A/N—Time for the weekly update. I hope everyone's safe out there. Thank you for reading!

This chapter cuts off abruptly but the next scene is too long to include, so I chopped it where it seemed best. The next chapter will pick up right where this leaves off. Hope you enjoy! :)

Brooke made herself comfortable in an overstuffed recliner, leaving the sofa for James and Logan to share. Logan watched with a smile as James ran to get her a blanket without even being asked to. He made sure she was warm enough before taking his place next to Logan and unashamedly cuddling up for a round of movie-watching. James had chosen another beloved film from his childhood that made him laugh, and both Logan and Brooke took joy in his happiness. It was like the first night he and James had spent together, James at peace while watching something he enjoyed.

Brooke picked out the second movie, using her choice for a sequel to the first one they'd watched. Other than pizza arriving halfway through, much was the same and Logan spent it pressed against James while James absently played with his hair. No, this wasn't why he'd been sent back two hundred years but was he complaining? Not even close.

After that movie (and with bellies full of pizza) Brooke shared that she was exhausted from the weekend's activities and needed sleep. James didn't hesitate to jump up in order to help her up the stairs, but she insisted on hugging Logan first. He knew what was coming, and when her whisper of "Thank you so much" reached his ear, he hugged her tighter. "Thank you," he returned. "This has been the best day of my life." It wasn't a lie. If the next few months were going to play out like this, Logan would treasure every second.

It wasn't until James had escorted his mother to the landing that Logan looked at his phone, seeing a message from Sylvia. "I'm dropping Kendall off around eight and will be there after to pick you up. I'll text you when I'm almost there." It wasn't a question or a request; it was the law, and at moments like this pretending to be a minor was a hindrance. He sighed, having planned on staying until nine and then walking home. Instead, he replied with a simple "Okay, thanks" before putting the leftover pizza in the fridge and using the bathroom.

When he returned to the living room, James was folding the blanket. He glanced over at Logan with a bright smile. "Hey. I was afraid you'd left."

"Not quite yet. And not without saying goodbye."

James was ready for the embrace coming his way. He set down the blanket and opened his arms to welcome Logan. Their lips touched a few times before Logan added, "Sylvia's picking me up in an hour."

"What? I thought you were staying until nine."

"So did I."

James pulled him in tight as if to keep him from going home. "Can you ask? My birthday and all?"

"I thought about it, but I kind of don't want to push it with her. She's been really great about all of this and I still need to sit her down and explain that I'm going to be here every night to help you and your mom. I think it'll help my case if I go along with her wishes now."

"I guess," James commiserated. "It's just...this is our last night together, you know?"

"I do know," Logan nodded. He pressed a kiss to James' neck and was amazed at the way even that small gesture sent a shockwave through James that he could feel. Was he going to spend the next hour fighting James off? Did he even want to?

"Well, that leaves us just enough time for an episode of 'Star Trek,' if you're interested."

Logan was. He let James lead him upstairs by the hand, assaulted with memories upon stepping through the bedroom door. Less than a week ago he'd looked into this room and longed to be here doing just what he was about to do with James. The measure of his success hit him fully—he'd done it. It hadn't been easy, but he'd finally ended up right where he wanted to be with James.

"Sorry it's a mess."

It really wasn't, though, as James had clearly been at work cleaning the space. Hadn't Brooke even mentioned that a few days before? Logan wondered where the packed bags were—probably hidden in the closet where Brooke wouldn't see them. "James, it's fine. It's nice to finally be invited in, though."

James had the decency to blush. "Yeah, sorry I was so..." He didn't finish the thought, instead getting them away from the subject of his earlier behavior. "Come on, make yourself comfortable. And close the door. Mom's a heavy sleeper these days and sometimes she snores."

Logan's mind wandered while he followed the instruction. Was that the only reason James wanted the door closed? It both thrilled Logan and put him on alert. True, he'd agreed to one more night of being "more than friends" with James, but he still knew it would be a mistake to take things too far. Then again, what could they do in an hour?

So many things, Logan. Soooo many things.

He quickly shut down that train of thought and kicked off his shoes before slipping under the blankets James held up for him. Within seconds he was wrapped up in James' embrace and wishing he could stay in this moment forever.

