I told you the previous chapter wasn't actually last!

I finally reached 100 reviews :D I love you all so much and I'm so glad this story didn't fly under the radar like I had expected it to…

So onwards we go.

Chapter 29:


Logan POV:

Watching James driving away in the limousine didn't actually hurt me as much as I thought it would. It wasn't until I got home and my parents, who were sitting on the couch in the living room asked, "How was your day honey?".

That's when it all hit me. James was gone, and I wouldn't be seeing him anymore. I wouldn't be sleeping in his arms, kissing him, talking and joking with him. He was really gone.

That's why when I answered, "It was okay," lying through my teeth, I ran upstairs and collapsed on the floor in my bedroom. I cried for an hour, before stopping to stand up and get into my bed. I was fully clothed, but I wasn't going to fuss over that now. I cried even more, thinking about how much time we spent in this bed together—sleeping in each other's arms.

If only Brooke saw me now? I wondered. Would she care if she knew that bringing James with her is destroying me? Probably not. For one miraculous moment, I stopped my crying, realizing that things could be worse. James and I could have broken up before he left. Now that would have destroyed me.

"You okay in there honey?" I heard my mom's voice from the doorway. I immediately stopped my breathing, and attempted to calm myself down.

"Yeah, I'm just taking a break from my math homework," I tried to keep my voice even, almost failing with the word 'homework'.

"Alright, don't stay up too late. Love you Logie-Bear," she closed the door behind her. I was so thankful she didn't walk in further than her spot in the doorway, she would have seen that my backpack was across the room, untouched, with all of my math homework inside. She also would have seen that I myself was a mess.

I looked over at the alarm clock perched on the bedside table, reading it was already eleven at night. I had gotten home at eight, meaning I'd spent three hours crying over everything. At this point there was no point of me going to school the next day, I was not going to be able to focus or stay sane.

I got out of the bed, deciding my eyes would probably start bleeding if I cried any more than I already had. I walked over to my backpack sitting on the floor and dragged it back over to the bed, where I flopped down and pulled my math books out. Even if I wasn't going to school the next day, I needed something to keep me occupied for the next couple hours before James promised to call.

The advanced algorithms spread out on my bed in front of me kept me busy for a while, before my phone rang. I jumped up to get it; disappointment running through my head when I saw it was Carlos' name flashing on the screen, not James'.

"What's wrong, Carlos?" I asked, assuming he had something bad to share this late at night.

"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering, would it be safe for me to throw a can of whipped cream at Kendall? Kendall said it would explode all over and a fire would start." I rolled my eyes at Kendall's attempt at protecting himself.

"Why on earth are you with Kendall? It's almost one in the morning," I told him, walking back over to my bed to continue the math work.

"I don't know. We were working on a class project together and I guess we lost track of time," he spoke on the other line.

"So why do you want to throw a can of whipped cream at him?" My phone beeped in my ear, saying there was another call on hold for me. "Hold on, Carlos, let me call you back in a few minutes."

"But will it explode if I—" I hung up on him mid sentence, my heart jumping when I saw James' name flashing on the screen.

"Hey," I answered coolly, trying not to give away my misery and desperation over talking to him.

"Hi," he spoke on the other line. "I made it, it's fucking cold."

"Isn't it like three in the morning there?" I asked, remembering the time difference.

"Yeah, but our plane was delayed because of possible snowstorms, we just got to the apartment."

"Is it nice?" I asked him, flicking at a piece of led that had snapped off of one of my pencils on the textbook laid out on the bed.

"Well, yeah. It's nice." I heard him sigh. "But I don't like it."

"Why is that? I'm sure you have a lot to look forward there," I was trying my hardest not to make myself sound as hurt as I was.

"Because you're not here," he said. I could almost hear the blush rising on his cheeks. My heart stopped, and I couldn't help but be comforted by the words of him missing me. I let a silence ring out before I spoke again.

"I miss you already," I said, not worrying about hiding my sadness anymore. I wanted him to understand I missed him as well.

