Under Our Control

Warnings: manipulative parents

Although they've known each other for a few years, Logan was evidently annoyed when Patton tagged along as Logan was going to take the Placement Exam to determine the kind of college he'd be accepted in. He always thought that Patton was too sweet for his own good sometimes and wondered if it had something to do with Patton being homeschooled. Patton didn't really talk about his home life too much since "Homes have walls for a reason".

Once they both made it to the library, Patton made it inside with Logan much to the dismay of Logan and the teacher. Logan told the teacher that Patton was homeschooled and that taking the Placement Exam would provide Patton with something quiet to do. After some time, the teacher provided Patton with scratch paper and a pencil before bringing him to one of the seats with the test. Logan didn't think Patton would really manage through the test, but he was just glad Patton would be quiet for a while.

Some time after everyone else left, the teacher pulled Logan and Patton aside.

"Did you say Patton was homeschooled?" the teacher asked.

"Yes, why?" Logan asked.

The teacher showed them both of their tests revealing Logan got a 98% and Patton got a 100%. Patton flinched at the results and the two of them looked confused.

"What did your parents teach you?" Logan asked cautiously after seeing it.

"Well, they always said Xs were preferred over check marks and that obeying their instructions will get me to where I need to go," he hesitantly answered while looking down.

"How did you get the answers right, then?" the teacher asked.

"Well, some of them came to me in a dream and some of them came from listening to Logan read," he answered honestly.

As some of Patton's life was coming to light, Logan was starting to feel ashamed of judging him. With the help of the teacher and Logan, Patton was able to leave his family's home after a few months and, thanks to court, it was on public record that Patton's parents didn't have qualifications to homeschool Patton. It was also discovered that they believed that children were liabilities if they weren't free labor hence their intentions to keep Patton from leaving their home except to hang out with someone they figured would see him as a liability.

It wasn't long before Logan invited Patton to stay with him in order to undo his parents' teachings (or lack thereof). Patton was grateful for Logan teaching him, but he wasn't really feeling happy. Logan noticed and paused the lesson for a little while.

"Trying to adjust with everything that happened?" Logan asked.

"Well, yea, but that's not the main thing on my mind right now," Patton retorted while looking at the book in front of him.

"Care to explain?"

"Do you really see me as a liability?"

Logan froze as he heard the question. He didn't feel right lying to Patton, but he felt guilty when thinking about the truth. Knowing that Patton was going through a lot, he thought he should try his best to phrase his answer carefully.

"Patton...I've never been the best with socializing. My inexperience with socializing and your cheerful personality made me feel...overwhelmed and I was annoyed since I thought you didn't know anything about personal space or anything similar. That being said, I don't regret knowing you and I feel ashamed for judging a book by its cover. If you want to properly be friends, I wouldn't object to it."

Patton looked up at Logan and carefully hugged him. If he was going to properly learn, he could at least do so with the help of someone he can call a friend.