgil let out the breath he’d been holding in a long sigh. Patton’s intentions were pretty clear, even if he always let Virgil have the last word. And then again… Virgil had said some stuff that could make him sound like he was flirting, hadn’t he?

I’m sure you have plenty of other talents.

Do you want to stay for dinner, as a repayment?

There’s such a connection between you two, I’ve never seen him behave like that with anyone outside my family.

He didn’t think he was hiding any sentiment behind his words; they’d come naturally after what Patton had said. But even he had to admit, that bit about his family was too much. What was he trying to achieve, blurting out stuff like that? And then, thinking about his child’s behavior, Virgil actually groaned and turned onto his front, burying his face in his pillow.

He didn’t know if he had to blame or thank his son for confirming what he’d been saying. But seeing how he behaved around Patton, how affectionate he was with him, how he spoke about him, if he was honest with himself, it was true that he’d never seen him act like that with anyone but him. Even his parents sometimes had trouble getting through to him. And that drawing, Lord almighty.

Drawing was the way Remy had found to express his emotions, since before he was able to talk. Now, he could speak, of course, but he still found it easier to do it through art. That was how Virgil knew that drawings were like a window to his son’s mind. There was no mistaking what Remy thought about Patton, and about Virgil.

He saw the three of them as a family.

Virgil wasn’t sure where he’d gotten that idea, because he’d never had a family of two parents. Of course, he could have witnessed it through kids’ TV shows and books, or seeing his friends at school. But that wouldn’t explain why he thought it was ok to have two dads; Virgil didn’t think he’d seen homosexual couples among the parents at school. Maybe it was simply what he saw in Patton, somehow. It wasn’t the first time Virgil thought that Remy didn’t quite make the difference between a teacher and a parental figure yet, or even just an adult taking care of him. Though he maintained, he had never seen him act with that kind of affection around anyone else.

The thing was, Virgil wasn’t sure what to think about all that. He’d heard from a lot of his high school and college friends that it was common to go through a questioning phase about sexuality. But he’d thought that was a thing you did at sixteen, or eighteen, but not at twenty-eight. And at that age, he’d been in love with Remy’s mom, and he had been until she wasn’t there anymore. After that, he’d been so busy raising Remy that there wasn’t time to even look at other people. But now that he’d met Patton, he was starting to think that he was seriously going through that phase.

Virgil thought about Patton’s invitation again. Well, he hadn’t explicitly invited him for coffee, what with turning the sentence the other way around, but it was kind of how it felt. And that made the emo man even more aware of the fact that inviting Patton for coffee, either out or at his house, would probably be seen as a date. Virgil rolled back onto his back and blinked at the ceiling.

Why didn’t that particular thought make him feel awkward or disturbed? Admitting that he knew that Patton was flirting with him and showing that he cared about him and Remy, and admitting that maybe he had flirted back, wouldn’t he still need to think about that? That is, if he really was going through the phase of wondering if he liked men. But somehow, deep inside his heart, he felt that he already knew the answer to that question. Well, not if he liked guys, but it definitely felt like his feelings about the teacher were not exactly just friendly.

He rolled onto his side, letting out a dreamy sigh. He had to admit that, after four years, seeing someone grow fond of Remy that way was refreshing and reassuring. Of course, all the babysitters he had hired to this day were very affectionate with his son, but that was simply the effect he had on every young girl that met him, because Remy was an absolute angel. Patton, however, showed that he could see Remy for his intelligence and his creativity. Virgil felt a surge of relief when he thought about the teacher’s behavior every time he came to the school to pick his son up, when he let them have their own moment without commenting on it or intruding.

And even though he still felt guilty about asking the man to take the day to watch his son while he worked, he was immensely grateful that he had insisted on doing it, showing just how much he cared about the two’s wellbeing.

Virgil hummed lowly. Maybe he could take Patton up on his offer for a night out, just for the sake of thanking him and getting to know him.

*

By the time Virgil got to the school the next Monday at six, he’d had the time to go through every emotion he thought was possible. When he’d finally managed to drift off to sleep, the last Saturday, he’d been feeling relaxed and happy. But he’d had a weird dream during the night, and woke up anxious. The whole Sunday, he was a little mad at himself for retreating back into his thoughts, not quite listening to his son’s ramblings except for when he mentioned Patton, which, he noticed, was more and more often.

He’d tried to be more focused while he was at work but felt that he wasn’t as efficient as he normally was, if his boss’ glares and raised eyebrows were anything to go by. All in all, he was resolved to invite the teacher out, if only to come clean with his own feelings.

A loud shrill voice interrupted his brooding and he looked in front of him just in time to intercept a running child. “Hi daddy!”

As always, Virgil lifted Remy up on his hip, and he threw a furtive glance to the corner where Patton was standing, a respectable distance from the two. “Hey Rems. You’re in a good mood.”

“Yes. We learned new colors and that means we could draw a lot! I wanna show you!” Remy started thrashing in Virgil’s arms, so he put him down and watched him disappear behind one shelf displaying the alphabet and numbers from one to nine.

Patton gave his own chuckle as the kid not quite ran out of view. “He’s been that excited all day. Promise me you’ll never introduce him to coffee when he’s older.”

“I don’t know, I’ve heard that it actually calms people with hyperactivity.” Virgil joked back, taking a few steps closer to the teacher.

The other man made a pretend-shocked face before smoothing his features into a warm smile. “How are you? How was the rest of your weekend?”

“I’m good, and it was good. Remy talked a lot about you and all the things you did on Saturday. Thanks again for that, by the way.”

Patton smiled playfully. “How many times more are you going to thank me? I said it was nothing.”

Virgil threw his hands in front of him animatedly. “I know, I know. Sorry. Um… Speaking of that, I…” He trailed off, not knowing how to phrase what he wanted to say. He didn’t even know what sort of feeling he wanted to put in his invitation. But Patton simply inclined his head on the side, the way a dog would, waiting for him to speak. “I’ve decided to take you upon your offer, and actually invite you, as a formal thank you.”

The taller man’s face lit up at that. “Oh, that’s great! I was half-joking, but I’d love to see you outside of here. Beside last Saturday, that is.”

Virgil was amused to hear a hint of nervousness in Patton’s voice, and relieved to know he wasn’t the only one to feel anxious. “I’m glad. I was thinking about grabbing dinner this Friday. Remy is staying with his grandparents for the weekend, so it’s going to be my first night alone since I’ve started working again.”

A flash of surprise passed over Patton’s face before he smiled again, throwing his hands into his pants’ pockets. “Oh, dinner. Next Friday. Ok. I can do that. I mean, I’m already looking forward to it.”

Before Virgil could realize that he was probably surprised by the kind of ‘date’ he was suggesting, which was a mile away from a simple coffee, Remy returned with a stack of paper sheets in his arms.

“Daddy, look!” He plopped down on the floor, spreading his drawings in front of him. Virgil crouched beside him. “Wait. Where’s… There! We did a rainbow! Did you know that this color is called indigo?”

Virgil chuckled softly, ruffling his hair. “Yes, I did. You did a good job, Rems.”

His son pushed his hand away, straightening his hair. “Thanks. But I already knew all those colors. That’s purple, and it’s your favorite.”

“Hm, and how do you know that?” Virgil changed his position to a more comfortable one, knowing that it could take a while, and sat cross-legged.

“Because you always have purple clothes. And look, that’s when we had to say what colors things are, and then draw them. Like this, it’s an apple, so I made it red. But Sara said that apples are also green, and she did a green one.”

Virgil smiled at the name of the girl that his son seemed to view as a friend, happy that he wasn’t alone during school. Remy looked up at him with a questioning look, as if to ask if she had been right and he had been wrong.

Patton intervened. “And do you remember what I said then?”

Remy turned to look at his teacher, who had also crouched next to them, on the opposite side from Virgil. “Yes, you said that some things have different colors even if they have the same name.” He looked at his dad again, as if asking for confirmation.

“That’s right, Rems. I can buy some green and red apples, if you want to be sure.”

The boy’s eyes widened. “Ok, and can we also have oranges? Melvin had one for lunch and it’s so good!”

“Ok. I like that you like fruit,” he added in a hushed voice, which made Patton chuckle.

“Can we go now? I wanna show you everything, and maybe we can hang some of these in the house. And I wanna taste green apples to see if they’re good too.” Remy said energetically, starting to gather his papers back together.

“Of course, baby boy. You can pack up all your stuff and get ready, and I’ll meet you outside, ok?”

The boy nodded and grabbed his drawings, quickly getting up to his feet and rushing out of the classroom. Virgil turned to Patton, who had followed Remy with his eyes, a smile on his face, as he often did.

“So… about next Friday,” Virgil said hesitantly. “Should I pick you up? Does seven sound good?”

Patton turned to him, warm smile in place on his lips. “Yes, it sounds perfect. I’m really looking forward to it.”

He stood up, stretching his legs to dissipate the ache in his knees, and Virgil followed suit. “Good, me too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, bye Virgil.”

As the man walked out and met his son, he realized how warm he felt inside. Amongst all the thoughts he’d had over the weekend, there had been a lot of anxiousness at the fact that Patton could always refuse to meet him for dinner. Of course, it would be surprising, considering that he had been the one to get closer to Virgil first, and to suggest they go out for coffee. Still, Virgil couldn’t help but fear that he was actually reading into things that weren’t there, even if that would also be stupid; it wasn’t like he was expecting anything from Patton.

Remy shook him out of his thoughts by grabbing his hand when he decided that his dad wasn’t walking fast enough for his liking. They made their way to a grocery store where they picked up colorful fruit, Remy talking about his day all the while. This time, Virgil wasn’t zoning out so much, but he was aware that he was more attentive whenever his son mentioned his teacher.

In the end, one thing was for sure. Whatever happened with Patton from now on, Virgil was sure he had gained a great friend, and Remy had gained someone who wanted to take care of him and whom he was attached to. And that was all that mattered to him.

***

Chapter Text

As much as Roman was used to going on dates, he wasn’t used to dating. Now, neither Damon nor he had put that label on what was going on between them, but he was fairly sure that was what it was. And because his last ‘real’ boyfriend (one that lasted for more than three months, which had been the standard with lots of guys) had left more than two years ago, Roman didn’t know what to expect when he met Damon at the restaurant.

His first instincts would be to pull him against him and kiss him hello, especially when they hadn’t seen each other since last Friday and all their talking on the phone over the weekend had got him excited to spend the evening with Damon. But he didn’t want to do anything that would make him uncomfortable, and Logan’s words to be patient remained at the front of his mind and he really wanted to try and apply them to this relationship, even though (and probably because) he hadn’t really done that before telling Damon that he wanted to spend more time with him than just one night.

All in all, Roman’s last thought when he reached Damon in front of the restaurant was that he wished he’d asked to pick him up, because he’d have known how to greet him in the privacy of his car. Even the way the blond man beamed at him didn’t manage to reassure him entirely.

“Hi Roman.”

“Hey.”

Damon must have sensed the tension emanating from him, because he reached to take his hand but stopped inches from it. “Okay?”

The raised brow indicated that the question was meant for both Roman and the gesture. The singer nodded and willed his lips to smile more. Damon took his hand and squeezed it gently, and Roman instinctively moved closer. Together they entered the building and Damon announced his name to the waitress who welcomed them, asking them to follow her.

Before they could do so, Roman snapped back to reality thanks to the feeling of Damon’s fingers still intertwined with his and stole a quick kiss from him. The shorter man looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Sorry, I had to. You’re very sexy when you’re serious,” he whispered, leaning closer.

Damon’s eyes shone with malice. “Fine by me. Shall we?”

Roman followed his pull and they caught up with the waitress, who had stopped at a table in the back of the room. They sat down and thanked her, opening the menus and scanning their choices.

“Wanna tell me what that was about?” Damon asked, glancing at him over his menu.

Roman lowered his own a bit. “I’m not even sure myself to be honest. I wasn’t sure what you’d… feel at ease with. Or what you wouldn’t want me to do.”

A hum from Damon made him realize that he’d looked down, and he met his eyes. “I guess that’s part of why we’re having this date, isn’t it? To set the bases for our relationship. To see what we like and don’t, what we want and don’t. Right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry, it’s just… been a long time.”

“Well, we’re in this together, are we not?”

They both smiled and finished choosing their plates.

“Do you know what you’d like?” Damon asked.

“I’m stuck between the steak and the fish. What would you suggest, what about you?”

Damon smiled like he knew something Roman didn’t. “I’m sure either is great, but I’m a vegetarian, so I’m afraid I’m of no help.”

Roman’s eyebrows shot up behind his fringe. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know. How long have you been?”

“Since the accident with my dad. For a long time, I couldn’t eat solid food, and then the taste of meat just repulsed me. It also coincided with the time I became aware of what makes up the piece of meat or fish you see in front of you, and decided I was against that.”

Roman nodded sagely. “I get it. Do you want me to not eat either with you?”

Damon shook his head. “No, it’s ok. I know that people are allowed to have different opinions, and though I wish everyone could see the light, I’m aware that it’s not realistic.”

Roman stared at him for a total of two seconds after he finished, before he burst out laughing. Damon said nothing nor did he join him, but he did have the ghost of a smile on his lips.

“I’m sorry, I know that you’re being serious, but it’s a weirdly profound way of saying I can eat meat. I will, however, try to eat less animals in your presence.”

Damon shook his head fondly just as the waitress came. They placed their order, both opting for the vegetarian special, and she promised to be back soon with their drinks.

“I should have guessed when you asked for the veggie pizza last week,” Roman said as soon as she’d left.

Damon shrugged. “I wouldn’t have expected you to. Speaking of, should we talk about our expectations toward our relationship?”

“Yes, let’s.”

Roman hadn’t been worried about lacking topics to discuss that evening – he still wasn’t – but right now, he didn’t know how to begin. He agreed with Damon that it would be good to set a few things straight – ha – from the start, to ensure a good relationship. But now that they’d said they would talk about it, he suddenly wasn’t sure what should be said; were there some things that would be offensive and shouldn’t be mentioned? Well, maybe he should ask about that; were they meant to set limits or would that be exaggerating since they had only been together for four days?

Damon brought him out of his thoughts when he cleared his throat and Roman focused back on him. The blond man was watching him with a smirk on his lips and a twinkle in his eyes, leaning back in his chair, before he sat up and spoke.

“First and foremost, we must be able to ask and talk about anything, and answer without judging or cowering.” Even though the words seemed harsh, the light tone of his voice helped achieve the aim of that sentence, which was to appease Roman and remind him that they were in the same boat.

“Alright, yes.”

“And that means no fear of being judged for something we feel the need to bring up. I promise to respect that.”

“Okay, I do too.”

Roman let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, and both men visibly relaxed.

“First of all, because I feel stupid for it, I want us to greet each other with kisses, wherever we are, is that ok?”

Damon smiled and nodded, and with that alone Roman had an answer. “Of course it’s ok, I want the same. And what did I just say? Don’t feel stupid, it’s not; every person is different, therefore, every relationship happens differently, and no matter how many you’ve been in, you can’t take anything for granted.”

“Too true,” Roman said, thinking about the many differences between his previous relationships. “I was also wondering if there were things I shouldn’t mention or do. A part of me can’t help but feel bad about what happened on Halloween, or how I just asked you what you preferred between meat and fish.”

The blond man seemed to grow more serious. “I’ve already told you not to beat yourself up for it. You can’t know every little detail about me when we’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks, and I don’t expect you to. To be honest, I don’t even know how I could react in certain situations. I think I’m alright, mostly, but as you’ve seen, there might be times where something triggers a particular reaction. I think the best course of action would be to take it as we go and face whatever might come our way together.”

Roman felt very satisfied with the answer and nodded his approval. The waitress reappeared with their drinks, and they continued to talk about their expectations and preferences about their relationship until she brought their meals.

“So, tell me more about your family,” Damon said once they’d tucked in. “From what you’ve already told me, I only know that you have a twin brother who’s a forensic scientist and dating your best friend. Are you very different?”

“Want to see a picture?” Roman asked and waited for Damon’s nod before taking out his phone. He looked for pictures of Remus, which were quite rare. “Here, this was last Christmas. The goofballs with glasses are Logan and his brother Patton.”

Damon accepted the phone and seemed to figure out who was who easily. Not that it was hard, because Roman and Remus did look alike, except for Remus’ moustache and white streak in his fringe, and Logan had his arm around Remus’ waist, which left Patton to be the one holding a small dog against his chest.

“You already look like a nice family,” he said as he handed the phone back to Roman, who rolled his eyes.

“I know, and this was only three months after Remus and Logan started dating. Wait, I’ll find one from when we were younger.”

Damon ate a forkful while Roman scrolled through his gallery, before landing on the desired picture. “We were eight in this one, I think. Tell me if you can differentiate us.”

Once again, the blonde took the phone and observed the photo. The boys were standing next to each other, dressed exactly the same, with onesies of Remy, from Ratatouille. Their hair was the same and they looked identical to the grins on their faces. Damon zoomed in and examined what details he could find while Roman caught up with his food.

“Ah, you’re the one on the left of the photo, right?”

Roman widened surprised eyes at him. “How the heck? How did you even figure that out?”

“Well, it wasn’t easy,” Damon laughed. “But there’s something in your eyes, I don’t know. Oh, and Remus has a mole at the edge of his eyebrow.”

They both laughed for a while at the casual tone in his voice, then took a few bites from their plates without a word.

“Did you two get confused a lot? Like in school?” Damon asked.

“Well, yeah, teachers always had to refer to the class plan when we were in primary school. After that, we started showing different interests and abilities, and formed two very separate groups of friends, so it was a little easier. I think I have a picture of a prank we pulled once for Halloween.”

Roman looked for a while and showed his phone to Damon a third time. “We decided that it would be funny if I dyed my hair green and Remus did his red, because at the time we would wear these two colors a lot, but the other way around. And it worked so well that all day long, the teachers called us by the other’s name.”

They laughed together for a while, and then went back to eating in silence for a few minutes. Roman wanted to ask Damon questions about his family too, but from what he already knew, he wasn’t sure if it would be welcome.

He thought asking about his childhood would only bring bad stories, and he had no idea how Damon and his mother had continued getting along after his father was sent in prison. He was grateful for the excuse that eating gave him, but he hated being the only one to talk about himself. It hadn’t bothered him before, he liked talking about himself, but ever since he’d met the other man, he had been insecure about talking too much about his life and not asking enough about Damon’s.

“You can ask, you know.”

Roman startled around his food and gulped, lifting a questioning glance at the man sitting in front of him.

“I expect you want to ask about my family, and you have the right to,” Damon elaborated.

Roman took a sip from his drink. “I- yeah, but I don’t know what-”

“I won’t be hurt by anything you’ll ask, I promise. Don’t you remember that the first thing I told you about me was my sad sub story?”

The brunette chuckled. “Don’t call it that.” He sighed, more to spur himself on than anything. “Ok, would you tell me your favorite memory from your childhood or teenage years?”

Damon smiled. “Yes, of course. It was the first time I went to the movie theater. I was ten, and the movie was Finding Nemo. My mom had never been able to take me before, because I was too young and then my father went sideways, so I was really excited about going. And then, when I saw that story happening in a huge ocean, and all the different kinds of fish and the funny turtles and the nice sharks, I decided I wanted to work in that kind of place when I was older. As you can see, the idea has never left me.”

“That’s so cute, and sad at the same time,” Roman said softly. “But that means you’re doing your dream job.”

“Yeah, it does. Aren’t you?”

“Doing my dream job? Oh yeah, for sure. Well, my dream job when I was little was to be a prince, but you know how that goes. I’ve actually voiced a prince once, and it was one of my favorite cartoons to be in.”

They smiled at each other and carried on their conversation about their childhoods while eating. Roman was glad that, as Damon had promised, no question made him uneasy, even if it invoked a bad memory. He was very happy to simply get to know the man more.

Once they had their fill, they left the restaurant and Damon invited him to his apartment. They had begun talking about the Olympic Games in the car, debating on whether the ones that took place in summer were more interesting than the ones in winter, and continued with what their favorite sport to watch was once they reached Damon’s place.

“Honestly, as much as I love swimming and dancing, I can’t understand how someone would mix them to create synchronized swimming. It’s so boring to watch, and I can’t even imagine parti- what are you doing?” Roman cut himself off when he realized that he was lying on his back on Damon’s bed, and the man was sitting on his thighs, slowly unbuttoning his shirt.

“Oh, do continue, I love hearing you talk about boring things,” Damon grinned, never stopping his motions.

“Are you sure? Because you look like you have an interesting and not boring at all idea.” Roman let his head fall on the pillows.

“Mhm.” Damon nodded, sliding his hands on the newly exposed chest up to Roman’s shoulders and leaning in until the taller man could feel his breath against his face. “My idea is to shut you up until you’re unable to even form thoughts.”

Roman’s eyes widened at the whispered words and he pulled the man to him, crashing his lips against the thinner ones before biting them softly.

“Anything you want.”

*

There were times when Logan was absolutely glad to find the heat and comfort of his car after a twelve-hour night shift at the hospital. Today was one of those times.

The young doctor was always excited when the emergencies at night were fresh arrivals at the hospital and not one elderly woman having a coughing fit or a man remembering in the middle of the night that he still couldn’t feel his foot after a particularly bad accident at work. Well, that night, there had been a fire in a residential building and other related issues, and quite a number of people had been brought in with various degrees of injuries.

Logan loved taking charge in moments like that, either directing other doctors and nurses on what to do or intervening directly when it came to one of his specialties. Where most people would panic in stressing situations, Logan had the ability to stay calm and focused, concentrating on all the details he could gather so that the team could be effective.

And now, after having given his all to the patients and families, running around on sheer adrenaline, he was ever so relieved to be going home. At ten in the morning, there weren’t a lot of people on the road. A recurrent thought for Logan was that driving home after a night at work wasn’t the safest thing, but he also knew that if ever he wasn’t feeling it, the hospital staff room provided perfectly functioning couches.

Logan was still pondering on that when, out of nowhere, a dark vehicle came onto his side of the car and sent him turning right into a lamp post. After the few seconds it took for the buzzing in his ears and the dotting in his eyes to dissipate, the bespectacled man massaged his temples and took in his surroundings.

The front of his car had impaled itself on a pillar and the screen was cracked. The left door was deformed and pressing his knee into the steering wheel. From what he could see, there didn’t seem to be other damage.

Given the state of the door, his only way out was to extricate his leg and then exit on the other side, which took more time than he’d thought. Once outside, he discovered that what had caused the accident was a motorcycle, which was lying a few feet from his car. Its rider was on the road, seemingly having rolled a short distance. A middle-aged man was kneeling next to him, and he looked to be about to perform CPR on the biker.

“Wait!” Logan shouted and rushed over to them. “At least take him off the road. Have you called an ambulance?”

The man stammered.

“It’s the first thing to do! Help me get him on the sidewalk and then call 911, please!” Logan said, sure that his exasperation was shining through.

Internally raging against bikers whose attire was able to protect them from a lot of things but obviously not fractured bones, and also taking too much time taking off, Logan checked for a pulse and, having found one, rolled him onto his side. He then proceeded to inspect whatever injuries he could find, and heard the other man starting a conversation with a 911 operator. He asked him to put them on speaker.

“Hello, my name is Logan Mitchell, I’m a doctor. There was an accident involving a motorcycle, and the driver is currently unconscious. Please send an ambulance and policemen to take in the damage. The biker is young, probably in his early twenties, and has most certainly endured a concussion from the shock. There are a few broken and bruised ribs, broken wrist, and a possible fracture in his left leg.”

“Thank you, sir. What about the other people involved in the accident? Are there other injuries?” the lady on the other side of the line asked.

Logan started to reply negatively, when the other man cut him off.

“Yes. There’s um… there’s blood.”

Seeming to reach the conclusion that he couldn’t give as exact a statement as Logan, he trailed off. The doctor observed his face, which transpired with horror, and caught his eyesight, leading to his own forehead.

He reached a hand up, immediately feeling a shape on his head, and the wetness of blood that came with it. Slowly, he pulled on it, promptly covering the gash with his other hand.

“Oh, yes. A shard of glass in the head. Not too deep. And… since the biker is probably suffering from a concussion, I guess I must be too.” Logan conceded.

“Thank you, gentlemen. Help is on the way.”

After a few minutes during which Logan tried at best to wipe himself clean and inspect any other possible injuries, several vehicles arrived. The motorcycle rider was promptly put on a stretcher and into one of the ambulances, and the remaining paramedics approached Logan. The doctor couldn’t help but argue that he was fine and didn’t need an ambulance to take him to a hospital, but in the end, he relented and lay down in the second ambulance.

He let himself be taken care of and, once they reached the hospital, allowed the medicine to take him under for some rest.

When he came to, the first thing he felt was a hand in his. He blinked his eyes open and the unfocused image of Remus appeared.

“Should I be worried? Have you finally decided you wanted to know what it felt like being in one of those beds?”

“You’re one to talk,” Logan groaned, his voice barely more than a murmuring.

Remus let out a sort of happy squeak and leant down to place a kiss on his lips. “I’m glad you’re okay and that you’re still you.”

“I can hardly see how getting run into by a motorcycle while driving home would change me. Well, right now I can hardly see at all.”

His boyfriend chuckled and let go of his hand in order to place his glasses on his face. “Good old Logan, making a practical joke to get what he wants. Well, now I have to tell you, the police are still talking with the paramedics, but now that you’ve woken up I think they’re going to be here soon. As the other guy suffered more than you, you’ll probably be interviewed first. I already arranged to bring the car to a mechanic, so you won’t have to worry about that. What happened, darling?”

Logan sighed and sat up a little, taking Remus’ hand back in his.

“I was driving home, thinking about my shift, and out of nowhere there was this dark shape on my left, and next thing I know I’m spinning around into a pillar. I think it’s safe to say that given his speed, the biker shouldn’t have been there. You know that I never get sucked in my thoughts enough that I can’t pay attention to my surroundings.”

