Chemistry - A Sander's Sides Fanfiction

- 35 -

Patton stayed where he was -- standing on the hard concrete, tears streaming down his face -- for a long while after Logan's irritated frame disappeared from sight. Being as emotional as he was, Patton was used to crying every now and then, but it had a very long time since he had cried like this.

His eyes were burning and his throat was clogged up with a horrible, suffocating lump. His nose was running too, trailing down his face with his tears -- his glasses were even fogged up a little bit. Patton was certain that his face was bright red and looked absolutely awful, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. He simply stood there with the worst feeling imaginable in his chest and a headache, clutching his arms to himself as though they would somehow comfort him.

Patton wasn't one hundred percent sure why Logan was gone or why he had been so upset, but Patton was sure that it was his fault. He knew he should have been a better friend. It was no lie that Patton had spent the last half hour or so completely ignoring Logan even though he had invited the boy to the dance. And Patton knew how terrible it was to feel left out, which only made him feel worse.

Eventually, after an endless, insurmountable amount of time, someone broke Patton out of his perpetual sobbing. "Patton?!" he heard a worried voice call from far off behind him. He wanted to turn but couldn't, for he was stuck like a statue staring at the empty space where Logan had been an eternity ago.

Suddenly, strong hands grasped Patton's arms and turned him to face whoever the voice belonged to. It was Roman, with a look of horror on his face as he caught sight of Patton's tear-stained cheeks. Patton didn't give him much time to look, however, for as soon as Patton was facing his friend, he collapsed into his arms, continuing to bawl his eyes out. And he had been so close to pulling it together, too.

"Patton, what's wrong?" Roman protectively wrapped his arms around Patton in a tight, comforting embrace that caused Patton's crying to increase. He felt so silly worrying Roman like this, but something about the fact that he knew the boy was there for him made everything so much more intense.

Somebody joined Roman and placed a single hand on Patton's shoulder. "What happened?" Virgil asked softly, a hint of protective warning in his voice, but Patton could not answer.

He sputtered for a long while, surrounded by his confused friends, feeling horrible -- so horrible. And finally, he was able to get a couple of watery words out. "Logan he --" he hiccupped, " -- he left."

Virgil stooped down so that he was level with Patton's head from where the boy was crumpled in Roman's warm, steady arms. "Did Logan upset you."

Patton swallowed his tears, shaking his head weakly. His voice wavered. "I upset him," he cried, a wave of guilt smashing over him again. "It's my fault." He felt so utterly worthless to have made somebody else feel bad enough to leave -- especially someone as wonderful and undeserving of it as Logan.

Virgil stepped away from Patton as Roman murmured encouragement and smoothed his hair. Patton's tears slowly began to lessen as he got a hold of himself.

After a few moments, Patton heard Virgil say quietly from far away -- probably trying to stay out of earshot but failing -- "Logan, you'd better pick up your damn phone. Patton is sobbing in a puddle of his own tears here and I want to know what happened." The boy let out a huff of concerned annoyance and shuffled back over to comfort Patton.

The boy didn't want Virgil to be angry with Logan, but Virgil as fooled into sympathy through the tears. Part of Patton was grateful for the alliance. It made him feel a little better.

Roman agreed to give him and Virgil a ride home, so without even saying goodbye to anyone, Patton left. The house was empty when he arrived, for his parents were finishing up their last late nights at work before Christmas break. He was glad that no one was there to pester him about how the dance went, because he didn't want to paste on a fake smile tonight.