8:49pm

Tik Tok- honestly- Tik Tok or whatever it is can suck my ass

Fall down a hole and diSAPPEAR FROM MY LIFE

Trigger warning: Past child abuse

Au
—

"Now, fair warning, this kid is...isn't the nicest" Mr. James commented after finishing the last of his coffee Patton generously made for him. They had just finished talking about Patton's new foster child he would be caring for for a few months, but this one was different from the others. Usually the ones Patton have are more...stable; never before has Patton had a foster child who was abused in his past home.

He couldn't tell if this could be a challenge or not, but he wasn't about to think of a child he hasn't met as "not nice". Everyone can be nice as long as they are given kindest in the first place.

Patton smiled briskly, "Mr. James, you are a great man" Patton complimented, taking his mug from his grasp. "But don't insult children in my house"

That night Patton couldn't sleep, he usually couldn't when a new child was arriving; it was just so exciting! He absolutely adored caring for kids, no matter how old or young they were. Seeing them smile and enjoy living with him was all Patton could ever ask for, every time he could feel his heart swelling with happiness at the mere prospect they liked living with him. It was always a tear jerking experience when the kids had to leave, but Patton knew they were being sent to bigger, better families, so it was never too upsetting.

The next morning me made sure to clean himself up along with the house (even if he tidied it spotless yesterday-) without stopping until he heard the ring of a doorbell echo throughout the house. He straightened and grinned, quickly putting away his dustpan and brush before hurrying over to the front door. Running a hand through his hair, he pulled open the door and his eyes instantly landed on the teenager who would be put in his care.

He had naturally brown hair with dyed purple ends, the bangs covering his eyes that had black makeup dusted underneath them, making him look actually...really cool! Beside him stood one of the child services workers; she was the usual one, tightly curled thick blonde hair that bobbed on her shoulders, and a soft summer dress that flowed in the light (yet warm) breeze.

"Hello, Patton!" The two adults shared a hug and burst into an enthusiastic conversation, too enthusiastic for the darkly dressed boy who rolled his eyes and plunged his hearing with music that blasted through his headphones. Patton noticed the sudden new device and grinned, leaning over to ruffle his hair that laid out before the bar that rested across the top of his head to hold up the headphones.

He looked up, staring at Patton with narrowed eyes, but the man just winked and carried on talking to the woman the boy never bothered to obtain the name of. Rolling his eyes, he let himself relax in the music, waiting until he noticed commotion before following the two inside. He let them talk in the kitchen and made his way up the staircase, peeking inside of each room until he found the one that was - presumably - is.

He didn't like it.

The walls were a soft blue, and the carpet was pure white; why does everything have to be so bright? Grumbling, he grouchily settled into the single bed pressed into the corner of the room (at least they got that right) and closed his eyes, bobbing along to the music that always had a way of calming him down. So entranced, he didn't notice how much time had passed, only opening his eyes when he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

He looked up and caught sight of the man he would unfortunately have to live with. From the first greeting he knew this cardigan-clod would be too much for him to handle; why did he have to be stuck with the man who had the energy levels equivalent of a puppy?

Tucking off his headphones, Patton finally spoke up.

"Hey, Virgil! It's nice to meet you! I'm Patton, your" as he said this, he tapped Virgil's knee that was drawn up to his chest. "New guardian! Meaning you are under my care until they find a suitable place for you to live" Patton explained everything the boy probably already knew, but this was how he greeted all his kids, so he obviously was going to do the same for this dark adorable cloud of thunder.

Virgil stared at him blankly until he giggled and gestured around the room. "I hope you like it! We could always redecorate if you want! It wouldn't be too much trouble, this room has had all colours imaginable painted on the walls! Even black" Patton shrugged and stood up, "call me if you need anything, Kiddo!" He called from the doorway before slipping out the room and closing the door.

Ugh. Already Virgil wanted to leave.

Tucking his jacket close to his body, he wore his headphones around his neck, pocketed his phone and slumped down the staircase. Glancing down the hallway, he rushed to the front door when he realised Patton was nowhere to be found; although, just as he put his hand on the doorknob, he was sorely mistaken.

As if by magic Patton's arm barred across the door, making Virgil look up at him suddenly.

