#middle!logan

A/N:Y'all ik Halloween was like, a week ago, but I wanted to make this chapter good for y'all. I didn't mean to make it as angsty as I did so yeah-

here's your warning for crying, emotions, and Logan snapping at Patton. Enjoy!

--

It was finally Halloween, and the Core Sides were rather happy due to this fact.

Everyone in the house was so excited. Patton and Roman had been planning the perfect little day for their regressors for weeks, and had managed to keep it secret until just a few days prior. The two boys weren't to keen on it at first, worried about going out while in littlespace, but they were quickly reassured that everything would be alright.

They'd be trick or treating, watching children's Halloween's movies, and so much more. This was supposed to be a fun day for everyone.

Also, this was the first time ever that Logan voluntarily regressed.

"Do you have all the makeup stuff for your costume?" Roman asked, looking to Logan, who was currently using scissors to cut up a plain white t-shirt.

"Yep! My costume is gonna look so cool once it's done!" Logan cheered. He sat at the kitchen table, surrounded by different supplies. He kicked his feet underneath of him, swinging them back and forth just above the ground. He was around fifteen, but his positive emotions made his behaviors mix between those of a teenagers and those of a older toddler.

But he swore up and down that he was strictly a teenager at the moment.

"I'm sure it will, kiddo." Roman smiled at him, picking up his glass of water and ruffling Logan's hair on the way out of the kitchen.

Logan continued to work on his clothes for his costume, using paints and pens to decorate his shirt. He was shocked when he heard a knock at the door. "Can someone get the door?" Logan called out, setting his stuff down and turning in his seat so that he could see into the living room, he had a good view of whoever could be behind the front door.

"Who's here?" Patton came down the stairs, looking to Roman, who sat on the couch with Virgil.  Roman shrugged.

"All four of us are here...so it could only be-" Roman spoke as Patton approached the door.

"Hello!" Remus cheered, greeting everyone the moment the door swung open. Janus seemed a lot less excited to be there, his arms crossed. Virgil locked eyes with him for a second, immediately burying his face into Roman's side. Roman wrapped his arm around him, holding him close.

"Chill out, we're not here to hurt you or anything. Remus thought-" Remus interrupted Janus's words with a look, silently urging him to correct himself. "We thought that we should celebrate Halloween with you...since we're trying to be kinder and work together and everything."

The Core Sides and Dark Sides were currently in a weird spot. After much conflict, they decided that they wanted to try and unite, be kind and stuff. But it was pretty hard to work together with someone when you've had a ongoing rivalry for the majority of your existence.

"You guys usually throw a party..but I'm assuming that something else is happening today?" Janus's eyes landed on Virgil, then on Logan, who quickly casted his glance downwards.

"Something else, yes. And you weren't invited," Patton finally spoke up, giving them a unkind glare that was so unlike himself.

"We're not here to start a fight! Why can't we join in on the family fun, hmm?" Remus tilted his head, looking at Patton with pleading eyes.

"Because.." Patton trailed off, looking over the the kitchen entrance at Logan, who was packing up his stuff in hopes of getting out of there. Patton couldn't come up with a good reason.

It was true, they were trying to work together and get on better terms with one another. If Patton blocked them out every time they initiated time together, then nothing would get better. But Virgil and Logan were regressed, so he needed to find an excuse.

"Cat got your tongue, Patton?" Remus questioned. Janus gave him a look, as if telling him to drop the mean tone.

"If this is about the nerd and the emo regressing, we don't care. We're open to spending time with them while they're in headspace." Janus explained.

Logan's head shot up, looking at them. Patton got the question out before him or Roman did, though. "How do you know-"

Janus cut him off, raising his hand in front of Patton's face, causing Patton to shut his mouth. "Virgil regressed even back when he lived with us...and he didn't hide it well. And it doesn't take genius to figure out that Logan does it too. We were never judging of it."

Patton nodded slowly, looking to Roman. "Let me talk to Roman, okay? Come sit inside for now." Patton stepped to the side, letting them in and shutting the door behind them. "Logan, watch your brother, please."

Logan nodded, agreeing to the task. Roman stood up, keeping hold of Virgil's hand and leading him over to Logan. "He's kinda scared..be nice to him, okay?" Roman asked.

"Of course," Logan stood up, taking Virgil's hand from Roman's, causing Virgil to pout. "Dad says that I'm a good brother." He spoke as if his words would erase any worry in Roman's mind that Virgil wasn't in good hands.

"You are, baby. You're doing great," Roman assured, turning to face Patton without another word.

Janus and Remus sat on the couch, looking back at Logan and Virgil, who seemed pretty scared. "You don't have to be scared of us. You know that, right?" Janus spoke first, locking eyes with Logan. He figured he'd understand what he was asking more then the toddler.

Logan shrugged, moving to pull out a chair for Virgil. Janus seemed kind of hurt my that response, but he didn't comment on it. "What are you two being for Halloween?" Remus offered, trying to redirect the conversation.

"Kitty!" Virgil blurted out with a light giggle. He couldn't talk super well when he was this young, so Logan was a little shocked to hear him respond so quickly to people who he hadn't been regressed around in a long time. Janus and Remus gave fond smiles to him.

"Really? That sounds like a great costume," Janus complimented. "How about you, Logan?"

"Uh, a zombie." Logan replied, his voice full of that teenage awkwardness that he absolutely hated. He didn't sound put together and smart, like when he was big. But he didn't sound cute either, like when he was younger. He just sounded weird.

"Ooh! Are you gonna do like, fake cuts and stuff?" Remus asked. Logan shrugged again.

"Probably, I'm not good at it though." He replied.

"Remus is very good at fake gore stuff! If your...caregivers?" Janus seemed questioning of the term, but Logan nodded, allowing Janus to continue. "If they let us stay, I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping you with your costume." Janus looked at Remus, who quickly nodded.

"Sounds good to me." Remus affirmed.

"Really?" Logan seemed excited. He knew how good Remus was at fake gore stuff. Of course, his powers aided in that, but he was also just decent at special effects makeup. Remus nodded. "Cool." Logan smiled, suddenly feeling a lot more comfortable then he did before.

