Love and War || A Sanders Sides AU

Chapter Seventeen

OMG, LAST CHAPTER LAST CHAPTER LAST CHAPTER (of this book there's more of this AU mwahaha) Basically just a fluffy wrap-up to this angst-filled book haha. I hope you enjoy!

WARNINGS: PTSD mentions, anxiety mentions, rape/non-con mentions, Unsympathetic Patton, basically just mentions of everything that's been in this book so far so I dunno what to say.

Here we go!!

Things didn't work perfectly. They never had, especially for Roman. He didn't expect them to. But Logan was right - they got better. Slowly, yeah, but better.

The nightmares continued, shifting between tangible events and just plain feelings of terror before Roman would wake up in a panic. But with the way they'd rearranged bedrooms, he was close enough to Logan and Virgil that they'd hear him and come to his aid.

Therapy was... an experience. Roman knew that he had a long way to go - as Remy loved to remind him with a playful grin and a latte. Picani did really help him, and when he wasn't completely obsessing over cartoons, he still gave Roman some good advice. The characters Roman reminded him of extended past Lapis and Simba to Zuko, Katara, and Toph from ATLA, Leonardo from Ninja Turtles, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and others Roman didn't remember as well.

Then there was Patton.

Oh, how Roman wished he knew how to feel about Patton.

Mornings over the year had gone from peaceful breakfast conversations with him, to scared requirements that he help, to lonely hours where he'd wake up just as early, and attempt making breakfast by himself or sit at the table with a coffee, writing. He missed the old ones, where Patton would make pancakes and plan his lessons, without hurting Roman in the process.

They had some trouble finding a way to get Patton to leave them alone - and Roman finally went with Remy to file for a restraining order. That process took a very long time - but thanks to Remy and Picani knowing some of the people, it got passed. And Patton stopped showing up.

The year went on, and soon Christmas and New Years had passed and they hadn't made a lot of progress outside of budgeting the move. No houses they fell in love with - and they'd looked at a lot. There was a lot of criteria. It had to be in town, with short commutes, and Logan wanted open-concept. Roman had to agree - the many walls in their house had become an enemy to him during the ordeal with Patton.

Then came the day when, scrolling through websites, they came across a house on the other side of town.

It was a little bigger than the one Logan had bought years ago, and it was a little further from the office and Remy's house, but they all agreed it was one to look at.

The bedrooms were all close to each other - even the master bedroom. Roman didn't voice it, but that made him feel better. The others might have thought it as well, but he couldn't be sure. It was more open-planned, with fewer walls between everything, and that definitely helped it feel safer to him.

"It's a big decision." Virgil said, chewing on his fingernails as they talked about it in the living room. "We have to think about it. What if... I dunno, what if it's haunted or something?"

"Haunted?" Logan asked incredulously.

"I'm anxious and trying to make excuses, just let me." Virgil sighed, burying his head in his hands. "Sorry."

"I don't think it's haunted," Logan said gently. "And we can sell this one to make up for some of the cost - and we have savings."

"That's true," Virgil mumbled.

"And it has big windows!" Roman pointed out - something he'd been particularly fond of. "And a garden!" The garden was small, in the back corner of the yard, but Roman found the idea of homegrown food incredibly romantic - in the more traditional sense. Like an untouched haven. That, and he'd recently quit the bookstore job to work more on his writing - which had probably been enough to support him for quite some time. He just hadn't bothered to check, putting it all into savings.