The art above is not mine but it is very fantastic so here's the link to the blog, go give the artist some love 😊: https://heyhelloitsk.tumblr.com/post/186496172085/the-first-time-creativity-split-it-was

AU by @donttellthemangoesiwashere on Tumblr. GO FOLLOW THEM!!!!!!

A/N: Italics (so words like this) mean the character is speaking in another language. For this fic it'll most likely be languages like Spanish, Greek, and Italian.

Song for this chapter: "Fuck You" by Lily Allen

Enjoy!

1.

It all started on the day Roman saw his brother, Remus, cry for the first time.

It was dinnertime for the Castillo family, a group of two perfect parents and two twin boys. As always, the conversation was carried about in a boisterous manner.

Mr. Castillo had just made a joke that didn't really make sense but was still funny for some unthinkable reason. The most rebellious of the two brothers recovered from the fit of laughter first and cleared his throat nervously.

"Hey, I just wanted to let you guys know I can't go to dinner with the Jones family on Friday." Remus said, looking down at his food. Ceviche, a family favorite.

Mrs. Castillo put her fork down and looked at her son in dismay, "Ay, hijo, what for? You know the Jones' are a very important family. How are you ever going to find a good wife like this?"

Remus opened his mouth to explain, wringing his hands in his lap. Roman, who sat next to him, saw this and raised an eyebrow.

"It's true!" Mr. Castillo said and clapped Roman on the shoulder, startling him out of his confusion. "You should be more like your brother. Now this boy we don't have to worry about."

Roman beamed at his father and Remus seemed to sink a little in his chair. He cleared his throat again. "Well, I've kinda got a date on Friday so I really can't go."

At this, Roman choked on his drink and the whole family froze, looking at Remus.

"A...date?" His mother whispered, her face full of shock. Mr. Castillo wore a similar expression.

Remus grinned, "Yeah."

After a beat the Castillo parents smile widely at their son, moving across the table to hug him. "Oh, cariño, I can't believe it!" His mother shouted happily.

Mr.Castillo ruffled his hair, "Well done, son! Who's the lucky girl?"

His mother loosened her grasp, jumping in excitement, "Oh, oh! I bet it was that girl from the Christmas party, Felicity Stevens, was it? You two seemed to be awfully friendly that night. She's such a good girl, and from a wealthy family too, oh mijo I'm so proud of you!"

Remus welcomed his family's joy at first, spying Roman's look of dismay over his parent's shoulder. Then he heard the word "girl" come out of his father's mouth and the dread in his stomach returned.

Carefully, he removed his mother's arms from around his shoulders. "Uh, actually, about that.... Mamá, Papá, I have something to tell you..."

Smiles shrinking a bit, the Castillo parents sat back down in their chairs. Mrs. Castillo had a slight crease of concern between her eyebrows, "What's wrong, bebé?"

Roman watched his brother look up and make eye contact with their parents. And somewhere in the back of his mind something clicked. The blood drained from his face as a wave of pure terror consumed him. The kitchen seemed to grow colder as Roman caught his brother's eye. They sat, staring for a moment until the moment broken by Remus.

He took a deep breath.