They really weren't there to hurt them, or even make fun of them for regressing. They were being nice. Logan didn't make an effort to continue the conversation, turning and continuing his process of packing up his costume supplies so that he could bring it upstairs.

Roman and Patton didn't come back down stairs for a few minutes. When they did though, they came to stand in front of the couch, Patton making a motion to Logan to come into the living room.

"Okay, so we decided that if the boys are comfortable with it, then you can spend Halloween with us." Patton announced. There was a pause following his statement, so he spoke again. "What do you think, boys?"

"I'm okay with it, I guess." Logan said, before looking to Virgil next to him. Virgil nodded, seemingly nervous and hesitant, but not saying no.

"Okay, then it's settled. What's the plan for the day?" Janus leaned forward, looking at the two core sides in front of him.

"Where should I even begin?"

--

"Where's Logan?" Roman asked, sitting at the kitchen table with Virgil, helping him with his kitten whiskers. Of course, the toddler didn't enjoy sitting still, so Roman had to keep scolding him for moving.

Which of course led to Virgil feeling bad, setting an endless cycle of messed up makeup and babyish apologies. "Upstairs with Remus, he's helping with his makeup. They said they were almost done, though." Patton explained, setting two baskets down on the kitchen table.

One was shaped like a witched cauldron, and the other was a light blue basket covered in superhero stickers and sharpie doodles. You could probably figure out which one belonged to who.

"Okay, cool. I'm almost done with Vee, then we can get shoes on and head out." Roman smiled at Patton, who nodded. Patton went to exit the kitchen, pausing to kiss Virgil's forehead before continuing.

Upstairs, Remus held up a mirror for Logan as he packed up his makeup stuff. "Whoa! This looks awesome!" Logan exclaimed, looking over his face.

Logan was, at first, a little uncomfortable being alone with Remus while regressed. But then, Remus starting asking about his interests and what made him choose to be a zombie, and suddenly, that worry faded away as he rambled on about comic books and Netflix shows.

And just like his family, Remus sat there, listening and urging him to go on as he applied his makeup..

The fake gashes looked pretty convincing, and the dried fake blood on the side of his face looked pretty cool. He just hoped he wouldn't freak out his little brother to much. "Thank you," Logan remembered to use his manners, handing the mirror back to Remus.

"You're welcome. My brothers good at the glam makeup,but gore had always been my specialty." Remus smiled, stuffing the mirror into the makeup bag before making it disappear.

Logan gasped, "We aren't supposed to use our powers anymore."

"Technically that rule only applies to you guys. The Dark Sides never agreed to it." Remus corrected.

"Oh," Logan paused, not knowing what to say. He didn't have to continue his statement, because Patton's voice interrupted the conversation from the door.

"You guys may not have agreed to the rule, but while you're here, with us, please refrain from using your powers. The rule is in place for a reason. " Patton gave Remus one of his 'stern dad' looks, silently telling him that if he didn't do this, the invitation to spend Halloween with them would be quickly revoked. The Dark Side rolled his eyes, but shrugged.

"Whatever."

"Anyways, you look amazing, darling! Did you thank Remus?" Patton turned to Logan, looking him up and down and observing his costume. Logan nodded quickly. "Good job. Virgil is almost ready, so you should probably get your stuff together quickly before we head out." Patton instructed.

"Okay, dad." Logan grabbed his phone off of his desk, before heading out of the room.

Remus and Patton followed him out and down the stairs.

Time to go trick or treating.

--

The boys definitely had fun trick or treating. Patton stuck to Emile and Remy's neighborhood, the people were generally kinder in that area of the town, and they got no more then a few odd looks due to Virgil and Logan's behavior. Since all the interactions were quick, and Logan spoke for both him and Virgil, most people didn't even notice them.

It just looked like they were a few young adults going out because they wanted free candy.

Logan insisted that he didn't need to be watched, so him and Virgil walked a bit ahead of the other four, stopping at houses and collecting candy. Virgil seemed pretty excited, giggling and babbling things to his older brother. Eventually, Patton caught up to them and told them that they should walk home soon.

"But dad-"

"No buts. We've been walking for a while, your bucket is basically full, and everyone is tired." Patton spoke sternly, watching as Logan gave him an annoyed glare. "Lose the attitude, right now. Or that candy will be taken away until you're big again." Patton threatened, raising his eyebrows and watching to see if Logan was gonna push this farther.

"Oh my god," Logan rolled his eyes, holding his basket closer to him. "Sorry."

His apology wasn't genuine, he was just annoyed and wanted his carer to drop the topic.

Patton gave him a look that said 'we'll talk about this later', before directing his attention to Virgil. "Did you have fun tonight, baby?" he asked him. The other three had been trailing behind them, but Roman came forward to take Virgil's hand.

Logan dropped of behind, not wanting to listen to the two caregivers fuss over Virgil, instead matching pace with Janus and Remus. "You okay, Lo?" Remus asked.

Logan shrugged. "Dad's mad at me because of an attitude I don't even have," he complained, seemingly disappointed or upset about something.

Janus looked in front of them as they walked, where Patton was. "I'm sure he isn't mad at you. I think everyone is just a bit tired from walking, everything will probably be good once everybody has gotten the chance to sit down."

"You think?" Logan asked, swinging his basket back and forth a bit. He felt bad. He wasn't trying to upset his caregiver with his annoyance about going home. He was just a little annoyed, and Patton threatening to take his candy just put him in a worse mood. But now, he felt bad for ever being annoyed in the first place.

"Yeah, definitely. I don't think Patton could ever be mad at you," Remus jumped into the conversation, wrapping his arm around Logan's shoulder as they walked. Logan didn't seem convinced, but he went quiet and dropped the subject. Remus and Janus didn't make him talk, simply walking with him as Patton and Roman led the way back home.

Virgil was giggling about something when they got home, following Roman inside. Remus led Logan inside, while Janus paused at the door Patton held open. He made sure that no one else could hear him, speaking quietly. "Can you talk to Logan and make sure he knows you aren't mad at him? I think he feels bad for giving you attitude earlier. Me and Remus tried to comfort him but I don't know if it helped."

Patton's face softened, and he nodded. "Yeah, of course..." he trailed off. "Thanks, for trying to help. It means a lot to me, and I'm sure it does to him too."

