Well, here it is...
Tw: bit of swearing, probably a few sexual jokes, and just the boys being cuties I think is all. Let me know if I missed any though!

Logan's PoV

A warm arm draped across my middle as an even warmer chest pressed against my back. I groaned and tried to escape the heat, "Remus... You're hot."

"Aww, thanks." Remus snuggled into me more.

"Nooo, temperature." I whined, pushing his arm off me, "Too hot. Cuddle Janus."

Remus rolled away with a quiet grunt. I heard Janus sleepily mumbling and then a relaxed sigh. The cool air on my skin lulled me back towards sleep. Until the whispers behind me stopped as Janus' rough, sleepy voice broke the lull, "We're not having sex on Logan's bed, dork."

"Sayin' I have a whale-sized dick?" Remus giggled.

"Mmmm..." I whined more, "Go have sex somewhere else. I want sleep."

I buried my face into my pillows, listening to them giggle. Remus poked my leg with his foot, "Sure you don't wanna cuddle, Lo?"

"I will later when your body isn't acting like a heater." I mumbled, on the verge of falling back asleep. Until my alarm went off. We all groaned in unison at the obnoxious beeping coming from the clock. I felt around for it on my nightstand only to knock it onto the floor. With a grumpy sigh, I got out of bed and pulled the cord out of the outlet. I knelt there on the wood floor with my head against the nightstand, "I thought I turned that off..."

"Well, I'm awake now." Janus yawned, "I guess I should get to baking anyway."

"Ooh, yes! I want my cake! What kind you making me this time?"

"You'll see tomorrow." There was a short pause, "Would you like to help me, Logan? Unless you two already had plans."

"Nope, I was just going to go into the Imagination like usual!" Remus replied. I pulled myself up to rest my folded arms and head on the edge of the bed.

"I don't know how much help I can give you, but I'll try."

None of us bothered to get dressed, staying in our pajamas instead. Remus stayed in his boxers, (that he had to wear in order to sleep in my bed), to go into the Imagination, though that wasn't much of a surprise. Once Janus was sure Remus wasn't coming back, he started pulling out ingredients and boxes of cake mix with my help. I counted five different cake flavors and six of the boxes were Devil's Food cake. Janus disappeared to his room for a moment before coming back with a notebook. The page he opened it to had rough squares and circles drawn onto it in the shape of a cake. He gestured to it and said with his sarcastic tone I had quickly gotten used to, "You've met a real life Van Gogh. See this masterpiece?"

Janus did what I learned was a chef's kiss. I chuckled and nodded, "Definitely a masterpiece."

Janus bumped his hip against mine with a small smile on his face, "Listen to you. I'm glad your time with me has paid off."

I hit his shoulder softly and stuck my tongue out. He nodded, "And there's a little bit of Remus."

Finally, we started on the five tier cake, cake pops, and cupcakes. Janus was going to make all the frosting from scratch. He also always made the top tier specifically for Remus by adding deodorant to the batter. He said it was going to be one of the biggest cakes he ever made for Remus. Usually he only made three tiers with two or three different flavors of cake and maybe some cupcakes. So while he made the deodorant Devil's Food cake, I started on the two other Devil's Food cake tiers.

It had been around seven months since I moved out. I could go to the exact hour, of course, but I suppose there's not much point. I had little contact with the others outside of Thomas' videos. I was a little more forceful to speak when I needed to. Janus helped me write some notes down for the last script Thomas and Roman worked on. He thought that if I put it in an easy-to-read way then maybe they'd be more willing to use it. He was right because the script was more detailed with the notes I gave them. I was definitely going to do that again for future topics. I wondered why I hadn't done that before. For multiple reasons, I suppose.

I didn't know how, and they wouldn't have listened then anyway. Okay, maybe it was only two reasons. That I can think of currently.

