Point out any typos!

TW: Toxic/abusive relationship

AU
—
Patton, Logan and Virgil never really bothered with their next door neighbour. All they really knew was his name is Roman. He never went out of his way to talk to them, so why would they? Although, everyday at the same time - 12:00 - midday, he would get into his car and drive, only coming back at 2:00pm. It was intriguing, but they assumed he went to work or something.

Patton was never convinced.

One day he sat outside in the front yard, watering the flowers when a car pulled up outside of Roman's house. No surprise it was him. He got out, clearly had tear stains down his cheeks, and fumbled for his keys, quickly locking the door before rushing into his house. Curious - and a little concerned - Patton wanted to go to his house to see if he was okay, but not alone.

"Look, Pat, he's probably fine" Virgil dismissed, staring at his phone screen intently. Patton frowned, turning to Logan who finally put down his book.

"If you are this worried - over a complete stranger, no less - I will come with you. Virgil?"

Virgil looked between the two, groaning. He stood up, placing his phone into his back pocket. "Fine, but I swear to god if he's even slightly annoying-"

"Thank you, Virgil!" Patton hugged him quickly, pressing a kiss to his forehead in a fatherly way. Virgil sighed, but smiled a little at the loving man. They all left, Patton skipping to his house, knocking on the door as soon as the other two were standing behind him on the front porch. The door opened slightly, Roman gazing at the three for a few seconds. "Greetings" he instantly smiled, showing off his perfect white teeth, his gorgeous smile made Patton swoon.

"How can I help you?" Even Logan and Virgil seemed a little surprised at this mans confidence, he usually looks closed off and, if anything, scared of humans.

"Well, earlier I saw you come out of your car...you looked upset! I- we came to make sure you were okay!" Patton explained, bobbing on his feet as he did.

"Is that weird? Sorry" he added, blushing.

"Weird? Not at all! It's very sweet of you, but I'm completely fine" He reassured leaning on the door with a secret emotion hidden in his eyes.

"You sure?" Patton pressed, playing with one of the sleeves of his cat hoodie.

Roman nodded, smiling charmingly. "I'm sure"

"C'mon, Pat, he's probably busy" Virgil spoke, breaking the silence that settled.

"I'm not that busy, but thank you for coming around, it was a nice gesture" Roman smiled at them once more and slowly shut the door. Patton frowned, turning towards the other two.

"He's not okay"

Days passed and each one Patton kept a close eye on Roman, making sure to always pay attention when he came home at two pm, noticing how everyday the tears and sad expression became worse and worse. He informed Virgil and Logan everyday, in the beginning they both told Patton to ignore it, but recently when they saw how distraught he looked themselves, they started to become worried.

"We should go over-"

"No, it will only result in the same outcome. He is obviously secretive of his emotions, so we should see where he goes everyday, it might help us see what is wrong" Logan explained, shocking the two.

"You want to follow him?" Virgil asked to make sure, bewildered. Logan nodded, "tomorrow, we will see where he goes everyday"

And so, the next day they did.

"This is a stupid idea" Virgil grumbled, crossing his arms in the back seat. "You are only salty because you are sitting in the back" Logan commented, watching Roman's car intently as Patton followed it, but made sure to keep a distance.

Virgil swore under his breath, scowling as Patton replied with 'language!'

They didn't really pay attention to where they were until Logan commented how rough it looked, but rough was an understatement. The houses were basically piles of rubble, no trees, grass, anything colourful.

Just...an apocalyptic land, almost.

Roman parked outside of a two story house, it didn't look much better to the rest, but liveable. Patton parked a little bit away, but none left the car, too scared by the intimidating citizens outside on the street, holding guns each. Roman left the car and entered the house, Patton relaxing against the chair.

"We should head back" Logan murmured softly, seeing a few men near their car. Patton didn't hear him, he stared at the house, wondering what Roman would be doing in a place like this. Virgil gasped, watching the men swing a baseball against his window. This caught Patton's attention. He yelped, quickly speeding down the road before they were hit again.

"Holy shit, what the hell!? I told you this was a stupid idea!" Virgil yelled, heart hammering against his chest.

Logan looked behind them, spotting a car following.

"Patton, we need to lose them" for the next two hours Logan led Patton down different streets and empty roads, they all sighed in relief once they lost them.

