~ Wings ~ Sanders Sides ~

~ Chapter Eighteen ~ Roman ~

I'm at the couch, notebook on the coffee table, trying to think of something, anything, to get Patton back home. "Virge, can you help me out?" I finally ask.

The reply I get is quiet and doesn't seem to be directed towards the question. "... not having Patton when we asked him, but he may have found him first!"

"Virgil, are you ok?" He's still pacing and, even though I can't feel it, I can tell his heart rate is going up.

"Or what if there's wild animals like wolves in those forests and he's hurt?!" Virgil's voice is gaining volume now. "Or he might've fallen off of a tree trying to get food or—"

"Virgil!" I snap my fingers. The emo nightmare finally stops pacing and looks at me. I sigh. "First, please stop, you're going to work yourself into a panic attack. Second, do you have any ideas on how to find Patton? I can't think of anything."

Virgil stares at me. "Princey needs my help," he says, visibly trying not to laugh. I sigh.

"Do you have any ideas?" I repeat. "Or are you just going to waste my time?"

"No, no, it's fine," Virgil replies, a chuckle creeping into his voice. "There's actually one song, and it's supposed to be taken figuratively, but..." Virgil pulls out his phone. Not too soon after, my own phone pings with a notification. "I sent it to you. Go ahead and listen to it."

And I do just that. The song definitely reflects our current circumstances. "Candles?" I ask with a small smile. Virgil nods.

"Candles."

~*——__——*~

I step back to check our progress. Hailey's flitting around the roof, Virgil's on the balcony, Emile and Remy are tackling the perimeter, and Logan is lining the walkway. I'm off to the side, duplicating candles for everyone to place.

After a few minutes, Remus comes over and sits next to me. "I don't exactly think this was fully your idea," he says. I smirk.

"Virgil gave me a prompt," I reply.

"Reasonable." I glance over at my little brother. To anyone else, he seems fine, but I know him. He's worried, too, I can tell. I place a hand on his shoulder.

"He's going to come back," I assure. Remus nods, clearly not believing me. I suppress a sigh and wrap my arms around him, resting my head on his shoulder. "He will. I promise." Remus pats my hand.

"I hate to interrupt the bonding moment," Hailey cuts in, "but everyone's finished." I glance up. Sure enough, all of the candles are exactly where they should be. The only space missing is in the grass.

I start to flourish my open hand, but pause. "You wanna help?" I ask Remus. "You have powers in the imagination, too." Remus's face lights up and he nods vigorously.

I stand up, then help my brother up. "On the count of three." Remus glances at me, eyes shining. "Three..." We raise our hands. "Two.." I take a deep breath. "One!" I flourish my hand as Remus snaps his fingers.

Immediately, the lawn is covered in candles, all of different sizes. I catch Remus beaming at me. I smile back, knowing Patton would have never let us do this.

"Thank you," Remus says. "For letting me help, I mean. You didn't have to."

"You're right, I didn't," I reply. "But what kind of brother would I be if I excluded you?" I ruffle Remus's already messy hair. Remus giggles. "Stick around a bit?"

Remus is silent for a moment, then he wraps his arms around me. "Duh!" he exclaims. "What kind of brother would I be if I didn't?" I chuckle.

"It's decided, then. Cmon, let's head back inside."

"Let's."