:November 9th, XX46; Saturday.

:SIMMER DOWN.

•~~~~•

"Ready to go, hon?"

Logan stared at his reflection in the mirror, eyebrows furrowed, almost seeming annoyed with himself. He reached a hand up to his tie and adjusted it, before sighing and turning to his husband, who was standing by their bedroom door.

"I don't know if I can do this, Patton."

Patton frowned and made his way over to his husband. He placed his hands on his shoulders and gently rubbed them, making Logan hum and lean into the touch a bit.

"You don't have to do it. You can still cancel."

"No, I can't. It's too late to do that. And I already heard the voice again before we left Joe's show yesterday. I told you who my mind made it sound like. I can't bare to experience that for a moment longer."

Logan leaned his head on top of Patton's for a moment, and Patton continued to massage his shoulders. When Logan took his head away his eyes dropped down to Patton's shirt collar, which was a bit catawampus, and so he fixed it.

"You look far too pretty for this," Logan mumbled, making his husband smile.

"So do you, Lo-Bear." He moved his hands to rest on Logan's chest. "We don't have to stay for more than an hour, maybe. We can always use Joe as an excuse to get home quickly."

"That is true," Logan sighed.

"I can drive, too, if you want. Since you might be a bit too nervous to pay attention to the road."

"That would be good, thank you."

Patton gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and then they intertwined hands, saying goodbye to their son before making their way out the door and to the car. It was about a half an hour drive, so Logan focused on trying to calm himself while his husband did the work of actually getting them to their destination.

"Do you think there's anything you could do to calm yourself down in here?" Patton asked. Logan thought for a moment.

"I'm not sure. I've been focusing on my breathing thus far but it isn't doing me much luck."

"Hmm... oh, you could text you dad, right? Have you told him you're going to do this?"

Logan chuckled to himself a bit. "No, I have not. I didn't think it was necessary but perhaps you're right, I will text him now. He likely knows how to deal with her better than anyone."

Father
7:46 PM

Hello, father. I'm going to be honest
when I say I'm in need of moral support
at the moment. I'm currently on my
way to have dinner with Rachel
after she texted me asking to meet up.>

<Oh, wow. Where are you headed, then?

Olive Garden.>

<Well I'm sure she's gonna be
a bit of a Karen to the wait staff
<Is Patton with you?

Yes, he is.>

<Good, good. I'm gonna suggest
just staying quiet for most of it,
she'll have a lot to say
<I know she'll throw a fit if you try
to leave early but don't put it all
out of your mind. I honestly don't
understand why you're doing
this but I won't stop you

I'm only doing it because it's
been stressing me out since she
texted me originally. I will never
contact her again afterward,
as soon as we leave I will
block her number.>

<That makes a lot more sense
<Once again then you could totally
make an excuse to leave,
but I wish you good luck, Logan
<I'm very proud of you. You've come
far in life and are clearly living a
good one, you have a stable job
and a husband and a child who
both clearly love you very much
<It's better than what I had at your
age, that's for sure
<I promise if you need me to be there
tonight even I'll drive on over, her and I
may not get along but if you need
the support I'll 100% be there for you

That's very kind of you, truly.
Thank you. I believe I'll be fine
with just myself and Patton but
once again, thank you.>

<Of course. I'll leave you to go
to dinner now, good luck

Luck will be much needed,
thank you. I love you.>

<Love you too!

Logan placed his phone into his pocket, sighing yet with a smile. He leaned back into his chair, and glanced over at Patton, who then glanced back and smiled at him.

"Did talking to your dad help, then?" He asked.

"Yes... it did. I'm still not excited to go through with this but he is a very supportive father. I care for him very much."

"I can tell you do," Patton reached over and rubbed his shoulder a bit before looking back to the road.

"How much time do we have left until we arrive, then, love?" Logan asked, sitting up a bit.

"Uhm... maybe fifteen to twenty minutes. Just sit tight. Try to stay relaxed or it'll just feel like longer."

"That's very true."

•~~~~•

"We're here."

"Ah... amazing."

Both got out of the car and glanced around the area, seeing if they could spot Logan's mother, but she was no where in sight. They assumed she either hadn't arrived yet or was inside, so with a deep breath they both interlocked hands and began walking towards the establishment. Olive Garden.

...Olive Garden.

"Is... is this the same Olive Garden we went to with Joe?" Logan asked as they were headed for the doors.