"I uh...watched a few episodes throughout the week, so I'm on like...seven, I think? But we can go back and watch them again if you want."

"No, it's fine," Logan smiled. "I've seen them all before. Let's just pick up where you left off."

"Cool."

After a peck of lips to Logan's hair, James used a remote to pull up the show, and they got lost in one version of the future that could have come to pass. Logan spent the first ten minutes waiting for James to make a move other than the occasional rub of a hand up his arm or the light touch of lips to his temple. James seemed genuinely engrossed in the show, though, which was both a relief and a disappointment to Logan. Their last night of togetherness and James was more interested in a TV show?

Get over it. This is what you wanted. He's following your wishes.

This was all true, but it didn't help because when it came to romantic feelings, logic had no place. Logan liked that James had just as much trouble keeping his hands to himself.

"I know what you're thinking."

The sudden statement caused Logan to jump slightly. "What?"

"I said I know what you're thinking."

"Do you?"

"Mmm-hmm." James sounded amused again.

"So you're also wondering why Data doesn't just—"

"You're wondering why I'm behaving myself."

Logan's breath caught. He hadn't realized how transparent he was, or maybe it was just that James already knew him that well. How was that possible?

James' lips moved against his hair. "It's because if I don't, I won't stop. I'll cross that line we both agreed we shouldn't, because no matter what you say I know you miss sex and I know that right now, you don't have it in you to fight me off."

Needing to hide his face, Logan shifted to bury it in James' neck.

"It's okay," James continued in a soft voice that was hypnotic in its reassurance. "I'm feeling it, too. Part of me is screaming that this is my last chance and I should get what I can now before it's gone."

"Yeah," Logan breathed.

"But there's another part of me that trusts you and believes you and knows that once I graduate, I can have you. You promised me that."

That wasn't exactly what Logan had said; he knew it would never come to pass, because by then romance would be the last thing on James' mind. "I said we'd discuss it then."

"And can you ever imagine a time when you won't want me?"

"No," Logan answered truthfully. "Two hundred years from now, I'd still want you."

James tipped Logan's face up to smile at him. "I feel the same way. You're worth the wait, Logan."

There was only one way to answer a sentence like that: Logan shot forward until their lips were meshed together. Taken by surprise, James opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. Logan didn't remember moving, but thirty seconds later he was straddling James' hips as their kisses turned hotter and James' hands caressed their way up Logan's back more desperately. Logan's hips moved on their own and James hissed.

"Fuck, you're so hot," he murmured before shoving Logan away and onto his back. James moved quickly to stretch out over him but the not-unwelcome violence of the act had been enough to wake Logan up.

"Wait," he panted. His hands came up to hold James off him. "I'm sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen."

James groaned and lowered himself slowly down to cover Logan. "Damn, I hate this."

"I'm sorry. It's my fault. I started that."

"Yeah, you did." James didn't sound mad about it.

"Even if we wanted to, we couldn't. You're an adult now, James. I'm not letting you go to jail for me."

James rolled his eyes. "Quit bringing that up. No one's gonna report me."

"You never know. If it happened and the wrong person found out..." Logan could just see it now: the enemy would be Mandy or Denise and what a perfect way to stop James that would be—send him to jail for statutory rape. "I'm not willing to risk it."

"You're ridiculous." James sat up, though, leaning against the headboard to put space between them. "When's your birthday, anyway?"

"September."

"Are you shitting me? I have to wait...hang on." James took a second to count the months. "Six months? Six months?! That's not just until graduation, that's all of summer, too! What the hell, Logan?"

By September I won't even matter to you. "You said I was worth the wait." Logan nudged James' hip with a socked foot. "Am I?"

Though it annoyed him to admit it, James begrudgingly answered, "Yes."

"Good." Logan held out a hand and James pulled so that Logan could sit up. "Guess you were wrong."

"About?"

"I did have it in me to fight you off."

"Ha. Barely."

"Barely's all we need." Logan crawled back toward the headboard and settled against James again, as they had been in the beginning. "Have I said the words yet?"

"The words?"

"Yeah. You know, the uh...I love you. Have I said it yet?"

James' fire melted away. "Yeah," he replied quietly. "More than once."

"Okay. I just wanted to make sure you knew."