Janus smiled, "Of course."

He walked inside without another word. He busied himself with turning on the requested children's movie (Nightmare Before Christmas) while Roman helped Virgil take of his shoes. Patton shut the door behind him, looking around for Logan, who seemed to be gone.

He locked eyes with Remus, glanced upwards, silently telling him that he had gone upstairs. Patton gave a thankful nod before disappearing up the steps.

Patton found Logan in the bathroom, rubbing at his face with a makeup wipe, his eyes a bit teary. He seemed frustrated, and emotional. Logan jumped when he caught Patton's face in the mirror, seeming to register that he left the door open.

He sniffled, "I'm just getting out of my costume." he explained, rubbing at his eyes quickly, casting them downwards. Now, his demeanor was embarrassed, and shy.

Teenagers weren't supposed to cry when their parents were upset with them. That was something Little Logan did.  He was to old for this.

"Logan," Patton approached him, taking the makeup wipe out of his hand and pulling him into a hug quickly. Logan rested his chin on Patton's shoulder, not cuddling into him because he didn't wanna get makeup all over his shirt. "Why didn't you tell me you felt so bad, hmm?" he questioned once pulling away.

"You were fussing over Virgil and you seemed upset," Logan shrugged, pulling another makeup wipe from the container and wiping down a section of his face, focusing on the mirror instead of facing his Dad.

Patton gave him an apologetic look through the mirror. "I'm sorry that I was focused on Virgil, I should've paid more attention to you and realized that you weren't okay."

Logan hummed, "It's whatever, I don't need extra attention. I'm a teenager that can take care of myself, I don't even know why I got so upset." he scoffed, seemingly annoyed with himself.

"That's not true, Logan. Biological teenagers still need attention, don't they?"

Logan shrugged. "They do sometimes, yeah." he admitted.

"And they don't completely take care of themselves either. And you shouldn't feel like you have to either," Patton explained. "And you're allowed to feel emotions, baby." he added.

"Every emotion but annoyance, right?" Logan challenged, looking directly into his eyes through the mirror before glancing away, focusing on wiping down his face once again. Patton's mouth fell open. He didn't know how to reply to that.

"Every time I get annoyed, I'm told not to give any 'attitude', even if I don't realize that I'm doing anything wrong!" Logan exclaimed, his voice laced in frustration. "You talk about expressing emotions but the moment it's not positive or something you can fix with a hug and some dad advice, suddenly it's not okay anymore."

Patton seemed hurt by that, but he slowly nodded. He couldn't take this personally right now. He needed to talk this out with Logan, and hopefully set him back up to have a good night. Patton went over to close the bathroom door. "Sit down," he instructed, lowering the toilet lid.

Logan seemed confused, but he took the order quickly. Patton took the container of makeup wipes before sitting down on the edge of the bathtub next to him. Logan turned to face him, not knowing what was happening.

Was Patton mad at him for snapping? Did he hurt his dads feelings? Did he just make everything worse?

He felt like he did.

"I'm sorry that I made you feel like you couldn't express your emotions," Patton pulled another makeup wipe out, cupping the clean part of his face and wiping down another. "You're allowed to be annoyed, or even angry with me. You might not like some choices I make and I understand that, I just don't like it when that happens."

Logan noticed the forced neutral expression on Patton's face, like he was trying to avoid giving away what he was feeling at the moment. "But.." Patton started speaking again, "That doesn't mean I should be so harsh on you when you do get annoyed."

Logan nodded in an understanding way, letting Patton clean his face. Patton continued.

"I'll try to get better about that,l promise. I'm glad you talked to me, though."

"Dad, I didn't mean to hurt you! You're doing amazing, I promise. I just lashed out because I'm emotional and-" Logan started up his quick, panicked rambling, and Patton held his hand up, telling him to stop. Patton started speaking, his face softening a bit.

"It's okay, baby. I did something wrong here, not you, okay? You don't have to feel bad for communicating with me." Patton spoke softly, wiping his face one more time before throwing away the wipe. Logan nodded slowly.

"And just so you know, I was never mad at you." Patton added.

"Really? I got so worked up and emotional for no reason?" Logan seemed shocked. Patton smiled lightly,

"Guess so."

Logan laughed, leaning forward and hugging him. This time, he snuggled into Patton's shoulder. "I'm sorry if I messed tonight up." he mumbled. Patton quickly pushed him away from the hug, his hands on either of Logan's shoulders as he looked him directly in the eyes.

"You messed nothing  up, baby. You still had fun trick or treating, right?"

Logan nodded quickly, smiling. "Yeah! Me and Virgil got a lot of candy and people complimented my costume!"

"One emotional part of the night doesn't ruin the rest of it. We agreed to a late bedtime tonight, remember? There's still time to have more fun," Patton assured. Logan nodded.

Patton kissed Logan's forehead before standing up and going over to the door. "Come on, I'm pretty sure Virgil would love to cuddle his amazing big brother right now." He held it open, making way for a laughing Logan to walk through.

Logan's first Halloween spent regressed may not have been absolutely perfect, but spending it with his family still assured that it was still amazing. He couldn't of asked for a better day then Trick or Treating and cuddling with his little brother.

Then getting his makeup done by Remus. Then getting praised by Roman.

Then being with his family.

There were ups and downs to every relationship, including a regressors with their caregiver. But those downs don't erase the good parts. After every valley, there was a hill.

A/N: Y'all I wrote this all in one day- I've written a lot today so...be proud please! Please send me feedback if you liked this chapter! It's really fun exploring the sibling dynamic between Virgil and Logan! There's definitely gonna be more of this very soon!

--

"We're here!" Virgil put the car in park, leaning back as Logan got to look around. He had been rambling about something and hadn't been paying attention to where they were going. When his eyes landed on the sign of the building in front of them.

"Is this an arcade?" Logan ran his fingers through his hair, looking at Virgil. It looked like he was holding back an outburst of excitement while waiting for the others response. Virgil nodded, giving him a light smile.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, seemingly happy about this. He realized what he did, taking a breath and correcting himself. "I mean...cool. Thanks."

"You're welcome, but..." Virgil paused, and Logan looked at him somewhat nervously. "You're allowed to be excited. There's a reason I brought you here. It'd be disappointing if you weren't excited."

