#im not sure if i should still tag it as fictober but im gonna anyway

[shuttymcshutfuck]

I think they’ll take care of me

Fictober day 22: “and neither should you.”

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Rating: General

Type: Hurt/comfort (Human AU)

Word count: 1,401

Relationships: none but can be read as Moxiety

Characters: Patton Sanders, Virgil Sanders, Logan Sanders, Roman Sanders

TW: Chronic pain, crying, overworking, hiding pain, loss of appetite (due to pain)

Ao3 link // Fictober Masterpost

At this point, Patton felt like he should be used to it. He knew that it was just a luck of the draw but that still didn’t make anything easier.

or,Patton's in pain and he needs to stop hiding it.

At this point, Patton felt like he should be used to it. He knew that it was just a luck of the draw but that still didn’t make anything easier. Especially with the weather getting colder recently and the lift to his apartment had yet to be fixed. So maybe it wasn’t luck of the draw but either way it wasn’t his fault. He had made the mistake of thinking his pain wasn’t too bad today - something he usually underestimates - so he didn’t bring his cane out with him. As soon as he managed to climb the three flights of stairs to his shared apartment and got through the door, he collapsed in a heap of jackets and bags on the sofa.

“Hey Pat, is that you?” Virgil called from the other room. Patton loved living with his friends, they were practically a little family by now. The only drawback was that Patton barely ever told them if he was in pain, which meant instead of being able to just flop on the couch after a rough day there was always a chance he’d be summoned to help with something.

“Yeah, it’s me kiddo!” Patton shouted back. He was used to Virgil shouting through the apartment instead of getting up. Or if any of them were asleep, just texting each other.

“Could come here for a sec please? I need a hand with something!” Patton's body ached at the thought but he didn’t want to be rude. It was just a little bit of pain after all. He would help Virgil, make dinner for Logan and Roman coming in and then have a bath. Baths helped, mostly when they were practically scolding hot but, the brief half an hour where his pain was muted down was worth it.

“Will do, let me just pop down my bags!” Fake enthusiasm rang through the air as Patton sluggishly pulled himself to his feet trying to ignore the shot of pain going down into his leg from his left hip. It turned out Virgil just needed his opinion on what sort of stitching to use for his newest school assignment so he wasn’t needed long. That meant he had to start the task of making dinner. He loved making dinner for everyone but standing for that long wasn’t the best idea on a good day, nevermind when he was already in a lot of pain.

By the time he finished making dinner his hip was continuously shooting pain down his leg making his appetite almost completely vanish. Patton ate as much as he could and then offered to clear the table like he usually did once everyone had vanished off into their own rooms. He made sure nobody was in the main room before getting up because he knew it was going to be hard. And he was right, he tried not to make any noise but it was too much. He accidentally let out a squeak when a particularly sharp pang of pain shot through his leg.

“Pat, you okay?” Patton watched Virgil walk through slowly at first, take one look at him and practically run the rest of the way. “Patton, what’s wrong?” Patton tried to shrug it off. He was fine after all, it was just a little bit of pain. Nothing he couldn’t deal with. He opened his mouth to reply but before he could Virgil held up a finger “And I swear if you say it’s nothing.”

“I’m just a little sore, that’s all.” Patton felt another pang shoot down in leg and winced slightly, trying to put on a smile for Virgil but it poorly concealed it. Virgil held out his arm which Patton took, letting himself be led to the couch while putting a bit of his weight onto Virgil instead of his leg. The couch wasn’t that much better but it took a little bit of the pressure off so it was something. 

“How long has it been hurting?” Virgil has a concerned look on his face that made Patton feel incredibly guilty. He moved his gaze from Virgil's face, staring at his hands instead.

“It only started getting bad when I was on my way home from university.” Patton curled in on himself slightly, preparing himself for whatever was about to come out of Virgil’s mouth. He didn’t talk about his pain much because it didn’t tend to get good reactions from his old friend group and his family. He had opened up a little to his friends now but they didn’t even know he had a cane. He never used it because he was terrified but they still didn't know things were that severe. As far as Patton was aware, everyone knew he had joint pain from time to time. He might have mentioned the specific name once or twice but he didn’t think they remembered it. 

“Why didn’t you say something? One of us could’ve made dinner and we all could have helped clear the table.” Patton sighed.

“I didn’t want to bother any of you.” It was Virgil’s turn to sigh and Patton could feel it in his soul. He hated disappointing people. “You shouldn’t have to deal with this.” Patton felt Virgil take his hand and squeeze it, making him meet his eyes.

“And neither should you. Now, what can I do to help?” Even this small inkling of comfort made Patton tear up. “Oh, I’m sorry-” Patton interrupted before Virgil had the chance to fully spiral.

“No, no, it wasn’t your fault. I’m just- I’m just so tired.” Patton sniffed and leaned his head on Virgil’s shoulder. 

“How about I go run you a bath and I’ll get Logan and Roman to help me do the dishes?” Patton couldn’t help but relax a little at the idea. He felt bad for pushing stuff onto his friends but he was so tired he didn’t think he could argue with Virgil about it.

“Okay,” Patton sighed and let Virgil help him to his room before shooting off to the adjoining bathroom to start running the bath. He had to admit that the bath was great, Virgil really knew what he was doing. The whole room smelt of lavender, there were candles casting a warm light over the room and the bath was the perfect temperature that made Patton melt. It was so relaxing by the end he could barely keep his eyes open. He sat on his bed for a few minutes before he got changed into pyjama’s Virgil had left on his freshly made bed. He would’ve climbed into bed there and then had he not heard whispering coming from the living room.

As Patton wandered through to investigate he found Virgil, Roman and Logan all in their pyjamas waiting on the couch. The room was lit by fairy lights Roman must have brought through from his room. There was a stack of dvds by the coffee table and multiple blankets of all different colours from each of their personal collections. 

“What is all this?” Patton barely spoke over a whisper, his heart was too full with emotions and his body was too tired. Virgil patted the space beside him on the couch and Patton came to sit. 

“We wanted to surprise you with a little movie night.” Logan spoke softly from his designated arm chair, wrapped up in a constellation patterned blanket. Roman wrapped a red blanket with a white teddy bear blanket lining around Patton before heading towards the tv. 

“Any requests?” Patton smiled and shook his head. “If you’re sure.” Roman shrugged and started looking through the piles, pulling one out and waving it. “How about tangled?”

“Sounds good to me, Kiddo.” Roman nodded and set it up before leaping over the table to snuggle back under his red blanket with gold embroidered roses on the corners. With the warm of the blankets Patton could feel himself slowly start to drift off as much as he tried to stay awake. 

“You can sleep Pat, we’ll be here when you wake up.” Virgil whispered. Patton just hummed and rested his head on Virgil’s shoulder. He felt Virgil shift slightly underneath him so that Patton could lie down a bit more, his legs over Romans lap and his head on Virgil's chest. It was to the sounds of Rapunzel singing to Flynn Rider and Virgil’s heartbeat that Patton fell asleep.