•Misc
•Summer XX58-ish (FourthBook!AU)
•Joe's & Logan's POV
•Contains: cursing, background character (natural) death
•Hi! Quick disclaimer: this is an alternate universe. This is not canon to the actual story. What this is, however, is the plot of a hypothetical fourth book I plan on making as I separate this story from fanfiction. Important things to note are that the couples of Joe/Sage and Oliver/Grace are married at this point. Was also gonna make a oneshot of Remy using an ouija board in high school but probably gonna do that another time. For now, hope you enjoy :)

((Reminder: Joe uses he/she pronouns in the future, which includes this AU))

•~~~~•

Joe, his parents, Sage, his parents, Joe's grandfather, Remy, and Emile were all on a plane together. It had been an experience so far considering Remy and Emile's ghostly state, but it didn't help that it was their first time on a plane, either. Two-and-a-half hours in an enclosed public space with two ghosts was never meant to be fun.

It was all for the best, though. What was happening was that the entire family was going to meet the new girlfriend of Joe's grandfather. Andrew- the latter- had met his girlfriend Jasmine online, both being pretty old but also pretty divorced. Andrew had already flown to her home in the west to see her twice or so, but they'd yet to meet each other's family. With him living on the other side of the country from her, they'd settled on a nice, seven-bedroom cabin in the middle of Illinois, where they'd all be staying for the next month. Joe was hoping they got along because that was a pretty enclosed space. And they'd run out of things to do in Chicago pretty quick, for sure.

When the plane finally touched down, everyone was itching to get out of their seats, especially the four of them that had been subjected to Remy's complaining the whole flight.

"Remy, stop passing through people, you're freaking them out," Joe whispered as everyone was standing up, besides Remy, who'd been standing for the past half an hour, and was now walking through strangers to get back to where he'd been sitting before.

"That's their problem. They're in my way."

Emile was standing now too, though out of the way of everyone else. "Usually I don't mind listening to you talk, but that entire flight was insufferable, Rem."

Remy hummed. "Once again. Not my problem."

"I think we should've left him home," Joe's father then muttered to Joe from the seat behind, just out of Remy's earshot. Joe nodded in return, but it was too late at that point. The group got their luggage down from the overhead storage and slowly but surely got off the plane. As they waited for their luggage in the collection area and Sage's parents were off getting the key to their rental car, Remy rode the conveyor belt.

The car had eight seats- there were nine in the group, including the ghosts, so Remy was in Emile's lap. Joe's father was driving with Joe's grandfather in the passenger's seat; Joe's dad and Sage's parents were in the row behind, and then Joe and Sage were sat in the very back with the ghosts.

Andrew typed the address into the GPS, and they were finally on their way.

"Oh, Jasmine texted me, her family just made it to the cabin."

"I think we're only twenty minutes out, so cool," Joe's dad smiled towards the front of the car.

"Where are they from again?" Emile turned to Joe, arms secure around his husband.

"Where are they coming from?" Joe voiced Emile's question.

"Nevada. I don't think any of them have been this far East before," Andrew answered.

"How conservative is that state?" Sage asked.

"It's liberal. But Jasmine's kid is genderqueer and polyamorous, I don't know much about the rest of her family but I doubt they're different."

"Oh, chill."

"If they're there before us does that mean we don't get first room picks?" Sage's pop asked.

"It shouldn't matter much," Joe's father said from the drivers seat- he'd been a large part of planning everything, along with Andrew and Jasmine. "I think everyone in the family is divided into couples except Jasmine's youngest grandkid who isn't married. But there's enough rooms for everyone to have their own, including them." He glanced over at Andrew. "When are we learning names and pronouns?"

"When we get there, I don't know anything specific right now."

"Alright."

"So where are we sleeping?" Remy shifted in Emile's lap, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure the couch," Emile answered. Remy scoffed.

"So that's what you think of us, Logan? Not even worthy of a bedroom?"

Joe's father shot Remy a look through the car mirror. Joe rolled his eyes.

"We'd maybe have a bedroom if everyone on the trip knew about us, but they don't. It'll be fine."

