Sanders Sides One Shots & Shorts

Birthday (Logicality)

Date Published: Feb 19, 2017
Word Count: 1433
POV: Patton, 1st Person

After Thomas's "Growing Up" video, I had sat down to think. Over the course of the video, with all the talk about birthdays, memories of parties I've thrown for Thomas and the other sides had floated to my brain. I thought about the time we threw Roman a "royal ball" for his birthday, or, well, "Creation Day"... but I call them birthdays for simplicity. I smiled fondly at the memory of Virgil's most recent birthday, when Virgil gave us all a makeover, and Roman made us all participate in a "fashion show" later.

But, something paled my thoughts. I'd realized that we've never thrown Logan a birthday party.

Now, it wasn't the party itself that bothered me. I was well aware of Logan's hatred of large get-togethers and unnecessarily loud and reckless behavior. He didn't come with us to parties, so it was obvious that he didn't want a birthday party. He'd never wanted a party for anything before. So no, I wasn't as concerned about the lack of over-the-top celebration, like I was for Virgil.

I felt bad, because I realized that I didn't even know when Logan's birthday was. Like, at all.

So, I began asking Thomas, Virgil, and Roman, but it seemed as though they didn't know either. This made me feel increasingly guilty, realizing that I've never wished my boyfriend a happy birthday, never mind gotten him anything.

My stomach churned, and I felt sick. I can't believe I didn't notice it sooner!

I was sitting in the common space, head in my hands, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Patton, are you alright?"

I look up, to see Logan sitting down beside me, concern in his eyes.

"I feel like a terrible boyfriend!" I gasp, tears filling my eyes. Logan's eyes widened in sur- prise. "What? Why?"

"I don't even know when your birthday is! I've never gotten you a birthday present, or wished you a happy birthday. You always do something for me, and I never realized I never did that for you!"

Logan looked taken aback, yet relieved. "Oh, Patton. Is that all? I don't mind. I've never wanted anything for my birthday."

"I don't care! I missed it. Nothing feels worse than when someone misses your birthday..."

"Honestly, I don't understand all of the hype around birthdays. It's just a day. I don't tell people my birthday, so it's not just you Patton, no one knows."

That just made me feel worse. The fact that he'd never celebrated his birthday before, was too much for me to handle. I don't know why this stuff gets to me, but it does. Hot tears were spilling down my cheeks before I could stop them.

"Patton? Oh, god. You're crying. Uh... it's okay? I'm sorry I'm not very good at this..." Logan murmured, wringing his hands nervously. "Patton, it's okay. There's a reason I don't tell people about my birthday. It's just a personal precaution— I mean, a personal choice."

Precaution? What was he afraid of?

"Please, please stop crying. I'm no good when it comes to feelings." Logan says, hesitantly grabbing my hands, not sure what else to do.

"I-I'm s-sorry th-th-that I m-m-missed it-t. I-I'm a t-terrible p-person." I say, wiping tears from my eyes as I try to calm down.