CHAPTER THREE - LOGAN PART II

Jake stood at the check out holding a box of extra supplies that they have just never had a serious need for in their house – extra strength pain killers, a prescription Dr. Kipper had given him to fill for Logan, plus lots of instant cold packs and heating pads.

The pharmacist who had filled the prescription started ringing the items through and asked "Did the younger Echolls get injured in another sporting event?"

This caught Jake off guard. "I'm sorry?"

"Oh, well, his mother comes in here to purchase similar items every time he gets injured. If you ask me, anyone who gets that badly hurt that often, probably shouldn't be playing contact sports."

Jake paid the man and left, mind whirling at the implications of what he'd just been told. How often was that often. Every month? Every week? He got in his car and headed for home, straining not to break every Nascar record he'd ever seen.

Granted, he hadn't been all that fond of Logan dating Lily at first but that was only because he could tell the kid was a ladies man even at his young age. But Logan had won him over. He could see only love in the boy's eyes every time he looked at Lily, saw the way the kid treated her even when he thought no one was looking, and what father could ask for more than that from his daughter's high school boyfriend. Jake would be the first to admit that Lily wasn't perfect and could sometimes be a handful but Logan seemed to truly love her, faults and all. Jake had to respect that.

But even before Logan and Lily started dating, Logan had been Duncan's best friend for as long as he could remember. He'd even been around when they'd told Duncan one day after school that they'd had to give Molly away to another family. Jake just hadn't had the heart to tell his sensitive young son that the dog had been hit by a car and the vet hadn't been able to save her. Better that Duncan be mad at his old man for 'giving her away'. At least that he'd be sure to get over. The death of his best friend? Jake wasn't at all sure Duncan would fully recover from that news. It was after that day that Logan and Duncan had become closer than ever. Apparently, Logan had suffered a similar loss and they were able to comfort each other over their individual losses.

How could Logan be going through this kind of home life with no one knowing about it? Right under his nose! How could he have missed the signs? Because you're too self-involved, Lianne's voice told him. He shook his head. Every time he thought he was over that woman, something would happen and BAM! he'd hear her voice in his head. Then again, she always had been the one who would call it like she saw it with him. She was just never intimidated, not by his money, certainly not by his stature in the community. Heck, even Celeste's ice cold looks from across the room never seemed to faze her. Part of him wondered if anything ever would. He loved Celeste, no doubt about it, but he still wanted Lianne in his life because, even after everything, she had always been his best friend. And he found a small comfort in knowing that even Celeste wouldn't be able to scare her away.

His little introspective came to a screeching halt as he pulled into his driveway, however. There, parked haphazardly in front of the door, was Aaron Echoll's car. Not even taking the time to turn off the ignition, Jake bolted out of his car and into the house.

He could hear Aaron yelling upstairs but was unable to make out the words. As he darted up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time, he heard a cry of pain. The source of the cry came into view as he reached the top of the stairs and rounded the corner – Aaron Echolls was practically dragging Logan down the hall. Duncan was chasing after them, trying to talk reason into the older Echolls. That's his Duncan, the peacekeeper.

As Jake approached, he watched Aaron yank Logan's arm particularly hard and the boy fell to his knees in pain, the clothes bundled up in his arms landed on the floor in a heap next to him. "Please, dad – "

"Stop with the drama queen routine, Logan," Aaron said harshly. "Or I'll show you real pain when we get home. In fact, I think I hear a certain belt buckle calling your na —" His voice trailed off when he saw Jake coming toward them. "Listen, Jake, I don't know what Logan told you but –"

The lie was cut short by an uppercut to the jaw. Logan looked up in surprise as his father went crashing back into the wall.

Jake didn't take his eyes off the object of his rage but said to Duncan, "Get Logan back into the room and lock the door."

"But, dad!"

"Don't argue with me, Duncan. Do it, now!"

"No! Mr. Kane, it's not worth it!" Logan pleaded.

Jake wanted nothing more than to correct Logan's way of thinking but Aaron was rising to his feet and he had to focus all his attention on his adversary.

Duncan had seen many old photos of his dad's glory days as an amateur boxer and he towered over Aaron Echolls by four and a half inches. Guy didn't stand a chance. So, he did has his father asked and helped Logan to his feet. He supported him as much as he could the distance to the bedroom but Logan fought against him. "No, Duncan, you gotta stop this, man. I'll go with him. I don't want your dad getting hurt because of me. Duncan!"

They crossed the threshold into the bedroom and Duncan shut and locked the door with one hand, doing his best to hold Logan up with the other. But it seemed that any strength Logan had left in him dissipated because his legs gave out and he started to sink to the floor. Quick reflexes had Duncan stopping the descent and lifting Logan into his arms in one fluid movement. He carried his friend the few feet left to the bed and gently laid him out on the mattress. Logan grabbed a hold of the front of his shirt and pulled him down until they were nose to nose. Duncan could see the pain clear in the one eye that wasn't swollen shut. "It's not worth it."

