"You're leaving!?" Louise whimpered, sending a bolt of ache to strike in Logan's already wilting heart.

"Only for a little while, Lou." He responded, cautiously lifting his hands in the air - as if in surrender to some dangerous siege of warriors. Which, in all honesty, he sort of was.

"How - I - but why!?"

"Because...my mom...emailed me…"
"What!?"

"Okay, bad explanation. Really bad. It's more than that and…yeah - I'm coming back!"
"B-b-b-but when!?"
"Oh. Uh, like...ten-ish months…."

An offended squawk left Logan's girlfriend, signifying the then expected tears which quickly welled up and overflowed within her coffee colored eyes, spilling over into her hand cupped cheeks. Though tears were typical to follow Louise's "weeping squawk", the mere presence of them always took Logan aback, who never expected nor knew how to handle his girlfriend's crying - though, deep down, he always would yearn to see such an emotional response, just to see if she really had lost her tear ducts in that one fist fight so long ago. Stiffly so, he reached out, patting her shoulders and muttering awkward condolences.

But then he shook himself, realizing what the fuck he was doing - this was Louise. Girlfriend -Louise. Love-of-his-life-Louise. Future-wife-Louise. And here he was, comforting her as if she were some strange, possibly clinically insane, homeless man at the bus stop weeping over a rotten banana (what a horrid Thursday that was). Logan was no rotten banana. And Louise was no homeless man. What the fuck was he doing!?

More boldly now, he took her in his arms - having to sit down on his nearby bed so as to not tower over her, but ended up with his head at her chest. He pressed the girl to him, closer now, so that his ear rested perfectly above her racing heart. His arms, long and lanky, perfectly curled around her waist, while hers wrapped around his neck - allowing Louise's a good spot to hide her falling tears - and Logan realized that he had just found the perfect hugging position for the two of them. Too bad he was leaving before they could properly try it out…

Then he felt some resistance. Louise trying to escape the hug, to run up to her room and hide beneath the covers - something she always did on the rare occasion she cried. Not out of anger, really. Just purely out of shame. As if crying was something to be embarrassed about. But Logan kept an iron grasp, determined to see this through. To make sure she understood why he was doing this, but also that, goddamn, this was just as painful for him.

"She's pregnant Louise." This stifled her crying some bit, and he felt the immediate relaxation of her once tight muscles. She was now all ears, the last of her searing tears rolling down Logan's own cheek. "She's pregnant, and the guy took off."

"What?" She croaked, stepping away to look at Logan with watery, red-rimmed eyes, but keeping her palms firmly rested on his shoulders. His own arms uncurled, hands finding themselves placed on the swell of her hips, as if holding Louise steady from the constant turning of life around her. Though now was the worst time to think of it, Logan realized that he was really going to miss the feel of those hips.

"Yeah. My mom fucked up. Again."
"Who's the father?"
"Some pool cleaner at the shitty apartment she lives in - I didn't even know that she'd left New Jersey, by the way. She just took off for some booze-cruise, sex-romp in Hollywood a couple years back. And decided to stay. Forever. And now she's fucking pregnant, Lou. And she's in her forties. Late forties. There's a high chance - and I mean high - that my little baby brother is gonna end up having Down's."

"But how is you visiting for a couple of months...going to help?"
"She's pregnant, defenseless, and living in an unsafe area all on her own. She's gonna need me to help out, make sure she's alright. And. believe me, I asked her all the same questions you're asking me now. And, no, she doesn't have any other friends to help her out. She scared them all off with her insane bitchiness. Her words. Okay, they're mine, actually. But still. She's screwed, Louise. Real screwed. And, granted, she wasn't there for me when I was screwed, but my brother definitely didn't do anything wrong to deserve dealing with that hag all on his own. And I want to be apart of his life. Enough to give him something to fall back on when she was one of her 'mood swings'. Okay?"

"B-but, uh, couldn't she move here?! New Jersey is far cheaper than Los Angeles. She could afford a place - granted, a much shittier place. But still, a place, right!?"
"And live where? I mean, it's cheap here, yeah - but she's got, literally, no money. I think the only reason she's even able to keep that apartment is because she's blowing the landlord. And then she also needs to get a job here. I mean, she's never held one down before - except for what she's doing now. Being a 'paparazza' or whatever. Which, also, she can't really go running around snapping photos of Paris Hilton eating an energy bar while being 7-months preggo. Right? So, at the moment, she's essentially - no, she is jobless. And too annoying to go finda new one."

