:January 27th, XX47; Monday.

:RESOLUTION BETWEEN PROTAGONIST AND ANTAGONIST.

•~~~~•

It was around 3:15 PM, and as Logan stood in his house's kitchen with his husband at his side, he had never felt more relieved.

The trial had been- well, it had been something. Logan had brought his best argument forward, the one that Remy had suggested to him, and with that plus the questioning of his husband and a few other people, the jury had decided to take a recess, and they would be hearing the results the next day. And with the relief that Logan felt regarding the fact he at least wasn't in jail yet, he was allowed to go home until the next trial, which was tomorrow, as had been said.

Of course, as soon as they had gotten to their car, after getting over the excitement that came with their relief they texted their son to tell him what was happening. And that seemed to leave Joe happy from what they could tell, so all in all, everything was going well.

For now. Logan wasn't sure what would come of the next day, of course... at least he could spend what time he might have left with his family.

With that thought, Logan looked down to his husband beside him, and he smiled, only slightly. Patton soon noticed Logan was looking at him, and he smiled back.

"I'm really happy you're standing here right now," Patton said, beginning to grin. Logan chuckled a bit.

"As am I. We... I suppose we shouldn't get our hopes up just yet, but things seem to be looking alright."

"They sure do."

"Do you suppose we'll have to do a bit more talking tomorrow?"

"Maybe. I don't really know, I've never been an expert on this law stuff. Maybe I should know more about it by now."

"Well, regardless, we should just try and spend today being as relaxed as we possibly can be. No distractions, no scares, no surprises, no nothing."

"I'm home!"

Logan and Patton's attention was turned to the sound of the front door opening, and both smiled a bit from the sound of their son's voice. Joe walked forward to the front of the kitchen and smiled to his parents, and-

Patton slapped a hand to his mouth to muffle a scream that seemed to slip out from his mouth, and Logan's eyes went wide, immediately grabbing his husband by the arm. Joe blinked and looked behind him.

...Never mind for having a day with no scares or surprises.

"Ah yeah, forgot y'all can see me now. Hey, queens!"

Remy was back, apparently.

It was actually both him and the ghost of someone who Logan had never seen before that stood behind Joe. Logan assumed this ghost was the ever-so-talked-about Emile, and he was smiling awkwardly, holding Remy's hand. Regardless, though, Logan felt Patton inch closer to him, and Logan furrowed his eyebrows.

"You need to leave, Remy," he said simply.

"Uhm, brother, bitch, I'm the reason y'all both aren't in jail right now, so..."

"You are not my brother."

"B-Both?"

Remy chuckled. "Oh, Patton, you should realize you wouldn't last a week with him in jail without getting yourself in there as well."

"What the actual hell is my family," Joe mumbled, looking back and for it between the four adults, concerned.

"I- regardless, you're terrifying my husband so I'd appreciate it if you'd leave."

"Eh."

"Eh? I sincerely doubt you actually want to be here right now yourself. Take the opportunity I'm giving to you."

"No, see, actually, it's kinda worth it to be here when I get to see how uncomfortable my general existence makes both of you."

"I despise you."

"I'm the reason you're not in jail right now."

"Leave, Remy."

"...Wait, it's... no. It's okay."

Remy blinked, gaze shifting to Patton. "It is-?"

Logan looked down at him as well, and Patton shrugged. "I mean... you saved Logan's life. The- the trial isn't over yet, but at least you bought us another day with him, at the very least."

"Patton, what?" Logan furrowed his eyebrows, surprised.

"Well, I- I don't know. I- just... he's trying?"

Logan looked over at Remy, who seemed a bit confused himself, and then back to Patton with a sigh. "...You're right. Fine. But I'd still rather not see you around right now. And you're on thin ice until the verdict is decided tomorrow."

"Shit..!" Remy's confusion melted into a sly grin. "Y'know, I always knew I was the greatest. And yet everyone doubted me."

"How many people have to murdered again..?" Joe mumbled. Remy scoffed.

"Hey, now. The only person in this room that can shit on us for killing people is Emile, because he's never even tried."

Joe crossed his arms. Logan noticed Patton and Emile make eye contact for a moment, and Logan looked at Emile, too.

He hated the thought, but perhaps they did look alike. They both had curly, light-brown hair and freckles, and they seemed to be about the same height and weight as each other. Both, in that moment, were also wearing some form of a collared shirt, Patton with a tie on from the trial and Emile wearing a simple brown vest.

"Oh my god, wait. Speaking of Emile. I can't believe y'all have never met him!" Remy patted the back of his husband, who continued smiling awkwardly. "Emile Picani, right here. I should also say now that I took his last name when we got married. So stop it with the Cafe shit."

Emile waved gently. Logan and Patton waved gently, thought confusedly, back.

"I don't think you realize how awkward this is right now," Joe commented. Remy ignored him and started walking forward, seemingly pushing Emile to be closer to Patton, who instinctively backed up a tad.

"Now- see? There it is. Come on, stand side by side. Aren't they identical, Croft?"

Emile and Patton shuffled and stood side-by-side, a bit reluctantly. Logan raised an eyebrow, stepping a bit away from Remy and pulling Patton away from him as well.

"I- why does this matter to you?"

"They're meant to be friends. I'm trying to get them to talk to each other."

Emile turned and looked at Remy. "Honey, I know you never learned any socialization skills past seventh grade, but you should know that's not how making friends works."

Patton seemed to smile a bit at that, and Remy scoffed, looking back at Logan and Patton one more time before his gaze fell to the stairs. "I- whatever. Joe has homework. See you later, losers."

He disappeared up the stairs with Emile, and Joe soon followed behind him, only shrugging at his parents before he did so. As they were left alone in the kitchen once more, Logan placed his hands gently on Patton's shoulders, and both sighed.

"...My god, what was that?" Logan muttered.

"I couldn't tell you, Logan."

"I'm just... I suppose I see your reasoning for being able to stomach his general presence at least for now, but it still confuses me a bit."

"It confuses me too, actually. Maybe I'm just the type of person to trust people really easily, or... something."

"Are you saying you trust him?"

"Remy? Oh, absolutely not. I'm... he's at least trying to do something for our son and that's... something."

Logan sighed.

"We'll just have to see what happens tomorrow, then."

•~~~~•
This isn't "Resolution Between Protagonist and Antagonist" for nothing

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