"I miss you too," his voice sounded faint, as if he were trying his hardest not to think about murdering his mother in her sleep, which was probably a possibility for James.

"That's actually a relief to hear you say that," I chuckled. It was the first time I had laughed in at least twenty-four hours.

"Why, you think I'd forget you or something already?" he laughed, then groaned as I heard something tumble on the other end of the line.

"You alright?" I asked, stifling back laughter. His rare clumsiness was one of the many things that cause me to fall in love with him.

"Yeah," he groaned, un-amused. "I'm just so used to having you around, my head's all out of sorts and I just tripped over a bunch of stuff. No worries."

"Well...just come back soon, please," I added, flipping the page of my math textbook pointlessly.

"I'll try… if you don't hear from me for a while it means I've tried to escape and come to you, but my mom caught and killed me," he was only half-joking, I could tell.

"I'll keep that in mind," we both laughed for a moment, enjoying each other's voices even from miles and miles away.

"You should get some rest," he finally said, sighing.

"I'm not embarrassed to say that I won't get used to sleeping without you for a while," I felt my face heating up a little bit.

"I didn't plan on even trying to sleep without you. I'll just go without sleep till the next time I see you," he chuckled. "Did it ever really occur to us how disgustingly cute and cheesy we are?"

"No wonder Kendall and Carlos make fun of us," I laughed, realizing the same thing. "Oh well, I'd better finish this math homework anyways," I frowned, looking down at the textbook and filled out papers.

"Of course," I listened as he shifted a couple boxes around in his room. "Call me when you feel like it. I'll probably be doing nothing with my shitty life in this shitty place."

"I will, I promise, but try to be positive?" I paused for a moment, it wasn't going to be easy on either of us when it came to being positive. "I love you."

"Love you too," he answered almost right away. "This is crazy," he added. "I didn't think my mom would be this shallow."

"Is it bad for me to say that I kind of knew she would do something dumb like this?" It was true. I indeed knew things were going rather smoothly with Brooke in New York and out of the picture for the time that she was out of our lives.

"No," he answered. "Part of me knew it too, but the other part didn't want to believe it."

"Oh well."

"Well…Goodnight baby," he finished.

"Goodnight."

And just like that, his voice was gone.


James POV:

Waking up in the morning was just as hard as falling asleep the night before. I wasn't used to the new atmosphere of a penthouse life—Brooke insisted on buying a penthouse across the street from the Empire State Building. There was no escape from the sunlight, there were windows everywhere. I could see the thousand foot drop straight to the concrete sidewalk right out of the enourmous windows that served as walls. Any second I could trip over something and go straight through the glass to my death down below. It made me antsy.

What also made me squirm was the fact that I was alone. Brooke was already out for work, and Logan was miles and miles away. Apparently the private school I had been enrolled in was already out for winter break—the date being December 4th. Exactly three weeks until Christmas. What was the point of paying more money for less school? Logan Kendall and Carlos wouldn't be out until December 21st, more than two weeks later.

More importantly, what would I have to do with my time to avoid thinking about everything and everyone I had left behind in Minnesota? Absolutely nothing.

I planned on spending my days sulking about my life, taking long pointless showers and baths, and of course, sleeping. I would live the lifestyle of a depressed bum—with no one else and nothing else to do. This is exactly what Brooke wanted.

I couldn't call Logan; he would be at school and get angry if I interrupted his studies. Sadly, the same things applied for Carlos and Kendall. Thinking of Carlos reminded me of how I had to go try the corndogs for him. And Kendall, he had mentioned checking out the pond all of the hockey players went in Central Park. Maybe afterwards I would go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and check out the exhibit Logan had talked about so much.

Making my way over to the boxes piled in front of the window—I had stacked them there so I wouldn't have to see the long distance to the street below, I pulled out a coat and a scarf, as well as a knit-hat.

I put them on over my hoodie and jeans, and pulled a pair of shoes on before heading out the front door. Of course, no one was in the elevator when I got to it. Living on the top floor had its perks, I guess. It took me almost three minutes to get down to the bottom floor, no one got in on the way down—not that I had expected anyone to. Everyone in the building either worked, or had a social life. Not me.

