(A/N: Just a quick little one-shot to round off the week. Enjoy! :D)
Panacea: defined as a remedy for all diseases or ills, a cure-all.
"Logie, come play with me!"
Eight-year old Kendall Knight grinned widely while pulling a struggling brunette behind him to the playground near their house. Having been pulled away from his medical book by the blonde just when he was to find out what respiration did for the human body; Logan had pouted and stood at the threshold of his house, refusing to move another step despite the taller boy's tugging. That was, until he found himself on the receiving end of the Knight face – watery, pitiful gaze and full blown pouty lips. Logan found himself giving in relatively quickly, grumbling under his breath something about stupid knights and their eyes before letting the overexcited blonde get his way. As much as he grumbled though, he couldn't help but break into a huge smile when he caught sight of Kendall absolutely glowing in excitement when they finally reached the playground. Kendall let go of the smaller brunette and ran towards the monkey bars as quickly as his short legs could take him.
"Logie, come on, come on, come join me!"
"Wha-oh." In that short period of time, Kendall had already ascended the bars and was now balancing precariously on the top, attempting to walk over the bars.
"Kendall stop, come down! You're going to get hurt and break something!" Logan ran to where his blonde friend was anxiously.
"But I don't wanna! This is so fun!" Now Kendall was twirling around and standing on one foot on top of the bars.
Chocolate eyes widened, "Kendall! You're going to fall – ", "Wah!" Logan heard the taller boy exclaim, followed by a loud thump.
Kendall curled himself up into a ball where he fell and started sobbing furiously, clutching his shoulder in pain.
"Kendall!" Logan sprinted to the crying boy and knelt down beside him in concern. Ever the aspiring doctor, he quickly assessed the damage. One broken shoulder, abrasions at the elbow and knees, well nothing he hasn't gotten before anyway. The brunette wrapped his slender arms around the slightly shaking blonde tightly, careful not to touch any injured areas.
"Kenny, you're going to be fine okay. Nothing's gonna happen to you, I promise. We'll get you back to Mama Knight and she'll bring you to da hospital and you can show off your new scars to James and Carlos. You know Carlos loves scars right?" Kendall's trembling frame stopped quivering slowly. Logan smiled encouragingly, pressing a kiss to the blonde's forehead before guiding him up and back to his house.
Miraculously, Kendall felt the pain stop after the kiss to this forehead. All he felt was a weird, floaty feeling in his chest. He had no idea what it was, but he liked it.
(Logan was summoned to Kendall's bedside every day until he recovered from the broken shoulder and for every subsequent illness-slash-injury after that. For some reason, he always seemed to feel better when Logan was with him.)
"Dogs! That was the most terrible singing I've ever heard! Superstar again, from the top after I come back from the bathroom!" Gustavo bellowed angrily.
"Dude, is it just me? Or is Gustavo in a worse mood than before?" Carlos piped up curiously.
James stopped combing his hair for a moment and pursed his lips, "I didn't think he could get any angrier than the feathers incident, but huh I could be wrong."
Logan just nodded weakly. He didn't need to get Gustavo angrier at him. His muscles were still sore from that 15 hour dance rehearsal a week ago with Mr X. Sighing heavily, Logan just leant against the walls of the sound booth until it was time to sing again.
After another few hours of singing, it was apparent that things were getting no better.
"That made me want to dance off of a cliff!"
"You called that singing?! My grandma could sing better than you and she's dead!"
"My crocodile won't even want to eat you because you guys suck so bad!"
"I'm going to cut off your –" Logan cringed and covered his ears from that one. Some things are better left unheard.
"Arghhhhhhhh! You guys can't sing," Gustavo punctuated that with a hard smack on the table, "can't dance", another smack, "and have absolutely no respect for me!" He finished, glaring heavily at all of them.
"Well maybe that's because you don't deserve any respect! Yelling at us all day long, I don't see you doing any better Gustavo. I'm outta here!" A loud bang of the door made his point.
Logan widened his eyes in shock at the tall, blonde figure quickly stalking away. Kendall never snapped at anyone, not even when they lost their hockey games or when he ended relationships. Something was seriously wrong. Without saying another word, Logan turned heel and ran after his blonde friend, leaving James and Carlos behind to deal with Gustavo who was slowly turning red from anger.
"Kendall, where are you?" Logan asked, the echo resounding in the seemingly empty crib. He knew Mama Knight and Katie were out, looking for a job for Katie. And the blonde liked to be alone when he was upset so Logan figured he would most possibly return to the crib. After some time passed with no reply, the brunette frowned. He turned on his heel to walk out of the crib, when a small voice replied, albeit hesitantly.
"I'm in here, Logie."
Logan sighed in relief and practically ran to their shared room. What he saw though, stopped him in his tracks. Kendall sat on the edge of his bed, his head cupped in his hands. When Logan came bursting through the door, he had lifted up his head momentarily, revealing tear tracks on his cheeks. Kendall Knight never cried.
