Group Home (Discontinued)

Chapter Eight

I step from the conjoined bathroom back into the room Roman and I now share. My mouth tastes like the mint mouthwash I use every morning, which I will soon ruin with a fresh cup of coffee. My jaw aches, but not enough that I should have to take medicine. That makes my mind wander to Virgil's wellbeing, he'll probably want something for the pain when he wakes up.

I bring my thoughts to a halt when I hear footsteps quickly approaching, very quickly. A frazzled Patton flies into the room. His glasses are crooked. His curls are more of a birds nest than usual. And he's forgotten to put on a shirt this morning.

"Virgil's gone! I can't find him any-" I take a single stride toward him and cover his mouth. I bring a finger to my lips, silently telling him to quiet, and point to Roman's bed across the room. His eyes follow my finger and they come to a stop with a small, "Oh..."

"I think Virgil crawled into his bed sometime last night, probably a nightmare. I didn't want to wake them yet." I whisper as Patton calms. Roman has the most protective hold around the small boy. Virgil has tucked himself into the smallest form he can manage, as if he is using Roman to hide. The way the two sleep track well into who they are in real life.

Patton clears his throat slightly when we enter his room. "Sorry I kinda freaked. The last time Virgil had a nightmare I found him dry heaving in the bathroom, I never knew someone could have a dream that brings them to vomiting." Patton gives a nervous chuckle while rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's fine, Patton. You're just looking out for him." An idea flashes in my mind, "How about I bring you some breakfast up here? Just the two of us this morning." The way Patton's eyes light up causes my heart to have premature ventricular contractions.

"I'd love that, Lo." My lips twitch at the nickname. I press a gentle kiss against his forehead and start to the kitchen. It's rare that I have alone time with Patton. Being in a house with five other people makes it more difficult than one can imagine. When I reach the kitchen I find Janus stirring his coffee, which seems to be mostly creamer by now.

"Morning Logan." He greets quietly while reaching up to scratch at his scars. When Janus showed up he had speckled chemical burns covering the majority of the right side of his face. They had healed pretty well, considering the amount of skin that was damaged. What remains almost looks like reptile scales.

"Good morning Janus, you know you really shouldn't be scratching your scars." I state while putting two pieces of bread in the toaster. I pour myself a mug of coffee, adding a little bit of creamer, while pouring another mug full of chocolate milk for Patton.

"Yeah, I know. They've just been really irritated today. Remus and I are watching Merlin. Again. Just trying to take my mind off of the itching." Janus swipes his strawberry blonde curls from his face with a shrug.

"Just take care of yourself, okay Janus." The toast pops out of the toaster, I spread a thick layer of jam on the two pieces.

"Will do, Teach." Janus smirks and shuffles toward the basement.

As I pile everything onto a tray I overhear the downstairs conversation;

"Janus! Stop scratching! You're gonna make yourself bleed." Remus' voice screeches through the house.

"Let go of my hands, Remus! It's fine, they haven't bled in months." I hear Janus growl at the twin.

"I'm going to get you an ice pack, I know those help." Remus' heavy footsteps start up the stairs.

"My knight in shining armour." Janus' grumble travels up the stairs.

I make my way back to Patton's room, avoiding Remus in the morning always leads to a better day. The boy barely wears clothes.

When I get to the room I find the contents of the closet everywhere but the closet. I set the tray on Patton's vanity, "Patton, what is it that you're doing now?"

The curly headed boy pops his head from the closet, a grin prominent on his face. "I'm going through the clothes I don't wear anymore and putting them on Virgil's side of the closet. If I'm not wearing them, I might as well give them to someone who will."

"That's very kind of you Patton." I smile and gently pull him into a kiss, which I feel him smile into. "You're so sweet." 

778 words. Sorry I've been kinda silent. Lack of motivation and school have kicked my ass. I've had a bit of writer block with this story. Enough of the excuses, I hope you all liked this chapter! Until next time, Zoe signing off.