(Virgil's POV)

It's been over a month since the fair and I think Logan is about to burst. He still doesn't seem to know it, but he's always been good at hiding any and all emotion so how would I know. Ya know, I take it back. He's not good at hiding emotion, he just really sucks at figuring them out for himself. I could tell anyone that Logan was crushing on Patton and they'd have to believe me. He'll come back to the apartment saying how he thinks he's getting sick because his stomach feeling weird and fluttery at the library, but then later says it went away. Mister always is in bed by nine o'clock, nine thirty if he's in the middle of a good book, is now up until 11 every night smiling at his phone because guess what... They got each other's phone numbers. Yup. Almost every day they spend hours together at the library, and now they stay up talking on their own time, but don't worry guys they're "just friends".

I'd say it's killing me, but I think it's killing Logan more. He's started wearing his soulgem on the outside of his shirt, but if I mention Patton he seems to dislike it and tucks it away again. He seems to go through weird Patton withdrawals too. Patton went on a little holiday and wasn't at the library for over a week. We invited Roman over for dinner in that time and Roman brought up the topic of kids shows showing more LGBT+ content and couples to help show kids that soulmates are soulmates, love is love, and everyone is valid. He mentioned the couples in a show called Miraculous and Logan spoke up for the first time all evening. "Patton watches Miraculous. The kids at daycare would watch it during quiet time and he actually really liked it so he started watching it by himself. I actually got in trouble because I tried texting him on a Thursday and that's when he watches it," he slowed down and had zoned out. Roman and I just stared at each other and then stared back at Logan. Roman shot me a text from under the table.

(A/N bold is virge and italic is roman)

Is he always like this?

I looked at Logan to make sure he wouldn't see me sneak a text back.

He hasn't seen patton in over a week.. i think it's getting to him

Roman tried to stifle a laugh next to me and I smirked at him.

That's actually kinda cute.

ya, but also kinda sad tho

When I say that this whole Patton thing was killing Logan was nothing in comparison to how Roman felt about it. On multiple occasions my soulmate seemed like he would burst into tears an would just whine to me about how much it sucks to have a ship that may never be cannon. (Which I do completely understand I'm an emo who had no friends in high school, I spend more time with fictional characters than I do real people, but I let Roman have this one.)

"Soulmates are stupid!" Roman would cry and I'd hit him.  "Not you!  Just Logan's... and Patton's," he'd whine.  It's weird that I have to be the voice of reason for this kind of situation.

"I'm sure you'll love Logan's soulmate just as much as you love Patton," I couldn't be sure he would, but I'm trying ok?

"Do you have Patton's number yet?"  Was a question I was used to, but I didn't.  Ever since Patton and Logan exchanged numbers, Logan barely parts with his phone.  I needed to get it for my roommate and my boyfriend's sake.

And for the first time in a month I had an opportunity.  It took elaborate planning and I feel kinda bad actually.  Basically I fried Logan's charger.  Yeah it's stupid, but it worked.  Logan was forced to trust his phone with me tonight since I have the only charger in the apartment now.  Logan went to bed and told me to plug in his phone when I was done charging mine. I waited a bit to make sure Logan wouldn't emerge from his room to find me snooping through his phone and then typed in the password. It's his little brother's birthday, pretty sweet for Logan.

His lock screen was nothing special, just a black screen, but his home screen was a picture of his graduation.  The university entrance was the background for the photo.  Logan was in his graduate's robe with a light smile on his face.  His little brother, who had to be about 15 at the time, was hugging Logan and grinning from ear to ear in pride for his big brother.  His pendant still gleaming and dangling from his neck.  Logan's mother had an arm around Logan too and was smiling with tears in her eyes.  In her other arm she was holding a picture of Logan's father.  It was such a sweet thing to capture in a photo.

I started swiping through his phone and it didn't take me long to find Patton's number.  I sent it to myself and then forwarded it to Princey from my phone.  Part of me wanted to keep snooping, but I do have morals so decided not to and just get what I needed and plugged Logan's phone in like he had asked.  My phone buzzed.

