AU: Highschool au
Ship: Patceit
Prompt: x
Requested by: x
Warnings: Sympathetic Deceit, mention of past manipulation, Let me know if I missed any!
Summary: Patton finally has enough with everyone telling him that their partner that they love will only hurt them, and decides to make a stand. 
POV: 3rd

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 Side note: This is all based on concepts me and @side-for-sides on Tumblr came up with :D Also, Dee is obviously Deceit, they are Agender and though it isn't really mentioned, Patton is Genderfluid in our original concepts.

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Roman said it was better this way, well it certainly didn't feel like it. Logan stated that the stories he had heard would prove to make it horrible for them, it only made it worse when he heard the same stories every single time he even went to mention his sweetheart. Virgil gave only a glare and a stern warning, not to even dare to try to talk to him. Patton really, really wished he had not listened to those several words. Those words saying that the one he was so head over heels for would just aim to hurt him, that they would never feel the same for him. He didn't want to believe it. All of their words couldn't be faked...

But now he was here, at lunch with Roman, Logan, and Virgil. All of them laughing and joking like nothing was different, while Patton tried so, so desperately to keep from breaking down again. His head rested against the cafeteria table, the only one that seemed to notice the change in the pattern was Logan. "Patton, something is incredibly different than normal." Before Patton got to lift his head and answer, Roman stopped talking and switched topics, a wide grin spreading across his face, "Oh! You haven't heard! Patton finally got some sense and broke it off with that lying scoundrel!" He spoke with such pure joy and enthusiasm that all of Patton's willpower broke. He began quietly sobbing, due to the level of noise the cafeteria normally had, they barely seemed to hear him.

Virgil smiled, "Trust me, it's way better, things like him only aim to hurt and manipulate others. You'll thank us later." Patton finally looked up, taking off his glasses to wipe his eyes, "Them..." he corrected quietly, "They use they/them..." Roman's gaze fell noticing the state the poor boy was in, "Patton, we knew them, they lied to Virgil borderline manipulated them. People like that don't change, they're born with a wicked heart and wish to ruin others for their own sadistic needs." The other two only nodded in reply. Patton shook his head, he said not another word, as he put his glasses back on and gathered his stuff, planning on spending the rest of the lunch period sobbing in the bathroom, which is exactly what he did, receiving little resistance from the others.

They thought it would end there, they thought that Patton would get over them, but of course, he didn't. As that Wednesday, he showed up, wearing that black leather jacket, a few fake spikes along the shoulders. It was a size or two too big for him, and immediately the others knew whose it was. Roman got up and walked over to him, rolled his eyes, "Patton are you serious??" he snapped, much more force behind his voice than he intended, making the smaller flinch, clutching the jacket tighter around himself. "It's only going to upset you more," Roman's voice was now not as heated, but it was obvious that annoyance was still very clear in his tone.

Patton just looked down and away, pulling on the sleeves of the black jacket to cover his hands, "It's not fair..." He murmured, "It's not fair to let the past affect someone else's relationship with someone." Roman glared, "We've been over this, Patton! Listen, we care about you, you are an extraordinary person, you're sweet and caring, and so adorable, but I warned you about them when you first got here. They only hurt people, they're manipulative, they're just a disgusting human being void of all sense of sympathy," he placed his hand on Patton's shoulder, "Trust us, we've known them longer."

That made Patton snap, pushing Roman's arm off of him, "You haven't known them longer, Roman, you've known of them longer! You don't know them, not like I do! Sure they came off as intimidating or scary or something like that, and yeah! They messed up! Everyone makes mistakes! I certainly have! They were sweet, they, they're so so kind to me! And, and it wasn't just behind closed doors that they were nice! They were always the same to me, no matter where we were! You just purposely forgot about that! You forgot about all of that! Because you're hung up on the past. Do you not realize you're hurting me more than they ever even tried to??" He sniffled, trying not to break down into sobs.

Roman froze at that, he... no... no of course not, he wasn't harming Patton, he was making sure that someone malicious didn't harm someone so sweet! Patton shook his head, "I love them. You and Virgil, and... and Logan are making me suffer, because of something that happened, before I even knew any of you! And I'm sorry, I can't take it anymore, if you don't want to be friends with me because I want to still be with them, then so be it." His voice was stern and serious, something that rarely happened.

