Sorry this took so long... My motivation for this has slowly been dying, mostly because I'm frustrated that it's not turning out the way I wanted it to. I feel like it's become a lot of nonsense, although that's all my writing ever is lol. But uh, I'm trying to finish it. I want to finish it, I'm just not sure how... I kinda just forced myself to end this chapter and didn't edit it sooo who knows how it'll turn out. Also, I'm totally not sorry for the cliff hanger and I loved seeing people freak out. I'm evil like that lol >:3
Tw: swearing, snakes?, and talk of abuse, also my cringy kiss-scene-writing-skills

Logan's PoV

All I could do was nod. Coherent thought crumbling at the request before it was completely gone by our lips touching. Having never been kissed before, I was awkward and stiff but began to relax into the warm touch. Remus pulled away all too soon, but I was still effected by the soft kiss. My pulse had quickened and the blood vessels in my face expanded, also known as blushing. Memories of having similar reactions when Thomas had a crush came from somewhere deep in my mind.

"I know I'm not good at it...but please can you do that again?" I was barely able to speak above a whisper for reasons unknown to me.

"You'll learn." Remus nodded, wrapping his arms around my waist. My hands gripped his shirt as he pulled us against each other. "Just relax and do what feels right."

Once again, I found myself relaxing more and more in his arms and against his lips. I was figuratively melting. The intimacy and softness was a new experience for me. I still wasn't processing the situation, only experiencing it. The way our lips connected and moved together before parting for a second and repeating the process. When we parted one last time, our foreheads pressed together and we just breathed. Then I smiled. "I never expected this."

"I thought that it'd stay in my head, but we really kissed, didn't we? And hey, you learn fast!" Remus giggled and pulled back to look at me. His hands came up to cup my jaw as he pressed a kiss to my nose. "I got a bonus reward too. I got to see that beautiful smile of yours."

"You are- what's the word? A sap?" I laughed a bit, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"That works. Although lately, I'd be called a simp. There's another vocab card for ya." Remus grinned and wrapped his arms around me again. "Sooo, I assume that's your first kiss... How was it?"

"Perfect."

"Probably because this is a cringy fan-fic!" Well, fuck you too, Remus. You're welcome! Get out of my point of view, you guys! Sorry, Logan... [There's something wrong with me maybe?]

"Well, it went better than mine at least! Mine was a bit of a disaster!" Remus giggled. My thoughts cleared as I wondered what could have gone wrong. That was when I came to a sudden realization.

"Wait- Shit-" My eyes widened, and I stepped back from him. "What about Janus?"

Remus' eyes widened too for a moment before they closed as he laughed. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you! Come on, let's go talk in the lab."

I hesitated as he grabbed my hand and went to walk towards the lab. He paused and looked back at me. I looked away, frowning a little. I was so stupid. How could I forget that Remus already had someone to love?

"Hey," Remus spoke softly, squeezing my hand, "I promise there's no need to worry, 'kay? Will you please let me explain inside?"

I nodded slowly, following him to the tall building. How could I forget something so important? And why does the only one who truly cares for me have to be in a relationship already? Maybe Patton was right and I'm not meant to feel these emotions after all.

"I was gonna tell you, buuut I got a little caught up in the moment." Remus rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin as we sat down at the table. "Ya see, I really like you. I was hesitant to say it because I know that emotions aren't your strong suit... But I'm saying it now. I really, really like you, Logan."

My face began to warm as I blushed, but I just turned my gaze to the table. Remus continued, "When I realized it, I told Janus, of course. We talked and he's fine with us being together. If you're interested in me and okay with me and Janus being together still, that is. If you can't share though, then I'm sorry but my heart will always belong to Janus."

That...makes so much more sense. Of course Remus wouldn't cheat. He cares about Janus way too much to ever do that. I wrung my hands together, "So... I overreacted?"

"What? No. You actually reacted much better than half of the scenarios I played through my head. I should've explained the situation before kissing you, that's on me. But uh... Your thoughts on us? You don't have to answer right now if you don't want to."

"I... I think that I... Well, I definitely have strong, positive feelings and reactions when I'm around you. And that kiss was...really nice." My face felt hotter now. "Perhaps we could take it slow though, since I'm relearning emotions and learning some entirely new things?"

"Of course. We can go as slow as you need." Remus smiled, genuinely smiled, and nodded. Then the smile faded as he slapped himself, "Oh shit, falling sleep earlier made me forget everything! I was supposed to tell you that Jay wanted to meet with you today at three, if you wanted anyway. Something about a letter? He didn't give me the juicy details. Anywho, three at his cottage for tea. Sounds so formal and European."

Looking at my watch, I realized that was in ten minutes. That wasn't much time to decide. Though there were things I wanted to clarify and talk to him about... "I'll go."

Remus jumped up and clapped his hands. "I'll let him know! See ya later! And you better play nice!"

Ten minutes later, I was sitting at the picnic table beside the cottage. Janus was inside, insisting he could bring everything out on his own. I looked down as my feet were weighed down by something and saw a black mass sliding over my feet. Then there was a yellow snake head slithering across my lap. Two snakes were wrapping themselves around me, putting their faces in front of mine. They seemed to be studying me, and I did the same to them. One was metallic black with faint purples and greens shimmering in the sunlight. The second was mostly yellow with white markings and was smaller than the other.

"My word, you two." Janus sighed and shook his head, setting a tray on the table. "Apologies, Logan, they're usually very shy and don't bother anyone else."

"It's alright. Though they're very heavy." I could feel my back hunching over under their weight, even though I tried to stay upright. Janus pulled the black snake off my shoulders and set it on the ground, doing the same with the second. "Thank you."

