Heyyyyy... what's cracking you guys? Here is the next chapter y'all have been waiting for! … Yeah, probably not. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it :)
When Worlds Crumble
Ch. 9 – Resolution
When Logan woke up he felt strange. Somehow like a mixture of fidgety and joyful. At first he couldn't quite put a finger on what this feeling was exactly, but it hit him as soon as he looked around and saw Charlie's familiar furniture. Of course. For the first time in weeks he felt like the world was alright. Not good, but alright. And that alone was like a miracle to him.
He had spent the last two days working at Charlie's store, just like old times, and drinking tea with his friend in the evening. Logan hadn't had that much peace in what felt like years and he loved Charlie for making him feel so safe and welcome. But he also knew that it wouldn't – couldn't – stay this way for long. He couldn't spend the rest of his life here, as much as he wanted to, and after all he had already decided that he'd leave Minnesota anyway. He just needed a temporary place to stay.
When he wasn't busy in the store he called every single one of his friends and relatives, asking if he could live with them for a couple of weeks. So far he hadn't been denied once. Technically he could already be on a plane off to North Dakota to live with his uncle Terry or to Tennessee to stay at Simon's, a friend he met back when he was a boy scout. But it was like something was holding him back. Something that made him come up with the stupidest excuses to stay, delaying his departure again and again when in reality he only had one real reason not to leave right now.
"They won't come, Logan."
The brunette startled out of his thoughts and turned around to see Charlie sitting in his chair, a pancake in hand, eying him with a serious look. And of course knowing exactly what he'd been thinking about. Again. Logan sighed.
"I know that."
Charlie's gaze softened. "I don't doubt that you know", he said quietly. "But I think you don't want to believe it."
Logan turned his head away and looked out of the window.
"You don't have to do this, Logan."
The brunette's heart twanged in sadness. Mrs Knight had said exactly the same thing to him before he left. Why couldn't anyone understand that he had no choice?
"Yes I do."
"No you don't. You can always go back to what you had." Logan turned back around, surprised by the slightly hard tone in Charlie's voice.
"How would you know?", he asked suspiciously. The elder man smiled a little.
"Haven't you learned not to question a dodderer's wisdom yet, youngster?", Charlie said winking at him. Logan chuckled and crossed his arms playfully.
"And haven't you learned not to wonder about a youngster's curiosity yet, dodderer?", he teased back. When Charlie laughed lightheartedly at the stupidity of their conversation Logan felt the corners of his mouth lift a little. Being around his old friend always felt so easy. Why couldn't it be like that all the time?
"Whoa, what's with the face?", Charlie asked upon seeing Logan's frown reappear. He patted the seat next to him. "Come on, sit down and talk to me. You've been on your own way too much lately anyway. All that moping and thinking could cause serious damage to your brain!"
"I think it's more the overflow of tea in my cells that makes my brain mushy, thanks a lot", Logan grinned.
Charlie sat up straight in his chair and pointed a finger at him. "Ah! I see a smile there!"
Logan giggled and shook his head. "You're ridiculous."
The elder man waved a hand at him dismissively. "Whatever. So now tell me, what are you thinking about all the time?" And just like that they were serious again. The look in Charlie's eyes made it seem like he already knew what it was, so Logan simply got to the point.
"I want to leave, but I can't."
"Because of your friends", Charlie stated, nodding his head thoughtfully.
Logan sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose before looking out of the window again. "Look, I know that the chances are slim, but... I can't help but think that they'll come for me eventually. It's stupid. If they wanted to follow me they'd already be here. And they aren't."
"You miss them, don't you?"
Logan closed his eyes and nodded, a lump forming in his throat. "Yes", he croaked and cleared his throat in an attempt to regain composure. Charlie leaned closer, concern written all over his face.
"You know that I'm the last person on earth who wants to crush your hopes, youngster", he began softly. "But you shouldn't let your past keep you from moving on."
A tear escaped Logan's eye. "I know." He wiped it away angrily. "I just..." He took a deep breath. "I'm afraid."
"Of what?"
He finally looked up at Charlie again, deep sorrow in his eyes. "That they'll hate me if I walk away from them. For good."
"They won't," Charlie said sincerely. "They love you."
Logan scoffed. "Yeah, right."
"Deep down inside you know that they still do." The elder man's piercing blue eyes seemed to look right into the brunette's soul. "Even after what they've done to you. I bet they feel terrible right now."
"Then why aren't they here?" Charlie's heart broke a little when he heard Logan's tone. He sounded so wounded, so vulnerable, like a scared little boy who only wanted his daddy to make it right again. Logan looked up at his friend with tears pooling in his eyes. "Why, Charlie?"