"Sure hope so."

For the rest of the car ride, Joe was mostly on her phone, trying to figure out what everyone could do with their time during the month. They had dinner planned for that night already, and there were a few museums that surely they'd all end up in at some point- Joe also really wanted to see that bean sculpture thing in Chicago, for the hell of it. They'd definitely be spending a lot of their time in Chicago, but also maybe exploring the woods their cabin was located in.

Speaking of, their cabin became visible on the horizon, and soon enough the car was pulling to a stop in the driveway. It was a really nice looking place, two-stories and very wide in all. As everyone got out of the car and got their luggage out from the back, a short, older woman exited out the front door, presumably Jasmine.

Andrew went up to her and they briefly kissed before he announced her presence to the rest of the family. Joe's and Sage's parents went up to greet her, with Joe and Sage standing back because as much as they were excited, new people were scary.

"Joe, lemme get that for you."

Sage had been carrying Joe's bags since they had left for the airport that morning. He was a pretty good husband, though maybe she was a bit biased.

"Thanks." Joe smiled. Sage peered at where everyone else was standing, and saw Joe's and Sage's parents begin to take bags inside. The two started to follow, though taking the time to greet Jasmine anyway, before she and Andrew went to get the latter's bag.

"I'm nervous to meet even more people," Joe sighed, hands folded in front of him. Sage shrugged.

"Eh, I mean yeah, but we'll go to dinner with them tonight and by then it won't be as scary."

"New people always suck," Remy came out of nowhere behind them. "Maybe we should just go home."

"Maybe you should just go home," Joe kept his eyes on Sage incase anyone was looking at the two of them, but it was clear who he was really talking to.

"Nah, I'm excited. One month, two families stuck in a cabin together, hundreds of miles away from their home states? That's a recipe for some drama."

"And it'll work out in the end, because it always does," Emile came and put a hand on Remy's back.

"Mm. That too."

Joe saw that Jasmine and Andrew were making their way over to the door as well, so Joe started walking up to open it for Sage, but he saw inside that his parents were somewhat frozen- not exactly in a shocked way, but there was definitely something going on inside. Her and Sage shared a look of do we even wanna go in there?, but it wasn't like they had much of a choice. Couldn't be that bad, right? Maybe someone just broke a vase and now they'd have to pay for it since it wasn't theirs. Simple stuff like that.

Joe held the door open and everyone else outside went in, with her being the last one. Immediately Sage made eye contact with her, and it was clear whatever was happening was larger than a broken vase... maybe it was a broken TV? That'd have to cause some concern, right?

But no. Remy had begun laughing their ass off as soon as they got through the door. And it was clear why, because suddenly, there was Oliver.

And that was all there was, for a moment. He looked so different- his hair was short and there was light stubble littering his face, his glasses were much more square, and there were a good amount of piercings dotting his ears, but it was still obviously him. He had a face that Joe would never forget- and clearly, Oliver hadn't forgotten Joe, either.

One thing was the same as the last time he'd seen him, which was that Oliver looked completely terrified.

Joe blinked. There was a taller, blonde person with their hand on his shoulder. There were a lot of other people in the room, staring at the two of them- most were confused, while Joe's family mainly stood shocked. Remy was still laughing, Joe could hear them talking about a fourth of something to Emile, but whatever that was about was the least of her concerns. Joe had wandered into Oliver's found family- one he'd found to escape him.

What's supposed to happen now?

"Uh..." Joe cleared her throat, "wow, so-"

"I'm-" his voice was deep, "I'm gonna go unpack."

And he was gone. (Again.) The person who'd been standing with him hesitated, looking to where he'd gone, but then they sighed and looked back at the group.

"Uh. Hi, sorry," their voice was a lot higher, but it shared the same nervousness Oliver's had, "I feel like I should say... your name's Joe, right?"

Joe gulped. "Yeah- yep. That's me."

"Right, I'm Grace, I'm Oliver's wife, he's told me about you-" they shot him a look, a secret look, one that meant they knew exactly who he was, "I know he had a tough time in high school, which is when you guys knew each other. Uhm- I think he's, just, having a sort of..."

"...Reminder?" Joe crossed her arms. A few people from Grace's family gained a look of sympathy.

"Yeah, that. I'm... gonna go help him unpack, sorry, I just felt like I should make that less awkward, not sure if I succeeded." Grace pursed their lips. "Bye."

Grace was gone, too. Everyone was pretty silent. Remy had quieted a bit, thanks to Emile's palm clamped over his mouth.

"...Shit, I feel bad," Joe muttered, laughing nervously and looking back towards his parents.

"Oh, no, don't," Jasmine came up next to him, "I know he had a hard time in high school, but that's not your fault."

God. Damnit. Remy was laughing again. "Yeah, I know, just... sorry- my names Joe, or Joseph, Josephine, whatever, nice to meet you all. I'm Andrew's grandson."

And somehow, things came easy from there. The assumption that Oliver's trauma-induced reaction because of Joe was not... really because of Joe, helped out a lot. Joe was probably lucky Grace was the only one in the family to know the truth.

Eventually, Sage and Joe found an opportunity to go claim a room, and they made sure to get one as far away from Oliver and Grace's as they could. Their suitcases were sat on a chair in the corner of the room, and Joe collapsed into the bed, wanting to cry just a tiny bit.

Sage closed the door and sat down next to her, gentle hand on her back. "You okay?"

Joe turned over. "God- yeah, I'm fine. But he isn't. I mean, this is all just awkward for me, it's so much worse for him."

"I mean..." Joe sat up, and Sage sighed. They really hadn't talked about Oliver much in a while. "...what does- what does he even know?"

"What do you mean? I told him everything when I did tell him."

"Yeah, but that was before the time you almost..."

Both blinked. "Oh- shit. Uhm. I don't know. I don't know why he'd know that."

Joe stared down at the bed. Sage was looking at the wall, hand still rubbing Joe's back, until suddenly it stopped, and Sage looked back at her with wide eyes.

"What?"

"Okay- there's like a 50/50 he might. I forgot I... kind of alluded to it once?"

"...Huh?"

"Look, it was just like, I knew what you wanted to do. And I knew he was gonna be home alone. So at some point, I texted him, and I told him to stay safe, and he asked me what that meant and I didn't tell him but, I... don't know what else you can get from that."

"Oh."

"Yeah... sorry."

"No, don't apologize- he deserves to know that. It just sucks that he does right now 'cause it means he's definitely more freaked out than he would be if he didn't. He's probably terrified for himself and his wife, y'know?"

Sage's hand moved to be around Joe's waist, and they leaned against each other.

"...What's the right thing to do right now?" Joe muttered.

"Would've been to not do what you did," Sage didn't mean it as a jab but it still felt like one.

"I know. But now that I'm here."

"Probably ignore him, then."

"Really?"

"That's what he's gonna do to you, so best not to fuck it up any more, y'know? Pretend he's not here, he'll pretend you're not here, we can all just enjoy the vacation completely on our own."

"Yeah... right, okay."

Joe picked at the fabric of the bed, and looked up guiltily at Sage, who sighed. "Hey. You're okay, mi amor. Really."

"I love you," Joe laid his head on Sage's shoulder.

"I love you, too. Now, come on, let's unpack."

•~~~~•

Logan woke up early the next morning, jet-lagged by only an hour but still feeling the affects of it. Dinner last night had been nice, surprisingly- him and Patton were getting along well with Jasmine's family, mainly the "parents" of the bunch, the ones that were their age. It was also nice seeing his dad so happy- him and Jasmine had been dating for about two years now, if he remembered correctly. His dad hadn't expected anything to come of their relationship considering their age and distance but now their families had met, and were getting along well.

...For the most part, of course. What a small world. Logan wasn't sure if Jasmine and Andrew were going to bother getting married ever, but if they did, Oliver would then be Logan's... what, step-mother's grandson-in-law? Would you somehow throw the word Uncle in there? It was complicated. But Joe and Oliver were avoiding each other, and Sage and Grace were sharing glances that read who knew this would be a thing to happen, so everything was pretty much fine.

