There was a veil of tension in the air that was almost tangible, but Patton had just tried his best to stare out the window watching all the buildings pass them by. He had been buzzing with excitement just that morning, but his mother always had the uncanny ability to make him feel like he did something wrong sometimes. She hadn't spoken after asking for the address, slamming the car door and muttering an apology under her breath before they drove away. The old pickup she refused to get rid of still held strong as he peered in the rearview mirror, watching the tarp held down in the back shake and billow as they drove along. He glanced over when he heard the sound of the blinker once more, catching the name of the street they were turning on. He perked up, suddenly feeling his heart race with the same excitement he felt that morning.

The truck turned slowly and Patton's eyes raced along the buildings, looking for the one that would label his new home.

"We're almost there, sweetie."

"Yeah." He muttered, hardly paying any attention as he focused on the outside world.

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" His mother spoke again, finally breaking the silence she held since they entered the truck. "Moving in with someone you only just started dating?"

Patton turned and smiled brightly at his mother. "Come on, mom. We went on two dates, we aren't exactly dating yet. Besides, Logan and I were living together first." His mother's expression didn't change and he laughed a bit to himself. "We will be in separate rooms. Roman and Virgil are both still living with us. It's just like before!"

"What if something goes wrong again? What if there's another fire?" Her grip on the steering wheel tightened. "What about this place? You haven't seen it in person yet!"

"I've been on video chats with the others when Logan went to sign the lease and he is very thorough." Patton glanced back out the window and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Besides, that's not what this is about and you know it."

He didn't have to see his mother know the face she was making. The guilty look filled with shame as she tried convincing herself she was thinking purely of good intentions. "Patton, sweetie. I love you so much and you know I'm only worried because I care about you."

"I'll be fine. I'm not exactly a kid anymore. They know me."

"Do they?" He turned to his mother once more and she seemed guilty, almost as if she hadn't expected to say it out loud. "I mean, do they know? About... the thing?"

Patton sighed and leaned back into the car seat, trying to hide away from this conversation like he had all week. "Whether or not they know doesn't mean they don't know me."

"Should you really be dating that Logan boy then? Isn't it lying to him?"

"I'm not dating Logan yet! He'll know if he needs to know, okay?" Patton huffed a bit and turned away from his mother in a defiant, childish attempt to end the conversation. He heard her chuckle as it grew into a full laugh before turning back to her, trying to hide his own smile. "What's so funny?"

"Not dating yet? Oh honey, you really do care for this boy, don't you?" Patton bit his lip as he broke out into a blush, grateful his mother's attention was on the road. "I hear you on the phone with him practically all night, are you sure you're not official yet?"

Patton tried hiding in his baggy sweater he wore for moving day but knew it was no use. "We've been busy. We were gonna talk about it after we got settled again."

"Well, promise me one thing." She reached over and gave her son's leg a pat without taking her eyes off the road. "You sweep him off his feet and bring him home for dinner whenever you're both ready. Dad and I would love to meet him."

"Mom, come on! Just keep driving!"

The truck came to a slow stop and she put the truck in park before turning to her son. "We're here."

Patton perked up and looked out the window before spotting the building he recognized from the photos. He quickly threw the door open and jumped out, racing out of the truck and to the building in front of him. It was definitely smaller than the last place, but that just meant it was cheaper too. There was no roof for them to gather on top of anymore and they lived on the ground floor this time, but it was close to the main road and the bus stop was right there. It was going to be an adjustment to the bigger building closer to the center of the city they had before, but as long as he got to live with his roommates, Patton didn't mind at all.

"It looks cozy." His mother spoke, closing the truck door behind her. "It's more the college residential area, isn't it? Good thing none of you drive, parking would be impossible."

"It is a bit different." He turned and smiled at his mother. "I like that it's a bit different, though!"

A creaking behind him led Patton to turn back to the apartment building. Logan stood in the doorway, looking over with a small smirk on his face. "Oh, he's cute." Patton heard his mother whisper as she leaned in. He chose to ignore her and run towards the building and up the small stairs.