Logan was hugged tighter against the strong body. "I do," James said.

After that they focused on the show, which was easier to do without all the unspoken tension between them. Twenty minutes later, Logan was so wrapped up in the storyline that James' sudden whisper of "I think I love you, too" didn't penetrate right away. He blinked twice before accepting that yes, he'd actually heard that and not imagined it. The way James was looking at him confirmed it. Logan closed his eyes and kissed James softly.

Whatever happens after this, it's all worth it for this moment right here. Roger? If I fail I'm sorry, but I will never be sorry for this.

Eight o'clock came sooner than they wanted it to. They kept their kiss goodbye brief, knowing Sylvia was close, and then just like that he was climbing into the van while waving to James. Sylvia called out a last "Happy birthday!" before driving Logan away from the best day of his life.

"How is he?" was her first question. "Better?"

"A lot better," Logan answered. "We spent all of last night talking, and today we watched movies with Brooke. I think he's finally accepted everything and is...trying."

"I know how hard this must be on him. How's Brooke?"

"Tired. There was a lot going on this weekend and she went to bed about an hour ago."

"Good, I'm glad she's resting. Jennifer and I were talking and we want to help more. Brooke's stubborn, you know, doesn't like to ask for help."

"You don't have to tell me that," Logan laughed. "Her son's the same way."

"That's what I hear. So we're going to have dinner with her later in the week and ask how we can help. If she refuses, we'll decide how to help."

"That's good. If nothing else, you guys can probably be there for her to talk to. She doesn't talk much about it and I think she needs to."

"Yeah, she doesn't have any friends outside of us. Not really family, either. Her work was her life before all of this."

That sounded about right. "Um, so since we're on the subject of help...I hope this is okay with you guys, but I'm going to have to work with James a lot to get him ready for graduation. Now that his head is in the right place, he's determined to do that."

"Of course, honey! We support anything that helps the boys graduate."

"Right, but it's going to require me to spend most of my time there. I offered to have him come over after school every day but because of Brooke's situation, he prefers to be home as much as he can. To look after her and spend time with her. So I'd be going to their house after school and probably staying through dinner. James has a lot to catch up on."

"Oh." Sylvia considered that while turning into the driveway and shutting down the vehicle. "Every day?"

"I told James that as long as he works hard during the week, we can take the weekends off. That way I can still work with Carlos and Kendall on Sundays, too. I figure Saturday could be a day of fun for all of them. So I'd be home on the weekends, and home by nine every weeknight. If that's okay."

"Does that leave you enough time for your own schoolwork?"

"I'm not worried about me." At a raised eyebrow from Sylvia, he amended that to, "I can work on my own stuff while James is doing his. Plus if I need it, I can use Saturday as a day to catch up."

"No, you deserve a day of fun as well. I just don't want you to put your own grades in jeopardy."

"I promise, I'll be fine. The classes are pretty easy compared to what I was used to before."

Sylvia studied him, biting her lip the way Carlos sometimes did when thinking hard. "Okay, I guess that's fine. We'll miss you at dinner, though."

"I'm sorry. James is...how to say this? He's a lot more fragile than he wants people to think. He needs someone to lean on and talk to. For whatever reason, he trusts me for that and I want to help him. The school stuff is only part of it."

She nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll discuss it with Papi, but it should be fine."

"Thanks."

He was halfway out of the car when she called him back in. "Hey, Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"You um...you spend a lot of time with Carlos."

"I guess?" Logan waited, intrigued by what seemed nervousness to speak her mind freely.

"Has he uh...this Denise girl. She was at the game yesterday, right?"

"Oh. Yeah." His mood darkened at the memory of watching her kiss James behind the shed.

"Do you know if...? Has Carlos...?"

"Yes?"

She let out a breath. "I was just wondering if he's dating her. I know he was interested in her."

"Um. Well, the truth is that I found out some things about her, and he'd be better off without her. She's not a nice person."

The news surprised Sylvia. "Really?"

"Yeah. I'm going to discourage that moving forward."

"I see. Okay. Good to know. I guess I was just wondering though if he has his eye on anybody else? Any other girls at school?"