It was still early. Logan was a bit hungry, he guessed everyone else was still asleep. It was then that Patton began to stir next to him, freckles gleaming in the morning light- yes, he was still as pretty as ever- so Logan decided he'd go to eat soon. After some time, the two got out of bed and made their way towards the common area, which featured a half-asleep Emile and a very wide awake Remy, laying down on a couch together.

"Look who's up," Remy sat up, though that was difficult because the size of the couch meant he was practically on top of Emile.

"Good morning," Logan greeted quietly. He walked over to the kitchen and Patton sat down in one of the single chairs in the living room.

"Do we have food in the house?" Patton asked.

"We put leftovers in the fridge last night, I was going to grab ours."

"Oh, that works. We should get a group to go grocery shopping today."

Logan came out to where Patton and the ghosts were and handed Patton a to-go restaurant box along with a fork. Logan looked around at all the seats but ended up just sitting on the edge of the chair Patton was in. Emile, now more awake, shifted so him and Remy weren't laying down.

"...So," Remy smirked and crossed his arms, "I'm loving this trip so far."

Patton hummed uncomfortably. Emile sighed. "That's what you felt the last time there was another bo- er, ...string of events, but you ended up wanting nothing to do with what was going on."

"Yeah, because we were a big part of it. This is all Joe's shit to deal with, we're officially in the background, I can feel it."

"You don't feel any remorse for her?" Logan raised an eyebrow. "I'm still hesitant to say it's not your influence that caused what happened to happen."

"Of course I feel bad, jus' saying that I don't have anything fucking with me this time. I don't know what's gonna happen in this plot but I know I'm not a main point of view."

"Plot?" Patton questioned.

"Lack of a better word," Emile explained.

"And he said something relevant yesterday-" Remy gently patted Emile's shoulder, "-it'll all work out in the end. Hell, Joe and Oliver might be besties again by the time we all go home."

"I doubt that, Rem."

"Then they'll at least be civil."

"...Sure," Logan shook his head and took a bite out of his food. He checked the time on his phone since he hadn't yet- it was eight in the morning. "It's still very early. I doubt we'll be getting those groceries anytime soon, I'd say we end up going this afternoon."

"That sounds right," Patton took a bite out of his food, too. Remy hummed.

"Everyone else still asleep?"

Logan looked around and lowered his voice a tiny bit. "I hope so. Otherwise this would sound like a very odd conversation."

"I can check for you," Remy stood up and started looking around at all the bedroom doors. Emile stood up after him, attempting to grab his hand but failing. Remy looked back confused. "What?"

"That's creepy, Rem, don't."

They scoffed. "Oh, so what else are we supposed to do when we can literally poke our heads through doors to spy on people? That's the best part of being a ghost. Come on, we'll start on the right." Remy set off, and with a groan, Emile followed.

"No- he's right, that's really weird," Patton put his food on the coffee table.

"As I said before- we've only got four people we can openly talk to, besides each other. What else are we gonna do?"

"Not watch people sleep, maybe?"

Emile stood behind Remy, an authoritative sense of disapproval radiating off of him. Remy stuck his head in the first door.

"The polycule- asleep." He came back out, "Damn, why'd they get a king sized bed?"

"Because there's three of them?" Emile furrowed his eyebrows. Remy moved on.

"We should've gotten that one. Anygay- Roman and Virgil, also asleep." He continued down the line of doors.

"Rem? Maybe stop?"

"Joe and Sage, asleep. Uh... that single kid I forgot the name of, asleep."

"I think we get the point," Logan pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Andrew and Jasmine-"

"Remy, this is getting more and more weird, could you just stop-"

Remy took his head out of the door, hand finding a place the wall next to it. He quickly looked back and moved his sunglasses to sit at the top of his head, revealing wide eyes, paired well with his mouth, agape.

"What?" Emile asked, after a moment of everyone staring.

