Roman was prepared for a lot of things when he walked into the cabin he and his friends took over for the holidays, but seeing his brother curled up with his best friend on the pull out couch was not one of them. Patton was lying in front of Remus who had an arm over him.
"Hi, Roman." Patton whispered excitedly. "You're here earlier than I expected. I haven't started breakfast yet. I didn't want to wake him too early."
Roman was speechless, and that was not something that happened often. Luckily Virgil walked in, well it would have been luckily if he hadn't also been rendered speechless by the scene before them.
"What?"
Roman snapped out of his daze. "You spent all night cuddled up with Remus?"
"Yeah, Pat. I remember high school…"
"Oh, but that was so long ago. We've grown. Plus the power went out and it was just about freezing."
"Oooohhhhhh. That makes more sense." Roman nodded.
Patton stood up and got a mix between a whine and a grumble in protest from Remus who was losing a source of heat.
"Here, I'll tuck you in better. Go back to sleep and I'll have breakfast ready for you when you wake up." Patton turned to the others, "He spent all night keeping the fire up so we wouldn't be cold."
"Well… I'm gonna unpack. You coming, Ro?"
"Sure thing Storm Cloud. Let me get those bags for you."
"Uh-uh. I can carry my own bags. You have a million of your own as it is."
"Oh, hush."
They continued playfully bickering down the hallway so Patton got to work on breakfast. He was glad to be able to use the stove again. It made things much easier. Soon enough, a delightful smell was wafting through the air, drawing Virgil and Roman out of their room and waking Remus up a bit. Logan and Dee walked through the door to receive squint from a still waking Remus before he realized who it was and jumped over the back of the couch, promptly landed on his face. He scrambled to get up and pulled the two into a strong hug.
"It's good to see you too, Remus, but might I request less squishing? I can't breathe." Dee smiled warmly.
"It's nice to finally see you in person again instead of whatever pictures would fit in a letter." Logan added.
Remus beamed as Patton made his way over. "You're just in time! I just finished making breakfast. Drop your bags and come to the table!"
Dee and Logan smiled. This was by far their favorite time of the year, not exactly for the holidays, but because the whole group could get together, and this year their group was finally complete.
Everyone sat down taking in the feast Patton had whipped up.
"How did you cook all of this so fast?" Roman asked amazed.
"Well French Toast is easy, really, and this oven preheats fairly quick."
"Did you know in France the call this Day Old Bread and they make it with the stale left overs from the bread they get daily so that they don't waste them?" Logan informed.
"I did not. I'll remember that for our honeymoon to France," Virgil turned to Roman and winked.
Roman blushed. "Don't you think you're jumping the gun a bit my love? We're not even engaged yet."
"So? I know you'll ask me eventually. Until then I'm planning which sights to see. We're definitely going to Paris to see the catacombs."
"Of course in the city of love you would pick to go see the underground piles of bones."
"Better under than above. And I never said we couldn't go anywhere else while we're in town."
"Nice to see you're still as morbid as ever," Remus remarked.
"As if you're not."
"I never said I wasn't."
Virgil playfully stuck his tongue out at Remus. This was nice. Everyone together. Things were different now, but they were still so much the same.
"So how is it?" Patton asked after everyone had taken a couple bites.
"Well I'm partial to the burnt fire eggs, but this is good too."
"I didn't mean to burn them!"
"I'm only joking. The eggs were good and this is delicious. You really are as great a cook as Roman said."
"Indeed. This is very nice Patton," Logan added.
"Then why did you smother it with Crofters? I'm telling you, you have a problem," Dee looked at Logan's plate with an eyebrow raised.
"I do not have a problem. You just don't appreciate good fruit spreads."
"I'm beginning to feel like I shouldn't have sent you those limited edition flavors I found in Arizona," Remus joined in.
Logan groaned. "Not you too!"
"Hey guys, let's go easy on him. Addiction is a hard battle." Virgil smirked.
"Maybe we should stage an intervention," Roman feigned concern.
"Roman's right. Logan is in a jam so it is our duty to preserve our friend's dignity. We can all help so no one will be spread too thin!"
"Patton, I am begging you, please no more puns."
"Oh, come on Logan. You love them. I've seen you crack a smile more than once during the weekly call," Dee sipped his coffee with a smug look.
"I officially hate all of you. I'm going home," Logan turned to his boyfriend, "and I'm leaving you here."
"You wouldn't dare."
"I think you'll find I would."
"If you two break up you can't both stay on my couch." Remus warned.
"As if either of us would want to. Where did you get that thing again?" Dee scoffed.
"Side of the road in Missouri."
"What have we told you about picking up furniture on the side of the road?" Roman scolded.
"Don't?"
"Exactly."
"Whatever. It's a nice couch. You all just need to learn to take risks."
They continued chatting over breakfast about anything and everything. The conversation took some wild turns and more than once Virgil questioned how they had gotten onto particular subjects. Once they had finished Roman and Virgil offered to do dishes so that Logan and Dee could unpack and Patton and Remus could rest. Patton picked up his knitting and Remus picked up his writing.
"Since when do you knit?" Virgil walked into the living room with a plate and towel.
"Remus taught me!"
