Warnings: swears, violence, prison r*pe

The man had made it through parole after so many years within the walls of prison. Whilst hailing a taxi, he thought about everything that was officially behind him: violence, bigotry, actions done without his consent in order to survive, nothing that would make someone want to go to prison. So, why would he throw away a decade of his life? The simple reason is his brother committed murder and, fortunately (or unfortunately), they were twins, so he thought that going for him would be the right thing to do. On his way home, he wondered if he'd be forgotten about even after the various letters were exchanged between himself and his husband or any of their friends. He stared blankly out the window as his destination was getting closer. He hoped he hadn't changed too much and he hoped he was still loved.

As he made it to the place he knew of as home, he felt relieved that he behaved well enough to avoid the electric chair. At the same time, though, he was worried that the electric chair would make him feel less alienated than he might be with his peers. He looked at his returned phone once he made it to his door and texted 'Hey, love. I'm here' to his husband. After a while, the door was opened and he was staring in the eyes of the love of his life who was wearing the cat onesie he was known for adoring. For Roman, it was like he had fallen in love all over again, but he had no idea how Patton felt until they exchanged a loving kiss.

"Welcome home, Roman," Patton greeted.

Roman felt weird going by his actual name since, as far as everyone at the prison knew, they arrested Remus. Patton brought Roman inside and he looked around at parts of their home that felt familiar and unfamiliar to him. Pretty soon, he went into their bedroom and looked in the mirror. He didn't really feel like the "Roman" he once knew, but he didn't feel right identifying as "Remus" either. As he was looking at himself trying to figure out which feature belonged to whom, he saw Patton enter the room.

"Roman...everyone said to let them know when you were released so we can have some pizza and Netflix. Is that okay, sweetie?" Patton informed.

Their friends...what would they think of Roman? Would they see him differently? How would he face the twin who was supposed to have been arrested?

"Sure, better sooner than later," was all Roman could say while stuck in thought.

It was only a matter of time before everyone came as well as the pizza, garlic bread, and soda. He was able to recognize everyone who arrived even though Roman insisted they don't visit him. He noticed that some things had changed as much as they stayed the same: Logan and Virgil had gotten engaged, TD was experimenting with some new accessories of fashion as evident by the crop top and ear tint, and Remus brother was talking about stories of his therapy sessions. Every time Roman looked over at his brother, he wondered what it would be like if he was the brother that had to endure the experiences Roman nonchalantly talked about. They were watching some films that Roman was and wasn't familiar with and without even thinking about it, he inhaled some of his food as if he had a time limit and squeezed a cup of soda in his hand out of frustration. As he left to clean up, he could hear Logan talking about how they shouldn't expect Roman to be released without some of the prison lifestyle sticking around, but he interpreted it as himself turning into some kind of monster like Elinor but in reverse.

Roman cleaned everything once everyone slowly left and he couldn't bring himself to speak. He was washing dishes when he suddenly heard soft footsteps stop behind him.

"Roman? Are you okay?" he heard Patton ask.

"Of course, nothing to worry about," Roman claimed.

After a few more dishes, Patton gently hugged him as Roman fought back the urge to attack. He felt a sob crawl up his throat as he turned around and hugged Patton.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I was their whore! They thought I'd be easy because they heard I was gay! My cellmate harmed me when I said no! Working out never helped! They were so angry, the guards weren't helpful! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

As Roman was sobbing his confessions, he could no longer tell if he suited the label of "strong" then or ever. The tighter Patton held him, the more scared he was of them parting. He confessed to shame for being a victim, confusion on whether or not he deserved to be in prison, anger at...a lot of things, really, even the contemplation of belonging.

"Why can't I be strong?" Roman asked.

"You are strong, Roman; you have always been my strong prince. You were just misguided," Patton answered.

"Why would you stay with me? I don't want to hurt you."

"We're all here for you, Roman. Not only that, but I love you. None of those things will ever change."

As much as Roman didn't feel he deserved the love and comfort of his husband, he couldn't deny that they were present and that made him appreciate his love.

"Tell you what? I'll warm up a bath for you and we can cuddle, then we can spend some days together while you readjust. Okay?"

Roman sniffled and nodded. As he was finishing up the dishes, Roman found himself wanting to face Remus one on one for the sake of closure.