“Yeah, of course I know. And you know that I think riders should take lessons in driving through a city regularly enough to remind them that they’re not the only ones on the road.”

Logan smiled and laughed a bit, until it turned into a cough, and Remus handed him a glass of water. At the same moment, a doctor entered the room, followed by two police officers.

“Hi Logan.”

“Hello Oliver.”

“I think it’s safe to say that you’re lucky, especially when you look at the other guy. You only had a few cuts on your arms, and you got stitches for that cut on your forehead. Other than that, you’re fine. I’ll suggest a full day of resting, though, so don’t bother coming in tomorrow.”

Logan grunted but resisted the urge to roll his eyes and said nothing.

“I’ll leave you with these gentlemen. Have a good day.”

Remus and Logan stayed hand in hand as the young doctor recounted the events, assuring the policemen that he was perfectly aware of the circulation on the road and that if there’d been a red light, he’d have seen it. The men thanked him for his cooperation and left.

It was only once the paperwork had been signed and they were back home, comfortably sitting down leaning against each other on the sofa, that Remus finally expressed his concern.

“I think you should tell your brother. And probably mine too. I know it wasn’t big but I think it’s important that they know you had an accident.”

Logan sighed. When his boyfriend spoke so seriously, he knew he didn’t stand a chance. He called Roman first, who made sure he was okay before joking lightly. He knew it would be easier than his brother.

“Hello Patton. I hope I’m not interrupting you, but I just wanted to let you know that I had a small accident when I was driving home this morning.”

The doctor had barely even said the words after ‘accident’ that his older brother was inquiring about his health.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay? What happened? Do you need anything? Should I come see you? I’ll come right after my day is over. Oh but that’s in forever, how are you-”

“Patton,” Logan interrupted forcefully. “I’m okay. I had only a few minor injuries, and Remus already took me home. I’m safe, I promise. I just wanted you to know.”

He listened to the long breath being released on the other line. “Okay. I should still come see you tonight, or tomorrow.”

“As you wish.” With these words, Logan knew there was a chance that his brother understood that he didn’t particularly want to see him.

“Okay, well, stay safe.”

“Bye Patton.”

Without another word, he curled up against Remus and they stayed like that until he drifted back off to sleep.

***

Chapter Text

Patton was sure he had no reason to be nervous for the evening. The thing was, there were things he was even surer of, and they took over every other thought. He was fairly certain that the dinner with Virgil was only a thank you as a friend, because that was what they were, now that time had passed, and they’d got to know each other more. He was also feeling that he was starting to hope they could be more and guessed this evening could be a start. He only hoped he wouldn’t be too disappointed if it turned out he had no chance and that his feelings wouldn’t get hurt too much.

The teacher kissed his dog goodbye and stepped outside to wait for Virgil. It felt a little weird to think they’d be alone for a few hours, especially when they’d seen each other barely an hour and a half ago. Patton was now glad for their decision to head home respectively, to get ready, and send Remy off, on Virgil’s part. It had given him enough time to change his outfit ten times and back. In the end, he’d settled for his usual khakis with a light blue, long-sleeved shirt. He thought it classy enough but not too serious, which could fit every scenario and any restaurant.

A black car stopped in front of his house and he descended the walkway to climb into it.

“Hello again, Virgil!” he greeted with nervous cheer.

“Hey,” his friend said, and Patton thought his voice reflected his own nervousness.

Without another word, they departed, and stayed quite silent for the short drive, the music filling the space. Patton spared a glance to his left, seeing Virgil’s eyes trained on the road and his hand gripping the steering wheel lightly, his fingers drumming the beat of the song. Patton turned his gaze to the street and focused on the music.

“This is a nice song, what is it?” he asked, finding his words to be true.

“Oh, um. It’s Panic! At the Disco. This is one of the softer ones. Do you really like it?”

Patton turned his head towards Virgil and, finding him glancing at him from the corner of his eyes, smiled warmly. “Yes, I do. I happen to like many kinds of music, you know.”

The injected mock affront seemed to make Virgil relax, and Patton felt a weight lift from his chest.

“Thank God. Not a lot of people close to me share my interest in anything close to emo and rock things. My own parents tend to avoid the subject.”

“I hear that tends to happen with teenagers.”

The soft chuckle that left Virgil’s lips warmed Patton’s heart and helped lift the remaining tension.

They soon arrived at an Italian restaurant and Patton finally managed to take a better look at Virgil, which he couldn’t do in the dark confines of the car. He couldn’t say the man looked very different from the usual, but he had to admit that the black boots that came up to the middle of his calves sent his heart thrumming, and the combination of purple and black and dark grey looked perfect on him. Patton had to force himself back to the present to follow Virgil inside, where their conversation only resumed when they had placed their orders.

“So, how long have you and Remy lived here?” Patton asked while they waited for their drinks.

Virgil looked him in the eyes for two seconds before looking down. “About three years. When Remy was one, I got fired from the job I’d had since I’d finished college, and I thought a change of atmosphere would do us both good. It was hard in the beginning, but after a few months, I had a new job, a good pediatric for Rems, and a number of babysitters I could count on.”

Patton tried not to let too much pity show in his eyes. “It can’t have been easy.”

The waiter bringing their drinks gave them pause but the emo man was soon speaking up again.

“I think it would have been harder if Remy were not as sweet as he is.” At that, Patton shared a smile with him, and Virgil pushed a hand through his hair. “He’s almost never ill, has very few tantrums, he’s so quiet and independent, and he knows how to say he likes or doesn’t like something. The hardest thing is that he loves me so much and I can hardly be here for him, I can hardly raise him properly.”

Patton laid a hand on Virgil’s, which were entangled on the table. He jumped a bit, but quickly relaxed and, with a sigh, turned his right hand to entwine his fingers with Patton’s, the left hand coming to rest beside them. “You’re here for him, Virgil. It’s very normal for children his age to miss their parents. A lot of my pupils have breakdowns throughout the day, but I can assure you it’s nothing that can’t be fixed.”

The dark-haired man lifted hesitant eyes on him. “Has Remy done this?”

“Not like his classmates, no. Most children come to me in tears or close to it and ask for their parents. Remy usually retreats to the reading corner with a book he’s familiar with, or to the drawing corner to draw some activity he once did with you. Once he’s done one of these, he’s always back to his energetic self and more attentive to things we learn.”

Virgil breathed out, eyes closed, and smiled at Patton. “Thank you. That’s just what I was saying. He’s such an angel.”

“That he is,” Patton chuckled, pressing the other man’s hand softly.

Something tender and calm seemed to pass on Virgil’s face, before he looked as though it finally registered that they were holding hands. He unclasped his fingers and Patton slowly let go, crossing his fingers in front of him.

The teacher was quite glad for the reprieve of the waiter coming back with their food. They tucked in quietly, Virgil with fusilli with a salmon sauce, and Patton with penne alla carbonara.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while, but if you’re uncomfortable, just tell me and I’ll change the subject.” Virgil nodded, a curious glint in his eyes. “Well… what happened to Remy’s mother?”

He watched for his friend’s reaction, hoping his bluntness wasn’t offending, because he had no idea how to ask differently. Virgil sighed, dropping his cutlery, and took a sip of wine.

“I was expecting it, don’t worry,” he said, looking at Patton with serious eyes. “You can imagine people wonder, seeing such a young dad with a toddler. She… she died giving birth.”

Patton couldn’t help his gasp. Out of every scenario, he hadn’t imagined death would be one.

“The whole pregnancy was difficult. In the beginning, we thought she had miscarried at least three times, and all along, she had about every problem a pregnant woman can encounter. At the end, she couldn’t even walk anymore. The delivery had appeared to go well, but as soon as Remy was born, she had complications and the doctors weren’t able to save her. It was simultaneously the most beautiful and most horrible day of my life.”

Patton spoke from behind the hand covering his mouth. “Oh God, I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine how you must have felt.”

Virgil gave him a soft, vulnerable smile. “It’s okay. I used to have nightmares about it for a year and a half, and I think Remy did too. On the nights we woke up in sweat, we would hold onto each other and fall back to sleep together. It was our way of comforting each other.”

“That’s sweet,” Patton breathed out, brushing the tears that had started pooling under his eyes.

This time, it was Virgil who held out his hand, and Patton gladly took it, squeezing it slightly. “Thank you,” Virgil said in a tone full of gratefulness.

While Patton couldn’t be sure what he was thanking him for – listening? Understanding? Accepting? – he wanted to be here for him in any capacity. His right hand still holding Virgil’s left, he picked his fork back up and resumed eating, Virgil doing the same. They kept their hands linked for a while, drawing comfort from each other.

After a few moments, the emo man let go of Patton’s hand and drank from his glass. The teacher decided to do the same, having not touched his wine since it had been brought. He was wracking his brain for a merrier topic of conversation when Virgil spoke up softly.

“Um, so… How long have you lived here?”

Patton smiled, glad for the change. “My whole life. I was born here, went to school here, even went to the local community college.”

Virgil blinked at him. “And you’ve never thought about moving?”

“Mm, not really. I didn’t want to go elsewhere for college because I always wanted to become a teacher, and then…” Patton cut himself off and met Virgil’s curious glance, unsure if what he had been about to say would bring the mood down again.

“And then?” Virgil prompted.

Deciding that he might as well share a sad story of his own, Patton breathed it. “During my sophomore year, my parents died in a plane crash. They were coming back from a weekend in Europe for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. My brother was finishing high school and about to enroll in college for his medical studies. I had to be there for him, and as I would turn twenty-one a few weeks later, I became his guardian. I took about every job I could, babysitting, tutoring, dog-walking, just so he could have the studies he deserved. After that, I got a job here and moving away hadn’t crossed my mind in years.”

Patton took a breath and a few gulps from his drink and looked back at Virgil. The dark-haired man ate a mouthful of pasta before addressing the story.

“You have a brother?”

Not expecting that to be the first question, Patton laughed, the tension leaving his body. “I do. He’s two years younger and his name is Logan. He’s a doctor now.”

“Does he also live here?” Virgil asked as they continued eating.

“Yes, he works at the town’s hospital. We’ve always been very close, and our parents’ death brought us even closer, despite the lack of time we had together. I think that by coming back here, Logan wanted to show me that he was here for me as much as I was for him.”

Virgil smiled. “That’s nice. I’ve kinda always wanted siblings, to take care of them and have them take care of me, but my parents had both agreed from the get-go that they only wanted one child.”

“Well, it’s not the same, but now you have Remy to take care of. And I’m sure he takes good care of you too.”

Virgil laughed softly, which made Patton’s heart soar; he hid this behind a smile.

“He does, yeah.”

Another few moments passed in silence as they ate. Virgil was, again, the one to pick the conversation back up, and Patton almost wanted to berate himself for that.

“If you’ve been here so long, I suppose you have a lot of friends, or even childhood friends.”

“Well, not really, actually. Many of my friends have moved away after college, or for it. Logan and I do have childhood friends in common, even if they’re more Logan’s friends, because they’re his age. Or, well, even… friends…” Patton trailed off, his eyes gazing to the side.

Surprisingly, it made Virgil laugh, and Patton looked at him again, seeing amusement in his features. “That was real weird, dude. What’s it mean?”

Patton let out a nervous chuckle. “Oh, well. They’re twins, named Roman and Remus. Roman and Logan have been best friends since they were… seven or eight, I think? So it was common to have sleepovers, movie nights, outings of our families together, et cetera. Most of the time it was just Roman, Logan and me, but Remus also made appearances from time to time. I’ll be honest, he’s a little different from us. Always had different friends, different hobbies, different interests. Or so I thought, because he started dating my brother last year.”

Virgil emitted an acknowledging noise, cutting Patton short. “You make it sound like it’s a bad thing.”

Patton felt his face trying not to scowl. “Well… I just don’t understand what he sees in him! I think he’s weird and eccentric, he’s a forensic scientist with weird methods even for his field, and they’ve never been close. There were even times when I wondered if Logan would ever date, but I never thought that would be someone he might like. Besides, they moved in together after barely six months together! I know Roman agrees with me – even if it might be jealousy speaking. This relationship made all of ours fragile.”

As he took a deep breath, he suddenly realized he had been ranting and he closed his eyes. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay. I think it’s clear you care about him.” Virgil comforted him with a warm smile, once he opened his eyes. “I’m sure your brother is smart; don’t you think he knows what he’s doing?”

Patton sighed. “Yeah, he is smart. And…” He looked away, thinking of what happened on Wednesday. “I know Remus cares about him almost as much as I do, but I can’t help worrying about him. Just two days ago, Logan had a car accident, and I wanted to be there for him. When he called me, I thought he needed my help, but it turned out he only wanted me to know about it. Apparently, Remus had already taken care of everything. Even now, I can’t rest easy without seeing for sure that he’s okay.”

At that moment, Virgil’s face changed, and a guilty look darkened it as he looked down. “Oh, well if you’d rather be with-”

“No, that’s not what I was saying!” Patton lunged forward, resting his hand on his friend’s forearm. “I only meant I would have liked to make sure he’s okay, but he is, I’d just rather see it to believe it. You have nothing to do with it, and I’m very happy to be here with you, please don’t feel bad.”

The other man nodded, but the look on his face didn’t move.

“Virgil?”

“Yeah I- I heard you. I just… kind of feel the same about Remy when he goes to my parents’ house. They’ve been supportive and helpful since he was born, but sometimes I feel like I’m using them. I never want to bother them more than I already do.”

Patton moved his hand along the sleeve-covered forearm, hoping to bring some comfort. “They’re your parents, they care about you, and about Remy. I’m sure they’re not bothered at all, and it’s okay to ask for help every once in a while. And if you still feel bad, just remember that now you know someone new who you can count on if needed.”

He met Virgil’s eyes with a warm smile and willed every pore of his face to appear encouraging.

“Yeah, right. Thank you, Pat.” The relief that had reached his face suddenly crumbled with horror, and he covered his face with his hands. “Oh, not again,” he groaned. “Sorry.”

Quick to catch on, Patton gently pried the hands away. “I already told you it’s okay to call me Pat.” Seeing the other about to protest, he pressed on. “Would you feel better if I also called you by a nickname? So we could be on equal footing?”

Virgil chuckled, as if to hide his anxiousness. “Yeah, maybe that would work. You can call me Virge.”

“Alright Virge.”

“Alright Pat.”

They burst out laughing, the heavy atmosphere lifting easily. As they finished their plates before they could get cold, Patton mentally appreciated the progress of the evening. He couldn’t deny that it was a nice time, with conversation easily flowing. That alone was enough to make him wonder about his relationship with Virgil, because his ability to talk without stumbling on words or finding the right ones would usually fly out the window on every first date he’d ever had. Being able to call him Virge and Patton’s own reaction to his outfit or make-up were things that made him realize – once more – that he would love for them to become more than friends.

Once they were finished and Virgil had paid, insisting that it was his treat because he hadn’t even given him money for last Saturday, they continued their discussions in the car until they arrived at Patton’s house.

“Thank you for tonight, Virge. I had a lovely time.”

“Me too. Would you… would you want to do this again sometime?”

Patton couldn’t be sure his heart hadn’t just crashed through his chest. He tried his best to maintain a calm voice. “Yes, I would like that. Maybe something at my place? I’ll think of something and let you know when I see you next week, if it’s okay?”

“Yes, that sounds good.” Virgil smiled at him and Patton naturally returned it.

They said their goodbyes and Patton got out, waving at the car until it was out of sight. He made his way to the house, where he was promptly greeted by his dog, who jumped on him.

“Hey Ellie! Oh, I hope your evening was as good as mine, because it was perfect!” He walked over to the couch and sat down, the dog jumping next to him and resting her paws and head on his knees. “The food was so good, and Virgil, my girl, he looked so nice! I never knew emo would do it for me! But you know, that’s not the most important. What matters the most is that we talked, a lot, and easily! You know how I normally get, this must be a sign! We talked about my brother, and my life here, and his life here, and Remy and his mom, and-”

He cut off with a gasp. That right there, was a major set-back.

Patton groaned – or whined, or both – and buried his face in his hands. Ellie echoed his whine, questioning him, and licked his hands.

“How could I have been so naïve? If Virgil has a son, and had a wife, that means he’s probably not even gay! Ugh, I’m so stupid!”

The full weight of his dog on him and the saliva on his hands brought him back to the present. When he uncovered his face, Ellie let out a bark.

“Hey, be nice! I can call myself stupid if I want to.” Another bark. “No, I’m not overreacting. Just because he invited me out and we talked easily doesn’t mean he’s interested in dating me! Maybe he doesn’t even want to date anymore, I mean, just because his wife has been dead for four years doesn’t mean he’s over it.”

Patton gasped again. “Oh my gosh, that was really mean. I don’t mean that. I just want him to be happy…”

Ellie nudged his cheek with hers, letting out a comforting, soft whine. Patton wrapped her in his arms, burrowing his face in her fur.

“You’re right. I don’t know what he thinks, and he doesn’t know what I think.” He breathed in, and out. “I think I’ll just let this sink in during the weekend and see what comes out of it. That will give me time to figure out what to do with him when he comes here.”

*

Virgil had forced himself not to think about the evening before he was back home, knowing that he needed his full concentration on the road. Now that he was in his apartment, leaning against the front door and staring at his empty living space, he wished, for the first time in a long while, that his son were here. He, at least, would help distract him from the thoughts twirling madly in his mind.

The emo man groaned, slid to the floor and breathed deep in and out. He wasn’t sure if he could even start to think about the night’s events, because he was so confused. He was almost positive he could feel happiness, trust, relief, hope and a hint of affection, but these feelings, mixed with anxiety, doubt, slight fear and all his questions, were what made him feel confused.

Should he be so happy after a simple dinner with a new friend? Was it a simple dinner, or closer to a date? Could he trust Patton and allow himself to be so vulnerable? Why had he asked for another date? What would Patton say next time he saw him? Why had every gesture, every soothing word, every new topic come so naturally? What would happen if they found themselves alone again? What did he even want? Was he ready for a relationship? Did he like Patton? What about Remy?

When he failed to gasp and his chest hurt because of it, Virgil realized he was hyperventilating. Familiar with the feeling, he began to breathe in, then hold it, and out, then hold it again, forcing his breathing to become regular again. He massaged his temples, his thighs, his hands. When he felt like he was in control, he stood up and walked to the kitchen sink, pulling a glass from a cupboard, and drank long gulps of freezing water.

Now that he was calm, he felt more capable of addressing his thoughts. Looking at it rationally, he knew that his last thought, the one to bring him out of his musings, was not something to worry about. If there was one thing about Patton that he could be sure of, it was that he cared about family, and about Remy.

He had shown it time and time again, easily switching from an attentive teacher to a caring father figure. Virgil had known that family was important to him, from a discussion a couple of weeks ago in which he’d learned that Patton wanted to have a big family with many children and animals, and after hearing about his brother, he could see that his present family was just as important. He also felt that Patton saw Virgil and Remy as an inseparable entity, and that getting closer to one meant getting closer to the other.

Virgil felt relief surge through him, but it still begged the question: what did he want? What did he expect from Patton and from whatever form their relationship would take?

One thing was sure, even if he couldn’t explain it, being around Patton felt natural. Holding his hand, letting him pat his arm and keep his hand there, once Virgil had accepted that it didn’t necessarily mean anything and was a safe gesture, had felt comforting and a bit like they were meant to do it. All this talk about asking for help, too, had felt like advice he was overdue receiving, instead of berating or making him feel weak. He’d finally understood that he wasn’t alone, and Patton was offering. Maybe that was one thing he could expect without feeling like he was using him.

Another thing was sharing. It had been the first time he’d talked in detail about what had happened to his wife since telling his parents. While having to explain the absence of Remy’s mom wasn’t unusual, it was the first time he’d been willing to share the whole story. He hadn’t even had to think about it and when he’d realized he’d shared everything, he was the one holding his hand out to Patton. Besides, the other man had also shared a vulnerable aspect of his past. That meant he trusted him and probably hoped that Virgil trusted him too. And he did.

Virgil had never known why he hadn’t even looked for another relationship, even after he’d accepted his wife’s departure. Now, he thought he might simply not have met someone he could trust blindly enough to let himself go.

Yes, Virgil thought as he went to get ready for bed, I want a relationship with Patton.

Patton was kind, attentive, caring, sensitive and patient, amongst other things. He was interested in Virgil’s life without being intrusive. And the emo couldn’t deny, for all that he didn’t want to examine these thoughts, Patton had a kind of attractive charm to him. He hadn’t realized before, and though the whole teacher-polo look suited him well, seeing him in a light blue, round-neck shirt had definitely done things to Virgil’s heart that he hadn’t felt in years. Patton was, in a sense, similar to how Virgil’s wife had been, yet undeniably different.

This made Virgil realize, once again, that Patton was a man and Virgil had no right feeling so at ease with the thought of dating him.

The emo turned off the light in his room and slid into his bed and, as if that was all darkness brought with it, he felt the anxiety and doubt creeping back.

What worth were these thoughts and wants if Patton didn’t want the same? Who was to say the flirting wasn’t that and he simply wanted a friend? He had hinted to losing all his friends, after all. What if Patton didn’t like men? Virgil himself wasn’t even sure of that.

Feeling unsettled, Virgil turned onto his side, trying to recall the joy in Patton’s voice when Virgil had offered another date. He sighed, guessing he would just have to wait and see what Patton would come up with.

He thrashed around a few more minutes and, when sleep finally claimed him, his last thought was that, if anything, he had gained a good friend.

***

Chapter Text

“Alright, thank you Roman… Why don’t we skip a few lines and come back to this later?”

The voice actor nodded, mentally trying to figure out what had gone wrong. After a minute, he realized that he couldn’t recall his previous lines and that was exactly the problem. He breathed in, cleared his mind, and breathed out.

For a few moments, he was back in character and boasting lines in a voice that he had mastered years ago. However, after about five minutes, the director interrupted him again as he read the same lines that he’d messed up a few minutes before.

“Roman, buddy, what’s going on today? Do you understand what these lines are about?”

Roman dragged a hand across his face and sighed, taking in the sheets in front of him.

“I’m not sure,” he answered.

“Ok, that’s not a problem. Take your time to read them through and understand them, and we’ll go back to it when you’re ready. I can help if you still don’t get it.”

Roman gathered the papers in his hands and sat down on the floor. This voice session was for a character that he knew how to do, how to be, because he’d been voicing him for a few years; besides, it was a knight in a cartoon, what more could he ask for? However, today, there seemed to be a problem; he didn’t know if the problem lay with the character, the lines, or simply his own mood. He didn’t think he was not in a good mood for his job, but he had to admit he was a bit distracted – that much was clear for the fact of not remembering what lines he’d already done and what they were about.

Roman sighed and read the lines he was supposed to say.

I have been sent here by the people of the nearby village, Wool-on-Shore, to vanquish the evil beast that has been tormenting them for days. Tell me, Shark, what is your business with them?

At once, Roman knew why he couldn’t finish the line. Having a shark as the villain of the story was too much of a reminder of how people were used to viewing sharks, for one part, and of how he’d met Damon, for the other. Now, the first image that came to mind when he tried to imagine the vilified shark of the story was that of Sharpie, the shark in the aquarium with the gash on one jaw. Of course, the second image directly after that was Damon, smiling at him in what Roman knew was a smile reserved for him.

How on earth will I ever be able to concentrate on my job if I can’t help thinking of Damon all the time? thought Roman, his hands coming to support his head as he sighed in defeat.

These past few days, he had been rather grateful for the direction their relationship was taking. They hadn’t seen each other again since their dinner date, four days ago, but they had talked on the phone and texted every day. Roman felt that he was really falling for the man, and he was hopeful for anything the future had in store for them. He was starting to see how his meeting with Damon and everything that had followed was influencing his life.

Just the day before, he had taken a walk intended for a few minutes, but had ended up coming back home two hours and a half after he’d left, because he’d had to stop a few times to write lyrics that were coming to his mind. It was easy, for him, to whistle or hum a melody as he walked, and that day, he could hear sentences forming almost immediately. Once he’d arrived home, he’d sat down to look at the results, and noticed that everything was related to Damon in a way or another; he’d thought of their meetings, of the feelings he’d had before that and how they’d changed since, of their dates. Without being too narcissistic, Roman could safely say that these were easily the best words he’d ever come up with for a song, and they fit the melody like a glove.

Roman came back to the present with the realization that dating Damon could actually turn into something positive for his jobs. He just had to figure out how liking someone who was friends with sharks could help him today.

The voice actor read his lines again, with some of the ones he’d already done and some of the next ones he had to do. After a few more minutes, he thought he was ready to try again, and he stood up.

“Ready to go?” asked the director.

“Yeah, I think I finally got it this time,” Roman affirmed with more strength in his voice than there was before.

The man on the other side of the glass smiled. “Good. Let’s go then.”

With a clear mind, it took only a few minutes to get through all the lines, and by the end everyone was happier and less tense than they had been a half hour ago.

Once Roman reached his car, he called Damon.

“Hello Roman,” came the drawling voice after three rings.

“Hi. Are you busy? I want to tell you about my day.”

Damon laughed softly, probably at the unexpected enthusiasm. “Sure, because I was crawling under work on a Saturday evening.”

“Oh, right, I forgot it was Saturday. Well, I was at work, maybe that’s why. I was in the studio, voicing a new episode of Sir William the Valiant. I-”

Damon cut him off with a startled laugh. “Sir who?”

“Sir William the Valiant. He’s a knight who comes to the aid of the people in the nearby villages. Today, he had to fight a shark who had taken a small village as a target, and I had trouble saying the lines addressed to the shark because I could only see Sharpie and you and there’s nothing mean about either of you.”

Damon emitted a soft noise that Roman didn’t know how to interpret until he spoke. “That’s really nice of you to say.”