And with a few words he was free.

~~~~

Now, before there were tense dinners and spilled secrets there were two twin brothers. Roman and Remus, as you've most likely guessed.

And at some point in time, though it didn't last long, the brother's parents deemed them too young to attend rich societal parties. The type of which they would be forced to go to consistently later on in life.

So instead of conversing with wealthy, young prospective brides, Roman and Remus were left with a babysitter: Doña Lupe. Being an old woman, Doña Lupe fell asleep quite easily, therefore leaving the children free to stay up watching Disney movies.

But even though this happened many times, one night stood out from the others. Making itself a beacon with the discovery of a shared secret.

The two boys were about seven or eight years old, sitting in front of the TV in their comfortably large living room. Doña Lupe was already completely wiped out and snoring in a kitchen chair.

Roman glanced at the old woman and giggled, "Yeah, she's gone for the night. There's no way she's getting up now."

His brother grinned at him, looking up from a box full of Disney movies next to the TV set. "I've got water balloons and a stereo from Christmas, wanna test that theory?"

"Remus!" Roman gasped playfully, holding a hand to his chest. "How could you even suggest maltreating our beloved wolf mother! It's not the princely way!"

Ever since the twins had learned that "Lupus" was "wolf" in Latin, they'd given Doña Lupe a secret nickname. See, Doña Lupe wasn't a particularly bad person, she was just fairly strict and protective.

The first time she'd witnessed one of the twins' brutal slap-fights the old woman had nearly had a fit, grabbing them both by their ears and hauling them off to bed. Of course, she fell asleep ten minutes later, but you get the idea of why the boys compared her to a growling wolf mother.

Remus cackled at his brother's comment and then held up two movies, "So, tonight we have two worthy titles. Tell me, brother: "The Little Mermaid" or "Aladdin"?"

Scoffing, Roman pulled a Harry Potter blanket around himself. "Aladdin, duh. It is by far the superior movie."

Remus swiped away a fake tear, "You really are my brother. Though I have to tell ya, that chef and Sebastian scene is better than anything "Aladdin" has."

Roman sat up suddenly, "How dare you compare that scene to the masterpiece of "Aladdin"! You just like it because Sebastian sees all the dead sea animals and that's funny to you for some reason!"

The other boy grinned wider at his brother's ruffled feathers. "What can I say, I like the gorey, gross and morbid."

Roman sighed, "Just put in the movie." Remus laughed and gave in, turning to insert the DVD. Behind him he heard his twin grumble under his breath, "And it would've been cooler if you'd said "The gorey, gross and gruesome.""

The movie started playing and the boys sat in anything but silence, making critical comments and jokes, singing along to the songs and pointing out details they hadn't noticed the several other times they'd watched the same film.

By the time they reached "A Whole New World" Roman was red from laughter and in a cocoon of blankets,  pillows strewn all around the room. The boy lay on his side watching Aladdin hold out a hand and ask Princess Jasmine "Do you trust me?"

Roman heard Remus sigh next to him, "Aladdin is so pretty. Not as pretty as Prince Eric, but still!"

Roman looked at his brother in confusion. "What d'you mean?"

"Aw, c'mon Rom! Don't tell me you wouldn't die to go on a magic carpet ride with Aladdin."

"Like...on a date?"

Remus was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "Yeah. It would be a date, I guess." He perked up, "Why? Do you want to date Aladdin?" Remus seemed to get excited at the last inquiry. Then he gasped and leaned forward to smile at his brother, "Do you want to kiss him???"

Roman thought about it, tilting his head to the side nervously, "Um..."

After a moment, Remus backed off, looking at the screen. "I would do it. I would marry Aladdin and then we would live happily ever after after with Abu and a super cool flying carpet!" His eyes seemed to glitter as he pictured his very own fairy tale.

Roman thought about it and then gazed at Aladdin. He was watching fireworks with Jasmine, smiling brightly as he held the girl of his dreams in his arms. Roman let himself imagine Aladdin looking at him like that, like he was the greatest wonder of the world.

The boy blushed, "Yeah, I wouldn't mind kissing him. Or dating him. Or marrying him. He's..." Roman studied Aladdin's profile and blushed deeper, "Really handsome..."

Remus looked at his brother in surprise and then smirked, ruffling Roman's hair and making him squeak in protest, "Find yourself another hot Prince, Aladdin is mine."

Roman shoved his laughing twin away and unwillingly grinned as well, "No way! And, wouldn't you prefer Prince Eric? Now, he has some lovely blue eyes. Or that creepy chef?" Remus took on a look of disgust and Roman burst out laughing, ""Ah, yes, my dear Remus, come eat my undercooked lobster. Caught fresh and begging for mercy.""

That's when Roman was hit square in the face with a pillow from the couch. He blinked and then wriggled out of his blankets, "Oh, it is ON."

Unfortunately, their pillow fight to the death was interrupted by Doña Lupe who apparently wasn't as deep a sleeper as they thought. Simply put, they got a decent scolding and were sent to bed immediately after. But that's not the point.

The point is, they both learned something new about themselves that night. A part of their identity. Something that would change the whole course of their lives forever.

The twin brothers were both extremely gay.

~~~

[Flashback Over]

Roman sat on his bed staring at the door across the room. A few years back he had pleaded for his own place. So his parent's had remodeled to have a wall between the twins, connected only by the very door Roman now bore a hole in with his intense gaze.

He felt numb and still, like he had found a pirate's treasure only to discover it was full of chocolate coins. But at least in that situation you still had chocolate. All Roman was left with now was an empty feeling in his chest that seemed to ache more and more with each passing second.

The scene of that night's dinner fiasco played over and over again in his mind, drowning out the sound of his mother's sobbing in the next room.

He envisioned the horrified and disappointed looks of his parents.

Mrs. Castillo's hysterical crying, begging for forgiveness from God for her son's sins in between wails of despair.

Mr. Castillo's look of rage, face full of creases and sharp angles as it scrunched up in disgust. His harsh words that felt like indirect jabs to his gut.

"I didn't raise you this way!"

"You're disgusting!"

"You've destroyed this family's reputation because you couldn't even try to be normal!"