"Well, greetings Patt-oof!" Logan stumbled back a step as Patton launched himself and latched onto Logan in a tight hug. "Well, I have missed you too." He chose to ignore the warmth growing on his face and up his ears.

"Come on, give him a hug back already!" Logan looked up as the woman on the sidewalk cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled over at them. Choosing not to make a bad first impression, Logan wrapped his arms around Patton while the other looked up at him. After getting his hug, Patton pushed away and turned towards his mother, shooting her a glare. "What? I was helping!"

"You're embarrassing, mom! I get it that it's your job but could you at least give us a minute?" His mother waved a hand at them before turning to the truck bed and taking off the cables that held everything down. "Sorry about her."

"It's quite alright. I wasn't exactly against it." Logan smiled down at Patton, before looking back to the truck. "Margaret, right?"

"Hmm?"

"Your mother's name." Logan brushed off his shirt of imaginary dirt. "I want to greet myself properly. Do I look okay?"

Patton smiled at Logan who was busy fussing with his shirt, not satisfied with how it sat no matter how many times he fixed it. "Just go say hi, she doesn't bite."

"Has that been a proven fact?" He muttered under his breath before looking over at Patton. Logan took a moment before walking down the small stairs and toward the truck. The sound of footsteps caused the woman to look over her shoulder at Logan. She turned and crossed her arms, smiling at the nervous man, a smirk on her face as she waited for him to talk. "Hello. My name is Logan." He reached out a hand and cringed at himself with how formal and stiff the greeting was. "A pleasure to meet you, Margaret."

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Excuse me?" He placed her hands on her hips and Logan jumped back in surprise. "What did you just call me?"

Logan quickly retracted his hand and fell into a complete panic. "Well, I apologize. I was-"

"That is Maggie to you, mister!" She took a step forward and stared him down with an intense glare. "And no handshaking, you either give me a hug or you don't bother at all!" She threw her arms out and wrapped Logan in an embrace, pinning his arms to his sides. She bent herself back and picked him up off the ground and Logan let out a yelp in surprise. Once his feet were firmly planted on the ground, she let go and Logan stumbled backward, grabbing and adjusting his glasses and staring up at the woman in shock. "Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am! Sorry, Maggie. I apologize once again. I did not mean to offend." Logan watched the woman in front of him throw herself into a full laugh, her nose scrunched up as she grabbed her sides and let herself fall into it completely. Smiling, he turned to look at Patton, noticing all the behaviors he saw he had seen in her son before. Her laughter lessened and he turned back, watching her blink away the tears and smile at him. "It is a pleasure, Maggie. Thank you for helping Patton move."

"Well, of course, sweetheart! Anything for my little dove!" Maggie smiled and winked at Logan before turning toward the truck. "Come on, let's get those muscles working and get my baby settled, hm?"

Logan looked back over his shoulder at Patton who smiled and shrugged, used to his mother's strange behavior. Racing over to the truck bed, Logan looked over and noticed the few boxes Patton brought, along with that he could only assume was his dresser and bed. "Ah, I see you're fully prepared! I bought a blowup mattress in case anyone couldn't get everything today."

"Of course! It's not much but it should be enough! I had trouble getting it all to fit in one trip. There's a few odds and ends we left behind." She jumped up on the back of the truck and started unbuckling a few things tied down. "Patton sweetie! Go figure out which room is yours and we'll start seeing what needs to be brought in first!"

"Got it, mom!" Patton shouted from the porch before running into the open door.

Logan looked around and made notes of where everything was located on the truck. "Alright, we can probably place some of the boxes in the first bedroom, I have a feeling he's going to want the one with the window view of the back." Logan shuffled and moved closer to the truck. "So we can start moving some boxes out of the way of the bigger items. There is a couch in the living room already we will have to move to the side, though." Logan looked up at the woman who simply stared down at him with a big smile on her face. "Is everything alright?"