“And it’s true. In the end, I had to imagine the poachers who’d trapped Sharpie in the place of the shark, just so I had someone to vilify. I also wanted to tell you that yesterday, I wrote a song that tells our story, and it was one of the best I’ve ever written, if not the best. The conclusion to this is that having you in my life is starting to influence my work life both positively and negatively. I say negative because it’s hard to think of something other than you at times,” Roman finished with a smile he couldn’t help.

“And is this a good thing for getting to know yourself?”

“Well, I think you’re actually changing me a bit, but it’s ok because I feel I’m going towards a better me thanks to you.”

“I’m flattered.”

“Hey, it’s a good thing. Logan told me that love changes people, and when it’s for the best it means that it’s good.”

“Well, he’s not wrong.”

“He usually isn’t,” Roman laughed.

When he got home, several minutes later, a certain part of the conversation came back to Roman. Love changes people. Did that mean Roman was in love with Damon?

He couldn’t answer that question for sure, because he didn’t know if he was there already, but what he did know was that he was well on the way to it. He could only hope Damon would make that way at the same pace as him.

*

Logan had agreed to one day off work to recover from the accident, only because he knew first-hand how stubborn doctors could be when it came to the health of their patients. To help his conscience, he had then worked for three days straight on the longest shifts he could get, to the dismay of Remus, who had hoped to spend the weekend with him. When he’d expressed as much to Logan, the doctor had offered to take Monday off and organize the whole day for the two of them.

Both had been satisfied with that agreement, until Remus got called into work for a new case early on Monday morning. He’d been apologizing repeatedly as he got ready to leave, until Logan pulled him against him, seizing an opportunity when Remus had moved back to the nightstand to retrieve his badge, and silenced him with a kiss. He’d made him promise to be back home for dinner and assured him that he’d have everything ready for a quiet evening together.

As such, Logan was now in the kitchen, mixing up an Italian dressing for a salad, surrounded by the delicious smell of lasagna cooking in the oven.

He’d spent the morning cleaning the house and the afternoon shopping for their dinner, subsequently baking a tiramisu and then getting started on the lasagna. He felt good for using every minute of the day to create the perfect evening for his boyfriend and him.

When the dressing was done, Logan checked the timer on the oven, which indicated ten minutes, and the clock, which told him it was almost seven, meaning that Remus should be there soon; how soon, one could only guess, for the forensics scientist could throw himself into his job for hours without break, especially on the first day of a new case, when there was all the evidence to collect and analyze.

As nothing more could be done in the kitchen, Logan gathered the necessary tableware and started setting the table. When that was done, he went to his bedroom to change into a deep blue button-up shirt and black slacks, before going back to the dining room. There, he turned on a classical music radio, lit two candles and dimmed the other lights.

At that moment, the front door opened and Remus came in, calling “Honey, I’m home!” as was his habit when he knew Logan would already be there. It had started as a joke when Logan had first moved in with him, because Remus didn’t normally use that pet name, contrarily to Logan, but after a few weeks it had stuck. Logan actually liked that habit, because it always gave him a warm feeling inside.

He joined his boyfriend in the hall just as he was taking off his coat and toeing off his shoes. “Hi love,” he greeted as he moved close to kiss him.

“Hey babe,” Remus replied, and his breath hitched when he looked at Logan’s clothes. “Ooh, aren’t we looking good tonight.” Immediately, he moved back towards Logan, sliding his hands along his sides and down to his backside, pulling him close.

Logan took his hands and brought them back to his waist. “Patience, Remus. I’ll have you know that I have a precise plan for tonight, and ‘sexy time’ isn’t the first thing in it.”

“But it is part of the plan?”

“You will see. For now, go change, dinner is almost ready.” Just as he said that, an alarm rang from the kitchen. They separated, Remus going to change and Logan going to retrieve the lasagna from the oven.

Barely two minutes later, they were in the dining room facing each other, plates of fuming lasagna and glasses of red wine between them. As Logan wracked his brain for a neutral discussion topic, knowing he couldn’t very well ask his boyfriend about the new case while it was ongoing, he took the time to appreciate his appearance. Remus had opted for a dark green button-up shirt and had even humored Logan with a black bowtie; he only wore it on special and serious occasions, but he must know the effect it had on Logan, otherwise he would have stuck with the shirt for the night. In any case, the shirt and bowtie complemented his face well, and Logan fully appreciated the effort.

In the end, it was Remus who brought up a conversation topic, as unpleasant as it might be. “Darling, can we talk about the situation with your brother? I didn’t want to bother you with this over the weekend, or tonight, but I think we’ll never talk about it otherwise.”

Logan sighed and stalled by slowly cutting his lasagna and eating a portion.

“Very well, but we must also address the situation with your brother. I’ll let you start, however.”

Remus frowned. “What has Roman got to do with anything? Oh well, we’ll talk about that later. Don’t you think that after more than a year, Patton should have come to terms with our relationship? I mean, it’s not like he didn’t know me before we started dating.”

“Yes, I see what you mean, and I agree with you. I’m still not sure what Patton thinks about all of this exactly, but I can guess.”

“Is this just him being the overprotective older brother he’s been since your parents died?” Remus asked, knowing that this was an explanation Logan often gave.

“In part, yes. But I think that he’s also sort of projecting his ideals for a relationship on me. It’s like he wants to decide what I should look for in a boyfriend, when that is only my decision to make. And I think that’s a bit hypocritical coming from him, since he’s never been able to ask anyone out for all that he stutters when he talks to a man.”

There was an edge of annoyance in Logan’s voice, as there always seemed to be when he talked about his brother, ever since Patton had made it clear that he didn’t agree with his relationship with Remus.

“And what are his ideals? What about yours?” Remus asked, moustache lifted in a corner, like this was some inside joke between them, when really, it wasn’t.

Logan half wanted to roll his eyes and reply ‘you know them’, but he realized that despite being together for more than a year, and being happy with their relationship as it was, they had never talked about ideals or plans for the future. Although they had moved quite fast in the beginning, their relationship for the last seven months had been – not stagnant but – sort of taken for granted: Patton and Roman seemed to have some trouble accepting them dating, so Remus and Logan had settled for their quiet life, isolated from their families, but happy together. Logan wouldn’t change it for the world, but he had to admit that, for someone who liked to make plans and had planned to become a great doctor by the age of 25 (which he’d achieved) and focused on that sole objective for years, living a day-to-day routine with a boyfriend shouldn’t sound like the last important step.

Logan resolved to answer the part about his brother first, but he needed a few seconds to think about it clearly and ate some of his lasagna in order to gather his thoughts.

“You know that Patton has always been a romantic. I guess he would want to settle with someone he feels connected to on a romantic and familial level above all, and he wouldn’t throw himself in the first relationship that comes to him. He has never done such a thing, as it is, and the few relationships that worked out for him didn’t do so for very long, never because of him. You know, I think he half expected me to never even enter a relationship. I know I’d never seemed the type, during college, but it was just not something we talked about. We still don’t, for that matter, because it always means fighting about you.”

“Oh, but I do so love when you take my defense, darling.” The look Remus sent him was almost feral, and Logan couldn’t help the grin that showed on his lips.

“Well, maybe if you weren’t looking for it all the time… Anyway, as I said, Patton is someone who would date with the goal of marrying the guy after a few years, and I daresay that’s what he wants for me too.”

Remus shot him an indecipherable look. “And what do you want?”

Logan blinked and then stalled by drinking his wine. “Well, I’ve always wanted to be with someone who would be on the same level as me intellectually, or close to it, and I’ve always known that I needed someone different from me; someone to complement me, instead of someone so similar that we had everything in common. I like to think that for all that my brother and I differ on many things, marriage is something that is as important to me as it is to him. And, because my profession is one that can be unpredictable, I needed someone who liked living day by day without worrying too much about planning, to help me learn that not everything needs to be written before it happens. I think you fit almost all of these traits,” Logan finished with a heated glance at his boyfriend.

“Almost?” Remus asked with amusement. “What, do I not meet your requirements for intelligence?”

“No, I-”

“Teasing,” Remus cut him off, appearing to enjoy the sight of his flustered boyfriend, as always. Regaining seriousness, he leaned across the table and took Logan’s hand in his. “If you’re worried about how I feel about marriage, just know I had never even considered it before dating you. I think you’re not the only one who needed someone to complement him. You can tell your brother that, the next time he tells you that you should consider someone who’d like to be settled with you.”

Logan’s heartbeat definitely picked up at all the info his boyfriend had revealed in a couple of sentences. Trying hard not to think about what Remus’ words about marriage meant, he concentrated on the warm feeling that he had upon understanding that Remus knew what he and Patton fought about most, even if they’d never really talked about it before.

“Now,” Remus’ voice took on a gentler tone, and he started stroking the back of Logan’s hand with his thumb. “Don’t you think that Patton has spent so long acting as your caretaker that it explains his attitude toward you dating someone like me? And we’re not talking about what that last bit means, we both know how he sees me.”

Logan had been about to argue that his and Patton’s view of Remus were very different, and that Patton would always be wrong until he really got to know Remus, but his boyfriend once again proved that he was ahead of him. Instead, he thought about what Remus had suggested.

If he had to define what annoyed him the most about Patton, besides his habit of wanting to decide everything in his place, Logan would say it was his overbearing love. When their parents had just died, he had understood that Patton would care for him and work more than he was able to in order to deal with the grief. It was what Logan did too, focusing on his studies to avoid thinking about his parents’ fate. It lasted until they talked about it, the first Christmas after their death.

Logan had been home for the break, and it was the first time they’d seen each other since he’d left for college, not to mention one of the only times they’d spoken. Logan had woken up during the night of Christmas Eve and had found Patton crying in the kitchen, clutching a glass of milk in his shaking hands. He had poured himself another glass and sat down next to his brother, and soon, they were crying together and talking about everything. It was in that moment that they’d both realized they were the only family they had left, and they needed to show each other how much they loved one another, instead of finding comfort in over hours work.

The thing was, now that Logan was an accomplished adult, a successful doctor, and the half of a perfectly happy and working couple, he felt that Patton should shift the focus of his ‘motherly’ love.

Logan sighed, coming back to reality and clutching Remus’ fingers in his hand. “I just wish he could see that I’m happy with you and that what matters is the here and now,” he admitted in a voice that sounded weak to his own ears.

Remus brought his other hand to their joined hands. “I also hope he will. Maybe he should actually find a good and lasting boyfriend to understand how you feel.”

“Yeah, I was just thinking he needed to pour his overbearing love elsewhere,” Logan said in a sarcastic tone.

Remus snorted, then leaned in and brought their hands to his mouth to kiss the back of Logan’s hand. “Well, here’s what we should take away from this conversation: Patton still views you as his charge and is probably only trying to help you; we know he doesn’t approve of me, but if you fight about it, you can tell him that I’m not playing with you and what we have is serious; all that, and he needs to take his own advice for himself.”

Logan laughed a bit a retrieved his hand, drinking his wine and taking a bite of his lasagna. “Yes. Thank you, I think we actually reached a new point in our usual argument about my brother.”

“You’re very welcome, darling.” Remus leaned back in his seat, glass in hand, and raised an inquisitive eyebrow at his boyfriend. “You said we needed to talk about my brother?”

“Mmh, yes,” Logan said, then took a few bites of salad. “It seems to me that you always accuse Patton of disagreeing with our relationship, but Roman does the same.”

He let that sink in for a few seconds and ate his lasagna, watching Remus closely. His boyfriend seemed to have a quick retort on his tongue but refrained from speaking without having thought about it first.

“Yes, well… You’re right, I guess. It’s easier for me to see that Patton holds something against us, because he’s your family, and it’s easier to ignore Roman, because it’s something I’ve done for years. I generally don’t care about what he thinks about me.”

“Except in this case, it’s not what he thinks about you that matters, but what he thinks about us as a couple, and about himself.”

“How so?” Remus asked, eyes widening and eyebrows shooting up under his fringe.

“He came to see me three weeks ago. He wanted to know how I had managed to find love with you when I had never looked for it before and when I’d known you for years without anything happening. I think that was essentially the goal of his visit, but we also talked about how us being together affected some of our habits. Now,” Logan paused to drink, before leveling Remus with a serious stare. “What I sensed from him throughout that whole conversation was that he is doubting himself and feeling insecure. I could tell he was jealous, not only of us being in a successful relationship, but also of you for getting to date me; I expect during twenty years of friendship, there must have been times when he felt he was in love with me, even if I was oblivious to it at the time.”

Remus gawked at him, then snorted. “Well, that explains that. It’s no wonder he disapproves of us if he’d rather be in my place.”

“Well, that’s the thing,” Logan said, tilting his head to the side. “I think he’s finally coming to terms with it. He was trying to understand why I drink coffee when I’ve never particularly liked it, and I explained that I’d got used to it, just as you have gotten used to our quiet nights. It seemed like he’d finally understood that we love each other and that it’s why we’re still together.”

Remus’ brow furrowed as he ate. “Well then, why did you say that Roman also disapproves of our relationship? What do we need to discuss?”

Logan tried not to look like he knew he did when he was trying to make someone learn something. “Just because he is coming to terms with it doesn’t mean he approves of it. Actually, I think he and Patton are in the same kind of situation: they both need to be more confident with themselves and maybe find someone to show them what they’re worth, and they need to hear from us that what we have is real and serious. It’s not urgent, but I think the next time they confront us about it, we should tell them that. And, you know, maybe it would be even better if they heard from their brother.”

“Ok, I understand. I’ll see if the situation comes up, but you know that Roman talks to you more than to me.”

Logan smiled encouragingly, hoping to convey that he thought they ought to talk more, and they finished their lasagna with other conversation topics.

“Are you up for dessert now or would you like to wait a while?” Logan asked as he got up and gathered their dishes.

When Remus didn’t immediately answer, he glanced at him only to find that his boyfriend was no longer in his seat. Before he could look around, however, he found himself turned around and pressed again the table. “I can think of another kind of dessert that I was promised was part of the plan for tonight,” Remus said with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

“I never promised anything,” Logan replied before looping his arms around Remus’ neck and pulling him into a hungry kiss.

***

Chapter Text

Patton had thought at length, over the weekend, about what kind of activity he could do with Virgil.

What he knew was as followed: he and Virgil had taken a big step forward in their friendship, judging by the deep conversations they’d had and their body language – none of them would have been at ease holding hands a few weeks ago; they were able to talk for a long time – assuming they hadn’t burnt through all available topics yet; they had both liked spending an evening together and wanted to do it again.

What he wasn’t sure of was: did last Friday night count as a date, or did friends normally go out and have dinner? Should he suggest Virgil take Remy with him, or would that send mixed signals? And, the biggest doubt, what was Virgil expecting of him?

Patton’s first idea for a second evening together – because he refused to call it a date until Virgil did – had been to invite him over; he’d said as much when Virgil had suggested a repeat. Consequently, he thought being in his apartment would make for an easy-planned evening, but it wasn’t the case. The teacher couldn’t cook if he put all his will into it – he was still wondering how he’d managed to re-heat a pizza for Remy and him when he’d watched him ten days ago. Patton also feared that inviting Virgil at his place would be too much for him, what with being in a new, unknown location. And he had this nagging feeling that he should invite Remy as well. At first, Patton convinced himself with the reasoning that it would avoid Virgil searching for a babysitter with two days’ notice, but there was something deep inside of him that told him that evening wouldn’t be the same without Virgil’s kid there.

He knew what Remy meant for Virgil; seeing them interact when he came to get him after school, hearing him talk about his son, observing the drawings hung all around their apartment, all of that was enough to know that. And although Patton couldn’t be sure of what kind of relationship Virgil wanted to have with him, he knew that the form it would eventually take would involve Remy.

That was why he’d decided, in the end, to invite both of them, and when Virgil came to the school on Monday, after every other parent had picked up their child, Patton felt sure of his choice.

“Daddy!” Remy called when he looked up from the book he was reading and spotted his father a few feet from him. He ran towards him, book clutched in his hands. “Look what I’m reading!”

Virgil accepted the quick hug with amusement and crouched onto one knee to look closer.

“This is about colors! See? It says-” He paused to point with his finger. “The b-ball… is r- red. The ball is red!”

“Good job, Rems!” Virgil praised him with a kiss to his temple.

Remy beamed at him and ran back to the reading corner to put his book away. If Patton told him not to run in the classroom, it would be at least the twentieth time in almost a month, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. Instead, he turned to his dad.

“Hey Virge.”

For a second, Virgil looked surprised at the nickname, but he gathered himself and smiled.

“Hi Pat. How are you?”

“I’m good, thank you. And you? Have a nice day?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Work’s good, Mondays are usually busy. Keeps me out of my head, you know.”

“I can imagine, yes.”

Patton turned to the reading corner, but Remy wasn’t there; he must be gathering the results of today’s activities.

“So, you know I told you I’d get back to you regarding another… evening like last Friday.” He hoped he caught himself in time not to seem weird, and Virgil simply nodded. “I was thinking this Wednesday might be a good day; the next day would be your day off and Remy would only have school in the afternoon.”

Virgil pulled out his phone and, after a few taps, said, “Yeah, I’m free. What did you have in mind? You mentioned something at your place, right?”

“Yes. I was thinking we could order take-away, whatever you like, and also that you could bring Remy with you, if it’s alright. I wouldn’t mind having him with us and I think he might get along with my dog. And then, either a movie or some type of board game, or both, you know.”

The emo man looked at him with his eyebrows drawn up. “Oh, are you sure? I mean, I can call a babysitter, I’m sure at least one is available.”

Patton wasn’t sure if it was surprise or disappointment in his voice, or maybe something else entirely.

“No, I’m sure. I really like your kid, Virgil. Unless you’d prefer…”

Virgil’s eyes bulged even more and the faintest blush started forming on his cheeks. “No, no, it’s a great idea. Good. I’m sure he’ll love meeting your dog.”

Patton would have given anything to know what was going on in Virgil’s mind in that moment, but he would just have to do without it.

“So, what time works for you? Is seven ok? Or maybe earlier?”

Virgil thought about it for a while. “Well, since I’ll be coming here to pick up Remy at six, maybe we could all go back to your house directly? I think if we started any later we wouldn’t have much time with you.”

“Sure, that’s perfect.” Patton smiled.

Remy came back and started pulling his dad towards the door. “Come on, daddy, we have to go home!”

Virgil and Patton chuckled at his antics. “Oh, and why is that? Do you have something to be doing right now, mister?”

“Yes! I want to practice reading. Come on!” He pulled harder, until he was almost hanging off Virgil’s arm.

“Alright, alright. Well, Patton, I’ll see you tomorrow, but I’m looking forward to Wednesday evening.”

“Yes, I am too. See you tomorrow. Bye, Remy!”

“Bye mister Patton!”

Patton chuckled as he watched them go and gathered his things before closing the classroom. He went to his car, sat down in it and leant his head against the headrest. He couldn’t help a smile as he thought that Wednesday would be a good evening. Whatever happened would be sure to strengthen the relationship between Virgil and him, as well as with Remy. In any case, he wished he could already be there.

*

Virgil breathed deeply in and out as soon as he turned off the engine of his car. He’d tried all day – at work, during his lunch break and while driving – to stay focused on his immediate tasks. But the perspective of his date that evening was persistently at the front of his mind. And that was just it – he kept thinking of it as a date.

He had wondered, last week, if their dinner was supposed to be called a date and he’d never managed to give an answer. Had he not gone out with friends too long to know the difference between a friendly night out and a (potentially) romantic date?

Well, Virgil thought bitterly, that’s kind of what’s happened.

After all, the last time he’d gone on a date went back before Remy was even conceived, and he’d estranged himself from his friends to deal with his grief. All in all, last Friday had been the first time he’d gone out for fun in at least five years, whether he counted it as a date or a simple night out with a friend.

Still, a voice in his head kept telling him that one didn’t share dinner (let alone pay for it entirely) with one single friend out in a restaurant. It would be considered as a friendly outing only if there were more than one friend present.

Virgil shook his head and steeled himself before exiting his car. He wouldn’t find an answer to that unless he talked about it with Patton anyway – not that he wanted to try that.

He made his way to the school and tried to keep his thoughts neutral. He hadn’t even reached the classroom door before he heard his son’s excited voice.

“And we’ll play games?”

Patton’s amused chuckle drifted through the door.

“Yes, if that’s what you want. But you should know that I don’t have all the fun games you have at your house.”

“You don’t? But what do you do when you’re not at school anymore?”

“Plenty of things! I make sure my lessons for the next day are ready, I think of new ideas for you guys, I watch movies, I read, I walk with my dog, I-”

“You have a dog? Is it a boy or a girl? Will I see it? What kind is it? Is it a baby?”

As Patton laughed under the onslaught of questions, Virgil decided it was time to save him.

“Remy, why are you bothering Patton?” he asked, entering the classroom.

But upon discovering his son and his teacher, Virgil had to try his hardest not to lose his breath and his composure. Patton and Remy were sitting on a rug, the teacher cross-legged and his son perched on one thigh. There was a book lying forgotten on their legs and both had an arm around the other’s back.

That sight alone made Virgil’s heart melt, but what did him in was the way they both looked up and beamed as they saw him. Perhaps, if Virgil were anyone else, if it were another day or if Remy were with anyone other than Patton, he wouldn’t have been on the verge of tears. But there, then, after Virgil had spent five days wondering what exactly he felt towards Patton, this felt like the last straw.

A force in his legs informed him that time had gone on, and he looked down at his son, who was holding him tight.

“Daddy, daddy! We have to go now! Mister Patton has a dog! I want to see the dog!”

Virgil exchanged a look with Patton, trying to convey how amused and sorry he was at the same time.

“Don’t worry, he wasn’t that excited all day,” Patton informed him as he stood up. “Although he did start by reminding me that he was coming to my house today, and proceeded to share it with the whole class at ‘welcome time’.”

Virgil laughed a little but was interrupted by Remy tugging on his jeans.

“Daddy, are we going now?”

“Do you think Patton is ready to go? We can’t very well go to his house without him, can we?”

Remy’s eyes widened, and he shook his head before jumping towards his teacher. “Are you ready mister Patton?”

“I just have to take my bag and I’ll be-”

“I’ll get it!” Remy shouted, bolting towards what must be Patton’s desk.

Patton laughed and Virgil sighed. “He doesn’t get that from me.”

The bespectacled man looked at him and said softly, “Are you okay? You looked a little… overwhelmed, just then.”

Virgil felt his face flame. “Y-yeah, that was… nothing. Don’t worry.”

Patton looked at him in wonder for two more seconds, then his shoulders relaxed, and he said, “Well, better make sure he grabs my keys, too,” and left in the same direction as Remy had.

Virgil gasped a little and exhaled, as if he’d been underwater all that time. Resolutely, he thought that no matter what happened tonight, he had to at least wait for the end of the day, and maybe even more than that, before he decided or said anything. Anyways, the best thing to do would be to wait for Patton to say something, that way he couldn’t make any mistake that would ruin everything.

Remy and Patton emerged from behind a panel, the kid blabbering on about how fun the evening would be. Virgil followed them quietly as Remy put on his shoes and coat and grabbed his bag; he watched as Patton turned off the lights and locked the door, and they all made their way towards the parking lot.

“Why are you not coming with us, mister Patton?” Remy asked as Patton walked to his own car.

“Because if he did, his car would stay here and he wouldn’t be able to come back here tomorrow,” Virgil explained.

“Oh. But we’re still coming with you, right?”

“Of course, Remy,” Patton said. “You’re going with your dad and I’m going by myself, but we’ll meet at my house.”

“Oh. Good.”

Virgil frowned a little. Why was his son worried all of a sudden, when he’d apparently spent his day thinking about the evening to come? At first, Virgil had been afraid that he wouldn’t understand what it meant that they were to spend an evening at his teacher’s house, when he explained it to him on Monday. But he’d immediately understood and started making plans for what activities they could do, which had reassured his dad.

Once they were well on their way, driving behind Patton’s car, Virgil asked him. “Hey, Remy, why did you think we wouldn’t be going to Patton’s house if he didn’t drive with us?”

“I thought maybe, maybe he didn’t want us to go, because he was not going with us.”

“But you’ve told him how excited you were, of course he wanted us to go. You remember that it was him who invited us, right?” Virgil caught his son’s eyes in the rearview mirror and watched his face relax.

“Oh yeah, right. So, it’s not because he doesn’t like us?”

Virgil felt his heart shatter. “Oh, baby, of course not. It was just what we decided.” He turned right onto Patton’s street. “Maybe, if we do this again another time, we’ll all go together, all right?”

Remy nodded vigorously. “Yes. I want to go again.”

“You haven’t even gone once yet,” Virgil laughed.

As his son proceeded to tell him once again everything they would be doing during the evening, Virgil wondered where that line of thought had come from. He knew his son was attached to his teacher, but this was something that came from elsewhere. Quite frankly, Virgil had no wish to discover where, but he didn’t want to see his son think that way again.

They pulled up next to Patton’s car in his driveway and everyone got out of their respective cars. Virgil had barely unlatched Remy’s seatbelt that he was jumping out of the car and into Patton’s arms. Bemused, Virgil followed them towards the front door. Patton didn’t let Remy out of his arms while he unlocked and opened the door, but the kid squirmed his way onto the floor as soon as he heard the happy yapping coming from inside.

“The doggie!”

Patton ushered Virgil inside and closed behind them, and Virgil chuckled as he watched his son being swarmed under soppy licks from a beautiful border collie.

“Down, Ellie! Let me at least introduce you,” Patton laughed.

The dog came bouncing to him and he gave her a hug, then she sat down at his feet, tail swishing against the floor.

“Good girl,” Patton praised her with a scratch between the ears. “Well, Ellie, these are my good friends Virgil and Remy. I want you to be nice to them.”

The dog barked, as if approving, and walked in front of Virgil. He bent down to greet her with his hand, palm up, and she promptly placed her head on it. “Hello, Ellie. It’s nice to meet you. You look like a very good girl.”

