9:14am

Trigger warning: slightly (not entirely) abusive parent, mentions of drugs, mentions of alcohol addict

AU
—

Patton leaned against the sink in the public bathroom, elbows pressed against the counter, holding up his head as water droplets poured down his cheeks, splashing against the cracked marble. His cheek still radiated slight pain from occurrences that happened earlier that day. Sniffling, he didn't know what to do. He didn't want to go back, he couldn't face her again, he's tried for months to try and change her - to help her bring her life around, but no matter how much he was doing, it didn't help her. At all.

Was he just a bad son? That's what he thought, he couldn't help his own Mother, and instead is hear, in a stores bathroom, crying endlessly. He was pathetic.

His sagged body tensed when he heard the squeak of the bathroom door. Assuming it was a random customer, he splashed water against his face after placing his glasses to the side, waiting for them to finish and leave so he could go back to wallowing.

"Patton?"

Shoot - cursing to himself, Patton knew that voice, it was his brother.

Slowly standing up, he fumbled for his glasses, putting them back on his nose hurriedly.

"H-hey, Roman!" He stammered, forcing a nervous smile at the slightly taller boy. Patton hasn't seen Roman in awhile, when their parents split up, they took one child each - they were only ten, so they didn't have much choice. They hated it, and made sure to see each other every day in school, but when Patton's Mother made sure to swap schools, and their times on the weekend grew shorter and shorter, by the time they were fourteen they hadn't seen each other for months.

It hurt both of them, but they wanted to be strong for their parents.

Now, though, regretfully it was...odd...to see the other. Patton hated it, he wanted things to go back to normal between the two, but when he looked at Roman - both boys now sixteen - he didn't know who he saw. He had changed a lot, so had Patton of course, but he just wished they were together while that happened.

"Why are you crying..?" Roman drifted, breaking the long awkward silence that had settled.

"I-well-it-" Patton bit his lip, "sad movie!" It was the best he could come up with, he wasn't the best liar, but he knew Roman knows how bad he could get with sad movies.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Patton noticed how regal he looked. Now he wondered if his Dad had married into royalty, because Roman looks like he's fit to be a Prince.

"You watched a sad movie...in Target?" Roman questioned, obviously not believing any excuse Patton gave.

"What's taking so long, Ro?"

Oh no, not him!

Their Dad stepped inside, pausing when he saw both of his sons standing opposite each other. "Oh...hello, Patton" he smiled, walking over to stand beside Roman, feeling the awkward tension.

"How's...your Mother?" He started up conversation, watching Patton shrug meekly, head tilting downwards. He and his Dad didn't really have a good relationship, even when they did live together. While Roman enjoyed sports, Patton didn't, he enjoyed dolls, and things alike, so their Dad never knew what to do...with him. He wasn't against it, he did find it cute, but he never knew how to start up conversation - it was mostly why he let their Mother take him. He loved him, but he felt Patton would have a better life with her.

How wrong he was.

"Fine.." he murmured, fiddling with the cardigan resting on his shoulders.

"Well, good, I'm sure she's here somewhere and you know how she gets around me" he joked, turning to Roman who still stared at Patton worriedly, but he didn't know what to say.

"C'mon, son" Roman nodded and the two drifted towards the bathroom door. Patton whimpered silently, taking a few steps closer and reaching out towards their retreating figures. He didn't want to go back, and if they leave he would have to! He doesn't know where they live, and has no other way of communication with them. If he doesn't act now, he might not see him again for another two years.

"She hit me!" He called out, both men pausing when he did. He watched nervously as they both turned around, eyebrows drawn together in confusion. "Who hit you?" His Dad first spoke up, feeling a wave of protectiveness wash over him. Fumbling for words, he crossed over towards them, sniffling.

"Your Mother hit you" Roman answered for him, leaning closer to notice the red hand mark on his cheek.

"She...no...she wouldn't do that" their Dad stared at the ground, eyes narrowed as he tried to understand what he was saying. She was such a sweet woman when they lived together, she never seemed like the kind of person to do that.

