May Flowers - Sanders Sides Fanfiction

❁Liatris - Happiness❁

AU: Canon

TW: None that I know of

WC: 810

Date: 5/5/2021

There were certain traditions around the mind palace. During Christmas Roman and Patton would sing carols at Logan and Virgil's doors. For Thomas's birthday, they would all sit together and reminisce about the things they had done that year and the friends who made their year special. However, one of the most important traditions was movie night. Once a week they would get together as a family and watch a movie.

It had started out as just Roman, Patton, and Logan. Patton had forced it into existence after the split. They had all needed a distraction and back then he was more about repressing feelings rather than experiencing them. It might not have been the best option for dealing with the issues at hand, but it had been something that the core sides relied upon. Movie Night was now a massively important tradition that helped them all stay connected with one another, even when things were hard.

In the beginning, it had been a bit awkward. The three would watch movies in relative silence and then go back to their rooms, but that changed the first time Logan and Roman argued over a movie. Patton had been stressed that the anger would ruin movie night, that it would break this tiny tradition he had made, but in the end, both ended up laughing and they all went to bed with lighter hearts. Arguments about movies quickly became a staple of Movie Night. Patton's favorite was when Logan tried to convince Roman that Maleficent was justified in her anger towards the kingdom. Apparently not inviting her was a huge social faux pas as she was, most likely, a part of fairy aristocracy.

Patton hadn't understood a word of that discussion, but it had been a lot of fun watching the two of them verbally spar. It added a liveliness about the house that made it feel like home again.

When Virgil joined the family it took a while to get him to Movie Night. Patton had tried to invite him but he was often turned down. It wasn't until they discussed Thomas's embarrassing phases that Virgil finally joined them for a movie night. He didn't speak the entire time, and Logan and Roman didn't start their normal banter.

Roman was still feeling guilty about how he had treated Virgil and without someone to instigate him, Logan had no reason to fight.

Thankfully, the silence didn't last long. It was less than a month before Virgil made a sarcastic comment that brought life back into their nights. If Logan and Roman weren't debating then it was Roman and Virgil. On very rare occasions, Logan and Virgil would get very interested in a topic, having their own conversations. It was always sweet to watch, even if Patton sometimes interrupted by getting too excited about singing a song with Roman.

Things fell back into a comfortable rhythm, weekly evenings of messy popcorn fights and arguments that held no real anger. Patton was happy to keep it that way.

But things changed again.

Janus was accepted, and his room made its way to the core side. Patton had the hardest time adjusting to Janus being there. He had so much guilt built up in him from everything he had been doing to Thomas, and maybe it was the 'fake it until you make it' attitude, but he invited Janus to Movie Night. He could tell just from the way Janus looked at him, that the deceptive side could read him like a book. Still, Janus agreed to come, and things were tense once again. Roman ignored the deceptive side's existence, and Logan was quieter.

Patton hated it, and he hated himself.

That was probably why Janus had cornered him one day in the kitchen, early in the morning before the others had woken up.

"Patton, you need to forgive yourself. You were doing the best you could with the tools you had. Learn, and move forward." Though his words were harsh, Patton knew he was right.

The next movie night came and Patton actually watched the movie rather than obsessing over how quiet it had become. He got into it, and when one of his favorite songs came on, he began to sing.

Roman joined him.

Virgil made a sarcastic comment at the end, but a smile was on his lips.

Logan added an interesting tidbit about the song.

Janus added a comment as well.

Remus, who hadn't been invited, jumped out from behind the couch and said something lewd, but Patton couldn't be mad. Somehow, Remus being here just felt complete.

Patton smiled as Movie Night descended into chaos, but a familiar chaos that brought Patton so much joy. He hoped Thomas could feel this too. The happiness that came with loving who you were, and loving the people you spent your time with.