-1Can't Be Tamed

Chapter 25:

Sugar, We're Going Down

We're going down, down in an earlier round.

Sugar, we're going down swinging.

I'll be your number one with a bullet.

A loaded gun complex, cock it and pull it.

- Fall Out Boy

By the time Mercedes had gotten Logan's blue polo to the ground, Piper had already made it to the bar. She walked in with her sunglasses still on until she found it hard to see in the darkness of the room. She slid them on her head and sat down at the bar, staring down at her chipped fingernail polish with a sigh.

It was official. Her relationship with Logan was over, and the worst part was, he didn't seem to mind at all. She put her head in her hands, rubbing her face and wiping tears away.

"Hey, what can I get for you?"

Piper looked up to see the bartender wiping up around where she was sitting. She looked the bartender over. She looked pretty young to be working at a bar. Her name tag said "Karlee" and she seemed highly unfocused. At least Piper knew she wasn't the only one.

"Yeah, can I get a Patron on the rocks?" Piper asked, pulling her phone and her wallet out of her purse.

"Woah," the bartender said, finally looking her in the eye, "you're Piper Holliday, the pop star!"

"Yeah, yeah," Piper said, sliding her wallet over in her direction, containing her fake ID.

"You're twenty-one?" Karlee said, "Wow, I thought you were closer to my age."

"How old are you?" Piper asked, truly not caring one way or the other as long as she got her drink.

"I'm eighteen." she replied.

"Cool" Piper replied as the bartender handed her the wallet back.

She looked down at her phone. No one had called, texted, nothing. She figured she wouldn't hear from Logan. He obviously didn't care about her anyway. She didn't understand. How in the world could someone be that good of a liar? She could lie pretty well. Hell, she just did by handing over that fake I.D., but how Logan could lie about his feelings, she didn't know.

Karlee reappeared, handing her the drink.

"Thanks" Piper replied, taking the first sip, letting the alcohol burn down her throat.

"Do you want to go ahead and pay for that or tab it?" Karlee asked.

"Tab it. I don't think I'll be out of here anytime soon."

Meanwhile, back on the bus, the situation that seemed like it would never end was killing Logan. Mercedes was all over him and he had given in a little, letting his hands roam slightly, but he hadn't fully given in. He promised himself he wouldn't kiss her back and he would let them, dare he say it, do the deed.

Mercedes dropped to her knees right in front of him, unbuckling his belt. He knew exactly what was going on. James had told a story once about a girl in freshman year…he shuddered, not wanting to think about that, especially with Mercedes. He could never let a girl get on her knees for him. It seemed so disrespectful.

"M-Mercedes!" he gasped, "No, don't…"

"Shh…" she kissed him shortly, "I'm all yours tonight."

"No!" Logan's head finally caught up with his heart, as he grabbed her hands and pushed her back, "No, I have a girlfriend. I'm, yeah, I'm going to say it. I'm madly in love with Piper and I don't need or want this!"

Mercedes' face went into a state of shock. Her mouth was hanging wide open as she put her hands on her hips, looking at him like he was crazy.

"I hope you know, Logan, that one day, you'll want me back. Once Piper's a has been and not putting out anything anymore, if you get what I'm saying, and I won't be there. I don't need you either. I can do better!"

Logan watched with a freaked out expression as she picked up her blue dress and put it back on before leaving in a huff.

He put his head in his hands and felt himself actually tear up, a human reflex that he'd learn to shut off over the years, until now. How he'd explain this to Piper was beyond him. Mercedes was going to tell her, oh, there was no doubt about that. Then, she'd conveniently leave off the last part and write her own ending. He ran his hands through his hair numerous times trying so hard to figure out how he'd say it, how he'd tell her, where he'd tell her. All he knew, was that Piper's response wasn't going to be pretty and it was going to hurt him bad.

He stood up, putting his blue shirt back on, leaving the buttons undone. He zipped his pants back, shifting uncomfortably before buckling his belt back. The trouble he was in, oh the trouble.

