Chapter Text
"You're really moving in?" Patton's younger brother was only nineteen years old, a whole seven years younger than the twins. He'd been a surprise birth, Virgil Sanders, and had also been raised solely on his brothers' hand me downs. Up until he hit six feet tall and stayed impossibly thin, that is, and they had to start buying him his own jeans so they didn't fall right down his bean pole legs, Mom's words. Now his style was less a scraggly hodgepodge of his older brothers and more like the revenge of his repressed middle school self expression. He was standing amidst the boxes that Patton and Thomas had spent all day unloading from the car. Not that there was much- Thomas' mother had kept most of the furniture after the divorce.
"I wasn't joking, Virge," Patton Sanders huffed, placing the toaster oven on the kitchen counter with a heavy grunt. Thomas popped up from behind the counter and waved at his uncle.
"Heya, Uncle Virgil!" Thomas called.
"'Sup, Squirt," Virgil said, jerking his chin in acknowledgment. He turned to Patton, coming closer, and lowering his voice. "Aren't you worried about the others?"
"What're you talking about, Virgil?" Patton asked, confused. He shifted his glasses before bending down and taking the silverware out of the bottom of the box in two large handfuls.
"Our brothers , Pat," Virgil muttered. "You said you didn't want Thomas around bad influences."
"Why would Remus and Janus show up now, of all times?" Patton asked, raising one eyebrow. Virgil opened his mouth, but the doorbell rang. Patton's not-so-little brother huffed, then hurried off to go answer it.
Patton placed the silverware on the table, seeing that Thomas had already put the toaster oven next to the fridge and plugged it in. Now he was standing by the kitchen doorway, examining a few etchings along the door. Patton smiled and made his way over.
"What caught your eye, kiddo?" Patton asked. Thomas snorted.
"You were shorter than me at twelve," Thomas said, pointing at a mark that went up to his nose.
"Yeah, I guess I'm not the quickest grower in my family," Patton chuckled, also studying some of the marks he hadn't seen before. "Do you want me to add your measurements?"
"No. I didn't know you had so many brothers, though," Thomas said, looking at the six separate colors of marks on the wall. Their parents had always been fans of color coding.
"Sorry about that. Your mom didn't like them very much," Patton said, placing one hand on Thomas' head.
"Why?" Thomas asked.
"You mean Patton-cake is here too!?" A loud, boisterous voice exclaimed, and Patton was thrown back to days in high school when the twins would shout at him as he walked home and they were still in their last recess. He turned to see none other than his baby brother Roman Sanders, one box under his arm and one suitcase trailing him, as the theatre nerd looked right at him.
"Roman!" Patton exclaimed enthusiastically, rushing to hug his little brother. Roman tossed his box onto an empty armchair and left his suitcase beside it, rushing to accept Patton's hug.
"Oh my god, don't you ever go radio silent again! I thought I'd only hear from you if your wife died or something, Dios mio!" Roman cried, pulling away just far enough to examine his older brother in full.
"You're taller than me!" Patton laughed. "And you're so tan, what happened?"
"I studied abroad in Peru, then decided to stay for a few years!" Roman explained. Then his face lit up even brighter. "Oh, Virgil told me forever ago you had a kid! What's his name again, something really white, right? John?"
"It's not nearly as bad as John," Patton defended. He turned back to where Thomas had yet to leave the kitchen doorway. His son was looking very much like a deer in the headlights as he stared up at Roman. "Come on, Thomas, say hi to your Uncle Roman!"
"Oh my god, he doesn't look anything like your bitch wife," Roman gushed.
"Language," Patton scolded playfully. Thomas tentatively came over, pressing himself shyly against his father's side.
"Hi." Thomas said shortly.
"Hey! I love your hair, purple suits you," Roman grinned, and he tousled the violet locks.
"Uncle Virge picked it," Thomas said, trying to get attention off of himself. Roman barked out a laugh.
"Of course he did. Virgil once tried to go a whole year not wearing any hand me downs unless they were black or purple. Mom and Dad damn near forced him into Patton's old bright blue bomber jacket on snow days," Roman teased, looking at his baby brother with a huge grin. Virgil rolled his eyes and looked away, his hands going into his jean pockets.
Thomas, meanwhile, looked like someone had told him angels were going to come and give him a chocolate cake made out of rainbows and stars. "It snows here?"
Immediately, Roman turned back to Thomas, gasping. "You've never seen snow? Another reason to hate your mother. As soon as it starts to snow in the winter, we're going to have the best snow day, you and I. Don't let me forget, nephew of mine!"