Roman had trembled in his seat, eyes glued to his parents. After a second he'd looked over to see Remus standing before them, tense and grimacing.

Remus caught his brother's eye and his expression seemed to plead for support. An ally. Anyone at all to be on his side.

This time, though, it was Roman who broke his gaze and he seemed to sink into his chair as he did so. There was none of that sparkle and glow around him. He didn't appear princely like he usually did.

No. Roman looked like he was chained to something you couldn't see. He looked entirely powerless.

Remus stared in shock and felt something he'd never felt towards his twin brother, his best friend.

Betrayal.

The more rebellious twin's face hardened and his fists clenched. "Stop! Just stop!" He yelled at the top of his voice.

Mr and Mrs. Castillo paused, growing still as they stared at their son. Remus's had gone deadly quiet and bitter. "Can't you just accept me for who I am? I didn't choose to be this way, I just am. And I don't see anything wrong with it. There are easy solutions to any problem you might have with it! Wan't grandkids? I can adopt and give an orphan child a loving home! It's against the Church? Well guess what, there are a bunch of  LGBTQIA+-friendly Churches! Even the Pope is okay with it! I don't understand how you guys can be so ignorant and go from loving me to seeing me as a disappointment in less than a minute just because of my fucking sexuality!"

Remus was breathing heavily by the end of his rant as he glared fiercely at his parents.

Now this is the part of the story you might think would go differently. One of our main characters gives a daring and brave speech from the heart, expressing themselves and inspiring others with their words.

The mood would change, maybe Roman would free himself and come out too. The brothers would stand together and then their parents would see they were hurting those they loved. "We were wrong." They would say, "We're going to try and understand because we love you."

Then the Castillo family would embrace, there would be tears of relief and regret, but also tears of joy. And for a moment, everything in the world would be okay.

Unfortunately, life is often different from the happily ever after we all yearn for. People build walls in their mind to block out anything they have deemed wrong or impossible to understand. Most humans don't even try to adapt and grow their understanding but instead stay comfortably within their prejudiced mental prison.

So even when Remus spilled his soul out before his parents, speaking with facts and evidence. Even addressing and validating their concerns, the Castillo parents didn't waver. Remus might as well been talking to a brick wall.

Instead, Mr. Castillo's face hardened. He put an arm around his wife who watched her son with an unidentifiable expression on her face. "Get out." he'd said sternly.

All of Remus's confidence had evaporated, "W-what?"

"You heard me. Now."

Remus looked at his father in disbelief. Then his gaze shifted to his mother and Roman. "Seriously? You guys are kicking me out?"

The two avoided his eyes and said nothing.

Tears sprung to Remus's eyes and he just stood there crying for a moment before Mr. Castillo stepped forward and pushed him forcefully towards the door way. "Out! Before I call the police!" His eyes were lit with anger which frightened Remus, even at fifteen years old. The boy felt his breathing grow difficult. "Get away from my family!"

Remus swallowed his fear and forced himself to run from the room, grabbing his phone and the backpack he'd used when sneaking out at night. Pulling on a coat, he'd opened the door and left without looking back, slamming it shut behind him.

Now, in the aftermath, Roman sat in his room, feeling lonelier than he ever had before. Because now his twin brother wasn't an open door away. He was gone.

No more Disney movie nights. No more twin fencing practice. No more shameless joking. No more of Remus's creepy midnight dissection projects. No more forcing each other to watch horror movies or musicals. No more of each other.

The Castillo family had a reputation to uphold so it was obvious Remus would never be allowed to return. Roman was now an only child, something he had wished for many times in the past.

So what was this chasm in his chest? This winding rope around his heart, bleeding it dry? This tightening around his throat that felt like an invisible noose.

It was hours later before Roman figured it out, sitting alone in the darkness in the very same position. He knew this feeling. Though he'd never acknowledged it until now.

This extra weight on his bones that seemed to drag him six feet under.

Roman Castillo felt hopeless.

And with this realization, the remaining Castillo twin lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. Only a few moments later, he began to cry.

A/N I started with a sad one aaaahhh-

Now I'm sad :(

But not really because yay, the first chapter of my Sanders Sides fic is out!!!

I already have a general storyline for this fic so I'll try to post every one or two weeks depending on what I've got going on.

The chapters will go like this:

"Once Upon a Time" chapters: The backstories of the adult characters (Roman, Remus, etc.)

"Then" chapters: Patton and Logan's backstories (kinda?) And the adventures they had when Patton and Logan were little. (Plus how they all met.)

"Now" chapters: Main plotline that takes place when Logan and Patton are 15+.

So that's just a little explanation, I'm happy to answer any non-spoiler questions too :)

Anywho,

DON'T DIE, KIDDOS.

~Prongs💙