Maggie turned and jumped down off of the truck with ease, staring Logan down carefully. "You listen here. After you're all settled and cozy, you're going to take my Pat out on a nice date. You'll wear a nice shirt and tie and you'll ask to be his boyfriend and shower him with all the love in your heart and then some." She leaned in, poking his chest a few times lightly as she grew serious. "And don't you dare for one minute think about changing your mind. You've been chatting with that boy for hours every night, smiling and laughing and talking. All he could talk about was how he couldn't wait to live with you fellas again. You're not going to play around with him and just toss him aside, you hear me?"

Logan blinked up at the woman, amazed at how quickly she went from smiles and laughter to near threatening him. Surprisingly, he felt a bit calm, ignoring the increased heartbeat he felt pounding in his chest. "Of course, as long as Patton shares the same feelings as I do, then I'm sure we will come to that mutual agreement when we get there."

She suddenly started laughing and threw her head back again before looking over at Logan. "You make it sound so formal, oh goodness gracious he was so right about you! You're so precious I just want to hug you!" She threw her arms around Logan and wrapped him in a hug once more, though not as tight of a grip this time. "I'm sorry I worry. Patton is just too kind. He falls too easily and so quickly, I just don't want to see his heart broken again."

She pulled away and Logan smiled up at her. "I'll try my best."

The sound of pounding footsteps took their attention away from one another as Patton appeared, a bit red-faced from all the running and smiling at them both. "Hey, is it okay if I take the second room with the window? I know I might have to fight Roman for it later but it's so nice!"

"No, it's alright." Logan smiled and turned back to the truck. "It was same rules as last time, first come first serve. Also, Roman has already told me which room he wants so it's quite alright. That one is open for you to take."

The movement of Patton's things into the small apartment went fairly smoothly. Patton's mattress and dresser were the most difficult parts but Maggie had a knack for certain things. She hefted them up quickly and shoved with such force, Logan helping figure out which way was best as Patton carried the items in. Logan had tried to help but Maggie's instructions were vague and Patton seemed to understand his mother enough with little effort. Soon his room was partially set up and the boxes lined part of the small living room ready to be sorted.

Patton glanced around as his mother inspected the place, stopping at the room in the way back with a smile. "Hey, Lo!" He walked into the room, looking around and inspecting the set-up. "Do you just have a preference for rooms in the way back of apartments or something?"

"You could say that." Logan walked in, glancing at Patton. "I know it was the largest room this time, I hope that is quite alright."

"It's fine by me!" Patton looked over at the room across the hall. "This seems like the smallest, I guess Virgil is going to be your buddy then, huh?"

Logan cleared his throat, gaining Patton's attention. "Actually, that is the room Roman claimed. Virgil will be taking the front room by you."

"He took the smallest room?" Patton looked around the room before turning back to Logan. "Is that because of the news you told me?"

Logan nodded and turned to walk out of the room. "He said it would only be fair he take the smallest room."

Patton's mother was in the kitchen when they entered and every cabinet door was opened as she sifted through them. She heard their voices and looked over with a smile. "Patton honey! These cupboards are completely empty! We finished up fairly quick, let me take you down to the store and grab you some things!" She started closing each door softly as she spoke. "I can even get you some stuff for baking! I know you like sweets and don't bake often so it's a good start to learn!"

"I can bake!" Patton said in a huff.

His mother chuckled and looked over at her son. "Yes, from a box, but can you bake from scratch?"

Patton sighed and gave into his mother. "No."

"I can." Patton looked over at Logan and perked up. "I'm fairly adequate at it actually. I'd be happy to teach you."

Patton's eyes lit up as he gasped with excitement. "You will?! Oh my gosh, we will have so much fun!" Logan didn't comment but as ideas raced through his head, he glanced over and saw Patton's mother give him a nod of approval. "We should get a bunch of baking stuff and bake all night!"

"Not necessary. If you would not mind, Maggie, leave the baking needs to me." Logan smirked and looked a bit too cocky for the mother's liking, but let it go. "Also we do not currently have the adequate tools right now so perhaps baking is not the best option for today."

Patton didn't get a chance before a chiming rang out. Logan pulled out his phone, Patton smiling at how it was a default ringtone Logan probably never changed. Logan smirked and tapped the screen, bringing it up to his ear. "Salutations, Logan speaking."