He walked into the kitchen area, grabbing a water bottle out of the refrigerator and some Tylenol out of the cabinet. He sat three pills on the counter before something brightly colored caught his eye.

He did a double take, looking at two bright yellow bags from Forever 21 in the floor surrounded by some other black and white ones. His heart pounded as he walked over to them.

His hands shook as he picked up a white bag out of the floor. He opened it up and pulled out a white t-shirt. The back of the shirt was facing him. It had two airbrushed red hearts, and inside of the red hearts, in black writing was "Jo and Kendall forever. The Big Time Tour. Las Vegas, Nevada".

Jo had been here. Oh no. What if she'd seen them? Logan's heart rate picked up more than before if it were possible. She would automatically go running to Piper, simply because they were girls. More importantly, they were best friends.

He looked back down at the bags, then back at the shirt that was still in his hands. That's when he saw it.

In the same bag, something purple still lingered inside of it. He pulled out another t-shirt from the bag, letting another rush of fear take him over as he saw what was on it. The design was the same as Jo's shirt, but in the purple hearts were the words "Piper and Logan forever." All it took was for him to read that one line before dropping it to the ground. He'd really messed this up.

Meanwhile, Piper was on her fourth cup of Patron, beginning to feel the oh too familiar buzz that she desired.

As the world began to fade around her, all she could think about was the scene she'd walked in on. The constant replay made her want to drink more and more. After her fifth or sixth drink, after she'd lost count, the bartender took up her cups and handed her the tab.

"What the hell?" Piper slurred.

"You've hit the limit." Karlee said, "I'm sorry for having to stop you, but…"

"I don't give a damn!" she exclaimed, standing up, "I have gone through hell today! My boyfriend's cheating on me and I'm stuck with him for three more months until this damn tour is over with!"

"Well, I can't do a thing about that. You don't have to leave, but you can't have any more alcohol. I have to cut you off somewhere." She replied, wiping up where Piper's glasses had been.

Piper pulled out her credit card and gave it to Karlee before crossing her arms over her chest. She checked her phone, the bright light messing with her eyes.

"Woah" she said, before turning her phone off and dropping it into her purse.

The bartender brought her card back along with a second copy of the bill. She signed for it and then put her card up. She began to walk out uneasily before she felt her sunglasses fall off her head.

"Huh?" she grabbed for her head before turning and looking around.

With the black surroundings, she couldn't see a thing. It was hopeless. Those glasses were so gone. She began to walk down the street, hopeless, until she found another bar. She put on her best front, not to appear drunk, and walked in.

Back at the bus, Logan was frantic, calling Jo first.

"Hello?" she asked, sounding slightly weird-ed out that Logan would call her.

"Have you been back to the bus today?" he said quickly.

"Yeah"

Logan let out a deep sigh of relief before Jo finished with, "I never went in. Kendall called me before I went in to come hang out with him."

"Shit" Logan cursed.

"Why?" she asked.

"No reason." he lied, "Have you seen Piper?"

"She's supposed to be back at the bus. You mean, she's not there?"

"No"

"Did she ever come in?"

"Uh," Logan searched for the right words, "Not that I can remember."

"That's weird. Is she with Carlos and James?" Jo replied.

"I tried calling her, but she never answered. I called Carlos, but I assume his phone is dead again." he said, sounding annoyed.

"Oh, I don't know. Look, Kendall said our caller just buzzed and a table's open. I've got to go. Sorry, Logan. Try Carlos again, and as much as you hate it, try James." Jo said.

"Okay, see you later." he said before hanging up.

He sat down on the couch and dialed Carlos first. He got the same voice mail Piper did earlier before hanging up.

"He has to find that phone charger soon." Logan complained before dialing James.

"What's the haps, Logie?"

"Thank God you answered. Is Piper with you guys?"

"No, ha, did you lose your girlfriend?" James replied, "I thought you loved her so, Logan."

"I do!" Logan exclaimed, "I wouldn't be looking for her if I didn't!"

"No, she's not with us. Did she stand your ass up?" he laughed.