"Maybe after you shovel out the driveway," Virgil snorted.
Roman placed his hands on his hips and stuck out his tongue. "You can't give me chores, Dark and Stormy, I'm an adult."
"Living for free in my house," Virgil teased. The mood dried up immediately after that comment and Virgil coughed. "Uh, sorry."
"No, it's fine!" Roman said, forcing a smile. "I just… need to find a job."
"Oh, what happened?" Patton asked. He knew why he asked Virgil if he could stay. He'd been a house husband for so long he wasn't sure if he'd be able to find a job good enough to support him and Thomas. Living with Virgil would just mean pitching in for groceries now and then, or helping cover electrical and water bills, rather than trying to pay for a whole monthly rent. And Virgil, along with the house, had inherited the family business. Seeing as he'd been living at home, Mom and Dad had taught him the ins and outs of running the flower shop. It was currently being renovated, but once that was finished Patton would begin working there as a cashier for his baby brother.
"Well, apparently, not all dreams come true on the first try. Or the second. Or the third," Roman laughed. He pursed his lips. "Mr. Haverhill was right, I needed a backup plan."
"With our family, you have a built-in backup plan," Virgil reminded.
"I don't know anything about flowers," Roman argued hotly. "I'll look into waiting tables, I don't know. But I'm glad you extended this offer to me, Virgil, and I'll pay you back as soon as I can."
"You don't have to, Princey," Virgil said. "Through thick and thin, and whatever."
Patton smiled at his two younger brothers, remembering the family phrase the older siblings had come up with as children to help them connect despite their age differences. They'd always seemed larger when they were kids, but when Virgil was born it was pretty evident they were rather small in comparison.
"Thick and thin?" Thomas piped up.
"It means we'll always stick together," Patton explained.
"Yeah," Virgil chuckled uncomfortably. "And um. I might have, just maybe, also let Janus and Remus move in-"
"What!?" Roman and Patton exclaimed in near panic, for two separate reasons.
"-but only until Janus can get back on his feet, and only because Mom told me to make sure Remus doesn't get hooked again!" Virgil immediately defended.
"Virgil, my son is living here!" Patton protested.
"Remus nearly got me and him killed , Virgil! He's incredibly unhinged!" Roman argued. Patton stared at him in shock, not having known about that at all.
Virgil scowled. "Oh like you'd even know, Roman! Re's changed, he's gotten better! He's just as freaked about the accident as you are! And Patton, you've ignored most of the family for over a decade, I don't think you get much of a choice in the matter!"
At that moment, the partially open front door swung further open, revealing yet another of Patton's little brothers, a suitcase in one hand and a briefcase in the other, a rolled up blanket tucked under one arm.
"You really should close the door if you're going to be loudly discussing someone who might arrive at any moment," Logan Sanders stated, bending down to place his suitcase on the floor.
"Logan! At last, someone sane ," Roman lamented dramatically.
"Dad," Thomas muttered, now that Roman and Virgil had turned to the second person he was unfamiliar with. Patton leaned a bit to listen to his son. "Who are Remus and Janus?"
"They're my younger brothers," Patton explained. "They… aren't very good people."
"You don't like them?" Thomas asked, and Patton winced.
"We'll talk about it later. Let's go meet your Uncle Logan." Patton placed one hand between Thomas' shoulders, pushing him forward to the door.
"Is that all your stuff, L?" Virgil was asking, taking Logan's briefcase.
"Yes, I'm afraid Caelum took everything else," Logan explained, clearing his throat.
"I told you that your boyfriend of yours was a shi- uh, a bastard," Roman noticed Thomas coming over.
Patton was surprised. "Logan, you're gay?"
"Patton," Logan looked as surprised as he felt. "You're here? Oh, and this must be Thomas. Salutations."
Thomas snickered. "Hey."
"Oh, sorry, that was rude of me, just asking that out of nowhere- it's so good to see you, Lo!" Patton grinned. Logan smiled.
"It is good to see you, as well. I hope it is under good circumstances for you?" Logan asked.
"Sarah didn't hit him or anything," Virgil commented lowly, and immediately Roman looked more relaxed. Patton glanced at him in worry. Why would Roman be so tense about that? Of course Sarah didn't hit him.
"That doesn't mean she didn't hurt him," Logan muttered. Patton looked at his brother bewildered.
"I'm absolutely fine, guys! We divorced on good terms," Patton explained.