"Oh, um..sorry. C-can we go in?" Logan attempted to change the topic, unbuckling his seat belt and going to open the door.

"Logan," Virgil made him stop in his tracks.

"Yes?"

"Please don't repress emotions, especially the good ones. You can be happy, Lo."

Logan slowly nodded, biting on his lip. After a moment, he motions to his door. "Can we...?"

"Yeah, let's go." Virgil opened his door and hopped out, Logan doing the same on the other side.

Logan was definitely excited. He loved video games and pizza, both of which he could get here.

He was happy that Virgil surprised him with this.

--

"Okay, so you have your tokens, right?" Virgil checked. Logan took a sip out of his pop, holding up the bag of tokens with a nod. "I'm going to sit here and message your caregiver for a bit. Be good," Virgil sat down in one of the booths by the snack counter, where he had a decent view of the game section.

He'd be able to see Logan at almost any game in the arcade. Logan nodded, "I will." he assured.

"Have fun, I'll find you in a bit."

"Cool, sounds good."

And just like that, he was off to play games. Virgil joined him after a few minutes of conversing with Patton about Logan. About how he was excited to be at the arcade, how he was less anxious when presented with something he enjoyed.

"Boo!" Virgil snuck up behind the boy, startling him successfully.

"Virgil!" he whined, throwing his hands off the controls as he lost the game. "You made me lose!" he pouted.

"Oh, boo-hoo. You can always play again," Virgil pointed out, moving to stand next to him. Logan's cup sat on the ground next to the game, next to his token bag. Logan ignored him, watching as his score displayed on the screen.

He waited for his tickets to dispense before pulling them out, stuffing them into the pockets of Virgil's hoodie. "You good, Lo?" Virgil asked after a few moments. Logan shrugged silently as he put another coin into the slot, waiting for the game to start. Virgil sighed, rolling his eyes before speaking again. "I'm sorry I made you lose the game." he apologized.

"You've been forgiven," Logan glanced at him for a moment, giving him a cheeky smile before looking back to the screen and focusing on the game.

Virgil rolled his eyes again before looking at the screen and watching him play. Teenage Logan was rather playful sometimes, but he'd never admit that. Sometimes, he just wanted to be silly and dorky, he was just shyer about it when he was older.

Virgil picked up on this and went with it, encouraging the playful behavior without calling it out.

"I got a new high score!" Logan cheered, looking down to the ticket dispenser.

"That's cool! Wanna try to get high scores on a two player game?" Virgil asked, watching as he pulled the large strip of tickets from the game, storing them in the jacket pocket as he had done before.

"Sure!" Logan agreed, smiling widely up at him, before grabbing his pop and token bag. "C'mon, I think I saw a two player shooter over here..." he trailed off, grabbing Virgil's hand and dragging him behind him.

Virgil didn't complain though. He followed him throughout the arcade, holding his pop and tokens whenever he asked. He played any game Logan wanted, even if it was the same one over and over again because Logan wanted to win and couldn't.

He purposely lost certain games so that Logan could be happy that he won.

Anything to make his brother happy.

After a little while of playing games, Virgil told him that they should go back to the snack bar to get something to eat. "Hold on, I wanna try and win this," Logan didn't look away from the screen, focusing on the joystick and hitting the different buttons in hopes that he'd beat the video game characters.

"After this round, okay?"

"Mhm, whatever. Sounds good."

Virgil gave an amused smile, watching him focus in on the game and barely register what was happening around him. When he lost, he threw his hands off of the controls in frustration, like he had done earlier. Logan waited for the leader board to pop up, reading through the top spots. Virgil look at it too.

"You got spot four! That's good!" Virgil cheered, watching him bend down to get the tickets.

"I guess it isn't terrible.." Logan shrugged. Virgil noticed that he seemed disappointed.

"We'll conquer 1st place after some pizza and cookies," he promised, taking Logan's empty pop from the ground. "And a new drink for you." he decided.

Logan smiled, nodding. Virgil lead him up to the food counter, letting him take a seat in a booth while he went to go order. Virgil didn't like ordering food, and interacting with people he didn't know, but he knew that Logan wouldn't like doing that while in teenspace either. So he took one for the team and pretended like he was completely confident in his actions.

Logan tapped away on his phone, texting his dad with a smile.

Patton: You having fun, kiddo?

Yeah, we're getting pizza!!

Patton: Don't spoil dinner!

No promises.

Logan shut off his phone as Virgil came back, sliding into the other side off the booth. "Who're you texting?" Virgil asked.

"Dad. He told us not to spoil dinner." Logan informed him.

"Yeah, I figured he would. I'm sure we'll be hungry again by the time he's done with the food. We're just getting a slice each."

Logan nodded. "We'll probably stay for a little longer, try to use up all the tokens. Then we need to head home, we do have groceries in the car."

Logan's eyes widened. "We have ice cream in the car!" he gasped.

Virgil waved his hand. "I used magic, everything's good." he assured.

Logan gasped again. "B-but that's against the rules."

"This is an exception, Logan. It won't happen again," Virgil promised, getting distracted when the person at the counter called out their order. "Gotta go, be good."

Logan rolled his eyes, unlocking his phone again and reading over Patton's latest message.

Patton: I'm sure you have pizza to eat and games to play. Text me when you're on your way home, okay?

Yeah, I will. Love you.

Patton: Love you too, baby.

Logan just scoffed, shutting off his phone and not bothering with the whole 'I'm not a baby' speech. Virgil sat a plate in front of him, along with a drink.

He had a pepperoni slice of pizza, and a chocolate chip cookie, which was exactly the same as Virgil's order. "Thank you," Logan picked up the slice of pizza immediately dropping it back onto the plate because it was hot. "Ouch!" he complained.

Virgil chuckled. "You could use a napkin to pick it up, or y'know, wait for it to cool down?"

Logan smiled sheepishly, grabbing his drink and taking a sip through the straw.

"So, what are you gonna do when we get home?" Virgil tried to start a conversation.

"I was hoping that maybe I could watch a movie with dad. I miss him."

"You've only been away from home for a few hours." Virgil pointed out.

