💫💀Drowning (rewrite) | Sanders Sides

Chapter 4

A/N: I wrote the draft for this around 2 weeks ago and it ended at Patton saying "where have you been?" and I don't remember where it was going so sorry if this doesn't really make sense idk. Also, currently listening to Rät by Penelope Scott... very good writing music lol

TW: voices in your head, swearing, Remus

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Around 2 hours later

Roman's POV, first person

My phone says it is 7:34 PM, so I sink down into the dining room to eat dinner, now fully showered and wearing my prince costume to at least seem presentable, except there is one problem.

I land under the table.

My head bumps on the wood counter, and I internally curse. Virgil shrieks and jumps out of his seat, before he and Patton look under the table.

"Roman? Is that you, kiddo?" Patton almost laughs.

I blush in embarrassment. "The one and lo..." Uh-oh. "...vely."

"Uh, okay. Why don't you get out of there, dude. You look cramped, and I'm assuming you didn't mean to land there." Virgil rolls his eyes. Because he wants to be sincere, Roman, a voice says in my head, but really, he's just annoyed with you. I'm not sure where the voice is coming from, but it does make a compelling argument.

As I sit down at the table, I hear Patton inquire, "Hey, kiddo, where have you been all day?"

Before I could answer, as I didn't want to lie, I hear screaming, stomping, and a crash coming from the stairwell.

"LOGAN, GET YOUR ASS BACK OVER HERE, OR I SWARE ON THE CORPSE OF JEFFREY DAHMER-"

Logan has a jar of Crofter's in his hand, taunting Remus from the bottom of the stairs. My brother, on the other hand, is fuming and screaming unintelligibly. Then Remus runs down the stairs, pins Logan to the ground, and tries to grab the jar from Logan, who is surprisingly agile. From what I can pick up, this has something to do with Logan stealing Remus's stash of Crofter's 'in the case of an apocalypse.'

Suddenly, Janus, who I didn't  even know was there, comes out of the kitchen, pulls Logan and Remus away from each other with all six hands, takes the jam jar out of Logan's grasp, and silences them without even saying a word.

"I love to break up your little cat fight, but dinner is ready."

So the two reluctantly walk over to the table, stealing hateful glances at each other, and Logan sits down next to me.

Janus serves up the spaghetti and sits down himself, and chaos ensues as Virgil scrambles to get the garlic bread, Patton adds more cheese, Remus puts ranch dressing and sugar on his pasta, and Logan shares a disappointed glance with Janus. After a few moments, I see Logan stand up from the corner of my eye.

"Everyone, I have something urgent I would like to discuss."

They all nod, knowing Logan won't continue unless he has some sort of physical affirmation (one of his quirks), and Logan looks to me for consent. I know exactly what he wants to talk about and although I don't enjoy it, I don't want to make a bigger deal, so I nod as well.

"Very well. A few hours ago, I found Roman in his room with his hands over his head, hyperventilating." I silently thank him for not mentioning Remus's prank attempt or him prompting my breakdown because then Patton would get mad at Remus and Logan and I've already said I don't want to make a big deal. "After I had calmed Roman down, I asked what was troubling him, and he explained to me that he had a nightmare involving the old garden. Apparently, he pricked his finger on one of the flowers he was trimming in the nightmare, which sent a figurative wave of pain through his being. When he woke up, the pain had translated to reality, which caused his... breakdown, if you could call it that."

At this point, everybody else is staring at me with a variety of expressions. I feel tears well in my eyes as I look at my lap and from under the table, Patton reaches out for my hand. He is sitting across from me, so it's a bit hard to reach, but I manage and squeeze it hard.

"Roman, are you alright?" I look up again at Logan and clear my throat.

"Uh, y-yeah, keep going. It's pro-... probably not worth it t-to stop right now."

Logan nods but he is still visibly concerned. "Just let me know if you would like for me to pause at any moment." That makes me smile a bit and the voice in my head shuts up for a moment.

"Well, what do you want us to do?" Remus interrupts.

"That was a bit rude," Virgil mutters.

"Be nice, Virgil," Patton scolds, "You know Remus has a hard time reading social cues."

Janus pipes up in defense. "Remus, while that was a bit uncalled for, I do agree with you, in a sense." He turns to Logan and cocks his head. "What exactly would you like us to do about this, Logan? Obviously Roman is suffering, but why was it necessary for us all to be involved as opposed to solely you and Roman?"

All eyes turn to Logan, and it seems he was prepared for this question, as he doesn't hesitate to answer. "You know about the nightmares Thomas has been having recently, correct?"

Chorus of "yes" chime throughout the room, including my own.

"Fantastic. Well, dreams and nightmares are controlled by the twins, and you would assume that dreams are controlled by Roman and nightmares by Remus, but in this case, you'd be wrong. See, Remus has a certain pattern with nightmares. They often involve sexual innuendos, murder, blood, a feeling of helplessness if Thomas is feeling particularly anxious. But these nightmares were not of that sort. They were all concerning ego, which is, more or less, Roman's specialty. This leads me to believe that Roman has some sort of insecurity he is trying to hide, and I think it is only right for him to take a break in order to heal and not disturb Thomas any further. My reason for bringing you all into this conundrum is I would like suggestions as to how we could do that, and I want Roman to approve of them."

Logan turns to me and whispers something in my ear. "Don't feel pressured to say yes to any of these suggestions, Roman. If you do not like one, say so. Alright?"

"O-okay," I lied.

"Alright then," Logan says, satisfied, "Let's help Roman."