"Couldn't...couldn't I come with you!?"

"Not a chance in hell, young lady!" Yelled Linda's distinctly familiar voice from up the basement stairs. "Summer is coming up and that's rush hour for us! Think about all the hungry-ass tourists who're gonna stuff their faces here!"

"Can you not eavesdrop, Mom!"

"Yeah, you heard her, Mom. Buzz off." Gene whispered.

"Gene!? I - oh my god - who else is listening!?" Louise wailed, only to receive more silence. Knowing her family and their quirks, the youngest Belcher was certain that Gene and her mother were not the only ones listening in. "Tina…?"

"No…." Replied a monotone whimper.

"Dad…?"

"What? - I, uh, was just here for….staples. Yep. Got them. Okay, see ya guys. Have fun listening in on….whatever is happening downstairs…." Bob murmured, unconvincingly.

"Louise, forget them." Logan said, though murmuring slightly now - his voice soft and flighty, sending chills to Louise's knees. Damn him. "Just focus on this. Are you gonna be okay?"
"No, Logan. I'm not. I will never be okay. Not while you're gone."
"Okay. That was...not...the answer I was hoping for…" He said, though, internally, impressed with the wavering, romantics in the Belcher's tone - something that wasn't so often coaxed out, especially before eavesdropping ears. Maybe if Logan had mentioned that gratitude, than the conversation wouldn't've gone as downhill as it did.

"What do you want me to say, Logan? Huh? That I'm glad you're taking off for, what, nine months!?"
"Ten, actually…-and, no, of course not. But I did expect at least a little bit of, I dunno, maturity!"
"Maturity!? Says the guy who's leaving his real family - the one who took him in when he was destitute - to fend off summer's tourist frenzy all by ourselves!"
"Seriously!? You're seriously saying that!? That me leaving four perfectly capable adults to run a slightly busier than usual restaurant is more selfish than me leaving my poor, pregnant mother!?"
"You're leaving three and a half perfectly capable adults now that Tina's helping Jimmy Jr. and, yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying, you ass!" In the distance, Linda's muffled and worried "oh dear…" could be heard, but was ignored by both now fuming adults. Logan was back on his feet, looming over the shorter female - who, despite her petite size, looked rather menacing herself, literally clenching her white knuckled fists with how angry she was. "And, god, Logan! I can't believe you're leaving me! I thought we promised each other never to abandon each other! And here you are, going off to Los Angeles!"
"Yeah, to care for my mother! What do you think I'm going to do - have an affair with her!?"

"Yeah!? - Wait, no. Ew. What I mean is, I think you are going to cheat on me!"
"Why would you ever think that, Louise!? When have I ever come close to being unfaithful?"
"I mean, for all I know, the only reason you haven't been unfaithful already is because you can't find a chick hotter than me! You're going to be gone for ten months, Logan! In Los Angeles - home to some of this planet's most beautiful women! Yeah, I definitely think you're going to be at least a little tempted to cheat!"

"Okay, news flash, Louise - if I were to be tempted, it wouldn't be because she's better looking or some bullshit like that. It's because she wouldn't act constantly like such a selfish bitch!"

And then it was as if a flip had been switched. The argument was over. The conversation was over. All general talk was over - and not just between Logan and Louise, but for everyone in the entire house, which had seemed to still from it's once shuddering state, as if holding in a deep breath that was soon to be disastrously exhaled. It was just a rule, unspoken but unmoving in its importance, that referring to another as "bitch" would never, ever, ever be okay. Especially not during an argument. And with the breaking of the rule, a deafening, stiff silence seemed to seep from the jagged edges - drowning everyone out, making them regret their actions and not appreciating the moments before this entire fiasco, which now seemed so peaceful in comparison. Except Louise that is.

No, Louise was never one for regret. She was just one for revenge, and hate, and, most of all, rage. And, with her tear streaked expression, Logan saw what appeared to be a sea of daggers, army of grenades, and handful of middle fingers aimed at his direction - a see of absolute, unmoving hatred towards the boy she once worshipped so soundly. However, this radiating loathing all swiftly disappeared as soon as she turned away to sprint up the stairs, leaving Logan to stand in the dust of her contempt.

He had fucked up.

He had fucked up, big time.