"Mr. Diamond," the doorman tipped his hat as he opened the door for me.

"Thanks Reggie," I nodded and offered a blank smile.

"Be careful out there," he warned. "It's a cold one."

"I will, it's likely I'll be back soon if I can't stand it," I chuckled. The doorman smiled and motioned for me to walk through. Reggie was right. It was freezing. Not as cold as Minnesota, but I had spent enough time inside for the past day to forget the feeling of winter, and cold. There was a thin layer of snow, everywhere but on the sidewalks. The city seemed to be responsible enough to make sure no one slipped and hurt him or herself.

I had to catch myself a couple times while crossing the streets—making my way to central park. The crosswalks weren't completely salted—leaving a little bit of ice. Good job, New York.

A couple of street vendors offered me cheap scarves, hats, earmuffs, everything for winter. I kindly turned them down, not really knowing how to deal with the aggressive New York attitudes yet. Yes, I'd been to New York many many times before, but it was still difficult dealing with rude and pushy people.

I was almost at the park when something caught my eye. The new Phoebe Nachee book was displayed in a bookstore window—something that reminded me of Logan. He had desperately been asking his parents if they consider buying it for him for Christmas—despite the fact that he was well off enough financially to buy it for himself. When I questioned him, he simply answered, "It takes away the value of the book…even though it's a really good looking book." I smiled as I entered the bookstore and purchased it, making a mental note to stop at a post office somewhere and send it back to Minnesota for the holidays.

The woman handed me the bag with the book in it, sending a warm smile over the counter at me as I glanced at the bag and couldn't contain my smile. I decided to send Logan a text before continuing my journey.

"I just got you a wonderful Christmas you'll love me for ;)—James"

I left the store and continued my journey to the park. A smell hit my nose, from almost a block away. Is that…corndogs? Really? My phone buzzed in my pocket, so I stopped to look at the text.

"But I already love you :) and thank you! Do I get a hint at what it is? –Logan"

I smiled as the corndog scent continued to haunt my nose; I quickly typed out my response and moved on towards the wonderful smell.

"Nope. You're gonna have to wait. Get back to class—James"

I continued down the street, Central Park in view, to the small food cart.

"Isn't it a little cold out to be standing out here all day?" I asked the man as he smiled and handed me the deep fried food.

"Hey, I get all the customers. All the other food guys are pussies," he shrugged, grinning.

"Whatever works, thanks," I walked away, the bag with Logan's gift hitting my leg as I moved. The corndog was probably one of the best I'd ever tasted, even though I hadn't eaten many in my life. Excited, I pulled my phone out again seeing Logan had responded.

"Didn't go to school—Logan"

I frowned; skipping school was so unlike him. I continued on, blindly walking down the sidewalk while texting Carlos.

"Dude, you're right. The corndogs are sensational—James"

I then went back to Logan's text.

"No school? –James"

He almost instantly responded.

"Tell you about it later, I have to do some work I didn't finish last night—Logan"

It occurred to me that he probably hadn't slept, like he had told me he wouldn't be able to. I slipped my phone back into my pocket after reading and laughing at Carlos' "i tld u so! ik my corndogs. rumor had it tht they're good in NYC," text.

I moved into the park's east entrance, amazed with the beauty of the snow covered branches and frozen pond straight ahead. There were, indeed, kids playing hockey on the famous pond Kendall had mentioned.

I must've spent at least half an hour perched on the bench finishing the corndog and watching the hockey players skate and laugh with each other, playing a friendly game. Soon though, my face was going numb, and there was a light flurry falling down to the ground, dusting the sidewalk and bench space around me with a thin layer of snow.

I stood up, and checked the time. It was only one in the afternoon. I made my way back to the entrance I had come in, and flagged down a taxicab.

"Where to, kid?" The older man asked, pulling away from the park.

"The Met, please," I told him, peeking into the bag with Logan's book in it and smiling.