"Awh, I may look like a pushover, but if you want to go outside you'll have to ask me, Virge!" The emo boy rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What do you care?" He grumbled irritably, wondering how long he would be able to live with his unrelenting enthusiastic dad-like personality before he loses his mind. Patton frowned at his response, taking a step closer to rub his shoulder reassuringly. "If you were to leave without telling me I'd be worried sick!" Patton leaned back and nodded towards the front door.

"Go on, but don't be too late! Wouldn't want to lose you on the first day" Patton booped his nose and headed to the kitchen with a skip in his step and a hum vibrating in his throat. Virgil brushed his nose, staring after the child-like adult before he was out of sight. Patton doesn't care, he told himself, the only reason he didn't want Virgil to stay out late was for his own sake.

Opening the door, he pulled it close with a little velocity before pulling on his headphones and heading down the street. He didn't live too far away from his old house he had to reside in with the people who decided to give birth to what they would later use as a punching bag, but that didn't make him anxious; they were in jail, after all, not much they could do from there.

Due to being so close, he could easily arrive at the park that was usually barren at this time in the evening. It was the place he used to go to as an escape from the abuse he endured at home; now, it was an escape from Patton's brightly shining happiness. Barely keeping in mind the time, he sat on the swing but kept his eyes open, for even if he knew those people were in jail, that didn't mean he was safe from anyone else. Who knows; all adults could be like them when no one was watching.

Like in his bedroom earlier that afternoon, time passed by broken from Virgil who barely paid attention to it, more focused on the empty ground around him. When night time fell, that was when the park became populated, but by the people Virgil would rather stay away from. Deeming half past ten a time he should leave, he stood up from his swing and returned back to the house he would be living in until he was sent away to someone else who probably wanted him less.

Pulling open the door, the last thing he expected was to be bombarded by Patton who seemed to had been sitting on the steps prior to him walking in. Huh, he truly thought to see Patton sitting in the living room while watching the television, not caring at all of Virgil's whereabouts.

He was mistaken, yet again.

"Virgil! Where have you been, Kiddo?! I was so worried" Patton voiced, wrapping him up in a tight hug. Virgil gasped, eyes widening as his body was crushed into the elder's. He was being...hugged...he's...he's never been hugged before; not by his Mom, Dad, anyone, especially not by a stranger who seemed to care a lot more than Virgil originally planned.

Leaning back, Patton checked him over before his shoulders sagged in relief. Virgil was okay. Smiling, Patton pushed his hair back and pressed a kiss to his forehead; yet again, another thing he's never had the experience of. Damn, what was happening to his heart?

"C'mon, I made dinner" Patton led him through the house to the kitchen. Virgil stayed behind in the doorway to see Patton pick up the plate of food he left in the microwave. He frowned, though, and quickly rushed over to the bin before scraping it all inside. Was this his punishment? No dinner? Virgil shrugged, nothing unusual, but before he left he watched Patton hurry to the freezer and pull out a box of waffles and fish fingers.

"Sorry, Kiddo, dinner might be on hold for another twenty minutes, is that okay?"

Wait, wait, hold up, Patton binned the food because...it had gotten cold? Couldn't he have just heated it up? Did he think it wouldn't be good enough? Now, Virgil felt the crushing weight of guilt grip his heart, because it would take an idiot to not understand Patton wanted to do his very best for the children he had in his care; meaning cooking dinner twice for the ones who stayed out too late.

"No, no, Pat, it's fine-" Virgil tried to stop him but Patton waved him off quickly, "I'm not letting you go hungry!" He excused, ushering him to the living room where he was told to wait until he was finished with dinner. Slumping on the couch, Virgil chewed his lip, wondering how many more slip ups it would take before Patton gave up. He wasn't a bad kid by no means, but he couldn't really grasp the concept of being a 'good kid' seeing as he had to learn pretty quickly to care for himself and no one else, and not trust anyone around him. It was the biggest reason why many people saw him as an asshole, he didn't mean to but...it had become natural for him.

Placing his headphones on the coffee table, he played on his phone until his nostrils picked up the scent of food. Breathing in deeply, he felt his stomach grumble loudly, blushing when soft laughter sounded beside him. "Sounds like someone's hungry" Patton commented, placing the plate of food on the table, along with cutlery and a glass of juice.