"Yes, but no. Something bad happened and I can't tell Kendall because he's on a date but I'm not telling you either."

"She dumped you!" James exclaimed, his voice rising with hope.

There was a pause before Logan could say anything. He listened as James said something to Carlos about "She will be mine!" and then a spraying noise, which he assumed was the 'Cuda, filled the earpiece.

"No!" Logan yelled loudly, "We're still together! Look, all I need to know is if you've seen her."

"Nope, not today." James said, "Well, except on the bus this morning."

"Great"

Logan didn't even bother saying goodbye to James before hanging up. He dialed Piper's number numerous times, after it went to voice mail every time. His mind battled with another option, telling Gustavo or telling Mrs. Knight. Granted, they'd probably blow it off and say she was with the guys or something else, but still.

He waited around, still calling and texting everyone until around forty five minutes later when Jo and Kendall came through the door.

"Wait, what are these doing here?" Jo asked as she stepped in and saw the unmoved shopping bags in the entry way.

"Are these you and Piper's bags from earlier?" Kendall asked.

"Yeah," Jo said, "She said she was going to go inside and get ready to go out with Logan, but why didn't she take them back to our room?"

"Wait, so you didn't drop these off?" Logan said, running into the main part of the bus.

"No, Piper did." Jo replied.

"Oh shit." Logan said, putting his hand to his forehead, sitting down at the round table, "Shit, shit, shit."

"What happened, man?" Kendall asked.

"Logan, it might not be any of my business, but, uh, you're neck." Jo said awkwardly.

"Ha, Piper got you good." Kendall replied with a laugh.

Logan stood up suddenly and ran to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror to see bruises right where Mercedes' lips had been. Correction: Now he was in trouble.

"Logan, it's okay." Jo called out, "Piper and I have make up that'll cover it up and it'll be all good."

"That's not it." Logan said with his head hung as he emerged from the bathroom, "You guys, I've got to tell you something, but you can't tell anyone else. At least, not until later."

"Dude, you sound serious. What happened?" Kendall asked, concern present in his voice.

"I screwed up so bad." Logan felt the tears come back on.

If he weren't in front of his best friend in the whole world, he wouldn't have let it go. He began telling his story about what happened after the boys left to see the white tigers. When he got to the part where he actually touched Mercedes and let more of his hormones take control, Jo stood up angrily.

"You did what?" she yelled.

"I'm sorry, okay. I know it was bad."

Smack!

Logan rubbed his cheek as Kendall pulled Jo's arm, sitting her back down.

"What'd you hit me for?" Logan

"You're a two timing man whore who's screwing around on my best friend!" Jo exclaimed, her southern accent pouring from her anger filled tone.

"I'm not two timing, Jo! I love her!" Logan cried, "Can you not see that? I'm freaking out here!"

"Okay, okay, everybody calm down." Kendall said, "So there's like a fifty-fifty shot that Piper saw you and Mercedes?"

"Yeah, apparently." he said, putting his head in his hands.

"Jo, have you called her?" he asked.

"Yeah, babe, like every two seconds and she's not answering." Jo said.

"What's going on?"

The group turned around to see Carlos and James coming through the door. Carlos had a huge plush white tiger in his arms and the smell of James' Barracuda was overwhelming, earning weird looks from the three at the table.

"Some pretty messed up shit went down here today!" Jo said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You've been hanging around Piper for too long." James said matter-of-factly.

"What happened?" Carlos asked.

"To give you the story in five minutes or less, Mercedes tried to seduce Logan. Logan tried to fight it but gave in a little. We think Piper walked in on it and then left, but we aren't sure and now Piper's missing." Kendall said.

"Oh, that's bad." he replied.

"I can't believe you!" James lunged at Logan, pulling him completely out of the booth style seat, "You said you wouldn't hurt her, and you lied! You wouldn't let me treat her right, so you kept her around where you could mess around with her!"

James had lost all control that he'd kept over Logan. This was the final straw. He wasn't going to sit around and let it go anymore when he knew he was better with Piper to start with.

