Timekeeper

30. The Final Chapter

Walking into the room you could instantly feel how dark it was. Patton sat there just staring at the tree, frozen in thought, leaning on his crutches a little much. I walked over and he looked over at me smiling. It was hollow and heartwrenching. I pulled him in close and felt him crack as I led him to the couch.

"You know, when I started the carol, I knew what the future was." He pulled away from me and held his head in his hands. "I knew exactly what was going to happen. Roman would break. Virgil would run away. Deceit would go back. A-And I... We would get in this big fight." My eyes went wide as he took a shaky breath. We never really did go over that seen in the future. The one with the fallen Christmas tree and the crying man.

"Patton, I don't think..."

"They were alive, Logan." I stopped and he looked up at the ceiling, tears falling like waterfalls. "If I had never done anything... They'd be hurt or gone but... They'd be alive." He started to get up when I grabbed his hand to keep him there. To keep him with me... "It's all my fault, Logan. My sons are dead because of me."

"Don't." He looked up at me as I choked back tears, my eyes burning. "This is not your fault."

"How could you say that, Logan?"

"Because... Because... It's mine." He let go and just looked at me with this sad look. "If I had been better, you wouldn't have felt the need to do the carol. If I had been smarter, I would've seen the signs and the crash wouldn't have happened. If I had been stronger Virgil and Deceit wouldn't have needed to do anything. If I... If I had... had a good enough grasp on my powers, then they would be standing right there and you would be crying... But now it's too late to do anything and I am so sorry Patton."

"Logan..." I looked over at the radio and I started to smile. "What? What are you smiling about?"

"Why don't we wipe those tears, huh love?" He gave me this confused look as I brushed his tears away and pulled him up off the couch. I picked him up and placed both of his feet on mine like a small child would dance with their parent. "Care for a dance?"

"There isn't any..." I snapped my fingers and the radio flipped on. It was playing a station Roman had on the other day. Nothing but love songs, why do broken hearts listen to then on repeat? It's just torture. "Logan?"

"You deserve one happy memory to take from today." I pulled him in close and started to sway to the music. He rested his head on my shoulder and felt him relax. "It is your favorite holiday after all."

"I thought you hated Christmas." I smiled and brushed the hair out of his eyes.

"It's growing on me."

"That's..." I heard him yawn and I couldn't help laugh. "...nice. I'm glad." I looked over at the radio and heard it click off. I picked Patton up bridal style and tensed up as he wrapped his arms around me. I sighed and carried him off to his room, placing him on his bed and tucking him in. "I love..." I another yawn and I gave him his stuffed dog. What was his name... Pupper? "...you, Logan." My eyes went wide and I smiled. I was honestly expecting him to say family or Christmas.

"I love you too, Pat." I started to leave, when I spotted something on the desk. We never got to fix Virgil's tree topper. I frowned and glanced back at the sleeping trait. I may not be able to bring him back but I can fix that. I waved my hand over the topper and watched as it shook and slowly rebuild itself. "Merry Christmas Patton." I left the room and paused at Roman's open door.

"Roman?"

"In here..." I turned to see Virgil's door open and I made my way over to see Roman sitting on the bed. He looked over at me and pointed at Virgil vanity, the figurine we spent so long fixing in clear view. "Do you... Do you think he would like it there?"