11:14pm

I'm in love with the idea of Patton being their dad

Au
—

Remy cursed under their breath, hand catching on a jagged piece of metal. They lapped at the wound gently before the blood could trail down their arm, hating this night more and more. Ever since they lied to their dad they've felt an overwhelming sense of guilt swarm their stomach, which adds to the list of things that have ruined their day.

Currently, their dad thinks they're sleeping over a friends house, but in reality they are with a group of people they call their 'friends' trespassing on private property. It was abandoned, they'd give them that, not like the teens could cause any problems, but still it was highly dangerous, and Remy didn't feel so comfortable about doing it anymore. Still, they knew their friends wouldn't let them go without a plausible excuse, and they hated using the code system, for a reason they didn't understand. They didn't know if they didn't like it because it made them feel like a child, or because they have a hard time remembering the codes, which makes them feel like an idiot, because even Virgil remembers them all, and he's nine!

The biggest reason they didn't want to use the code system right now, though, was because Patton would found out they lied, and they'd be grounded, probably have their phone taken away - and they've never been grounded before, the mere idea of disappointing Patton left them feeling uneasy, and they felt like they physically couldn't bring out their phone to call him, anyway, so with a heavy heart, and shaking hands, they ventured through the small gab between the rusted doors and caught up pretty quickly with their friends who called their name.

They contemplated ringing up Roman, but right now the boys probably in one of the many college parties he talks about, and Remy didn't want to disturb him - besides, they were sure Roman would end up telling dad, anyway. The thought of calling Logan definitely didn't cross their mind, because they were sure to be reprimanded worse by him than their dad.

Deep in thought, Remy followed behind their friends without really caring about their surroundings, or where they were going, only when they heard a loud crack and a scream did they look up but it was too late - the ground under their feet collapsed, and Remy let out a scream of their own as they fell from the second floor back down to the first, landing in a pile of rubble, unmoving.

Hours passed before Remy gained consciousness. They blinked tiredly, letting out a moan of pain, their entire body achingly numbly. Slowly sitting up, they noticed a few splotches of blood across the bricks they had fallen on, and it only took a few more moments to realise their friends had ditched them. They could've died! The bastards. Remy stood up on shaky legs, while walking towards the exit, they patted their pockets, pulling their phone, relieved when it looked to be intact. No cracks.

They only managed to get a little ways down the street before they were collapsing onto a bench, in too much pain to do anything more. Pulling out their phone, they called the one person they knew would keep this all from Patton. Their twin. Deceit.

"Hello, little liar" Deceit teased upon answering the phone, chuckling lightly afterwards. Remy scoffed and rolled their eyes, of course Deceit would know they lied, that boy could see through anything.

"Shut it, bitch, where are you?"

"At home" he replied, "where I should be" he mused, and Remy could imagine the smug smirk on his face, which made Remy curse him to high hell. They groaned, "I need you to come pick me up" they managed, hissing when they leaned too far onto their left hip.

Deceit hummed in reply, "I hate to break it to you" sarcasm dripped from each word, "but I don't have a car, nor am I legal to drive a car"

"De, please" Remy resorted to begging, in too much pain to be embarrassed, voice barely above a whisper. This made Deceit pause for a moment, and let out a sigh. Remy heard shuffling on the other end, and they weakly told them where they were.

"Where you going, Kiddo?" Remy heard their dads voice, and it almost made them want to cry. Remy didn't know if they wanted Deceit to tell the truth or not at this point.

"Oh, just out for a walk, I shan't be long"

Remy heard the faint sound of a door opening and closing, "Thanks, De" they murmured quietly, slumping down against the uncomfortable bench, it not entirely helping their body that screamed for some sort of comfort, or painkillers.

"You owe me, Sunshine" they drawled in response before hanging up. Remy waited awhile, head drooping to the side, eyes sliding shut. When they heard a slight gasp, they cracked their eyes open to see Deceit a few feet away, the boy finally able to get a good look at his sibling. "Christ, what happened to you?" Deceit was by their side, wrapping an arm around their middle to help them stand. Remy mostly slumped against them, making a pain-filled noise at the back of their throat.

