#ffth

Remus sat on the steps of his childhood house. Or well...mansion. Even he could recognize that this wasn't a house. It definitely wasn't a home either. 

He had his head in his hands thinking about everything that happened that night that led up to this point. He really, really messed up.

It wasn't that Remus thought that nothing bad would happen when he told that rumor to his mother. In fact he was quite hopeful some shit would go down. His mother would be the best to win over with her propensity for being very gullible. Then he was hoping he could just coast along to victory after she believed him. Sadly that worked and bit too well.

Remus knew everyone was hoping Roman would finally contribute to the family. So by giving him and wife, fake or not, would alleviate the worry in the family. They wouldn't question it too much. What he didn't account for was the fact that Roman never wanted that kind of attention.

Remus was kicking himself remembering the look on his brother's face as he ran from the ballroom. He looked scared and shook up. Remus was hoping he would take it as a joke, or at least play along until Remus could dispel the rumor. But It was already too late.

He ran right out the door and into the car and away before Remus could catch him. Which leaves Remus on the front porch in the snow regretting most of this night.

Remus just thinks too fast most of the time. Never being able to stop the next thought even if the first one isn't finished yet. It's not an excuse for putting Roman on blast, but it is a reason. He just never thought though to the consequences before he opened his mouth. The fact of the matter is that he should of asked Roman before he talked to anyone.

 Remus gave a heavy sigh as Remy came up from behind him. 

“Listen babe, you should come back inside for a bit. I’ll drive you home once nobody is looking for us.” He said solemnly.

“Where do you think he went? There so much snow, that car is a piece of shit and hes freaking the fuck out.” Remus said back, not hearing, or not caring about, Remy's first statement.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine. Its fucking cold out here Rems. Lets go inside and talk about th-”

“NO! Remy you don't get it! Who knows what he could be doing or thinking! I never think! After all these years he's been the person this family hated the most and I certainly never helped him!” Remus stood up and started yelling at the snow falling. “I’m his twin brother and even I treat him so poorly.”

“I hear what you're saying and I raise you, you are the only one who has ever stuck by him. Yes you fucked up today Remus but he’s bound to forgive you. You have your own issues Rems. He knows you didn't mean it. Just give him a bit to calm down.”

“I know he’ll forgive me. He always does. He's the kindest person in the whole bitch ass family! But no one has ever been the same to him!” Remus groaned loudly at the sky. 

Remus turned back to look at Remy, who was still standing and shivering on the porch. Remy looked over Remus and nodded his head.

“You’re right. But you and him stick together. Just let him go for a bit. We’ll find him tomorrow.” Remy pulled a set of keys out of his coat pocket. “For now I’m sure that nobody is looking for us since no one came after us. Come home with me and then we will find him. Grab his coat before we leave though.”

Remus huffed then nodded back. He walked back inside to grab both him and Romans coats from the coat rack. He doesn't feel any better from what happened. He’ll have to have a long talk with Roman to try and figure this out. 

