patton sighed loudly as he changed positions in his bed for the fiftieth time. it has been almost a year since virgil told him about roman. as much as patton tried, he can't stop thinking about roman. virgil eventually stopped hanging around him because of it, and because he wanted to get over patton since it was clear the feelings would never be the same. he went on to hanging out with logan after he found out logan didn't know the full extent to what was happening either. now roman and patton were all alone.

finally, patton got up. he couldn't take it anymore. he slid his slippers on and walked over to his door. he took a deep breath and opened it, walking down the hallway to roman's room. first, he tried opening the door. when that didn't work, he gently knocked, wondering if roman was even up. his theory was confirmed when he heard roman getting off of his bed. "logan, what do you want- oh."

patton bit his lip and looked down, he realized he hasn't thought this through very well. "i-uh." patton stuttered. "i can't stop thinking about you." he muttered quietly, wrapping his arms around his own waist. he shivered slightly, still staring at the carpet.

"oh," roman bit his lip. "do- do you want to come in, it's cold out there." patton nodded and roman stepped aside, letting patton enter. patton walked over and sat at his desk chair and roman sat back down on his bed. "so-"

"sorry if i woke you."

"you didn't, don't worry." roman said softly. "can you- um" he hesitated, "can you please tell me how you truly feel about me? like, look me in the eyes and just, let your heart out."

patton nodded and took a short breath in. he looked up and stared into roman's eyes, searching for an answer. he didn't see the same fire, he doesn't feel the same anymore. it was sad. "i don't see the same." he stated, "i figured i couldn't stop thinking about you because maybe i still liked you- but i don't think that's it."

roman hummed, "what do you mean?"

"well- i used to love you. but now i don't" patton said, pulling his legs up to his chest, not feeling pity at roman's frown. "but- but i think i'd like to look at you and feel the way i did before." he took a breath in, "our fire died last winter, all of the shouting blew it out."

"i know, i'm so sorry-"

patton put his hand up, "you know i could live with or without you." he spat, but immediately softened up, "but i might like having you about."

roman smiled slightly, tucking a piece of hair behind his ear. "i like having you about." roman whispered. "i would love to rebuild everything."

patton laughed slightly. "hope i'm not tired of rebuilding, 'cause this might take a little more." he joked to himself, roman barley catching what he said. "yes, these new walls are pretty hard to crack, and it might take a while to trust you won't attack." patton explained and roman nodded.

"i don't blame you, but why didn't you come earlier?" he asked, "we could have done this a lot sooner."

"oh," he paused, "i'd apologize but it was only self defense. running away just made sense." he looked down in his lap and laughed to himself slightly. "but here i am, with arms unfolding." he said as he got up and sat on the bed with roman, letting roman crawl into his open arms. "i guess it isn't quite the end."

roman made a happy noise as he snuggled into patton's arms, pressing his face into his chest and taking in his sweet scent. "old partner in crime, i'm going to try to fall in love with you again." patton whispered, guiding them to lay down on roman's bed.

he had to admit, he did miss this. the cuddling was always nice and roman's scent would always put him fast asleep almost immediately. and as he closed his eyes, letting roman snuggle into his side, he realized that hasn't changed one bit.