"I didn't…"

"Yes you did! You messed around on her with dumb ass Mercedes!" James yelled, "I hope she never takes you back for what you did!"

"She hasn't even left me!"

"Wait until I get involved!" James said, "I'll make it a point that I'm better for her!"

"She loves me, James! Get it through your skull!"

"You don't give a damn about her and you better let her go before she lets you go!" James said.

"I'm going to explain it to…"

James couldn't take it. His blood was boiling beyond reason. There was no turning back now. No one was messing with his, yes his girl and getting away with it.

He clenched a fist with his right hand and reared back before Kendall grabbed him from behind, holding his arms close together.

"We're in the middle of a minor emergency! No one's fighting tonight!" Kendall yelled, "We've got to go out and find Piper, even though we have no clue to where she is! We've got our jobs cut out for us tonight. Now is not the time to play Team Edward, Team Jacob."

The two boys were silent as Kendall released James and headed back to the table.

"So what's the plan?" Logan asked.

"Did she give you any clue to where she'd go if she was in an emotional situation?" Jo asked.

"Uh, let's try NO!" he replied.

"Fine, fine, fine!" Jo exclaimed.

"Wait!"

Everyone turned to face Kendall as his face seemed to trail off into deep thought before it changed to a state of fear.

"Are there any bars really close to hear?"

The bus was silent except for Logan, who cursed loudly before grabbing his phone off the counter and running out the bus door.

"Logan, wait!" Jo called, running after him.

The whole gang followed after Logan, who was now on his phone.

"I need a taxi now! I don't care how much it costs but I have to get to the strip immediately!" Logan yelled into his phone, "Look, it's a full blown emergency now and you better be here in fifteen minutes or I'm going to go off. I'm not kidding."

Jo looked over at Kendall with her mouth agape. Carlos put his helmet on and took extra measures, snapping the plastic piece under his chin. James was still pissed, crossing his arms over his chest.

When the taxi arrived, four of them piled into the back with Logan in the front next to the driver, sitting very similar to James, with his arms crossed over his chest.

When they stopped on the strip, all of them got out quickly as Logan lead them down the crowded side walks. There were casinos and bars all over the place, and Piper could have been anywhere, which frustrated Logan even more.

They kept walking until they came to the White Tiger Bar. Suddenly, something Piper told him came flooding back to Logan's memory.

"Marlena always said that it was so easy to fool the people who work at the White Tiger. That's where she used her first fake I.D."

Bingo.

"This one, come on, guys." Logan said as he turned to go into the bar.

They all headed into the bar, walking close behind each other so they wouldn't get separated. Carlos was walking behind Kendall and Jo until he stepped on something that snapped when his foot hit it.

"What the heck?" he said, looking down.

He bent over and picked up a pair of sunglasses he would have known anywhere. The black shades had silver Armani logos on the side. They were Piper's.

"You guys!" Carlos exclaimed, "Aren't these Piper's shades?"

Jo turned around and took the broken sunglasses out of Carlos' hands with an open mouth, "Oh my gosh!"

Logan looked over at Jo's hands before heading towards the bar. They all followed close after him, fearing he might lose his cool again.

"Hey!" Logan called out.

Karlee, the bartender, walked over to where Logan was standing in front of her.

"What can I get you?" she asked.

"I don't drink, look, I'm looking for someone." he asked.

"Hundreds of people come in here everyday, dude. I don't know if I'll be any help." she said.

"How many times does a huge pop star come in here a day?" Carlos spoke up, stepping in front of Logan.

Carlos looked up into Karlee's eyes and stopped talking, quite obviously staring at her. His daze didn't break for a few seconds before Kendall and James interceded.

"CARLOS!"

"Yeah, oh, wow, sorry. Uh, yeah, have you heard of Piper Holliday?" he asked.

"She was in here earlier! Is that who you're looking for?" Karlee replied.

"Yes we are, my lady." Carlos replied flirtatiously.

"Really, Carlos?" Logan replied, smacking himself in the forehead, "This is so not the time!"

