#meanwhile thomas is standing there not even able to fully comprehend what's happening

[rosehathawhey]

The Forrester Men + inspiring girlies everywhere to ditch their wedding rings.

[lefaystrent]

Lifeline

Fandom: Thomas Sanders, Sanders Sides

Pairings: platonic lamp/Thomas

Summary: Unable to help himself, Patton reached out to ruffle Thomas’s hair. The other sides rolled their eyes, knowing what would happen, except— 

Patton’s hand.  

It made contact. 

Notes: Based on this post by @raspbirrypancakes. Needless to say, as soon as I read it I got inspired and I’ll probably be posting more chapters of this.

Chapter Navigation: two three

AO3 Link

The first time it happened had been an accident.

Thomas had wrapped up an evening spent with his friends. Not working on anything, not stressing to create new content. Just him, his friends, fun games, and tasty snacks. As Thomas bid the last of them farewell and shut the door to his apartment, his cheeks hurt from how much he’d been smiling all day.

Pleasantly tired, Thomas wandered back into his living room and flopped onto the couch.

“If you fall asleep now, who’s going to clean this mess?” a familiar voice asked. Of course it was familiar, since it was his, but the words from this particular side was always spoken so much more concisely.

“Can you not rain on our parade, Mom? Today was full of adventure! We need to recharge for whatever battles await us tomorrow! The mess can stay another day.”

“Ignoring your false reference to me as a mother, procrastinating will only—”

“Did someone say Mom? Because I’m Dad!”

“I’m glad you’re here, Padré! You’ll be my sidekick in the fight against Mother Gothel.”

“Oh, what’s the matter, Ro?”

“He’s being really mean and I don’t like it!”

“Seriously? You’re ‘tattling’ on me to Patton? Just because you don’t want to pick up some trash and clean some dishes?” 

“Well if you find this little mess so distressing why don’t you just clean it up, Pointdexter?”

“What part of we are not real do you not understand?”

“Now, now. Even if we’re not real, we should really calm down. Roman’s right, it was a big day today. We don’t want to stress Thomas out, now do we?”

All eyes settled on Thomas. He laid there, sinking into the cushions and smiling dopily at them.

“I’m not stressed out at all,” he told them.

Everyone looked towards the stairs for confirmation. Virgil sat on the steps, leaned back casually.

“Nope, not even bothered,” he said.

Roman glanced him up and down. “What, no clouds today, Stormy Daniels?”

“We just spent all day with Thomas’s friends and nothing bad happened. I think I’m good.”

“Oh,” Roman said awkwardly. “Well, uh, splendid! It was indeed a good day, wasn’t it? A toast to us!”

“With some eggs?” Patton said. “And bacon? And pancakes? All of it together in the most wonderful, fantastic breakfast sandwich?”

“Blueberry pancakes?” Virgil asked, perking up.

“All the blueberries you want, kiddo!”

“Cool, breakfast for dinner it is then.”

“How about it, Specs?” Roman asked. “Would the promise of crofters get you to lighten up.”

“The mess will eventually need tending to,” Logan pointed out. He turned his head to the side, averting his gaze. “But I would not be averse to a meal, no.”

Thomas’s stomach was growling, now that he thought about it. All he’d had recently was candy. He sat up and looked around the room, all of his sides in complete agreement and smiling at the promise of breakfast food. Things had been good lately, but it’d been a long while since he’d felt this overwhelmingly satisfied.

“I’m so happy,” Thomas murmured, smiling to himself. He looked to his sides with bright eyes, wanting to convey through expression just how much he was feeling. Predictably, the core of his feelings was the first to react.

“Awww, we are too, kiddo!” Patton cooed, jumping in place. Unable to help himself, he reached out to ruffle Thomas’s hair. The other sides rolled their eyes, knowing what would happen, except—

Patton’s hand.

It made contact.

Thomas froze immediately. Patton was a little slower, his fingers brushing over brown locks, actually moving them before his grin died down. He stopped completely, hand frozen over Thomas’s head, barely resting his palm there but still enough that Thomas felt the pressure.

“Thomas?” Patton questioned, looking the most vulnerable Thomas had ever seen him. His eyes were wide and unable to look away from where his hand touched him.

Not able to comprehend, Thomas glanced over at the others. He couldn’t see Roman from this angle with Patton’s body blocking him, but Virgil and Logan were staring on, still as unbothered as before. However, as Patton gathered the courage to move his fingers a bit, Logan noticed the motions. His face pinched, perplexed.

“What are you . . .” he began, trailing off as it became more apparent that Patton was carding his hand through Thomas’s hair. It was as if any of his friends were doing it, so tangible it was. When Patton pressed his palm down flat on Thomas’s head for a moment, he could feel the warmth radiating from the skin.

He could feel Patton.

“What, is something wrong?” Roman asked. Meanwhile, Virgil started looking worried. He leaned forward, hand gripping the stair railing as if he were about to stand up.

“Are you . . . actually touching Thomas, Patton?” Logan asked, taking a step forward. “You . . . you’re not passing through him. How can that . . . I don’t understand.”

“What?” Roman asked in confusion. And Virgil was definitely standing now, but Thomas’s attention shifted back to Patton. A sheen of wetness covered his eyes.

“I can feel you,” Patton whispered, voice choked. “You’re here . . . I’m here . . . It’s—it’s so soft. I can feel it.”

“But that’s impossible,” Virgil said. “We’re not . . . we’re not . . .”

Real. Logan had just said as much earlier. 

Long ago, when his sides first started showing up, Thomas had pondered long and hard about reality versus imagination. People generally weren’t able to see and talk to versions of themselves as if they were real people, unless they were hallucinating. But through a lot of sleepless nights and a heavy dose of denial, Thomas had come to terms with it. Because in the end, his sides were a part of him and in fact made his life better. What was so crazy about that?

But this?

“Thomas?” Patton asked carefully. He ran his fingers through hair once again, scratching slightly at the scalp. “Can you feel this too?”

Thomas didn’t trust his voice, so he nodded. Nodded so small because he was so afraid of disrupting the tentative contact between them, yet Patton saw it all the same. He lit up, sucking in a stream of air, and trembling visibly, he pulled Thomas close and hugged him tightly.

“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this,” Patton admitted, voice catching. Thomas could feel the material of his shirt dampen at his shoulder. “Every time I was proud of you . . . or every time you cried . . . I felt it too and I just wanted . . . Oh, kiddo.”

Thomas looked over Patton at the others. Each of their faces were the most emotive he’d ever seen them. Even Logan openly displayed his feelings, his expression looking almost tortured at the newfound discovery and bewilderment that came with it. He bravely walked forward, hand rising in hope to touch at Thomas’s hair the same way Patton did. Thomas stopped breathing as he watched the shaky hand approach.

It passed right through him, the same as always.

Logan grimaced and snatched his hand back like he’d been burned. For some reason, Patton remained fully tangible, clutching Thomas for dear life.

Roman and Virgil watched in sympathy as Logan backed up to his usual spot. His hand gripped his arm at the elbow as he stared holes into the floor.

Patton continued to weep softly and, completely overcome, Thomas gave in to the feeling and raised his arms to return the embrace. 

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