4:08am

👂👁➖👁👂 h e y

Trigger warnings:
- Remus being Remus
- mentions of past child abuse
- mentions of bad/neglectful/abusive parents
- mentions of past murder

Au
—

Tired eyes gazed at the sleeping face of his husband. His handsome husband who rested so soundlessly, lips parted just slight, skin perfectly smooth in the glow of the moonlight. Patton was infatuated, smitten since the moment he first laid eyes on Logan in tenth grade. Since then they grew close and close until they were inseparable and after Logan finally destroyed his internalised homophobia from years of growing up with conservative parents he became Patton's boyfriend.

Now married for six years, living together in a beautiful, safe and (most importantly) welcoming neighbourhood they felt they could live out the rest of their lives in peaceful harmony - possibly even starting a family one day.

That was Patton's dream, the dream he had every night, watching his husband and their child cuddled up together so cutely, the sight makes him swoon every time.

Now that he thought about it... he didn't know why he was awake. Moments before he was fast asleep, what had awoken him? He wasn't a light sleeper, definitely not much of a deep one either. It wasn't impossible to wake up during the night but this felt different, a feeling settling within his gut telling him something was... off.

In the darkness of the room he couldn't see much, the window angled a perfect stream of light across Logan's face but other than that it was pitch black.

He didn't know what he was expecting but certainly not his worst nightmare. Eyes flickered around the room until they landed on the doorway which compared to the whole room seemed darker. Like the door was open and he could see into the hallway - that was odd because he was sure he closed the door before bed. In fact he knew he did, every night they followed the same routine, Logan never wakes up during the night and even if he did they had water on their nightstand and a connected en-suite.

The feeling in his gut increased, sending ripples of anxiety under his skin.

He stared for awhile, eyes squinted against the harsh nothingness, seconds ticked by of... silence. Apart from his husband's soft breathing. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him? Or maybe... maybe he could see the outline of a figure in the doorway...

He wanted to scream, to yell, to cry all at once but gripping Logan's hand tight he managed to compose himself, tears springing in the corner of his eyes. He assumed this was a robber, but why were they just standing there!? Doing nothing!? What if... they were more than a thief? He'd do anything to protect Logan's life but he didn't want to awaken him in case movement or sound set this stranger off.

Inch by inch his hand moved towards the nightstand, part of him needed to know if this was a person or a simple night time hallucinations. He's never experienced such things before but in this situation he knows Logan would try and find a logical reasoning before jumping to conclusions.

Finally his hand landed on the back of his phone, it was freezing to the touch. Pulling it under the duvet he subtly turned it on, pressing the screen to his leg to avoid any light coming through the blanket. With it facing the other way he turned down the brightness, swiped up the screen, finger hovering over the torch button.

He looked back at the doorway. The figure was still there.

With a start of faux confidence (adrenaline mixed with fear) he yanked the phone up, turned on the light and screamed upon the reveal. It was a person- a boy to be exact, a young boy who froze like a deer in headlights being put in the spotlight, but quickly dove down the hallway, the sound of heavy footsteps helping Logan comprehend what the Hell was happening after being jolted into consciousness by Patton's scream.

"Call the police!" Logan's slurred, groggy speech filtered through Patton's ears as he watched his husband stumble out of bed, glasses crooked on his nose, chasing after the runaway criminal.

With his phone in his hand he slipped out of bed and followed just in case the robber had a weapon, shakily trying to open the 'phone' app but he kept missing!

In the kitchen came the commotion, Patton appeared in the doorway to see Logan gripping the legs of the stranger who was trying to climb out the kitchen window he stupidly left unlocked before going to sleep that night... shoot! This was his fault.

"Let! Go! Please!" The stranger kicked and yanked but Logan was pretty strong, managing to pin the smaller boy against the counter. It wasn't hard, he was scrawny and didn't have much muscle to him, but as Patton neared and saw the fear striking the poor boy's eyes he knew he had to intervene.

"Logan! Stop, you'll hurt him!" Patton interjected, his husband sent him a ludicrous look, not budging no matter how much the boy struggled.

"Patton-!?"

"He's just a child!" He instantly argued, to try and calm Logan down he reached over and shut the window, locking it too.

"Let go! Fucking- let go of me!" the boy snarled, Logan only backed off after Patton sent him a warning glare. Now free the boy whirled around, staring heatedly at both the adults.

"Let me go and I- I won't-um" his eyes swept over the room before landing on a cage pressed to the wall. "And I won't hurt your pet!"

Patton's face softened, "we don't have a pet, Kiddo, that's for when we baby sit our friends dog. She's lovely! Her name is Kora and she's a beautiful chocolate brown-"

"Patton, seriously? He could have a weapon on him" Logan stepped in, arms crossed, eyes narrowed onto the boy who scrunched up face. "I do have a weapon! An'... is... it's- it's a big knife! I'll carve ya heart out and- and feed it to my pet-erm... ducks!"