Tricky ground here. "Not that I'm aware of. I got the feeling with Denise that the thing he liked most about her was that she was interested in him. Or at least pretended to be. He did say she was nice, though."

"Nice? That's the word he used?"

Logan shrugged. "He might've called her cool at one point, too."

"But nothing like...has he ever said she's pretty?"

"Pretty?"

"Yeah, like...was he attracted to her?"

"I...would assume so?" Was Sylvia pumping him for the answer to a question she was afraid to ask about her son? "Is there something you're worried about?"

"No, I'm not worried about anything." Sylvia gave a nervous laugh before smiling at Logan. "Just curious about my son, I suppose. He doesn't really talk about girls all that much."

"Well, you know him. He's more into guy things like sports and games and...food."

"Right. You're right. I'm just...I wish he'd talk to me more about that sort of thing. He talks to his father plenty about sports and games. But I'm his mom, I need to know where his heart is."

You just dropped off his heart at the Knight home. "I think feelings aren't something Carlos is comfortable with yet. I'm not insulting him, but he isn't the most mature kid when it comes to that sort of thing."

"I know," she chuckled. "Part of me wants him to stay a kid forever. But this thing with Brooke has me thinking more about the future and I worry about him. It would be nice for him to have someone who cares about him, who's always there to look after him."

Logan chose his next words carefully. "I know we're not exactly what you're hinting at, but Kendall and I will be there to look after him. You know that, right?"

Sylvia leaned her head against the seat and smiled at him. "That means a lot, thank you. Foster kids come and go, and some of them keep in touch but eventually they move on. We're just a stop on the path to their future, you know?"

"I'm not going anywhere, Sylvia. Carlos is my brother now and that's not going to change. I'll be there for him. So will Kendall."

"I thank God for Kendall every day," she admitted. "Carlos and James used to be really close, but then all of this happened and he changed and it's been hard on Carlos. I'm sure it's hard on Kendall, too, but Carlos...well, he really needs someone. Kendall's been so great with him and I worry about Carlos being alone after graduation. Kendall's already been offered hockey scholarships and I know James is planning to move to California as soon as he can, so—"

"That's on hold for now. We talked about it last night. He's staying at least until Brooke...you know."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. She'll need him for what's to come. But eventually he'll be moving on too and Carlos...university isn't for him. He has a hard enough time just getting through high school. I'm sure you're planning on going away to college and Carlos will be lost without someone."

James had said something similar the night before, about being stuck here by himself. Logan knew that wouldn't be the case, but Sylvia had a point—eventually James would move away to fulfill his destiny, and Kendall probably would take one of those scholarships. He'd be stupid not to. Living here in Duluth would be lonely for Logan without James, especially surrounded by all of the memories they'd make between now and then. He'd probably want to leave, too. "Has Kendall accepted any of the scholarships?"

"No, actually Jennifer's concerned because he's dragging his heels on that and if he doesn't soon, they'll offer them to someone else. She doesn't know what's holding him back from making a decision."

I do. He doesn't want to leave Carlos. "You know what? I'll talk to him about it tomorrow. The four of us can have a discussion about our futures and what we want, and then I'll have a better sense of where everyone's headed and what that means for Carlos."

"Can you find out if he has any romantic prospects, as well?"

Logan already knew the answer to that; what he didn't know was how Sylvia and Papi might feel about it. "I'll see what I can do. But...can I ask you a question that I might regret?"

"Regret?"

"Yeah. I really love living with you guys and being part of your family, and I don't want to do anything that might make your opinion of me change, but I also can't change who I am. I hope that you can accept me for who I am and not be ashamed."

Sylvia's grave expression showed that she knew he was about to impart something big. "Logan, we love you. Nothing you say is going to make that go away."

Praying he wasn't ruining the perfect position he'd been given by the team to stay close to James, he asked, "Even if I told you I might be gay?"

Though she looked shocked by the question, Logan sensed it was more the blunt way he'd said it than the actual news. "Oh! Honey, no! Of course we'd still love you if you're gay! I admit we haven't had a lot of experience with that in the past, but it doesn't change how much we love you!"

