Though it wasn't his job, Patton did believe in splitting the chores fairly, he still enjoyed cleaning the apartment he shared with his roommate. It was always a pleasure to see Desmond relax when he came into their apartment and it was clean, he always carried so much tension and was a little thing he could do. Patton wasn't sure what to make of Des. Sometimes, he would be cordial, almost friendly, and other times he would snap at Patton, obvious anger in his gestures, but the anger never made it to his eyes. His eyes always seemed sad. It was the type of sadness that reached deep into your soul, the kind other people could feel if they were receptive to it.

Patton wanted to help, but he wasn't sure how. Sure he was attempting to get a degree in Children's psychology, but he was only taking basic classes and the number one rule they were told over and over again 'don't try to psychoanalyze yourself, your friends, or your family. He hoped Desmond was a potential friend. Desmond was probably his only friend here. Moving to a new school was hard, but Patton kept a smile on his face as he grabbed the vacuum. Just because it was hard didn't mean it wasn't worth it.

"Baby shark do do do do do do Baby shark!" He sang as he ran the vacuum over the carpet in the hall, dancing a little harder than he normally would. Cleaning was relaxing for him, and last night had been weird. Desmond's classmate, Logan. had seemed like an interesting person, but Patton could tell that there was some kind of tension between them. He had tried to relieve that, to get Logan to see things from Desmond's perspective but maybe he made things worse. Desmond was worth getting to know and Patton wanted other people to see that.

The silent man always had an adorable smirk on his face when they watched cartoons together, almost like he knew exactly what was coming. He turned on the subtitles anytime Patton came into the room, which was something he appreciated more than he would be able to explain. Des also cleaned up after himself and was respectful, but the thing that struck Patton the most was that night he had been making chili. Desmond hadn't complained, he had gone and secluded himself even though the smell had obviously triggered something. Patton had lived with enough people to know that could have gone a lot of different ways. Desmond could have lashed out; he could have broken down crying; he could have slammed things around the room to make a point. He didn't. Instead, he had hidden himself away, he hadn't even asked Patton to stop. He took himself out of the picture rather than trying to get in Patton's way. Patton couldn't help but believe that his roommate was a good person underneath it all.

In his distracted state, he bumped up against Desmond's door a bit harder than he intended to, pushing it open with the vacuum cleaner. Patton was not the type to invade someone's privacy, but he saw the leftovers on the floor and the unmade bed. He couldn't help himself. He wouldn't snoop, he would just clean up a bit, hopefully giving Desmond a comforting place to come back to.

The thought that Patton could be helping his roommate feel more comfortable spurred him forward as he opened the door fully and shut off the vacuum. He started small, making Desmond's bed, picking up the take out to throw it away and then vacuuming the room. Desmond kept a pretty organized room, so there wasn't much that needed to be done to clean it up, but Patton would be thorough. He vacuumed under the bed, under the desk, by the bookshelf, and that's when his eyes caught it. There were several binders with names written on them, people's names not the names of classes like someone might expect in a college dorm, and one of them had Patton's name. He had promised himself he wouldn't snoop, he had promised that he was just going to clean, but it had his name on it. Turning off the vacuum Patton began to wind up the cord, doing his best not to focus on the baby blue binder that had his name written on the side in swirling gold letters. He was only here to clean.

As he walked back to the living room to put the vacuum away, Patton clutched the binder in his hands. It wouldn't hurt anything to take a short peak, right? It had his name written on it so it couldn't be wrong.

His hands gave him away as they shook, and he looked around the room before opening it up. The first thing he noticed didn't surprise him at all. Desmond's handwriting was beautiful.

'Patton Cake: Child Psychology Major - Too kind for his own good'

Should he take that as an insult? He didn't think it was, he liked being kind, and he was happy that someone else thought that he was a kind person. Patton continued to skim through the front page. It was a bit strange, Desmond had his class schedule, obviously figured out at different times from the differing inks; And, he had written down a bit about Patton's history, he must have found the article that talked about that accident Patton was in. It wasn't that Patton minded people knowing, but it was still strange to see that Desmond had researched him. Was this because he didn't understand how to hold a conversation? He could have just asked.

Patton flipped the page. Everything else seemed to be written in a bullet point note style, Patton's favorite and least TV shows, Patton's favorite and least favorite foods ect. It made Patton happy that his roommate was paying attention, but another turn of the page and his smile faded. The top read:

Opinions & Options

'He has asked that we set up house rules, while the ones he suggested seem rather normal, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. No one is this nice.'

'Patton is lasting a lot longer pretending to be nice. He must have a lot of practice. I'll have to keep my guard up.'

'His optimistic nature doesn't seem to be changing, and I haven't heard any additional rumors, at least not ones that originate from him. I doubt trying to make him uncomfortable will work like it did in the past.'

'I gave it a chance anyway, but discussing strange facts about spiders, though it made him obviously uncomfortable, did not seem to make him any less happy to spend time with me.'

'I can't find any dirt on him either, all of the mutterings I have heard only speak of him being 'sweet' 'kind' or 'optimistic'. These aren't always said in a positive light but it seems no one has a bad word to say about him.'

'Damn it, why can't I think of anything to get this literal ray of sunshine to leave me alone.'

Patton choked on his own tears that he didn't realize he had been crying. Was this really how Desmond felt? He seemed so annoyed by Patton just being Patton. The emotional man brought a hand to his mouth to prevent the sobs from tearing his body apart. He thought he was making a friend but he was just making himself a nuisance.

Quickly shutting the binder Patton made his way to his room. He didn't want to be a burden. He didn't want to bother anyone. His hands were shaking as he texted his brother, trying to even his breathing. It was Friday, he could go home for the weekend to think about all of this. He didn't have classes on Monday so he could make it a long weekend.

Even if his brother didn't want him he needed to get out to think. Desmond was the only person he had felt like he was connecting with, and he wasn't even doing that right. His phone lit up as he saw the notification from his brother.

'On my way.'

AN: What! A POV change! Whatever could I be planning? I would suggest y'all pack your tissues and happy snacks for the next few chapters.