As for our relationships, Janus and I did more together aside from our Tuesday chess matches. We sometimes did debates, even on topics we agreed on. One of us would look into the opposing side and defend it. It was both enlightening and fun. Speaking of enlightening things, I learned that Janus slept with heat lamps above his bed and more about what he was like before Virgil left and why he did leave. He didn't go into much detail, but the jist was that he's still working on his own toxicity.

Remus and I had done many more experiments in the lab and created more constellations for our "Sky Scrapbook" as he called it. He spent a lot of nights in my bed and Janus joined us half the time. Our romantic relationship had slowly progressed as we got to know each other in more depth. I wasn't ready for sexual intimacy, but Remus didn't mind. He could get that from Janus anyways, and even if he couldn't, he still wouldn't care. He said he loved me whether we had sex or not. It was honestly a relief to not feel that pressure.

Now, here I was. The happiest I'd ever been, happier than I ever even thought I could be. Whatever weird family Patton tried going for couldn't begin to compare to this. This felt like what a family was supposed to be.

I held my hand over my mouth and nose as I snorted. Janus slowly looked at me with a playful glare on his face. I grabbed a paper towel and wiped off the batter I'd accidentally flicked onto his face. "I apologize, Janus."

Janus shrugged, "It's alright. I'll get even."

I saw him going for the rubber spatula and took a step back. I turned to run, but Janus wrapped his arms around my waist, "And where do you think you're going?"

"I was trying to get out of your range." I laughed, especially when Janus spun us and pinned me in the corner of the counters. "Don't even-"

I actually squeaked as he picked up the spatula covered with batter and smeared it against my cheeks. Both of us giggled as I squirmed and only made the batter smear more. "Janus, I only got a drop on you! How is this fair?"

"'Cause I said so." He smirked and tapped the spatula against my lips.

"Rude." I scrunched up my nose and licked the batter off my lips. Janus chuckled and started to step away. I grabbed his hands, taking the spatula out of the one, then I smeared the rest of the batter across his cheek and lips. I stuck my tongue out at him before covering my mouth as I laughed some more. "Ha!"

"I'm so offended. I demand an apology right now." Janus huffed in mock offence, trapping me against the counters again.

"I already did and you didn't take it." I tapped the spatula against his nose.

"I'll find a way to get an apology out of you."

"Oh, really?"

"Mm-hm."

"How?"

"I'll figure something out."

"I can't wait to see what you come up with." I wanted to point out how our faces had gotten closer and our voices quieter, but would that ruin it? I certainly didn't mind the close proximity. Or the way his hands brushed against mine with hesitancy. Or the way his eyes studied me. I leaned a little closer, almost brushing my nose against his. His gloved fingers finally intertwined with mine, and I set the spatula aside to let him. It almost felt like my first kiss all over again, but this one was more hesitant and testing. The thought of ruining the friendship we'd built up crossed my mind for a moment, but I ignored it. Especially when his lips brushed against mine. He almost pulled away for a second but then his lips were against mine.

It was soft and quick. He pulled away just enough to look into my eyes. My hands pulled away from his to wrap my arms around his neck instead, pulling him into another kiss. His hands rested on my hips as he pressed up against me, kissing me slowly. I'm not sure how long we stood in the kitchen kissing for, but it felt like an eternity that ended too soon. I suppose that doesn't make much sense, but I don't care as much about that stuff anymore. He pulled away just in time for me to breathe again, pressing our foreheads together.

"Logan," Janus whispered in a way I only barely heard on occasion when speaking to Remus. Now, he was using that tone with me, "I think I fell in love with you."

"I think I love you too." I spoke in the same quiet tone Janus used.

"We should probably talk about it... But it'll have to be while we work, otherwise this cake'll never get done." He leaned back, frowning a little, "I really like holding you like this though."

"The sooner we get the cake done, the sooner we can get back to this. With Remus too." I reluctantly unwrapped my arms from his neck. The thought of just cuddling both Remus and Janus made my chest flutter and lips form a smile.

