Sanders Supers [Sanders Sides AU]

Three

A/N- Trigger warnings: blood

Florida, 2005

Patton was always the kindred soul in the room. He was always the motherly figure-or dad figure, as he called himself-in his friend group, always helping his friends overcome their challenges and obstacles.

So he needed his friends to help him through his. Sitting in a hospital bed, the desk next to him littered with cards and a plate of half eaten cookies, he thought back to how he got there.

It was a nice autumn morning. The leaves were the perfect shade of orange-red, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and the temperature was just right. Patton was walking to school with one of his best friends, Talyn, when they decided to take the long way around to school. "C'mon, you wuss! We have time!" They had said, multi-colored hair bouncing behind them as they ran.

Patton rolled his eyes but laughed. "Fine, but you owe me!"

"How about a hot chocolate after school? I'll pay." Talyn laughed.

Patton run after them, breath clouding in the chilly fall air. Talyn was very fast for someone with such short legs, and Patton told them as such."Meanie!" They shouted.

"I'm sorry, Talyn, I love you!"

Nothing was expected to happen that day, other than an english test and hot chocolate after school. But something unexpected happened, and it landed him in the hospital.

The long way to school had always been uneventful when they decided to walk more. The craziest thing they'd ever seen happen was a snake eating a rabbit, which Talyn had been upset about for the rest of that week. But that day had topped anything they'd ever seen, far more interesting than dead rabbits or bobcat poop. Patton swung his backpack in his hand, surprisingly strong for someone who never did any sports.

They were halfway to school when the explosion happened.

Patton hadn't seen it coming, or else he would never have decided to take the long way.

The fire came first, blue and searing hot. The hair on Patton's arms stood up, and it felt as if he would burn up in the heat. Glass flew everywhere, splattering blood on the sidewalk.

Patton's first instinct was to dive over Talyn, protecting them from the blast. Pain blossomed through Patton's back, glass slicing open his skin, fire eating away at him, the heat burning through his jacket.

He heard Talyn scream his name, but they seemed a million miles away, almost like an echo, his ears ringing from the noise of the explosion.

People poured out of the neighboring houses, putting phones to their ears and calling the police and ambulances and firetrucks to combat the blaze that had sprung up after the explosion.

"Patton! Pat! Are you okay? Get up!" They frantically shouted.

He could only groan, his vision blurring. His knees gave out, and Patton collapsed on the sidewalk. "Ohmggodohmygod..." Talyn screamed. They always talked a million words a minute, but Patton couldn't make out anything they were saying. All he could see was them crying, their tear-stained face buried in their hands.

"Talyn, I'm fine-" But Patton was not fine. He felt a warm trickle down his back, sticking to his shirt. His gray sweater was now brown and torn, glass shards sticking out like a porcupine. "Patton, you're bleeding! Talyn pulled their phone out with shaking hands, repeatedly dropping it and dialed 911. They put their phone on speaker so Patton could hear.

"911, what's your emergency?" The operator asked.

"My friend- he's hurt, and there was an explosion, and he's bleeding..."

"Ma'am, stay calm, can you tell us where you are?" Talyn was too worried to correct the operator about their gender. They gave the operator the address of the house, posted on the mailbox.

"Thank you, ma'am, emergency services are on the way, you may hang up the phone, now."

"I'm not a-" the operator hung up before Talyn could finish their sentence. They were too scared for Patton to care about what pronouns people used for them.

"Talyn- I'm fine, really." Patton said, his breathing uneven and ragged. But inside, he was panicking and terrified, his heart going beating a thousand times per second. He didn't want Talyn to worry about him. After all, he was supposed to be the fatherly figure, right? If he couldn't be the caring friend, what kind of person would he be? He couldn't let Talyn see how much he was hurting, how much he wanted to scream out in pain. How much he wished for death. He wanted to die, right there on the sidewalk. Just be able to close his eyes and feel alright. But he still kept reassuring Talyn that he will be alright. Talyn kept crying, scared they were going to lose their friend.

'Talyn, don't cry. If you cry, then I'll cry. It hurts me to see you like this!' For the first time in his life, he couldn't see the optimistic side of a bad situation.

He couldn't bear the pain anymore, the glass digging into his skin, the blood trickling down his back and staining his shirt, Talyn's worried cries for him. How had things gone so wrong in such a short amount of time? Just minutes before they were planning for hot chocolate after school, now he was kneeling on the ground in pain, quite possibly about to die.

He heard sirens in the distance, getting closer.

"Patton, the ambulance is here," Talyn said.

"What-what'd you say?" Patton asked, his voice hoarse with pain. Talyn's words were muffled as if he were underwater. Black spots swam across his vision. The more black he saw, the less pain he felt. Finally he gave in to the darkness, gave in to the pain. He couldn't hold on anymore, couldn't bear Talyn' worried cries. So he let himself give in to the darkness.