Logan pouted, "I knowww, but still."

"I get it," Virgil assured. "When I regress, I always want to be with Roman. Missing your dad is completely understandable."

Logan nodded, mumbling out a soft "okay".

"Anything else you have planned?" Virgil broke the silence, encouraging him to talk.

This is how anyone would keep a conversation going with Logan. If he wasn't constantly being asked things, he'd eventually not know what to say and trail off, mostly because he would be worried he was talking to much.

Logan tried to grab his cookie first, which Virgil had to stop him from doing. "Sweets after real food, young man." he corrected.

Logan dropped the cookie back onto his plate and grabbed the pizza. "Sorry." he apologized quickly.

"Don't be sorry," Virgil shook his head. "Patton's dad instincts are just rubbing off on me." he joked. Logan laughed.

They kept going like that, laughing and talking about whatever until they were ready to go back to beating games. Logan continued to beat games (and Virgil, in most of them), and Virgil let him have his fun.

Virgil's mission to spend time with his brother had been a success, and they both had a lot of fun. When they climbed back into the car, Logan clad in sunglasses he had used his tickets to purchase, Logan was hyper.

Maybe the candy he exchanged tickets got him there. He was talking, nonstop about anything and everything.

"Maybe you should tone it down a bit? Patton would kill me if he knew how much candy I let you have today."

"He doesn't have to know!" Logan defended, practically bouncing in place as he looked around to determine how close they were to home based off of his current surroundings.

"He's gonna know if you walk into the house this energetic!" Virgil exclaimed, laughing after. Logan tried to stay still, but that lasted less then two seconds, so he started fiddling with his hand. "Okay, okay. You're happy and excited, I get it," Virgil smiled at him before turning around a corner.

"Yeah...thanks for doing this." Logan looked out the window. They were close to home now. "I-it was really fun!"

"You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it. Let's do something like this again soon, okay?"

Logan nodded his head quickly, immediately agreeing. He didn't realize it until now, but spending some time with his brother while he was younger then him wasn't to bad.

It was pretty nice, actually.

A/N: This chapter is like, longer then most of the ones I tend to write? I write agere content for fun, so sometimes it's cuteness over quantity, y'know? But this is a whole 4600-ish words! Wow. Hope y'all like it!

--

Logan was a bit awkward when he was big again after throwing his first fit, and earning himself his first ever timeout. Of course, Patton could only comfort him so much. It wasn't guilt that he was feeling, but rather a form of embarrassment.

Logan's head shot up when he heard light knocking on his door the following afternoon. "Who is it?" he questioned from his spot at his desk, where he sat working on Thomas's schedule.

"It's Virgil, can I come in?"

Logan fully expected it to be Patton checking on him for the millionth time, so he was shocked when he heard the voice of the emo regressor. "Uh, yeah. Sure." Logan set down his pen softly, reaching forward for his mug and taking a sip.

"Are you drinking another cup of coffee? I know you had like, three this morning." Virgil narrowed his eyes. It wasn't as if he'd actually do anything, even if he was aware of the unhealthy amounts of coffee Logan drank, but he was still concerned.

"It's tea." Logan shook his head, tipping the cup in his direction so that he could see the clearish liquid before setting the mug back on his desk. "Did you need something, Virge?" Logan asked.

"Kinda of.." Virgil trailed off, sitting down on the end of Logan's bed. When he looked up, he saw Logan looking at him in an expecting silence. "So I know it's Patton's job to check in on you and stuff, and that I don't usually do this. But..are you okay after yesterday? You seemed really emotional and anxious."

Logan sighed before speaking. "Of course I'm fine. I just overreacted when Patton punished me because I was scared of him being mad at me. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but three year old me doesn't want to make sense."

Virgil chuckled a bit at that. "It does make a bit of sense though. I do it too, I assume that just because Roman has to be a little strict or something, that he absolutely hates me. It's not stupid or anything."

Logan nodded, giving him a small thankful smile. This was Virgil's way of telling him that he wasn't alone. The same mutual feeling that came about when they both realized they were regressors spread between them. A feeling of unity, of support.

Of family.

"And also, if you're embarrassed or anything, don't worry about it. I'm sure Patton understands that little you is going to do things like that sometimes, and he won't view big you any differently." There it was. Virgil finding what Logan was actually worried about. Logan had the urge to give a sigh of relief, because those were the words he needed to hear.  

Instead, he gave a larger smile and thanked him. "Okay, cool. See you at dinner." Virgil got up and went to leave the room, he paused at the door with hesitancy, looking back at him and speaking quickly.

"Also, I'm like pretty sure Patton has a crush on big you. So there's that."  

Virgil was gone and out of the room before Logan even got the chance to retort.

Logan sighed, going back to organizing the schedule and trying to convince himself that it couldn't possibly be true, and focus on his work. But no matter how hard he tried, his mind wondered and he thought:

What if Virgil was right?

--

"Oh, hello Logan. I went to check on you but I guess you were already up." Patton entered the living room, where Logan was on his phone. Patton assumed that if Logan was already up, he probably had work to get done today and wanted to be wide awake for it. He figured that the coffee mug on the coffee table in front of Logan confirmed his original thoughts.

"Morning, Dad. What are we having for breakfast?" he asked, looking up from his phone and making Patton pause in his tracks. Patton went to speak, but Logan quickly replied to his unasked question. "I'm fourteen again, by the way."

"How did you know that I was going to-"

"I figured you'd ask how old I am, you always do. Anyways, what's for breakfast?" he repeated. "I can try to make something myself but I don't know how well that would go..." he admitted.

"It's okay,don't worry about that." Patton assured, "I'll make toast for breakfast-" He went to keep speaking but Logan cut him off.

"Do we have Crofters to put on it?"

"You're just full of questions today, aren't you?" Patton teased, deciding to come sit with his regressor. He sat next to Logan, making sure not to look at his phone screen in order to respect his privacy. Logan turned it off, looking at him. Patton realized he wasn't amused by the teasing and that he wasn't going to respond. "Yes, we have Crofters." He gave up.

Logan was definitely excited about this, and if he was regressed younger, he would've bounced in place and giggled a bunch. But he just replied, "Okay, cool."