"Mm, that sounds like heaven on earth." Janus nodded, stepping back to let me out of the corner. "Alright, let's get this done then."

Hours later, the cake and add-ons were put in the empty walk-in freezer that I'd always wondered about. We cleaned up the kitchen and ourselves before going into the Imagination. Remus was climbing some of the trees in Janus' orchard. He grinned as he saw us, "I was about to come see if you were done! Gay-bae, you need more than just one apple tree I decided! And you'll never believe what happened today!"

"We also have to tell you something." Janus replied, smiling at me. Remus jumped out of the tree, almost landing on his face, and bounced away.

"Let's talk as we stargaze in Logan's sector!"

Telling Remus the good news was a little harder than expected. We kept laughing instead of talking. Finally, I blurted out that our relationship had become romantic. Remus stared for a few seconds in shock. Finally, he grinned and threw himself on top of us, "Best early present ever! How'd you two figure it out? How'd you confess?"

"I'm not entirely sure when it happened or when I realized... Over time, I suppose," I answered. Janus hummed in agreement. "We confessed after getting cake batter on each other and kissing."

"Cuuuute!" Remus gushed, "It's not even my birthday yet, and it's already an awesome one! First, I see Roman, and now you're together? I knew I needed to celebrate my birthday all week!"

"You saw Roman?" Janus asked, his smile fading. Remus pushed himself off us and nodded.

"Yeah, that's what I wanted to tell you guys! I was doing my thing when he suddenly came through the Divide. We talked, he gave me a gift, and we planned to meet in a couple days. Oh, right, the gift!" Remus pulled a dagger out of his boot, (fortunately not his pants), and unsheathed it. "The hilt is an octopus and there's a couple tentacles engraved on the blade. It's also really sharp, watch out! But it's pretty cool, huh?"

"It's beautiful." I nodded, smiling at him. I was quite surprised though. Was Roman realizing that maybe they weren't as bad as they thought? Are the other two realizing it as well?

"Yes..." Janus frowned slightly, clearly concerned. Remus noticed and pulled him into a hug.

"If there's even a whiff of fish, I'll leave, promise. I know how to watch out for myself."

"I know. I just find it strange... I trust you to know what's best for you though." Janus hugged him back, gesturing for me to join. I moved closer and was pulled into the hug.

"I can't wait for tomorrow! We're gonna eat cake and watch movies and play games! All day, starting at twelve and ending at twelve!" Remus let us go to clap his hands together.

"Guess we'd better rest up then." Janus pointed out. I hummed and nodded in agreement.

"We'll sleep right here under the stars!" Remus collapsed against the ground, pulling us down with him. I searched for the constellations we created, remembering when each one was made and what they represented. A small chill ran down my spine, and I curled into Remus' side with a happy hum. Now, I was glad his body worked like a heater. Remus squeezed us both, (Janus' quiet groan telling me he was squeezed too), and squealed, "I'm too happy to sleep! We need a constellation for you two getting together!"

"What about a cake?" Janus suggested, "A cake constellation, I mean. Not a cake for us getting together."

