The very next morning came, and the day started like any other. Patton woke up in his husband's arms, a giggle escaping both of their lips as they kissed each other good morning.

"Good morning, beautiful," Logan greeted as they pulled apart from their morning kiss. Patton smiled, leaning forward to peck his lover's lips briefly but sweetly again, just because he couldn't help himself.

"Morning, Lo," Patton said in return, leaning his head against his husband's chest. Logan ran his fingers through Patton's hair, smiling.

"What's happening today, then?" Patton asked.

"Well, Matt is coming over around five thirty tonight. But other than that, we have a free morning and afternoon."

Patton pushed the thought of Matt to the back of his mind. It was early in the morning. He didn't have to worry about him right now.

"Can we sleep in for a little longer, then?" Patton asked, giving his husband his best puppy-dog eyes. Logan chuckled, nodding.

"Sure. I don't see why not."

Patton made a triumphant noise, shifting his body slightly to make himself comfortable again to fall back asleep and still using his husband's chest as a pillow. Logan rested his hands on Patton's shoulder and back. Patton smiled as he felt a gentle kiss being placed on his head.

Soon enough, he'd wake up again, and he could start a normal day with his husband.

But, little did Patton know, today would be the day that the intrusive cycle he had thought much about yesterday... would be broken.

When Patton woke up again, it took a good few minutes, but eventually Logan coaxed him out of bed. They both got dressed for the day, putting on something decent for when Matt would be coming over that evening. This would be the first time Patton was meeting Matt, so he definitely wanted to make a modest first impression.

The hours of the day slipped by. Patton cherished every second he had with his husband before Matt would arrive. He knew Logan would probably want to hang out with Matt while Patton was cooking, and that was understandable. They sat together on the couch as time passed, re-watching Parks and Rec for the millionth time that week.

And when five thirty did roll around, a knock was heard at their front door.

"I'll get it. You can come with me to meet him, though," Logan offered, standing up off the couch. Patton quickly paused the TV and walked up to the door with Logan.

Logan opened it, and Patton analyzed the man on the other side.

A smidge shorter than Patton, with short, dark brown, wavy hair and very obvious freckles. Green eyes and olive skin. Black square-rimmed glasses, a white polo shirt with a dark blue cardigan over it. Jeans, a brown belt and brown loafers.

In conclusion? Patton wasn't sure what he taught, but he was sure it had something to do with computer science. Also, Patton was beginning to believe Logan had a "type" in people he enjoyed hanging out with, considering that Patton and Matt shared some similar qualities.

Matt and Logan bro-hugged each other- which was a bit of a weird sight- before Matt turned to Patton. He smiled, extending a hand.

"Hey! I'm Matt. You must be the Patton I've heard so much about?"

Patton giggled, nodding and shaking Matt's hand. "Oh! Yeah, I am. He talks about me?"

"Oh yeah, all the time."

Logan and Patton briefly made eye contact, smiling at each other, before both looked back to Matt.

"Well, come on in! You and and Logan can hang out in the living room, I'll start on the soup."

Yes, Patton had decided on making soup for them. "Cream of potato", to be exact. It was a simple dish, but tasty enough to impress a guest.

Patton stepped aside and allowed Matt to come in. After closing the door, Patton briefly pecked his husband's cheek before letting him go join Matt in the living room. Patton walked to the kitchen and started putting his apron on.

"Oh, you guys watch Parks and Rec?" Patton heard Matt ask.

"Oh, yes. We can watch that if you'd like. Uh..."

Logan turned so his voice could be more easily heard in the kitchen.

"...Pat, do you care if we un-pause Netflix?" Logan called out.

"No, go ahead, you guys can watch!" Patton called back sweetly.

"Thank you!"

"Mhm!"

Patton started to put together the ingredients for the soup, gently swaying his hips to non-existent music as he moved around the kitchen. He sub-consciously listened in on Matt and Logan's conversation, and to his secret delight, it was nothing at all special.

The soup only took about a half an hour to make, so it was done in a jiffy. Patton started to casually scroll on his phone as he started proportioning the soup. He remembered Logan saying something about how Matt was often pretty hungry, so he got out a slightly bigger bowl for him.