Once there, I paid the cab driver and stood outside to admire the building. I walked inside and paid the fee, excited to see all of the artwork Logan spoke so fondly of.

Each piece somehow reminded me of Logan in someway, it was starting to really bother me. I wasn't going to last for the next eight months, until I was eighteen. Forty-five minutes later, I was done and ready to go. I walked back outside and waved for another taxi.

I sighed while getting in the taxicab heading back to the apartment, the color of the cab reminded him of Logan. Yellow was his favorite color. Fuck. James. Stop.

I sighed while pressing the elevator buttons, perfect circles you would see in geometry problems. Logan loved math and geometry.

I sighed when I saw the vase of roses sitting on the table across from the elevator in our entrance hallway. Logan loved roses too.

I was close to ripping my hair out.


Logan POV:

"Hey dude," Kendall walked into my room. "Woah…"

He was surprised to see me, lying on my bed staring at the wall. I would be surprised too, walking in on a weirdo staring at nothing while lying motionless on their bed.

"Hi," I said, not bothering to meet his questioning and judging gaze.

"You look like hell," he told me.

"Thanks, I've been trying a new shampoo lately," I answered sarcastically; silently wishing he would have said nothing about my hobo-like appearance.

"Sorry. Insensitive of me," he chuckled. "No sleep last night because of James? Or are you actually sick?" he asked, noticing my absence in school.

"The first one," I groaned, rolling over to hide my face in the mattress.

"Well," Kendall sat down next to my lifeless body. "Could have been worse. You two could have broken up, or Brooke could have shot him and you were a witness and you had no one to go to or else she would—"

"KENDALL!" I shouted into the mattress. "Not helping." My voice was muffled, but I saw no point in trying to actually talk to him.

"Sorry, again."

"Whatever," I groaned, rolling back over.

"You're going to have to go to school at some point, you know," Kendall raised an eyebrow.

"Why? So I can just sulk some more?"

"No, cause you had a perfect attendance record until today," I felt him poke my side. He knew that annoyed me.

"Well, now I don't. So now I can just stay home and cry over James. Maybe I'll get a job, make some money to buy a plane ticket and fly to Alaska or something. Disappear."

"That's lame. Working is shit. I get paid barely enough to buy myself an ice cream cone everyday."

"That's cause you work at Sherwood's," I pointed out, talking about the supermarket he had a job at. The business had been struggling for quite some time, but somehow they were still making it, and paying Kendall.

"And why Alaska?" Kendall ignored my comment, insulting his place of employment.

"Because. Without James around, I might as well be somewhere worthless," I huffed, tugging at a loose string on the sheets under me.

"That's awfully depressing," Kendall shrugged at me. "Besides, it's not like you'll never see him again or anything. You love him, he loves you. He just moved away. Big whoop."

"You know, that would make a lot of sense if I didn't feel like shit enough already," I had to admit, I was being a grump.

"He'll be back, drama queen," Kendall snorted.

"When?" I whined, pulling my phone out from under me—I had apparently been laying on top of it ever since James had last texted me. "He got me a Christmas present today."

"See? He won't forget about you," he chuckled, standing up and pulling his backpack back onto his left shoulder. "Well I have to go to work now, just thought I'd stop by and see my favorite rock star, living the party life right here," he said sarcastically.

"You know how I roll," I said in a monotone voice.

"I'll try not to get too excited. See ya later," he said, walking out of my room. I sighed.

I wonder what James is doing right now…


James POV:

I stared into the fridge in defeat. There was nothing for me to eat. Almost three hours had passed since I had the amazing corndog, and I was getting hungry again. I smiled, thinking about the breakfast Logan had made for us and Carlos, the night after we had sex for the first time.

I sighed. Logan and I had great sex…and breakfast. I then proceeded to smack myself in the face, scolding myself for thinking about Logan too much. You'll never make it out of NYC alive.

I pulled out my phone. 4:05. Maybe I'll just call him… I dialed his number and called. After two rings, he answered.

