Ship: Romoremile
AU: Middle school (8th)
Patton is nonbinary 💙
Emile's POV
I sat on the floor in my bedroom as I worked on a present I was making for my boyfriend and my joyfriend. Their birthdays were the day after each others, Roman's was November 19th and Patton's was the 20th.
I attached the photos to the string of pastel rainbow fairy lights I had bought online. There were pictures of us since preschool till now, we had been friends since birth. My parents and Patton's parents were friends, and Patton's parents introduced Roman's parents, and we had all gone to the same school.
Patton came out as non-binary in fifth grade, and Roman asked us out at the end of sixth grade. We had been together ever since, and I truly loved them.
I finished the present and put it in my black and blue backpack to hide it when I leave. Today was Roman's birthday, so I would start giving it to them at 11:59 today and finish explaining it at 12:00 tommorow, since we were spending the night with Patton. I got dressed in the outfit my mom picked for me. A black tank top, jean shorts and black sneakers. I said goodbye and walked to school.
I arrived there and met up with my loves who I wished happy birthday and happy early birthday to. Patton and my parents didn't let us choose our clothes because when we were young I'd dress pretty feminine, and Pat wouldn't dress particularly masculine or feminine, but all six of our parents wanted us to dress like 'men'. Speaking of all six of our parents, they're extremely homophobic and transphobic.
Patton got to change in and use the teacher's bathroom so that they didn't have to choose between male or female. They were wearing overalls that had shorts instead of pants, a pastel blue and pink striped shirt, white sneakers, and a light blue baseball cap. I was wearing
a white skirt, tan cardigan around my waist, a blue shirt with one sleeve yellow and the other green that said 'Love is Love,' and black sneakers. Roman got to choose his clothes and he was wearing a white tee that said 'I dream of a world where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned,' jean shorts, and red sneakers.
After school, we changed back into the clothes we had on before and headed to Pat's house. Trying our best to get out of the regular house as fast as we could to avoid our joyfriend being misgendered, which they were twice, we headed out to our shed.
The shed was less like a shed, more like a two-room house. It had working electricity and air conditioning, and the second room was a bathroom. We had fixed it up ourselves in fourth grade with the help of our genius friend, Logan, and it had been our special place ever since. It also had no windows, so when I have them the present it would be great lighting. It had stuffies, blankets, pillows, a tv, a couch, and a little nook in the corner covered by a curtain where we slept.
At 11:58, I started getting the gift from my bag. We had already changed into our pajamas. My plan to give it to them on both of their birthdays worked out great. Eventually, we fell asleep. Roman lied on the pillows in the nook. Patton and I curled up on top of him, and he draped his arm around us.
I woke to the sound of paper tearing, glass breaking, and screaming. I looked up and saw the shed trashed. Patton's parents were ripping up everything, shouting bible verses, breaking stuff, and just screaming in general. I started shaking and crying, which woke up Roman. I had phonophobia like my big brother, who was 19, and mine was just as bad if not worse. He has extremely bad anxiety.
Roman wrapped his arms around me protectively and woke up Patton. We had already devised a plan just in case they found it, but I still wasn't prepared. I grabbed up a larger piece of each pride flag along with the present that they hadn't seen yet. (Non-Binary, Pansexual, Polyamourous.) Patton grabbed a bunch of our stuffies and treasured safe items, and Roman got some photos that had broken frames. We all packed them into bags and ran. Roman picked me up half way because I was starting to fall. It was all blurry because I was panicking, so when we got to the front of the house, I didn't even notice that Roman had ran back over there and returned carrying a bleeding, crying, shaking, bruised Patton. When I did see the two return, I ran over and hugged them. We walked to the only accepting place we knew of. School.
School was in session that day, being a Wednesday, so when three kids, two shaking, one on the verge of a panic attack, one bleeding and bruised and having a panic attack, and another silently crying carrying them both appeared through the door, we got help immediately.
Logan ran over to us and Roman explained what happened. He led us to the principals office while others formed a sort of crowd-barrier far enough away to not scare us but close enough to keep off the group of bullies. We got there, and Roman put us down in chairs while Logan paged his dad, who was the vice principal.
"Vice Principal Braine please report to your office." He said. Eventually he showed up with the principal, and upon sight of us, had a very serious discussion while Logan tended to Patton's wounds. Roman had a scratch on his face, but it wasn't in need of immediate attention like Patton was.
Their face was scratched up, their forearm was bleeding, a black eye was forming, as was a bruise on their cheek, their lip was bleeding, their nose was bleeding, their clothes were ripped, they were drenched in freezing water. I don't blame them for having a panic attack, I myself was almost having one and the only wound I had was a scraped knee from falling on the pavement.
"How did this happen, Roman?" Logan's father asked the only person suited to talk who knew anything. "Well, I woke up because Emile was crying, and I heard screaming. I looked around, and Pat's parents were ripping everything apart in the shed we've told you about." We had told him when we all had a sleepover with Logan last year. "I woke up Patton when I saw their parents destroying everything. Emile has really bad phonophobia, so it's no wonder he was afraid of the screaming and glass shattering. We got all of the stuff we wanted to try and salvage, comfort items, pride flags, photos, etc, and we ran. I thought Pat was behind me when I picked up Emile, but they weren't. When I put Em on the front porch, I saw that they weren't there and ran back to get them, and that's when I found them like this."
