Things finally went back to normal for the four boys. Although there was still a seed of doubt in his mind, Roman decided to attempt to forget that his boyfriends were hiding something from him. It was their secret to tell, and he figured it'd be a bit rude to pressure them, so he dropped the subject. The four fell back into their comfortable routine, spending a large majority of their time together. And as for Patton, well, he was a very good actor.

The harassment had only gotten worse since the time that Roman had found him, but Patton couldn't bring himself to tell his boyfriends that Jake was still coming on to him. The four had finally fallen back into a happy place, and Patton did not want to be the one to ruin that. So he kept his mouth shut, despite the increasing discomfort he felt every time the boy made an inappropriate or crude comment.

A few weeks after the initial Jake incident, the four were all hanging out at Virgil's house after school. They were lounged on the couch, cuddling each other and just talking about their days. As Virgil was talking, he said something out of the ordinary. "I actually, uh, got invited to a party today," he said awkwardly. "Oh yeah?" Patton asked in response. Virgil nodded. "Well we all kinda did. I asked if you guys could come too and he said yes. I mean, we obviously don't have to if you guys don't want to," Virgil rambled. "I'm interested. When is it?" Logan asked, effectively cutting off Virgil's anxious rambling. "Oh, um, it's tomorrow night at Zach's house," Virgil responded. "I'm down!" Patton exclaimed. "Yes, I am 'down' as he said," Logan added, earning a snort from Roman. Virgil grinned. "You coming too Roman?" he asked. Roman thought about it for a moment. He didn't have the best experiences with alcohol or it's effects, but he didn't want to be the one to ruin his boyfriend's plan. After a moment, a slowly nodded. "Awesome! It's at 10:00. Lo, could you possibly drive us?" Virgil asked. "Yes, of course," Logan responded. "Aw yay! This is going to be so much fun," Patton squealed. The three others chuckled at his reaction before falling back into another random conversation. Roman's mind never left the party, however. He was really nervous, truth be told. He forced these thoughts down, focusing only on how excited his boyfriends looked when he said he would go. That's all that mattered.

The following evening, the four boys were all sitting in Logan's car when Roman's nerves really started to kick in. He was sitting in the passenger seat next to Logan, who immediately detected his anxiety. "Are you sure you're comfortable going?" Logan asked in a low voice so that the pair in the back wouldn't hear. Roman nodded immediately. He wasn't going to be the one to put a damper on the night. Logan gave him a weary sideways glance before looking back to the road. He'd just have to keep an eye on Roman to make sure he really was okay. The car finally pulled up to the party, and the excitement coming from the backseat was enough to momentarily push down Roman's nerves. "Who's ready to party??" Virgil shouted, earning a loud 'wooh' of affirmation from Patton. Roman giggled lightly at them before stepping out of the car. The four made their way up to the house, entering the incredibly loud and hectic party. Roman and Logan shared a look of unease as Patton and Virgil dragged them through the crowd to the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen, the four were able to relax slightly. The sound of the booming music was slightly muffled, and there were far less people in here. Roman immediately decided that this was where he would stay a majority of the night. "All right, I'm making drinks. Anybody want anything?" Virgil asked as he made his way over to the table with all of the alcohol. Roman and Logan shook their heads in response, as Logan was driving them all home and Roman didn't really want to feel out of control in this environment. "Yeah! Surprise me," Patton responded. Virgil grinned. "You got it, Pat."

Virgil soon returned to the group with two drinks in hand, handing one to Patton. As they both took a sip, Roman couldn't help but feel uneasy. The last time a significant other of his got drunk, it didn't end well for Roman. Not at all. Before he could let his mind wander too far, he grabbed Logan's hand to ground himself. Logan looked at him quizzically for a moment before deciding not to push it. Instead, he just rubbed the back of Roman's hand with his thumb in an attempt to comfort him. Roman felt himself relaxing slightly at the action, much to his relief. He really wanted to enjoy tonight.