"Uhm... honey, I don't know if we've ever been to Olive Garden with him. Or maybe we have, but there's probably one closer by so I doubt we would've driven all the way out-"

"No no, not our Joe. Highschool."

Patton paused. He furrowed his eyebrows and glanced around the parking lot of the restaurant, and then back at the building. By now they were just about at the doors, and from the outside both saw a certain booth that looked eerily familiar... and Logan's mother seemed to even be sitting at it. In the same exact place their long-dead classmate had sat once before.

"...Oh. Yeah, I think you're right."

"Ah."

They squeezed each other's hands then, and they entered the building. A waiter quickly greeted them and they both walked over to the booth, neither very happy that they ended up in the same exact seats they had sat in when they went here with Joe in XX18, but there truly wasn't much they could do about it.

"Logan! Oh, I'm so happy to see you," Rachel greeted him. Logan forced himself to smile and then nodded, reaching out a hand so his mother could shake it. She ignored it and continued talking.

"It's been so, so long since we've seen each other. How are you?"

"...I am alright. How are you?"

"I'm doing amazing, since I got to see my darling son for the first time in some years," she grinned at him, which gave Logan a very disgusting feeling, so he squeezed the hand of his husband and forced himself to smile once more.

"Ah. Yes, that would make you happy, I'm sure."

"How's your life, then? Fill me in."

"Well, life is... fine. I'm working as a teacher. My son is in highschool, and as you can see here I am very happily married. Yes, this is Patton, we've now been married for twenty-"

"Oh, you're a full time worker? Gosh, that is so great for you, my son. I am so very proud."

Logan took a quick deep breath. "...Yes, I am. And as I said before, I'd very much like you to meet Patton. My husband. He is also a teacher."

Rachel seemed to force herself to stay happy. "...Ah. Yes, hello, Patton." She looked back to Logan. "But anyways- so, what else is going on? How old is my grandson?"

"You seem to already not like my husband, but I suppose we'll just drop that topic since that's clearly what you're hinting at wanting to do... my son is seventeen. Eleventh grade."

"Oh, that's so fun. Does he have a girlfriend?"

"A boyfriend, actually. Yes. They're very happy together."

Rachel pursed her lips. "You... well then." She sighed. "You know, Logan, you always used to tell me that that stuff wasn't contagious but... I mean, something had to have happened there, right?"

Logan and Patton shared a quick, uncomfortable look, before Patton decided to speak. "Well, it's not contagious, ma'am. But our son does seem to be happy as who he is, and it's certainly not hurting anyone, so that's all we care about. We really just want the best for him. If he's happy, we're happy."

"Mm. Well I don't know how you two were allowed to have kids together in the first place but you know in the future I'm sure he'll have a tough time getting that same-"

"Hello, you three, I'm gonna be your waitress tonight. My name is-"

Rachel furrowed her eyebrows and looked up to the waitress. "Excuse me, I was talking."

"-Oh. I'm so sorry. If you'd all like I can just come back in a moment."

"No, it's fine. I believe we're ready to place an order," Logan nodded reassuringly at the waitress. Rachel just rolled her eyes and nodded along.

"Alright, great. I'll take drinks but if you're ready for food I can take that as well."

"Unsweetened ice tea and the House Salad," Rachel said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, we don't have unsweetened tea. We do have regular tea, though, along with-"

"No, whatever. I'll just take a water, then."

"...Great. And for you two?"

•~~~~•

"This food is taking forever," Rachel tapped her foot a few times, glancing around the crowded restaurant. Logan took a slow sip from his drink, feeling like he was quite honestly losing brain cells the longer he sat in that seat with her across from him.

"It's only been twenty-five minutes, and looking around most or all of the table here are occupied."

"That doesn't matter."

"...Alright, then."

Patton cleared his throat. "So... what's going on in your life, then?"

"That's a bit nosy of you."

"With all due respect, you asked me the same question."

Rachel sighed. "Fine, then. Nothing. I'm just a divorced mother of one son who needs to be convinced to even sit in my presence."

Logan bit the inside of his cheek. Did he dare ask?

"...One son?"

"Yes, one son. You're an only child, Logan, I thought you'd be smart enough to know that."

Patton raised his eyebrow at Logan, who sighed. "Well... alright, I suppose since I've brought it up now I might as well explain myself. A month or two ago I got an ancestry test done, which was a nice experience, but it told me that I have a half-brother. And I know for a fact that my half-brother and I do not share a father, but a mother. So I was just wondering if you happen to remember-"

"Those things are stupid and they don't work," Rachel snapped. Logan blinked a few times.