He poured the last drop of soup into the last bowl, still scrolling through his phone. Instagram, Pinterest, NBC news...

...And that's where everything when wrong.

Patton decided to check the news from the past week, expecting something simple, like a storm coming or maybe something cute about newly trained service dogs. But as he scrolled past a few random articles, his eyes locked on one sentence.

NEWS: Teenage Murderer of Five Remy Cafe Escapes Prison, Police Have Been on the Lookout for Days, and Still Nothing

Patton almost dropped his phone. The color drained from his face, and he had to re-read the sentence over again a few times to make sure he was seeing things right. To make sure this was actually happening- actually real.

His breathing quickened, and his thoughts seemed to blur together. They screamed at him, and Patton had to mind his surroundings, trying not to scream back or press his hands to his ears. He kept a firm grip on his phone, but his hands were shaking and there were tears in the corners of his eyes.

His thoughts were plentiful, but one stuck out among the rest: He wasn't safe anymore. No, wait scratch that, Logan wasn't safe anymore.

How could he be safe with a man like him out on the loose?! Clearly, Remy was after Logan. Patton had heard what Remy screamed while being dragged out of school the day he was arrested. He was kicking and screaming, a man he himself had murdered on the floor of the hallway. And Remy had yelled out, "You'll fucking pay for this, Croft!"

Patton wasn't stupid, he knew that Remy obviously meant that he wanted to kill Logan. But Patton couldn't loose him. He had to do something. Something. Something. Anything. Something. Anything.

Patton glanced around the room until his eyes landed on Matt, who was laughing with Logan at something they were talking about. Patton couldn't even try to hear their conversation at this point, everything else was just too loud.

...Matt.

That's it. How had he not seen it before? Why else would Matt suddenly agree to hang out if he didn't want to get closer to Logan for reasons that weren't so friendly? Matt was probably working with Remy. Patton had to fix that.

It was like Patton went on autopilot at that point. He somehow slipped out of the kitchen without Matt or Logan noticing, and he went to the nearest bathroom. He didn't focus on what he was doing, he just kept doing it, because it felt like the right thing to do. He looked through their medicine cabinet for a good minute or two until he found a bottle of antioxidants. Something they rarely used themselves, something that was deadly when given in high doses. Something... perfect.

Patton brought the bottle back into the kitchen and located the largest bowl of soup. He opened the bottle and laid a handful of the capsule pills on the kitchen counter. He opened them, one by one, sprinkling the medicine inside into the soup. He was really on autopilot at this point- he wasn't sure exactly how many pills he had put in, all he knew was that by the time he was done, the antioxidant bottle was almost empty and there were a bunch of empty pill capsules on the counter. Patton gathered them all and dumped them in the trash, before quickly walking back to the bathroom and putting the pill bottle away. He got back to the kitchen and started to stir up Matt's soup a bit, mixing the antioxidant in it. Patton's phone was left on the counter, the article title still readable on the screen.

It was then, and only then, did Logan think to glance up at his husband. He recognized the pale face and blank expression and felt a jolt of worry coarse through his veins.

"Hold on, Matt, let me go check on him," Logan said, standing up from the couch. Matt nodded, keeping his eyes glued to the TV screen as Logan walked swiftly to the kitchen.

"...Hey, Patton? You doing alright in here?" Logan asked, walking to stand next to his husband. Patton was silent, staring at the soup he was mixing up.

Logan bit his lip and glanced around the kitchen. His eyes landed on his husband's phone. He took a step towards it and read the article title clearly shown on the screen.

One word rang through his mind: Shit.

"...Oh. Oh my. Oh my, Patton, I'm so sorry, I should have- I mean, I-"

A gentle hand was placed on Logan's arm. Patton forced a smile.

"It's okay, Logan, we have a guest over. We'll talk about this later. I'm sure it's fine. We'll be fine. You'll be fine."

Logan blinked a few times, raising an eyebrow. "I can tell you're worried, Patton, I can ask Matt to-"

"Logan, please, it's fine, I swear."

"...Alright, then."

Logan made his way back to the living room, and slowly, Patton's mind got quieter.