She gave him a lick on the cheek and turned to Remy, who threw his arms around her. “Hello, miss doggie! We are in mister Patton’s house tonight, because he invited us. I didn’t know he has a dog, but now I know and I love you very much. We’re going to be best friends!”

Patton and Virgil glanced at each other, but the dark-haired man quickly looked away. He wasn’t ready to see if his friend was as moved by this display as he was.

“Well, welcome to my house,” Patton said, moving a little further inside. “Let me take your coats and we can get comfortable in the living.”

Remy discarded his coat and ran back to Ellie, following her through the house, while Virgil slowly took of his coat, looking around.

On their left was a staircase leading to a second floor, and they were standing in a small vestibule that led to an open space comprising the kitchen, dining space and living room. The walls were scarcely decorated with frames containing family photos and there was a fireplace, which gave the whole room a look of coziness.

As Virgil approached a couch, intent to sit down like Patton had suggested, he noticed a sheet of paper on the wall above the fireplace.

“Oh! You did actually hang it in your living room.”

Patton came next to him. “Of course. I usually hang all my students’ drawings in my study upstairs, but this one deserved a better place. I was really touched that Remy would give it to me, and even more by the contents of it.”

When Remy had given the drawing to Patton at the end of the day in which he had watched after him, Virgil had been torn between shock and emotion. For all that he’d previously told Patton how much Remy and him were connected and how much affection his son held for his teacher, he hadn’t known beforehand how exactly Remy viewed Patton. Ever since, he’d started to notice how much Remy mentionned his teacher at the end of the day. It was always “Mister Patton told us this” and “Mister Patton taught us that”, and Virgil was beginning to differentiate the tone in Remy’s voice when he talked about him as a teacher and when he talked about him as a parental figure.

Virgil should have found it reassuring, that his son was growing attached to Patton as much as he did, but there had been so much doubt in his head lately that he couldn’t find it in himself. He was more scared that something would happen to drive them apart (like him announcing unreturned feelings) and that they would both be equally torn because of it.

“Remy, Ellie, could you please not run around in the kitchen?” Patton’s voice brought him back to the present. “Come over here.”

The dog and the child joined them by the couches, where they all sat down. Ellie laid her head on Remy’s lap as soon as he’d taken a seat, and Patton chose to sit next to Virgil.

“Do you know what you want to eat tonight?” He addressed the room at large. Ellie barked and Patton laughed. “Yes, girl, I know what you want to eat.”

Virgil answered next. “Remy told me yesterday that he wanted Mexican food. Would you still like that, Rems?”

“Yes, please.” Remy nodded.

“Alright, then Mexican it is!” Patton announced. “It’ll take a while to get here. Why don’t you two agree on a game while I order? My game shelf is right there.”

As soon as he turned away, Virgil got up and walked to the shelf. He saw many games that were clearly above Remy’s age, but managed to find a few that they could all play together.

“Hey, Rems, what do you think about a memory game?”

Remy gasped quite comically, as children do, before nodding. “Yes please!”

Virgil chuckled and took the box to the dining table. As soon as he placed it down, though, he tensed. Why did he suddenly make himself at home in a house where he’d been for not even ten minutes? What gave him the right to decide of the game and where they would play? What if Patton didn’t like that game and preferred anything else? How could he just-

“A memory game? What a great idea! I haven’t played that one in years!”

Virgil discreetly took a deep breath, reminding himself that Patton had invited them to make themselves comfortable and to choose a game, which gave him every right to do the things he’d just done.

Patton sat down at the table and opened the box. Remy and Virgil joined him, the latter sitting opposite the teacher, and his son taking the seat next to him.

“Have you ever played a memory game, Remy?” Patton asked as he and Virgil set up the cards.

They continued small talk throughout the two games it took for the food to arrive. Virgil and Remy cleared the table while Patton transferred the food from containers to plates, and they all sat down at the table once again.

Remy did most of the talking during the meal, and Virgil couldn’t explain why he felt so relieved and grateful when Patton joined him in coaxing Remy to eat.

After dinner, Remy needed time to release the sugar he’d just ingested, so Patton let him play with Ellie while he and Virgil washed the dishes. Once Remy was able to sit still for longer than five minutes, they settled on a couch to watch Monsters Inc. Remy picked the middle seat, so Patton and Virgil sat on each side of him; Ellie joined them, jumping onto Patton’s knees and resting her head on Remy’s lap, before she stretched her front paws on Virgil’s thighs. Virgil felt very much like she’d already adopted them both.

During the movie, every time Virgil would look at his son, he’d find him fascinated by the action, and when he’d allow himself a glance at Patton, he’d find him equally absorbed. Virgil tried hard to concentrate on what was going on instead of the butterflies in his stomach when he thought of the domestic scene they formed.

When they reached the half-mark, Remy called for a toilet break, so Patton paused the movie and accompanied him. Ellie, having had to jump down from the couch, lay down on Virgil’s feet and he petted her head as he waited for the two to come back.

Virgil looked up as he heard a set of feet climbing down the stairs, finding his son in Patton’s arms, babbling about something that Virgil couldn’t pick up, for all that his ears felt like wasp nests. Patton came back to the couch, sitting in Remy’s place, the kid staying on his lap and laying his head against his shoulder.

Ah, that must have been part of their conversation.

They resumed the movie, and Virgil felt his son gradually doze off as he slumped more and more against his teacher. Virgil managed not to cry as they watched the reunion between Sulley and Boo, only for them to be separated again, but when he heard Patton sniffle at the very end, he let out a teary laugh that might have passed for a sob. He startled a little when Patton found his hand and squeezed it in reassurance, but he entwined their fingers as they watched the bonus scenes.

“I’d love to stay longer, but this guy needs his bed,” Virgil announced when it was truly over, playing with Remy’s foot.

“Sure, I’ll walk you out, I need to take a walk with Ellie anyway,” Patton said, standing up and placing Remy’s legs on either of his sides.

The dog perked up at that, as if she hadn’t been asleep the whole time, and both she and Virgil also got up. Together, they walked to the vestibule, where Patton silently showed Virgil where he’d hung their coats. Virgil grabbed his own and put it on, before gently dressing Remy as best as he could while he stayed in Patton’s arms. He took him back so that the teacher could put on his jacket, put a leash on Ellie and grab his keys.

Virgil tried not to jostle Remy too much as he placed him in his car seat, but the boy slowly blinked until he was alert enough to notice they were leaving.

“Where’s Patton?” he asked, too loud after the last quiet moments.

“I’m right here, Remy,” he answered from behind Virgil, a little closer than he remembered him coming.

Remy attempted to push his dad out of the way, before he backed away and Patton crouched in his place. Remy flung himself at his teacher, squeezing him tight and breathing a ‘thank you’ in his ear. Ellie jumped between them and gave the child a lick.

“Can we come back?” Remy asked when they pulled away.

Patton and Virgil shared a look, and the emo smiled.

“Of course. I’ll talk to your dad and we’ll find a day, okay?”

Remy nodded, rubbing his eyes. “I really liked mister Patton’s house. And, and the doggie is my best friend. And also, I want to play more games. And…”

The adults chuckled when Remy fell asleep again, and Virgil closed his door before turning to Patton.

“I kinda agree with everything he said. I don’t think I’ve ever spent such a great evening while staying at home.”

Patton looked a bit overwhelmed. “Yeah, me too. I didn’t expect it to turn out like this.”

“Like what?”

“Really good. Comfortable.” Patton looked like he might add something to that, but instead he said, “I’m glad Remy enjoyed himself.”

“Yeah,” Virgil agreed. “Like I said before, he really likes you and he gets along so great with you.”

Virgil sort of regretted saying that, afraid that he’d convey the feeling that he was jealous of their easy relationship.

He looked up when Patton placed a gentle, warm hand on his upper arm. “Your relationship is enviable, too, at least coming from someone who’s always wanted kids.”

Virgil wondered when exactly they’d moved to the part of the relationship where they were able to read each other’s thoughts.

“Don’t worry, you’ll do great.” He stayed purposely vague.

Yes, he wanted him to do great by his side, with Remy, but if it ended up not being the case, he knew he’d do great anyway.

Patton cleared his throat and removed his hand. “Well, I’ll let you get home. See you tomorrow afternoon.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow. Thank you for tonight.”

Virgil got into his car and waved at Patton and Ellie as they walked away. Before he started the car, he breathed deeply for a few seconds, trying to clear his head from the million of questions jostling around his mind.

Why did he feel so happy, relieved, hopeful? Why did he feel so anxious, tense, scared? How come the whole evening felt so natural, so easy, so comfortable?

What was going on inside Remy’s mind? What did he think about all this? How did he consider Patton?

What did those small moments mean? Remy falling asleep on Patton’s lap; Ellie being comfortable with strangers; Virgil entwining his and Patton’s fingers; Patton reading his thoughts. What did that all amount to?

He’d hoped this evening would shed some lights on many of the questions he’d had last week and the week before that, which it had, but after tonight, he felt even more confused. And more importantly, he now had the deepest sinking feeling that Patton might not return his feelings, even though the whole thing today had felt so very domestic.

Virgil took another deep breath, buckled his seatbelt, and drove off.

Whatever would come after this, he would leave it in the hands of fate. Or Patton’s. Even if he wanted nothing more than to leave his own heart in Patton’s hands, it would do him no good to keep worrying about things that weren’t entirely in his control.

***

Chapter Text

As it turned out, Virgil was wrong about quite a few things.

Try as he might, he wasn’t able to stop worrying about things that weren’t in his control; instead, it was those things he worried most about. For the remainder of the week, after his second date – totally friendly evening – with Patton, he was unable to think of anything other than what if he doesn’t like me back? Do I even like him that way? It was like a mantra that accompanied him when he woke up, when he worked, when he met Patton at school after leaving or picking up Remy, when he cooked, when he showered, when he slept.

He was also wrong about leaving things in the hands of fate, or even in Patton’s. Of course, out of all the moments to pitch in, it was actually his anxiety that thought it could be in control of those things, by blurting things out when he’d tried so hard to contain them.

And so it was that, after the usual evening routine of Remy showing off something he’d learnt and made during the day, and once he’d run off to gather his things and put away his last activity, Virgil found himself mentioning last Wednesday.

“So, I’ve been thinking a lot lately and I’m a bit confused.”

Patton tilted his head to the right in a very endearing way that resembled a dog’s. “About what?”

“Well,” Virgil said in a murmur, picking at a loose thread in his jacket sleeve. “I’ve been asking myself a lot of questions, because there were a lot of things I wasn’t sure of, about myself, about what we were doing, about us, about you… I don’t even know where to start.”

But once he started talking, Virgil couldn’t stop. “I realized once I invited you to dinner that it was completely different from the coffee you’d suggested to repay you for watching over Remy. Then there was that whole evening, where everything felt so comfortable, and afterwards I kept thinking of it as a date but then I didn’t know if I wanted it to be one or not, or what you considered it as. And I started wondering what I was feeling for you, and if I was maybe gay, and if you were maybe gay. And then I thought about Remy, what would he think of it, what if you were repulsed by the idea of dating someone with a child – but then I remembered that you’d love to have a big family, and that Remy almost already considers you as part of our family, based off the drawing he gave you and how he speaks about you. And then we had that second date at your house, and see, I keep calling it that, and everything was worse because it was so easy to feel comfortable, even though I always felt like I was overstepping, and your dog literally adopted us, and every time I saw you with Rems in your arms I knew I was definitely falling in love with you. And Remy was so anxious to be able to come back to your house and to be sure that you liked us and wanted us to be there, and I want to be able to promise him that, but then I thought what if you don’t like me back, and what if you don’t ever want to see me again when I tell you? And I thought it would be best to just forget all of that and let you do something, but of course that’s impossible and now here I am making a fool of myself.”

By the time Virgil finished, the thread in his sleeve was completely out and he was looking everywhere but at Patton.

“Virge,” came the teacher’s voice, soft and a bit sore after a few minutes of unuse, and it was almost as if there was a lump in his throat. “Could you look at me, please?”

Virgil’s eyes snapped up and he stared at Patton’s eyes, anxious to find rejection in them but only seeing an openness and something else he’d never seen.

“First off, I want to reassure you that you are not the only one with these questions and doubts.” Virgil breathed out a sigh of relief. “As soon as you suggested going out to dinner, I considered it a date, and I had to convince myself over and over that it wasn’t that. But I also felt so comfortable with you that I started wondering if there could be more between us. You should know that I haven’t been able to date a lot in the past because I lose my words and most guys don’t like that, but it’s never been the case with you. And yes, I am gay, and whether you are, or you’re something else, or you don’t want to label it, it’s okay. And, about Remy…”

Patton interrupted himself and took two steps closer, putting his hand on Virgil’s forearm; it felt warm even through his hoodie and Virgil would have given anything to keep it there forever.

“I was so afraid that you wouldn’t want me to come into your lives because I know you want the best for him, and I didn’t think that would be me. But at the same time, I kept remembering all the things you said about my connection to Remy, and I was so confused.” His hand slid down to hold Virgil’s. “But, Virge, one thing I know is that I like you and Remy a lot, you hold a very dear place in my heart, and, like you, I find myself falling in love with you over little things. So, if you agree, I would like us to try and date, for real, and look for a relationship. I know fully well that bringing you in my life includes Remy, and I have absolutely no problem with that, as I think I’ve already shown you a few times.”

From the moment Virgil heard the word ‘love’, he had to concentrate hard to keep hearing Patton over his loud heartbeat. If he’d understood correctly, all he wanted to do now was to say ‘yes’. But, too focused on the sound that was blocking his ears, he started to heave, losing all notions of time, where he was, who was with him, and all feeling in his body. For a few moments, he tried to bring himself back, until he realized he was having a panic attack and he immediately switched to a grounding exercise.

He mentally started listing five things he could see – a bookshelf filled with colorful books; the rug he was sitting on; his black jeans; Patton’s hand clutching his; Patton’s worried-looking face – then four things he could touch – Patton’s hand with his right; the hard fabric of his jeans with his left; the soft rug when he moved his hand; the flesh of his knee when he passed over the hole on it – three things he could hear – his retreating heartbeat; his own breathing; Patton’s voice and the words slowly becoming clearer – two things he could smell – the distinctive odor that came with every primary school building; Patton’s fruity scent – and one thing he could taste – the minty flavor of his breath, due to the chewing-gum he’d gone through while driving here.

After that, he felt noticeably calmer, his breathing having come back to a regular in and out, and all those things had helped remember where he was and who was with him.

“Virgil, are you alright? You look like you’re back.”

“Like my back is what? Finish your sentences, Pat.”

There was a pause before Patton chuckled, then Virgil did the same, and they both fell into loud laughter.

“Sorry,” Virgil said once they’d calmed down, “I tend to make stupid jokes when I’m still out of it.”

“Don’t worry, I love jokes, especially stupid ones. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. I had a panic attack, but as I have them frequently, I know how to ground myself.”

“Oh, good. What did you do, so that I can help better next time?”

Virgil smiled softly. “You helped plenty already. Making me sit, holding on to me, keeping talking to me… I made a list of things that go with the five senses and… you appeared in four out of five, so, thank you.”

“Of course, you’re welcome.”

Virgil realized they were still holding onto each other’s hand and looked around. “Where’s Remy?”

“He came back right when you started panicking, so I sent him to the drawing corner so that he wouldn’t see it.”

“Thanks,” Virgil breathed out. Then, he realized it meant they still had a few minutes. “I- I want to give you my answer.”

Patton looked like he needed to remember what the question was, then he nodded.

“I know that you understand that Remy and I come as one, and I trust that you’ll respect that. I’ve seen you interact with him for weeks, and I know it’s not going to be a problem.” He placed a hand on Patton’s cheek. “I would love to date you and try to make our relationship work, but I think we won’t have any trouble with that.”

Patton smiled at him. “Can I kiss you?” he asked in barely a whisper.

Virgil nodded and they both leaned in. The first moment their lips met, it was soft, unsure, like neither really knew what to do, how far to push, what the other wanted. Then Patton pushed, and Virgil pushed back, and suddenly they were kissing for real.

Just like when Virgil had compared his late wife and Patton, in that they were both complete opposites and quite alike, he felt the differences and similarities. Obviously, the hair that his hand slid into was shorter, and the mouth felt stronger, and the rest of his body, which his other hand had started partly exploring, was entirely different. But Virgil could feel the good intentions, the truth, the honesty, the feelings that came from Patton, and he knew he was very close to actually being in love and so was the other man.

The moment their lips opened and their tongues touched, Virgil groaned and Patton gasped, or maybe it was the other way around, but the only thing that mattered was staying close to Patton and getting more from him. Virgil had the fleeting thought that Patton was now one thing he could taste, in addition to the four other senses from before, and he almost moaned at that idea.

“Daddy?”

Patton and Virgil jumped apart and Virgil bumped his head into the wall, realizing with the loss of heat just how close he and Patton had been. He raised a hand to the back of his head while Patton set to wiping his glasses on his polo shirt.

“What were you and mister Patton doing?” Remy asked, running closer and plonking himself down onto Virgil’s lap.

Virgil cleared his throat, feeling a blush creeping on his cheeks, and heard the distressed noise that might have passed for a high laugh coming from Patton. “Well, you see, Rems, Patton and I have just been telling each other that we like each other a lot, and when adults like each other a lot they… kiss… on the mouth, and that was what we were doing. It’s like when I kiss you on the cheek, but for adults who… um… well, like each other.”

Remy nodded slowly. “I think Sara’s parents do that sometimes. I see them when we come to school. Is it the same thing?”

Virgil blushed harder at the implication and glanced at Patton.

“Yes, it’s a bit of the same thing,” he replied in Virgil’s stead.

“So it’s good, right?”

Patton and Virgil both chuckled, letting go of their tension.

“Yes, baby, it’s a good thing.”

Remy nodded again. “Good. Can I show you my drawing that I made?”

“Yes. What did you draw?”

“So, this is me, and this is Ellie. We’re in the park and we’re walking because mister Patton said he does that when he’s not at school anymore. And this is you and Patton, and you’re holding hands because you do that sometimes. And we’re all in the park because I would like to do that one time.”

Virgil felt overwhelmed with the knowledge that his son had seen him and Patton holding hands, but then he guessed they did that often, and with the fact that he’d, once again, drawn them all as a family. “I love it, Rems,” he said through a tight throat, planting a kiss on top of his head.

“It’s very good, Remy,” Patton agreed. “If you’d like, maybe we could go to the park this weekend, that way you could walk with Ellie.”

He looked at Virgil as if asking for permission at the same time as Remy turned his face and asked, “Can we go, please?”

“I… sure, let’s do that.” He smiled at Patton and the man smiled back, encouraging and relieved and happy all at the same time.

“Remy, you should put this in your bag and put on your shoes and your coat, and we’ll go home.”

“Ok dad.”

Remy hurried off and Patton and Virgil stood up too.

“Well, that went alright.”

Patton laughed. “I expect that was the easiest of the conversations we’ll need to have with him.”

Virgil didn’t know what exactly he meant with that, but he tried not to think too much of it. “Yeah. And… what time do you usually walk your dog?”

“Well, there are several, but I take advantage of weekends for longer walks in the afternoon. Should we say four o’clock at my house, that way Remy can have a nap before?”

“Works for me.”

Patton squeezed his hand. “I’ll go get my things and walk out with you.”

Virgil joined his son outside of the classroom and waited as he put on his shoes and Patton turned off the lights and closed the door.

Once they were next to Virgil’s car, he placed Remy in his seat and the boy asked, “Are you going to kiss again?”

“Do you mean right now or ever?”

“Both?”

Virgil laughed and blushed. “The answer to both is yes.”

He leant back up and turned, finding Patton as close as he’d been last Wednesday, except that time, Virgil hadn’t been standing. The teacher leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on Virgil’s lips, and Virgil slid a hand against his cheek as he did the same.

“See you tomorrow,” Patton whispered.

Virgil repeated his words, and the teacher left for his own car.

Once he was seated in the front seat, Virgil realized he had a boyfriend, however surreal that sounded.

*

Damon smiled as he reached the aquarium that morning. The day before, Wednesday, had been his day off, because he would be working the coming Sunday for the last show of the year. He liked the shows the aquarium organized for the public every so often, because it was different from his daily work in the tanks. Everyone got to show off their trained animals’ skills, whether it be the orcas jumping around, the seals juggling balls or the penguins doing choreographies.

When he’d first started there as an intern, the boss had warned him that he would probably enjoy that part of the job, but that the daily tasks of feeding, cleaning and taking care of the tanks and the animals would get boring. But Damon loved every part of his job, and he was looking forward to the rehearsals they had planned this afternoon, even if it meant preparing a tank to transfer the orcas.

But as he entered the building, he stopped in the doorway and his breath hitched. Policemen and women seemed to be swarming the place, looking through personal belongings and interrogating his colleagues. Two men pushing a stretcher with a black shape on it a little further made his heart leap into his throat.

A man and a woman in civil clothes with a bright red armband stating ‘POLICE’ approached him.

“What’s going on?” he asked with a small voice.

“Do you work here?” the woman asked.

“Yes. I- What happened?”

“I’m detective Stevens and this is detective McCarthy,” the man gestured to his colleague. “Mister Brock was found dead this morning by the janitor of this establishment. We will need to ask you questions so please stay on hand for a few minutes. What is your name?”

“I’m… Damon Garcia,” Damon answered, his mind going numb at the news that his boss, the director of the aquarium, was dead.

He didn’t understand the look the two detectives shared. “Actually, we’ll need you to come with us right now, if you please.”

“Why? I um… I mean, yes, of course.”

“You work with the sharks, is that correct?”

Damon nodded. Had his sharks been involved? How exactly had the director died? Were the animals okay?

“Then follow us, please.”

He followed numbly as the detectives led him to a conference room that had apparently been taken over as an interrogation room. They showed him a seat and sat down in front of him.

“What happened? Are the sharks okay?” He asked as soon as he’d touched his chair.

The detectives once again shared a look, and the man spoke. “I’m no expert, but I’d say they are. Now, we’ll start with some questions about you. How-”

“Can’t I just ask what happened exactly? I don’t understand why I’m here. Why- how did mister Brock die?”

“Unfortunately, we cannot tell you the details before we’ve asked our questions. You will know faster if you just cooperate.”

Damon sobered up and nodded, sitting back in his seat.

“How long have you worked here?”

“3 years, but I was an intern for a year before that.”

“Did you know mister Brock well?”

“Well… yes, he’s- he was quite close to all of us. He would often come see how we worked during the day, or ask us for ideas for improvement of small things. He was a really great director.”

Damon finished with a sob that he couldn’t hold back, and he was grateful that the woman handed him a tissue and the man waited before asking his next question.

“You don’t think he could have committed suicide, then?”

Damon’s head snapped back at that. Why would they still not tell him what had happened?

“No. He was really happy. He had a happy life both at work and with his family. Why do you ask that?”

“It’s just a possibility, until we hear from forensics and the coroner. But murder is as much a possibility.”

Damon gulped and nodded.

“What were you doing yesterday?”

“It was my day off. I spent it with my boyfriend.”

“All day? Can he attest to that?”

“Yes, he can, and yes, all day. We were out all day and ate dinner at a restaurant, and then went back to my place together.” Damon narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“It’s only the procedure,” the woman said when she noticed his look. “If you give us a list of the places you went and your boyfriend’s phone number, we’ll check it out.”

Damon relaxed and wrote down all the info on the notebook detective Stevens handed him.

“Now, can you tell us who has access to the shark tank?”

“Me and my colleague Shanna Black, and, I guess, mister Brock. He had the duplicate of all keys even though he didn’t usually go inside the tanks.”

“We have one more question and then we will be able to inform you of the few details we know. Do you feel mister Brock had any enemies?”

Damon thought about it for a few seconds. “No, I don’t think he did. Of course there were always clients who’d be very loud with complaints, but otherwise nothing comes to mind.”

“Thank you, mister Garcia. Now, there aren’t a lot of things we know at this stage of the case, and even fewer that you’re allowed to know. Mister Brock was found dead in the sharks’ tank, as you might have guessed, but at first sight he looked fine physically. Our forensics experts and coroner are looking into the cause of death as we speak.”

“Does that mean Shanna and I are suspects?”

Detective McCarthy grimaced. “Unfortunately, yes. That means you will have to stay available for interrogation, not leave the city at all for the next few weeks. The fact that you have a probable alibi, however, means that we shouldn’t find anything to incriminate you, unless you’re hiding something.”

“I’ve told you everything I could, and I’ve told the truth.”

“And we believe you,” assured the man. “Innocent until proven guilty.”

“Thank you for your cooperation,” the woman said as she stood up, her colleague and Damon following suit. “Please come find us should you hear or find anything that you might think relevant to the case. You’re free to work for today.”

“Thank you.”

Damon walked to the locker room, still processing everything that had happened in less than an hour. He couldn’t believe his boss was dead. Judging by the atmosphere in the building, that was the case for every employee who’d come into work expecting a normal day.

Damon breathed in and out deeply before opening his locker to change and retrieve his keys. He went to the sharks’ tank, thankfully finding it devoid of policemen. As soon as they saw him, the sharks swam towards the edge of the aquarium; they all looked as distressed as he felt.

He talked to them for a while, longer than he usually did, paying extra attention to their behaviors and their needs. When he finally felt calmer and his sharks apparently did too, he did his morning routine of feeding them and cleaning the tank, swimming with them for a while. He could feel that his presence with them soothed them after what had happened.

Damon couldn’t help wondering what exactly had happened and who would have tried to kill the director. Obviously, he knew that the sharks were harmless because he’d trained them so, but the murderer did not believe that.

Once he got out of the tank and dried off, he stayed with the sharks, talking a bit to Sharpie, taking comfort from him. All he could do now was hope the police did their job right and found the murderer, so that mister Brock could be given justice and his sharks would not be put in dangerous situations again.