"...Well, let me just say that this person was... someone I used to know. And we shared the same birthday, so-"

"It's impossible for you to share a birthday with a sibling if he wasn't your twin and only your twin!"

"N- Now, see, that is where you are wrong. If you got pregnant with him and I both, it was possible you could've been... inseminated by two different men and given birth to half-siblings. And-"

"Now, see, I just don't understand why you can't trust me, Logan. Why don't you believe me when I say you are an only child?"

"Because that is what I want to believe, but it is scientifically false."

"That implies I cheated on your father. Him and I had a loving marriage until he went and made you-"

Logan furrowed his eyebrows. "You and I both now in full that I was very close to walking in on you with another man when I was a toddler many times, and I would have, if my father wouldn't have distracted me from going to check on why I heard so much noise coming from your room."

"You are blatantly lying to me. That never happened."

"It did. If you want us to form a stable relationship together, which I highly doubt would ever happen at this point, you need to accept the fact that you were a traumatizing parent so you can move forward and improve yourself."

"You are the one that needs to be improved upon."

"Here's your food!"

The argument was suddenly halted by the food arriving at the table. Logan sighed very quietly, reaching out to his water to take a sip from it, and Patton looked up to him with a concerned expression, rubbing his shoulder.

"Uhm- excuse me, I didn't ask for onions on this," Rachel raised an eyebrow at the waitress.

"Oh no," Logan and Patton both mumbled in unison.

"Ah- I'm very sorry, but the house salad comes with onions. It is a salad so I'm sure it would be easy to pick them off and put aside, though, there shouldn't be that many, and-"

"Uhm, no, as the customer I shouldn't have to do that. And now everything that touched the onions is going to taste like them, too. This is just bad service."

Logan pursed his lips. "You really should just be able to easily pick them out, and logically it may smell a bit like onions but none of the food will taste-"

"I was not talking to you," She snapped. Logan blinked and then sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as Rachel looked back to the waitress. "This is absolutely unacceptable. You need to take this back right now and make them make me another salad."

"I can do that, but just a warning it may be nearly half an hour until it gets out because we have a lot of other orders-"

"They need to prioritize my meal because they got it wrong."

"We really cannot do that, I'm sorry. I can offer you-"

"No. I need to speak to your manager right now, young lady."

The waitress pursed her lips. "Well... once again, I'm sorry, but we are having such a busy night I had to step in to help the wait staff. I am the manager."

Rachel gawked. Logan and Patton both stared at the table.

"...No. No. That is absolutely unacceptable! I will be bringing this to corporate." Rachel suddenly stood, and Logan looked up to her with a mildly horrified expression. "This is the worst service I've ever had in my entire life. This is the worst restaurant I've ever been to!"

"Uhm- I'm very sorry, but-"

"No. I am leaving. I will be leaving a bad review on Yelp and I am going to make sure you get fired, missy."

Logan furrowed his eyebrows. "I- Rachel, can you please sit-"

"No. You should not be calling me Rachel, I am your mother!"

"But-"

"No. I am leaving. Goodbye."

With those final five words, she stormed out of the restaurant, leaving Logan and Patton to stare in horror at the doors after she had walked out them, an embarrassing feeling setting in on both as they realized a few people nearby had been listening in on the scene. The waitress- or, the manager- stared at the doors as well, and Logan sighed.

"Oh my goodness, I- I am so sorry about that. I am so sorry about her. I really shouldn't have- I am so sorry."

The manager sighed. "...It's fine. I have crazy family, too. And we've dealt with far worse Karens's here. At least she didn't break anything."

"Well- yes, that is true, but- I'm just so sorry. Thank you for all that you do working here, I believe you're doing a fantastic job."

"Thank you. I'll leave you two to enjoy your meal, then."

The manager smiled a bit and then walked away from them, and Logan sighed once more, leaning his elbows on the table and holding his head up with his hands. He felt Patton begin to rub his leg comfortingly.

"...So, are we leaving a big tip?" He asked.

"Absolutely."

•~~~~•

"I just don't understand how someone can be... stuck-up enough as to think they themselves are more important than any other person," Logan mumbled. Him and Patton were now once again in the car, Patton driving them both home. They had finished up their meal fairly quickly and, as they said, left a large enough tip to hopefully make up for the scene Rachel had caused.

"Me neither. I'm just glad it's over."