"Perfect! All this cake talk is giving me cravings. Good thing it's my birthday tomorrow!"

~~~

"You weren't joking." I hummed as we stepped back from the couch where we'd just moved Remus to.

Janus nodded, "He has so much sugar that he crashes every year. I mean, he ate half the cake by himself."

"That much cake and the only thing he's eaten all day? That's not healthy." I commented with a shake of my head, "Then again, he eats deodorant."

"Exactly." Janus hummed in amusement, leaning down to press a kiss to Remus' forehead. Remus began to snore in reply. Janus hooked his index finger around mine and tugged lightly, "I'm going to clean up the kitchen and games. You relax and take a nap too if you want. You two stayed up later than me."

"True, but you can relax faster if I help clean." I turned to the kitchen with our fingers still hooked together and led the way to the kitchen. The dining table and counters were littered with board games and their pieces. There was frosting all over and no cake to spare. Janus said he rarely made Remus help clean on his birthday. He always waited for Remus' birthday nap, cleaned up, and then they watched movies after he woke up. I wondered what traditions we would start that I could be a part of. Well, I should say 'a part of from the beginning'. Maybe my birthday wouldn't be so bad with these two, especially if we had some fun tradition.

A knock interrupted my thoughts. Janus and I looked at each other, then to the dividing door. After a few silent moments, there was another knock. I sighed and headed for the door, but Janus grabbed my hand. "What if it's Patton trying to take you away?"

"I highly doubt he'd do that." I didn't fully believe that though, so I continued after a pause, "If it is, I'll scream, and you can save me."

"I'll grab a spatula, though I'd prefer a knife." Janus smiled a bit and let my hand go. Once to the door, I took a deep breath as I unlocked it. As I exhaled, I pulled the dividing door open.

A trait in dark clothes was crouched down and lost his balance as opening the door seemed to startle him. He huffed and pushed himself back up, picking a small box up off the floor. "Didn't think you were gonna answer. Not that I blame you..."

"Yet you were leaving something at the door?" I questioned, gesturing to the box in his hands.

"I thought there might be a small chance you'd open it, and I was starting to chicken out." Virgil sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Logan, I... I'm not sure what to say in all honesty."

"Start with why you're knocking on our door." I suggested, trying not to sound mad. I was mad, sort of. I was mainly frustrated that our nice day was being interrupted with what could quite possibly be something very bad. Then it was just seeing Virgil even here after everything he said and did. Still, part of me remembered that Patton had treated him horribly as well.

"This is for Remus." Virgil held out the box, keeping his gaze away from mine. "I was able to remember his birthday without a note from someone else to remind me."

Virgil tried to laugh but it died off quickly and awkwardly. I flinched at the reminder of my last birthday. I took the box with a mumble, "Good job."

"Yeah, sorry, that was an awful joke..." Virgil shuffled his feet and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"If that was all, then I'd like to go back to-"

"Cleaning, right? Remus is passed out?" Virgil met my gaze for a brief moment before averting his eyes again. "I remember Remus used to eat tons and tons of sweets on his birthday until he passed out. Maybe he finally built up a tolerance to it though... Bet he still trashed the place. Janus tried to get after him for it but eventually gave up. There was no stopping the tornado that is Remus, especially when he's hyped up on sugar."

"He is sleeping now, yes." I nodded. Virgil hummed a small smile on his lips for a moment. I tilted my head a little, "Virgil, you told me these two were nothing but toxic bastards, yet you're here now reminiscing on what seem like happy memories to you."

Virgil seemed to shrink into his hoodie, fiddling with the zipper a bit. "There were good times that I forgot about, sure, but things weren't great back then. There are definitely things that need apologizing for and things I'm not sure I can forgive. Still, I know you're not stupid. If you're here with them, it's either because you're toxic too, or they've changed or started to at least. And honestly, Logan, I think it's the latter."

Virgil finally maintained eye contact with me, "I'm sorry, Logan. For everything. I was such an asshole, and I understand if you don't want to forgive me. But I want you to know that I am sorry. There are probably things that I still haven't figured out I need to apologize for, and I'm sorry for that too."

"Virgil, Roman!" Both of us stiffened at the cheery voice of the moral trait. Virgil started to close the door.