Patton's number?!?

yup

Yayayyyyy finally!

i know i know, srry it took so long

I'll call Patton in the morning! 

k night princey

Good night Virge!  Talk to you tomorrow :) <3

<3

It still felt a bit weird to have hearts sent to me and even weirder to send them back, but Roman never said goodbye without sending one and I started to find it rude to not send them back to my soulmate.  At first I thought it was really weird for me, then they started making me smile as I put away my phone, now the text just seems empty and wrong without the stupid little emoticons. 

It was about midnight now and still to early for me to fall asleep, so I put earbuds in and listened to music for about an hour and then fell asleep to Oh Miss Believer.

I woke up to the sound of Logan making coffee.  I clicked on my phone and winced from the light. 

6:30 a.m.

Wtf

Logan doesn't work until ten.  I don't work until one.  Why is he awake? I almost went back to sleep, but Logan never wakes up before seven unless something with work comes up.  I decided to check it out.  I can always go back to bed once I have answers.

I left my bedroom to find Logan leaning against the wall next to the fridge with a coffee mug in his hand, staring at nothing in particular.

"What's up?" I asked while rubbing my eyes.

"Nothing," Logan responded. I blinked at him. It wasn't a very Logan answer.

"It's before seven," I moved towards the coffee, but then decided against it since I wanted to sleep more later.

"Yeah..."

Ok something is up.

"Dude what's up? Tell me. You're acting weird," I pushed.

"Just.. thinking,"

I rolled my eyes. "That's nothing new for you. What are you thinking about?" Logan looked at me, looked at his coffee and looked at me again like he was trying to decide if he could tell me or not. "Dude you gave me a whole speech on how people feel better both physically and mentally when they talk about their thoughts, so spill," Logan stared a little bit longer before speaking.

"Soulmates," he said with no other context.

"What about them? Still on the hunt for yours?"

Logan pulled out his gem from his t-shirt. "Quite the opposite actually," he paused, "I seem to be having a hard time finding the joy in having a soulmate."

"Why? They give you purpose before you find them and a reason to smile once you find them," I hadn't necessarily liked soulmates either, so I understand where's he's coming from, but I want him to keep talking.

Logan smiles weakly, "Easy for you to say, you found Roman. Doesn't it seem to just take away your freedom?"

"Logan, no one's stopping you from going on dates. You might meet your soulmate years from now so in the meantime it's not like it hurts to meet other people." Logan looked back down at his coffee. "Where's all this coming from anyway?" I knew, he knew I knew, but he needed to say it.

Logan took a breath and looked at me.

"I think I like Patton."

(Roman's POV)

I woke up around 8:00. I didn't have work today, so I'm hoping Patton's free for lunch. It's been a month since the fair and we still haven't done much about our whole Patton/Logan situation and I am getting antsy.

I got up and ate some cereal before grabbing my phone to call Patton. He took a while, but he did pick up the phone.

"Hello?" Patton's chirpy voice said from the other end of the call.

"Hey Patton!"

"Yeah it's Patton, but who is this?" Patton asked.

"Oh of course, it's Roman,"

"Oh hey Roman! I didn't know you had my number. What's up?"

"Well we haven't really gotten to hang out since the fair and even then we didn't see each other long, so I was wondering if you wanted to go have lunch?" I proposed.

"Today?" Patton asked.

"I'm not working today so anytime works for me if it works for you,"

"Oh well my lunch is from 12-1 while the kids have nap time if that works,"

"Sounds splendid, where would you like to meet?" I asked. Patton pauses in thought before answering.

"There's a pretty nice sandwich shop close to the daycare if you want to eat there," Patton offered.

"Sounds perfect! I will see you at noon!"

"Okay! Bye Roman!"