We stayed like that explaining minor things, the only thing that we didn't know is how the heck Patton got hurt. Eventually they were okay enough to explain without crying, and they did.
"I tried to run out with Ro and Em, but my dad grabbed my wrist and threw me up against the wall. He punched me in my face and my mom slapped me. They both threw glass shards at me and then my mom disappeared and came back and poured a big bucket of freezing water on me. My dad kicked me in the face and my mom poured more water on me. Then Roman came and pushed my dad back and my mom just stared. He picked me up and ran.'
I'm so mortified. "Call 911 please, Logan." I hear the principal whisper. He does.
"Hello. My three friend's property was destroyed and one of them is severely hurt. No. Yes. Yes ma'am. Okay."
Two cops and an ambulance arrive. They make sure Roman's scratch isn't infected and take Patton with them to check for hypothermia and make sure he stops bleeding.
"Do you two know of anyone who can come get you?" Logan's dad asks. Logan is only a seventh grader, and he is considerably smaller than Roman, but he's bigger than Patton and I. He's also smarter than all of us. Currently his in his father's arms grasped onto him like a koala and it is just adorable!
"My brother and his boyfriend might be able to get us." I say. "Could you call him please?" I nod.
"Hey Em, what's up?"
"Hey Virgil."
"Hi Emile!" I hear Janus yell.
"Hey Jan. Hey..uh.. Listen."
"You okay?"
"Well..Romanpattonandiweresleepingoverwithpattonandtheirparentsfounduscuddlingandtheybeatuppattonandtheyareinthehospitalandromanandineedyoutocomegetusbeforemomanddaddoandimscaredpleasecomegetysvirgil."
"Hey hey hey, you only fast talk when you're scared and almost having a panic attack. Calm down and explain again."
"Roman and Patton and I were sleeping over with Patton and this morning their parents found us cuddling and they beat up Patton and they are in the hospital and Roman and I need you to come get us before mom and dad do and I'm scared please come get us Virgil."
"Well that was a run on sentence. Okay. I'm coming now, have Roman calm you down. And did you say you guys were cuddling?"
"We've been dating since sixth grade."
"Aww! That's so cute! I ship you three. Im on my way. I love you lil bro."
"Love you too Virge."
I hang up and turn back to them. "He's coming." I can feel the tears regaining their place on my cheeks. It gets hard to breathe but I feel myself being lifted off the ground bridal style, my nightgown almost lifting up. Then I remember, we're still in our pajamas. I cuddle up to Roman as if he were my lifeline, and right now,I'm pretty sure he is.
Virgil gets here and sees me huddled up, crying, in Roman's arms. He tries to cheer me up. "Get in you adorable losers!" He yells. I laugh through my tears as I'm carried over and placed in the car. I lay down in the back seat, my head on Roman's lap as he runs his fingers through my hair.
We get to the hospital and Virgil, being a legal adult, signs us in as visitors and himself as our legal guardian. We walk to the room they told us our joyfriend was in and who do we see standing in there but four cops and six angry parents.
It's literally 1:00 and I'm in a hospital, my joyfriend in the bed, out to my parents. (Wait that sounds so wrong.)
The cops leave, which was the wrong move. My mom grabs my arm and my dad grabs Virgil's. Roman's parents grab him and Patton's dad grabs Janus.
"Roman!" I yell.
"Emile!" Roman yells.
"Janus!" Virgil yells.
"Virgil!" Janus yells.
"Mom, Dad, stop!" Patton yells.
Of course, the cops run back in to see my parents screaming and pounding mine and Virgil's heads against the wall, Patton's dad doing the same to Janud Janus, Roman's parents doing the same to him, and Patton's mom strangling Patton.
They pull our parents off of us and take them into custody while the doctors tend to the four of our wounds and try to stabilize Patton.
***
Ten years later, Patton was 'adopted' by his cousin, Remy, I was 'adopted' by Janus and Virgil, and Roman was 'adopted' by his twin brother, Remus' family. Remus was put up for adoption when they were little, but he and Ro secretly stayed in touch. All of our parents were in jail and or all six of us, Me, Pat, Roman, Remus, Janus, and Virgil had a restraining order on them.
And there I stood in my dressing room. My pinkish off-white dress flowing down into a beautiful train. A bouqet of pink, blue, and red roses in my hand. I had light purple eyeshadow and some eyeliner, courtesy of Virgil. I was about to get married.
I walked down the aisle towards Roman, linked arms with Janus. He had been my father figure since I was 13 years old. We had all gotten a chance to walk down, and Roman had linked arms with his brother. The family he had been adopted into had a father until recently, he had passed away. I got to the end of the aisle and started crying happy tears.
Patton came down the aisle wearing a button up and tie with a flowy skirt in the same color as my dress. They had some blush, eyeliner, and tan eyeshadow. Most likely courtesy of Remy. They looked stunning. Roman was wearing a white button up and tie in the color we were wearing, black slacks, and a flower crown made up with blue and pink flowers. Pat and I made him wear it, and when he was asked if he wanted to take it off, he hissed and put his hands on it protectively like Virgil.
Emile:
Patton:
Roman:
We said our vows. We said our 'I do's.' We kissed. We felt searing pain in our chests as we looked to see our parents with guns. We were married.
Word Count: 2243 including this.