As the party continued, Roman got even more comfortable. He even found himself laughing and having a genuinely good time, which was a change for him. He was sitting on the kitchen counter next to Virgil with Logan in front of him when he noticed a familiar face. He waved slightly, attempting to get his attention. They finally made eye contact, prompting the other to approach the group. "Hey Roman! I didn't know you were going to be here." Virgil grinned. "Hey Remus! How's it going?" Virgil responded. "It's going good! Are you having fun Ro?" he asked his brother. Roman nodded with a genuine smile. Remus looked at him with a proud expression. "I'm really glad to hear that. Well I'm going to get back out there, but I'll catch up with you guys later!" Remus said before walking back into the buzz of the party. The three boys fell back into their conversation, laughing loudly at each other's stories. As the conversation continued, Roman realized that he hadn't seen Patton in a while. The boy had left to go to the bathroom, but it had been quite a while ago. Despite knowing that he was probably just socializing, Roman couldn't help but feel a little worried. He sent a text to Logan saying that he was going to the bathroom before hopping off the counter and exiting the kitchen. As uncomfortable as the party made him, Roman just had to see that Patton was okay to ease the pit in his stomach. He weaved through the party quickly, looking for any sign of his boyfriend. Roman soon realized that he was definitely not downstairs, so he decided to check the second floor just in case. He didn't know why, but he felt a deep sense of dread as he walked up the stairs.

As he reached the second floor, Roman's heart dropped. There was Patton, kissing somebody else. That wasn't why Roman was upset, however. The guy was obviously forcing himself onto Patton, who was trying to push him off. Roman didn't know exactly what came over him, but seeing his boyfriend being assaulted made him angrier than he had ever felt. Without any hesitation, he stormed forward and pulled the guy off with as much force as he could. Patton looked at him with a mixture of shock and gratefulness. "Thank you," Patton breathed out in a broken tone. Before Roman could move to check on Patton, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. In a matter of seconds, Roman was turned around roughly and punched harshly across the face. Patton screamed out, moving to intervene when two other guys grabbed him and held him back. "Jake, stop!" Patton screamed at the first man climbed on top of Roman and continuously hit him. Roman tried to get away, but Jake had the upper hand and was winning the fight easily.

Logan was the first to notice the commotion coming from upstairs. "Do you hear that?" Logan asked, earning a shrug from Virgil. "Come on, I want to see what's going on," Logan urged. "Fine," Virgil grumbled before jumping off the counter. The pair walked over toward the stairs, trying to see if they could hear any clearer. Then they heard something that set off their anxiety. "Stop!" Patton screamed at the top of his lungs. Logan immediately sprinted up the stairs, Virgil right behind him.

The sight before Logan was worse than he could've ever imagined. He first noticed Patton, screaming and crying harder than he had ever seen. He then registered that he was looking at something. As he followed Patton's gaze, his heart dropped. There was Roman, being brutally beaten by Jake. He immediately ran forward, trying to pull Jake off of Roman. "Get off of him!" Logan shouted as he pulled  Jake as hard as he could. Off to the side, Virgil was trying his best to get the other two guys off of Patton. Throughout all of the commotion, the four didn't notice Remus enter. Upon taking in the situation, Remus couldn't contain his anger. He ran over to where his brother was and pushed Jake off of him with a force that Logan didn't think was possible. Remus grabbed Jake by the front of his shirt, punching him as hard as he could. "Don't you ever touch my brother again," he spit.

Logan dropped to his knees in front of Roman, who was completely unresponsive. His eyes were open, but they were glossy and he was staring blankly at the ceiling. Logan didn't know what to do. Before he could think of anything to do, he heard Remus' voice from behind him. "Logan, get him out of here!" Logan was frozen in his spot, completely overwhelmed. "Logan, I'm begging you, please get him out of here! I can handle this," Remus yelled. Something clicked, and Logan immediately picked Roman up in his arms. The boy whimpered slightly at the contact, making Logan's heart clench. "Roman, it's just Logan. I'm going to get you out of here," Logan assured at he moved as quickly as he could down the stairs. He had to get him out of this house.

As they finally made it out of the front door, Logan set Roman on the curb before kneeling on front of him with his arms on his shoulders. "Roman, it's over now. You're safe, it's okay," Logan tried to assure him, though his voice wavered dangerously.
Roman continued to stare ahead, Logan's words going unregistered. "Roman? Come on baby, look at me," Logan pleaded. The front door then reopened, revealing Virgil with his arm tightly wrapped around a very tearful Patton. As the pair approached, they quickly became aware of Logan's frantic speech. They ran forward, squatting down next to Logan as they watched their unresponsive boyfriend fearfully. "Roman, please," Logan begged.

The three boys' hearts shattered as Roman's face crumpled, harsh sobs wracking his body.