Duncan heard and saw what Logan was really saying. He kept the eye contact and put as much love and friendship into his gaze as he said firmly, "Yes, you are."

Stunned silence was his only response. He patted the fists still gripping his shirt and gently eased them off and onto the bed. Then he sat on the mattress next to his friend and they both stared at the door, waiting for Jake Kane to give the okay.

They could hear the scuffle, the yelling, even the occasional THUMP that shook the wall next to the door. But soon the noises grew less audible and they could hear more from Duncan's dad than Logan's. Suddenly, the yelling was coming from outside. Duncan jumped to his feet and ran to the window looking out onto the driveway and arrived just in time to see Jake Kane give Aaron Echolls a swift kick in rear, sending the other man sprawling onto the paved drive. The teen couldn't help but smile with pride. No doubt about it, my dad ROCKS!

"What's happening?" Logan asked from the other side of the room.

"Your dad's leaving," Duncan said, thinking to himself that was the understatement of the century.

"Really? He's leaving? Just like that?"

Duncan shrugged as he turned away from the window and made his way back to Logan. "What can I say, my dad must've had a convincing argument."

"This isn't funny, Dunc," Logan groaned. "Our families have just become the Hatfield's and McCoy's."

"Well, which family won? Cuz that would be us!"

"Not us. You. You're forgetting that I'm an oh-so-proud member of the other family."

"I thought we already had this discussion," Jake remarked from the doorway.

Both boys turned to see Duncan's dad holding a box full of supplies.

Logan's gaze fell on Jake, completely bewildered. Then he looked down at the man's hand and his jaw dropped. Confusion quickly morphed into a kind of shocked awe. Jake's knuckles were bloodied. "Is that…?"

"Your dad's? Yeah, mostly," Jake replied with a self-satisfied grin. His smile faded, however, when he saw the distress on Logan's face. Crap. He hadn't even considered that, no matter what Aaron had done to Logan, he was still the kid's father…

"Are – are you okay?"

Jake studied the teen more closely and was surprised, and slightly humbled, to discover that the concern was for him, not Aaron. "I'm fine, kid," he assured him gently. "Now, how about we take some of that pain away, huh?"

Logan nodded, eyes close to overflowing. Kid truly had never expected anyone to ever come to his defense like that.

"Duncan, why don't you go get a glass of water to help Logan wash down some of these pain killers ol' Doc Kipper prescribed?"

As Duncan went to do as asked, Jake prepared some of the cooling packs and placed them on the worst of the bruises. When he placed his palm on Logan's forehead and cheek, he could tell the teen was doing his best not to flinch away from him. "Easy, kid, easy," he whispered softly.

Logan simply stared up at him as he continued his ministrations, then broke the silence with a question that broke Jake's heart. "Why are you doing this? You don't even like me," he added, suddenly breaking eye contact and finding something of particular interest on the bedspread.

He still didn't get it? Granted, he was a little panicked when they had last discussed this but come on. Clearly Aaron Echolls had done much more damage than just physical to this kid. Well, that's fine, time to drive the point home.

"Hey," he said softly, trying to get the teen to look at him again. When that didn't work, Jake hooked a finger beneath Logan's chin and gently lifted to regain eye contact. The eyes were skittish, jumping to every place but Jake's face. "Look at me, Logan." It was a command but a beseeching one, so Logan gradually complied, curious at the tone if nothing else. "We consider you a member of this family, Logan," Jake continued. "I think it's about time you did the same, don't you?"

Logan nodded, unknowingly shaking a tear free. Much the same as earlier that day, Jake caught the single droplet with the pad of his thumb, causing the teen to flush with embarrassment. "Must be the pain killers," he said in a slightly choked voice.

Jake didn't bother bringing up the fact that he hadn't had any pain killers yet, he just let the kid save face the only way he knew how. Deflection.

That night, if Logan had any nightmares, the pain killers covered them up because he seemed to sleep like a rock. Well, in between the wake up calls every couple hours to check for concussion at Doc Kipper's orders. Duncan and Jake took turns waking him and asking the 3 or 4 basic questions, each time the answers he gave were correct. A little slurred, but correct.

Not much happened the next day. Logan was more guarded, keeping his emotions in check as the initial trauma began to wear off. But when he and Duncan played a game of poker that afternoon, Logan's poker face was not as impenetrable as he probably would have liked. He delivered the snide remarks and the Cheshire cat grin but the truth was in his eyes – skittish. Every time a noise pierced through their little barrier of peace and quiet, Logan jumped just the tiniest bit and his eyes jumped to the door, likely half expecting his father to come barging into the room once again.