As he got up to go see the dolphins, knowing he would have to spend the afternoon with the orcas in preparation for the show (come to think of it, he didn’t even know if it would still happen), Damon realized he needed to talk to someone who could comfort him with words and warm hugs, so he called Roman.

“Hey Damon!”

“Hi Ro… Do you think you could meet me for lunch? I need to see you.”

“Sure, I’ll be there. Has something happened?”

“Yeah, but I’ll tell you in person when you get here. Just be here at noon.”

“Alright. See you then.”

Damon could hear in his boyfriend’s voice that he’d understood something bad had happened, but he knew nothing could prepare him for what he had been put through this morning. He was suddenly glad he didn’t have to go through it alone.

***

Chapter Text

It was still surreal, even five days after finding out that his boss was dead, for Damon to go back to work and keep up a routine. He still half expected Mr. Brock to come around the corner and throw a stupid fish-related joke.

The secretary and manager had decided to close the aquarium to the public for the weekend, staying vague on the reasons as the police had asked everyone to keep everything secret until the case was solved. When he’d come back on Monday morning, Damon had been informed that a procedure for hiring a new director had been started, but it would take time, and they had decided to reopen because they couldn’t afford any more days without visitors.

That Tuesday evening, Damon was sitting in front of the dolphins’ tank after visiting hours, hoping to find some comfort. It had been immensely helpful to talk to Roman about what had happened last Thursday, but he was still grieving to that day.

“Damon Garcia?”

The caretaker jumped at the deep voice cutting through the silence. He turned and scrambled to get up, finding himself facing the two detectives he had talked to last week and two other men.

“We’re here with a search warrant for your locker,” continued Detective Stevens, brandishing a sheet of paper. “Would you come with us, please?”

“Um, yes, of course.”

Damon led the four people to the locker room, even though he knew they knew the way, wondering why they were back to search his locker when they’d already gone through every nook the previous week, and if they’d done this for other employees. They reached the empty room, most workers having already left long ago.

“Can you open your locker, please?” Detective McCarthy asked.

Damon did so, and immediately, a baseball bat smeared with dried blood tumbled out of the locker.

“W-what?”

“Guys, please take care of this. Damon Garcia, it is forty-two minutes past five, I’m placing you in custody for the murder of Samuel Brock. You have a right to an attorney, if you don’t have one, we will provide one…”

Detective Stevens continued speaking even as he put handcuffs on him, but Damon couldn’t hear him. He watched, numb and helpless, as the two men he didn’t know gathered the bat and everything in his locker and packed them in plastic bags. He followed the detectives into a police car, trying to figure out what was going on.

About half an hour later, they were in a dark interrogation room, and Damon wondered what the heck he’d done to deserve this.

“So, Mr. Garcia,” Detective Stevens said, taking a seat in front of him. “Care to explain to us why we found the murder weapon in your locker, when you were adamant last week that you had done nothing?”

“I-I don’t understand. What am I doing here?” Damon asked, knowing it sounded as though he hadn’t heard the question.

“Let us ask the questions for a while, Mr. Garcia. Now, do I need to repeat myself or was I clear?”

“N-no, I… I got the question. I just don’t understand. When I opened my locker this morning, it wasn’t there. I’ve never even played baseball in my life; I don’t own a bat. Wait- you said it was the murder weapon, does that mean you know how mister Brock died?”

“We said we’re asking the question, now,” Detective McCarthy intervened.

“You said it wasn’t there this morning,” the man continued. “Does that mean you haven’t gone to your locker all day?”

Damon sat back, chastised by the reminder that he was a suspect here and that he’d better answer as best he could if he wanted to throw the blame off himself.

“No, I usually don’t. I open it in the morning, change, grab my keys, close it and go do my chores. I never go back until the end of the day, to change back and leave my keys. I mean, see for yourselves; you arrested me before I could change tonight.”

“Mhm,” mumbled Stevens, not looking at all convinced. “What time does your workday end?”

“Five.”

“And what were you doing tonight, then?”

“I needed to think. I was trying to take comfort in the dolphins and I’m still grieving the loss of my employer.”

“Could anyone attest that what you described is your usual behavior and that no one’s seen you in the locker room after your arrival this morning?”

“You can ask any other employee; they know this is what I’ve always done, and there are cameras in the building, you can look for yourself.”

The man frowned at him, as if he was offended by that last comment.

“You’ve said that you don’t own a bat. Where would you say this one came from, then?” Detective McCarthy asked.

Damon, quite fed up with this accusatory interrogation, sat up and banged his fists on the table. “I don’t know, okay? I’ve been working all day, just like I always do, trying not to think about the murder that happened right where I feel most safe. I have literally no reason for killing Mr. Brock because I liked him and he’s always acted like a dad to me! Besides, if I’d found that bat earlier, I’d have brought it to you, because I told you I would call if I noticed anything that would help you. Someone must be framing me and placed the bat in my locker!”

“Did it seem to you that your locker was forced when you opened it tonight?” the woman asked calmly, as though Damon hadn’t been shouting the whole time.

The question felt like a slap in the face, which baffled him at first but only served to fuel his anger. “No, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t someone who knew what they were doing! Maybe it was the same person who stole my keys to dump my boss in my tank. If it were me, I certainly wouldn’t have tried to hide the murder weapon at work or near the place of the murder, which incidentally are the same. Why even did you have a search warrant for me in the first place? Have you done this for everyone? Didn’t you do that last week?”

The two detectives shared a look, and Stevens turned back to answer him. “It’s still us asking the questions, Mr. Garcia, not you. Please don’t try to do our job. For now, I think you need to cool down. We’ll pick this up tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?!” Damon exclaimed as an officer entered the room and guided him to stand up. “What do you mean? You can’t keep me here!”

“As a matter of fact, we can. We have forty-eight hours to either prove it was you and put you in jail, or release you if we find no other piece of evidence. Maybe tomorrow you’ll be more willing to cooperate.”

“I cooperated! I’ve told you everything I know!” Damon shouted as the officer dragged him out.

He stopped struggling when he understood that it was no use and let himself be led to a grim-looking holding cell. He sat down on the single bench and held his head in his hands.

He couldn’t figure out why the police wanted to blame him for the murder of the only person who’d ever acted as a father to him. He was obviously missing information and he didn’t understand why the detectives wouldn’t tell him.

*

Damon jumped at the sound of metal against metal. He looked around, remembering that he’d had to spend a horrible night with interrupted sleep in an uncomfortable cell. He quietly thanked the officer who deposited food on the floor and sat down to eat. Breakfast food was hardly any better than the scraps he’d had last night, but he was thankful for small comforts.

When he was done, he sat back down on the bench, and it was only a matter of minutes before the officer came back, accompanied by a man in a suit.

“Hello Mr. Garcia. I am Jude Wilson. The police department appointed me as your lawyer since you don’t have one.”

“Never needed one until now,” Damon muttered, hoping the attorney wouldn’t take offense to his bad mood.

“I’m here to go over the facts before the detectives interview you again.”

They went over what the lawyer knew and what Damon knew for a few minutes, before the officer came back and led them to the interrogation room.

“Good morning, Mr. Garcia,” detective Stevens greeted. “I won’t ask how your night was.”

He gestured for the lawyer and him to sit down, which they did. For a few minutes, the only thing they did was go back to last night’s discussion with the only difference that the lawyer intervened or allowed Damon to speak for himself. He was starting to wonder where this was going when Stevens asked again what he was doing the night of the murder.

“I told you, I spent the day out with my boyfriend and we went back to my place for the night. I thought you said you’d check out my alibi.”

“And we did, but our coroner informed us that the time of death was between two and three in the morning. Nobody can prove you didn’t wake up and go to your workplace to kill mister Brock.”

“Nobody can prove my client did wake up either,” the lawyer intervened.

Damon almost rolled his eyes, even though that was what he was going to say, because he was getting sick of having someone else speak for him. But then, the detective pulled a piece of paper with a photograph on it that made all the fight leave him only to be replaced by dread.

“See, this is where you’re wrong, sir. This is a screenshot from one of the surveillance cameras in the aquarium. Now, as you can see, the timecode indicates two thirty-nine am, and the culprit is clearly male, which is why we ruled out the possibility of it being miss Shanna Black.”

“Let me stop you right there,” Wilson cut him off. “This is just a very blurry picture of a man walking with a bat in his hands and a hood covering half his face. There is no way you can prove that this man is my client.”

Damon, who had been observing the picture in silence, suddenly sat up. “Are you waiting for me to tell you this is me? Because it isn’t. I mean, look at me, that man is clearly stockier than me, and you can just see part of his left cheek, where I have a scar. There’s your proof.”

He ignored the dirty look his lawyer sent him, knowing he was right. “Please just consider that someone might be framing me. I don’t even know why me specially, but the fact that they targeted the sharks and then my locker is pretty intriguing. There must be some form of fingerprints on my locker or something.”

Stevens pinned him with a dark stare before standing up. “Please refrain from trying to do our job, as we asked last night. We’re done here for now.”

He opened the door and the same officer came in to lead Damon back to the holding cell. The lawyer left with a promise to bring him out, which Damon didn’t believe. He reminded himself that the detective had said he’d be released if they didn’t find anything else incriminating him in forty-eight hours, which now remained only thirty.

The midday meal didn’t taste any better than the other two he’d had so far, and Damon passed time by recounting all the types of fish he knew. After having gone through all the small kinds of fish, he moved on to sharks, and he was about to start listing cetaceans when a familiar face came at the door of his cell.

Damon inhaled sharply at his first impression, then let out a disappointed sigh.

“I know, I’m not coming here to tell you that you can leave, but I might be the one to help get closer to that.”

The man could obviously not understand why Damon was disappointed, but he wasn’t about to explain himself. Instead, he observed the man as he entered his cell.

Remus Rossi did resemble his twin, even more so from up close, but the reality also highlighted their differences. Damon recognized the mustache and white streak of hair that made him look so different from his twin, and spotted the dark mole at the edge of his eyebrow that he remembered from the pictures Roman had shown him.

Remus introduced himself, since he couldn’t know that it wasn’t needed, and explained the reason he was here. “I was there this morning during the interrogation, and I realized that you might be on to something with the framing idea. I convinced Detective Stevens to follow that lead and he let me go back to the aquarium to pick up fingerprints. Now I need yours so that I’ll be able to compare them, since you’re not in our database. Let’s just hope we find another set besides yours.”

Damon’s heart lightened at the idea that his boyfriend’s brother might be able to help him out of this cell, however ironic it seemed to him. He complied and let Remus do his job, before the man left with an encouraging smile.

However, he realized now that seeing Remus only brought the reminder of Roman. Damon was thankful they didn’t have anything planned either day he’d been here, but he knew Roman would be texting him or even calling him, and he was bound to get worried when Damon answered none of his attempts to reach out.

Damon spent the end of his day alternating between thinking about his boyfriend and finding ways to pass the time, but it felt like it was stretching only to mock him.

*

The next day was even worse, as he didn’t hear anything from anyone. He guessed the results of the analysis for fingerprints would take some time and he wouldn’t be able to see Remus and thank him. Damon spared a thought for the useless lawyer who hadn’t reached out again; it wasn’t as if he’d expected to be out before the end of the allotted time anyway.

When Damon started to think he’d actually be out before needing to see the detectives again, an officer came and told him he was taking him back to the interrogation room. Damon wasn’t surprised by the absence of lawyer.

“You might have guessed we’re almost at the end of your forty-eight hours,” Stevens said by way of introduction. “We want to make sure we didn’t miss anything, so we’ll go over the facts one more time.”

And so they went, reviewing the time, motive and weapon of murder, going over his alibis for both the night of the murder and the day they arrested him. Damon sensed that the detectives were trying to make him change his story, so desperate were they for a truth that wasn’t there. Damon felt that all of this was useless, but it was still better than waiting alone in an empty cell.

Finally, they told him he was free, and an officer accompanied him to a desk, where he retrieved his personal belongings. The first thing he did was check his phone, which expectedly showed five missed calls and thirty-three messages from Roman. Damon called him, anxious to hear his voice again.

“Damon! Where have you been? Why haven’t you answered my texts or my calls? I went to your place and you weren’t there, I called-”

“Roman, listen to me. I’m really sorry that I wasn’t able to talk to you. The police arrested me for a silly reason, but now I need you to come pick me up at the station.

“Oh my God, what did you do?”

Damon couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of him. “Nothing, which is why I’m getting out. Will you please come?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll be there soon.”

As Damon hung up, another officer handed him a bag, saying it contained the things from his locker and suggesting he go change. He did so before gathering all his things and signing the papers he was shown. As he turned to get out of the station, a voice called him.

“Mr. Garcia! Wait up!”

Damon turned to see Remus jogging over to him and stopped, wondering what he wanted. Remus pulled him to a corridor, away from prying ears.

“I just wanted to tell you that we just got the results back, and there was another set of prints on locker, besides your own.” Damon exhaled a relieved sigh at that. “You’re lucky the guy came back, because his fingerprints showed up two times, but I couldn’t have gotten anything out of the older set. The bad news is the other person isn’t in our database either, so we’ll have a bit of trouble narrowing it down. I know the detectives have probably said that to you a million times, but please come find us if you see anything fishy happening around the aquarium.”

Damon shot him a mild glare, wondering if bad jokes actually ran in the family.

“Sorry about that one,” Remus said with a grin that told Damon he wasn’t sorry at all. “Anyway. I’m going to continue searching, because for all we know, my colleagues could be back on your trace anytime. I don’t even know why they’re so obsessed with you. It might be the mean-looking scar, even though you don’t send an ounce of criminal aura.”

“Why are you doing this? Why are you so intent on helping me like that?” Damon asked.

“Because that’s my job and that’s what I do best. Besides, I’m sure it wasn’t you. Call it a hunch.”

Damon was about to reply when a loud voice echoed through the halls.

“Damon!” The blonde man turned to see his boyfriend running about to him. “Here you are! Are you okay? Oh my gosh I’ve been so worried about you and you call and say you were at the police station? What happened? You know what, I think I just lost my new job but I really don’t care because you’re more important. How could you even-”

Damon knew the only way to shut Roman up was to block his mouth, which he did by kissing him. It took a few seconds, but the man finally relaxed, pulling Damon against him as if to make sure he was real.

A throat cleared behind him and Damon jolted back to reality.

“Right. Roman, your brother is right here.”

Roman reeled back, looking around wildly, and Damon turned around just in time to see Remus’ face go from shocked to smug.

“Well, well, Roman,” his twin said, crossing his arms on his chest. “I’d never have thought the next time I’d see you would be at the police station, much less in a man’s arms.”

“Well, at least I’m not here because of something I did, unlike all the times you’ve wound up in the hospital, according to Logan.”

“Last time I was there was because of him,” Remus shot back. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something and the fight left him. He flashed a grin at Roman. “You know what’s funny? Lo and I were just talking the other day about that discussion the two of you had about finding love. Could it be that his advice paid off?”

Damon glanced at Roman, knowing what Remus was referring to. His boyfriend seemed lost, staring at his brother as though he were a ghost come to haunt him. Damon took his hand, squeezing it once to bring him back to the present before stroking it with his thumb to show him that he could lean on him. Roman shook himself and looked at Damon with a smile.

“I don’t know that it did, but I think it’s changed my approach enough that I know this relationship is different from every other I’ve had.”

“Well, good for you,” Remus smiled. “Oh, and don’t worry, I’ll prove Damon isn’t guilty.”

Roman scanned his face and relaxed when he found what he was looking for. “I trust you.”

Damon smiled at him, feeling a surge of pride for his boyfriend.

“Well, I’ll leave you be, gotta get back to work.” Remus turned around, and Damon and Roman started to do the same, when he called after them. “You should come round for dinner sometime soon. Both of you.”

With that, he left, sauntering down the hallway, Roman gaping after him.

“The funniest thing is,” Damon said, trying to distract Roman, “I’ve known who he was the whole time, and he had no clue. I wasn’t expecting for the two of you to be here at the same time, though.”

“So he’s working on your case, then? And what happened exactly? Did the detectives suspect you?”

Damon sighed and pulled Roman with him out of the station, needing fresh air and sunlight after forty-eight hours in a dingy cell and poorly lit interrogation room. He shivered as soon as they set foot outside, having almost forgotten that it was late November and that the night settled early. Roman pulled him against his side, sliding an arm around his shoulders, and led him towards the parking lot.

Damon waited until they reached the car to pick up the conversation, but he made no move to get inside. “Apparently, the surveillance cameras in the aquarium showed a hooded man with a baseball bat. As their two main suspects are Shanna and me, they jumped to the conclusion that it was me. They showed up on Tuesday with a warrant to search my locker, and as soon as I opened it, a bloodied bat fell out.”

Roman gasped and turned Damon to face him, holding him against him with both arms. “And they brought you in with just that?”

“It was enough for them. I lost my temper the first night because they kept insinuating I was guilty and they wouldn’t believe me when I told them I loved mister Brock like a father and someone must be framing me. They found me a lawyer the next day but he was good for nothing. Well, I guess I can be grateful your brother was there.”

“During the interrogation?”

Damon nodded. “He picked up the part about someone breaking in my locker and framing me and he pleaded with the detective to follow that lead. That’s when I met him; he needed my fingerprints for comparison.”

“It must have been weird for you to see him at that time.”

The blonde man stared at his boyfriend, shocked that he’d guessed exactly how he’d been feeling then. He smiled, his eyes softening.

“Yeah. I was so lonely in that cell, and then he showed up and for a second I thought you’d come to bail me out. When I realized who he was, I was pretty disappointed, and he seemed to think it was because I thought it was the detective come to tell me I could get out.”

Damon sighed tiredly and leaned against Roman’s chest. “Anyway, he seemed hellbent on exculpating me, and he didn’t even know who I was.”

Roman said nothing for a while. “I think I should reconnect with him; he seems to have changed. Maybe we should take him up on his offer and agree to dinner with him and Logan.”

Damon backed away and took Roman’s hands. “I would love nothing more. If anything, I should at least thank him for proving I’m innocent.”

They climbed into Roman’s car and Damon suddenly remembered a bit of what his boyfriend had said during his earlier rambling.

“What was it you said before, about losing a job?”

Roman paused in buckling his seatbelt, then resumed his movement and started the car. “Oh, well… I was at a voice over session for a new cartoon that was translated from French. I auditioned something like two weeks ago and it was my first session. I think the director screamed something like ‘if you walk out now, you’re fired’. Well, I’ll call my manager tomorrow, see what’s going on.”

“Ro, you didn’t have to come if you were at work. I wanted to see you but I could also have called a taxi.”

“Nonsense. You asked me to come, so I came. I told you, you’re more important than my job. I risk losing it because it’s new; if it had been any other job I’m sure the director or other person in charge would have understood. I’m allowed to take time off for family emergencies, just like anyone else.”

Damon almost said, ‘but I’m not your family’, but reconsidered. Even though he and Roman hadn’t exchanged the words ‘I love you’ yet, he could see that what Roman had said and done today had the same value.

“Thank you. I really appreciate that.”

Roman looked at him and smiled, grabbing Damon’s hand to place a soft kiss on his knuckles. “Of course. You’ve just spent two days completely alone, I wasn’t about to let you end this day without me. Now: your house or mine?”

***

Chapter Text

After two days and two nights confined to prison-like rooms, Damon couldn’t have been more relieved to be back at work. He greeted the people who welcomed him back and asked how he was holding up and ignored the colleagues who gave him mild glares and doubting looks. Hoping he wouldn’t remain anxious of opening his locker for the rest of his life, he retrieved his keys and changed, basking in the familiarity of his routine.

In a move quite far from his routine, however, he went to the dolphins’ tank first, where he was met with his colleague, Shanna.

“Oh hey, Damon! How are you? I was a bit worried when the police called me to check your alibi and then you didn’t show up for two days.”

“Hey. I’m fine, a bit unsettled, maybe. You know, the weird thing with being arrested is you can’t actually call anyone to say, ‘hey, I’m not coming to work today, I’m in custody’. My boyfriend was out of his mind when he couldn’t reach me and it just escalated when I asked him to pick me up at the police station because I’d been arrested.”

Shanna looked for a second as if she didn’t know whether she could laugh or not, but she did let out huffs of laughter when Damon smiled at her. She put a warm hand on his upper arm.

“Well, glad to have you back. I was about to go feed these bad boys,” she said, pointing at the tank behind her. “Do you want to tag along?”

“Sure, thanks.”

The blond man had never thought himself to be particularly sociable, at least on a human level, but he knew his day would be better thanks to the constant company of his colleague. The two of them didn’t usually work together, instead sharing chores and taking turns every fortnight in order not to get bored. Today, though, they had no problem working together, either doing a task together or dividing their worktime by doing two different chores at the same time.

Damon felt relieved when they reached their lunch break and Shanna hadn’t once asked anything about what he’d been subjected to the previous days or if he’d found out anything more about the case.

Together they joined their coworkers in the cafeteria and chatted about what they’d all been up to lately. Suddenly, Mike, one of the guys who worked with seals and the like, jumped and leaned towards Damon.

“Did anyone tell you they found a new director?”

Damon swallowed his mouthful. “Really? That’s a good thing.”

“Yeah,” Shanna piped up. “Introduced himself to everyone on Wednesday. I’m surprised he hasn’t even asked to see you.”

“Is he here now?” Damon asked, looking around.

“Probably not,” Mike said. “He’s been quite busy. I mean, it can’t be easy taking after someone on such a short notice and without getting eased into it. But you should go see him tonight; I think he always gets off at six.”

Damon nodded. “I’ll visit him when I’m done. What’s he like? Do any of you know him? Does he have the correct background?”

“No, no one knows him,” Shanna replied. “He almost seems to have come out of nowhere, but he said he lives downtown.”

“He also said he used to visit the aquarium and it was a great honor to take up the director’s position,” Mike added.

“Well, let’s hope he can at least do the job,” Damon said.

He put down his fork, no longer finding an appetite, and let the conversations wash over him.

The fact that a new director had started not a week after the death of the previous one was a good thing, but it made Damon realize that he would never see mister Brock again and that life would never be the same. The last few days had been such an emotional turmoil that he hadn’t really been able to process it. Even when he was being interrogated for the murder of his boss, he’d been too preoccupied with proving he was innocent that he hadn’t completely realized that they were trying to inculpate him for the death of his friend and boss, who was dead and would never be able to help, protect or defend him ever again.

Damon felt his throat close up and excused himself to the restroom, taking his half-eaten lunch with him. Once he’d washed his face, his mind felt clearer, but he knew he needed a distraction. Resolved, he marched through the still-deserted halls to the sharks’ tank and quickly climbed into it.

The sharks swam towards him excitedly and Damon knew at once that he’d chosen the right remedy and that he should have come earlier to reassure them that he was fine. He calmed them before they could get too close to him, not wanting to get hurt accidentally. Funnily enough, his sharks sometimes behaved like huge dogs; they were harmless but could become dangerous if only for the fact that they tended to forget they were so big.

Damon swam with them for a while, feeling his grief subside and his happiness build back up in a well-timed crossover. At some point, he spotted Shanna outside, waving at him to come out. He bade his sharks goodbye and joined his coworker out of the tank.

“I was wondering if you’d help me with the orcas this afternoon. I’m a little late in the tasks involving them, since I’ve been working alone for two days. You can come back to your babies later.”

Damon smiled at her. “Yeah, sure, I’ll help you.”

Continuing as they had done all morning, they worked together as if they were used to it. They finished twenty minutes before the end of their workday and Damon took the opportunity to go talk to his sharks.

He emptied his mind, talking about anything that came to him, unburdening his troubles unto his best friends.

“Funny, isn’t it,” a voice at his left suddenly made him jump, “how these predators didn’t even harm Mr. Brock when he ended up in their tank.”

Damon turned towards the man who had come up next to him. He seemed a little familiar, although there was nothing about him that stood out particularly. Still, Damon couldn’t place him, and he thought it weird that he’d know how the director had died or even his name when most visitors didn’t.

“Who are you? How do you know that?”

The man turned towards him, and Damon thought he caught a look of contempt before his face settled on a polite smile. “Oh, how rude of me. I’m Matthew McGregor, nice to meet you. I was hired a few days ago as the new director of this mighty aquarium. You’re Damon Garcia, right?”

Damon blinked for two seconds and started when he realized who was talking to him.

“Oh, yes, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you too. I was going to come and see you later, but I guess I don’t need to go through the trouble now.”

“Yes. My apologies for not calling for you or taking the time to meet you earlier, I’ve been busy with paperwork and decisions for days.”

“Oh, it’s no problem. It’s not like I was here the past two days anyway.”

“Yes, I heard about that. Why exactly were you absent?”

Damon turned away and looked at the sharks. “I was arrested because I’m one of the primary suspects in Mr. Brock’s case, and the police took full advantage of the forty-eight hours they had to prove my involvement. I’m being framed; I hope they can catch whoever’s done this fast. I wouldn’t want to spend anymore time in custody than I already have. Anyway, I’m just glad I’m back to spend time with my animals.”

Mr. McGregor nodded, his lips pinched. “Hmm, I see. Let’s hope it all turns out alright for you. So, tell me, you like working with sharks and orcas, right?”

“Yes. Dolphins, too. But I like all marine animals, really. What were you saying, before, about sharks being predators?”

“Oh, well,” McGregor said, looking back to the tank. “They are predators, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, usually, but these aren’t. They wouldn’t hurt a fly. Well, unless they were in a situation where they’d know they’d be in danger, but it isn’t likely to happen in here.”

“Oh, really. I didn’t know predators could be tamed.”

Damon gave him a suspicious look. “Yeah, just like they do with lions in zoos.”

Mr. McGregor’s eyes squinted, as if he were analyzing something, and Damon was about to ask him what was wrong when his phone rang.

“Excuse me, I have to take this,” he said, none too glad to be able to get out of this weird conversation.

“No problem. We shall talk more next week. Have a good evening.”