Logan quirked an eyebrow, "ducks? No- no, why am I-?" he shook his head, "you don't have a weapon and for the record, you're a terrible liar"

The boy hissed, about to reply when Patton did for him. "Lolo! Don't be mean to them"

Logan stared at his husband in bewilderment, "Patton- he broke into our home"

The man sighed and turned to the boy who stared back in confusion, this man... wasn't mad at him? "I know but he must have good reason, right? Come sit down in the living room, Kiddo, we can talk this out" Patton offered, nodding his head towards the doorway.

He stared back in distrust, "how do I know you won't kill me...?"

"You'll have to trust us. If you don't want my Lolo there that's fine too! I just want to talk, please?" He begged, slowly holding a hand in the strangers direction. He flinched, a hand instinctively raising over his face but upon realising Patton just wanted to... hold his hand he quietly, ever so surely reached back and intertwined their pinkies.

The simple touch soothed him enough to breathe properly, "I don't want him there" he gestured in Logan's direction, the man watched the interaction shocked yet not confused. Of course Patton would react like this, after all he loved kids (evident from his job; a middle school teacher who has gone out of his way many times to help any students in need) but Logan... he was scared, he didn't want Patton to get hurt, or worse).

"I'll wait in the doorway" Logan countered in such a tone the other two knew he brook no argument. Begrudgingly agreeing the boy followed closely behind Patton, sending glares to Logan over his shoulder when he stepped to close.

The living room was cosy, a cream couch with a matching armchair pressed to the peach coloured walls. There was even a loveseat and a wooden birch coloured coffee table in the centre. A few pictures hung up here and there, a flatscreen TV screwed to the wall above the cute fire place and shelves covered with countless nicknacks collected over many years.

The boy sat on the loveseat for two reasons; one, he didn't want to be close to Patton nor the doorway where a ticked off, tired Logan stood and two; he's never.. sat one one of these chairs before, much to his assumptions it was extremely comfortable.

"What's your name, sweetheart? I'm Patton and this is my husband, Logan" he gestured to the man as if the boy didn't think know their names already, he supposed it was polite nevertheless. Though once fully registering his eyebrows raised in shock, "husband...?" He repeated, Patton smiled encouragingly.

"Yep! We got married six years ago" he giggled happily upon the memory, pointing to a frame sitting on a wooden cabinet. The picture was taken at their wedding, a beautiful outdoor piece, the two surrounded by glowing vegetation. Logan wore a dark blue suit while Patton wore a light blue dress... it was the prettiest thing the boy had ever seen. He shook himself out of staring, a little embarrassed.

"I'm..." he hesitated, should he lie? Tell the truth? Tell them his birth given name or... the name he's more comfortable with? After all his birth given name doesn't do anything but make him feel horrible, besides he'd run away from these two soon enough so it didn't exactly matter what name they knew him by.

"Remus" he replied, shifting his hands on his lap. "My name is Remus"

"Remus!" Patton shuffled closer across the couch, "that's a wonderful name. I love it"

Remus' eyes widened a fraction, "ya' do? Oh...well, er, thanks- it.." he swallowed, gazing at Patton with trepidation but he seemed so reassuring, silently prompting him to continue Remus couldn't help it, "it was the name of the twin brother- Romulus and Remus? Romulus founded Rome n'shit.. and killed Remus! In a fight on Palatine Hill! Then when Romulus became king he stole a bunch of women from the Sabine Tribe to build the population of the city! Is' called the-"

"Rape of Sabine women" Logan finished for him, eyes alight with curiosity. "Where did you learn all that?"

Remus met his gaze, grinning softly. "Online! I can't read 'cus..." he drifted, slowly closing in on himself upon revealing such delicate information, "'cus s' a lot of uhm- focusing on words a' shit.. I-I can't focus on tha' for too long, I use text to speech 'cus I can listen really well when I'm fidgeting with something!" He suddenly swung his bag off his shoulders and opened the small pocket, drawing out a cube with a few buttons and switches.

"Is a fidget cube! I found it in a trash can and.. kept it ever since" he revealed, slowly flicking a switch back and forth. "The- they were raised by a wolf, the Capitoline Wolf" he added when the silence became too unbearable, worried he had bored them to death but they both seemed piqued with interest.

"Remus, why are you here?" Logan stepped into the room, Remus leaned back on the loveseat but didn't protest much. "'Cus I-I..ran away but I was hungry and- I just wanted a snack! I promise I wasn't gonna steal anything" he quickly added, the fidget cube becoming louder the faster he messed with it.