"Oh, me too, absolutely. That was quite possibly the worst dinner I've ever had to sit through. Even though I said the wait staff did an amazing job, which they did, but the reason for my currently sour mood is obviously not because of them. I'm honestly surprised it only took them half an hour to get our food out when they had a packed house, other restaurants take forty-five minutes to an hour usually with that many people."

"Right?" Patton nodded along. "I was definitely surprised. Maybe we should go back there sometime."

"Ah... perhaps. I don't know if we'd enjoy it, though, now that it holds two bad memories."

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot about that... you're right."

Logan sighed, crossing his arms and staring out into the road ahead. Patton sighed as well.

"So you're gonna block her number, right?"

"Oh- yes, I am. Thank you for reminding me."

Logan got out his phone, then, and he found his mother's number fairly quickly in his Messages app. He pulled up her contact and then scrolled down, seeing the red Block this Caller button. His thumb hovered over the button, and he began to move to press-

you're not gonna actually block her, right?

Logan's eyes widened as a cold sensation began to surround his head. No- yes, he was. He was going to do it now.

sure. go ahead, i guess. but it's not gonna do you any good.

He felt like he physically couldn't press the button now. This couldn't be happening- not now. He didn't want to go through this horrible experience yet again.

she's caused you so much pain and trauma. having her number easily accessible in your phone would be a plus. sure, you could unblock her any time but this just saves you an extra second. you were probably gonna delete the number after, too, weren't you?

That was exactly what he was still going to do. Logan took a deep breath- the talking wasn't too bad this time. Maybe he could just wait it out.

you were. fucking coward.

A bit rude.

just keep it in your phone, at least. it'll be useful when you kill her.

Logan's eyes widened immediately. He inhaled sharply, dropping his phone into his lap. Patton looked over at him.

"Honey? Logan, are you alright?"

"Pull over," Logan whispered. Patton furrowed his eyebrows and immediately did so, quickly unbuckling his seatbelt once they were safely parked and beginning to climb over to better reach his husband.

he can't help you. it's inevitable. it's what always happens. because you're you. but it'll feel so good when you kill her.

Patton at this point seemed to realize what was happening, and he placed both his hands over Logan's ears, which seemed to muffle the sound significantly but Logan could still hear a bit. At this point he wanted to hug Patton close to him, but it felt like someone was pinning his wrists down at his sides.

nothing you do will stop it. it'll be easy to get past patton. he's sneaked himself out of bed to go murder people before. if he can do it, so can you. and then you have plenty of possible weapons in your home.

The voice was beginning to fade, yet it was still getting worse.

knives. medication. hell, you could even use your own hands. wrap them around her throat and choke her until she dies right then and there.

"Go away," Logan finally found the strength to mumble. He could almost feel a sigh in his ear.

fine. this won't be the last time, though, babes. as was said before... this is your destiny.

He felt the cold sensation of the voice began to slither away, and soon enough he came to his senses fully, realizing he could fully move his body around once more. He blinked himself out of his dazed state and then immediately hugged Patton close to him, his husband's hands leaving his ears and then his arms wrapping around him in return.

"Is it gone?" Patton asked.

"Yes. Y-Yes, it is. God, I... I thought this was over. I thought doing this would get it to stop but I was wrong. It's not going to stop, is it?"

Patton lifted his head up, shifting in their mildly uncomfortable position, as it was hard to sit on someone's lap in a car passenger seat, not to mention hugging them this way. "I'm gonna call our therapist when we get home. I really think you should talk to someone about this."

"What good would that do? I'm beginning to wonder if this is even in my head, or- or if it's actually him. If it is, talking to a therapist wouldn't help me at all."

"Honey, that's impossible."

"Is it, though? It might as well be possible with everything else that has been happening to us as of late. And- it's all her fault, isn't it? Both of them caused all of this. But- no. No, I'm not giving into..."

He trailed off, beginning to feel like he may burst into tears out of frustration and terror if he said another word more.

"...Oh, Logan." Patton muttered sympathetically. He frowned and cupped his husband's face, leaning their foreheads together. Both closed their eyes.

Even though the voice was gone, the thoughts that had been planted in Logan's mind still remained. He was reminded of all that came before him- who he used to be. The agony of feeling as if he didn't have control over the things he thought and the fact that he lacked the self-control required to keep those thoughts only in his mind. He didn't want to become that person again... yet a part of him thought that was the only option at this point.

And so, sitting in a dimly lit car in the dark of the evening, as the world seemed to cave in around him, Logan cried.

(lol.)
•~~~~•
:)

see ya in the next chapter!
    ~Maxx(SanderShipper)