"Wait, Virgil," I stopped him, meeting his eyes again, "I'm sorry too."

Virgil almost smiled and shrugged. He closed the door just as his name was called again. So, Roman and Virgil were possibly coming around then... Turning around, Janus was standing in the kitchen still with his head down. I walked up to him and rested a hand on his back, "Jay?"

"Never thought he would come around, and he's right, there's so much to apologize for." Janus sniffled a bit, putting his face in his hands. I set the present down and pulled the trait into my arms.

"Perhaps we can work through all that sometime? The five of us can meet and talk everything through? I don't know how well that'll turn out, but we could try?" I suggested with some hesitancy. A meeting like that could end up in disaster and make things worse. It was important though, wasn't it?

"Maybe." Janus took a deep breath and wiped at his teary eyes. He took a step back from me and shook out his entire body. He looked to me with a faint smile, "This is supposed to be a happy day. Let's finish cleaning before Remus wakes up."

With the both of us working together, it didn't take long to clean up everything. Games were put away, dishes cleaned, frosting and cake crumbs wiped up, shredded wrapping paper thrown away. According to Janus, the mess we cleaned was mild compared to past birthdays and random days when Remus decided to make a mess outside of his room.

As soon as we finished cleaning, Janus sat in the arm chair and pulled me onto his lap. I curled up and rested my head on his shoulder, honestly ready for a nap. Janus rocked the chair a bit as he started to hum. I flicked his chest with a chuckle, "I know what you're doing."

"I'm not doing anything." Janus protested, "I'm simply holding you while lost in thought."

"And it's putting me to sleep," I yawned.

"I wanna nap too." Janus reached up and removed my glasses. He lifted the foot rest, leaning us back in the chair, and gently squeezed me. "Not to sound creepy, but you have no idea how long I've wanted to hold you like this."

"You should have done it sooner." I smiled a little, "Maybe the author wouldn't have had to struggle trying to make our confessions not sound too cringe-y."

"I see Remus really has influenced you, and our confession was probably a bit cliche and cheesy." Janus laughed quietly. At least I'm aware of it, jeez! Um, can we go back to the story? Yes, sorry. [Just had to do it for old time's sake, ya know? But it's the last time, I swear-]

I hummed in amusement and put my arms around Janus as well. It was easier to move as fast as we did having been close friends before and also my experience with Remus helped. Janus started to hum again as he massaged my back, lulling me closer to sleep. If I could stay in that moment, I would. Not forever, of course, I'd only want to stay in the moment forever if Remus was with us too. That would be perfection.

Almost an hour later, I was being pulled from sleep that I hadn't realized I'd fallen into. Janus seemed to be waking up from the sound of giggling as well. I rubbed my eyes and saw a blurry Remus snapping photos of us while giggling to himself. "Why are you taking pictures, Re?"

"Because you're so cute!" Remus cooed and giggled a bit more. I sat up, leaving the warmth of Janus' arms and picked my glasses up off the arm rest. Janus yawned and stretched out his arms, batting Remus' camera away as he did so. "So, where'd the gift on the counter come from? I thought we agreed on one gift each!"

"That's, um," I stood up and fixed my hair and clothes, "uh, Jay?"

Janus sighed softly as he stood up as well, "It's not from us. It's from Virgil."

Remus' excitement seemed to fade into confusion. His bouncing stopped as he tilted his head, "Virgil?"

"Yes, he dropped it off while you were asleep." I nodded slowly, wondering how Remus would react. Remus smiled a bit. He scurried into the kitchen, grabbed the box, and not-so-gracefully slid onto his knees by the coffee table. We knelt on either side of him as he removed the ribbon as carefully as his urgency could manage. He yanked the lid off once the ribbon was gone, pausing as he looked inside.

Remus slowly reached inside and pulled out two small, voodoo dolls. The first was made of black fabric with neon green stitching and buttons for eyes. It had a felt mustache and mace, and a small, silver and green skirt around its waist. The second was the same but with purple instead of green and no mustache or mace. It also had a note tied around its neck that Remus read aloud, "You probably want a voodoo doll of me to torture after everything, so I made you one."

Remus held them like they were going to fall apart in his hands. I looked at him as he sniffled and spoke quietly, "He remembered... Before he left, he started making voodoo dolls, and I asked if he'd make me one. He started to make it but didn't finish it before he left. They're coming around then, right? I mean, Roman wants to hang out and Virgil gave me this!"