"I fell through a floor" Remy explained, "fucking bitches abandoned me" they added furiously, groaning in discomfort. Deceit mumbled something akin to a; 'told you so' towards their friends who weren't really friends, before falling silent as he helped carry Remy home. When they arrived outside, Deceit said he had no other choice but to tell Patton, and in the end Remy succumbed, finding it would be easier to face is wrath than continuously lie to him about this night.

Deceit opened the door, shutting it with his foot. "Dad!" He called, "Remy was an idiot" they added on, "again" he muttered under his breath, groaning when Remy elbowed his stomach. Patton came rushing down the staircase, gasping the same way Deceit did when he first saw his sibling.

"Oh, Remy, what happened?" Patton spoke gently, taking Remy for Deceit who allowed the two some alone time, heading up the staircase to check on Virgil. "I lied..." they sighed, laying on the couch that Patton mostly carried them to.

"About what, little sun?"

Remy flushed in shame. "I wasn't going to a sleepover, my friends" they muttered through gritted teeth, "offered that I should hang out with them while exploring abandoned shit" they cursed without a care, "I'm sorry" they added onto the end, voice falling to a low, humiliated murmur. Patton didn't look all to happy with Remy, but still proud of them they told them the truth instead of hiding it further.

"I hate grounding you kiddos, but I have no other choice, Rem" Patton voiced, going to speak again when he saw tears well up in Remy's eyes. "Hey, hey it won't be for long-"

"I know, I'm-fuck-I'm not crying over that" Remy cut him off, slowly sitting up to scrub at their eyes, ignoring the searing pain that shot through their body. "I-I..I wanted to use the code words" they admitted, sniffling, "but-I can't remember them! And they're so simple I-I just can't-and-and I wanted to call but what if I said the wrong thing!? Fuck-I'm sorry, dad" they fell against the side of the couch, crying harder, "I'm so fucking dumb" they added, not expecting to be pulled into a warm hug, Patton shuffling further up the couch to sit in the corner with Remy mostly on his lap, the poor kid crying their heart out, head buried into Patton's neck in utter embarrassment and guilt.

Patton combed his hand through his hair, humming a soft tune quietly, it always helped Remy calm down when they were younger, and by the fact they began to stop sobbing and shaking so violently, Patton carried on, thanking everything he could that this was working. In the end, Remy was limp in his arms, sniffling and hiccuping every so often, not having it in them to move.

"I have an idea" Patton murmured, pulling out Remy's phone from their pocket, using the password Remy told him to get in. Opening notes, he created a new one, titling it 'code words'. Remy watched him do so, biting their trembling lip harshly.

Patton wrote out the list of code words with their meaning beside them, handing it back to Remy once they had finished. Remy slowly sat up, legs on either side of their dad, looking down at the note after rubbing their eyes dry. "Thanks, dad" they whispered quietly, leaning against Patton's chest when the man pulled them in for another tight embrace.

"I won't ground you, little sun" Patton's voice was soft, but borderline stern, to show Remy he was still a tad mad at what they did. "But this weekend you and I will dedicate it solely to learning the code words, okay?" Remy nodded as much as they could against Patton's chest, sitting up again, smiling at him shyly. "Thank you..."

"No problem, Kiddo, anything for you. And you're not dumb" Patton tapped his nose, "people take different amounts of time to learn things, now, lets get you cleaned up"

Remy smiled, letting Patton take them to the bathroom so he could clean their wounds. Never would they lie to their dad again.

When Saturday rolled around, Remy was nervous. They wanted to get the code words right, to make their dad proud, but they had a feeling it might take awhile. Both Roman and Logan had come down to help - it didn't take long for Roman to come over, he only lived an hour away in student accommodation, but Logan had to drive for three hours, so Remy thanked him a few times when they were alone to show how grateful they were.

"Why don't we start with the cookies code word?" Patton suggested when they were all sitting in the living room, Virgil tucked up on Logan's lap, he had missed his eldest brother quite a bit, and he watched everyone else in the room silently, with his thumb hanging between his lips. Across the room from them, Deceit was laying on the couch, his head on Roman's lap where the second eldest brother played with his hair.

"Do you know which one that is, Remy?" Logan questioned, watching them as they shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Patton who sent them a reassuring smile. "The uh...the one with..it isn't the date one, is it?" Patton shook his head, and Remy bit his lip.