"Go on, you two, leave him be." Janus shooed them away. They gave out a low hiss and slithered off into the flowers. The deceitful trait sat down across from me with a quiet sigh. "I'm surprised they even came within five feet of you. They're the most timid of others out of all the snakes here."

"How many do you have?"

"At least two of almost every species." Janus waved it off like it was no big deal. "There will be more retics soon though since those two had eggs."

"Retics? Oh, reticulated pythons, correct? I didn't know they could be completely black."

"Yes, and anything is possible in the Imagination." Janus nodded, stopping himself from continuing. He shook his head and cleared his throat, "Anyways, I didn't ask you here so I could bore you with my ramblings about snakes. I assume- well, I hope that you read my letter?"

"I did. And first things first, I want you to know that I don't hate you. I understand why you said or did those things. For the things that needed apologizing for, I forgive you."

"Oh... Thank you." Janus nodded, meeting my gaze for a moment. He went quiet as he focused on pouring tea for the both of us. When he finished, he finally spoke again, "That was most of what I originally wanted to talk about. Did you have any questions for me?"

"I do have one that regards your letter... I mean, I have noticed some changes with Remus... This is a little selfish, but do I really have that much effect on him?"

"That's the good kind of selfish. And yes, you do. You should've seen him when he ran through here to tell me you were coming and that you were together but taking it slow. He could barely get the words out quick enough." Janus smiled to himself. "It feels so good to see him like that. I think you're his missing piece."

"What does that mean?" Missing piece of what? He's not speaking literally, so it could be anything.

"People are like big, jigsaw puzzles. You could say that we are Thomas' puzzle pieces, each of us with our own section of the puzzle. Or, that we are each a single piece with our own complex puzzles. Puzzles within a puzzle. Make sense?"

"That word sounds a little strange now, but yes it does."

"Very rarely do people completely understand themselves. They have most of the pieces, but they can't put them together. Most people don't complete their puzzles. However, I believe that you were the final piece in Remus' puzzle. He's put it all together and is truly himself. I could be wrong. Maybe he's still missing pieces, but you've at least completed a very infuriating section of the puzzle. By infuriating, I simply mean that there's always one section of a puzzle that is so unnecessarily hard and it gives you a headache to put together. What is up with that? The pieces should go but they won't for some reason!" Janus blushed and stared down at the table. "Apologies, I didn't mean to go on about that. But do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"Yes. I didn't realize I'd have such an impact on him." I hummed to myself in thought. I didn't realize how much he'd effect me either...

"Speaking of Remus, we should discuss how this is going to work. Of course, we need to talk about this with Remus too. But I have a request to make while he's absent because if it comes off as rude, then he won't be here to get protective. Not that that's a bad thing, of course." Janus met my gaze and clasped his hands together on the table. "Every Sunday evening, we make fun of cheesy romance movies together, and I... Well, I really like that tradition, and I wish to continue it. So, what I'm trying to ask: can I keep him to myself Sunday nights?"

"Of course, I don't want to impose on traditions or anything in your relationship." I nodded. Janus sighed, shoulders relaxing. "I have a question that regards relationships as well that Remus doesn't need to be present for. If the both of us are dating Remus, we need to at least be friends. So, is there any way that you would want to spend time together- just the two of us, I mean- every so often?"

Janus blinked a few times, eyes widened slightly. "I... I was hoping to ask you the same, but I wasn't expecting you to want to do it. I thought maybe we could play chess or something? It's been a long time since I've had a real game of chess. All I've played is Remus Chess."

"I haven't played in a while either. If the first game goes well, perhaps that could be a weekly thing?" We discussed different times to "hang out" and came to a decision rather quickly. We agreed on Tuesdays at lunch, and we'd trade off hosting. One week I'd come here and he'd provide the food and drinks. The next week, he'd come to my lab and I'd provide the refreshments. Then I had another question, "What is Remus Chess?"

"Ah, it's quite the game. You'll have to ask Remus about it. It's something he's quite proud of, and I don't want to take away his excitement of getting to tell you." Janus smiled a bit. "Maybe we can play later tonight if you're up for it."

"I'll ask him when I see him."

"Logan, I have one more thing I'd like to say..." Janus' smile faded as he became serious. "I understand that the others have, well, to put it bluntly: been complete assholes to you. You don't understand emotions and I'm sure there are habits you're not even aware you have because of them. If you need it, we can help you. We want to help you. Whether it's teaching you about emotions or helping you cope with the aftermath of years of abuse."

I stared down into the mostly empty cup of tea and wondered what habits I had that were caused by the others. Other than the obvious bottling and repressing of emotions. "I knew that what they were doing was wrong. At least some of it. I'm sure there were things they did that I still haven't realized were wrong. So along with teaching me about emotions... Could you teach me what is considered abuse and what isn't? Some things are obvious but others aren't."

"Of course." Janus nodded and smiled in a way that made me feel... Reassured? Yes, that's what that is. Reassurance. I'm already learning. "We can talk about it more on Tuesday? Unless you'd like to talk about it now."

"No, I'm still not ready to talk about it much."

"Understandable. Whenever you're ready, just let me or Remus know. And I won't be offended if you'd rather just talk about it with Remus. I understand."

"Thank you." I smiled a little. Janus nodded and hummed.

"There was more I wanted to talk about, but I forgot what. I'll bring them up if I remember. For now, I think I'm done. I won't force you to sit with me longer." Janus gestured away from him. "You can leave if you want, or you can stay. I don't mind."

I finished the last of my tea but didn't move. "Do you know how many species of snakes you have?"