Janus looked wary of the situation still, and I couldn't blame him. It could be some plan of Patton's, but there was a chance it wasn't. I had some hope that it was really them wanting to put the titles of "dark" and "light" behind us. I suppose I shouldn't get ahead of myself though. I wrapped an arm around Remus and spoke first, "I suppose we'll see when you hang out with Roman, and if Virgil comes around again."

Janus hummed his agreement. Remus hugged the dolls before setting them in the box again. He got to his feet and wiped his face. He bounced on his feet, "I'll put these away with my other gifts. Then movie time?"

"Of course, I assume you want old horror movies?" Janus replied with a small smile, standing up as well.

"Hmm, any horror movies will do! And could we possibly, maybe build a fort to watch them in?" Remus suggested with a slight grin.

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Janus kissed Remus' cheek, looking down at me for my approval.

"I agree. I'll gather up supplies with Jay while you put your things away." I got to my feet and was pulled into a hug and kiss by Remus. His slight grin now wide and excited. He scurried off to his room while we set to work on our tasks. After gathering everything up, Remus and I built the fort while Janus made dinner. Both were finished around the same time, so we ate as Remus picked out horror movies from the collection. Soon, we were settling down in our fort with the first movie playing. Remus in the middle and holding the both of us. Janus reached over and took one of my hands, intertwining our fingers.

It was that peaceful moment that I realized just how far we'd come. I escaped a horrible place and was freed from bad habits and ideas. Well, there were still a few I was trying to unlearn. Remus taught me a lot about romance and romantic relationships, and he said I taught him a lot in general. Janus went from disliking me to becoming my best friend to being my boyfriend too. He had taught me about platonic relationships and was the main one teaching me about toxic behaviors. As he had had them himself once and was still working through some. According to him, I had also helped him see more toxic behaviors in himself that he hadn't realized were there.

And listen to me now, I talk about emotions and know what they are. I express them too! They aren't so scary to deal with anymore, and if they do get overwhelming, I have Remus and Janus to turn to. We helped each other, though they had certainly helped me so much more than they could ever imagine. I don't think I could ever repay them or thank them enough.

I'm not sure what the future holds, but it's a lot brighter now. And if Virgil and Roman really are seeing what Patton is doing and wanting to fix things, then I'd say things were on the up and up. That's the saying, correct? I'm still a little unsure on some sayings...

Even if they weren't, nothing could change the way I felt when with my boyfriends. To continue Janus' metaphor, these two put so many pieces of my puzzle in place. Meeting a deadline brought me happiness, but being with these two was more than that. It was, well, the only word I can think of is euphoric. It was an addicting feeling. I never realized how much I craved it until I moved here with them. It was a high better than any drug could give me. Or maybe that's because drugs don't work the same on us...

I hoped I had helped with their puzzles a little, but I don't know if I had that much influence- "Hold on there, Mister, you've helped us a lot too. Don't doubt yourself."

I blinked in surprise and looked over at Janus who spoke. "Pardon?"

"You were monologuing out loud." Remus giggled and kissed my cheek, "Cutie."

I blushed with embarrassment and hid my face in my hands. Remus hugged me tightly and wiggled us both. I lowered my hands to see Janus smiling at us. He kissed his fingers and pressed them to my cheek. I used Remus' influence and sighed dramatically, "Not even a proper kiss? Are we at church or something?"

Janus chuckled and leaned over, kissing me softly. Remus pouted, "Hey, you two are cute and all, but I want kisses too!"

After getting a kiss from each of us, Remus was content and went back to cuddling us and watching the movie. My lips were stretched into a smile that I couldn't seem to get rid of. I kind of liked it. Okay, I really liked it. "I love you."

"Love you too," Janus reached over to ruffle my hair.

"I love you both so much! You're the best family I could ever ask for!" Remus was the most enthusiastic with his answer as usual.

"Agreed," I nodded. Family. Yes, I said it before: we were definitely family. Nothing Patton could ever do could compare.

This was a real family.

~*~ Fin ~*~