“Thank you, you too,” Damon said hastily before picking up.

“Hey D,” came Roman’s voice. “You’re done with work, right?”

“Yes, why?”

“I’m coming to pick you up, we’re eating out tonight. And I’m taking you to see a movie.”

“Oh, are you? Well, I better go get changed before you get here.”

“Make it fast, I’m almost there.”

Without another word, Roman hung up. Damon laughed softly as he made his way to the locker room, eager to spend another evening with his boyfriend.

*

Logan was usually so focused during his work that he didn’t think about anything else. But today, a conversation he’d had last week with Remus kept turning inside his head and he couldn’t stop his thoughts from going back to it.

Last Friday, Logan and Remus had spent a nice evening together, watching an episode from a series they’d started a while ago, when all of a sudden, Remus had jumped and announced he had crucial information that he’d forgotten to share because they hadn’t seen each other for more than 24 hours due to Logan’s night shift. “Roman has a boyfriend, and it looks pretty serious. I’ve never seen him so smitten or invested in any of his previous boyfriends, for the ones that lasted long enough that he’d introduce them.”

At the time, Logan hadn’t reacted much, other than a hum indicating he’d heard the news, and hadn’t asked for details, so Remus had dropped the matter and focused on their episode. Now though, Logan had spent pretty much all day thinking about it; every minute he wasn’t operating or seeing a patient, those words resonated in his head. Roman has a boyfriend.

The first question in his mind, once he’d become accustomed to the idea that his best friend was no longer single, was why didn’t he tell me? Granted, Roman had probably not told him about every guy he’d dated, much less about the ones who’d been only one-night stands. But every time he’d gone on two or three dates with a man he liked for any reason, Roman would usually come running to Logan and tell him all about the new qualities he admired like they were his new obsession. Well, sometimes Logan would only hear about a lover after they’d broken up, because Roman needed to vent about what had gone horribly. But if his best friend was indeed as smitten as Remus had assured him, why hadn’t he come immediately to tell Logan all about him?

The thing that was special about this particular boyfriend, Logan thought, was that Roman had come to him asking for advice about love, asking how the doctor had managed to find love when he wasn’t actively looking for it, as opposed to him, and now Logan wanted to know if this new relationship was the result of Roman listening to him. Had he actually lay low and been patient? Had he waited for love to come find him? Had he been himself, not an outgoing and boasting persona?

Roman and Logan had been friends for twenty years, which had given the doctor plenty of time to observe his behavior with boys and, later, men. For the longest time, Logan had watched from afar, unconcerned, as Roman tried to gain the attention of various boys in elementary and high school, doing every activity that would give him a name. Because of his exaggerated, outgoing behavior, every guy who’d asked Roman would dump him weeks later, disappointed to find that he wasn’t what they expected. And when Roman would ask someone out, the same thing would happen because he would only show a part of himself that often wasn’t even true.

After some time, Logan had almost begun pitying him, while at the same time feeling wary of romantic relationships. If that was what you could expect from trying things out with someone, Logan didn’t want any part in it. He had also wished Roman would see that running after guys and activities that would make them notice him wasn’t making him happy.

When Logan had left for college, he hadn’t been able to watch his best friend anymore, but Roman would call him every time he found a new guy and talk about him, and every time he got dumped or broke up with someone, he would call as well. That meant Logan was always caught up with Roman’s life, and it was part of why he was still so surprised at being kept in the dark about this latest relationship.

The other part that bothered him was more about their friendship in general. In twenty years, they’d had the opportunity to go through every stage a pair of friends could go through, from being so close they could almost read each other’s thoughts to hating each other for little things, through sharing their deepest secrets and feeling competitive. Logan had encouraged Roman to pursue a career in the musical and theatrical industry, even though he’d believed at first that Roman wouldn’t go anywhere with that path. Roman had been there for him when his parents had died, showing a caring and serious part of himself that was usually kept quiet.

They’d spent four years of college barely seeing each other but they’d stayed close even then. Roman had been overjoyed when Logan had come back to their hometown to find a job, even though by then it was him who had to leave for days to go to different states for recordings.

The biggest dent in their friendship was the moment Logan and Remus had announced they were together, but even then Roman had accepted their dinner invitations and had spent the twins’ birthday with them. Logan would even go so far as to say Roman had reacted better to the news than Patton had. Now that Logan thought about it, he hoped this new relationship or the possibility that it was very different from any other wouldn’t drive the two friends apart. It would be quite ironic and disappointing if the fatal blow to their friendship came from a piece of advice for romance having made its effect.

Trying to gather himself as he neared the room for his last scheduled patient of the day, Logan decided he shouldn’t think about that whole ordeal until he could speak with Roman. He hoped this would be the last visit for the day, praying he wouldn’t have an emergency operation before the end of his shift.

“Good evening Mr. North,” Logan greeted as he entered the room, taking a seat in front of the elderly patient. “How have you been since the operation?”

For a few minutes, Logan threw himself into the social part of his job, where he had to be focused on the patient’s questions and demands. On some level he was glad to be observing a patient right now instead of doing an important operation, because even with his decision to avoid thinking about what had been nagging at his brain all day, he couldn’t help keeping it in a corner of his mind.

“Well, I think we’re done for today, and unless you feel any kind of discomfort in the next few days, you won’t need to ever see me again.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

“Have a good evening, Mr. North.”

Binder in hand, Logan made his way to his office to put it away.

After a few feet, a thought crossed his mind. Because he’d taken so much time realizing what Remus’ words had meant, he didn’t have any information about Roman’s boyfriend. He didn’t even know if Remus knew anything about him, or how he’d known about that.

Now that he’d processed the news, Logan wanted to know more about this boyfriend of his; he wanted to meet him, find out his age, his job, his hobbies. He wanted to get the chance to gauge him and figure out his intentions about Roman. He wanted to know if this relationship would end up in heartbreak like all the others had, or if it was different enough that it would be the last one. He wanted to know what made this relationship different, what had made Remus think Roman was indeed smitten and invested like he’d never been before. He hoped Roman had finally found the right man.

Logan reached his office and filed away his binder before checking the time and walking back out. He made his way towards the emergency wing of the hospital, knowing he should be on hand even if he hoped nothing would arise that would require him.

As he walked down the hallway, Logan realized once again how protective he felt of Roman. He thought it was normal that, after watching him get hurt and heartbroken for so many years, Logan would want to be there to comfort him and would want the best for him.

Coming to that conclusion, Logan felt it explained why he’d spent the whole day thinking about it; how could he protect Roman or be sure he was safe and happy if he didn’t know a single thing about the other guy?

Then, a thought struck him. If Roman had indeed taken his advice and applied it, he would have been patient before throwing himself in a relationship. That had happened about only a month and a half ago. Maybe this boyfriend was very recent? Obviously, for Remus to come to the conclusions he did would mean it was at least a two-week-long relationship, maybe a little more, but it didn’t mean Roman had met the guy the day he and Logan had had that talk.

Still wondering how Remus had come to know that Roman was in a new relationship, Logan felt a little better thinking he might not have been as kept in the dark as he’d thought at first. If everything was still recent, Roman might just not have had the time to talk to Logan about it. He was sure that once his best friend settled down, he would come running with details about what he and the guy had in common, how they’d met, who’d asked whom out, just as he’d done for a lot of his previous relationships.

Just as he’d told his boyfriend a few days ago when he’d informed him of Roman’s self-doubt and how he felt jealous – and probably lonely too, now that he thought about it – because of the couple they formed, Logan thought the news that Roman had a boyfriend, and especially the fact that this one might be healthier for him, was a good thing. It might help Roman realize that the distance he’d put between himself and Logan for the last year was not good for them and that it didn’t even help him.

If he was honest, Logan was looking forward to having his best friend back and spending nights awake, talking about boys as they’d done in their younger years. Except this time, because his views about love and men had changed and because he actually had something to talk about, Logan could be as participative as Roman.

He suddenly understood why Roman had been so enthusiastic every time he’d gone on a date with a new guy and something good had happened. Logan realized he’d wanted to tell Roman little things about Remus often during the year they’d been together, but he’d refrained for many reasons. One of them was the fact that he was Roman’s brother and Logan doubted Roman wanted to hear what his brother was up to when it was just him and Logan, or what exactly had made the young doctor fall in love with him. Another was obviously the fact that Roman had distanced himself, not wanting to accept that his twin could make his best friend happy or that they belonged together somehow, and that had automatically prevented Logan from feeling like Roman would be receptive to any bit of gossip he’d be willing to offer him.

Logan felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders when he thought that his best friend might be coming back to him, that he hadn’t intentionally kept his new relationship secret from him, or that Remus might just be the first to know because he’d passed them somewhere on the street.

Just as he thought that, a commotion behind him gained his attention. Logan turned around, seeing the double doors swing open and a team of two paramedics and two nurses come through, pushing a stretcher between them.

He immediately jumped into ‘doctor mode’, pushing his glasses up his nose and lengthening his strides towards them to assess the situation.

One of the nurses spotted him. “Ah, Doctor Mitchell, thank God you’re here. We’re gonna need the very best for this one, I fear.”

“What do we have?” Logan asked, letting them come to him.

He observed the stretcher, spotting a bandage at the shoulder of the man lying on it. It wasn’t until they reached him and one of the paramedics started explaining what he knew that he could get a good view at the victim and what had happened to him.

“We have a male, late twenties, bullet lodged in the chest close to the shoulder. His colleague detective, who called us, said they were investigating a crime scene when the killer showed up and shot at them, but only this one was hurt.”

The paramedic continued his explanation, but Logan couldn’t hear anything else. His breath hitched as he took a good look at the victim, recognizable even with an oxygen mask covering half his face. He suddenly felt as though his very soul had left his body and he stopped moving.

One of the nurses turned around. “Doctor Mitchell?”

“I can’t… I can’t be in charge of this.”

“Why? We need a doctor quickly and you’re here and not busy.”

Logan swallowed around the lump in his throat.

“He’s my boyfriend.”

***

Chapter Text

The last hour had been a blur. Logan vaguely remembered pacing in the corridor where the nurses and paramedics had left him, a bit lost at what to do with himself. After about twenty minutes, he had realized his attitude was getting neither Remus nor him anywhere and decided to wait in a waiting room.

As soon as he’d sat down, however, the situation had kicked in and all his thoughts revolved around losing Remus. As such, he’d decided that calling Roman was the best thing to do in the immediate future; he was Remus’ brother and Logan’s best friend, he deserved to know what was happening and might even bring some comfort to Logan. After his friend had told him that he would be there as soon as possible, the doctor took back to pacing. Not knowing how long it would take Roman to get there, he decided that Patton was also someone who could be there for him in times of need. Since he had reconciled himself with the idea that his brother was only looking out for him out of a caretaker point of view, the idea of relying on him was less annoying. Just like Roman, Patton affirmed he would be there when he could.

Logan was pacing the waiting room, muttering things like ‘don’t do that to me, I can’t lose you, please don’t die’ under his breath, all rational thought having flown from his mind, when Roman rushed in. He immediately took him in his arms and they hugged for a long while before sitting down on the uncomfortable chairs.

“Are you alright? What happened exactly? I couldn’t exactly understand you on the phone because you were quite vague, and I just understood words like Remus and hospitals…”

Logan took a deep breath as Roman babbled on. “I’m… I don’t know. I’m not even sure what’s happened or what is going on right now…”

His voice cracked and he realized that he was on the verge of tears, something which didn’t happen often because Logan was used to keeping his emotions to himself. He took another breath as he swallowed around the lump in his throat.

“I was just walking down the corridor and it was the end of my shift, so I was kind of hoping that I wouldn’t have to start an emergency operation, and suddenly there were paramedics and nurses, and I automatically kicked back into ‘doctor mode’, you know.” Explaining known facts seemed to calm him. “So they got near me, and started explaining the situation, but as soon as I could see the guy on the stretcher, I recognized Remus, and it was just like… like my soul had left me. So I had to tell them that he’s my boyfriend and I couldn’t operate him, and they just left me there. It took me about half an hour to even gather my wits enough to call you. I also called Patton, I don’t know when he’ll get here.”

Roman put an arm around him and held him close, and Logan felt like a weight had lifted off his shoulder, knowing he wasn’t alone anymore.

“I’m sure he won’t be long, this town isn’t that big. Do you actually know anything about what happened to Remus?”

Logan shrugged. “They said he was on a crime scene with a colleague, collecting evidence, and apparently the criminal decided to come back and he started shooting at them. He… He got shot and a bullet lodged in his shoulder.”

Logan felt Roman tense next to him. “Well, at least it’s not the heart, right?”

The doctor didn’t know if he should laugh or cry at that, which manifested in a choked sob. He leant against his best friend, glad to have him with him, thinking about how it echoed his earlier thoughts about getting him back.

“God, just as I was starting to think he’d changed and I’d like to be closer to him again,” Roman said after a few moments of silence. “You know, he mentioned coming over to your house for dinner sometime, and we- I mean I was thinking I’d like that.”

“Yes, he told me you’d run into each other and he’d issued the invitation.”

Logan pulled away a little to consider his best friend, and he was about to say that he knew who Roman referred to when he used ‘we’, when his name was shouted from down the hallway.

“Logan! Are you okay, what happened?”

Roman and Logan both looked up at Patton, who was running at them and pulled Logan to his feet to hug him before they could say anything.

He pulled away again and looked at Logan with his eyes squinted, like he was inspecting his face for signs of what was happening. “I didn’t get everything, what’s going on? It’s about Remus, right?”

Logan didn’t answer, frowning at a point behind Patton’s shoulder instead.

He watched the man who was hovering two feet from them, one hand holding nervously onto his other arm. He’d never seen this man, dressed in black, ripped jeans, a black sweatshirt and a jacket that looked like it had been made from all sorts of soft, purple and grey materials, but it was clear he’d come here with his brother.

“Patton, who’s that?” he asked instead of answering.

His brother turned around, as if he’d forgotten he hadn’t come alone. “Oh, that’s Virgil, my boyfriend,” he said quickly before sitting down on a chair and pulling Logan with him. “But none of that now, what’s going on?”

Logan sighed and repeated a shorter version of the events than he’d told Roman. Patton breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, he’s not dying, then. He’ll pull through, like he always does, won’t he?”

Logan turned to Roman, and they exchanged a bemused look before laughing quietly.

“Yes, I suppose he will,” Logan said, astonished that Patton was the one to comfort the two people closest to Remus with something that they could have come up with, had they not been blinded by fear.

“Still,” Patton continued, “are you okay? You sounded so shaken up on the phone. Is there anything we can do to help in the meantime? Would you like some tea, coffee?”

Patton seemed ready to go on, but Virgil placed a hand on his arm, and he turned to him.

“Let the man breathe, Pat.”

“You’re right, sorry,” Patton sighed.

Once again, Logan and Roman looked at each other before turning back to Patton.

“I’m better now,” Logan said. “I would like to know, however, what’s going on with you.”

Patton and Virgil had the decency to blush, as if they had only just realized the situation.

“Oh. Um, well,” Patton stammered, “we were kind of on a date when you called me, so Virgil came with me, since he was the one driving.”

Logan’s first instinct would have been to say that he needn’t have come if he was busy, but he realized how stupid it sounded now that his brother was here because he’d asked him to come in panic. He knew he was here because he cared about him and his well-being, and if that meant dragging his date along to comfort his brother in the hospital, he would do it without second thought.

Instead, Logan decided that Patton’s explanation was not enough, wondering when his brother and his best friend had found boyfriends and why they hadn’t told him before.

“Ok. How long have you been together, then?” he asked with a pointed stare at his brother.

Patton’s cheeks darkened further and he looked down at the floor, even as Virgil placed a comforting hand on his forearm. Patton grabbed it and entwined their fingers.

“We’ve been together for two weeks, so it’s all still very new, especially for Virge. But I was going to tell you soon, I swear!”

Logan smiled at his brother. “Don’t worry, I’m not mad. I’m rather happy for you, actually. Especially if he takes your focus away from me. But I do want to know more about all of this.”

Patton and Virgil looked at each other like they were trying to figure out where to start or what to share, and Logan took the opportunity to glance at his best friend. Roman was watching the two men with wonder and some longing. If Logan had to guess, he’d say Roman was probably as surprised and happy for Patton as he was, and longing to have his own boyfriend with him.

As if sensing that he was being watched, Roman turned to him and locked eyes with him. Logan inclined his head and squinted. It was a testament to their friendship that Roman seemed to understand exactly what Logan had tried to say, if his gulp and the way he averted his eyes were any indication.

But before any of the men could say anything, a doctor appeared at one corner of the waiting room, making Logan leap to his feet.

“Oliver! Were you the one who took on Remus? Please tell me he’s alright.”

The smile on his friend’s face appeased Logan’s heart, but what he was most glad for was the compassionate look he gave him.

“Yes, I took great care of him for you, Logan. He’s alright and about to wake up. However,” he added with a glance towards Roman, Patton and Virgil, “it would be best if only one or two people were with him at the same time, at first.”

Logan turned to his best friend, his brother and Virgil. Patton nodded at him with a motion that said, ‘go on’.

Roman said, “you go first, I’ll join you. Take the time you need with him.”

Logan nodded gratefully at them and followed Oliver down the hallway. His coworker held the door to a room inhabited only by Remus and Logan rushed to the bed, sitting on a chair next to it and grabbing his boyfriend’s hand.

The motion seemed to speed along his awaking, because soon, Remus was blinking at him and a lazy smile appeared on his lips.

“Good evening, Remus. I hadn’t thought I’d be operating on you so soon,” Oliver said by way of introduction. “How are you feeling?”

Remus took a few seconds to get his bearings and assess his situation. “A bit light-headed and thirsty.”

Logan poured him a glass of water and helped him drink from it. Oliver took the opportunity to check his vitals and the levels of the liquids in his perfusion, taking a few notes before he backed away from the bed.

“The light-headedness is normal, it’s the remains of what we gave you to keep you under during the operation. It should fade in a few minutes, with rest and water. Your vitals are good. Do you remember what happened?”

Remus frowned before recognition dawned on his face. “Yeah, Keller got called for a murder and asked me to come with him for the evidence. We’d just got there when this guy showed up, looking wild and panicked, and started shooting at us. I remember getting shot in the shoulder and Keller calling an ambulance, but they must have put me under because I don’t remember reaching the hospital.”

“Very good. Well, you’re alright now, we extracted the bullet without nerve damage. We’ve immobilized your shoulder and it should stay that way until the end of the week. We’re going to keep you here for that time to ensure you let your shoulder rest.”

The last sentence was said with a meaningful glare that Logan took to mean Oliver knew Remus well enough to know he would be jumping back into work unless he was confined to a hospital bed.

“So he wasn’t anywhere near the risk of death?” Logan asked, hearing Remus’ snicker next to him.

Oliver smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Not at all. You should show more trust in your boyfriend’s abilities. Well, I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll let the others know the room number so they can join you later.”

“Thanks,” Logan sighed.

Oliver was barely out of the room when Remus asked, “what others?”

Logan explained how he’d discovered Remus had been shot and why he’d decided to call Patton and Roman.

“Oh darling,” Remus said once he was done. “I’m sorry I worried you so much.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. I know it comes with the job.”

Even though Logan had said that with confidence, some of his stress and worry must have shown on his face, because Remus scooted to one side of the bed. “Come up here, babe.”

As much as Logan knew he shouldn’t, he lay down with his boyfriend and burrowed in his side, letting go of the worries and leaving an intense fatigue to wash over him.

*

Roman, Patton and Virgil had stayed in a semi-awkward silence until the doctor came back only to tell them the number of the room Remus was staying in.

It had served to pull the three of them out of the frozen state they’d been in.

“You know, Roman, I think Logan and Remus really love each other.”

Roman looked at Patton with wide eyes, wondering where he was coming from and going with this thought. Patton seemed to realize how vague that was.

“I mean, I’ve been thinking about them a lot lately. You know how hard accepting this relationship has been for me. But Logan really looked like he’d lost part of him just then.”

Roman nodded. “Yeah, I see what you mean. It’s been hard for me too, but some of it might have been because I wanted it for myself. But last week, well, something happened that made me realize Remus had changed and I was kind of wondering why I’d put so much distance between us. I think Logan and Remus look after each other well enough. Besides, I’ve realized it’s not really our place to judge their relationship.”

Patton let out a small sigh through a bittersweet smile. “Yeah, I’ve worked that one out, too.”

He exchanged a look with Virgil as they intertwined their hands. Roman felt there was a backstory, but the sight in front of him only reminded him of the need to have Damon’s support.

Just like Patton and Virgil, they had been on a ‘date’, watching a movie at Damon’s, when Logan had called. Roman had apologized for having to cut their evening short, and not once had it occurred to either of them that Damon could have come with him.

Roman stood up. “Excuse me, I just have a call to make. I’ll be back.”

He left the room to find an empty space in a hallway, and called Damon.

“Hey Roman. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Remus is fine and Logan is with him right now. I feel a bit lonely, though.”

“Oh. How so?”

Roman sighed. “Logan also called his brother for comfort, who was on a date with his apparently new boyfriend and came with him. It made me realize you could have accompanied me and now that Logan is back with Remus and Patton is with Virgil, I kind of wish you were here. Or, of course, I could just leave and come back to your place, but I still want to see Remus, and-”

“Roman,” Damon cut him off in his babbling. “You don’t have to beg, of course I’ll come and keep you company. I’ll be there soon.”

Roman hung up, feeling a bit lighter, and went back to the waiting room. Patton and Virgil smiled up at him and he sat back down next to them.

“So, this is what you’ve been up to lately?” he asked with a nod towards Virgil. “How did you manage that?”

Patton chuckled. Roman had been around Patton long enough to know that while the older man had always been a romantic at heart and wanted to find love, he’d never managed because he became shy as soon as he was in the presence of other men. It was a spectacular opposite to Logan, who’d never put that as a priority in his life and found his match in Remus on the first try.

“Well,” Patton said, “it helps when the other guy is as shy and nervous as me, I’ve discovered. The real thing is, we’ve both been much more at ease with each other than we usually are with other people. And what’s more, it was Virgil who confessed first,” he concluded, making the three of them laugh.

For the next few minutes, the three of them got to know each other (in Roman and Virgil’s case) and caught up with the latest events. They were so deep into their conversation that Roman didn’t even notice when a man came up to them.

“You don’t look that lonely to me.”

Roman jumped and turned, facing his grinning boyfriend.

“Damon, you’re here!” he gasped, standing up to pull him into his arms.

He breathed in the familiar scent of the man, burrowing his nose in the other’s neck.

“Thank you for coming. I’m so sorry that I cut our date short and then asked you to come here, I’m such a bother.”

Damon pulled his head back and Roman found himself swept into a lingering, soft kiss. “Don’t apologize. You came when I called you last week and I want to be able to return the favor. I- I love you, Roman, I want you to know that I’ll always be there for you.”

Roman’s breath caught in his chest and he searched Damon’s face. He’d rarely met someone as honest or as generous as Damon. He briefly thought about the last month and a half and how this simple aquarium caretaker had helped him on the journey to finding himself. Really, everything had led up to that moment, and it had only been accelerated by the recent, dramatic events.

“I love you too, Damon, and I’m not just saying this because you said it first. I think I could have said it a lot earlier, but I want you to know it. Thank you for being here for me.”

They shared another kiss before Roman remembered where they were. He turned towards Patton and Virgil, placing an arm around Damon’s waist.

“Patton, Virgil, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend, Damon.”

The two men stood up and greeted him.

“It’s good that you have someone to go through this with, Roman,” Patton said.

Roman couldn’t have held back the smile that took over his lips.

“Thanks. Well, now that you’re here, I suppose we should go see Remus,” he said, turning to Damon. “Oh and by the way, I haven’t told Logan about us, but he knows. I suspect Remus told him after last week.”

“Sure. At least he won’t be too surprised.”

“We’ll come with you,” Patton said. “We should get back, but we’ll say goodbye to Logan and Remus first.”

Roman nodded and the four of them walked to the room that had been indicated earlier by the doctor. They found Logan curled up on the bed beside Remus, an arm across his chest and his head resting on a shoulder. They turned their heads simultaneously when the men walked inside.

If Roman had needed any other proof that Logan and Remus loved each other, after his and Logan’s discussion a few weeks ago, the whole evening or Patton and his realizations tonight, this would be it. He’d never thought he’d ever see his brother and his best friend like that, but he had to admit they formed an adorable sight, contradicting greatly with their separate personalities.

Logan stood up, smoothing down his doctor gown. “You… you’re all still here…”

“What do you mean?” Roman asked at the same time as Patton said, “of course we are!”

Logan ducked his head and turned towards Remus. “Well, um… I didn’t expect… I mean, you came here when I called you, but I thought you wouldn’t feel very concerned after that…”

“Aw, Logan!” Patton exclaimed as he rushed towards his brother and pulled him into a tight embrace. “Of course we feel concerned. Didn’t you learn anything from the conversations we had before you came in here? Listen, I’m sorry it took me so long, but I’ve realized that I can’t do anything to stop you from loving someone. That means Remus is family.”

“And don’t forget we’re talking about my brother here,” Roman chimed in, giving Remus a look and receiving a grin for it.

Logan sighed and hugged his own brother tighter. “Thank you. It means a lot.”

“You’re welcome,” Patton said, releasing Logan. “Now, I don’t want to seem contradicting, but Virgil and I have to go. Remus, I’m glad you’re doing ok. There’ll probably be an occasion to introduce everyone better soon.”

Logan nodded at him, and Patton and Virgil said their goodbyes and exited the room.

All eyes suddenly turned onto Damon.

“So…” Roman started, stepping back towards his boyfriend. “Logan, this is my boyfriend, Damon. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about him before, but I know you were already aware I was with someone.”

“Before?” Logan asked, quirking an eyebrow. “How long has this been going on?”

