A/N before this story begins. This is important.

Hey, all! I am so excited for you all to be reading this story, but I need to clarify a few things first. Just bear with me here, okay?

1- THIS IS A SEQUEL. If you haven't read the first book PLEASE. DO. THAT. FIRST! It is called "Mine" and it is on my profile. Please read it first if you haven't already or else a lot of parts from this won't make any sense at all.

2- Chapter One takes place DIRECTLY AFTER the first book's epilogue. I recommend re-reading at least the epilogue before beginning this book so you can refresh your memory, if you haven't done that already! This first chapter doesn't really beat around the bush with character/setting introductions because a lot of that was done in the epilogue already. Definitely go re-read!!

3- This book is one giant TW. The full list of all the TWs is in the description, but basically it can be summed up to just angst, death, and gore. If you are not okay with reading any of that then please do not read this book.

Okay! That's all. I won't have any more A/Ns at the beginning of chapters, they will all be at the very end. I just wanted to tell my readers these three things. Happy (or sad) reading!

•~~~~•

It was just a normal day.

Patton's husband, Logan, pulled their car into the driveway of their home. Finally, they had arrived home from grocery shopping. They briefly smiled at each other, though Patton could tell something was off with Logan's stare. He pushed it to the back of his mind, though, because it was probably nothing.

They both climbed out of the car and moved to the trunk. Logan opened up the back and grabbed a bag of groceries.

"Can you grab a bag or two, love?" Logan asked Patton. Patton quickly nodded and grabbed the two smallest bags. Logan had the other ones in his hands, and there were no more left in the car. He quickly shut the trunk and the two started walking up to their door.

Patton smiled gently, staring at their home. It was a relatively small two-story suburban home, but it was located in one of those neighborhoods where your neighbors live about a block away, so it seemed a lot bigger. There were a lot of trees around so there wasn't as much yard to mow as you might think. They lived a decently secluded, middle-class life together.

The two had always known they'd end up getting married and spending their whole lives together, but after college, it was even more apparent. That was when they officially decided to move in together. Logan had a big influence of where they ended up living. He always loved stars, and their house was about a fifteen minutes drive away from a large field with little to no light pollution. Patton and Logan had spent many long nights out there, cuddling in the grass and gazing at the stars. It was always a magical experience for them. The house and neighborhood was also located pretty far away from where both of them had grown up. Logan's mother still lived near their high school, and she wasn't the only thing they wanted to leave behind. Their past life was now about a two hour's drive away.

Though... it was also only a few weeks time away. Not that Patton knew that, of course.

"Patton?"

He blinked, turning his head to look at his husband, who had a mildly confused look on his face.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just staring at our house and being nostalgic. You know how I am."

Logan smiled gently and nodded. Logan and Patton walked up to their front door and Logan fumbled with the keys for a moment before opening the door. They walked inside and set the groceries down on the nearby kitchen counter. Logan quickly walked back to the front door and locked it.

The two chatted as they put groceries away, and Patton smiled as they worked. He loved domestic moments like these- just two husbands, working hard to put groceries away, with nothing else on their minds. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Patton turned around and saw Logan standing, dazed out, his gaze locked on one of their many kitchen knives.

"Logan?"

He blinked. "Hm? Oh, sorry. I dazed out."

Patton quickly put the last grocery away that he needed to and took a step towards his husband, a slightly worried look washing over his face. "Lo, what's wrong? You've been acting a little woozy today."

Logan smiled gently. "I'm fine, Pat."

Logan definitely wasn't fine, but no way was he going to tell Patton he was worried for their safety and exactly why that was. He'd wait for a... better moment to alert his husband.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course."

Patton watched as Logan quickly closed the fridge which had been open. He took a step forward and wrapped his arms around his husband's waist. Patton giggled, placing his hands gently on Logan's chest.

"What do you want for dinner?" Patton asked.

"I don't have any preferences. We could always order."

"Pizza?"

"That would be the third time this week, love."

"And your point is...?"

"...I'll call the pizza place."

"Yay!"

The couple let go of each other and Logan got his phone out from his pocket, quickly pulling up the pizza company's number on his phone. Patton rocked back and forth on his toes, waiting.

"Yes? Hello... can I get one medium-sized cheese pizza? ...Yes, do you have sprite? ...One please. Thank you. ...Logan Croft. ...Yes. ...Alright, thank you very much."

Logan hung up and put his phone back in his pocket. "The pizza will be here in an hour," he told his husband.

Patton playfully pumped his fists in the air, making Logan snicker. The two walked out to their living room and sat down on the couch. Logan quickly pulled up Netflix.

They cuddled on the couch as they waited for their food to arrive, and once it did get there, they moved to kneel in front of their coffee table so they could keep eating and watching Netflix.

Logan took a bite out of his slice of pizza when his phone suddenly vibrated. Patton raised both his eyebrows as Logan got his phone out of his pocket and smiled at something on it.

"Whatcha looking at?" Patton asked, taking a drink from his bottle of sprite.

"Nothing, my co-worker just texted me. Matt. Is it okay if he comes over for dinner one night this week? We haven't talked as much as we are right now outside work and I'd like to keep this friendship going before it diminishes."

Logan worked as a college professor at a local college in their town. He had talked about his co-workers before to his husband, but since they had no classes in the hotter months Patton didn't hear much about them during summer. It surprised him that Logan would even want to make friends with his co-workers.

It also surprised him because he felt something... odd.

"Oh, yeah, that's fine! I can make dinner and you two can catch up."

What was it? Jealousy? Grief? Sadness? Anger? Whatever it was, Patton didn't like it.

"Thank you so much."

He didn't like the thoughts that were now swarming in his head, either.

"Of course! I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick, I'll be right back."

He felt dizzy.

"Alright."

Patton stood up and quickly walked to the bathroom. He closed the door behind him and took a shakey deep breath, bracing himself on the sink counter and staring at himself in the mirror.

He'd be fine. He's had these thoughts before. He's been having these thoughts and feelings for years now, in fact...

...He just had to press them down a little bit further this time, that's all.

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•
Yeah,,,, repression can be... very bad indeed.

See ya in the next chapter!❤️