"Pocket Protector!" Logan flinched and pulled the phone away as Patton chuckled, recognizing the voice immediately. Roman had no volume control as he tried yelling over the music that played in the background. "You stayed the night, right? You still there?"

Logan sighed as he pulled the phone closer once more. "I am indeed. I do hope you are not driving and also talking on the phone. It's unsafe, not to mention illegal."

The music turned down suddenly as Roman laughed. "I'm fine. Technically not driving. Oh, is that it? Yes! Turn right here. No, right. Your other right!" Roman let out a loud groan and huffed into the speaker. "I'm almost there, you better be outside waiting for me! I need out of this car, pronto!"

"Yeah? Next time you can walk!" Logan and Patton looked at one another, not recognizing the female voice that came from the phone. There was some bickering before the call suddenly ended, Logan pulling away and looking at it in confusion.

"Well!" Patton's mother perked up, clapping her hands. "I guess I get to meet Roman too! Oh, this is so exciting!"

Logan smiled and put his phone away, heading for the front door. "I'm rather amused that without stating his name, Roman is recognizable to strangers, perhaps based on his volume level?" Logan turned and looked at Maggie who laughed and nodded. "Wonderful. Can't say I missed that after all these months."

Patton followed eagerly as they all exited the apartment. "Oh come on! You missed Roman, admit it!"

"I never stated I did not miss him." Logan crossed his arms as he stood on the porch. "I simply stated I did not miss his volume."

Patton looked down the road and saw a red car driving slowly down the street. He jumped down the stairs and onto the sidewalk, watching it carefully. It suddenly pulled over and parked behind his mother's pick-up before the door flew open and a man dressed in a Disney shirt stood up, waving an arm and smiling. "Patton!"

"Roman!" The driver yelled, the car shifting as it was put into park. "The car was still moving, idiot!"

Roman looked down into the car unamused. "It had come to a full stop with your foot on the break. Seriously, if you plan on driving you have to get used to these things."

"Like my idiot brother almost jumping out of my car?" It shut off and the driver's side opened up and a younger woman stood up, glaring over at Roman. "Why are you so annoying?"

"Well, duh, because I'm the older sibling!" She huffed and closed the car door, walking over to the sidewalk.

Patton jumped at Roman and gave him a hug, Roman laughing at his antics and pulling him into his arms! "Roman! I missed you so much!" He let go and turned to the woman, smiling. Not one to waste an opportunity to greet himself, smiling and extending a hand. "Hi, I'm Patton!"

She smiled and reached over, shaking his hand. "Julie, Ro's sister." She let go and tugged the hair tie wrapped around her wrist off, pulling her hair back quickly. "He's your headache now. I don't to refunds or returns."

Roman huffed and walked over to the porch. "She gets her license and she thinks she's too cool for her big bro." He smiled and looked up at Logan. "Well, Logan! A pleasure for you, I'm sure. You don't need to miss me any longer, I have arrived!"

Logan rolled his eyes but couldn't help the smile on his face. "Nice to see you too, Roman."

"Ah, and who do we have here?" Roman walked up to Maggie and held out his hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Roman." He smiled and toned it down a bit for the woman.

She smiled at him and shook his hand. "Maggie, dear. Always a pleasure to meet my son's roommates! He's spoken so much of you." Roman flicked his eyes over to Logan who subtly shook his head to confirm his thoughts.

"Well, a pleasant and enchanting woman such as yourself must mean Patton is your son! You shine just as bright as he does!"

Maggie smiled and placed her hands on her cheeks. "Oh, such a charmer, you were right Pat!"

"Yep," Julie said, walking up and crossing her arms. "Ro is a grade A suck up." She smiled up at her brother and looked over at Logan. "So, you're Logan and he's Patton. So where's Virgil?"

Roman jumped a bit at the name and looked over at Logan. "Not here, I'm afraid. He said he would be busy and might not be here until tomorrow."

Roman let out a small sigh and Julie scrunched up her nose. "Really? I came all the way out here for nothing?"