Virgil looked it over in surprise; his dinners used to consist of just eggs and bread and he hasn't really had much else in his life. Could this be the first time he's ever had fish? Shifting, he grabbed the plate and put it on his lap, very fully aware Patton had taken the arm chair and was sipping from his mug of whatever drink he decided to make. Although, whenever he would glance over, he seemed occupied by whatever was on the television. Some cartoon Virgil had never seen before.

He was content with eating the potato waffles; he had eaten chips before, what was the difference? What worried him, though, was the fish. He didn't know if he liked it, and definitely didn't want to have to make Patton cook something else because he deemed two waffles to be 'not enough'. Sighing, he plunged his fork through the fish, pleasantly surprised to see it cut off easily.

Stabbing the golden crusted square of fish, he held it in front of his mouth tentatively sticking out his tongue to lick it. Unbeknownst to him, Patton was secretly watching him over the rim of his mug, and found his movements to be especially adorable; even if he was a teenager. Eventually, Virgil bit of a minuscule amount of the fish off, chewed the crumb, swallowed and...smiled.

Huh, this was the first time he had seen the boy smile. Yes, it was just a quirk of the lips, but Patton still felt his heart swell with his own joy. He knew it was going to be hard to let this one go.

Only two minutes later and the plate was clean, along with the cup that was once filled with juice. "Still hungry?" Patton wondered while taking his plate, "I have some ice cream, if you want!" He offered, beaming at the boy who shrunk a little in his gaze, shrugging.

"I've never had..." the wash of embarrassment that fell across him stopped him from finishing his sentence, so instead he changed it to 'I'm fine' before picking up his headphones and disappearing to his room. Nevertheless, Patton kept his smile and decided to have his own cheeky bowl of ice cream before heading to bed. It was getting late, after all.

He brushed his teeth and changed into his warm cat onesie. Snuggling into the soft material, he grinned and hoped down to Virgil's room, opening the door to see the boy laying on his bed, the only light coming in through the window - bright moonlight cascading on his face that held a far-away look. Heading over, he paused when he was about to pull of his headphones, suddenly remembering doing something so sudden when he was so relaxed was probably not the best thing to do. Instead, he carefully made himself known, waiting until Virgil took the headphones off to his own accord.

"Bed time, Kiddo" Patton spoke softly, giggling when he rose his eyebrow at what he was wearing. Ugh, bed time? Really? Virgil's never had a bedtime before; why did he have to have one now? Nighttime was the best time where he could be himself without getting bothered from anyone else. At least, that was what it was like in his old life, but he guessed this was all knew, so he had to change with it, right?

Wrong.

"Yeah, five minutes" he replied dismissively, but when Patton gently took away his headphones and put them on the bedside table, he sighed and stared at him dully. He wasn't a child. "Now, Virgil" his stern voice surprised the boy who was already half laying down on his bed. Well, it shouldn't be much of a surprise, the man wasn't just a child, he was a 'dad' (of sorts) so he had to know when to be strong with disobedient kids.

Sighing, he slid from his bed, washed off his makeup and brushed his teeth. Now that he was laying in bed, wearing the pyjamas child services gracefully offered him, he did start to feel a little tired. Temptations to reach for his phone were crushed when Patton leaned down and kissed his forehead gently, tucking the blanket closer to his body.

"Goodnight, sweet dreams" he whispered in such a caring voice Virgil didn't want to stop hearing it. Sullenly, he watched Patton leave and close the door, letting his room fall to silence. Glancing at his phone, he groaned and rolled onto his side, tugging the warm blanket closer to his body that was already warmed from the show of affection he, once again, has never ever received before.

Maybe...things will be different.

Growing up, Virgil never imagined himself to ever have fun, he thought the world was a horrid place full of even worse people who would hurt him and push him down to the ground until he was nothing left. That changed, very abruptly, as soon as Patton entered his life - or should he say, entered his life. The second day under his care Patton suggested to make cookies - they spent the entire morning making batches of the chocolate chip cookies Patton seemed to adore. Even if Virgil messed up many times, and expected to get backlash, each time Patton would show him how to improve, his gentle smile never once leaving his features.

Activities such as cookie making carried on through the months Virgil was staying with this man. Every day held something to be enjoyed; whether it be helping Patton walk next door neighbours dogs, or joining in on his volunteering at animal shelters (the man really liked animals), or the days where Patton took him to the cinema, or hot topic - the only store he would willingly go to. Little things like that made Virgil open up more, in a sense. Over the course of their time together his "bad behaviour" - mostly staying out late or not going to sleep in time - diminished, because admittedly his love for Patton grew.

