Tally Marks (Thomas Sanders PolySanders/LAMP fanfiction)

21

Patton woke up that morning still feeling worried about his friend. He felt terrible not knowing what was wrong and not being able to help, but he was hopeful that he would see Virgil at school to talk to him about it. At that thought Patton hurried out of bed, hoping to get ready quickly to try to find him before school.

He pulled clothes out of his dresser drawer, heading to the bathroom across the hall from his bedroom. He stood by the bath, turning on the water and waiting for the water to get warm enough for him to shower. He tried to go as fast as possible while he was in the shower, but at one point something caught his eye.

The water passing over his arm had washed away some of the makeup he had used on his wrist. It wasn't completely rubbed off yet, only partially covering one of the marks. What had caught his eye wasn't just the makeup washing away though-he swore that the mark on his arm hadn't looked that dark before. Patton carefully used his thumb to scrub away the remaining makeup on his wrist. The first mark he uncovered still looked red, and Patton couldn't help the slight disappointment he felt.

Then he got the makeup off of the second mark, and immediately felt his heart stop. After a moment of feeling frozen in shock and amazement Patton rushed to get out of the shower, nearly slipping in the process. He dried his hands off on a towel quickly, grabbing his phone and unlocking it. He scrolled through his contacts to find Logan, quickly sending him a text.

Patton: Logan!!! Something happened!

Patton: I need to talk to you immediately when we get to school

Logan: I need to talk to you as well.

Patton frowned at that, wondering if everything was okay. He quickly sent a text asking if Logan could meet him earlier than usual, and Logan agreed. Patton quickly returned to getting ready for the day, this time moving even faster than before. He wanted to be sure that everything was okay as soon as possible-and he wanted to tell Logan about what was happening.

He wasn't sure if he felt more excited to find out that one of his friends loved him back or more nervous. How was Logan going to feel? They had never truly been able to talk about what they would do if something like this happened-would he be upset? Patton shook his head to rid his mind of these thoughts as he made it out of the door. No, he told himself. Everything was going to be just fine.

****

Patton tapped impatiently with his foot, unable to stop as his nerves got the best of him. He glanced around every two seconds in the hopes of finding his boyfriend nearby. As time went on he worried that Logan wouldn't get there until class started-and then they wouldn't eat to talk. Just as he was really starting to panic he caught sight of Logan hurrying over to him.

"Logan!" Patton called, relieved. "I was worried you wouldn't get here in time to talk."

"I apologize. It took longer than expected to get here." Logan said as he stepped up to Patton, arms held behind his back. "So... did you bring the makeup?"

"Uh, yeah..." Patton pulled his book bag off to find the makeup in it, handing it over to Logan. Logan grabbed it from him quickly, moving his hands behind his back again a moment after. Patton stared at him for a moment, frowning. "You still haven't said why you wanted it."

"I..." Logan sighed, looking at the ground. "If it is alright, I would like to share that after hearing what you need to say. It seemed important."

"Oh," Patton mumbled, looking down at his arm, startled. He had already covered his arm up with makeup again that morning, just in case he ran into Virgil before he saw Logan. He felt his nervousness returning, arms starting to shake as he tried to think of how to word what he needed to say. "It's... I don't know how you're going to react.."

Logan noticed his hands shaking, thinking for a moment. Still holding one hand with the makeup behind his back he reached out with the other, taking Patton's hand in his own. "Patton... I believe at this point I have proven that I will always listen to what you have to say. I am sure that we can talk about this just as we have talked about everything else before this. You just have to tell me first."

Patton followed his arm up to look at his face, and after a moment of hesitation he smiled. "You're the best boyfriend ever, did you know that?"

"I think you've mentioned it once or twice," Logan smiled back at him, squeezing his hand. "Now, you can talk to me. What is going on?"

"Right, okay." Patton took a deep breath, pulling his hand away from Logan's. He touched his wrist, looking back up at Logan before doing anything else. "So... I think this happened sometime yesterday, but I didn't see it until this morning. I... before I say anything else I guess I should stop being confusing and just show you."

Patton rubbed at the makeup covering his wrist, wiping it away until his marks were visible again. He didn't say anything once he had finished, barely finding the courage to raise his head and look at Logan. His boyfriend seemed shocked-Patton couldn't really blame him for that, he had been too. He reached out again with one hand to touch Patton's wrist, looking over the black mark carefully.

"I don't know which one it is," Patton blurted, too nervous to stay quiet while Logan was looking at him. "I mean-I got both of mine at the same time, so I have no clue which one is linked to who, and I mean... how could one of them be in love with me? I mean-I'm just me. And Roman's not even here, Virgil doesn't seem to want to talk to us, I don't think we could approach them anyways because I mean what would we even say and-"

"Patton," Logan cut him off, looking up at his face again. Patton went silent immediately, face burning as he waited for Logan to speak. Logan paused, very slowly moving his arm so it was no longer hiding behind his back. He looked down at it and Patton did the same.

"I... think I might know who it is." He spoke slowly. "And I think I might know why Virgil left so suddenly yesterday."