"Well, then." Karlee leaned forward on the bar, smiling cutely at Carlos, "Maybe I could help you, one condition."

"And that is?" Logan asked, getting highly irritated.

"I want his phone number." She said, pointing to Carlos.

"You got yourself a deal, chica." Carlos replied with a nod.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Logan said, "Come on, what do you know about her?"

"She was in here earlier but she drank until she reached the bar limit and then she left. I was kind of worried about her. She seemed pretty messed up." Karlee said, "Wait, are you the cheating boyfriend?"

"Well, congratulations! Now you KNOW she saw you!" James said, patting Logan on the shoulder sarcastically, "Way to go dip shit!"

"I'll take that as a yes. She could do better. Number me." she commanded, pulling her phone out of her back pocket as her and Carlos switched phones, exchanging numbers.

"Okay, so Carlos has a date and we have no effing clue of where Piper is, still! What did we accomplish?" Jo exclaimed.

"Nothing" Kendall stated, "Well, unless you're Carlos."

As they walked out of the bar, Carlos was already texting feverishly, paying little to no attention to what was going on.

They kept walking down the road until a girly shriek caught them off guard.

"Dude, get the hell off!"

"Piper!" Jo exclaimed, recognizing the voice before anyone.

She ran ahead of the group, having them follow behind calling for her to wait up.

They found Piper pushed up against a wall by a rather sketchy looking guy, who was trying to take her rainbow Coach bag from her shoulder. Piper was trying to fight back, but found herself being too small against the brute force of the guy holding her down.

"Oh hell no." James said, lunging at the guy, taking him to the ground.

"James, no!" Jo said, before turning to Kendall, "What if he's got a gun or something?"

"I got it."

"Kendall!"

Kendall ran over and pulled James back off the guy as a small crowd was starting to form around the scene.

"Piper," James exclaimed breathlessly, "Go with Logan and Carlos!"

Jo was about to call the police before James and Kendall backed up from the guy as he ran off, leaving Kendall and James dusting themselves off, breathing heavily.

The group made their way back to the bus in silence as Piper was rambling drunkenly, hanging all over Logan, as expected. Logan, however, was having no part of it. He kept pushing her off, not wanting to touch her, leaving Carlos linking arms with her to hold her up.

When they got back to the bus, Logan angrily threw his phone on the table, watching it fly onto the leather seat.

"Okay, what now?" Jo asked, "I have no clue what to do. Logan, you're the future doctor, what do we do?"

"She needs to be put in a shower, cold preferably. It kind of knocks some sense into her." He said, still sounding angry.

"I got it." Jo said.

Jo walked up to Piper, who was leaned over on Carlos and grabbed her arm gently.

"Hey, come on, you need to change and take a shower." she said softly.

"What's the effing point?"

"Because, it'll make you feel a little better. Do you remember anything?"

Piper nodded.

"What do you remember?" Jo asked, hoping she would say something other than what was expected.

She watched as Piper looked at her and then glared angrily over in Logan's direction.

"Oh no" Jo said, running a hand through her bright blonde hair, "Look, we can talk about that later, come on."

"I don't want to!" Piper smacked Jo's hand back.

"Hey, I'm trying to help you! Come on!" she said.

"No!"

"Hold on." Carlos said, "Come on, Piper."

"You can't help her get ready to take a shower, Carlos. Dude, for real?" Jo exclaimed.

"No, just hold on." he replied, taking Piper's hand.

"Hey, come on. You just need some water on your face." Carlos pleaded, tugging her hand slightly.

"Fine, just hurry it the hell up." Piper spat.

"She's perfectly nice when she's sober, but apparently she's mean as a snake when she's drunk." Kendall said, "Makes sense."

Logan sat with his arms crossed at the table with his back turned towards the hall, not wanting to be involved with any part of what was going on back there.

"Why are you so mad, dude?" Kendall asked.

"It's not enough that she saw me. No, I had to go through all of that to find out she's relapsed. I think you'd be pretty pissed if you were in my position." Logan replied.