"Why are you up so early?" Patton questioned. "How long have you been awake?"

"Less than an hour. I just fell asleep watching Youtube last night, earlier then I usually go to sleep. So I woke up early," he explained. Patton paused, looking at him skeptically.

"Were you regressed last night, as well?"

Logan looked at him with wide eyes, as if he hoped he wasn't going to ask about that. "Uh..yeah, sort of. But it was after dinner and I was ready for bed, I didn't really need to come get you!" he defended.

Patton gave him a slightly stern look with a sigh. "Alright, but if you do need something, or regress younger then your teenspace, come and get me." he instructed. Logan nodded with an annoyed look on his face. Patton glanced at the coffee table, eyes widening when he saw the coffee mug again.

"Wait, why are you drinking coffee if your reg-"

"What coffee?" Logan cut him off, quickly snatching up the mug and chugging the last of it before Patton could take the mug. He wiped his upper lip with the back of his hand, giving Patton a dorky smile. Patton knew he shouldn't have, but he laughed a bit.

"Fourteen year olds shouldn't have coffee, no more." Patton took the mug from him softly. "If I catch you drinking anymore, you'll be in trouble." he threatened halfheartedly, still giving him the stern dad look. Logan immediately replied with a cheeky smile.

"You just won't catch me next time."

Patton seemed shocked. "You're gonna be bouncing off the walls whenever the caffeine kicks in, and I don't wanna be the one to deal with that."

"I mean..." Logan leaned back into the couch, "Do you have a choice? You're technically my only carer, and I've already drank it. And plus, I'm not a baby. Sugar and caffeine won't make me hyper." he scoffed at the end of his statement.

"We'll see about that, sweetheart." Patton gave him a skeptical look before getting up. "I'll go start breakfast, how about you get off your phone and do something else? Like read your comic books or something."

"I'll get off my phone..." Logan agreed quickly, shocking Patton. That excitement went away when Logan grabbed the tv remote and pushed the power button. He gave Patton a smile, while Patton gave him a disappointed look.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." he said, crossing his arms as he watched him locate Netflix.

"I don't know anything. You told me to get off my phone,and in all technicality, I did." Logan started playing whatever show he was interested in at the time, and Patton leaned forward to kiss his forehead. He wasn't going to bother with pushing it anymore.

"Love you, Lo. I'll let you know when breakfast is ready."

He left, mug in his hand, disappearing into the kitchen. A little while later, he had butter,honey, and Crofters jelly sitting out on the table, along with a plate of stacked up pieces of toast.

"Babyyyy! Can you get Roman and Virgil for me?" He appeared in the door way of the kitchen, looking at whatever Logan was watching on the screen. Logan looked back at him, looking back to the screen after a few seconds of thinking.

"Maybe if you'd stop calling me baby."

"Logan." Patton stated in a simple and stern tone, crossing his arms again. Logan dramatically sighed, but he hopped up and headed up the stairs. "Thank you!" Patton called after him.

"Welcome, dad." Logan replied quickly, before he was completely up the stairs and heading toward the door of Virgil's room.

--

"Hi, Logan. Is it breakfast already?" Virgil swung the door open. The makeup under his eyes was smeared a bit, and he was still wearing black ripped jeans and a band t-shirt. He had fallen asleep in his clothes, and his hair was a bit messy.

"Yeah, Dad made toast for everyone. And he sent me to get you guys." Logan replied. Virgil went to open his mouth, probably to question if he was regressed due to his sue of the word 'dad', but Logan replied to his unasked question just like his did with Patton. "I'm fourteen again, before you ask about it."

Virgil gave an understanding nod. He walked back into his room, leaving the door open so that Logan could come in if he wanted to. "Okay dork, I was given the job of grocery shopping. If you want, and your caregiver doesn't care, you can come with me." Virgil offered as he picked up his hoodie that was balled up on a dark purple bean bag chair.

"Maybe if you didn't call me a dork, I'd consider it." Logan hesitantly entered the dark-styled room, his arms crossed.

"Oh come on, you're wearing a spiderman t-shirt and a beanie. You're either a nerd or a dork, take your pick." Virgil teased. Logan now wanted to cover up his shirt, and he pulled the black beanie off of his head. "Hey, wait. I didn't mean it like that," Virgil quickly finished pulling the hoodie on, and he came over to where Logan stood, taking the hat softly from his hands. "I was only teasing, dorky isn't bad, and the hat and shirt look good on you."

He pulled the hat back over Logan's head, patting his head. "I'm sorry I teased you," Virgil apologized.

"It's okay..." he looked up, so that he wasn't staring at the floor anymore, giving him a weak smile. His eyes wandered over Virgil's hoodie, but he didn't say anything.

"Do...do you want my jacket, buddy?" Virgil hesitated, but Logan nodded a little.

"I-is that okay?" he stuttered a bit, he couldn't place why he wanted it, it just looked comfortable. Maybe the fact that it also belonged to someone he considered his brother while regressed factored into it.

"Yeah, of course it's okay. Just make sure to give it back to me when you're big again, okay?" he pulled it off, handing it to Logan, who smiled. Virgil didn't usually give his hoodie to anyone, but the middle seemed to want it fairly badly and he knew that Logan would take care of it. Plus, he had his old hoodie to wear if he really wanted too.

"Go get Roman and head downstairs, okay? I'm gonna be down in a sec," Virgil told him. Logan nodded, leaving the room and pausing in the hallway to pull the jacket on.

"Roman, Roman, Roman!" he knocked on the door loudly between each time he called his name, "Breakfast is downstairs..." he spoke sheepishly when the door flew open and Roman gave him a stern look. Roman knew for a fact that he was at least somewhat regressed because of how energetically he woke him up.

"Did you have coffee or something?" he asked jokingly, rubbing at his eyes. Logan nodded quickly, and Roman seemed shocked. "Is your caregiver aware of this?"

Logan nodded again, "He doesn't like it, but he knows."

"Hmm, well please tone is down a bit while I'm still half asleep, okay? I need beauty sleep."

"Beauty sleep whatever, Dad sent me to wake you up." He stuck his tongue out at the end of his statement

"I'm assuming we're stuck with teen Logan again?" Roman questioned, running his fingers through his hair.

"Fourteen." Logan confirmed. Constantly confirming with others that he was in fact, in teenspace, reminded him that he was a teenager at the moment and that was okay.

"The sassiness and dorky beanie gave it away." he teased. Logan pouted, this was the second time his hat had been called dorky within the span of ten minutes. "Dorky isn't bad." Roman corrected quickly, just as Virgil had. Logan nodded, turning to walk away without another word.

"Logan, are you wearing Virgil's jacket?" Roman realized, looking at him.

Logan nodded shyly, turning back around to face him. "Hmm, that's cute. Just make sure not to stain it, or you'll never hear the end of it from Vee." he gave a reassuring smile, Logan nodding gratefully and walking off, for real this time. He had been worried that Roman was going to pick on him for taking Virgil's jacket.

Logan went downstairs, going into the living room to get his phone off of the coffee table. Once he had acquired this, he went into the kitchen and greeted Patton. "They should be heading down soon. Look! Virgil let me steal his jacket," he laughed a bit, doing a twirl for his caregiver.

"That was very nice of him. Did you say thank you?"  Patton asked, and Logan looked down.

"No, I didn't..." he sighed guiltily.  

"Well, make sure you do at some point, okay?" Patton told him, coming closer to him and giving him a forehead kiss. Or at least, he tried to. Logan ducked away before he could, stepping to the side. Patton audibly gasped, looking at him. Logan giggled, sticking his tongue out like he did earlier to Roman.

"You're silly, kiddo." Patton shook his head, patting Logan's head softly before moving on to do something else. Logan pouted, because he expected Patton to go in for another forehead kiss after missing the first one, but he just kept going. Logan told himself that he was being a dork anyways, and that being playful was something for littler him, and that his caregiver didn't need to play along.

He didn't need to play, he was a teenager. He didn't need affection either, no hugs or cuddles or kisses.

But even as a teenager, Logan craved exactly that.

He watched Patton as he plated breakfast for himself, buttering the bread. Logan took action before he could stop himself, side hugging Patton by ducking under his arm. He wrapped his arms around his carer and laid his head on his chest. Patton chuckled, "Hello there, baby."

He dropped the butter knife back on his plate, and set the piece of bread down in favor of hugging Logan back. He hugged him tightly, Logan melting into the touch. "You know, you could just ask for a hug instead of attacking me."

"What hug? I don't need a hug," Logan replied, pulling away from him and grabbing a plate off of the stack on the table.

"The hug you just pulled away from..." Patton seemed confused.

"I never hugged you, dad. You're crazy," Logan kept going, making himself breakfast and acting as if he never hugged him. Patton brushed it off for now and didn't worry about it, because Virgil and Roman entered the kitchen.

Patton greeted them, and as they all sat down to eat, Virgil mentioned taking Logan to the store with him. "Um..well, I'm not sure if that's a good idea..." Patton admitted, setting his piece of toast down on his plate. Virgil seemed confused, as did Logan.

"Why not?" Logan questioned, looking at his caregiver with a confused glance.

"Well, I've never taken you outside of the house while regressed, I'm just worried that someone might see you acting younger and be mean." Patton explained, and Logan frowned.

"Logan's a teenager though, and I'll be there to help if anything like that happens. It's not like he'll throw a fit or anything, he's fourteen." Virgil argued.

"Last time he regressed to teenspace, he was so anxious that he practically threw a fit!" Patton snapped, not exactly shouting. He looked at Virgil with somewhat angry eyes. Patton never gave that look, unless someone he was protecting someone he cared about. Logan sunk down in his seat, zipping up Virgil's hoodie and hiding away from the world for the time being. Virgil raised his hands up in mock surrender before speaking.

"Patton, I'm sorry that I upset you, but please be mindful of Logan. You're probably scaring him by snapping." Virgil reminded. Patton's expression faded from anger to an apologetic look, and he looked toward Logan,who nodded a bit.

"Oh..I'm sorry sweetheart. And you too, Virgil...Just let me think about this and we'll talk after breakfast, okay?"

Virgil gave a nod of agreement, and Logan muttered a weak 'okay'.

--

Patton eventually agreed to let Logan go with Virgil, but not without a lot of convincing and second guessing his decision.

"Promise that you'll be nice to Virgil, and if you get to anxious-"

"Let Virgil know and step away to text you." Logan interrupted, pocketing his phone and looking at his dad. "I'm not a baby, and I'll be fine."

"Yeah, he's safe with me." Virgil assured, coming down the stairs, clad in his old hoodie and a pair of black ripped skinny jeans. "We're good, right?" he looked at Logan, double checking just to be sure.

Logan laughed, "We're good." he confirmed.

"Oh, okay. I love you both, be good," he looked at Logan, as if he needed the reminder, "And please be home before dinner."

Both boys nodded, taking their final hugs from Roman and Patton before heading out. Virgil let Logan sit in the passenger seat

The mindscape was set up to be a small, little town. It wasn't one that existed in the real world, but it was heavily based off of the real world and would change according to real world events. If they really wanted to, the mindscape extended past their imaginary town, it was a whole little world just inside Thomas's head.

"Okay, so I have a shopping list on my phone, and the grocery money we all pitch in for. Though I found that there's always a little extra money, so if you want an extra snack or whatever, go for it." Virgil spoke, stopping as they approached a red light. He looked around, his eye catching on a street sign as he assured himself that he was going the right way.

Logan nodded. He was usually the one to go on the grocery runs, so he already knew about how he slightly over estimated how much money they needed. He'd usually either buy something extra, a treat or dessert, or save it for the next shopping trip. They all got their limited allowance (for the whole 'realistic human life' thing), and they'd pitch in a certain amount of it to pay for food for their home.

"Is there anything you want for the store? That isn't already on the usual list, I mean?" Virgil asked. He was trying to start a conversation, but Logan was being quiet. That was the main reason he offered to take him with him for errands. Virgil wanted to spend more time with his newfound brother, though he'd never admit that out loud. Virgil and Logan regress together all the time, and there's been plenty of time where Logan is bigger than Virgil, but it's rarely the other way around.

Virgil wanted to know Logan more, and also earn his trust. Because it seemed that currently, the only person Teenage Logan really trusted, was Patton.