"...Uhm. Dead," he nodded solemnly. "They are dead. Now, where's Oliver's room again-?"

"What?!" Logan stood up, food somehow making its way to the coffee table. Emile stuck his head in the door very quickly and came out with the same expression Remy had. Logan and Patton rushed over to the bedroom, and Logan opened the door, just to be met with two ghosts, sitting up in bed, shocked.

"Dad?!"

"Logan-" Logan's dad was feeling his own face, concerned. Oh, Logan was so lucky he could see them. Maybe that was some sort of Emile magic to make the situation a bit easier. He made his way to the side of the bed, staring at the transparent bodies sitting up out of what were apparently corpses.

"Oh my god- dad, what the hell happened?"

"I don't know? I mean, I'm sorry- who were those people that stuck their heads in? Why am I-" he glanced over to Jasmine, double-checking she was the same way he was, "why are we... like this?"

"Uhm, yes, that's a lot of questions, but-" Logan sighed. He lowered himself and reached a hand towards his father's. It fell through. Oh, this was really happening, wasn't it?

"...I'm sorry. You're dead."

Logan's heart hurt.

"Oh," Jasmine breathed out after a moment. Logan's dad remained silent. The two new ghosts hands came together, and they seemed relieved for a moment they could still feel each other. Everyone else in the room didn't say a word- even Remy.

"Do you remember what happened?" Logan asked. "You were both fine at dinner yesterday, I-I just don't know what could've prompted this."

"I felt fine going to bed," Jasmine shifted, uncomfortably staring down at her dead body, "I think. But we just woke up some minutes ago and realized we weren't... in there, anymore."

She and Logan's dad looked to Logan, wanting answers Logan didn't have on hand. He tried again to grab his dad's hand, but nothing.

"I... I wasn't ready for this, dad, I don't..."

He shuddered. Being able to talk to him was helping, it was helping a lot. But he was still dead. Sure, ghosts have the power to interact with things in the living world, but not when they've only just died. Logan had spent so much of his life just wanting his father to be there, and then he was, and now he wasn't. Again. He never would be, not in the same way, never.

And they were a thousand miles away from home.

"Oh, Logan, I'm so sorry, I wish I could've hugged you one more time, I'm- I don't know how this works, I don't think I can anymore."

Everyone was silent. The two stared at each other. Logan could feel himself crying.

"...It's complicated," Emile muttered then.

"Sorry- who are they?" Jasmine asked. Andrew nodded along, staring at Remy and Emile.

"Right." Logan wiped his eyes- best to start with Remy. "Uhm. Dad. Do you remember when I told you about mom having cheated on you before you got divorced?"

"...Yes?"

"And the- and the half-sibling I found I had?"

"Yes?"

Logan pointed. Remy's sunglasses had found their way back over his eyes at some point. He waved.

"Sup."

"Oh."

Logan's dad stared for a moment, and then he furrowed his eyebrows.

"...You're a serial killer, aren't you?"

"Hell yeah."

"Oh," Jasmine crossed her arms.

"I'm- I'm sorry, look, this is a lot. And there's- there's a lot. Happening. Right now. And you're definitely questioning why he's even here right now, and I do myself sometimes, but-"

A door opened in the common area. Logan immediately stopped talking and looked behind him.

"...Okay." he looked back, much quieter. "I'm sorry, again, I can tell you more later, I just don't have time to say anything else right now because there's an 80% chance whoever's out there can't see ghosts."

"Uhm-?" Andrew thought about saying more, but in the end, he didn't. Emile looked at everyone in the room and then out to the common area. His eyes locked on the kitchen.

"It's Oliver and Grace."

Patton nodded. He looked at Logan, who sighed, and nodded back. In about five minutes, he'd found out his father was dead, and now he had to go start telling people. Fun.

They made their way out of the bedroom, and Oliver looked over from the fridge, instantly concerned about the fact that Logan and Patton were coming out of a bedroom that wasn't theirs and it was clear one of them had just been crying.

Silently, Logan and Patton reached the kitchen's entrance. Grace was sitting on one of the counters, looking back and forth between them. Oliver was mainly looking at Logan, who cleared his throat.