Logan and Roman turned to Virgil with doubtful expressions. Virgil looked down at Thomas, then back at them. "I'll talk to you guys about it later. Do you want me to set you up in your old bedrooms, or what?"
"My old bedroom should suffice," Logan decided.
"No way! I'm not sleeping in the same room as Remus when I don't have to," Roman scowled.
"Oh, where is Thomas sleeping?" Patton asked. Virgil scratched his head.
"Uh, you and Thomas can take Roman and Remus' old room, Roman can take mine. I've already moved my stuff into Mom and Dad's," Virgil explained. Patton knew for a fact that Virgil had moved into their parents' old room because it meant interacting with the rest of them less, seeing as it had its own bathroom. He might not know him very well, but he'd gotten to know him alright in the past three years they had been talking over video calls.
"Is the decor still the same?" Patton asked, wondering if he was about to take his son to a bedroom with a clashing Christmas scheme to it. Not only that, but Remus had a lot of taxidermy on his side of the room, for a kid from a family that hated harming animals.
"Nah, I went and put all the personal effects of our cringe-worthy childhoods into boxes. If you want any of that stuff, it's in the attic," Virgil said. "I repainted the walls white too, so just ask me for tarps if you wanna do anything to them."
"Even mine?" Logan asked, sounding a bit put out. Virgil laughed.
"No, I couldn't bring myself to paint over the constellations. Your walls are fine," Virgil reassured. "Come on, let's get you guys all settled. Thomas, wanna help? I'll show you your room, too."
"Okay, Uncle V!" Thomas grinned, and he rushed up the stairs with Roman and Logan. Virgil smiled towards Patton, who nodded back and began to put away the silverware he'd left on the counter.
Patton sighed as he placed his silverware with that of his deceased parents. They'd lived rather long at least, Mom dying at seventy five. She could've lived longer still, but she had never been very healthy. Dad died of old age, so there wasn't much to do about that. He'd been eighty two, longer than anyone in his family had ever lived. Patton himself was currently thirty four, but he felt like that wasn't too incredibly far off from seventy five. Funny though, his son would probably be thirty four when he was seventy. Wasn't that weird to think? Thomas was so far from being thirty four, but Patton wasn't so far from being seventy? That didn't make any sense. But that's how feelings could be, sometimes.
After Patton finished putting away all the things he’d brought that belonged in the kitchen, he began to sort through the rest of the boxes. Most were books, or clothes, and one was just Thomas’ electronics. After a moment, he’d found the one stuffed with photographs, and begun unpacking that one.
Patton had very few recent photographs of his family. His wife had never liked his parents, because they made her feel unwelcome, so he didn’t keep in contact with them very well over the years. He sent them any news he felt was important enough to validate bothering them, and he’d paid attention whenever they told him any big news. But the fact was that he was living with his wife in Florida, halfway across the country from them, and she didn’t even like him calling them in the first place.
The most recent photograph Patton had of his family was when Thomas was born. His family had gotten together, almost all of them, and taken a photo to use as a greeting card. Patton had shown it to Thomas once, and that was when he found it behind another photograph, where he’d hidden it from his wife twelve years prior. So, Thomas’ first time looking at this photo was only a few weeks ago.
Patton sighed guiltily, placing the picture frame on the mantel. “Sorry, Mom and Dad.”
“I’m going to go pick up Remus from the center, don’t wait up!” Virgil hollered over his shoulder, sprinting out of the house as he tugged his jacket. Patton chuckled as the door slammed behind his brother. He’d only been talking to Virgil over video messaging for the past three or so years, and he was constantly entertained by how wild of a person he was. Sure, he was the most subdued of the brothers, but he could be quite dramatic when he wanted to be.
Patton returned to the photographs. He’d only kept the ones with Thomas and himself, leaving Sarah with all the rest. He spotted a picture on the mantle of Virgil, dressed in the gold robes of his high school graduation. Patton smiled, remembering when he and Sarah had walked the stage in their gold graduation gowns. He couldn’t wait until Thomas walked the stage too, maybe even in the same gold now that they lived in Patton’s home town.
Finally, Patton began moving boxes upstairs. He placed Thomas’ box of electronics in the bedroom first, when he heard laughter down the hall. He made his way over and laughed at the sight he saw.
“Dad, Uncle Roman can carry me on his shoulders!” Thomas exclaimed, looking for all the world like he was a much younger child. It was something of a miracle that Roman could carry Thomas’ twelve year old weight on his shoulders without breaking a sweat.
“I could carry you and Logan too, if you guys want to join in the fun,” Roman boasted. Logan snorted looking up from where he was carefully folding his clothes into drawers.
