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Patton storms past Logan, a storm brewing on his face and tears glistening in his eyes. Logan frowns, following his brother down the hallway. A piece of paper is clenched in one of Patton's hands.
"Pat?" Logan asks cautiously. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Patton breathes through clenched teeth. His face is splotched with red, and his eyes are red-rimmed, too. "Just- just peachy, okay?"
"You um..." Logan trails off. "You don't sound okay," he finally settles on saying.
"It's nothing," Patton bites out. "I'm sorry, Lo, just- just leave me alone right now, okay?"
"Okay," Logan says in a small voice, as Patton gently pushes him out of his room and shuts the door. It's not hard enough to call a slam, but it isn't his normal quiet door click, either. Logan frowns harder.
"I'm gonna go to Remus's, okay?" He calls as he thumps back down the stairs, his backpack still nestled between his shoulder blades.
"Dinner's in an hour," his mother calls back. She also sounds upset, and Logan's concern deepens. It's a mystery, and he doesn't like mysteries. Not like this, anyway. His grandparents got him a bundle of Encyclopedia Brown books last Christmas and he likes trying to solve those mysteries (he has one of the books in his backpack for silent reading, actually). But this is a different kind of mystery, and Logan has a feeling that it's going to be much harder to solve.
"Logan!" Remus answers the door, his face flushed with excitement. "Ro's showing me how to do a cartwheel, wanna see?"
"Sure," Logan answers, momentarily diverted from the puzzle that is Patton. "Can you do one yet?"
"No," Remus readily admits. "Do you know how to do one?" Logan shakes his head, his curiosity piqued as he follows Remus into the living room. Roman stands there, tapping his foot impatiently. His face brightens when he sees Logan.
"Hi, Logan!" Roman exclaims. "Wanna see me do a cartwheel? I'm teaching Remus."
"Sure," Logan repeats, settling himself on the floor with Remus and tossing his backpack to one side. Roman squints in concentration, before arms and legs somehow coordinate themselves into a clumsy, but passable cartwheel. Remus applauds wildly next to Logan, vibrating in place, and Logan awkwardly copies him.
"Wanna try?" Remus asks. Logan demurs.
"Maybe you should go first," he says. "I um, I only saw it once."
"Oh," Remus says. "Good point!"
"Don't get your legs tangled," Roman advises, trying to set Remus up in the right position.
"Hey, if I fell the wrong way, do you think I could snap my neck like a twig?" Remus asks. Logan's eyes widen in horror.
"Maybe you shouldn't do it," Logan says, chewing on his bottom lip. Remus giggles.
"It'll be okay," he reassures his friend. "Roman wouldn't let that happen."
"Never," Roman affirms fiercely. "You just gotta be careful, Rem, that's all."
"Gotcha," Remus says, concentrating. Logan leans forward, his hands curled into fists and his heart throbbing in his throat.
"Ta da!" Remus exclaims, falling flat on his butt and spreading his arms wide. Roman groans and helps his brother up.
"You were really close!" Roman compliments him. "Like super close. I think you just lost your balance at the end. Wanna try again?"
"Later," Remus says. "Now it's Logan's turn!"
"Oh, um-" Logan stammers for a minute, the memory of why he came to Remus's house in the first place bursting like a firework in his head. "Um, actually, I have a mystery to solve and I wondered if you could help me?"
"A mystery?" Remus repeats. He skids to face Logan, all thought of the prospective cartwheel completely driven out of his mind. "What kind of mystery?" Roman looks hesitant, as if he's not sure Logan still wants him there. Logan gives him an encouraging nod, and Roman carefully sits down next to his brother.
"It's Patton," Logan explains. "He came home all upset and kind of crying and he was holding a paper, but he wouldn't tell me what it was, or why he was mad. He said he was okay, but I know my brother. And my mom's upset, too. I want to figure out why he's upset, so I can comfort him."
"Hmm," Roman says, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
"Maybe he got a bad grade?" Remus suggests. "That's about how I feel when I bring home bad grades."
"And Mom's upset, too," Roman chimes in. Remus elbows his twin without looking at him.
"Maybe," Logan says, hugging his knees. "But Patton never gets bad grades."
"Well, if he did, maybe that's why he's super upset," Remus says matter-of-factly. "Maybe he's just gotta calm down and then you can ask him again."
"I wanna do something for him," Logan says. "Something nice."
Roman brightens.
"I have just the thing!" He exclaims, springing to his feet. "Be right back!" He hurries out of the room while Logan exchanges a curious look with Remus. What could it be?
Thirty minutes later, Logan trudges home with his surprise carefully held in both hands, the glue still drying in a few places. He thinks Patton will like it, though. Maybe it will even make him smile!
Patton's door is still closed, but he doesn't let that stop him, merely shifts the surprise to one hand and knocks firmly.
"Who is it?" Patton's upset voice floats through the door.
"Me," Logan says. "I um, I have a surprise for you." He shifts from foot to foot. "Remus and Roman helped."
"A surprise?" Patton asks. "Okay. One sec." The door clicks open, and now Logan can tell for sure that Patton's been crying. His eyes are swollen and tear tracks still glisten on his freckled cheeks.
"Surprise!" Logan says, thrusting the paper toward Patton. Patton takes it gingerly, keeping it unrolled. It's a piece of baby blue construction paper, paw prints carefully drawn in each corner. A pink heart is glued in the middle, glitter glue cementing it in place. In Logan's best handwriting, he's written out the slogan: You are a pawsitively amazing big brother, Patton! with a big smiley face beneath it.
"Do you like it?" Logan asks, jiggling his leg. Patton smiles very big, his eyes watering anew, and he stoops to hug Logan with just the right amount of pressure.
"I love it," Patton assures him. "Thank you."
Logan hugs his brother back. He still doesn't know what upset Patton so much, but maybe that's okay.
He doesn't need to know what's wrong in order to comfort him, after all.