A/N Now to the current present! In this chapter (and probably all other "Now" chapters) Patton is 16 going on 17 and Logan is 17. You may all feel free to make The Sound of Music references, it is happily welcome. Anywho: enjoy chapter 5!

5.)

Patton Castillo is a morning person.

In other words, someone who can wake up at ungodly hours and enjoy it in a way most of us cannot. He sees his clock read 6:00 AM and smiles, knowing he has awakened with the sun itself. Perhaps he went to sleep late but he can open his eyes at the crack of dawn and, unlike normal people, feel happy about it.

Perhaps his abnormal good mood when getting up in the morning was a result of seeing his father off to work every day as a child. Maybe it came from his love for breakfast foods. Maybe he liked the feeling of being awake while the rest of his town slept. The feeling of being alone and truly himself.

Or maybe he was simply just (as Virgil put it) strange.

Whatever the reason, this factor of Patton's personality was what made him get up at five AM the first day of his senior year and see the lovely view of a pink sunrise outside his window.

Of course, since he lived in the city, the world wasn't completely quiet. There were still faint sounds of honking horns and beeping streetlights in the distance.

But it was far quieter than the daytime and Patton felt a certain peace.

That is, until his Tío Remus slammed open his bedroom door in a black pea coat with yellow lining, holding only his car keys and grinning manically. "RISE AND SHINE TADPOLE! We're getting family-discount breakfast at Neend Café!"

You see, Remus was also a morning person but his reason for being so was not as unexplainable as Patton's. Remus felt a great joy in awakening his brother with a prank, stealing his roomate's clothes while he slept and taking advantage of discounts at Remy's café. So in short, Remus liked mornings because it was the one time that no one was awake to reign in his chaotic personality.

Patton smiled at his Tío but raised a disapproving eyebrow, "Okay, but we should actually pay this time, Tío. Uncle Remy needs the money for the cafe."

The two had a staring contest for a second before the older man finally gave in, rolling his eyes,"Fiiiine. Jeez, you're just as annoyingly noble as tu Pápa." Remus grumbled, folding his arms and leaning against the doorframe, "Just get ready quick, I'm driving you to school." He turned around and walked away so Patton could get dressed.

The boy gave a silent cheer at his small success. Remus hardly ever listened to anyone so it was worth celebrating.

Patton slid out of bed and took a quick glance around. He had redecorated that summer, painting the walls his favorite shade of sky blue and putting up a large cork board above his desk. It was covered in Polaroid pictures of all his friends and family.

There was one of him and Sam on a rollercoaster in sixth grade looking nervous and excited. And beside that one, a picture of him and his Papí eating huge banana splits at a fancy restaurant for his quinceañera. His father looked horrified at the monstrosity of strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla covered in gallons of hot fudge and whipped cream. In the image, Patton was laughing at Remus in the background, sporting a whipped cream mustache and imitating his brother's expression.

There were many more, depicting a day-long monopoly competition between Janus and Virgil at the very moment Remus dived onto the board.

Him surrounded by his friend group at his Junior year Homecoming dance, wearing a purposely corny, light blue suit with ruffles. Lily had her arm linked with his, posing in her tiny, lavender dress.

Patton hugging his Uncle Remy at the opening day of his café, surrounded by streamers and balloons.

Emile peace-signing at the camera in the middle of his office, filled with cartoon merchandise.

And then there was the picture that always caught Patton's attention for a reason he couldn't quite identify.

The only photo of him and Logan that he had. It was them on their first day of second grade. As always, Logan looked unimpressed, managing an air of importance and superiority even at seven years old. He wore a black polo and a blue tie under a navy pea coat.

Patton, on the other hand, was beaming at the camera, one arm around Logan and the other holding his backpack strap. He wore hoodie with cat ears and light blue jeans. A pair of light-up Sketchers stood out as the star of his outfit.

This picture was pinned up right in the middle of the cork board, held in place with fairy lights specifically designed for polaroids. After that picture was taken, Patton had met Kayla, Sam and Lily. Logan, on the other hand, didn't meet anyone.

After that, their friendship had become awkward and confusing. Patton tried his best to reconnect but Logan seemed completely disinterested.

Except for that once. At the aquarium.

Patton stared at the photo, wondering what had happened that day to make Logan comfort him. Why had he, after so many years, acted like his best friend again?

His thoughts were rudely interrupted by Remus banging on the door, "Ey niño! Let's go, we're gonna be late!"

Patton jumped at the sudden noise and jumped onto his feet, running to his closet. "Coming!" He yelled.

Quickly, he stripped off his Hufflepuff pajama bottoms and overly large Steven Universe T-shirt Emile had gotten him the year before. He threw on a light blue dress shirt, white jeans and a belt the colors of the pansexual flag.