"Hello?" he grumbled on the other end. I smiled—even if it wasn't such a friendly hello as I was used to.

"Bad time?" I chuckled.

"Oh my god! James!" I automatically heard him cheer up. "Hi!"

"Hey babe," I closed the fridge, unable to find anything worthy of entering my stomach.

"Sorry baby, I've kind of just been sulking all day."

"It's alright, I've been doing the same… but I went to the met in your honor today," I winked, even though he couldn't see it.

"Oh my god!" he gasped. "Was it amazing?"

"So amazing I didn't even understand," I wasn't lying, I couldn't wrap my head around any of the pictures and paintings plastered on the canvases.

"And by that you mean you didn't get it," he accused me from miles and miles away.

"Pretty much," I blushed. "We'll go together someday, you can teach me."

"I'd like that," he sighed, content.

"So why no school today?" I asked, remembering what he had told me earlier about staying home.

"I couldn't sleep last night. I was too tired in the morning," he admitted.

"Ah, you just love me so much, you couldn't sleep without my amazing body next to yours," I bragged, running a finger over my ab muscles through my shirt.

"Yeah, of course, Mr. Cocky-Pants," he went silent, realizing what he said.

"You have no idea," I raised an eyebrow, laughing a little bit.

"Whatever," he chuckled. "What else did you do today?"

"I also tried the corndogs, and went to the hockey pond that Carlos and Kendall asked me to," I uncapped a bottle of water, and took a swig.

"And?" I heard him moving around on the other end of the line.

"Corndogs were amazing, and it's true. They play hockey for hours on end."

"They'd be glad to hear it."

"I texted Carlos, he apparently knows what he's talking about with his dogs," I fiddled with the water bottle cap until it was on again, taking a seat in the living room. There was a full view of the Empire State building in the window across from the couch—or at least the floors adjacent to the building.

"Oh good," Logan sighed again, still a happy sigh nonetheless. "So this is going to sound crazy," he proposed.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" I asked, intrigued.

"I miss you like…cheese misses cake?" his failed attempt at an analogy made me laugh harder than I had in a while.

"Cheesecake huh?" I continued to laugh, unable to control it.

"Oh shut it. You know what I meant," he laughed a little bit too.

"Of course. And I miss you like cat misses nip," I was still trying to stop my laughter.

"Right, right," he chuckled. I could finally breathe again. "Well, my mom's calling me downstairs to help with dinner. Should probably go," he sighed for a third time, this time not so happy. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, babe."

"Of course," I smiled, a little upset he had to go so soon. "Love you. Oh, ask your mom to make cheesecake for desert."

"Oh my god…no thanks. I love you too." There was a moment where I heard him fumble with the phone until the deadline beep was ringing in my ear.

"James?" I heard Brooke call out from somewhere in the apartment. I refused to answer, I remained in my seat drinking my water.

"James?" a second time. "How many times am I going to have to call you?"

A bazillion trillion times. I want your throat to hurt by the time you find me.

"There you are," she said, showing up in the kitchen doorway with a bag in her hand. "I picked up some food from that place down the street that you like? Dean & Deluca?"

"No mom, you like that place," I corrected her, pointing it out.

"Oh, that's right," she smiled in spite of me, before placing the big bag on the countertop.

"Whatever. And?"

"Well, this is your dinner, I have a meeting again at the office. Eat what you want, there's dessert in there too." She disappeared. "Don't wait up for me," I heard her announce, before the dinging of elevator doors sounded throughout the penthouse.

"Don't worry bitch, I won't," I muttered to myself, emptying the packages out on to the table to see what she got for me. Probably some diet food, or organic shit.

Wow, Salad without dressing and some vegetables. Thanks mom. I could almost hear her saying a sarcastic "you're welcome" in my head. I continued picking through the bag until I reached the last package—the plastic container for the dessert. I couldn't help but laugh when I looked at it and realized what it was.

It was a slice of cheesecake.


:) I just wanna say thanks again for the amazing support.

Thanks!

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