:January 28th, XX47; Tuesday.

:RESOLUTION BETWEEN PROTAGONIST AND ANTAGONIST.

•~~~~•

"Alright, what's on the schedule for today?"

Joe stared down at his feet as he walked along the sidewalk, heading to school, as he usually might on a Tuesday morning. Of course, now it was once again usual- apparently- for his two favorite ghost uncles to walk alongside him.

"Uh... get through the day and try to keep myself calm when I get home and wait for my parents to get back from their court thing?"

"Interesting," Remy ran a hand through his hair. "As long as I can leave before I have to see your family again- god, last night was a nightmare."

"It looked like you were having fun," Emile commented with a small smile. "Are you sure you hated it?"

"Hey. My hatred of Logan and Patton is separate from my belief you and Patton should be besties."

"Yet you still hate my dad-?" Joe asked. "Why would you want him and Emile to be friends?"

"Because? Trust me, kid. They're like- identical. But also not really. You'll see."

"Sure, sure..." Joe adjusted his backpack straps. "Can you guys at least stay with me until they get home, though? I'm really nervous."

"Of course," Emile smiled. "I don't have any work to do today anyway."

Remy coughed. "Mhm."

After a bit more chatting and walking, the three arrived at school, and Joe headed up to his first period, which was Health and Fitness, as usual. And everything seemed as per usual when they walked in, until Joe made eye contact with someone at the back of the room.

His eyes immediately hit the floor instead- right. Oliver was gonna have to come back to school eventually. Remy raised his eyebrows and looked between the two.

"Ayo. Ex-boyfriend, seven-fifty-something o'clock."

Joe scurried to his seat, which was luckily some ways away from his ex, hoping he or Oliver could figure out a way not to sit next to each other in their photography class later on.

"I think they saw each other already," Emile mumbled. Joe tapped his foot on the ground.

"I know. This is your first time seeing him in a while, isn't it? Damn. Well, my first time seeing my high school ex-boyfriend after our breakup was in a court room, so at least we're not there."

"We might as well be," Joe said underneath his breath. Emile sighed. Soon enough, more students walked in and took their seats- including Sage- and class began. The teacher took her place at her desk as the bell rang.

"Alright, to kick things off with our next Health unit, we're going to be having a group project."

"Oh my god," Remy mumbled, not being able to keep in a laugh. "So that's what's happening?" He glanced upward. "Kinda brilliant. Who's it gonna be, then?"

"As we move into learning more about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, you'll be put in partners to begin with and you'll make a research project with them about one of the topics I'll put on Google classrooms. It'll be due in two days, and I am going to be assigning partners randomly."

"...Yeah, I'm sorry, Joe, this won't be random," Emile mumbled. Remy laughed once more, and Joe took a strained, deep breath.

For some reason, he was inclined to believe them- there wasn't any reason for it, but he was sure he was gonna get paired with someone he didn't wanna be paired with. It would either be Sage or Oliver. He honestly wasn't sure which one would end up being more awkward...

"Okay, here we go- and I don't wanna hear any complaints. Gabby and Jewel, Ryan and Cassandra, Joe and Sage-"

Ah. Yep, there it was.

Joe heard Sage sigh from wherever it was he was sitting, and he glanced over at him just in time to see him make nervous eye contact with Oliver. Joe frowned and looked away. Remy smirked.

"I'll go talk to him for you, Joe."

"Remy, don't do that. It's gonna be awkward enough."

The two ghosts glanced at Sage. Remy waved. Sage glanced over, furrowed his eyebrows and looked back to his desk.

"Oh my god, it is gonna be awkward. So- you two excited for that?"

"I'm sure they're glad they have a free pass not to answer you."

"Hah."

Joe wasn't able to focus much for the rest of class- and that wasn't just because of his uncle's sudden want to make everything between him and Sage even more awkward than it had to be. He was honestly glad he got Sage and not Oliver, but he still would've taken some kid he's never talked to before over either of them.

When class finally ended, and Joe found himself trying to pack up and leave as soon as possible, but surprisingly, someone stopped by his desk before he could fully get his backpack over his shoulders.

"Hey, Sage," Remy said when he saw him. Sage glanced at him, sighed, and looked at Joe.

"...Do you wanna work on it in study hall?"

"Oh. Uh... I don't know if that's enough time for a research project due Thursday."

Sage furrowed his eyebrows and rubbed his face for a moment. "Are your parents going to be home tonight?"

"I don't know. They have that trial thing... uh, Remy and Emile will be there, though."

"And the one that hasn't murdered anyone can move non-ghost things by focusing hard enough, right?"

"Uh... yeah?"

"Fine. I'll... we can work on it tonight, then."

"Ah. Okay."

Sage walked away after that, and Joe suppressed a groan, watching Oliver also walk out soon after. He looked down at his watch to check the time, but ended up catching a glimpse of the date as well.

"...Two months and a day until prom," he mumbled. He felt Emile's hand rub his shoulder for a moment, and his other uncle hummed.

