Assistance Required

Slip of the Tongue

TW self-deprecation, cursing

Tues Dec 1

Virgil sat at the table staring at the laptop. It was the first time he'd be using it for school. He took a deep breath before starting his paper. He had to admit, it was nice not having to write out the paper by hand first. He only had two major papers due, but they were kind of long. He had to write a five page paper explaining how one of the causes led to a certain effect in one of the mystery novels for pulp fiction and he had to write a research paper on a topic of his choosing for his college writing class. He was glad he didn't have to write a history paper.

Virgil looked up at the sound of movement as Logan sat down in front of him frowning.

"Hey, what's up?" Virgil asked.

Virgil frowned as Logan ignored him.

"Logan?"

Logan looked at him.

"I'm sorry, did you need something?" he asked.

"I asked what's wrong."

"Oh... I- um..." Logan sighed. "I didn't do as well as I wanted on a paper."

"What did you get?"

"I... I got a C."

"Oh... that's still passing."

Logan buried his face in his hands.

"Passing isn't good enough!" he groaned. "When my parents find out about this they're going to kill me!"

"Your parents pay attention to your grades?"

Logan nodded.

"They're paying for my education so they're always looking at my grades to make sure I'm doing well. As soon as they see this they're going to fucking kill me. It's the same lecture every time: 'they aren't paying for me to fool around. I have to take my studies seriously and that means getting good grades. Anything less than an A is unacceptable. I have to represent the family business and that means getting good grades and a respectable career.'" Logan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I just hope this doesn't mess up my overall grade."

"Getting straight A's in college is really hard. You're really smart, and you do really well, but you can't be too hard on yourself," Thomas said. "I mean you're already skipping a few gen-eds because of dual-enrollment and AP classes, right? That means you're ahead of some of our class!"

"You're ahead of me," Virgil said. "I only tried one, but I didn't get my fucking score back! Not that it really matters anymore."

"You never got your score back on your AP Exam?" Logan asked.

Virgil waved it off.

"We'll talk about that later, let's worry about you right now!"

Logan buried his face in his hands again and groaned.

"There's nothing else to say! I'm just fucking dead!"

"Wait, what? Logan!" Patton said as he sat down. "What's wrong?"

"I did poorly on a paper and my parents are going to kill me," Logan said as he removed his hands from his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Patton placed a hand on Logan's arm. "Will the professor let you do a rewrite?"

"I... I didn't think to ask. I just saw the grade and freaked out," Logan said quietly.

"Okay, just ask if you can do a rewrite? If not just find out what you did wrong so you can do better next time. It's okay to do poorly sometimes, it's how we learn," Patton said gently. "I don't think any less of you."

Logan let out a soft laugh.

"Thanks, but that's not what I'm worried about. I'm concerned about my parents' reaction. They expect the best from me and I didn't fulfill that. I... failed them."

"Hey! Don't say that! You didn't fail them yet! You're going to do what you can to make yourself better! You'd only be failing them if you gave up at that! Don't let them make you think otherwise."

"Patton, I appreciate the encouraging words, but I'm already doing a lot of things they don't approve of. I'm not living up to their expectations in the slightest." Logan sighed. "I'm just not good enough."

"That's bullshit and you know it!"

Everyone jumped and turned to him.

"Patton!" Thomas said.

"Did... did you just curse at me?" Logan asked.

"You're more than enough for us, Logan. You're still one of the smartest people I know! Sometimes we try our best and we still fall short and that's okay! It shouldn't matter what your parents think! You're still good enough! I still love you just as you are!"

"You..." Logan's face turned bright red as he sat in shock. "You... love... me?"

Patton sat there for a minute his face slowly turning red as realization set in. Patton buried his face in his hands.

"Did I just say that?" Patton asked muffled by his hands.

"Patton," Logan laughed as he reached for Patton. "It's okay. Come out of hiding."

Logan tried to pry Patton's hands from his face. Patton leaned over and rested his already covered face on Virgil's shoulder.

"I can't believe I just said that!" Patton said.

"Oh, Patton!" Thomas laughed.

Virgil was biting his lip trying not to laugh.

"Patton! It's okay!" Logan said again as he moved to sit next to Patton.

Virgil gently pushed Patton into Logan, who wrapped an arm around the embarrassed boy.

"Patton?" Logan said. "I-"

"I'm sorry," Patton said removing his hands from his face. "I didn't mean to say it. I just sort of said it without thinking. I didn't mean to embarrass you or put you on the spot or anything. It's just you were talking bad about yourself and I do care a lot about you and I love everyone in different ways and-"

"Patton!" Logan said.

Patton froze as he looked up at him.

"I... love you, too," Logan said quietly.

Patton's face slowly broke into a smile.

"R-really?" Patton asked.

"Yes," Logan laughed. "At least I think so. I've never really... felt anything like this before."

"Can I... can I... kiss you?" Patton asked quietly.

Logan nodded and the two leaned into each other. After they kissed, Patton hugged him burying his face in his chest. Logan's face was bright red.

Virgil thought about making gagging noises as a joke, but he didn't want to ruin their moment. Patton looked up at Logan and gave him a sad smile.

"You are enough. Please understand that, Logan. You're enough for me. I don't care what your parents say, you aren't a failure! You're still trying and that's all that matters, okay?"

Logan hesitated before sighing.

"Okay."