They were both silent for a long time, just staring at each other.
"I'm sorry youngster,"Charlie finally admitted, "but I honestly don't know." His gaze swept off into distance. "I hoped that they would show up during the last few days, but... now I don't think they will. I'm really sorry", he repeated, sighing quietly.
Logan lowered his head and looked out of the window again. People walked by with their heads bowed down, shielding their faces against the cold wind. Logan didn't recognize any of them. When he grew up here it was like everybody knew everybody. Whenever he walked the streets he was always greeted left and right by classmates, neighbors or acquaintances. But times had changed and so had Logan. This wasn't his home anymore. And it could never be again, not after everything that happened.
"I will leave tomorrow", Logan proclaimed suddenly and turned back around to Charlie. "I'm sorry, this isn't because of you, but I can't stay here any-"
The elder man held up a hand, effectively silencing Logan.
"I understand." He grinned slightly. "Honestly, I was mildly surprised you even bore me for so long."
Without another word Logan hugged his old friend as tightly as he could.
"Thank you", he whispered hoarsely, tears evident in his voice and his chest tight with emotion.
"Anytime", the older man responded quietly and tightened his hold on the boy he loved like his own son.
They stayed like that for a long time, old friends saying their final 'Goodbye', neither wanting to let go of this small, peaceful moment. They both knew that after tomorrow they would probably never see each other again.
~BTR~BTR~BTR~BTR~BTR~
The next day came way too soon. Time seemed to be a blur until suddenly it was already evening and two hours until Logan's flight went. His stuff was all packed up in his duffel bag and ready to go. Now he and Charlie sat in the kitchen, waiting for the cab to come and pick him up. Luckily he had gotten one of the last tickets for tonight at short notice.
"How are you, Logan?", Charlie asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence. He sounded not
half as sad as Logan had expected him to be, but he probably just hid it well so the brunette wouldn't feel bad about leaving.
"I don't know", he answered honestly. "I feel... kind of relieved. But also sad. A little nervous."
Charlie nodded and patted his shoulder.
"It's gonna be okay."
Logan smiled. "Thanks. Not just for your comfort, but... for everything."
Charlie smiled warmly and they sat in silence again until they heard the cab honk from outside.
"Well," Logan said a little subdued. "I guess it's time."
"Yeah," Charlie sighed and stood up. "I have to close the shop anyway. It's getting late."
Logan grabbed his duffel bag and stepped outside into the cold air, shivering slightly. He turned around to his old friend who locked the door to his store before smiling and opening his arms to Logan one last time.
"C'mere, youngster."
The young brunette flung himself into his friend's arms and they hugged once more, savouring their small moment.
"Bye Charlie."
"Bye Logan."
And with that the brunette walked towards the cab where the driver already waited for him impatiently, hopefully off to a new, better life. For real this time.
~BTR~BTR~BTR~BTR~BTR~
"We've already been over there, Kendall. Twice. He isn't there."
"I know."
"It's been four days, dude. Four days! There isn't one place he could be at anymore. We looked everywhere!"
"I know."
"Then why..."
"SHUT THE HELL UP OKAY!", Kendall screamed and turned around towards his friends sitting at the table in their apartment. "We can't just stop searching because we didn't find him yet! He is still out there, I know it!"
"Kendall", Katie said calmly, her hands up in front of her defensively. "We don't want to stop looking for him. Honestly. It's just... he isn't here anymore." She held up a finger when he opened his mouth to protest. "And don't try to fight it, cause we all know it's true. He could be anywhere right now!"
Kendall's shoulders slumped. "I know", he admitted dejectedly. "But I don't want to just sit around doing nothing."
Carlos lay his head on the table and breathed out heavily through his nose. The last few days had been the most stressful time of his short life. He, Kendall and James had combed all of the streets thoroughly, looked at every place they used to hang at when they were kids, checked all of their former hiding spots outside of town, hell they even asked Mrs Majakowski if she had caught a glimpse of Logan. But their friend seemed to be disappeared from the face of the earth. The suspense made Carlos more than a little jumpy and he found himself fiddling with his shirt every time he had nothing to do, a clear as day sign that he was more than nervous.
Kendall on the other hand got more and more aggressive as time went by. He snapped at everyone (even his mum!) and picked up small fights every chance he got. To top it off he couldn't sleep well at night which made him all the more grumpy the next morning. Not that his friends minded, after all they had known Kendall for years now and were used to it. He didn't mean to be rude, it was just his way of expressing how scared he really was.