I hung up the phone grinning. As soon as I did, I noticed I had gotten a message, or ten, from Virgil.

logan likes patton

he told me

it's real

god i hope patton's not straight

did u call patton

?

helllooooo?

good morning btw

<3

pls answer. Logan likes Patton and i've got nothing to tell him

I had to reread it to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but the text stayed put.  I squealed and started typing.

That's great! I just hung up with Patton and I'm meeting him for lunch today! Don't tell Logan. We have to see how lunch goes.

Good morning to you to <3

ok we'll see how lunch goes but what do i tell logan?

Umm, idk that it's normal and fine and that we'll figure it out.

k, just don't take too long

Would I ever keep you waiting My Chemical Romance?

shut up

I'll talk to you after lunch ok?

K talk later

I put my phone away and wished for noon to come quicker.  I decided to not get out of my pjs until I had to because hey, I have a day off and I'm utilizing the pajama day feature.  I had about three hours until I had to leave.

My little sister walked out of her room... with a guy trailing after her.

"What the hell Missy?  I didn't say yes to you moving in with me so you could sleep with a new guy every week without mom and dad knowing," I scowled as Missy sent her latest date on his way.  Missy had no problem finding dates and didn't really think about anything permanent because to her that door shut for her before it was even open.  She came out of the womb with her pendant black and broken.  Her soulmate died before she was even born.  Tragedies happen and my sister was part of one.  It happens all the time.  People have lost their soulmates and find someone who had the same thing happen to them.  I hope Missy finds someone to love, but for now she doesn't seem to mind finding guys and ditching them the next day.

"In my defense, I didn't think you'd be here," she shrugged.

"I told you I had today off," Missy just shrugged again.  I rolled my eyes and flopped onto the couch.  Missy pushed my feet off and sat down next to me; I put my feet back up so they were now on her lap.  She glared at me, and I stuck my tongue out at her.

"So what's on the agenda today?"  She asked.

"Nothing in the morning, but I'm going out to lunch at noon.  Then we'll see where the afternoon takes us," Missy smirked at me.

"Ooooh so how is Virgil?" She grinned.

"Actually I'm not going with Virgil, I'm going with Patton," Missy just looked confused.

"Who's Patton?"

"A friend of Logan's."  I said matter-of-factly.

"Who's Logan?" Missy rolled her eyes.

"Virgil's roommate."

Missy blinked at me, "Why on earth are you going out to lunch with a friend of Virgil's roommate?"

"Because Patton is a potential love interest for Logan and Logan is a pal," I chirped.

"I should have known.  My hopeless romantic fanboy of a brother trying to make his ships a reality," she laughed.

"Hey I wouldn't call myself hopeless," I said and grabbed my pendant before realizing my mistake.  The grin on my face vanished as Missy gave me a pained smile.  "Missy I'm sorry!  It just slipped out and I didn't think.."

"It's alright brother.  You have the right to be excited about Virgil.  I'm happy for you," she tried to assure me, but I still felt awful.  I know that Missy still mourns for the soulmate she never had.  I sat up and pulled her into a hug. 

"You'll find someone Miss, I know it." She pulled away and smiled, though it still looked painfully forced.

"Not really looking the best right now am I?" She laughed dryly.

"You don't need someone right now.  Just keep being you and a guy will come along to sweep you off your feet.  Rock or not."

"Thanks Ro," she paused and then hit me in the arm.

"Hey!"

"When do I get to meet Virge?"  She asked.

"Oh, I was thinking about that family day that the community puts on in a few weeks.  Invite Mom and Dad down and introduce everyone," I offered, but Missy didn't seem happy about it though.  "What?"

"First of all, you're making me wait a few more weeks, and second off:  you're introducing me with Mom and Dad?" I shrugged, but Missy didn't seem satisfied.  "Virgil's not a girl, and I don't want my first impression on him to be associated with our parents' first impression on him."

I stared at my little sister and the pulled her back into a hug again. She had every right to take after our parents. To hate me for finding someone when she had that ripped sway from her before she was born. I wouldn't blame her if she took all the unfairness the world gave her and threw it back at me.