Remus walked out the front door to Remy's car.

 ~~~

Janus walked through the halls of his house, away from the guest rooms. He knew that there was no way that anyone could go in or out of that room without his knowledge. But that did little to alleviate his worry of having this stranger in his house. 

There was so much unknown with this stanger. How could he see Janus’ house from the road? That road was miles away from his house, and it is heavily snowing. Even if he could for some reason have seen his house, there should have not been a way for him to just wander into the forest. 

These woods were not the typical thick forest that one may travers as they want. Janus didn't want to say it had a mind of its own, but they may be the best way to describe it. It just...played by its own rules. He needed to go to his library and, though he didn't really want to, call a friend over. Maybe they would know more than he would about these things. ‘They probably won’t but it’s worth a shot.’ Janus thought.

Janus continued meandering his way to his home library, thinking of the possibilities of why this Roman could walk into the woods. 

‘I’ve lived in this damn forest for over a century and I’ve never met someone like this.” Janus thought. ‘It should have just sent him away. Humans can't walk in here. I certainly couldn't so why him?’ As Janus continued his inner monologue he passed by his son's door. Realizing this he stopped and took a step back.

Janus realized that before he goes to his library to inevitably get lost in his thoughts and books, he should check on his two sons. The night had had a lot of excitement; it had been just short of a nightmare getting the two to sleep.

He made sure to put the stranger into the room furthest away from any of the living quarters that either his kids or himself used. That being said, his room was the closet, then Virgils, the last being Pattons. 

He first peeked into little Virgil's room. The 3 year old was sleeping soundly in his crib. The poor child had the hardest time sleeping without some sort of song sung beforehand, not that Janus minded. He's pretty sure he would do just about anything for the little boy. He was just about ready to move into an actual bed, which Janus was not looking forward to. He's growing up too fast.

He still remembered when Virgil was a baby. He was so small and fragile. Janus has done many things in his life he was not proud of, but taking Virgil in will never be one of them. He will admit that taking in the infant was not what he had planned that day but he's forever glad he did.

He was a hard baby to take care of too. He was a mix of two beings that were told to never be together. And instead of punishing the parents, they went after the small child instead. Virgil was in pain most of his first months of life. His little body is a mix of things that have never been mixed. Janus was so glad he grew out of the pain, even if he still needed a little help sometimes. 

Taking little Virgil from his crib turned prison, was one of the best decisions of his entire life. 

Smiling softly at the sleeping child, Janus stopped his walk down memory lane. He was just so glad to have Virgil with him. Janus was determined to give this child a second chance that nobody else was willing to give him.

He silently closed the door to move to Pattons door. He cracked the door open in on the 8 year old. Luckily, he too was sound asleep. 

He's had Patton longer than he's had Virgil, but he didnt take Patton in as young as Virgil. He still thinks about Patton's story and gets a bit misty eyed. Janus had been great friends with Patton's biological parents, and though Patton didn't remember them much, Janus did. They were amazing forest witches and had a love for nature. They are the most loving people. Distantly Janus thought that you'd have to be to be friends with him. 

He would always rather have Patton's biological parents here, but he will never ever regret agreeing to being Patton's godparent. After Pat's parents passed, and he was left in Janus care, it was a large learning curve on how to be a parent. But now he wouldn't trade either of his sons for all the power in the world. 

Patton had scared Janus so bad when he opened the door for the stranger. Yes Pat wasn't used to visitors. But he was taught from a young age to never open the door alone. Janus had always preached safety to them both for fear of what lurked around in the woods. Pat was lucky the person behind the door was actually a person. They were going to have to reiterate the rules of the front door once the morning hit.

Closing the door to his son's room he finally let out his last strained sigh. It's been a long night even though it's already 2am. 

Finally catching some calm, Janus made his way just past his two sons' rooms into the fairly large library. The circular room went from the first floor all the way up to the third, and even a bit into the attic. It could be entered from any of those levels as well. Each shelf was completely filled with books. 

This is the place where he spends arguably the most time. Even his sons would hang out here with him. There just so many things that can be learned here.

Speaking of learning things, he needed to find out who the hell Roman was. There was no way this guy was who he said he was if he was able to see and walk into the forest. There were many things that could be happening here. Though Janus thought there were a few that were more likely than others.

No matter what though, Janus thought that there was no way in heaven or hell that Roman was trustworthy. 

Running his hands down the spines of the books and he walked around the room, Janus was looking for a specific book. After a few minutes of reading through the books with his fingertips he finally found the right book: ‘The Complete Book of Different Beings, Magic and Otherwise.’

“A-ha!” He whispered triumphantly. “This should be it!”

Taking the book to the corner of the room, Janus sat in his favorite chair. Not for the first time he's glad he doesn't need to sleep, he's gonna be here for a while. The book itself was quite large and he really didn't know where to start with Roman. 

With a contented sigh Janus opened the book, and started at the beginning.

~~~

Next Chapter

Taglist: