I'm alive!!!

TW: suspicious behavior, one (1) swear

The nerves didn't appear until Patton was standing in the elevator as it ascended to the fourth floor. As the elevator dinged and opened to the fourth floor, Patton took a deep breath before exiting, one hand nervously fidgeting with the edge of his shirt.

As he walked down the hall, Patton spotted Janus slip into the stairwell at the far end of the hallway, the door slamming closed behind him. Patton let out a relieved breath, glad that he wouldn't have to face Janus at all. Even though they had only met once, Patton couldn't shake a bad feeling about the man.

Coming to a stop in front of the door to Virgil's apartment, Patton gently knocked on the door, remembering how Virgil flinched whenever Patton was loud. He only had to wait a few moments before he heard quiet footsteps approach the door, the door opening a few seconds later.

"P-patton?" Virgil asked with wide eyes when he saw who was at the door.

Patton smiled softly. "It's me, kiddo," he said, taking in Virgil's appearance. A clearly oversized patchwork hoodie was zipped up to Virgil's chin, and the younger man had the hoodie pulled up. Virgil's bangs were covering one of his eyes, and his hands were shoved into the pockets of his hoodie. "I wanted to check on you. I heard some loud crashes coming from up here along with some raised voices."

Virgil visibly tensed when Patton said the last bit, curling in on himself. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about," he said hurriedly. "It must have been the wind knocking a branch against your window. I didn't hear anything."

Patton frowned. "Are you sure?" he asked. "You can tell me if something's wrong."

Virgil shook his head. "N-no, everything's fine," he said. "T-thanks for stopping by, b-but I have to go."

Patton watched as the door closed and let out a sigh as he turned away from the door. Before he could take a step, Patton flinched when his name was called out. Turning around, he saw Janus marching towards him, looking rather upset.

"What are you doing here?" Janus asked harshly, his voice nothing like the smooth baritone it was the previous day.

"I was just checking to see if everything's okay," Patton said with as natural of a smile as he could muster. "I thought I heard a crash up here. I'm actually leaving."

"Good," Janus growled, stepping into Patton's personal space. "Because everything is fine. Leave us the fuck alone."

With that, Janus pushed the door open and slammed it shut in Patton's face. As soon as the door was closed, Patton let out a shaky breath and quickly walked to the elevator, wanting to talk to Logan about what happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Patton walked into his and Logan's apartment, he was still shaken by the interaction he had with Virgil and Janus. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Logan walk out of the bedroom as he was taking his shoes off.

"You're back," Logan said sleepily, and Patton jumped slightly, looking up at Logan.

"Oh, hi, Lolo," he said as calmly as he could, toying with the bottom of his shirt. "Were you up waiting for me?"

Logan walked up to Patton and took his hand, gently rubbing his knuckles. "You are fidgeting with your shirt," he stated gently. "That is one of your nervous habits. Is everything all right?"

Patton bit his lip and dropped his head onto Logan's shoulder. "I don't know," he mumbled into Logan's sleep shirt, relaxing slightly when Logan kissed his head. "I'm worried about Virgil."

"Virgil?" Logan asked, and Patton chuckled, remembering that Logan didn't know his name.

"That's the name of the new tenant upstairs," Patton explained. "He's living there with his boyfriend, Janus."

Patton felt more than heard Logan's hum of acknowledgment. "And what has you worried about Virgil?"

Patton bit his lip. "Virgil opened the door, and he had a hoodie zipped up to the bottom of his chin, and the hood was up," Patton explained. "His bangs were also covering one of his eyes, and his hands were in the pockets. H-he looked so scared when I said I heard the crashes and them talking. A-and then as I was leaving, J-Janus was walking back to their apartment and asked why I was there. H-he said to l-leave them t-the f-frick alone..."

Patton buried his face in Logan's neck as he got further in his explanation. A shaky breath escaped him when Logan carded his fingers through Patton's hair.

"I understand why that worries you, darling," Logan said gently, kissing Patton's head. "But we can't jump to conclusions based on one interaction. Let's go to bed and talk about this more once we've slept."

Patton hummed and yawned, nodding slightly. "Okay."

A/N
Okay, y'all, I am very surprised that I'm finished with this chapter and publishing it today. I was fully prepared to get writer's block and not get this done until, like, April.

Anyways, the plot thickens. What do you think is going to happen next????

Until next time,
Take it easy guys, gals, and non-binary pals!!!

~death_ by_fanfic