"...Hi Oliver, Grace." Logan nodded.

"Uh-huh," Oliver nodded in return.

"Sorry- Grace, what time does your mom usually wake up?" He knew their mother was Jasmine's kid.

"Oh, uh, I think we're all a little jet-lagged but I'd give xem like... an hour, why?"

Logan glanced back to the open bedroom- Remy was watching silently from the doorway, Logan assumed Emile was giving his dad and Jasmine the "you're dead now" spiel he's learned that Emile used to give to Remy's victims. Obviously, he couldn't say that they'd found the two dead because of the ghosts- they had to come up with something else.

"Uhm..." best to start with the obvious, "Grace, your grandmother and my father are dead."

"I- what?" Grace lowered herself from the kitchen counter. Oliver almost dropped his food.

"What?"

"I know." Logan glanced at the door again, and then made eye contact with Oliver, who was clearly re-living a few things again. "It's... I know."

"How?" Grace walked up next to her husband.

"We don't know," Patton stepped up as well, "We... we- we came out here to get breakfast, like you, and their door was open-"

"-So we went to look in and I thought something was wrong," Logan added, "and I realized they weren't breathing.

"Their door was open..?" Oliver mumbled.

"Yes, we don't know why. They were... we don't know why they died, either, still. I assume it was just old age, but it's odd that they died in the same night."

"And their- they looked fine, from a physical standpoint?"

"Yes. From afar, you'd probably think they were asleep." He coughed. "But they're definitely not."

Oliver leaned against the fridge, eyes on the floor, deep in thought. Grace glanced at the door themselves.

"Uhm... god, okay, do you- do you want me to tell my mom? Do you want me to tell other people?"

"No, I can tell your mom, we both lost- ...uhm. We're in the same boat, here, if you will. And I can tell the rest of my family, I'm sure your parents will pass it along as well... we just need to figure out what to do with them."

"...Yeah." Grace frowned.

Oliver looked back up with a huff, coming to a complete stand, looking the slightest bit pissed.

"Uhm, Oliver, are you..?" Patton trailed off. He swiftly exhaled, shaking his head.

"No, I'm not fine. I'm gonna go book two plane tickets out of here, in fact."

"Oh-" Logan was quickly cut off.

"No." He crossed his arms, looking at both the parents. "Your son just succeeded in killing someone. I'm fucking done taking excuses."

Oliver didn't stand down. Logan was appalled, silent.

"...Oh, shit, I understand the plot now!" Remy called out, grinning.

•~~~~•
Hey all! Gonna now re-clarify that this oneshot is not canon. This is an alternate universe. If the story above wasn't clear though basically the plot of this hypothetical book is that Logan's dad and sort-of step-mom die of natural causes, and Oliver's obvious assumption is that it's Joe's fault, and now they're both like 1000+ miles away from home with no where to run. Surprisingly, if this was canon, it'd be the only book with no actual murder!! :)

Also this is like HEAVILY a draft because there's an entire other way this book could go, where Oliver/Joe aren't the main characters, it's Oliver's daughter (who is not even his daughter yet at the time this one takes place, it's a whole thing). But either way, the whole thing is that Oliver convinces himself Joe poisoned Andrew/Jasmine, the autopsy takes like way too long to come back which makes him even more suspicious (and the fake story of their door being open doesn't help), but eventually they all find out it was just old people complications and it's just a whole thing

Also I had like one person give me the excuse to show some stuff from the rewrite, so I'm taking the time to show off some of the main characters<3 (and the new title lol):

(Left to right: Virgil, Roman, Patton, Logan, Remy. Don't mind some of the proportions are kinda shitty I'm struggling lmao)

The rewrite so far is looking a lot different- I'll say this much, the number of "on-stage" murders are cut in half (to make it a little more realistic), like 95% of the main cast is trans/non-binary, and as much as I loved killing off Janus in book 2... that was rlly lazy of me he's gonna live this time most likely <3

Ok that's it
See ya in the next one!