"I love you Roman, I want to be a good part of your life and Virgil is a big part of it."

Part of me wanted to cry. What can I say? I'm a sentimental guy and my sister means everything to me. "Love you too, Miss."

"Wanna watch a movie before you go to lunch?" Missy proposed.

"Definitely." I grinned. Missy got up to put in the Incredibles and I stretched back out onto the couch. When my sister turned around it find her spot taken she grabbed a pillow and smacked me with it. I grabbed it and threw it back at her. I completely missed and the pillow bounce uselessly off the wall and landed on the floor next to the TV. We assumed the position we had earlier, me stretched out and Missy curled up with my legs laying on her lap.

After we finished the movie I had about a half hour to get ready. I went with black shorts and a red t-shirt that read "WICKED" in a cool drippy poison lettered font.

"Bye broski," my sister said as I headed to the door. I waved to her.

"Bye Miss Sis," her face curled up in disgust.

"I told you not to call me that." She said.

"You started it by calling me 'broski'" I pointed out.

"At least I didn't call you Ro Bro," she threw back.

"Maybe next time," I said with a pout and then stuck my tongue out at her as I closed the door behind me. I caught a glimpse of my sister sticking up a certain finger to wish me farewell.

It actually didn't take me long to get to the cafe. The daycare was pretty close to the theater and the cafe was close to daycare. I got there before Patton and ordered my food while I waited. A few minutes later Patton walked in and waved at the cashier and came to sit down.

"Oh, Patton. I already ordered so if you want lun—" Patton cut me off with a wave.

"I come here a lot, Claire over there knows my order by now," he pointed to a girl working behind the counter.

"Oh ok cool." I started, "so how's it going with you? We haven't talked in a while." I smiled.

"Oh not much, just school, work, and sleep pretty much," Patton said cheerfully. He seemed to be bouncing in his seat a bit, like he was just so excited to exist. I decided to ignore that he hadn't mentioned Logan and went with the school route.

"What are you going to school for?" I tilted my head.

"Teaching," this kinda caught me by surprise and Patton went further to explain, "I love working with kids and being at the daycare center, but I don't own it and the wages aren't the best. Teacher's don't make a fortune either, but I talked with my current boss and she said I still had a job in the summer if I wanted it and I couldn't be happier," it was looking at the embodiment of the sun and happiness talk about plans for the future.

"That's really cool Patton! My future isn't looking the brightest, right now I'm actually just a PA at the theater, but hopefully I'll get on stage eventually," I added to the conversation.

"Oh definitely," Patton nodded. "You have so much energy and life in you the stage is the only place I could ever picture you on."

"Thanks Pat, I really hope so," I paused and took a bite of my sandwich as Claire brought over Patton's food. "So what do you do in your free time?" I asked.

"I really like spending time at the library. Being with toddlers all day.. the quiet can be really nice,". Patton answered.

"Logan works there, so I suppose you get to see him a lot huh?" I used every bit of willpower my body had to keep my face from cracking a grin. Patton's went slightly pink and he played with his glasses a little.

"Uh, y-yeah," the blond stammered. "Almost every day actually," Patton went brighter pink and I tried to decide how to play my next words.

"Not very much for company though, is he?" I said with a sigh and Patton scrambled to answer.

"Oh no he's excellent company! He doesn't talk a whole lot, but you know he's listening and he never says the stuff I talk about is stupid and trust me, some of the stuff I talk about is stupid. He even takes some of the stuff I say to heart. Like I suggested him wearing his gem on the outside of his shirt and he started doing that, and he goes for a walk while he eats his lunch now instead of staying cooped up all day since he started working a the greenhouse less.  And"  Patton seemed to catch that he was going on for a while and quieted down, "Sorry."  He mumbled.

I laughed, "Don't apologize, Patton," he smiled lightly.  "I'm glad to hear that you and Logan are getting along, and trust me he enjoys your company just as much as you enjoy his," I grinned. 

"Really?" Patton perked up. 