“I don’t see how hanging over your biceps as you twirl violently to show off your strength is fun,” Logan stated blandly, a smirk on his lips.
“I dunno, Lo, it could be fun,” Patton debated.
“Ha!” Roman cried out triumphantly.
“After all, I doubt he’d get us very far off the ground, and wouldn’t that be funny?” Patton finished, and Roman spluttered out several offended noises. Logan chuckled, shaking his head.
“You know, I had been worried we wouldn’t ever get to see each other again,” Logan said. “Especially after you missed the funeral.”
Patton pursed his lips, and the mood in the room plummeted down to somber. “I didn’t want to totally drop off the radar, you know.”
“Welp, Thomas! Let’s go raid the fridge to see what snacks Virgil’s got stocked up,” Roman announced, hurriedly escaping from the room to let Logan and Patton talk in private. Thomas laughed and cheered as he bounced on Roman’s shoulders, ducking under the doorway.
Logan smiled gently. “Thomas is a bright boy.”
“He tries his best,” Patton said. “He’d be glad to know you think so.”
“I do wish you’d tried to contact us sooner,” Logan said, leaning against his dresser. He twisted the handle a bit in his grip. “We could have spent so much more time with him, after all. Something could happen to any of us at any point, and we’ll barely have just met him.”
“I’m sorry, Lo,” Patton sighed.
“I don’t blame you in the least,” Logan argued. Patton got the impression that he was blaming his ex-wife. “I never liked Sarah. I was glad when Mom and Dad told you they didn’t like her either, because I thought that meant she would leave our lives forever. I admit, I was a bit naive at the time.”
“You were a kid,” Patton reminded.
“I was sixteen.” Logan folded his arms. Patton blinked at him, curious. Logan had been fourteen when Patton and Sarah had started dating. “When you married her, I mean. I was sixteen, and you were barely scraping nineteen. But you said that you couldn’t leave her to raise your baby by herself.”
“And I didn’t,” Patton agreed.
“Then suddenly there was no baby, and I shamefully admit that I was so excited to learn that. I hoped you’d start coming home on the weekends again,” Logan explained. Patton looked at the ground in shame. Logan looked out the window. “Then Janus was in the hospital and accused of arson, your apartment building was on fire, and Sarah was going to move to go to college across the country.”
“Logan, I really am sorry.”
“You picked Sarah. I understand now, I think. It's easy to get distracted when something new comes into our lives," Logan explained, pushing away from the dresser. Patton wasn't sure he could understand, seeing as Patton himself wasn't sure what made him let Sarah take over his life. "I just wish it didn't take this long for us to talk again."
"I know, Lo," Patton murmured, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. Logan shuddered, a tear slipping down his cheeks.
"I was so scared when I heard what happened," Logan said, trying to suppress a sob. "I thought you might be hurt, or burned, but you never called, and no one could ever get in contact with you. Patton, you're my only older brother. I was lost without you."
"I'm sorry," Patton apologized yet again, tugging his little brother into a hug. He knew an apology would never be enough, but he was here now. Logan wept, clutching his older brother close.
"I'm not typically one for hugs," Logan laughed wetly.
"Too bad, tears get hugs," Patton insisted, rubbing circles into his brother's back. Logan pulled away first, dabbing at his face with a handkerchief he kept in his pocket. He wiped his lenses before putting them back on his face.
"I believe you asked me about my sexuality before?" Logan questioned. He was changing the subject.
"Only if you feel comfortable talking about it," Patton assured.
"Yes, thank you. I do feel as though I should explain now, as you would be the only one of us out of the loop on such regard," Logan pointed out. "So in the interest of full transparency, I believed I was asexual, but upon getting to know Caelum, I discovered I was demisexual."
"Oh," Patton furrowed his brow. "What's that?"
"It means I don't experience sexual attraction until a certain point in a relationship. I am homoromantic, however, so technically I am gay," Logan continued.
"I'll have to do some looking into that, I've never heard of it before," Patton commented.
"Oh, I'd always recommend looking into LGBT topics. If you'd like proper sources, I have several that I typically recommend to people looking for their identity," Logan offered. Patton grinned.
"I'd like that, Lo."
There was a crash down the hall, and Patton heard Thomas burst out into laughter. It seems the boys had already had their fill of snacks. Patton and Logan glanced at each other, and then Roman shouted, "Logan! You're good at fixing dressers, right!?"
Logan sighed. "It seems I'm being summoned. I'll give you those sources by the end of the night?"