"Um, excuse me? You were helping your wonderful brother, who you love so dearly, to his new apartment!" Roman walked up to his sister and pulled her into a hug. "I thought you came here to help me because of how much you loved me!"

Julie dramatically groaned and pushed her brother playfully. "I've had to hear you whine and mope around talking about this guy for weeks, I wanted to meet him! Besides, I can bribe mom and dad if I get a photo of him seeing as you won't tell us anything. Now get your stuff out of my car. If he's not here then I just wanna go."

Roman ignored his sister and turned back toward Logan. "So! Wanna show me which room will be mine, then?"

"Follow me." Logan walked into the apartment as Roman followed. "I haven't seen or heard from the upstairs neighbors quite yet but everything else seems to be satisfactory." Logan walked into the box filled room and waved his hand to the right. "There's the two front rooms and the bathroom. Over here is the back two and the kitchen. It's small but not uncomfortably so."

Logan led him into the last room and motioned for Roman to go ahead. He walked in and spun around, nodding at the site. "Alright, not as small as I thought it would be! Most of my stuff was lost in the last place anyway. Luckily I have my bed coming later tonight!"

"Boo." Virgil watched Logan jump and even let out a small shriek with a smile on his face. "You know," he spoke, voice gravely and tired from his long day. "that was entirely worth it."

"Virgil!" Logan grabbed the front of his shirt and took a step back. "I didn't hear you approach."

Virgil shrugged and smirked. "Kinda the point." He shoved his hands into the pullover hoodie he was wearing, a faded 'NASA' logo on the front. "Decided to make an unexpected trip to see how moving day went."

"How'd you even get here?" Roman asked a bit quieter than his usual volume. Virgil raised an eyebrow and Roman paled a bit in shock. "Are you kidding me?! You time traveled? There are other people here!"

Virgil shrugged. "I knew I would be okay, just stay out of my room. It's my way back."

The sound of thundering footsteps grew louder and Virgil turned toward the door to see Patton there as a smile broke out on his face. "Virgil!" He jumped forward and wrapped him in a hug, pinning his arms to the sides. "Oh, I've missed you! I thought you couldn't make it today?"

As Patton pulled back, Virgil made notice of the two others entering the room. He simply shrugged and made no further comment.

"Wait, how long have you been here?" The older woman asked. "I never saw you sneak past us!" She blinked and started to chuckle to herself. "Well! Patton did tell me you liked to sneak around and pop up out of nowhere! I didn't realize how well you did it!"

Patton spun around to look at Virgil. "This is my mom!"

Virgil nodded to her and gave a small wave. "Yo."

The younger one squeezed by and got right in Virgil's way causing Patton to take a step back. "Wait, you're Virgil?"

He brushed his hair out of his eyes a bit and looked at the one staring him down. "Well, dirty blond hair, confident stance, looks like you can handle annoyance in vast amounts... you must be Roman's little sister. Julie, right?" Julie perked up at her name and Virgil smirked to himself. "I've heard you yelling at him before over the phone. I commend you on years of dealing with Sir Headache."

Julie ignored the cry of offense Roman let out as she slowly started to smile. "Oh, I like you. Quick, we have a lot to talk about. Can I get a photo of you for my parents?"

Virgil led her out of the room and away from the others. "On the one condition, you give me all the dirt on princey you have. I bet there's a goldmine of embarrassing stories waiting to be told."

Roman jumped and made his way to the other side of the room. "Hey now! No need to get all chatty right now, huh?"

Julie smiled and turned, giving her brother a hug. "Aww, Ro! I love you and I know you trust me to keep your secrets, right?" Roman froze and looked over at Virgil in a panic. "I won't tell him everything, silly! I have to keep some of it to myself for later." She let go and turned to Virgil, grabbing his arm and pulling him away. "Now, let's start with his elementary school chorus concert!"

"Oh, do go on." Virgil leaned in as Julie started whispering to him before breaking out into laughter. "Oh, that's golden!"

"Virge!" Roman hissed out, face growing red in embarrassment. "What the hell, man?"

Julie smiled and ignored Roman. "I have so many more. You know, you're my favorite of Roman's boyfriends already, I just might tell you the juicy stuff!"