"Oh Kendall, what's wrong?" Logan's heart ached for the blonde. He knew a while back that his feelings for Kendall ran deep, even beyond that of platonic. He never said anything though, even if it killed him inside to see Kendall with Jo. He just wanted Kendall to be happy and he obviously was anything but that. He rubbed circles into Kendall's back comfortingly, waiting until he was willing to share.
A sort of determined gleam shone in the green eyes reflected back at Logan. Kendall sat upright and grabbed Logan's hands, "Logan, I-I-I need tell you something." Logan didn't know how to interpret his gesture; still, he couldn't help but let a little hope grow in his heart.
"I-I-I really like you okay. Not as a friend, but something else. I always have. Jo was a distraction after I saw how enamoured you were with Camille. I mean I understand if you don't return my feelings. Please don't hate me! If you want, we can forget this ever happened and let's be friends – " Kendall's rambling was cut off by a pair of warm lips. His eyes widened in shock before lighting up in glee, fiercely kissing the brunette as though his life depended on it. The need for oxygen became too great however, forcing the two to part. Panting heavily, Logan leaned his forehead on Kendall's.
"I really really like you too, you idiot."
A huge smile adorned Kendall's face as he met the shorter male's lips in a bruising kiss.
(Logan's kisses were magical, Kendall mused. Every time he was sad, a peck of Logan's lips never failed to make him feel better. In fact, he sometimes fakes his sadness just to get more kisses from his little Logie.)
Kendall looked up from the TV to see Logan limp in to the apartment.
Frowning in concern, Kendall rushed over to his boyfriend's side.
"What's wrong, Logie? Did you fall down somewhere? Where does it hurt?"
Logan forced a smile onto his face, "I just tripped down the stairs, no biggie. I'm just gonna go and sleep it off."
Now to normal outsiders, that would seem like the truth. But Kendall, he could see through Logan's façade. He was obviously lying. Kendall narrowed his eyes, determined to find out why his Logie was lying to him about being injured.
The blonde crept silently to the slightly ajar door of their shared room. Logan was just taking off his shirt –
Kendall had to stuff a fist into his mouth to stop from gasping. Those purple bruises littering Logan's torso was definitely not from a fall. If there was one thing Kendall Knight was, he was protective. Especially of his boyfriend. Whoever dared to lay a finger on Logan, was going down.
Kendall didn't wait, he immediately put his plan into action after notifying James and Carlos. The three of them followed Logan around everywhere he went, observing his interactions – conspicuously of course. The few times Logan flinched when passing by Jake, a new resident to the Palmwoods and his sneers towards the smaller boy, was more than enough for Kendall to find his culprit.
Flanked by James and Carlos, Kendall made his way up to 4B, intent on confronting the man who was the cause of Logan's pain.
Jake opened the door, smiling pleasantly, "Hey Kendall. What are you –"
Kendall didn't let him finish. He punched him in the jaw, sending Jake to the ground. James and Carlos got in one kick each before leaving the rest to Kendall. Kendall cracked his knuckles and smirked at the cowering boy, before closing the door behind him.
When he finally emerged, the blonde was still seething in rage. He was literally seeing red. Shoving his way back to 2J, he opened the door and slammed the door behind him with a loud bang, shocking the bejusus out of poor Logan seated on the sofa. The heavy book he was reading fell to the ground with a thud while the boy himself jumped up a few inches. When he finally landed, he fell back on some of the newer bruises, causing the brunette to hiss gently under his breath.
This did not escape Kendall's notice however and it just made him madder. Taking in deep, heaving breaths to calm down, Kendall couldn't help but to throw a few cushions onto the floor in rage. The fit of rage was cut short when the blonde felt a pair of arms encircling his waist lovingly.
"What's wrong baby?"
Kendall calmed down enough to seat the both of them at the sofa, "Why didn't you tell me how you really got the bruises?" A hint of accusing slipped into his tone.
Logan paled, "I swear I didn't mean to keep it from you Kendall. I just didn't want you to worry. And I was afraid if you knew how weak I was, you wouldn't like me anymore and I don't want that to happen because I love you. " The paler male stared down at his lap in shame, his face burning red at his love confession.
Kendall felt his lips curl up in a smile. Dang, he was too precious. With those 3 words, Kendall's anger dissipated like the wind, leaving only a wide smile and a heart bursting from love for the adorable brunette in front of him.
"Aw Logie, I'll never leave you. And how cares if you're weak, you have someone like me to protect you. For the record, I love you too."
Logan beamed, launching himself at the blonde in happiness.
"Be careful of your bruises!"
(Kendall still can't control his temper at thirty. But he found himself less angry after Logan moved in with him and murmured countless "I love you"s into his ears when he was.)
Yup, Logan was Kendall's cure-all, his panacea. And Kendall couldn't want it any other way.