"Don't worry about it, we've got a lot to do today, and plenty of time to handle that stuff," Patton assured. Logan smiled, ever so slightly. He turned down the hall, and Patton sighed happily.
Then the front door burst open and a voice loudly announced, "I'm back!"
Patton went to the top of the staircase, where he could see Remus standing in the doorway chewing loudly on a stick of gum. Virgil came up behind him almost sulkily and slipped under his arm to enter the house. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder.
"I'll go put this in your room," Virgil said. Remus raised an eyebrow.
"Am I staying in the Twin Den?" Remus asked, his voice gratingly obnoxious.
"No," Virgil stated flatly. "You're taking Patton's old room."
Remus looked up the stairs, then grinned. "Patton! You're alive and well, looks like!"
"I guess I could say the same of you," Patton awkwardly responded. His smile felt more like a grimace.
"Oh, yeah! Good ol' Worrywart won't let me die! As long as he's looking out for me, I'm functionally immortal!" Remus cackled, as he skipped up the stairs beside Virgil. Virgil grimaced at him.
"Please tell me you've developed a sense of self preservation at the center," Virgil pleaded.
"Well, I won't be sticking any forks into electrical outlets, if that's what you're asking," Remus grinned. "I'm still gonna try to track down that wild raccoon that eats our garbage though! I'm gonna fight it with a stick!"
"Remus, please," Virgil groaned. "Please do not fight the raccoons."
"Does he fight raccoons often?" Patton asked.
"Once, I got rabies!" Remus bragged. "You would know that if you stayed around at all."
"Most nineteen year olds leave home," Patton huffed, folding his arms.
"Sure, but they still visit," Remus snarked.
"Remus, can you not? Right now? We can talk this out later, when we're all settled in," Virgil interrupted. Remus heaved a groan.
"This isn't over," he said to Patton, sticking one slightly yellow fingernail in his face. Then he sauntered down the hall towards Patton's childhood bedroom. Virgil smiled apologetically at Patton.
"Sorry, you know how he is," Virgil shrugged.
"Oh, hey Roman! Oh, is this my nephew?" Remus' voice carried quite easily through the hall. "Hi! I'm the uncle who's only cautionary tales!"
"Don't stick metal in an outlet, you'll end up like Uncle Remus," Roman immediately responded.
"Don't do drugs, you'll end up like Uncle Remus!" Remus joined in.
"Don't jump off the roof into a pile of leaves with a cat hiding in the bottom, you'll end up like Uncle Remus!" they managed to say in unison.
Patton looked to Virgil, who shrugged. "At least they aren't being bad influences."
That evening, surprisingly enough, they had managed to unpack all of their collective things. Which was, apparently, only Patton's boxes and a single case of trophies from Roman's community theatre.
"Did you order the pizza, Virge?" Roman asked, tuckered out as he fell onto the couch beside his twin. Remus immediately snuggled into him, seeing as old habits die hard. Logan folded his legs as he sat in the armchair, and Patton leaned in his own armchair to rest his chin on Thomas' head, the twelve year old sitting on the floor in front of him.
"Yeah, like ten minutes ago," Virgil snorted. "I'm good at this planning shit, Ro."
"Virgil, language," Patton scolded.
"You should implement a swearing jar, Dad," Thomas suggested. "Whenever it's full, you buy me a video game."
"Would if I could, Thoma-llama-ding-dong. This is Virgil's house though, so his word's law," Patton reminded, switching his chin for his cheek so he could talk easier. It was so strange to be saying that about the brother whom he'd last seen in person as a toddler.
"Great," Virgil grinned. "New house rule, no one can wake me up before three in the afternoon."
"Vetoed," his older brothers all chorused immediately. Thomas laughed, covering his mouth with his hands.
"I thought this was my house," Virgil grumbled.
"You're still the babiest brother, though," Roman mocked.
Just then the doorbell rang. Virgil moved to get off the floor, but Patton stood up first. "I'll get it, Virge, you can just stay there."
Virgil settled back into the carpet, and Patton moved around his son to get to the door. He stopped and grabbed his wallet out of his jacket first. Then he opened the door and promptly dropped his wallet.
Janus Sanders stood on the doorstep, the left side of his face horribly burned, his left eye nearly shut. More burns continued down his neck and under his shirt only to appear, in full force, down the length of his left arm. He grinned, stretching the healed pink skin. "Hey, big brother. It's been about fifteen years, right?"
"About," Patton managed to say.
"Aren't you gonna say hello?"