"Shit, I don't know" he muttered, feeling pathetic as he hid his face in his hands. "It's okay, kiddo, that's why we're learning today! This will help Virgil, too" Patton smiled at his youngest who perked his head up at the mention of his name, tilting his head to the side curiously.

Remy sighed, looking up at their dad sheepishly. "I guess.."

They all decided to split up, Logan, Roman and Deceit would take Remy and Virgil to the mall while Patton would stay home, waiting for a call. When they were all heading to the front door, Virgil let out a noise of distress, reaching to his dad from Roman's arms. Patton smiled and took him from Roman gently, deciding he could learn the code words from home.

On the way past, Remy kissed Virgil's forehead lovingly, smiling when the boy giggled and buried his face into his dads neck.

"You've got this, Kiddo" Patton murmured, cradling Virgil close. "Thanks, little bitch" Patton shook his head and sighed fondly, at this point he had given up telling Remy to stop cursing, as long as they didn't rub off on Virgil, he was fine with it.

They all arrived at the mall five minutes later, and found themselves outside the building, Roman quietly complaining that they weren't going inside. "We are not here for you to go shopping, Roman" Logan gave him a pointed look, gesturing to Remy who leaned on a fountain across the square from them. "We are here for him-them" Logan sighed, "Sorry" he murmured, turning to Remy who tried to ease his anxiety by going on their phone.

"Stay here with Deceit" Logan ordered before he was crossing the square, nearing his younger sibling. "Excuse me?" He spoke when in hearing range, pausing a few feet in front of them. Remy looked up, fidgeting nervously with his phone, swallowing thickly.

"Your father asked me to pick you up, come with me"

Remy stood up and went to go with him when they paused, "uh-code word?" They managed shakily, watching as praise filtered through Logan's eyes. "Cupcakes" he responded, and Remy nodded slowly, they felt something wasn't right, but they followed Logan anyway towards their car. When they were sitting beside Logan, they gasped, knowing where they had gone wrong.

"Shit, it's not cupcakes..." they sighed, sliding out of the car.

"Do not worry" Logan reassured, "you will get the hang of it"

They tried a few more times, and a few more, Roman and Deceit had resorted to sitting on the bench, both eating a corn dog a stand sold them.

"Code word?" Remy asked, hands clenched by their sides.

"He told me to forget about the code word" Logan hadn't used this one before, and it threw Remy off, but either way Remy ended up standing their ground. "No, he wouldn't. What's the code word?"

"There isn't one" Logan responded in a darker tone, going to reach for Remy but they yelped and ducked away, rushing over towards Roman and Deceit. They were grinning, and when Logan came over they hugged him tightly.

"I fucking did it! Yas bitch!" They cheered, all victoriously. "Yes, you did" Logan congratulated, "can you do it a few more times?" Remy nodded enthusiastically, and even if they fumbled a few times, and did end up walking with Logan when the used the incorrect code word, they'd remember before it was too late and rush back over to their siblings who both praised them when they did.

In the end, Logan used the correct code word, but Remy had gotten to used to it being the wrong one, they didn't realise, and went to go when Logan stopped them. "Remy, don't forget, cookies is the code word"

They paused momentarily, slumping. "Oh.."

"Do not feel too discouraged" Logan sat them down on the fountain rim. "I had similar issues like you are having, too" Remy's eyes widened a little, "Really?"

"Yes, and I have never told this to anyone before, so I trust you will keep it a secret?" Remy nodded and Logan carried on, "sometimes I would forget, and it did almost result in me getting kidnapped. I ran before it was too late, and to this day I have not told Patton, so do not feel too forlorn. Besides, the chances of someone deciding to kidnap an older teen in this way is highly unlikely, but even still, you will remember, and when you do, run"

Remy nodded, Logan's story giving them a boost of determination, and the next three times they tried the code word system, they remembered each one. "Maybe you're not such a bad brother after all" Remy mused, grinning at Logan who rolled their eyes and adjusted their glasses. "What do you mean? I am the best" Remy snorted and laughed, finally entering the mall with the others, Roman seemingly the most excited.