"Yeah?" Virgil glanced at a blushing Remus. "What are you making?"
"It's a secret!"
"If you say so, Pat." He shrugged and went back to the kitchen.
"So how's the writing coming?"
"Well now that I've fleshed out the characters a bit more the next sequence will be easy. It's a bit more twisty than I originally planned, but it's no fun just going straight from point A to point B."
"Like an adventure, but for writing."
"Exactly! … Are you ok?"
"Oh, uh, yeah… I was just wondering… Would you teach me how to do this flowery pattern?"
"Of course. You don't need to be nervous to ask me things, especially about something I got you into."
"Ok. Sorry."
"What for? You didn't do anything."
"Ah… I-"
"Patton has a habit of overthinking things and making himself feel guilty," Logan walked in with Dee close behind.
"Well I'll tell you what, with me I'll always tell you expressly if you should feel bad about something. Being blunt is kind of my thing, you know."
"Yeah. I remember you used to get in trouble a lot with Mr. Sanders for that."
"Exactly! So if I don't say anything, there's nothing to worry about, ok?"
"Ok."
"Now let me show you how to do that pattern."
After several attempts Patton grew frustrated though Remus, Logan, and Dee continued to cheer him on.
"I just don't think I can do it! You made it look so easy!"
"Well I've had years of practice. It took me a couple years to perfect it."
"Then how am I supposed to do it?!"
"You have me to teach you. It took me so long because I created the pattern myself."
"Woah… Really? It's so pretty. I mean- !"
"It's ok," Remus laughed. "I can show you as many times as you need, remember?"
"Thanks."
"No problem."
"Hey Remus, can you teach us to knit too?" Dee teased.
"Nope, sorry. My only pair of knitting needles are occupied by a much better student who doesn't sass me every two seconds."
"I still can't believe you didn't kill him when you two did pottery," Logan looked up from his book.
"I wasn't that bad."
"No you definitely were." Remus nodded.
"Tch. I can see I'm not appreciated here. I'm going to go bother Virgil."
"Good luck with that. When you're done can you get me some tea?"
"Yes, love. You'll owe me a massage, though."
"I was going to do that anyway."
"Fine. Then I'll think of another adequate form of payment."
"Get a room," Remus made a face before laughing.
Dee stuck his tongue out before exiting and Patton giggled.
"I'll show you the stitch again and then you can try it after lunch, yeah?"
"Ok!"
After a quick lunch Patton got back to his knitting and found the stitch much easier. Remus continued to write and the others joined them in the living room.
"We should all play a game." Roman said.
"What do you have in mind?" Logan inquired.
"Well there are a few games that are strictly forbidden-" Roman started.
"Let me guess, scrabble and monopoly?" Remus asked.
"... Yeah. So I was thinking we could play Phase 10."
"Sounds good to me!" Patton said.
Everyone agreed and they got to playing. The rules were simple enough and they had a good time. Roman couldn't seem to get past Phase 1 and by the end had only made it to 3. Patton won while everyone else was at Phase 7 so Remus made him another makeshift crown.
"Hey, Re, can we go on the roof again?"
"The roof?" Roman asked.
"Re?" Virgil was taken aback.
"Yeah! He showed me a super secret roof ladder in the closet and we watched the sun set!"
"That ladder hasn't been functional in years." Roman stated.
"I fixed it up."
"You're so handy." Patton smiled.
"I guess I picked some stuff up here and there."
"So can we go?"
"Sure. Do you have any more layers than last time?"
Patton blushed with a nervous smile. "Could I borrow your sweater again?"
Remus returned the look. "Of course. Wouldn't want you catching a cold. I don't trust anyone else here to cook."
"Hey!" Logan exclaimed. "I can cook just fine, thank you."
"Honey bee, we all remember what happened two years ago." Dee put his hand on Logan's arm.
"You make one mistake and this is what happens!"
They all burst into laughter.
"I guess you could say the amount of mistakes you make is … -"
"Don't do it. Please!"
"... Infinitesimal."
"I quit." Logan rolled his eyes before receiving a side hug from Dee and Patton.
"So what's so great about the roof anyway?" Virgil asked.
"Oh! You can see the sunset from up there! It's so pretty!"
"Sounds kind of… romantic." Virgil jokingly raised an eyebrow.
"Oh!" Patton blushed. "I guess?"
That wasn't quite the reaction he was expecting.
"C'mon Virge, why don't you help me decorate so I don't accidentally set the cabin on fire." Roman offered.
"Ok. Let's go get the boxes."
"And let's get you bundled up," Remus turned to Patton.
They had a nice night watching the sunset and had a fun dinner with the others full of laughter and reminiscing. When it came time for bed Remus found it felt empty without Patton cuddled up next to him and far too still without whispering back and forth until they fell asleep. He'd miss that, but it wasn't going to happen again so he'd just have to get used to being alone again.
Patton was just about ready to go to sleep and lying in bed when he turned to say something to Remus, only to remember they weren't sleeping next to each other anymore. It seemed odd to him that after it only happening twice he had begun to look forward to something that wouldn't happen again. He'd just have to wait for the morning to talk with him again. As he drifted off to sleep he noted it felt a bit chillier without the furnace that was Remus beside him.