In which Elliott learns to trust someone and becomes part of a family

Part 7:

 Emile happily takes it. "Tanks you, Mus."

"You're very welcome, Gem." Both smiled happily at each other as they ate. And after finishing his food, Emi went back to coloring. 

He just looked so happy, so peaceful. Remus couldn't help himself. 

"Hey, em?"

Emile looks up from his drawing. 

"I love you."

Emile bites his lip and shakes his hands a little.

Remus playfully gasps, "is that a happy baby stim I saw?" Remus asks.

Emile gets excited again and hides his face in his stitch onesie paws. 

"Happy babies are my favorite kind," Remus says, hugging his precious star. "And do you know who my favorite baby ever is?"

Emile's smile dropped as he shrugged.

"You are." Remus announces, causing the baby to smile bright again.

"Really?"

"Of course."

Emile bit his lip, "you my favite too," he says softly. 

Remus smiles. "Thank you, Emi." He ruffles Emile's hair playfully. 

His adorable gem was so sweet, so kind. 

Everything Remus ever wanted in life, but never deserved.

He's very lucky. 

He kissed Emile's head softly and snuggles up to him.

Turns out he needed the quality type as much as Emile did.

~~~ Virgil: ~~~

Virgil tried not to be embarrassed about last night. 

So, he regressed in front of his caregiver- so what? There are worse things than that... Right?

His breathing increased as he continued to walk- too focused on his anxious thoughts to notice where he was.

"Hi, Virge. How are you feeling?" Patton asked once he reached the kitchen, catching him off guard. 

"Oh, hey." They rub their arm anxiously.

"Hi," Patton repeats with a smile.

 "Thanks...for helping me last night. I'm sorry for just waking you up and stuff. I'll try not to-"

"Virgil, I'm always here for you. You know that, right?" Patton interrupts.

"Yeah, but-"

"And you already apologized, and you never had to, I'm always happy to be here for you. Always. Don't be afraid to come to me if you need something."

"Yeah..." Virgil took a deep breath of relief. "Okay."

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Patton asked, rubbing his arm. Does Patton get nervous too?

Virgil shrugged. 

"It's ok to talk about it, Virge." Patton sat down on the couch and gestured Virgil to sit next to him.

"I know it's not easy," Patton says as Virgil sits down. "I really don't know what I'm doing either."

"I guess that makes this both easier and harder," Virgil laughs. 

Patton chuckled too. "Guess so."

"Hey, Virge?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want me to be your caregiver again?" 

Virgil nodded, "If that's what you want... I don't think I could trust anyone else."

Patton sighed in relief. "Ok, good. So, you don't have to be afraid to talk to me or ask me for anything, ok? I love you, kiddo."

Virgil smiled, "I love you too, Pat."

It felt nice to say it again.

"Do you have nightmares often?" Patton asked.

Virgil shrugged. "I didn't use to. But lately I've been having nightmares almost every night." 

"Do you know why?"

"You know Jered?" 

"Your ex-boyfriend," Patton nodded sadly. "What about him?"

"He- he uh." Virgil paused to take a deep breath. "I told you that he wasn't very nice... but it was much worse than I made it out to be."

"What do you mean?"

"He hurt me... physically as well as emotionally. And now I keep having these flashbacks...dreams about them happening again..."

Patton's mouth dropped. "Oh my god, Virgil..."

Talking to Patton became easy somehow, and Virgil couldn't stop as soon as they started. "I thought I could stop them, avoid them, but I can't. I tried everything." A tear fell down Virgil's face, and he rubbed it away quickly, hoping Patton wouldn't notice.

"Oh, Virge-" Patton attempted to rest a hand on his shoulder, but Virgil scooted away. "It's ok to cry, stormcloud. I'm not going to judge you."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry."

"No, it's ok. You don't have to apologize." 

Virgil took another shaky breath as tears kept making their way out. "He said he was going to stop, Pat. But he never did. He promised he would once I stopped making him want to. After a while... I just felt that I didn't deserve any better. I felt like I made him that way."

"You didn't."

"What if I make logan like that?"

"Virgil, this wasn't your fault. You can't make someone abuse you."

"I just-"

"You need to talk to Logan," Patton says. "Tell him how you're feeling. He'll understand."

"You're right. I know you're right... It's just hard.  I don't know how to trust a relationship again."

"Well, tell him that."

Virgil sighed but also nodded.

"I'm very proud of you, kiddo. I know it can be hard to open up."

"I should've stopped him sooner, pat-"

"It wasn't your fault. You understand me?" Patton asked, strictly. 

Virgil nodded, "yeah."

"Let's take it easy today, ok? We can watch a movie, play a game, whatever you want."

Virgil wiped away a few stray tears, "thanks, pat."

Patton offered Virgil a hug, and they took it. 

"Anytime, kiddo."