summary: logan and janus, a married couple with a son, get into small harmless fights often, but this is their worst one yet. they need to fix it for the sake of their son and themselves.
word count: 1111
this one is so nice, i love the warm, fuzzy feeling i get with this one like ahh so pure, so soft <3 school is going to be starting on monday, the last day of my driver's ed class is gonna be on friday, T-T i'm prepared for another year of breakdowns :,)
tw/cw// mention of argument, mentions of abusive/bad parents, slight mentions of gore (??) but not in detail, tears/crying,
~~~~
Logan sighed as Janus stormed out of the room and into the connecting bathroom, slamming the door on his way out. He loved and adored his husband; however, they'd often get in arguments since they were both hard-headed and stubborn. The fights were usually minor disagreements that they could resolve after some time apart, but their current one had worsened as time went on. They'd leave it unresolved and table it for another day, only letting the tension grow.
The fight was over their son Remus's relationship with Janus's parents. His parents weren't the best while Janus was growing up, but he felt that they'd changed and that it might be good for them to connect with their grandson. Logan, however, could tell something was wrong with the situation.
After spending the day with the couple, Remus would often come home talking about things a five-year-old shouldn't know about. It gave the young boy nightmares, and he started acting out due to the lack of sleep. Janus claimed Remus got it from the documentaries Logan watched. The logical man denied the suggestion since he'd always made it a point only to watch the documentaries while Remus was out of the house or at night as he was fully aware of the gruesome content included.
"Daddy?" A small voice asked from the doorway. Logan looked up, his troubled expression melting into a soft and loving one. Remus slowly walked over to his father and was placed into his lap. "Did I make you and Papa mad?"
Logan shook his head and kissed Remus's temple. "Of course not. We're just trying to figure out a rather stressful situation right now." Remus thought for a moment, then looked up at Logan. "Are you mad at each other?" The older man sighed and smiled. "No, I could never be mad at him. It can get stressful at times, but I know we care for each other and you very deeply."
Remus hummed to himself, messing with Logan's tie. "I always feel better when I get presents. Should we get him one?" Logan smiled at the boy's exaggerated whisper and nodded. "I think that might be an amazing idea. Let's go." The five-year-old giggled and ran out of the room, leading his dad to the living room.
~~~~
Janus stared at his hands sadly. He didn't want to believe it, but he knew Logan was right, at least partially. He knew he was right about the documentaries because Remus would sometimes get curious and sneak out of bed to spy on whatever Logan was watching; it was inevitable for a kid his age.
However, he knew something was off about his parents when they were around Remus. Janus didn't entirely understand why they would be motivated to expose Remus to whatever they did or why they'd treat him the same way they did their son, but he didn't want to wait around to find out.
'I wanted so hard to believe they'd changed. Guess not.' Janus thought sadly to himself as his eyes began to water. That thought brought him back to Logan. Logan had been there since they were teenagers; he was there the night Janus was kicked out of the house; of course, he wouldn't have trusted the couple when they came back, years later, begging to meet their grandson. Janus always appreciated Logan's protective nature, and the man always seemed to know what was best, after all. 'Why didn't I listen to him earlier?'
A knock on the door shocked the crying man; Logan wasn't one to confront Janus after a fight; he'd usually allow Janus to be by himself, since he usually preferred the solitude, then talk to him again in the morning. He quickly wiped his face, checking in the mirror to ensure he looked good enough, before opening the door.
There stood Logan, looking up at his husband with a nervous look on his face, holding something behind his back. "I'm sorry." "What?" Janus asked softly in confusion. "I'm sorry," Logan repeated once more. "I shouldn't be telling you how to feel or what to think because I am not you. You have your own experiences and emotions that I can't entirely relate to; you should be the one that makes the decisions in your life, not me. A-As a peace offering, Remus suggested that I make you a gift to make up for what I've done."
Janus stared at his husband as he looked down, sheepishly handing him two pieces of construction paper with drawings on them. He couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia, remembering the day Logan had asked him out; Janus was about to go home, dumping his textbooks in his locker, when a shy nerd approached him and handed him a note, clearly not able to get through one sentence without stumbling over his words. The paper had read, 'Will you be my boyfriend?' It was cheesy and very elementary school (as Janus was quick to point out), but it was part of the charm that he slowly fell in love with over the years.
Now, Janus looked at the papers in his hand. It was apparent a child drew the first one as much of the writing and drawing was crooked, misspelled, or backward. He knew, though, that the message read out, 'I love you, Papa.' The second one was still a simple stick figure drawing, but the words were written more elegantly. 'I will never stop loving you.'
Janus sighed with a sad expression, looking up at Logan with slight tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry too. I know Remus should always come first; I just got too caught up in believing something I wished was true." Logan wrapped his arms around his husband's torso, the other man wrapping his arms around Logan's shoulders.
"I wasn't exaggerating earlier; you really need to stop watching those documentaries with Re in the house." He mumbled jokingly, lightening the tension as Logan laughed softly. The amused man pulled back and nodded. "Okay, I will, I promise."
Janus looked down at the pieces of paper, glancing over the details of the childish one once more. "He's very emotionally intelligent for his age. He gets it from you." Janus scoffed. "I don't feel very emotionally intelligent." Logan lightly kissed his cheek, causing his tall husband to look at him. "You are. Other than Patton, you're the smartest person I know regarding feelings and emotional psychology. That's what I love about you."
Janus tried to contain the blush and the wide grin playing on his lips, causing Logan to smile as well. "Come on, let's go to bed."
~~~~
ahhhh, okay, i just got a thought sjhdfkj also, for parent au's (when the sides are meant to parent the other sides) i will always be obsessed with ones that mix in either jan, lo, or patt as the parents in any combination, they are p a r e n t m a t e r i a l sdjfhkdlj hope you all enjoyed, love you all, stay safe, buh bye!!
8/14/21