Tiny trigger warning but it's cute at the end :))

A loud and alarming gag wakes Andy, Emerson and Sebastian, who sit up and pull back their curtains, confused. Andy gets out of bed, since Remington isn't beside him, and finds the boy leaning over the toilet in tears. The first thing Andy thinks of is that he's relapsed again, but Remington's knuckles aren't red. He looks up at Andy, who kneels next to him. "What's wrong, honey, are you sick?" Andy asks, Emerson and Sebastian watching from the doorway.

"Fucking nightmare," Remington mumbles, "I'm gonna fucking kill all her fucking relatives." He sounds pissed off, angry, and exhausted.

"I'll help," Andy jokes, trying to cheer Remington up. "Here, have some water," he offers, when Sebastian hands him a bottle.

Remington takes it and gulps it down, wiping his mouth after and groaning. "I need to talk to her," he says, "Holly's mother, I need to talk to her."

"Come back to bed. We can talk about this in the morning."

Remington stands up and wipes his eyes. "Can you-can you not touch me?" He follows Andy back into their bunk. "I feel like I might scream if you touch me." Careful of scaring the young singer, Andy lies fairly still, and Remington closes his eyes. "I thought it wasn't affecting me so much but I was-I was wrong," he whispers, "I keep being wrong." After a minute of calming himself down, Remington puts his head on Andy's chest.

"It's okay," the older assures, wondering if Remington meant it when he said the stalker is Holly's brother.

Before the show the next day, Andy takes Remington to the police station to tell the police what happened the previous day. They have to fill in forms and Remington does his best to describe what the man looks like. He doesn't mention anything about him being related to his ex.

In the dressing room, Remington texts Genevieve without telling anyone.

Hi. I need to ask you a question.

Oh, what is it?

Does Holly have a brother??

Yes, Jason. Why?

Does he ever visit her in jail??

As far as I'm aware, no, but he does write to her.

Okay. Thanks.

It's him, Remington thinks, it has to be him. He writes to Holly, meaning they're communicating, meaning that she's passing him information, and he's passing it back. It just has to be him.

The show goes well, despite a minor issue when the microphone cuts out, and after, they take photos with everyone. "

"Oh fuck," Sebastian mutters to himself, looking at the que of fans.

"What?" Remington asks.

The guitarist leans in. "You remember those people who made me wake you up?"

Remington nods.

"Yeah, that's them, four people back. Be careful, okay? The mother is a bit full on."

"Fantastic," the singer mumbles, "thanks for warning me."

When they get to the two people, Remington is anxious that they're going to be rude to him, and stands close to his big brother.

The mother has the same intimidating face as last time. "Ah, look who showed this time," she says rather rudely, referring to Remington, who internally flinches at her tone.

"One hug from each of us, a photo, and then you go," Sebastian says firmly.

The woman rolls her eyes, and Remington is hugged by the girl, too tight for his liking, but he refuses to let himself show that he's uncomfortable. "Thanks for coming," he says, forcing a smile.

"Is Andy here?" The girl asks.

"No," Remington lies, "just us."

"But I saw him in a video from last night."

"He's not here tonight."

"But I saw him."

Remington sighs. "Do you want a photo?"

Sebastian offers the girl a hug. "We're in a rush to get to the next venue," he explains, even though it's not entirely true.

"Are you really gay?" The mother suddenly asks Remington, who nearly laughs at the question.

"Yes," he answers, "are you really this rude?" He realises he shouldn't have said that, but in the moment can't stop himself.

The woman looks shocked. "Why the fuck do you guys have fans?"

"Because we're nice people, love. You should try it some day."

Sebastian hears what Remington says, and muffles a laugh. "Remington, you're about to be punched," he jokes, "move along, we're in a rush."

"Let her punch me," Remington says, not sure where this confidence has come from.

"Do you want a photo?" Sebastian asks, trying to diffuse the situation before his brother is actually punched.

"Shut up!" The mother snaps, turning back to Remington. "I don't want my daughter influenced by your kind."

Remington raises an eyebrow. "My kind? Oh, I suppose you mean men who like other men? What're you gonna do about it? It literally makes no difference to you who I love."

"She might become gay!"

"You know this is the twenty first century, don't you, or are you stuck in the past like all your fucked up beliefs?"

"Don't you swear at me!"

Remington laughs. "I fucking apologise for fucking swearing at you, you fucking disgusting fucking asshole."

"Next!" Sebastian demands.

"Fuck off, please," Remington says sweetly, smiling sarcastically, "I don't want your homophobic ass near our family. Go back to school and learn some basic fucking human decency before insulting me and my brothers. Good fucking riddance. NEXT!" He pushes the woman away. "Some people, I cannot fucking stand," he says under his breath, and she turns around and tries to punch him.

Sebastian catches her hand and shoves her back. "If we see you at another one of our shows, we'll be getting a restraining order!" He calls after the two of them. "Next!"

Two hours later, they get back in the vehicle, and Andy finds it funny the way the boy tells him what happened. "Be careful making enemies," he teases, prodding Remington's cheek.

"You should've seen her. Fucking cow." He sits up, stretches, and flops down on Andy.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side."

Remington whines in annoyance. "Shut up," he complains, "you won't ever get on my bad side, Andy. You're special."

Andy chuckles. "Good night, sweetheart. Don't let the bed bugs bite."

"I'm not a baby," Remington argues, yawning.

"No, you're my baby. Sleepy time, baby boy," Andy teases, ruffling his hair.

"It's not 'sleepy time', it's called sleeping. Look it up." He turns onto his front, chin on Andy's chest, looking up at the man with a cheeky grin. "You're really fucking comfy," he announces.

Andy just smiles. "Thanks?"

"Andy?"

"Hmm?"

Remington exhales, calm. "You know homophobes?"

Andy strokes his hair. "I know homophobes."

"Do you think they're born like that, or is it their parents that raise them to be fucking assholes?"

"I don't think anyone is born believing that people who aren't straight are 'wrong'. I think it's society around them that changes the way they think." He takes Remington's hand and kisses his knuckles.

The boy hums. "I know, but how can you hate someone just because of who they love? Gay people don't bully straight people, so how is it fair?"

"It's not fair, sweetheart. Don't think for one second that it's fair. It needs to change."

"But if it's not fair then why do people say it is?" He kicks the covers of his legs and sighs dramatically.

"Because people are hypocritical shits, honey."

Remington digs his face into Andy. "Hypocritical fucking shits," he agrees in a mumble. "I'm cold."

Andy shakes his head, amused. "You're precious, you know that?"

"Maybe if you say it enough, I'll start to believe you."

"Alright then. You're precious. You're precious. You're precious. You're really really fucking precious. You're really really fucking precious and adorable. You're-"

"Shush, I'm trying to sleep."

"Sweet dreams, precious."