E M P T Y - A Sanders Sides Story

C R U E L

Point of View: Virgil, First Person
Timeline: Present Day, 8am on Patton's 25th Birthday - January 15th.

I yawned, heading downstairs to make Patton some pancakes.  I didn't usually wake up early, but I wanted to make sure that I got up before Patton.  I quietly crept downstairs, hoping that Patton hadn't already woken up out of excitement (Patton really loved birthdays, just in general).

I turned into the kitchen and blinked at all the decorations.  Blue and silver balloons and streamers littered the kitchen.  Two small cakes were on the table - one higher than the other, and made to look like clouds, a rainbow cake piece connecting them.  The rest of the table was littered in rainbow cupcakes with white frosting, each one designed to look like a white rose on top.  I quietly marveled at all the work Roman had done, shocked.

Speaking of Roman, he was currently sleeping with his head resting on on the table, piping bag still in his hand.

"Ro, hey," I murmured, tapping him lightly on the shoulder.  I felt bad waking him up, but hopefully I could help him to sleep in his own room, there's no way he got a lot of sleep least night - if any at all.  "How about we head to your room, okay?"

"My room?" Roman blinked sleepily at me, not quite processing anything.

"Yes, your room," I repeated, grabbing Roman's hand and helping him to his feet.  "You've got to be tired."

"Yeah..." Roman agreed sleepily.  "What time is it?"

"Little after eight," I told him, guiding Roman to the steps cautiously - he looked like he was ready to fall any second.

"Oh... wait," Roman shook his head, trying to wake himself up.  "I still have so much stuff to do."

"Ro, you finished the cake and everything looks amazing.  You can get some sleep now," I said softly.  "I promise, I'll wake you up before Patton heads downstairs," I encouraged, doing my best to hide how worried I was.  Prince was always extra but this... this almost seemed... like a bit too much, even for him.

"No," Roman shook his head, pulling away from me.  "They're supposed to meet me downstairs at 8:30, I don't want to fall asleep before they get here..."

I frowned.  "Before who gets here?"

Roman shook his head.  "Puppies," he corrected simply.

That only made me frown further.  "What do you mean?"

Roman yawned again.  "I rented puppies for the day.  I paid for them already, I just have to go pick them up."

"Okay, dude - you  need to go to bed," I grabbed Roman's wrist with intentions of dragging him upstairs.

Roman yelped, wide awake and yanking his arm away from me.  "No! No, I'm fine! I'll go to bed early tonight to make up for it, but I have go grab them."

I sighed.  "Alright, are you sure that you don't want me to go pick them up instead?"

Roman shook his head, bangs falling over his eyes.  "I paid with my card, they won't give them to you, it has to be me."

"Prince - are you sure that you can drive?"

Roman nodded, looking for his keys.  Admittedly he seemed much more awake than he was a couple minutes ago.  "Yeah, and it's not that far away.  I should be back before 8:30 or so."

I hesitated.  "Ro, I don't know if this is a good idea.  You're in no condition to be driving."

Roman waved a dismissive hand.  "I'll be fine.  Just keep Patton in his room until I get back, okay?  Cause I will lose it if he sees that cake before I get back."

"Ro - "

"Guard the cake!" Roman yelled, walking out the door.

I sighed.  Something is wrong.  I'll have to ask him about it later...

__________

"Good morning, Padre!" Roman burst into Patton's room.  "The day will be fantastic and now that everything is ready, it's time to - oh you're already up."

Patton giggled.  "I woke up a little while ago, but Virgil told me to stay in my room until you came to get me," Patton grinned widely.  "So am I allowed to go downstairs now?"

"Off we go!" Roman shouted.  "Off to our epic birthday surprise!"

I huffed, amused, from my place behind Roman.  "Happy Birthday, Pat."

"Thanks, Virge!" Patton cheered.  I don't know if I've seen Patton smile this much since my own birthday.  I guess it helps that he's been looking forward to today for so long.  I just hope that he has a name on his wrist...

Not that I dislike having a name.  In fact, I kinda like that I don't have a soulmate.  I was never really a fan of the whole 'fate to have your destiny intertwined with someone else for the rest of your life' crap that everyone always talked about.  Now... I'm free to make my own choices, I'm in control of my own destiny.

Patton giggled, taking the steps downstairs two at a time.  I smirked at that, glad that Patton was enjoying himself.  I glanced at Roman out of the corner of my eye - and did a double take, surprised to see him frowning.  Why would he be frowning? Today was Patton's birthday, he put so much thought into everything... what was wrong?

"Hey," I tapped Roman on the shoulder, getting his attention and stopping him at the top of the stairs.   "He'll love it, don't be worried."

Roman's frown shifted into a bright smile.  "Why of course it will!  I, uh, I was actually just thinking about Logan.  I... didn't do this kinda of thing for him.  We had gotten into a big fight right before his birthday and by the time I put my ego aside, I didn't have time to pull something like this together," he confessed, continuing down the stairs.

I frowned, opening my mouth to counter but Roman cut me off.

"I know, it's in the past, there's nothing I can do now, stop feeling guilty, etc.," Roman waved his hand dismissively.  "But I'm just going to have to live with that and feel bad about it for a while.  But alas, that is not what we're focusing on today! Today is for Patton! And our job is to make it brilliant!" he cheering jogging down the stairs, leaving me behind.

...

When did Prince start lying to me?

__________

Patton was so happy he started crying, at the sight of the cake alone - hugging Roman so tightly that I was almost afraid that Patton would never let him go.  At the sight of the puppies, and finding out that that Prince had rented them for the day, he cried again.

Sunset was at 5:01, so Prince set a timer and we all sat on the couch at 5:00, all holding our breath as we waited for Patton's soulmate name.

"I'm so nervous," Patton laughed shakily, his hand trembling.  "It feels so crazy... I've waited so long."

I nudged Patton, our shoulders brushing together.  "I'm sure he'll be worth the wait."

Patton just smiled as we all directed our eyes towards his wrist.

5:00

5:01

5:02

5:03

"No," Prince's voice cut through the silence.  "Not again," he groaned, falling back into the cushions, hiding his face in his hands.

I, myself was in a state of shock and I had a feeling that Patton was too.  I wasn't surprised that I didn't have a soulmate, but Patton? No, that didn't make any sense.  I mean... he was Patton.  He had to have a soulmate.  He just had to.

I looked at Patton who's smile had fallen, a look of betrayal on his face.  He didn't move his eyes away from his wrist even as the tears started to fall.

"I have to go," Prince mumbled before almost running upstairs to his room.  I heard the door slam and winced as the lock clicked behind him.

Patton fell into my arms, sobbing.

Hadn't we gone through enough? Why was the universe so cruel...?

____________________