Virgil pulled his arm away and crossed them over his chest. "Sorry to break it to you Julie, but Roman and I aren't dating." Virgil smiled at Roman. "Isn't that right? You started ignoring my calls and kept canceling our dates."

"Well that's, I mean I didn't just cancel! I had reasons! I never ignored a call, I just didn't hear them!" Roman became immediately flustered and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking away from him. "I'm sorry."

Julie sighed and looked at her brother with a disheartened look. She looked up at Virgil and shrugged a bit. "Look, that's a stupid thing to do but you know how he can be." She smiled as she tried to lighten the mood. "He's an idiot, but I know him enough to know why he did what he did."

"Oh, I know." Virgil shoved his hands in his pullover hoodie. "I know exactly what happened, I'm just upset he didn't trust me enough to tell me."

Julie looked surprised at the news. "You know?"

"Eh, I have my ways." He looked at Roman and shut his eyes closed for a moment. "I just came back to mess with him a bit."

He smiled and looked at Julie who blinked and smiled back. "Wait, do you know about... his..." Julie made motions with her hands like fireworks going off. "Or am I just looking like a weirdo right now?" Virgil knew exactly what she meant, however.

Instead of answering, Virgil just nodded and ignored the gasp he got in return. "How about I give you my number so we can swap embarrassing stories later? I can share with you the best one once I dig out the photo! I think I'm done messing with him for now, though. I have somewhere I need to be."

Roman watched Virgil smile and wave to his sister before heading to the front door. He looked over at Roman and winked before quickly ducking into what was his room, knowing he wouldn't be there when he checked. "Oh no." Roman covered his face with his hands. "I'm in for it later."

"I like him." Julie tapped away on her phone before sticking it in her pocket. "He knows how to handle you, which says a lot. Now, I have friends I'm gonna meet up with so let's get your stuff out of my car."

Roman asked for a bit of help from Patton and Logan so his sister would leave him alone. Logan seemed to be getting along rather well with Patton's mother as they laughed and talked a bit. She was a ray of sunshine just like her son, Roman didn't have to doubt their relation at all. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that Patton had spoken about his mother before and there was something important he was forgetting.

They removed the few boxes Roman had fairly quickly and Maggie left for a bit, returning with a few groceries. Roman almost made a comment about bringing out Two and Three to help unpack but stopped himself when Logan shot him a look, eyes flashing quickly. He closed his mouth and apologized, looking over at Patton's mother, that sinking feeling growing once more.

Patton, having brought some furniture and even some kitchenware on behalf of his parents, took a bit longer to unpack and sort. Patton convinced his mother that he would be fine and wished her farewell, waving as the truck drove off. He shut the door and Logan handed them each a key to the apartment as it grew quiet.

Roman looked over at Logan and Patton before smiling, a spark of excitement shooting down his arms. "Finally, alone time! You know what that means, hm?"

"I'm afraid I do not. However, I'm sure you'll inform us anyway." Logan took a careful step away from Roman, out of range for his arms which he had a tendency to talk with a bit too dramatically.

Roman ignored his comment and jumped over to Patton. "Well, how are the others, Pat? Hmm?"

Patton blinked and smiled, looking around and pulling down the shades of the windows in the living room. He glanced around and nodded to himself before a flash of light lit up the room. Suddenly, five separate Pattons all fell in different directions, stumbling onto the floor. They all helped each other up, except one, giggling and smiling at one another.

"Oh, wonderful!" Roman shouted, throwing out his arms and over two of the others. "Two, Three, Four and Five!" He hugged the two closest to him, not sure which was which. "I've missed you!"

"Us?" One called out. "We haven't been able to stretch for, well, forever!"

"Yeah, I love mom but gosh can she be a bit strong."

Roman blinked and pulled away from the two in his arms. "Oh, right! I almost forgot!" Roman frowned and thought back to the wonderfully bubbly and happy woman he met before. "She's really negative about the whole thing, huh? I'm so sorry, Pat."

"It's alright, that's why I have you guys!"

"Well," Roman turned and looked around. "where's Three? How have you been holding up?"