There was a beat of silence as Roman tried to decide what was truly right, maybe, maybe they had changed... They didn't seem to want to harm him when Roman first confronted them... He sighed, "Patton, I just want to make sure that you're alright." Patton nodded, "And I will be, but you can't be judgmental of my relationship with them anymore, the only reason I ended it was because I was so tired of you guys constantly telling me that I would get hurt when I knew that wasn't the truth." Roman glanced back to the table where Logan and Virgil sat, seemingly unaware of the two's conversation, sighing, "Alright, Patton, I'll... I'll talk to them, and we'll see if we can get this figured out..." He said a bit more optimistically than he had been.

Patton shook his head, "That is if they take me back..." he murmured, "let's... let's just not say anything until I talk to them, they won't answer my texts, or calls and they haven't been to class..." Roman felt a twinge of guilt and pain in his heart but tried not to let on that he felt bad. He nodded, "Alright then, I won't say a word." He lead Patton over to their table, Virgil immediately giving a sharp glare at the jacket, but of course not saying anything. Roman kept his promise and the rest of the day went without the mention of them.

It all happened that night. It was dark, pouring down rain heavily, but here Patton stood, on their doorstep. His shaking hands quickly he knocked on the door before he could decide against it, he had to know if maybe he could fix it. He hoped he didn't hurt them, and if he did, then maybe at least they would know they didn't mean to, not for the reason they probably thought. It was a bit before the door slowly creaked open. Patton's eyes widened, "Dee..." they whispered. The punk teen was already thin before all of this, but now they looked almost skeletal.

They gave a similar look of shock and surprise as they observed the small boy shivering and soaking wet. It only took them a second of hesitation to snap out of their stunned state before they quickly pulled Patton inside and shut the door. "Take your shoes off, I'll be right back." They murmured, their voice cracking just slightly. That made Patton worry even more as they left, why did they look like they were crying? Or were about to?? He didn't make them cry, did he?? Those questions swam through his head as he slipped off his soaked sneakers.

Dee came back with a soft towel, an old T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants for Patton to change into, they handed them to him, "You know where the bathroom is..." Patton gave a small smile as he took the clothes, "Thank you." He quickly headed towards the bathroom to get changed. The clothes were warm, dry, and smelled like Dee. That comforting scent, Patton had missed so so much. He only hesitated a moment longer, before walking back out to the living room where Dee was. Dee was murmuring incoherently to themselves, Patton frowned as he picked out a few harsh words from the rambling.

They weren't directed at him as he feared, they were directed more to themselves, which honestly hurt Patton more than if they had been directed at him. Before he could even think, he was quickly rushing over to wrap his arms around Dee in a fairly loose hug in comparison to his other ones. The taller teen obviously jolted back in surprise, too wrapped up in their own mind to hear Patton come in. They paused for a second, before gently picking Patton up and sitting back down on the couch so he could cuddle up to them. Touch was a big thing for him, and if they were being honest with themselves, it was for Dee too.

There were a few moments of emotionally tense, yet physically comfortable silence. Dee decided they had to break it, they had to know, "Why are you here?" the smaller male cuddling up to them looked up at the question, a guilty and embarrassed expression clear on his face, "I thought you hated me." They finished, their voice was much quieter and fainter than Patton was used to. Patton shook his head, his eyes widening, he had not used that phrasing at all when he ended things, did.. Did they really think that? "No... No not at all! I'm... I'm... I'm so sorry, Dee. I... I could never hate you," his voice wavered, he bit his lip and sniffled in an attempt to keep control over himself so he didn't cry, yet, "It... I'm sorry, I never should have ended it for this reason, especially when it wasn't because of my own feelings..."

Dee looked at him, confused, "What do you mean?" Patton only paused again to try to think of how to properly explain it, "Virgil, Roman... And Logan, they kept trying to convince me of things that I knew weren't true about you... That you only wanted to hurt me, that you didn't care, that you were manipulative, void of sympathy, malicious, toxic" He couldn't hold back the tears that slowly fell down his face, "But I know that's not you..." Dee felt their heart twist and shatter all at once, they brought their hand that wasn't around Patton to cup his cheek, thumbing away at the small tears that ran down his face.

"I really shouldn't be surprised that your friends hate me..." they muttered, before sighing, "Patton, I..." They hesitated, feeling their throat figuratively close up, they were so nervous, "I love you. A lot. That's the truth." They stated. Patton's heart stuttered, as he smiled, "I love you too!" he beamed. His smile turned just a bit shy as he hesitantly asked, "Does... Does this mean, that you'd be willing to try again?" Dee chuckled, "Of course, I'd love that."