"Of course!" I reassured, "I think he likes having someone talk to him.  Virgil told me that a lot of people stray away from him because he doesn't do a lot of talking so people think he's rude."

"That's sad," Patton said glumly, "He really is a great guy."

"Yeah, but enough about Logan, I'm hear to get to know you," I clapped.

"Yes sir," Patton giggled, "what do you want to know?" He asked tilting his head a bit.

"How about family?  Parents? Siblings? Pets?"  I offered.

"Um, well both of my parents are doing great.  They live up north in Georgia.  No siblings, I'm an only child.  And no pets yet, but definitely in the future," Patton answered.

"So any girlfriend?" I started and Patton opened his mouth, but I cut him off "Or boyfriend!  Or any partner?  Sorry I don't want to assume," I added.

"Uh no, no partner as of now," Patton laughed. "And gender doesn't really matter to me, if you're my person, you're my person," he shrugged.

"Cool, I'm gonna go use the bathroom. Be right back," I said while standing up

"Oh ok," Patton picked up his sandwich while I headed to the bathroom, pulling out my phone on my way.

He's not straight and he's single so that's good.

I waited a minute for my boyfriend to respond.

rly? that's great! did you tell him that logan likes him?

No. I didn't think should.

k good see if you can figure out if he likes logan or not

Kk. Talk later

bye

I shoved my phone back in my pocket and made my way back out to the table.

"So," I started as I slid into my seat, "Are you looking for dates, or crushing on anyone, or just fine being a single Pringle?" I pried for more information.

"Well isn't everyone looking for a certain date?" Patton responded while grabbing his soul gem which was a dark blue at the time. "But no.  Well I mean..." he stopped and stared at me like he was trying to analyze my worth.  "Never mind." He said and picked at his food.

"Ohhh no, now you have to tell me," I grinned.  Patton bit his lip and paled a few shades. "Come on Pat, it's not even like I know any of your friends so it'd just be you getting it off your chest," I pointed out.

"Well..." there seemed to be a civil war going on in his head before he continued talking, "There is someone, but you can't tell anyone!" He pointed at me, which would look threatening on anyone besides Patton.  Virgil flashed in my head, but I quickly decided he didn't count since we were on the same side.

"Totally," I lied, but it's fine.

"Actually I kinda like..." he rubbed the back of his neck and I thought I was going to jump out of my seat in anticipation, "Logan." He squeaked, turning red and sinking in his seat.

Ladies, gentleman, and anyone in between or beyond, let me make this perfectly clear to you.  There is no feeling like finding out what I just found out.  I couldn't move.  I would have exploded and I think my face would probably rip in half from grinning so wide, but this was not an option at this place and time.  I think I actually scared Patton because he looked like he was about to start crying.

"It's awful isn't it!?" He exclaimed, "I'm supposed to be here as a friend as he tries to find his soulmate, but I don't want him to!  I want him to be with me and I want to pretend soulmates don't exist!" He cried and he was looking at his pendant like he wanted it to burst into flame.  He put his elbows on the table and dug his palms into his eyes.

"Patton it's totally fine," I assured the despairing man across from me.  "For the record I think you and Logan would be adorable together."

"Patton smiled weakly, "Thanks I think, but it doesn't really help much when he doesn't feel the same does it?"

"I wouldn't be so sure," I argued.  Patton's attention snapped like a dog looking at a squirrel.

"What do you mean?" Patton asked urgently.

"Logan seems really fond of you in my opinion.  You should have seen him when you went on vacation a couple weeks ago; it was kinda entertaining," I responded.  Patton turned bright pink.  "Just ask him out.  Worst that happens is he says no am I right?"

"No. No, you are not right." Patton shook his head, "Worse that happens is that I ask him out, he says no, decides I am weird or a distraction, and never talks to me again," Patton countered.

"I really doubt Logan would do that," I frowned.