"This Roman guy..." Virgil muttered, seeing him pull up to his house. Patton parked outside of theres, the usually anxious man jumping out and marching straight up to him, not noticing the tears or his irregular breathing.

"What the fuck, dude?! What kind of people are you friends with?"

Roman flinched, staring at Virgil with wide, fear-filled eyes.

"Roman, I do advise you to keep away from that town" Logan spoke next, noticing his behaviour, placing a hand on Virgil's shoulder to give him a silent hint.

"W-what? You followed me?" Roman stammered, eyes flickering between them all.

"...we're sorry, Roman. We were just worried! Who are those people?" Patton spoke softly, taking a step closer.

Roman's eyes hardened, he growled, walking up to his house. "Nothing to do with you, don't ever get involved with my life again!" He yelled, slamming the front door shut.

The three men watched, each worried. "Somethings going on...he's being hurt" Patton spoke hurriedly, turning to his friends.

"What can we do?"

"I have an idea.." Virgil smirked.

The next day the three men watched from their living room window as Roman tried to drive his car, but quickly realised he couldn't due to the flat tires. He jumped out, looking stressed as he checked the tires, obviously talking to himself from the way his lips moved. "I feel bad" Patton spoke after awhile, he knew what to do. Grabbing his car keys, Logan and Virgil watched him go over to Roman.

"Hopefully Patton will become closer to Roman" Logan commented, sitting forward on the couch, Virgil slumping next to him. It was there plan all along, one Patton wasn't told of.

"Need a lift?" Patton asked, Roman snapped his head up, visibly shaking. "Yes- please!" He quickly replied, jumping into Patton's car.

"You sure you want to go today? You can come over, if you want-"

"Look" Roman sighed, gazing out the window, hands laying on his lap. "I know you are trying to help...but every time someone does it makes the situation worse. I appreciate it, but please stop..." Roman begged, but his eyes said something different, and that was what Patton paid attention too the most.

"Okay...if you're sure" Patton replied, watching Roman from the corner of his eye as he frowned, slumping against the seat. "Yeah...I am" his voice wavered with his lie.

Whilst driving, Patton grabbed a CD and put it in, grinning as a Disney song started to play through the speakers, this caught Roman's attention. He turned towards the radio, then to Patton who sent him a grin.

"You must know Disney!"

"I..love Disney" Roman smiled. Patton noticed how it wasn't his usual charming grin, or his fake wide smile, it was a real smile. Disney must bring back memories, good memories.

"Sing with me!" Patton exclaimed, staring at him with hopeful eyes. Roman blushed lightly, "sing? I...I'm a terrible singer.." he drifted, casting his eyes out the window again. No, no! Patton was losing him!

"Terrible? If you have a voice as beautiful as you do, your singing voice must be extraordinary!" Patton giggled, watching him slowly turn to Patton, a soft smile tugging at his lips.

"You like my voice?"

Patton nodded, "it's soothing" he commented, staring forwards again, turning down a street. Roman tried to hide his smile, but Patton could see it, which made his stomach flutter with a million butterflies.

Patton began to sing along with the music softly, subtly watching Roman mouth along to the words, he didn't mind, this was a start!

"Under the sea.." he heard Roman quietly sing, and Patton was right, his singing voice was angelic.

"Under the sea!" Patton sang louder, gaining Roman's attention. He nodded reassuringly, smiling widely.

"Darling it's better down where it's wetter, take it from me!" this time Roman was louder than before, his voice beautifully balanced, better than the original singer could ever do.

As Roman was distracted by the song, Patton discretely turned the car around, driving back to their houses. Like hell was he going to let Roman back into that town to only come back crying. Patton didn't want to know what they did to him, but he vowed he'd never let them do it again.

After a couple of songs, Patton parked in his driveway, shutting off the engine and locking the car doors.

"Roman, I'm not letting you back there" Roman gasped, finally realising where they were and what the time was.

"Oh god...oh Disney, I'm late! Patton, he's going to kill me!" Roman cried, trying to get out of the car, panicking further once he realised it was locked.

Patton watched him start to cry, his eyes showing how absolutely petrified he was. It didn't take long before Roman passed out, supposedly from fear.

"Roman..." Patton whispered, quickly getting out of the car and to his side, picking the scarily light man from the car and speedily bringing him inside. "Logan! Virgil!" He yelled, laying Roman on the couch, brushing his hair from his closed eyes.