"Hey, it's okay, we trust you Remus. We'll make you something to eat, can we trust you'll stay here and not run away?" Patton offered, gazing at Remus softly. The boy shrugged, nervously shifting where he sat. "Just... jus' don't call the coppers, they're..." he swallowed, eyes focused on the ground. "They're scary"

Patton's heart broke, "I promise we won't call anyone. Here's the remote" he rose from his chair and grabbed it, handing it slowly to Remus. "Watch whatever you want, okay?"

"Wha'ever I want..?" He drifted in pure shock, then excitement coated his features as he quickly turned the television on. Patton smiled and left him to his devices, pulling Logan along to the kitchen where they stood beside the island counter, both very conflicted.

"We can't keep him here" Logan instantly stated, Patton huffed knowing that was about to come. "Why not? He didn't run away from a caring family, Logan! And we can't call the police either, what if they hold him in a cell until the morning only to be collected by his parents? Or whoever- they'll hurt him! We can't let that happen, you saw how skinny and weak he is, he flinched when I held my hand out to him! I-" he cut himself off, covering his face with his hands as he tried to think, much more 'from-the-heart' type of person than Logan was.

"I can't-" he sniffled, Logan quickly panicked upon realising his husband was crying, stiffly wrapping an arm across his shoulders. "I can't let that happen again" he whispered brokenly, Logan painfully knew what he meant. A few years ago Patton became close with a new student - she had joined recently and in general was a very closed off, shy girl. Though around Patton she shone, her personality brighter than a diamond. Patton loved her almost as if she were his own, and when she admitted to him some of the things her single father had done to her he tried everything to get her help but in the end nothing worked...

She was pronounced dead a few weeks later, murdered by the man he tried to take her away from. When he was called in for questioning about the whole situation all he could do was glare at them, repeatedly yell over and over "I told you so! How could you let that happen to her!?"

He's never seen such guilt ridden faces in his life, yet he hopes every single person involved never gets over it.

And now, in a very similar situation Logan felt it might break his poor husband if he lets another child go back home only to be hurt, or worse killed by the people who were supposed to protect them.

"Logan" he slowly removed his hands, turning to face his husband with a sad yet powerful look. "If you take him home, or call the police, I'll leave with him until I know he's safe"

Logan nodded slowly, Patton meant every word and losing his husband would destroy him. "Then how do you suggest we go about this?" He prompted not having much of a clue himself. Growing up as an only child he hasn't had much, if any, experience with raising a child or doing what's best for them. While Remus certainly wasn't too young, presumably thirteen or fourteen Logan was still quite clueless.

"We talk to him more and... get a better grasp of his situation" Logan nodded to his husband's response, that seemed the best way to go about this. He waited until Patton finished making Remus a sandwich, unable to return to the room by himself out of general awkwardness and a horrid sense of guilt for being so rude to him beforehand. It wasn't completely out of pocket, he did break in and all. Still, he better apologise sooner than later.

Patton carried in the plate of food and a cup of water, Remus was entranced by the horror movie playing on the screen, almost enough to miss the two adults returning; but he did. Excitedly he looked at the plate of food, drooling like a dog even if it was just a sandwich.

"Would you want me to remove the crust?" Patton suggested, holding the plate towards him. Remus gave him a curious look, "wha'? No, I-I want it as it is" he then grabbed the plate a little harshly and stuffed the sandwich into his mouth, biting and chewing quite quickly.

"Slow down, otherwise you'll choke" Logan took a seat on the armchair while Patton had the couch. Remus snorted, "I like choking~" he cooed, Patton's cheeks burnt red in embarrassment while Logan simply sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Silently the two adults promised to set rules and boundaries for Remus, but later. They'd rather ask questions first and make sure he had nowhere else to go.

The horror movie made Patton uncomfortable but thankfully it wasn't heavy handed on the jump scares, he could distract himself by puppy videos on his phone.

Only after the movie ended did the adults start their (soft) interrogation.

"Where did you live before this?" Patton asked, gently taking the remote away and turning the TV off. Remus looked disappointed but answered nonetheless, "a few hours away. This is the farthest I've gotten"

"Did you run away from your family?" Logan decided to speak up, knowing Patton might be hesitant. Remus sighed, fiddling with the cube. "Yea.. I hate them, they suck. I wanna rip off their fingers and blend them then force them to drink it" he nodded his head once after finishing, almost as if he's approving of the torture method.

"They must be really bad, huh?" Patton murmured, Remus glanced at him in surprise; usually people are disgusted but the two seemed unfazed. "Yea..." he agreed, sadly watching the carpeted floor.

"You can stay here, Remus" Patton then brought up, "but you have to be truthful with us, okay? Are you sure you have nowhere else to go?"

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Obviously I never finished this, but the part I did write I didn't want to delete, so if you want, you can finish it whichever way you like :)