"Damn, kid."

•~~~~•

Walking home from school that day was pretty tough.

Usually it was, generally, but it was far worse this day because Sage didn't go off to his house when they passed it, as much as he seemed to want to. So the two of them had to continue walking in silence for an even longer period of time. It was also far worse because Joe wasn't sure if his parents were going to be home from the trial yet, and if they weren't, that just meant more waiting for the fate of his father.

When they reached Joe's house's front door, Joe held his breath, hoping his father would be somewhere on the other side of it... but when their car wasn't even in the driveway, there wasn't much to hope for.

"Didn't that court trial start at 1?" Remy asked as they entered the house. Joe shrugged.

"Uh, I think. I don't know why they wouldn't be home yet."

"Hmm."

The four made their way up to Joe's bedroom. The teenagers sat down on the floor and got out their chrome books, beginning to work, very quickly slipping into an unspoken agreement to only talk when it was needed. And that wasn't that often. So neither said much at all.

The only noise really provided was the chatter of Joe's uncles sitting behind him- Joe tuned out their conversations pretty quickly, though, just wanting to be able to get the project done so they wouldn't have to work on it at all the next day. Neither of them wanted to sit through the awkwardness that was being forced to work on something together for much longer.

...How could Joe have even let their relationship come to this? If they would've gotten this project a month ago, things would be totally different. They'd be laughing and sharing memes or funny phrases on a shared Google doc the entire time instead of working. And then when they finally got it all done they'd watch YouTube or play a game together. They were friends.

And now they were just the I-know-what-death-feels-like and the I-know-what-murdering-feels-like kids that just wanted to stop being forced to talk to each other constantly.

"...Y'all, this is so awkward, can you guys just make up and be friends again?"

Apparently Remy had gotten bored of their quietness. Neither Joe nor Sage said a word in response.

"Remy, this isn't a normal fight," Emile eventually butted in, "it's... different."

"I know. It's murder. That and regular high school drama are on the same plane of existence for me and it might as well be the same for them."

"I- what?" Joe glanced over at them. Remy groaned.

"Nevermind, it shouldn't be like that for you. Or Sage. Y'all need a normal life. Only reason I'm here right now."

"...Guess you don't care about me, either," Joe then mumbled. He didn't notice Sage lift his head to look at him.

"Uhm, I do care about you, so excuse you," Remy scoffed. "I just don't like getting so involved in your parents business."

Joe raised an eyebrow, sighed, and then looked back to his chrome book. It was then that he realized Sage was looking at him, and he looked back, seeing Sage's expression looked oddly sympathetic. The two quickly looked away.

This just felt sad. Things were so different now.

...Maybe Joe should stop complaining about how different stuff is and actually start trying to fix it.

He looked at his uncles, then at Sage, back to his uncles, and then to his backpack, which laid open next to him. He slowly began to reach in and pull out one of his notebooks. He tore a piece of paper from the back, got out a pencil, and he wrote.

I'm really sorry

Nothing much. Just a start. His uncles scooted closer to him and read the paper over his shoulder, and with a quick deep breath, Joe pushed it over to Sage. The latter flinched, but he took it, and upon reading it sighed and got out a pen. The paper was soon pushed back to him.

I know

Joe wrote more.

I don't have an excuse for myself, I just want you to know I wish I wouldn't have done that

They kept going back and forth.

I know

I was wrong and if anything now I wish you and Oliver could've just been together and been happy and I wouldn't have been mad about it

Sage took a bit to answer that one back.

Yeah

I really wanna fix this and stop apologizing so much, though. Can you tell me if there's anything I can do?

You literally stabbed me with a pair of scissors.

I know and I'm really sorry, I just want to know if there's literally anything I could do to make things even a little better between us because I hate how we are around each other rn

I don't know what to tell you

Is there really nothing? I still don't know exactly what my parents went through in high school but they still acknowledge it semi-healthily

Before Joe could pass the paper over to Sage this time, Remy stole his pencil for a moment and double-underlined the word semi.

Maybe there is something but once again idk what

When Joe got the paper back after that, he wasn't sure what else he could say. He glanced over to Remy and Emile, who by now were seated close together, Emile's head resting on Remy's shoulder. The latter blinked a few times at Joe, and Joe sighed.

He wrote.

I miss you a lot, Sage

Sage took even longer to respond to that, and he seemed to scribble out a lot of the stuff he wrote before he was satisfied with it.

I miss you too but I know I can't trust you as much as I used to

That's totally fair, would it help if we just tried to be honest with each other more often? Before all of this we were and I think that was good

That's true

Do you still want to be my friend?

That might've been the most risky thing Joe asked on that entire sheet of paper. Joe bit the inside of his cheek as he waited, trying not to watch Sage's eyes read over all the past words on the paper before he finally wrote something down.

I think so

awkward friends?