When one of the servants dropped what sounded like a tray downstairs, the echoing CLANG took longer for Logan to come back from. His gaze was transfixed on the door, the cards shook minutely in his hands. Duncan bumped his thigh lightly with his knee to get his attention and Logan's eyes jumped to his and, for just a second, the blatant terror was plain to see. Then, just like that, it was gone. Replaced with anxiety and fear, true, but Duncan realized that Logan's veil of indifference was working a little better than he had originally thought.

"He won't be back, you know."

Logan shrugged with a forced nonchalance. "Yeah, I know. You gonna place your bet or not?"

Willing to play along with the act for the time being, Duncan smiled mischievously and said, "All in."

When they both laid out their cards, Logan sent Duncan a mock glare. "You know, the least you could do is let me win. I am injured, after all. What kind of friend are you, anyway?"

"The kind that takes you for every cent you've got, by the looks of it."

Logan's look of shock sent Duncan into hysterics and Logan wasn't far behind. "Stop it, Dunc! It hurts when I laugh, man!"

That night, Logan didn't need as many pain killers and the nightmares hit full force! More memories than nightmares, actually. Memories from when he was little and his dad wasn't happy with his grades at school; when he spilled a glass of milk at the dinner table and got the belt buckle as punishment; when someone rear ended him in the school parking lot the month before and his dad beat him to a pulp, avoiding the face of course because he still had to go back to school the next day. These memories went around and around in his mind, like a bad movie trailer on repeat, then culminated into two nights before when he got home from Duncan's and was blindsided by a punch to the face, curled in on himself when he was kicked in the ribs, heard the awful taunts and cruel remarks whispered in his ear when his father pulled his head back by a fistful of hair.

He woke up with a yell! And instantly felt arms envelope him, holding him prisoner. His dad had returned! He was going to beat him again! He struggled with all his might to get free, pushed and pulled at his attacker, his father, in a desperate bid for freedom. He felt a morbid satisfaction when he heard the grunts of pain each time an elbow, or fist, or knee connected with flesh and bone. But then the words made their way through to his subconscious – Shhh, Logan, it's okay, you're okay, it's just me, buddy. It's just me. Suddenly, the arms weren't holding him prisoner, suffocating him. Instead, they were comforting him, protecting him.

Maybe it was the fact that he'd just woken up. Maybe it was the fact that he'd had a horrible journey back in time via his nightmares. And maybe it was simply the fact that he was tired of being strong all the time. Whatever the reason, Logan felt himself break. He tried not to, even attempted one last time to pull away, this time in shame as opposed to fear, but he was just carefully returned to the safe cocoon of safety by gentle, yet firm hands. His head was guided down to a broad shoulder, the hand remaining to smooth out his hair, to cup the side of his face and neck. All the while, soothing words were whispered into his ear, and the tears just started to flow with increasing speed. He was mortified when he felt a sob rising in his throat and was unable to stop it from going any further and turned his head to bury his face in the nearby neck to try to muffle the sound. Before he knew it, he was shaking with sobs, his entire body quaking in the strong arms that were holding him.

As his sobs finally subsided, he felt his body sag against a firm chest, felt the arms tighten around him, then loosen as he was laid back down on the bed. Deep down he was terrified that his protector would leave him because he knew the nightmares would come back if he was left alone. But, instead, he felt the mattress dip beside him, then he was maneuvered so that his head was back on that broad shoulder, held close by one arm, then two. His eyes got heavier and heavier as he began to fall back to sleep. But he jarred himself awake, fearing that as soon as he was asleep, his protector would leave. Surely, he wouldn't stay with him all night long. That would be too much to ask, wouldn't it? Not like Logan would be able to ask, anyway. He was embarrassed enough to even be allowing it to happen. No way could he beg this person to stay, not matter how badly he wanted to…

Then he felt a large hand sift through his hair again, and heard the softly uttered words, "It's okay, Logan. Just go to sleep. I'm not going anywhere. Go to sleep. You're safe here. I got you."

And that was all it took. Logan let himself drift back to sleep, somehow knowing that his protector would keep the nightmares at bay.

The End

A/N I hope it was an enjoyable read. I kept the identity of Logan's protector ambiguous on purpose so that whoever wants it to be Duncan can imagine it's Duncan, and whoever wants it to be Jake can imagine it's Jake... did I make the right decision on that? Or would you rather one or the other? ~Kelcor

A/N2 Also, this seemed like a good place to end it but does it seem too abrupt? I'm working on some other projects right now as well and I don't much trust my judgment on this. LoL Please R&R and let me know your thoughts? Thanks! ~Kelcor