Roman turned towards Damon and they shared a small laugh. “Well… Since Halloween? Or like, the morning after, officially. But we- the funny thing is, I met him right after that talk you and I had.”

Logan’s eyebrows rose behind his bangs, and in a very un-Logan manner, he threw his hands up in the air with a sigh.

“And here I was, hours ago, hoping that you hadn’t done that! Have you taken my advice into consideration at all?”

Roman felt like his best friend was back, finally, because even though his words were accusatory, his tone just indicated that he was worried about him.

“I have, as a matter of fact. Well, as best as I could, but I told Damon about it on our first date, because you’d said I should be myself around other people and I’d had the sudden panic of feeling like I didn’t know who I was. Damon is helping me through that. Maybe we weren’t as patient as you intended it, but for my standards, it was a pretty long time before we got together. And… you know, that thing you said about love finding you instead of the opposite? I think that’s primarily what’s happened with Damon, and that’s more important than being patient. And we’re taking things relatively slowly, I guess.”

Logan looked at him for five seconds before breaking into a smile and sighing. “I guess I can’t hold it against you if you don’t act as I would. I’m happy for you, Roman. And it’s nice to meet you, Damon.”

Damon looked up at Roman with something akin to pride and adoration, before looking at Logan. “It’s nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you. Both of you, really.”

Remus grinned. “Aw, I’m touched, brother.”

Roman ignored the comment and inquired after Remus’ health instead. Only he could get shot and be back to his normal self as soon as he was awake.

The four men chatted for a while, much as Roman had done with Patton and Virgil earlier, before the same doctor from earlier came to tell them visiting hours were over. Roman offered to drive Logan home, but he insisted he was alright now – and Roman could see it, too – so the three men left separately.

As Roman was driving back to his house, he thought about everything that had happened in a matter of hours. Maybe, all Patton, Logan and Roman had needed all along had been to find a love of their own, in Roman and Patton’s case, and a big, dramatic event that would open their eyes and bring everyone closer.

***

Chapter Text

Patton let out a sigh as the last parent and child left the classroom. He’d tried very hard all day not to let the previous evening’s events distract him, but it had proven easier said than done.

He’d seen Remus and that alone should have helped feeling like he was going to be okay and that Logan would be able to relax. He’d also seen them together, seen Logan’s worry that could only have stemmed from love for it to be that intense. It had been a big night for all of them, if only for the fact that Patton and Roman had finally accepted what had been in front of them the whole time and agreed that they couldn’t intervene in someone else’s love life.

Patton felt that somehow, Damon in Roman’s case and Virgil in his had done a lot to help them in that direction, even if it was just by entering their lives.

“Hey Pat.”

Patton was interrupted in his musings by Virgil coming in the classroom and coming near him. As if sensing something was troubling Patton, Virgil placed a kiss on his cheek and gathered him in his arms instead of kissing him on the lips as they had done every day for two weeks. Patton burrowed in the warm neck, inhaling and exhaling deeply.

“How you holdin’ up?” Virgil asked softly in his ear.

Patton shuddered and pulled away but held one of Virgil’s hands in his. “I’m ok. I guess it was just a lot and I might still be a bit worried for Logan, but it’s more in regard to Remus than it would have been before last night.”

Virgil squeezed his hand. “I’m glad. I was wondering if you’d like to come home with us for dinner. I thought you might not want to be alone. And um… I think Remy would love to have you at home again. From what he’s been saying for at least a week, you wouldn’t think he spends literally all day with you every day.”

Patton chuckled at Virgil’s snort and eyeroll. “Why? What does he say?”

Virgil seemed to sober up instantly. He dropped Patton’s hand and looked down. “He asked… Well, he asked if you were going to come live with us or- or if we were going to go live with you and the doggie – his words!”

Patton felt his heart swell with fondness for Remy.

“Well, we should tell him that it’s too soon to make that kind of decision,” he said, hoping to inject in his voice the fact that he wasn’t repulsed by the idea at all, just that they been together for only half a month.

“Yes, of course, sure…” Virgil agreed with a sigh of relief, though he still seemed tense. “But what I haven’t told you… oh my gosh, this is so embarrassing!”

“What is it, Virge?” Patton asked, taking a step towards him and putting a hand on his forearm.

“It’s- gosh, it’s stupid. He called you papa.” Patton tried to ignore the summersault his heart did. “Now, I don’t know if this is because your name is close to that or because he knows what it means and that’s how he sees you, but it’s made me feel really uneasy all morning and-”

“Virgil, it’s okay,” Patton interrupted. “I’m not offended, or embarrassed, and whatever he meant is okay for me. And I’d love to have dinner with you two.”

Virgil looked up at him and his whole face lit up. “You mean that?”

“Why yes, I would love to go eat with you and Remy.”

Virgil punched him playfully on the shoulder. “Not that!”

They laughed and Patton put an arm around Virgil’s upper back to draw him to his side. Virgil immediately laid his head on the slightly taller man’s shoulder.

“Yes, I do mean that. We’ve discussed it already, and from all the times you’ve told me how Remy speaks about me and how connected we are, I’m not all that surprised that he’d call me that. I feel honored, actually. And thank you for telling me, that way I won’t be surprised if he calls me that at a random moment.”

They laughed again, and Virgil hugged him.

“Thank you. I’ve been hyper-focused on that all day.”

Patton placed a hand on Virgil’s cheek and brought his face close. “You’re welcome,” he murmured before tenderly kissing him.

Of course, Remy chose that moment to come greet his dad.

“Daddy! Look what I did today!”

Patton and Virgil separated with a laugh, and Virgil bent down to look at Remy’s drawings and other results. None too soon, he sent his son packing. Remy skipped towards the hallway upon hearing that Patton would come home with them. Once he reached the door, he turned around.

“Will the doggie come too?”

Patton turned to Virgil, who had tensed but shrugged minutely.

“Yes,” the teacher answered, and Remy finished his way out of the classroom.

“What’s wrong?” Patton asked.

Virgil sighed. “It’s just that… when we came with you, you know, for our second date, I promised him the next time we’d do something like that, we’d all go together, because he was pretty distraught when you went to your own car.”

“Oh,” Patton said in understanding. “You know, on one hand, there’s every chance he forgot about that; he’s four.” Virgil chuckled. “And if it’s just that, we can tell him that I have to bring my car home and pick up Ellie, and from there we can all go together.”

Virgil beamed at him again, and Patton thought, if it was this easy to make him smile and relieve him of his worries, he’d gladly do it every time he’d get the chance.

Patton grabbed his coat, bag and keys, and together they closed the room and joined Remy in the hallway. As Virgil had expected, Remy did ask why Patton was going to his own car, and Virgil seemed relieved to be able to use the explanation they’d agreed on. And Remy looked like he accepted it, which placated both adults.

It didn’t take long after that to reach Virgil and Remy’s apartment. Patton took to playing with Remy and Ellie while Virgil started on dinner. The teacher tried half-heartedly to offer help, but Virgil refused with a warm smile, saying he appreciated the offer.

Patton could understand what Virgil had meant about things feeling natural a few weeks ago. Sitting down on the floor of Remy’s bedroom, surrounded by all sorts of toys and books with a child and a dog, all felt like it had been that way forever and like it was meant to be.

Now, Ellie was lying on the rug, Remy curled up against her front, while Patton sat with his back against the bed frame, facing them. Patton suggested reading a book after the boy and dog had had the chance to let out their pent-up energy running around and playing with balls and plushies, in order to calm them before dinner.

At some point, sensing a presence in the room, Patton looked up to see Virgil leaning against the door frame, arms crossed loosely and a soft smile on his lips. Patton smiled in return; they must form quite a sight and Patton’s heart swelled when he thought about how domestic all of this was.

In hindsight, Patton thought Remy’s interrogation about living together wasn’t that out of place, even though Patton and Virgil (and Remy and Ellie) hadn’t spent that much time together outside of the usual after school habit yet. They did, however, already behave like a functioning family, sometimes not even needing to communicate to know what to do or not to do.

“Dinner’s ready,” Virgil announced.

Ellie’s ears perked up and her head followed, turning to look up at Virgil. Remy gasped and scrambled to get up.

“Yay!” he said, running past Virgil into the kitchen.

“Wash your hands before sitting at the table!” Virgil shouted after him as he moved towards Patton to help him up.

“Thank you for staying with them,” Virgil murmured once Patton was standing in front of him.

Patton leaned his forehead against Virgil’s. “Of course. You were right, it does me a world of good to be around you two.”

This thought stayed with him throughout dinner, as he struck up conversation sometimes with Virgil, sometimes with Remy, or simply watched the son tell his dad about his day. The atmosphere was so light that Patton forgot what had been troubling him all day and what had happened twenty-four hours ago, and didn’t even think of Logan once.

After dinner, Virgil and Patton migrated to the sofa and put on a movie, but Remy decided after five minutes that he didn’t like it, so he took out pencils and crayons and paper and started drawing.

“Does he often do that?” Patton asked as he leant against Virgil, Ellie’s head on his left knee.

“Do what?”

“Draw and let you continue your activity instead of asking you to do something else with him.”

“Oh. Yeah, he does. I’ve never asked him to do that. He just always seems to understand when I’m busy and he finds ways to occupy himself.”

The two adults watched the movie in silence, occasionally interrupted by Remy turning around to give one of them a finished drawing. After a while, Remy decided he’d had enough of drawing and put away his things. He ran to his bedroom and came back with a bright blue and glittery bouncing ball. Ellie seemed more interested by that than pretending to sleep on Patton’s lap, and she jumped off the couch and joined Remy.

Patton shifted, putting an arm around Virgil’s shoulders, and Virgil slipped an arm between the back of the couch and the small of Patton’s back, his hand coming to clutch Patton’s hip.

Patton tried to focus on the movie again, but a thought took over him and his eyes glazed over. Suddenly, he was at a Christmas lunch party, surrounded by shiny lights and decorations, Ellie running around playing with Remy, and Logan, Remus, Roman, Damon, Virgil and himself were sitting at a table, delicious-looking dishes between them, everyone laughing and smiling.

He came back to reality with a big gasp, which made Virgil turn to him.

“You okay?”

“Yes,” Patton said, clearing his throat. “I just… I had a sort of vision, of everyone at Christmas. I think it would be lovely to have a Christmas celebration with Logan, and Roman, and their boyfriends. You know, after everything that’s happened recently, we deserve something good and easy. And I think we should celebrate the fact that Roman and I have recently found someone new to share Christmas time with.”

Virgil nodded slowly.

“Do you already have something planned for Christmas?” Patton asked.

“Well, we’re going to my parents’ on the 25^th, for a few days.”

“But you don’t have anything planned for the 24^th, right? We could do a Christmas Eve lunch, or dinner. I’d love to have everyone around at my place. We could also play games, or do karaoke, or something fun.”

Patton turned towards Virgil, who was staring in front of him with a blank look.

“Do- Do you not want that, Virge?”

“Um, yes, I guess, but… Well, I just met everyone else yesterday, and no one even knows I have a kid. Is it wise?”

“You’re asking the wrong brother if you’re looking for wise. First, Virgil, stop worrying. Second, I think we need an opportunity to all get to know each other and try to become a functioning family. And third, Remy is adorable; everyone will love him and nobody will judge you or me or anyone. Okay?”

Virgil closed his eyes and let a smile appear on his lips. “Okay, yes. I’d love to celebrate Christmas with you, but I’ll do it with the rest of your family only if you promise you’ll take care of me and everything will be ok.”

“I promise.” Patton kissed Virgil quickly. “It’s going to be so much fun!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can we go back to this fascinating movie I’ve only seen fifteen times?”

When the movie was over, Virgil stretched and announced bedtime for Remy. The child came over to them, a shy and worried look on his face that made Patton see only Virgil in him.

“Can papa read me to sleep?” he asked in a soft voice.

Patton’s heart might actually have stopped working for a second this time. Remy’s tired expression was just so endearing, and the use of that special name that Patton didn’t think he deserved yet, although he’d told Virgil that it was okay just a few hours ago, was too much for him. He turned to Virgil, seeking something, maybe approval at Remy’s question, and found him blushing harder than he’d ever seen him do. Virgil nodded, but he, like Patton, seemed to have stopped functioning altogether.

“Alright, let’s go,” Patton finally said, extending his hand for Remy to take, letting him lead the way to his bedroom. “You’ll have to tell me what daddy usually does, Remy, I’ve never done this.”

“Really?” Remy asked, a little of the tiredness leaving his face and excitement taking place when he understood that he had to behave like a big boy.

Following Remy’s instructions, Patton helped him get into his pajamas, made him go on the potty and brush his teeth, and pulled the covers over him in his toddler bed. Logically, Patton could have known that these were the steps to putting a child to bed, but he was so overwhelmed by the fact that he was doing it that he was grateful for Remy telling him what to do.

“Now, I think I heard something about reading someone to sleep,” Patton said once Remy was snuggled under the covers.

Remy smiled, excited once again. “Yes please! It’s me! Read me to sleep, please!”

“Alright, alright. What should I read?” Patton spotted a pile of books on the bedside table. “How about this one?”

“I love this one! You have to sit next to me.”

Patton did, leaning against the small headboard that bit into his back. Remy immediately leaned against him and put his head in the hollow between Patton’s waist and thigh. Patton hesitantly placed a hand in Remy’s hair and kept it there when the boy didn’t object. After all that, reading a book to a child was perfectly known territory.

Remy didn’t take much time to fall asleep, even though he fought to stay awake for some time. When his breathing stayed regular for two minutes, Patton closed the book and placed it back on the pile before gently lowering Remy’s head to the pillow. He brushed his hair back and forth a few times but refrained from kissing his forehead like his heart was screaming at him to do.

Patton stood up, turned the night light on and the room’s lamp off, and left, closing the door behind him. He let out a long breath before going to join Virgil in the living room.

The younger man didn’t seem to have moved at all, but he jumped up as soon as he saw Patton. He rushed forward and tugged him into a hot, hard kiss. Patton was surprised but let him do as he pleased, happy to share an intimate moment with his boyfriend, something that was still new and took some getting used to.

When Virgil seemed satisfied with what he had intended, he pulled back, keeping Patton close with both hands on his waist.

“I love you. I love you for how you act with Remy, I love you for being accepting and understanding, I love you for taking care of us, for thinking of us and for integrating us so fast and so easily in your life. I feel like I had imagined this with Remy’s mom before he was born, and I never got to live it and never thought I would, but you’ve made it all possible. It’s even better than I had thought and it’s only been a couple of weeks. I don’t even know how it’s possible for me to love you so much already, but I do, and now I hope I never have to give that up.”

Patton swallowed around the lump in his throat and pulled Virgil against him instead of answering. He breathed in his comforting and much too familiar scent, feeling Virgil do the same.

“I love you too, Virgil,” he said, looking in his eyes again. “I can’t even begin to understand how I got so lucky to find you and Remy. You’re so precious to me, both of you, and I want to cherish every moment I can spend with you. I had reached a point where I thought I’d never get to live this family life, like you, but now I do, and you both have adopted me in your family so easily. I just love you both so much.”

There was a moment in which Virgil’s eyes shone brightly and seemed to reflect what Patton’s eyes looked like, and then they were kissing again. It was sweet, soft and tender and just completed what had been said, just as the kiss they’d shared before had introduced it.

After a few minutes, they moved back to the couch, sitting with their limbs entangled and their sides glued together, as if they would stop functioning if they weren’t in contact. Virgil confessed to having spent the few minutes he was alone completely inside his head, with the subconscious feeling of knowing what Patton was doing, which all led to his confession. Patton laughed and recounted what he’d done with Remy and how much of a good and sweet boy he’d been. They chatted for another hour before Virgil drove Patton home.

There were a lot of things that had happened tonight which made Patton reconsider what he’d told Virgil about moving in together. The fact that Remy had asked him to put him to bed showed that he wanted him there all the time; it showed that Remy needed another parental figure on the daily basis as much as Virgil needed a lover. The fact that Virgil had to drive him and Ellie home and that they had to spend the night apart when all Patton wanted to do was hold Virgil against him all night long and see what he looked like when he woke up was another thing that gave him a new point of view of their situation.

But, Patton thought as Virgil parked in front of his house, patience would make the reward all the sweeter.

They took their time saying goodbye, basking in the new, glorious feeling of passing ‘I love you’s back and forth, until Ellie barked at them and they separated. Once Patton was inside, he wrote texts to Logan and Roman, inviting them for Christmas Eve along with their boyfriends. Feeling content with this idea and the evening he’d just had, he went to sleep.

*

It was easy, for a few days, to forget what had happened at the aquarium. Routine took over, the public came back, shows were on again. But Damon kept it in the back of his mind at all times, observing people around him to spot any suspicious behavior, keeping an ear out in case he needed to call the police. The detectives didn’t show up again, not for him or anyone else, and Damon was starting to lose hope that they would find the killer. It filled him with fear of being arrested again and hopelessness of justice being made for Mr. Brock.

At least he could sense now that the sharks were back to normal, the last of the trauma of having an unfamiliar, dead body in their tank and of losing their favorite caregiver for a few days having finally gone. His own trauma was taking a little longer, but with the help of Roman and his routine at the aquarium, he was making fast progress.

“Hey Damon,” a voice called at the end of the day on Thursday, a full week after he’d come out of custody. He looked up from the food containers he was putting away in the storage room and saw Mike coming towards him.

“I was just with Mr. McGregor, he’s doing personal interviews to gather our specialties and get to know us, I think. He’s asked to see you, I think you’re his last for the day.”

Damon looked around him at what remained to be put away. “Ok, thanks Mike. I’ll go in a minute.”

Mike smiled at him and left, and Damon put away the last boxes before making his way to the director’s office.

He hadn’t spent a lot of time in that room when Mr. Brock was still there, but the times he did were always good memories, even if what prompted him to go there was a problem. Mr. Brock had a way of always knowing what to do and say, and Damon always left the office feeling lighter and happier than when he entered it.

This time, he didn’t know what to expect. His last – and only – discussion with his new director had felt weird on several aspects. Damon wanted to put that on the account of the first meeting, but he still felt cautious when he knocked on the door.

“Come in!”

Damon pushed the door open.

“Ah, Mr. Garcia, come in. I see Mr. Connors passed on my message.”

“Yes, he said you wanted to talk about my specialties. I thought we did that when we first met?” Damon said as he took a seat in front of the desk.

“We did, it’s true. But I want to get a good idea of everything that is going on around the aquarium. Mr. Brock was director for a long time, after all; there might be changes I can make. I’m also opened to ideas from any other employee.”

Damon refrained from squinting and simply nodded. It wouldn’t do to show his suspicion in front of the man.

“So,” McGregor said, taking out a notebook and pen, “you work with sharks, killer whales and dolphins. Let’s start with the latter. Do you see anything that could be improved with the dolphins?”

Damon honestly considered the question. “No, I don’t think so. Shanna might tell you differently, she works with them the most and far more than I do, just as I work more with the sharks. I don’t actually think I can think of any changed needed. For the three years I’ve worked here, there has never been a problem with these animals, and everything always goes smoothly.”

Mr. McGregor took notes. “Mhm. And what do you think about the shows?”

Damon heard the implied question about animal abuse. “They’re often the favorite part of the day for every animal that takes part in them. Our dolphins have always been used to and loved interacting with an audience. The orcas love the opportunity to move around. It’s a form of exercise for them, which they need.”

“What about the fact that killer whales are named like that? Don’t you think it might scare children?”

The more it went, the more Damon wanted to sigh and roll his eyes. “That’s why we call them orcas. And for a lot of boys and some girls, especially of middle school age, it’s a source of fascination. I don’t think that the name of an animal is any more dangerous for a child’s education than a video game in which they can use guns. Unless you’re suggesting completely changing the English language.”

McGregor lifted his eyes for the first time since they’d started this interview and frowned at Damon. He didn’t say anything more about that and asked his next question.

“We talked about the fact that sharks are predators, last week, if you remember. Do you think, after what happened to Mr. Brock, that we should remove them from the aquarium?”

Damon felt a bubble of rage burst inside him. He’d known this was what it was coming to.

“The only thing that happened to Mr. Brock was that he got knocked out, then thrown inside the sharks’ tank, and died of blood loss and drowning. My sharks had nothing to do with that. If anything, I think they were scared when it happened, because they’re as used to routine as any animal and caregiver here. What happened to our previous director could have happened in any other part of the aquarium. Would you suggest removing otters or common fish, then?”

Seeing McGregor’s glare, Damon feared he’d gone too far.

“I think I have the answers I was looking for. You can leave now. Thank you, Mr. Garcia.”

Damon left without another word. Before he reached the locker room, where he’d change to go home, he leaned against a wall and breathed deeply for a minute.

The fact that McGregor was obsessed with how dangerous sharks were and that they had nothing to do in an aquarium reminded him of an angry client that he hadn’t seen in a few weeks. The same man had come several days, shouting at anyone who would listen that sharks and several other animals of the aquarium should be returned to their natural habitat. Mr. Brock had had to intervene one time when even security had trouble taking him away. He’d shouted a lot of mean things at the director, and then nobody heard of him anymore.

Suddenly, everything was clear to Damon. The familiarity of Mr. McGregor’s face when he’d first met him was because it was the same man who had protested for the liberation of several animals.

Feeling like that was a huge breakthrough, Damon called the police.

***

Chapter Text

Remus felt like he got his life back when he finally set foot in Logan and his house again after six days confined to a hospital bed. He still wouldn’t be able to go back to work until the next day, and he had to take medicine several times a day and go back to the hospital at the end of the week to hopefully take off the bandage and hear confirmation that he was alright. He felt that Oliver’s approval for him going back to work had come with a warning not to overdo it. At least he didn’t have a sleeve around his shoulder and arm that maintained it bent and stuck against his body anymore.

He dropped the bag that Logan had brought with changes of clothes on his second day in the hospital, toed off his shoes and headed for the stairs. From the shuffling behind him, Logan had grabbed the bag back and followed him.

“Do you need anything?” He asked as they reached the living room. “Do you want something to drink, some tea maybe?”

Remus turned to him with a gentle look on his face, because he heard Logan’s worry in his voice and knew that his boyfriend still hadn’t come to terms with the fact that the man he loved had gotten shot.

“What I need is a good shower. What I want is to watch a good movie and forget about the horrible food and bed in the hospital.”

“Are you sure you can manage that? The shower, that is.”

“I mean, you’re welcome to join and help, but even in the hospital it was something I did alone,” Remus answered with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

To his surprise, Logan blushed, as if it were the first time Remus suggested such a thing.

“N-no, I shouldn’t. Oliver said no strenuous activities, remember?” Ah, this explained that. “You go do that, I’ll wait for you here and choose a movie.”

He kissed him quickly on the lips before hurrying to the kitchen, and Remus only went for the stairs when he heard the sound of the tap running.

He took his time in the shower, taking care not to jostle his left arm or shoulder and trying to use mainly his good arm. After that, he dressed in the only pair of sweatpants he owned and took a sweater with him, intending to ask Logan to help him put it on.

When he reached downstairs, he saw that Logan had prepared a bowl of diced fruit, along with bread, cheese and cold meat on a plate, and a movie was waiting to be played on the TV. Logan came out of the kitchen with two mugs filled with steaming tea and smiled at him.

“Oh, do you need help with that? Hold on, let me put these down.”

He placed the mugs down and came towards him, helping him put on the sweater. Then he grabbed his right hand and pulled him to the couch. Remus sat down and accepted the bowl of fruit handed to him. Logan joined him, grabbing the plate with the rest of the food, and leaned against him.

“Thank you, babe,” Remus said, kissing him on the cheek.

Logan smiled at him, placed a hand on his cheek, and pecked him on the lips. He said nothing as he started the movie, and Remus immediately noticed that it was his favorite. He sighed gratefully and sagged against the back of the couch, and they watched the movie in silence, munching their way through the food.

When the movie was over, they let the credits roll, and Remus turned to Logan. He was curled up on the sofa, clinging with both hands around Remus’ arm, in a position that looked very vulnerable for the confident doctor he normally was. Once again, Remus realized how much of a toll it had taken on his boyfriend that he’d been shot and had to spend almost an entire week in the hospital.

From the very first time Logan had said he loved him to Remus, he had never once doubted it. The remarkable thing, however, was how physical Logan was being tonight – in a very soft, very tender way that was quite out of character. His giving love language was acts of service, as he demonstrated earlier when he took the time to prepare good food and Remus’ favorite movie, and as for his receiving love language, he was usually content with time spent with Remus, even if each was engrossed in his own activity. Remus wasn’t against a physical proof of their love every time they could indulge, but it was a sign that Logan had too much on his mind.

A black screen appeared, but Logan continued to stare blankly in front of him. Remus slowly lifted his left hand and brushed Logan’s hair.

“What are you doing? Put that arm down.”

Remus chuckled and brought his hand back to his lap. “There you are. I was wondering.”

Logan lifted his gaze to him. “What?”

“Look at you. You’re so vulnerable, even though I’m right here against you.”

Perhaps unconsciously, Logan tightened his hold on his arm. “Don’t worry about me. I’m-”

“Let me tell you the same,” Remus interrupted. “I know you were afraid that I would die or have difficulties in the aftermath of the operation, but I’m fine. More than fine, even. I can’t wait for Oliver to tell me I can go back to normal. And I appreciate everything you’ve done last week and today. I love you, Logan.”

His boyfriend sat up and leaned his head against Remus’ shoulder. “Were you that worried about me when I had that accident with the motorcycle?” he asked instead of returning the sentiment as Remus had expected, which struck him silent for a few seconds.

“When Oliver first called me, yes, I might have felt as worried as you did. In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never gone to the hospital for anything, which to me sounds just as much like luck as care. But as soon as I saw that you only had minor injuries, I was comforted and the worry was gone.” Remus paused and turned his body a little more towards Logan. “Why are you still so preoccupied? It’s not the first time I wind up in the hospital, especially because of my job.”