The flamboyant man managed to buy a few things in the passing shops, and flirt with a few of the men he would pass by, but if someone dared flirt with his siblings, he would scare them away. Finally, they were in the cafeteria, all sitting down on a table, phone right in the middle. Deceit bit into his sandwich, siting besides Roman as Logan refused to.

"All you must do is call Patton, ask him if you can do something you do not want to do, and end it with 'please, father?', understand?" Remy nodded, the same nerves they felt before coming back, but with the thought of the cookies code word, and how well they ended up nailing it, it wasn't as bad.

Remy breathed out and called the number, a few rings later it answered.

"Is that Remy?" They all heard Virgil's soft voice asked, and each of them smiled. "Yes, little diamond, it is" Patton giggled, currently holding Virgil in his lap.

"Hey, Remy" Virgil greeted shyly.

"Hey, V" Remy smiled, "can I talk to dad?"

"Yeah...he's here"

Patton giggled, kissing his cheek. "What's up, Kiddo?"

"I..." Remy gulped, "my friends asked me to hang out, can I go..." they trailed off, biting their lip, but Virgil spoke up before they could.

"I thought he was with the others?"

Patton smiled, "they, little diamond"

Virgil paused. "Oh...Remy, m'sorry!"

They chuckled, "it's okay, darl, let me speak to dad, yeah?"

"Yeah...sorry"

"So, dad, can I go...please, father?" They quirked their eyebrows up, glancing at Logan who shook his head. Roman rolled his eyes and leaned forward, holding his finger up to Logan's lips before he could say anything. "Don't listen to that moron, you were right, but say it in a way that..."

"Makes sense" Deceit replied, mouth full of food.

Remy grimaced at the sight. "Swallow that shit, girl"

Deceit purposely opened his mouth and everyone gagged and turned the other away.

Remy turned back to the phone and tried it a few times, the more times they failed, the more they became agitated until they finally slammed their hand down onto the table and stood up, marching away. "I'll talk to them" Deceit stood up, bringing his tray to the rack as he did.

"Where did Remy go?" Virgil murmured to his dad who frowned sadly, staring at the phone in his hand. "I think they're a little upset"

"Upset?" Virgil worried, glancing towards the door. "Can we see him? I wanna see them!" He whined, sliding from Patton's lap to put on his shoes. Patton watched him fondly, and Roman told him to meet them all in the cafeteria.

Patton strapped Virgil into the car and drove over, holding Virgil's hand tightly so he wouldn't run off on their own when they walked into the mall. They found them all on the second floor, Virgil spotting Remy beside Deceit, both leaning on a pillar. "Remy!" He called, managing to wriggle away from Patton to rush over, crashing into his siblings legs.

Remy smiled and picked him up, "Why're you crying? Is it 'cus I called you he?" Virgil tilted his head, bottom lip trembling. "No, don't worry about that, babes, it wasn't your fault" Remy reassured, holding the distraught boy to their chest. Virgil murmured a few apologies, in the end everyone had walked over, each reassuring Remy one way or another that they were doing great, and it was nothing to be ashamed over.

With Virgil now sitting on their lap, Remy sat with just him and the phone, they found it easier to do this code word on their own. With constant praise from Virgil - even if the boy didn't entirely understand what was going on - Remy managed to do it, and again, and again.

"I'm so proud of you, little sun" Patton hugged Remy tightly, kissing their forehead. "Couldn't do it without you, dad" Remy responded with a smile.

A couple weeks after the code-word ordeal, Remy found them self in a situation they didn't want to be in. They told their friends to wait a moment, pulling out their phone and calling their dad.

"Hey, kiddo!" He called warmly, "what's up?"

"My hoes invited me out, I wanna go, can I? Please..." they closed their eyes momentarily, breathing out calmly. "Please, father?"

Patton beamed on the other end. "No, Kiddo, remember? You're still grounded from that stunt you pulled a few days ago. I'll come pick you up, where are you?"

On the drive home, Remy turned to smile at their dad who returned it. "Love you, Dad"

"I love you too, my non-binary Angel"

Remy snorted, shaking their head. "Shut up..."

—

Am I squeezing this AU for all it's worth? Yes.

Shall I do one with Virgil?

I don't know

12:51pm