They rushed in, gasping. "What happened?" Logan quickly interrogated while Virgil grabbed a blanket, laying it across the unmoving man. "He...he passed out in the car.." Patton explained what he had done, and how terrified Roman looked in the car before he passed out, if the mere idea of being late to whoever he goes to could make him pass out Patton truly feared for the man's safety.

"Oh, and his singing is amazing" he added, smiling a little.

After five minutes Roman stirred, rubbing his eyes tiredly and letting them crack open. He gasped, shrinking into the couch, scared of the unfamiliar room he was laying in. "Roman!" Flinching, Roman quickly looked over to where the voice came from, visibly relaxing once he realised it was Patton.

"Please take me-"

"I'm not letting you go back, Roman" Patton whispered, stroking his hollow cheek gently. Roman subconsciously leaned into his hand, touch starved. Smiling, Patton kept his hand there, watching his eyes shut and a sigh of content leave his lips. "Why do you care so much?" Roman quietly asked after awhile, opening his eyes to stare at Patton's adorable face.

He moved his hand to his hair, brushing it back.

"Why wouldn't I? I want to protect you" Roman blushed, looking away sheepishly. This made Patton giggle, combing his fingers through is silk like hair.

"It's my boyfriend..." Roman opened up quietly, Patton silently encouraging him to carry on. "He's very controlling, a-and if I'm late he...hurts me.." He drifted, clutching the blanket closer to his body. "We have sex everyday, but I-I don't want it" His voice shook, tears brimming his eyes. "Please help me escape..." he whimpered, closing his eyes and hiding his entire body under the blanket. Patton slowly pulled his hand back, glancing over his shoulder to see Logan and Virgil standing in the doorway, each looking concerned and angry.

Concerned for Roman, angry at anyone who would hurt him like this.

"We should-" before Logan could finish the sound of car doors slamming shut caught their attention. Looking outside, they saw three men walk up to Roman's house, tall and angry.

"That must be them..." Patton drifted, Roman looked up through the window, involuntarily letting out a shrill, ducking under the cover once more, shaking and whimpering.

Logan shut the curtain, him and Virgil going around the entire house, locking every possible way into the house. Also flicking off the lights, just in case.

"Everyone stay quiet" Logan ordered, shutting the living room door and locking that too. "We will stay in here until we hear them drive way. Understood?" Patton and Virgil nodded, Logan couldn't tell if Roman did, too, seeing as he was still under the blanket.

Patton was knelt beside him, stroking his arm gently, slowly calming him down.

Suddenly, a loud knock echoed throughout the house, Roman flinched, curling in on himself.

"We know your in there!" A deep voice called, Logan stayed near Virgil, keeping him calm, not wanting him to fall into a panic attack. The doorbell rang a few times, along with hard thuds until it went silent.

"We'll be back tomorrow, if ya don't hand over Roman, we'll burn yer house down"

They still didn't move until they heard the car drive away. Logan peeked through the curtain, informing everyone that they were safe. "I'm so sorry" Roman apologised, slowly sitting up. "I-I dragged you into this mess and-"

"Roman, we knew the dangers, and we did it anyway. We want to help you, do not think you have to deal with this alone" Logan cut him off, going around the living room and putting everything they needed onto the coffee table.

"W..what are you doing?" He sniffled, watching them with the blanket wrapped securely around him.

"We suspected something like this might happen. So, we called our friend who lives in Florida - he agreed to let us stay with him until further notice. And you are coming with us" Logan explained, leaving the room to grab the suitcases. Romans mouth fell open, staring in shock at Patton who smiled.

"No buts!" He giggled, stroking his cheek again. Roman leaned into his touch again, biting back tears as he stared up at him through his lashes. "Thank you..."

Roman didn't have much in his house apart from a few pairs of clothes. His boyfriend didn't let him buy anything more. Not even food! The only times he could eat was when he was with them, and it wasn't much.

In the car, Roman sat beside Patton, resting his head on his shoulder.

"You're free again, Roman!" Patton grinned, kissing the top of his head. His face warming, Roman shot him a small smile, cuddling further into his side.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you all"

"Stay with us...that's all we want" Virgil replied.

Roman's smile broadened.

"Deal"

—

This was shit don't even try and tell me otherwise