He ran over to the mirror and ruffled his black curls, deciding it was useless to wrestle them into a neat hairstyle. As a final touch, Patton shoved his feet into maroon Doc Martens and carefully put on the friendship bracelets he'd made with his friends in Elementary school. Even so many years later, he still wore them every day, taking the care to remove them before showering or doing any manual work so they stayed in the best condition possible.

Grabbing his white backpack covered in pins depicting cute animals, Patton ran out of the room to see his Tío waiting at the door and twirling his keys on his pointer finger.

When he saw Patton, he perked up and grinned, "Great, let's go before Janus gets here and kills me for stealing his jacket."

"What about Papí?" He asked, looking worriedly over at his father's door. He'd heard him come in far later than usual the day before and wondered if he was okay.

Remus' grin shrunk a little but he quickly looked away, busying himself with exiting through the front door, "He's just a little extra-whiny today, Pat. Some extra 'beauty sleep' should do him good."

The boy pursed his lips and walked through the front door, following his Tío to his prized Jeep. When he saw Remus' gaze on him he quickly changed his expression to a tight smile.

"You okay?" Remus asked, locking the door and raising an eyebrow at Patton.

Patton fixed his smile a bit more, "Yeah, totally! Just a bit worried is all."

"About your Papí?"

Patton nodded and slid into the passenger's seat. Remus sat in front of the wheel and started up the car. With a quick glance at Patton he smirked, "The old drama queen will be fine, don't worry. He's made of tougher shit than you might expect."

"Tío!" Patton held back a laugh, "Language!"

"Spanish and English." Remus shot back. Patton snorted and erupted into a fit of laughter.

He immediately felt a little better. His uncle was always very good at cheering him up.

They began to back out of the driveway but it was suddenly blocked by a black van. The window rolled down to reveal a furious Janus. Remus went pale, "Fuck."

"REMUS CASTILLO. GIVE ME BACK MY COAT OR I'LL CUT OPEN YOUR STOMACH WHILE YOU SLEEP AND REPLACE YOUR ORGANS WITH ANIMAL FECES." He hissed, eyes dark and narrowed in a piercing glare.

Patton looked over at his uncle in panic and saw Remus was looking at Janus with a distant, loving gaze. He grinned and leaned out the window, "Careful, Janus. If you keep saying stuff like that I just might fall in love with you."

Janus flushed bright red and strengthened his glare, "My coat, Remus." He demanded.

Remus sighed and got out of the Jeep, pulling off the coat and handing it to Janus who swiftly snatched it out of his hands. He held it in his fist and pointed at the other man, "Don't touch my shit."

"Awww, but honey, we've been married for years now! What's mine is yours and what's yours is mine!" Remus answered, pouting.

If possible, Janus got even redder. He rolled his eyes and rolled up the window, waving at Patton and quickly leaving the driveway. The Castillo brother laughed as he left and stood staring after the car for a moment.

"Tío!" Patton yelled from the Jeep, making Remus jump and turn back, "We're gonna be late, let's go!"

"Ya, ya!" Remus replied, waving away Patton's comment and climbing back into the Jeep.

Patton watched his uncle and then smiled slightly, "I'm not what you would consider 'experienced' but you were totally giving Uncle Jan a lovebird look."

Remus blushed a bit and rolled his eyes, "What kind of a phrase is 'lovebird look'? You're more of a dad than your own dad, I swear."

Laughing, Patton turned back to look out the window at the passing people. There was a florist arranging a sunflower bouquet on the corner of the street. The moon was still slightly visible in the sky. The car window was wet with condensation, making the world blurry.

His Tío hadn't denied being in love with Patton's Uncle Janus and Patton wasn't at all surprised. He had heard his Pápa teasing Remus about it when he was younger before starting to notice the signals himself. Shared looks or glances when the other wasn't looking. Deliberate actions to try and get the other's attention, like Remus stealing Jan's clothes or Janus cleaning up Remus' "experiments" without permission.

It was super obvious.

But Patton didn't say anything. Janus and Remus were both very prideful, sometimes to a fault. So the chances of either of them admitting to the crush or confessing to the other first was below zero percent. Much less if someone teased them about it relentlessly which was unfortunately the case with Roman and Remy around. 

Patton chose to wait and see. Things unfurled more beautifully that way.

That much he knew to be true.

A/N Weird ending but I needed to seal off this chapter to create a decent time skip. Next chapter will be another "Now" chapter and we will see how good I am at writing Remy and Emile dialogue. Hope you enjoyed this one though it was a little late :)

DON'T DIE!

~Prongs 💙