"But you can't be certain, can you?" Patton's expression was somewhere between I-told-you-so and please-prove-me-wrong-and-say-you-can.  The thing is I can.  Logan confirmed it this morning, but I couldn't tell Patton that, and it was killing me.  I conflicted with myself, but Patton seemed to take my hesitation as an answer.

"Didn't think so," Patton mumbled.  He wrapped up the other half of his sandwich and put it in his bag.  "Well, I better head back to work.  Nice talking to you Roman," Patton said with a light smile. 

"I'll walk back with you.  The daycare is on the way to the grocery store and we need more milk." I stood up with him and we walked to the door.

We talked about stupid things on the way back.  20 question type stuff.  I was just about to answer what my favorite color is (red) when Patton stopped in his tracks.

"Something's wrong," Patton said.  I followed his gaze to a car parked next to the curb.  He started walking towards the rust bucket of a car and his eyes flicked around.

"What is it?" I asked, concern burrowing in my stomach. 

"This car shouldn't be here.  He lost all rights," Patton said more to himself than to me.  We heard a few voices in the backyard and Patton quickly moved to get through the gate with me following in his trail.  There was a group of people huddled in the corner of a garden.  Most of them were kids with a teenager and maybe one adult.  Patton started looking for answers as I tried to listen in.  Patton seemed to get more and more upset and worried as he took in information.  Something seemed to click in his head and he opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a loud bang.  The children cried and the person Patton was talking to left him to go comfort the now crying children.  The teenage girl was holding a crying toddler, but seemed just as panicked as the child in her arms.

Patton did what seemed like the stupidest thing possible and moved towards the back door of the house that served as the daycare center. I grabbed his arm, but he shook me off.  "Patton what the hell are you doing," I asked sternly.

"It's one of our little girl's father.  He's a bit of a lunatic, and drunk half the time.  I never imagined he would ever do something like this though. Mia's still inside and I have to get to her," Patton looked like he was daring me to try and stop him again, but I couldn't just let him walk in and get himself killed.

"Just call the police, they'll help," I wrestled with my conscience because I didn't want to leave a little girl in the building with a dangerous man either.

"Teri already did that, but Mia can't afford to wait," Patton argues and pushed by me.  I groaned, but followed him inside.

We walked through a hall into a kitchen and the smell of copper filled the air.  My gaze drifted to the ground and my heart dropped.  A trail of blood lead to behind the counter. Patton followed it and knelt down to find a person laying in a pool of crimson.  Patton checked for a pulse and I walked around the room trying to keep an eye out and assess the situation. The man on the floor made a choking sound and my attention snapped back to him.

"Patton, h-he has her." He coughed.  "Tried grabbing  h-her and r-ru-running, but we couldn't.." Patton shushed the man, his eyes welling up with tears.

"Just stay down here Sam, my friend Roman's gonna stay with you ok?  Do you know where Mia is?" The man, Sam, didn't say anything, he just lifted a shaky hand and pointed up.  "The attic?" Patton pieced together and Sam nodded.  Patton got up and ordered me to stay put and stormed to the stairs.  I don't follow orders well.

"Patton you can't go up there!" Patton stopped and looked back at me.

"Stay here Roman!  Sam needs someone and I have to get to the attic!" He said again.

"Patton no." I repeated.

"This isn't your job Roman!  These kids aren't your responsibility!  Either go help Sam or go home and wait to hear about it on the news tomorrow," Patton started racing up the stairs and I stood useless for a moment before heading back to the kitchen. 

I knelt with Sam and just let him squeeze my hand as I talked to him to try and distract him.  It didn't take too long for the paramedics and police to there and once someone else was at Sam's side I started up the stairs to find Patton and hopefully Mia. 

I froze in my tracks and let the crowd of police behind me swallow me up as I heard a gunshot and a thud.

Hey guys.  Sorry if this is absolutely awful, but in my defense I wrote most of it at 3:00 a.m. on a plane , on the way to New York so yeah.  Comment, vote, whatever, or don't. That's chill too.  Bye!! <3

P.S. sorry for the cliffhanger