"Has she done it before?"

Patton shook his head, "she changed...when you left" he whispered, watching their Dad grimace, scratching his head thoughtfully. Of course she did - she was broken over the divorce, taking Patton out of anger - not letting him see Roman and him out of anger, he hated them both with a fiery passion, which was why Roman stopped seeing her as his Mother.

Patton knew if he kept adding more and more, the chance of him moving in with them rose exponentially, and he wanted that. Needed that.

"She...doesn't care about me, she only thinks about her boyfriend" saying this made tears well up in his eyes, what he said was true, Roman didn't know him that well but he always knew his brother to never lie like this about someone else, nor would he say this to his advantage unless it was true. He just wanted to get away.

"Please don't make me go back, I-I don't like her! S-he takes drugs and drinks all the time- p-lease, Dad" Patton begged, breaking down in front of them. Roman didn't hesitate when he brought Patton into a tight hug, the boy burying his head into his warm chest, crying violently as sobs racked through his entire body, each limb shaking with the velocity.

Roman looked up to his Dad who looked furious and broken hearted at the same time. He trusted her, and for years let his son live with a woman like that. Shaking his head, he paced around the bathroom, ripping a hand through his hair, tightly gripping the strands to ease the stress of it all.

Roman hated her before, now he despises her, just the thought of her hitting Patton making his grip tighten and eyes darken. He would hit her back if he could, but he's a male, she's a female, he'd get into more shit even if he was doing it out of protection.

"Patton, come home with us, alright?" His Dad spoke, Patton nodding quickly, gripping onto Roman's hand tightly as they left the store with a few bags of what Roman and their dad bought, putting them into the car as Patton sat in the back seat, pulling the seatbelt across his chest. 

After closing the trunk of the car, his Dad turned to Roman, lip set into a tight line. "He'll have to share with you" he reminded, Roman shrugging afterwards. He didn't care, he didn't care if they would have to share the same bed, he wanted to keep Patton safe and away from her.

"How quickly d'you think you'll get custody over him?"

"Well" he glanced off into the distance, scratching his beard. "From what he said, it won't take long, it only depends if the police find the supposed drugs"

Nodding, Roman sat in the back beside Patton, smiling a little as the smaller boy reached out to hug his hand, bottom lip wavering as his eyes threatened to spill more tears. They drove back home in silence, neither did Roman or his Dad want to bring up anything about Patton's Mother, they wanted him to forget for a few hours as they showed him around the house, at least.

"Woah" Patton whispered, eyes widening in blurry awe as he gazed at their two story house. It looked perfect - compared to his mother's small, dirty house, this was like a utopia.

Getting out of the car, he helped them carry in the bags, mouth parted as he caught onto more and more things. The beautiful flowers, smooth cobblestone path, mahogany door, and the inside looks like it was designed by five of the most famous, best interior designers ever! In Patton's opinion, this was the best house he had ever stepped in, and honestly felt like he didn't belong in such magnificence.

Awestruck in the doorway, Roman took the bags he was holding with a chuckle, leaving them in the kitchen for his Dad to unpack as he showed him around.

"You can stay here tonight" Roman told him, opening his bedroom door. "We never have guests, so we made the guest bedroom into something else. Would it be okay to share?"

Patton nodded eagerly, hand drifting across the silk blanket laying across Roman's queen sized bed. His bedroom looked like what he imagined an actors room would look like. The walls littered in posters from many musicals and Disney movies, trophies from what he assumed to be from school - each of them labelled with different acting types, his desk holding scripts for plays, and the open closet holding more dress-up outfits than normal clothes.

"This place is awesome!" Patton giggled, turning to Roman who smiled, shrugging lightly. He went to reply when a body crashed into his own and two arms wrapped around his waist. Patton had his face hidden in his shoulder, but Roman didn't mind, he hugged back and sighed out quietly, closing his eyes while they stood in silence.

"You're okay now" Roman whispered into his ear. "You're safe"

"You never have to see her again"

—

11:50am