"You need to be there for her, man. If she's seriously going to go back to how she acted before, you need to be there when she needs you. When she's hurling in like an hour, she's not going to want Carlos holding her hair back, I don't think. She'll want you." he said.

"I can't do it. I'm not cut out to be in a relationship this crazy." He ran his hands across his face.

"So you're going to sit there and end it with her because things got rough?" Kendall's voice changed to shock, "You sat there last night telling her how much you care about her, and now you're going to take it all back?"

Logan sat silent, glaring at Kendall. He was beyond furious now.

"Look, I don't wanna talk about it now. Just drop it, Kendall. It's really none of your business anyway." he said.

"You're my best friend, and I'm just going to put it out there. I'm worried about you and Piper. Not just together, apart. She's going to do this again if you leave her, man." Kendall shook his head.

"Whatever, she was just waiting for a moment to go out and do this anyway." Logan said.

"Whatever, man. I'm going back to help Jo." Kendall stood up and began walking away when a loud thud and a high pitched squeal came from the bathroom.

"Great," Kendall said, "I don't even want to know what happened in there."

"It's worse than bathing a dog. Carlos pretty much pushed her in fully clothed." Jo said slowly, emerging from the bathroom, hair dripping wet, "Then she tried to push him off as she was already in, and I slipped."

"Are you okay?" Kendall asked, grabbing a hand towel from under the sink, handing it to her.

"Yeah, I'm good." she replied, "I have to get her a change of clothes thanks to Carlos."

"Okay" Kendall replied, "Where's James?"

"He's held up in his room from what I understand. He's so mad." she replied.

"Yeah, I kind of got that." he said.

After Piper had changed and dried off, Jo took her into the back room and sat her on the couch. She still wasn't fully aware of what was going on, but it was better. Jo got her some water and brought it back to her. She sat it on the table beside her, too angry to want anything.

Logan fought with himself between going back there and staying at the table before gathering himself and walking back to the back room.

As soon as he was in the door way, he looked over at Piper. She wouldn't look at him for anything.

"Piper, I'm sorry. Just listen…"

Piper stood up and walked up to him silently before punching him in the face with her right hand, sending him stumbling backwards into the threshold of the door.

"What was that for?" Logan said, grabbing his nose.

He pulled his hand back, revealing blood in the palm of his hand.

"Great" he thought out loud.

"You're a liar, Logan Mitchell!" she yelled, "You're a damn cheating liar!"

"You won't listen to me!" Logan yelled back, leaning forward slightly.

"I don't have to!" she screamed, "I know what you're going to say! You're going to pull a 'it wasn't what it looked like'! Well how do you explain a girl half dressed all on top of you like that!"

"She, She did it, not me!" he said.

"Get away from me!" she yelled "We're done, Logan!"

"Baby, come on!" Logan said, reaching out for her, "It really didn't happen like you saw it!"

"Don't tell me that!" Piper pushed him away from her.

Logan had lost all control. This was getting to annoying and he's was getting more frustrated by the moment. All he wanted was for her to know that it was his fault, but he still loved her so much it hurt.

Logan grabbed her by her upper arms, holding her tight.

"Look, if you won't take the time to listen to me, I'm not going to make you. If we walk away now, Piper, it's for good." Logan said, "Got that? If you're going to act this way, I don't think we need to be together. Just know that."

Piper stared at him blankly, but there was something in her eyes that made Logan feel so guilty. He swore he saw fear behind her chocolate brown eyes. He was about to loosen his grip on her when she finally spoke.

"Fine, I don't need you."

"I don't need you." her voice echoed in his head a few times, throwing him completely over the edge.

Logan tightened his grip on her before letting go so hard it sent her stumbling back to the floor with a thud.

"Logan!" Jo yelled as he walked out, slamming the door behind him with a crash.

He wiped the blood from his nose on the sleeve of his shirt before looking up to see Kendall putting his phone in his pocket and Mrs. Knight coming through the door with Katie trailing behind.

"What is going on here?"