As the leader of their group Kendall couldn't stand any member of his 'pack' missing. They were like family to him and he saw it as his job to keep them together. It was just who he was. And now that Logan was gone he felt like he had failed at his biggest duty in life. It was almost like his personality itself had taken a massive blow because he couldn't keep up with it. And it tore him apart.
"I hate this," the blonde mumbled and continued his pointless pacing.
James sighed and rubbed a hand over his tired face. "I know, bro. We all do."
Yesterday had worn the tall brunette out terribly. He had been the most enthusiastic in their search, running the streets up and down all day long. Now that the adrenaline in his veins had died down he felt like a truck just run over him. Beyond that he hadn't showered in days and his hair looked like something else. But somehow he couldn't bring himself to care which was a huge shock to everyone around him. Even Mrs Knight had gasped when he answered to Kendall's comment "You look like shit" with only a shrug and nothing more. Honestly, his looks were the last thing he worried about right now.
And now they all sat in silence, unsure of what to do anymore. Not finding Logan had completely crushed them. They had known from the start that this wouldn't be easy, but not finding him at all? This was just excruciating. Their hope had become slimmer and slimmer during the last few days and at this point they didn't even think they would ever see him again at all.
Mrs Knight stood up and went over to the phone. She picked it up and turned back around to see all of her children looking at her expectantly. "Okay, here's my suggestion." She held the phone up. "We book a flight back to LA for tomorrow and spend today looking for him one last time. We can't stay here forever and if he's not here we won't be able to continue our search. But we'll go to the police and ask them to send out a search party. They have better chances to find him anyway and if he's still out there they will. Alright?"
They all nodded.
"Good. Katie, we'll cover the north half together and you three check south." She dialled a number, most definitely the airport. "I'll get the tickets now."
"Awesome!" Kendall jumped up with a new rush of energy and was already halfway out the door when Carlos and James stood up and followed him, fresh hope blossoming in their chests.
Today we will find him, Kendall thought. I just know it.
~BTR~BTR~BTR~BTR~BTR~
It was already evening when they finally got to the last street left in the southern half of town. After their long, unsuccessful search the three boys all but crawled on the pavement, that's how exhausted they were. When they were close to the entry of the street James suddenly stopped, causing the other two boys to turn around confusedly.
"What's the matter?", Kendall asked.
"I'm tired", the taller boy whined. "Can't we just skip this street? He won't be there anyway."
"No!", Carlos said firmly. "We can still find him. We haven't been in this street today yet."
"And the chance that he's in there is what?", James snorted tiredly. "One to a million?"
"He's got a point", Kendall said quietly. "We've already been here yesterday, remember? And we'd have to walk all the way back up this street again to get to our hotel."
Carlos stared at his friends incredulously, crossing his arms. "Do you want to find Logan or not?", he snapped at them sharply. "Because you sure as hell don't act like it right now."
Realizing what they had just said both boys bowed their head in shame.
"M'sorry", James mumbled. "I'm just depressed."
Carlos' gaze immediately softened and he patted the taller boy's shoulder comfortingly.
"I know", he sighed. "Let's just get this over with."
They all continued walking, James dragging his feet on the asphalt ever so slightly until they finally got to the entrance of the street.
"Okay, keep your fingers crossed," Carlos said just before they walked around the corner.
"What's the point?", Kendall said devastatedly. "He won't be there."
"You don't know that. Maybe...", Carlos began, but shut his mouth when Kendall only shook his head.
"I don't think he's here anymore. We would've already found him."
Just as the Latino was about to answer he saw something that stopped him in mid-step. His eyes widened.
"Guys?", he croaked, his throat suddenly dry.
The other two kept walking, their heads bowed down.
"I mean, this town isn't all that big. Where could he have hidden for so long?"
"Guys," Carlos repeated, a bit louder this time. They looked back at their friend who pointed at a cab about a hundred metres in front of them across the street. Kendall squinted his eyes slightly to see what his friend referred to.
He saw a young man standing with his back to him while putting his blue duffel bag inside the car. The brunette was about to get in when suddenly he turned so that Kendall could see his face. The blonde froze and sucked in a sharp breath. Nervous adrenaline pumped through his veins as he watched the man get in and shut the door of the cab, finally snapping him out of his daze.
"...L-Logan?"
To Be Continued...
Okay, I'm sorry for this cliffhanger, but the next chapter will be up pretty soon so I hope you won't kill me... The next one will also be the last one, so get ready for the final confrontation :D Please tell me what you think because your Reviews make my day! - Ani