Not in a romantic sense, but in the father-son way.

It was weird but also comforting. Patton started off as a stranger to him, someone who couldn't be more of a childish father, turning to an actual dad in the end. There were a few hiccups, like the time Virgil got so bored with his chores he decided to stroll in town for a few hours - that was the first time he got grounded under Patton's care - but could it really be grounding if two minutes later Patton came rushing into the room to coddle the boy while whispering how worried he was?

The night ended up in movies and cuddles. Well, Patton didn't stop clinging to him for awhile until Virgil leaned into him and murmured out an apology; for he really did feel bad for what he did.

Or that time Virgil wasn't really feeling it one day, and snapped at Patton because he wouldn't stop asking if he was alright. The hurt that flashed through Patton's eyes made his heart shatter, he didn't meant to sound so angry, he couldn't help it. Later, he told Patton he was going out, but the man didn't really respond, only nodded his head and carrying on cleaning the kitchen

Virgil returned an hour later with an apology scribbled into a 'happy birthday' card because for the life of him he couldn't find any other type, alongside a box of cookies, because he knew how much the man loved his cookies. He waited in his room, tapping his fingers together, able to remember the clawing anxiety he felt that day, wondering if he'd be sent away because Patton was so hurt; but when the man slowly pushed open the door with the box of cookies and a soft smile on his face, Virgil felt like he did good.

They cuddled on the bed for awhile, sharing apologies and cookies.

Now, three months later, Virgil put away the hoover, finished with his chores. Now he was able to relax, he let his thoughts wash through his mind. When was he being taken away? He somewhat remembered hearing he would only be here for a few months; at the time he didn't care, but now he felt achy at the thought, he didn't want to live with a new family, he wanted to stay with Patton.

He couldn't just ask for that though, could he? He didn't feel like it was his place to make that decision. Well, of course it wasn't! It was all down to Patton.

Later that day, he heard the front door open and shut, plus the voice of Patton greeting Virgil with his all familiar 'hello, kiddo! I'm back'.

Not expecting the man to come into his room, he tensed when he suddenly bounced on the bed opposite him, grinning widely. "I have something for you!" He exclaimed happily, like a giddy child waiting to show their parents the drawing they created.

"Close your eyes" Patton urged, waiting until he did so before putting what he had in his hands. Cracking open his eyes after he was told he was allowed, he furrowed his eyebrows, staring at the stack of pages that had been given to him.

"What...are these?"

Patton shuffled so he was sitting closer, lips stretching further to show his excitement. "Adoption papers, I'm adopting someone" the look on his face showed how much he wanted this, and now he would be able to be a real father. Virgil's eyes widened in surprise, cursing himself for feeling jealous; Patton wouldn't even want to keep him, it was his fault for setting himself up for pain.

"Oh, yeah? That's awesome. What's their name?"

"Virgil" Patton responded without missing a beat, his fast yet coherent response making Virgil choke on air and stare at the man sitting opposite him in bewilderment. "You mean..." he drifted, finding himself unable to finish what he wanted to say. Patton giggled and nodded hurriedly, not expecting to see tears trail down Virgil's cheeks.

"Kiddo-?"

"This-this isn't a trick, is it? Cus' if-if this is some sort of trick-" he spluttered, being cut of by Patton who leaned forward and combed his hair from his glossy eyes.

"Hey" He crooned, "can I tell you a secret?" Virgil nodded, letting him lean closer. "This isn't a trick" he whispered, laughing gleefully when Virgil crashed into him, flinging the papers to the side so he could grip onto his polo shirt and sob into his shoulder.

"Fuck-why-why me!?" His voice cracked and shook.

"Language, Virge" Patton scolded lightly, "and because I love you, Kiddo, I couldn't bare the thought of you leaving" Patton rubbed his back, letting him cry it all out on his shoulder.

"I-I love you, too" Virgil managed to blurt out, probably louder than he originally intended. Patton grinned, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head.

And they both lived happily ever after.

—

Little quote for you all that I really like (and for the people who will comment on the "happily ever after" line):

"Happy ever after doesn't mean forever. It just means time. A little time" - River Song

10:30pm