Awkward friends

"And look at that. All it took to get you two to make up was for me to complain," Remy commented a bit smugly as Joe was handed back the sheet of paper for the last time. By this point, the two were also done with their project, so both shut their chromebooks. Joe wasn't sure what to do then, and so he smiled a bit awkwardly over at Sage, who sighed in return.

"...I want you to know I don't forgive you for what you did, Joe," he then said, "but... we can be friends. I'm fine with that. That's what I want."

"That's totally fair, that's fine."

Both nodded a bit with each other. Joe checked his watch, and then fiddled with his hands a bit.

"What time is it?" Sage asked.

"It's 4:38."

"Oh."

"Yeah... I really expected my parents to be home by now. But- uh, right, you can go home if you want. Since we're done now. I'll see you tomorrow."

Sage was silent for a moment. "...Do you want me to stay?"

"I... only if you want to."

"Then I'll do that instead."

Joe smiled a tad. Sage chuckled.

"...Uh, I mean, you've gotta get sick of only hanging out Remy eventually, right?"

"Okay. First of all, how dare you. Second of all-"

Emile cut him off with a snicker, leading Remy to scoff and push him away, as they were still sitting close together. Sage clearly bit back a laugh of his own.

And that was pretty much what it was like for the next hour or so- something about having Sage and Remy and Emile there with Joe made him feel a lot less anxious for the upcoming outcome of his parent's trial- of which, he realized Sage evidentially knew almost nothing about, but he didn't seem all that inclined to- as Remy had put it- learn more about the weird shit Joe's family does.

But regardless of how much they surprisingly enjoyed their time together, it wasn't long until they heard a car pull up outside. Whatever the four had been talking about at that point was forgotten, as they all rushed downstairs and outside the moment the car was heard. Joe stood at the bottom of the porch stairs, Sage at the top, Emile a bit behind them and Remy in the doorway. Everyone held their breath.

And... it was Joe's dad who got out of the driver's seat.

Joe's heart sunk, because no passenger's car door opened at the same time. It was Joe's dad and only his dad who exited the car. And Joe realized that his dad was probably the only parent he was going to have any contact with for who knows how-

The passenger's side opened. And out stepped his father.

He was smiling, and Joe was so happy to have been wrong.

"...Wait, you-"

"They pronounced me innocent, yes."

Joe let out a surprised laugh, and as his father neared the porch he ran to him and they hugged, and their relationship had been strange over the past few weeks but in that moment Joe was just so happy to have his father there at all. Soon, he felt another pair of arms hug him, and his dad was there too, and Joe was truly happy for the first time in a long while.

When they broke the hug, they smiled at each for a good bit until they actually moved away. Sage ended up walking down to where they were as well, and Joe realized he had his backpack on his shoulders.

"...I'll see you at school tomorrow, Joe."

"Hah- yeah, see you."

They half-smiled at each other, and with a quick nod to Joe's parents, Sage was on his way home. He saw his parents share a smile seeing that they were on better terms, and then the three made their way into the house. His father was the first to reach the door, and that was when he suddenly came face-to-face with Remy, again.

They stared at each other, Remy with one eyebrow raised. Joe's father took a breath in, like he was about to tell him off, but then he just sighed and rushed in the house past him.

"I- what, do you just suddenly accept the fact that I exist, then?"

"Not fully. But... somewhat."

"Damn..! I guess I really am the greatest."

"Please stop making noise."

"Alright, alright."

Joe walked into the house then, and he made his way to the couch, sitting down. As he looked back at the four adults, he realized that they were almost getting along- not completely, but the effort was there. His dad and Emile were talking because of, from what Joe could tell, his dad accidentally shutting the door before Emile could walk through it, but Emile walking through it anyway because he was a ghost. Over near the kitchen, Remy seemed to be pestering Joe's father a bit, who was looking extremely annoyed but at the same time too happy he was pronounced innocent to yell at him.

Eventually, Emile and Joe's dad's conversation moved to be located closer to where Remy and Joe's father were. Joe went to stand by them.

"We should invite Janus over," Joe commented, not having much else to say. His dad perked up.

"You... you think I'd be able to see him?"

"If you can see myself and Remy, then maybe," Emile answered him. "If not, it wouldn't be that hard to make you able to see him. Considering you can already see two ghosts."

"If you let me into your house again I'll bring him," Remy offered, it seeming almost like a bribe. Joe's father sighed, but upon seeing the look of mild excitement on his husband's face, he nodded. Emile smiled a bit, which lead Remy to smirk himself.

"And look at that- they are getting along," he gestured to Emile and Joe's dad. "I'm not surprised."

"They are pretty similar, actually," Joe nodded along. Remy stepped closer to his husband and placed his hands on his shoulders.

"Mhm. I mean, physically, they have the glasses and the curly hair and the freckles, but even besides that. They're optimistic, sympathetic as hell, not to mention both had their first kiss with yours truly..."

"REMY-"

•~~~~•
A family? Perhaps

See ya in the next chapter!💛
~Maxx(SanderShipper)