Very quiet. Quiet to the point where he couldn't even remember why he was continuously stirring Matt's soup. His brain had practically shut down in that moment, so he completely forgot about that fact that he was in the process of committing second-degree murder. He did remember the article pulled up on his phone, though, so he was definitely still freaking out.

Patton soon called Logan and Matt to the dining room and gave both of them their dinner. They thanked Patton, and the three of them sat down to eat.

They chatted lightly as they ate, though it was clear there was a certain tension in the air. Matt, of course, had no idea why, but Logan knew Patton was in the middle of freaking out from traumatic memories flooding his mind.

The rest of the night was a blur to all three of them. Patton remembered having a pretty good time. Matt was a nice guy. But soon enough, he was walking out their front door, and Logan and Patton were left alone.

Patton took a deep breath.

"Wanna go to bed?" He asked.

"Yes, but, uhm... never mind, yes."

Both of them shuffled around their upstairs in mostly silence, brushing their teeth and getting changed into their pajamas. Both climbed into bed together.

"Patton? Can we talk?" Logan turned to face his husband, who was laying down, his head on the pillow behind him.

"About what?" Patton asked, sitting up. Logan sat up too, and sighed.

"Look, I know you're scared, but I want you to talk to me. I just want to hear you talk, because I know you're scared, and there's probably a lot of thoughts going through your mind that you might want to get out in the open."

Patton blinked for a moment, and sighed. "Well... yeah, I'm scared, but of course I'm scared. I just don't want you to get hurt. I'll be fine, though, Logan, trust me."

"Pat... please."

"I'm serious! The police force in this area is really good, they'll find him! There's also a lot of really great detectives and stuff around!"

Logan sighed, again, and reached forward to rub his husband's shoulder reassuringly.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it right now, okay? I just want you to know you can open up to me. We're married, I'll always be there for you if you need to vent, yeah? I just want to keep you happy."

Patton smiled and leaned forward to kiss his husband. It felt like a normal kiss at first since Logan had kissed back immediately as usual, but eventually, something felt... off. Almost... quiet, for some reason.

By the time they pulled back and saw the expression on the other person's face, they assumed it was one-sided, though.

Logan was definitely worried about his husband, though he assumed he was just in denial for now. Patton would get through that, and then he'd open up and vent. Logan really just wanted his husband to be happy- he wished he didn't have to go through stuff like this.

It was years after the events of high school. Ten years. Logan had finally realized a bit ago that yes, the happenings of high school were his fault. Completely. But he tried not to focus on that. Logan also realized that Remy probably would have ended up going after him at some point anyway, though. But if Logan had never killed Joe, and Andrew, and Benjamin, and Ethan... no one in high school would have died. Remy would have gone after Logan, and Logan could have defended himself. Logan made the wrong, horrible, disgusting choice when he was eighteen, and now he was left with the aftermath, secretly knowing it was all his fault.

But was he going to tell any of that to Patton? Hell no.

Patton, on the other hand, was convinced the entire high school traumatic experience was because of Remy. Remy was always a sneaky person. There was plenty of evidence to show that Remy had killed Patton's five classmates, and so Patton believed he did. But Remy scared Patton- he terrified him. Around the time high school ended and him and Logan started to date, Patton started getting the thoughts that he'd now been having for so many years. Ones about murder, death, hurting, all of that. Just to protect Logan. He knew he'd do anything for his husband, even if that involved those horrible things. But, by doing those things, would that turn him into Remy? By trying to protect his love, would he only turn into the villain during the process? Patton wasn't sure, and he didn't want to know.

But was he going to tell any of that to Logan? Hell no.

When they broke from their kiss, Patton smiled gently, adjusting himself to be in his normal position of resting his head on Logan's chest. Logan laid back onto his pillow, wrapping his arms firmly around his husband. Patton's hands stayed laying on Logan's chest, slightly balled into fists, as if he was preparing for a fight.

"Get some rest, okay, love?" Logan whispered to his husband, kissing his hair. "I love you, so much."

"I love you too, Lo. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

...Patton was still terrified.

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•
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See ya in the next chapter!❣️