Logan sighed. “I don’t know. I know there’s a certain risk that comes with working in the police force, but I’d never thought it would be so present for a forensics scientist. You’d never been shot before, though.”

“Oliver said you shouldn’t doubt my abilities,” Remus said with a grin. “And I reiterate the thought.”

Logan grinned in turn. “You’re right.” He leaned up and kissed Remus softly on the lips. “I love you too, Remus.”

They stayed in a silent hug for a few minutes, chewing over what had just been said.

“Hey, so, Patton finally found someone, huh?” Remus said.

Logan chuckled and sat up, leaning away from Remus a bit. “Yeah, he did. I can’t believe he didn’t tell me! Do you think I would never have found out if they hadn’t come together when I called him?”

“No, I don’t think so. You said he told you it was all still new and they were taking things slow,” Remus assured him, taking Logan’s hand in his.

“Yeah, you’re right. Oh, that reminds me! He invited us over to his place for Christmas Eve. The text mentioned something about getting to know everyone and celebrating Roman and Patton finally being able to spend Christmas with someone special.”

Remus smiled at his boyfriend. “It’s a great idea. Last year’s Christmas was a bit tense despite both our brothers coming here, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was,” Logan nodded. “Well, I’ll write and tell him that we’ll be there.”

“Oh, and there’s still dinner with Roman and Damon!” Remus remembered suddenly.

“You’re right,” Logan replied, but he looked a bit confused, judging from his light frown. “Are you sure you still want to do it?”

“Of course!” Remus responded, and suddenly he thought he understood why Logan might be reticent. “Now more than ever. Roman has finally come to terms with the fact that the two of us are dating, and that was even before my accident happened.”

Logan’s frown accented even more instead of disappearing as Remus would have hoped. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, I did invite them because Roman looked like he’d finally gotten over his original idea of me. When I did it, I knew I could hope for a positive answer, which wouldn’t have been the case even a month ago.”

“That was on the day you met Damon, right?” Logan asked. “When Roman introduced you?”

Remus laughed softly. “He didn’t introduce me, babe, he outright ignored me until Damon made him aware of my presence. I told you this already.”

Logan was still frowning, but a sudden understanding came over him. “If you told me everything when you informed me that Roman was dating someone and that you’d invited them for dinner, I don’t recall a single thing.” Remus’ eyebrows shot up. “I was so taken aback by the fact that I didn’t know about it that I didn’t hear the rest of what you said about them.”

“Oh,” Remus said, then laughed. “That’s okay. Did you think I’d crossed them on the street and Roman had gently introduced his boyfriend to me?”

“It was one of my theories afterwards, yes,” Logan answered with a put-upon look.

“That’s okay,” Remus repeated, and took one of his boyfriend’s hands in his, smoothing the skin with his thumb. “Damon is a suspect in one of our ongoing cases, and he was arrested on false grounds. I first saw him during one of his interviews, and I could hear that he was innocent and being framed, so I picked up on that. Then, I had to see him to take his fingerprints. Now that I think about it, he might have recognized me then, because he knew who I was without needing an introduction. Anyway, when he left the station, I informed him of a new development, and Roman showed up and was obviously worried about him and ranting, so Damon kissed him. That was how I understood that they were dating. Then, I reminded them of my presence and Damon said to Roman ‘your brother is here’. That’s how I know he knew who I was even if I couldn’t know who he was and he hadn’t said anything.”

Logan nodded and a smile made its way to his lips.

“So, yeah,” Remus continued, “we didn’t even get properly introduced. But I promised them that I would help prove Damon is innocent and Roman said something about how I’d changed, and then I invited them, but it wasn’t anything official and I didn’t even stay around to hear Roman’s answer.”

Logan shook his head and huffed, but Remus could see that he was amused. “Of course you didn’t. We should set a date, otherwise we’ll never do this.”

Remus agreed and they both pulled out their phones to check their schedules for the next week, since Roman had told Logan he’d be out of town for this week. Once they decided what day they’d have their dinner together, Logan wrote to his brother about Christmas, and it wasn’t long before both men headed to bed, exhausted and happy.

*

Sitting alone on his couch on Friday night right after work, Damon realized how much he missed Roman. The voice actor had gone out of town on Monday for a week of voice over recording, and even though they’d spoken every day through texts or calls, it wasn’t the same as spending time with him. It also wasn’t like they’d spent every day together ever since they started dating, but in the aftermath of Damon’s boss’ death and the following police case, Damon felt he needed a comforting, familiar presence with him.

Before he could go too deep in that depressing line of thought, the doorbell rang. Damon jumped to his feet and forced himself to walk, albeit quickly, to the door. He opened it to reveal Roman and he jumped at him before the man could even say ‘hello’.

Once Damon had hugged Roman to his fill, he pulled him inside and started kissing him. The taller man seemed surprised but he accepted his predicament readily and they spent a good twenty minutes making out on Damon’s couch.

“I take it you missed me?” Roman said once they lay tangled on the sofa, Damon atop Roman, both catching their breath.

“Oh no, that was me telling you to go back to your job,” Damon drawled.

Roman looked confused, so Damon grinned and kissed him again.

“Of course I missed you. Besides, I could really have done with you by my side this week, with everything going on.”

Roman cradled his head against his chest, but Damon still looked up at him. “Are you still grieving?”

“Well, yes, but there’s also been a new development.”

“Oh?”

Damon pushed himself up and sat down, and Roman copied him, sitting with one side against the back of the couch, Damon facing him. The voice actor automatically took the caregiver’s hands in his.

“So, you know how I told you that I called the police because McGregor seemed suspicious to me? When I got to work on Tuesday, the police were there and they arrested him. They were just as friendly as ever when I asked them what was going on, so I didn’t get any info out of them. But later in the day, Remus called me.”

Roman made such an astonished face that Damon stopped and chuckled.

“He was pretty invested in the case, if you recall.” Roman conceded with a nod. “Well, he called at first to say he was sorry he wasn’t the one to prove I was innocent as he’d promised. You know, since he was in the hospital for most of the case. So I asked him what had happened and he was more willing to share details than the detectives.”

“Not very professional,” Roman grumbled.

“Well, the case was over, so he was free to speak about it I guess,” Damon said, to which Roman nodded. “He said that the day after I called the police, they brought McGregor in to ask him a few questions, in his status of new director, but they also took his fingerprints. That way they were able to compare them to the second set they had found on my locker and confirm it was him. So, on Tuesday, they were able to arrest him and he confessed everything.”

Roman gasped. “So it was him?”

“Yes. He’d been complaining about keeping animals inside aquariums where children could be harmed or influenced so easily. When even the director didn’t listen to him, he devised a plan to take his place, because then he would have the power to remove the animals himself. He hid until after closing hours, knowing Mr. Brock always stayed late, and knocked him out when he left his office. He then beat him almost to death and dragged him towards the shark tank, thinking they would eat him. But they didn’t and he died instead of drowning and blood loss. McGregor managed to convince our secretary to hire him and achieved half of his goal, but he didn’t have time to set the removal of animals in motion.”

A few seconds of silence followed the story.

“Then you’re going to have to hire another director?” Roman asked finally.

“Yes, but the manager and secretary assured us that they wouldn’t rush into it this time and do a more thorough study of the candidates’ backgrounds.”

“Does that mean you’re finally going to be able to hold a burial for Mr. Brock?”

Damon sighed, feeling a weight come off his shoulders at the realization. “Yes. I’m finally going to get the chance to grieve him properly and process my loss.”

Sensing that the subject was closed, they changed positions, sitting side by side against each other. Damon leaned his head on Roman’s shoulder and grabbed one hand to play with his fingers.

“I wanted to thank you for being here for me throughout this whole thing. A part of me thought that you would leave me, that it would be too much for you, especially since it was so early in our relationship. But you stayed, you didn’t judge me, you came to pick me up at the police station, you insisted on spending time with me even more and taking care of me. I’ve rarely seen that level of devotion around me, and I think I’d be a fool to let you go. I really love you, Roman.”

The brown-haired man seemed shocked, like he wasn’t expecting such a speech, both in intensity and in content. But Damon felt a hand on his cheek, the one he wasn’t holding, gently turning his head. Roman kissed him softly, then strongly, and soon it looked like they would go back to snogging like moments ago, but it stopped as unexpectedly as it had started.

“I think I can say the same about you, Damon. I entered this relationship at the beginning of a personal crisis I hadn’t seen coming, and you helped me with it. In a matter of days, everything I knew about myself and about relationships changed, and you were the one who helped me figure that out, while I was getting to know you. You were there for me with my brother, even though you don’t know him. I love you too, Damon, so much, and I don’t think I’ll ever let you go either.”

They smiled at each other and kissed some more.

“Oh yeah, that reminds me,” said Roman suddenly, as they sat in silence once more. “Have you thought about Christmas?”

Damon took a few seconds to understand what he was talking about. It had been a week since Roman had informed him about Patton’s invitation to a Christmas Eve lunch.

“Oh, yes. I would love to go. I didn’t get to talk much with any of them when we were at the hospital, and I think it would be good for all of us to gather in a non-stressful environment and get to know each other. And Christmas is perfect for that, too.”

“Good. Yeah, I agree with you.”

“Hmm, I also had to tell you something,” Damon said as he angled his body a little more towards Roman. “When Remus called me, he said Logan and he chose to invite us next Wednesday for dinner.”

“Oh, yeah, we never did say anything more about that. Wait, let me check my calendar,” Roman replied, pulling out his phone. “Yeah, that works for me, if it works for you. Should I write him?”

Damon nodded.

“I’ll write to Patton at the same time,” Roman added, and nothing more was said for a minute as he typed away on his phone.

When Roman locked his phone and went to put it down on the coffee table, Damon placed a hand on his arm. “I forgot. Could you please tell them I’m a vegetarian?”

Roman’s eyes widened a bit. “Oh, yeah, of course. I hope I’ll be able to think of it myself soon.” He typed the message. “Should I also say you don’t drink alcohol?”

“No, I can always get water if there isn’t anything else. Thanks.”

“Of course,” Roman said, this time putting his phone away and pulling Damon to him. He placed a kiss on top of his head. “Should we watch a movie or something?”

“Sure, your turn to choose. I’ll order dinner.”

They set about their respective tasks and, about forty minutes later, were seated on the couch with cardboard boxes of Thai food, ready to watch Enchanted.

***

Chapter Text

Patton was ecstatic when Virgil and Remy showed up at his front door on Christmas Eve. He’d been up since seven, had already walked with Ellie, finished cleaning his house and prepared appetizers. His boyfriend and his son had promised they’d be there to help before the other guests were due to arrive at noon.

“Papa!” Remy shouted as soon as Patton opened the door, jumping towards him.

It had been three weeks since the boy had first called him that – besides the few times he’d named him that when speaking to his dad – and Patton felt that he was now used to it, even if it still made his heart swell.

“Hi Remy!” Patton said, lifting Remy in his arms and kissing his cheek, as they now did every time they said hello or goodbye outside of Patton’s teacher capacity. Remy giggled from the kiss and looped his arms around the man’s neck to hug him.

Virgil came closer to them and placed a light kiss on Patton’s lips.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

As he made to pull away, Remy grabbed his coat to hold him back. “Daddy, you have to hug him too.”

“Oh, why is that?” Virgil asked lightly.

“Because you have to say hello and because you love him.”

Patton and Virgil chuckled and blushed slightly at the affirmation.

“Alright, then I’ll just crush you in the middle,” Virgil said, moving to hug Remy and Patton together before his kid could protest.

The boy immediately squirmed, trying to get out of it. “No, dad! Not me!” he said, making the adults laugh.

“Aw, but don’t you love me, Rems?” Virgil teased, pulling back a little.

“Yes, but we already said hello and we already hugged,” Remy asserted with kid logic.

The two men laughed again and Patton put the child back down.

“Right, well, take off your shoes and give me your coats and we’ll get started on the remaining tasks.”

As the holidays had already started but Virgil had had to work the day before, which was a Monday, he’d left Remy at Patton’s house for the day and together they’d decorated the living room with garlands and a well-furnished tree and several Remy-made drawings.

Virgil had offered quite early on to cook the meal. Patton had accepted thankfully, not having known how to ask without appearing lazy or to take advantage of his boyfriend’s skills. Patton had looked up ways to fold napkins in order to keep Remy occupied while his dad cooked.

Once Remy and Virgil were free of their outer clothes, the three of them moved into the open living space.

Virgil immediately handed one of the two bags he was holding to Patton. “This is, um… you know. You’ll figure it out.”

The bespectacled man peeked inside it and nodded. “Oh, yeah. Thanks. Well, kitchen’s all yours. If you don’t know where something is, feel free to ask me, though I might have forgotten.”

Virgil chuckled and headed for the kitchen in one corner of the room. Patton turned to Remy and extended his free hand.

“Let’s go, Remy. We have lots to do before the rest of the guests arrive.”

The kid latched onto his hand. “What do we have to do?”

“Well, first we should put these under the tree with the rest of the gifts.”

“Oh yeah!” Remy beamed. “Those are presents for you! There’s a-”

“Remy!” Virgil called from the kitchen. “You’re not supposed to tell him.”

Remy clamped his free hand on his mouth. “Oops. Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Patton chuckled.

They reached the tree, and Patton crouched down, holding the bag open for Remy to place the gifts under the tree.

“Did you wrap these with daddy?” Patton asked.

“Yes. I did this one and this one,” Remy said, indicating the present in his hands and the one he’d just put down. “But some were too hard.” Then he leaned closer to Patton and whispered, “And I think some are for me, because I didn’t see them before.”

Patton replied in a whisper too and let a smile tug at the corners of his lips. “I guess we’ll find out what they are later today, then. There are going to be lots of surprises for us.”

Remy nodded with a serious face, then broke back into a grin as he continued to take the boxes out of the bag. Patton noticed there were a few rolls of paper tied with red or golden ribbons and suspected Remy had decided he would take part in gift-giving in his own way.

Once they were done with that task, Patton folded the bag and stood up. “Alright, why don’t you go sit at the table? We’re gonna do a fun little activity.”

Remy gasped. “What is it?”

Patton chuckled. “Go sit down, you’ll find out. I’m just going to put this away and I’ll be back with you.”

They both moved to do as told, and Patton joined Remy at the dinner table.

“Right. So,” he said as he took a seat beside the boy, pulling napkins towards them, “we’re going to make little Christmas trees with these napkins and place them on the plates. That’s going to be one of the decorations on the table.”

“Cool!” Remy said, grabbing one napkin and placing it in front of him. “What are the others?”

“You’ll see, mister impatient.” Patton took another napkin and pushed the rest away. “Now, look closely so you’ll be able to do this on your own.”

He started folding the napkin in precise, slow movements, Remy leaning over his arms to observe. He explained certain parts of the process for his benefit, but it was a rather repetitive activity. Once his paper tree was done, he showed it front and back to Remy, who looked at it with wide, wonder-filled eyes.

“Woah! I wanna do one!”

“And you will! I’ll help you with your first, and then you should be able to make the rest alone. What do you say?”

“I say, let’s go!”

Patton laughed heartily and they started folding together. The teacher didn’t have to intervene much; Remy was very attentive and capable when it came to manual labor. The kid beamed proudly when he finished his tree and decided he could do the rest alone.

Patton took the opportunity to stand up and joined Virgil at the stove.

“Hm, smells good already,” he said, an arm settling around his boyfriend’s waist. “Did I even ask what you’d be making?”

“You didn’t,” Virgil replied as he dumped broccoli inside a frying pan, joining what looked like little white cubes. “Since you told me Damon was a vegetarian, I thought I’d try a whole vegie meal. This is a stir-fry of tofu and broccoli, and I’m also going to make a mushroom sauce. This is to make mashed potatoes,” he pointed at a pot with roughly cut potatoes, “and I have also prepared a pumpkin puree.”

“Well, I’m impressed and very eager to eat.”

He placed a quick kiss on Virgil’s cheek and let go of him. Patton checked on Remy’s work, who was almost done with his second napkin.

“Do you know how many you have to make, Remy?”

The boy paused and looked up at him. “Seven!”

“That’s right. And because I’ve already made one and you have made two, do you know how many you still have to make?”

Remy held up his fingers in front of him and thought hard, but he soon looked back to Patton with a confused look. “I don’t know.”

“That’s ok. Here, I’ll show you.” He came closer and helped Remy put up two fingers on one hand and five on the other. “These two are the napkins you folded, right?” Remy nodded as Patton eased them down, leaving Remy with a closed fist. “And here’s the one I made,” he continued, pushing Remy’s thumb against his palm. “How many do you have left?”

“Four! Like me!”

“That’s right! Very good, Remy. You can make the remaining four trees, and I’ll bring plates so we can place the napkins on them, alright?”

“Yes,” Remy nodded and took another napkin.

Along with plates, Patton pulled out cutlery, water and wine glasses, depositing everything at one end of the dining table. He also prepared all necessary items for protecting the tablecloth from the heat of pans and crumbs.

When he returned his attention to Remy, he was finishing his last napkin. The child looked up at Patton with bright, excited eyes.

“All done! Are we going to put them on plates now?”

“Good job, Remy. And yes, but for that, we need to set the table first, don’t we?”

Remy nodded fervently, and together they set the table for seven. Once that was done, Remy carefully and precisely placed the tree-shaped napkins on the center of each plate.

“What do we do now?” he asked when it was over.

“We’re going to make little cards so that people know where they have to sit around the table. Come,” Patton gestured for Remy to follow him to the coffee table in the living room.

“So, as you can see, Remy, I’ve printed these little cards with the names of everyone who will be here today. What you have to do is to decorate them. I have these gel pens, little form cutters, crayons, and you can do whatever you want. I’m sure everyone will be happy with your creations. Which card do you want to do first?”

“Daddy’s!”

“Okay. Daddy’s name is Virgil, can you find his name?”

Remy’s face scrunched up as his eyes roamed over the seven cards. Much too soon for him to have read the names entirely, he pointed at one.

“That one!”

“Are you sure? Read it out for me, please?”

“V… Vi… Virg- Virgil!”

He read the end of the word like a child who knows the word without reading each letter, but it was enough for Patton.

“That’s right. How did you know?”

“Because it’s the only one with a V. V like Virgil.”

“Good job,” Patton said, ruffling his hair. “Well, go on. You can decorate it how you want.”

The next half hour was spent that way, with Remy decorating the cards and Patton making him practice his reading with the names.

When a delicious smell wafted from the kitchen and the cards had been placed according to the seating plan that Patton and Virgil had thought up, the doorbell rang for the first time.

“Goodness, it’s time already,” Patton said, even though most of the stress and jitters had left some time ago.

Remy jumped up from where they were playing dominos on the floor and started running towards the door, Ellie barking joyously in his wake.

“Remy, don’t run!” Patton said at the same time as Virgil shouted, “Remy, don’t open the door!”

The boy stopped just shy of the door, turning around with a confused look. Patton joined him.

“You shouldn’t open the door alone, Remy,” he explained as he crouched down to his level. “Even if we know we’re waiting for guests, it could be someone else, and daddy and I don’t want you to open the door without us. And do you remember why I don’t want you to run inside?”

“Because I could slip or run into something or someone and hurt myself.”

“That’s right. Now, shall we open the door together?” he asked, standing up.

Remy nodded and lifted his arms, asking to be carried. Patton bent down and picked him up, propping him on one hip. He opened the door, revealing Roman and Damon.

Both men seemed ready to say hello but their greeting disappeared when they looked at Remy.

“Hi guys! Welcome, come on in.”

He stood to the side to let them in, but neither moved. Patton chuckled as he understood their surprise, which had been one of Virgil’s fears for this reunion.

“This is Remy. He’s Virgil’s son.”

“I’m four!” Remy chirped, and it brought the two men out of their stupor as they laughed quietly.

“Remy, this is Roman, and this is Damon.”

“Hello,” the kid said.

“Hello Remy, it is nice to meet you,” Roman said with his boisterous voice that Patton recognized from some of his characters.

Damon repeated the greeting, and they finally entered the house, allowing Patton to close the door. Ellie came sniffing them, jumping at Roman when she recognized him.

“Hey girl!” the tall man said, hugging her. “Oh, you’ve grown so much! Did you miss me?”

Damon looked on amusedly.

“This is my dog Ellie,” Patton introduced.

Damon crouched and held out his hand. “Hello, Ellie.”

The dog sniffed him again and started licking his hand.

“Well, take off your coats and come in. Virgil is in the kitchen, he couldn’t leave his work unattended.”

Soon, they joined Virgil and both new guests shook hands with him. Damon gave Virgil a box that contained cupcakes, as Patton had asked his guests to bring dessert. After Remy asked Roman and Damon if they wanted to play dominos with him, Patton set him down and the boy led both men to the spot where a good line of dominos stood already.

“They were shocked, weren’t they?” Virgil murmured.

Patton grabbed his hand but kept his eyes trained on the boy playing with two adults who were still strangers to him.

“Yes, but not in a bad way. More like they weren’t expecting to see a child, much less in my arms. I mean, look at them, they’re already getting along and it’s been five minutes.”

He heard Virgil exhale a long sigh and turned to him, gathering him in his arms until he relaxed completely. Patton brought a hand up to Virgil’s hair and stroked it gently, then kissed him on the temple.

“It’s going to be alright. I promise everyone is nice and you have me by your side if anything happens. Which it won’t.”

Virgil looked at him and smiled, so Patton smiled back. Just as Virgil placed a chaste kiss on his lips, the doorbell rang again.

“And that’ll be my brother.”

When he turned to go open the door, he saw Remy look up at him, but the boy immediately looked back down and continued making a serpent of dominos. Patton smiled to himself as he made his way to the front door.

“Hello, come on in!”

Logan and Remus greeted him in return and entered the house. By the time they’d taken off their outerwear, Ellie had once again come to them and she greeted them both by running in-between their legs, her tail swishing happily. Patton took them to Virgil, where they shook hands with him and offered a container of apple pie.

“Papa, look!” Remy called suddenly.

Patton turned towards him and watched him topple a domino, following the process of falling dominos with his eyes.

“Good job, Remy! That was nicely done.”

Remy smiled contently and set to putting the dominos back up.

When Patton looked around him, all he could see were astonished faces and a very deeply blushing Virgil. He felt his own cheeks heat up as he realized what had just happened. That hadn’t been the way he’d wished for his brother to find out the man he was dating had a child.

“Well, looks like you’re no longer the only daddy here, Logan,” Remus said with a nudge to his boyfriend.

It effectively broke the tension as Roman burst out laughing, Virgil and Damon looked like they didn’t know how to react because they didn’t know Logan and Remus that well, and Logan and Patton cleared their throats, both thinking something along the lines of how nobody needed to know that about Logan.

“Well, why don’t we get started?” Patton said in hopes of changing the subject. “I have some appetizers here, and what does everyone want to drink?”

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Damon and Roman, as well as Logan and Remus, exchange looks of mirth, but he also saw Virgil relax, and that was the most important thing.

Patton served his brother and Remus glasses of wine and told them to go sit on the couch while he served water to both Roman and Damon. He joined everyone in the living room and brought the appetizers with him, and Virgil followed not long after, once everything that needed to stay warm was put on low heat.

“So, how long have you two been dating again?” Logan asked Patton.

The older man could hear the hint to a second question, how come this child calls you papa already?

“Five weeks,” he answered.

“And Remy has known about us since the day we started dating,” Virgil intervened. “And he viewed Patton as a father figure and the three of us as a family since before that already. He started calling Pat Papa about a week into our relationship.”

Logan looked a bit chastised as he nodded.

For a while, everyone talked about what they’d been up to lately, and how Remus was faring since his injury, and their discussion moved to getting to know each other when they started on lunch at the dinner table.

Patton and Virgil had thought long and hard about the seating plan, and had finally come up with Logan, Remus and Patton on one side, Roman, Damon and Virgil on the other, and Remy at the end between Virgil and Patton. The conversation was much more relaxed during the meal, and Patton and Virgil shared a smile as the guests attempted to include Remy in their discussions.

When they were done and Virgil had received compliments for his delicious cooking, they moved to the living room again, where they proceeded to the exchange of gifts. For simplicity and because they didn’t know everyone very well, they had decided to do Secret Santa, giving everyone only one person to buy for. Of course, Remy also gave his drawings to everyone, and had great success. Patton and Virgil had agreed to exchange their personal gifts at the same time as the others, because they wouldn’t see each other for a week as Virgil and Remy were leaving the next day to spend a few days at Virgil’s parents’.

Remy squeaked in pleasure at the new toys that Patton had given him, explaining that he could keep them here for whenever they were around, and promptly started playing with them.

Patton made coffee for the adults and the six of them moved back to the dining table. It was at that moment, as Roman and Logan were engrossed in heated teasing of one another, with Remus cheering both of them on and Damon smiling smugly at every one of Roman’s retorts, and as Virgil burrowed in Patton’s side when Patton moved his chair next to him, that Patton was reminded of the daydreaming vision that had prompted him to organize this event. He looked over at Remy, happily playing with toy cars and a new train, Ellie chasing the toys around, then back at his brother, his friends, old and new, and his boyfriend, and sighed contently, overwhelmed by the thought that this was a Christmas he’d always dreamed of.

“Alright, Pat?” Virgil asked.

Patton placed an arm around his shoulders and grabbed his hand with his own free hand.

“More than. I’m right where I want to be, surrounded by everyone I love.”

Over the table, he caught the glance of Logan, who smiled at him in a way that Patton hadn’t seen in a long time.

This Christmas was very different from last year’s, and Patton was sure that Logan, Remus and Roman were all thinking the same. Patton and Roman had both finally accepted that Remus and Logan were in love and that it was for them to decide, they had also both finally found a good person to fall in love with and were both loved back, Patton had finally started his dream of getting a big family, and everyone had changed a bit because of the latest events that had also got all of them closer.

This Christmas, it felt like they were all part of the same family. It had taken time, but everyone had found love in the way they were looking for it.

***