"I don't know, maybe one of those starbucks bottled frappe things?" Logan said hopefully, giving his, currently older, brother a look in the hopes that he didn't shoot it down immediately.

"Hmm, Patton wouldn't be to happy about that one...and if he found out, he'd be pretty mad at me." Virgil thought out loud, anxiously biting at his lip while he focused on the road. Logan sunk down in his seat in disappointment, immediately taking his hesitancy as a 'no' and looking out the window.

Virgil sighed, glancing at him for a split second before turning his head to examine the road in front of him. "I suppose...if you promise not to tell your caregiver, and you also don't get like, super hyper on me..." he pauses, taking a turn before continuing his conditional agreement, "You can get the coffee. But this is a one time thing, I don't condone littles-" Logan gave him a look.

"Middles?" he hesitantly corrected himself, glancing at Logan again.

"Or regressors." Logan nodded. Virgil hummed before continuing.

"I don't condone teenagers drinking a bunch of caffeinated drinks in one day. I know you had coffee this morning. But today's the exception, alright?"

Virgil was only agreeing to this because he wanted to make Logan happy. And he didn't quite mind stretching the rules just a bit to get there.

"Okay." Logan agreed, looking back out the window.

Virgil had a feeling that this would end up being a good day.

Or at least, he hoped it would.

--

"Virgil, I know I said I'd be okay..but I'm scared."

Virgil stopped in the middle of the cereal aisle, pulling the cart to the side so that people could walk through if they needed. Logan seemed ashamed to admit that, looking up at his, currently older, brother for support. Logan fiddled with the zippers on the cuffs of Virgil's jacket.

"What are you scared of, Logan?" Virgil spoke softly to him, in a voice that seemed to assure that he'd be ready to comfort him no matter what his answer.

"Dad was right, it's my first time going out while regressed and I feel..." he trailed off, his eyes following a cart as a family walked by the aisle. "I feel stupid. Like people are staring a me or something." He looked back at Virgil, who nodded.

"That's okay. I've never been out while regressed, but I'm sure it is a bit scary. I'm sorry that you aren't feeling the best, though." Virgil sighed, not quite knowing what to do. He thought for a moment before offering the best solution he could come up with. "How about you call Patton and talk to him while we shop? I think he'd be the best at comforting you right now."

Logan nodded lightly, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Virgil gave him a reassuring smile before pulling a few boxes of cereal from the shelf. As Virgil motioned for them to keep walking, Logan listened to his phone ring.

"Logan! Are you okay?" Logan winced at how loud Patton's voice seemed through the phone.

"Mhm, I'm okay. Just a bit anxious though...can you talk to me? I-i think it'd help." his voice was filled with hesitancy, but Virgil gave him a comforting look that silently told him 'good job'.

"Oh, yeah. I can talk to you. Do you wanna tell me why you're feeling anxious, baby?"

"I um...you were right," Logan fiddled with the zippers on Virgil's hoodie again, taking a turn into a aisle with bread and snacks. "I kinda started panicking the moment I got into the store. There's so many people, and so much noise. I'm just worried that I'm being judged, I guess." he hummed, glad that there was no one else in their aisle.

"I'm sure that everything is okay, sweetheart. Listen to me, not all the noise, okay?"

Logan nodded, then realizing that Patton couldn't see him through the phone. "Okay."

"Can you tell me what you guys have gotten so far?" Logan was confused by his caregivers request, but he looked in the cart as Virgil set something in it.

"We got Crofters! And butter, and bread." he identified a few items, looking at a few others.

"We can make more toast!" Patton cheered. Logan laughed at that.

"Uh, we have like three boxes of cereal in the cart. And coffee cakes! There's also macaroni..." Logan kept going, not realizing that Patton had successfully distracted him from his anxiety for the time being. Patton spoke in a calm, caring voice all the way through their shopping trip.

"We're heading up to checkout now. I'll text you when we're on our way home," Logan spoke into the phone, following Virgil's guide through the front part of the store.

"Alright. You feel better now, right?" Patton assured.

"Yeah, thanks dad. I'll see you later." Logan hung up the phone, pocketing it and taking a deep breath.

"Feeling better?" Virgil questioned softly. Logan hummed.

He felt almost pathetic for having to call his dad to coach him through a simple shopping trip, but he also felt a lot more at ease. He couldn't quite place why he didn't just pull himself out of middlespace if it really bothered him that much, it almost felt like it'd be to tiring to do. He was getting used to being able to regress whenever and not have to repress it, so when the time came that he might of had to, it felt to hard.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Are we heading home after this?" Logan asked, redirecting the conversation swiftly.

"No, actually. If you're okay with stopping somewhere else first, I mean." Virgil didn't elaborate on where they could possibly be going, which confused Logan.

As they checked out and scanned their items, Logan kept bugging Virgil about where they were headed. "It's a surprise. I'm sure you'll like it, though."

"But Virge! I wanna know!" he whined, handing Virgil his iced coffee to scan.

"Hmm, well that's to bad." he teased. "You'll see when we get there."

Virgil has had this idea since he realized that Logan regressed to teen ages. He was only able to convince Patton to let him take Logan because he revealed his little plan, the second stop that Logan would definitely be excited about. Of course, Logan couldn't know what it was quite yet.

"Virgilll!" he pouted, giving him pleading eyes.

"The pouty face only works when you're a toddler, Lo. Just be patient," he told him, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and looking at the total on the self checkout screen. He counted the money quickly.

"Will a candy bar shut you up?" he asked, pulling a few dollars from the stack.

"That only works when I'm a toddler," Logan mimicked him. It was true, if any of the sides needed to distract Logan while he was little, a piece of candy would do the trick. Of course, it would backfire in half an hour when he got hyper and bouncy, but it works in the moment.

Virgil raised his eyebrows, waving the three one dollar bills in his hand. Logan rolled his eyes, snatching them away. "Fine, I'll be back in a sec."

He disappeared to go pick out some candy, leaving Virgil to chuckle.

Virgil was glad he did this. He felt bad for putting Logan in a situation where he was anxious, but he could still say that they were having a decent time so far. And he was sure Logan would love the next place they were headed to.

There was just one question Logan had.

Where were they going?

--