One of them stepped forward and smiled. "I've been fine! Things certainly got a bit dull afterward though!"

"Yes, I suppose fearing for our lives can do that to you." Everyone turned as Virgil closed the front door behind him, locking it as he did so. "You probably should be more careful, Pat."

"Well, I'm rather surprised you're here so early," Logan commented. "You said tomorrow previously."

Virgil shrugged and stifled a yawn. "Eh, just got off of work and decided I could stop by and see the place." Virgil looked around the room as his smile dropped. "Not the warm welcome I was expecting. Something happen?"

"A bit, we just saw you a few hours ago!" Patton perked up and looked around the room. "How about I pull myself together and order us a pizza?"

Patton pulled out his phone and walked out of the room, a string of others following him. Virgil looked confused and looked over at Logan. "A couple hours ago?"

Logan cleared his throat and ignored the flash of light from the other room Patton had created. "It appears you came back to visit us this afternoon."

Shocked by the news, Virgil was speechless for a moment. "Really?" He whispered. "I haven't... I haven't used my powers since that day."

"Since..." Logan adjusted his glasses as they fell forward. "Wait, since the day we were attacked? That was months ago."

Virgil shifted uncomfortably on his feet and looked away. "I don't want anything bad to happen so I just haven't used them."

Roman walked forward and placed his hands comfortably on Virgil's shoulders. "The last time you used them you saved all of us! There's no shame in that."

With a scoff, Virgil nudged Roman's hands off of him. "Now you have something to say? You've been ignoring me for a while, Roman. You've canceled all of our plans and won't even answer me, and now you want to act like nothing happened?"

Roman jumped and pulled back. "No, Virgil, I can explain!" Virgil answered by rolling his eyes and turning to walk away. "No, wait, I can! Really! Just five minutes." Virgil seemed to contemplate the answer before walking to the kitchen. "Come on, you told Julie earlier that you knew already! I just need a moment to explain myself."

Virgil stopped, halfway out of the living room and turned back. "Did you say, Julie?"

Roman nodded and answered. "Yeah, my little sister."

Virgil dug out his phone and tapped away before stopping. "I got a text this afternoon from someone named Julie. She was here?"

"Oh yeah!" Patton walked into the living room with a smile. "You two got along great!"

"I would certainly say so." Logan piped in. "However, I believe Patton and I should stay out of it."

Patton smiled as Logan walked up and led him out of the room. "It'll be fine! Have fun you two!"

Virgil, despite how exhausted he looked, ran a hand through his hair and huffed, waiting. "Well? You're going to tell me why you've been a jerk?"

Roman took a moment to take in a breath before bracing himself. "I got fired." Roman peeked over at Virgil who didn't react and started to panic. "I mean, things got tough after the whole..." Roman waved his hands around before giving up on coming up with the right words. "Well, you know! So I got really serious about work to save up some cash and we went on that one date and it was great! Then things got crazy, I told you about all that. I talked to the boss about some things and suddenly they were pulling my hours and I was hardly working? I don't know, I suddenly got fired and I've been too ashamed to tell you because no one would hire me and the only reason I moved in was because of my savings and Logan said he would help if I got a new job..." Roman sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't afford to take you out anymore and I didn't want to bring you home to my parents so... I was hoping we could wait until now to try again."

Virgil stomped over to Roman and grit his teeth. "You think I would be petty enough to think I wouldn't want you simply because you lost your job?"

"What?" Roman jumped at the tone. "No! Maybe? It wasn't about you, it was about how I can't afford to give you what you deserve!"

Virgil shoved Roman back a few steps. "You're an idiot! I just wanted to know you! How hard is that?" Roman looked upset and he huffed, looking away. Suddenly, Virgil perked up and he dug for his phone pulling it out. "Ohhh, wait. Julie was here today? I bet she has juicy stories about tiny little Roman I'd love to get as blackmail."

"Wait, Virgil!" Roman blinked and he was gone, nowhere to be found. Roman rubbed his eyes and groaned. "I deserve that. Well." He let his arms fall to his side. "This is a lovely start."