Relief swept through him, but even more importantly he'd gotten the answer he was hoping for regarding Carlos; they wouldn't be disowning Carlos for his feelings toward Kendall, should that ever come into light. "Thank you. It's something I was worried about when I came here and—"

Her arms reached out for him and he accepted the hug. "Don't you worry at all. We still love you. I'll be honest, I don't know how the boys will feel about it, but I'm pretty sure they'd still welcome you as a friend. And we'll make sure Carlos doesn't treat you any differently once he finds out."

Logan cleared his throat. "Carlos knows. You're right, he's been great about it. In fact, all of them know. But I'd like to keep the knowledge contained to the family. And James and Kendall."

"Of course!" She let him go. "Just know that we're here for you if you ever need someone to talk to, okay? And please make sure Carlos knows the same thing? The truth is I was asking all those questions because I'm starting to wonder about him. Shouldn't he be dating by now?"

It wasn't Logan's place to confirm her suspicions. "Honestly, everyone matures at a different pace. Maybe he's still figuring things out. But it's good to know that if he ever did go that way, he'd still be loved and accepted."

"Of course he would be. I hope he knows that. Make sure he knows that."

"I'll uh...work on it. Thanks, Sylvia. I've never been more grateful that I was placed here than I am right now."

"We're happy about it, too. And I feel a lot better about Carlos now, knowing that you'll look after him. I never worry because I know Kendall's there for him, but what about when Kendall leaves?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Just know that your son will be taken care of."

"That's all I can ask. Now, we still have ice cream left and Carlos was begging me for it earlier. Should we go in and have dessert with the family?"

Nothing sounded better to Logan.

Carlos called dibs on the shower. Logan was pretty sure he'd figured out what that meant by now, so he agreed once they'd returned to the bedroom. "But I need to tell you something first."

"What's up?" Carlos had been in a good mood since Logan arrived home, most likely due to spending the majority of the day alone with Kendall. He grinned while opening a dresser drawer. "Did you guys do the deed?"

"Carlos, will you shut up?!" Logan hissed, reaching back to close the door in a hurry. "We don't need your parents knowing how I feel about James!"

"Not so great when you're the one being teased, is it?" After sticking out his tongue at Logan, Carlos pulled out a clean pair of boxers and an old t-shirt.

Logan rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I think you're twelve."

"Sometimes I feel twelve. Is that such a bad thing? Everyone's in such a hurry to grow up, but I like being a kid. Free food, parents that take care of me, the best friends in the world...why would I want to give all that up for a lonely life of working to pay bills?"

Perhaps Sylvia wasn't the only one worried about Carlos' future. Logan moved past Carlos toward his own bed. "We'll talk about that tomorrow. Right now I need to tell you what your mom said in the car."

Having been halfway to the door, Carlos halted. Nervously he asked, "Was it about Kendall? Because earlier I think I looked at him too long and Mom came in and I didn't know if she saw but I was scared that—"

"Carlos. It's okay. I don't know if she noticed but she did ask if you're seeing Denise."

"Oh. Denise." The name was said in a tone that showed he'd pretty much forgotten about her, at least for the time being. "What did you say?"

Logan thought about admitting what he'd seen at the party, then realized he didn't have it in him to hurt Carlos. "That's just how the conversation started, it's not important. I told her, Carlos. That I'm gay."

The boxers slipped from Carlos' fingers to settle on the carpet. He didn't even notice, eyes wide and mouth open in shock. "What? You told her?"

"I did. I needed to know that she'd be accepting of it, because it's not going to change."

"Wait, so she does know about you and James?"

"No! Just that I like guys. There's nothing to know about me and James, because we're just friends. The point of all this—"

"Logan, will you give up on that? It's so dumb, you both have feelings for each other and there's no reason—"

"There are a lot of reasons. I'm not going to argue with you about it, we've agreed it's best for us. It's our decision."

This time Carlos rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. So what did Mom say? Was she mad? She seemed fine just now."

"No, she wasn't mad. She said they love me no matter what and she was glad I told her."

"Yeah?" Hope blossomed in Carlos' gaze.

"Yes. And that's my point: if you decide you want to date guys, they're not going to be mad or hate you. You don't have to be afraid to tell them."

Carlos considered that. "Then why don't you want them to know how you feel about James?"

"Because I don't want them thinking that's the reason I'm spending so much time at his house. Nothing's going to happen except studying and if they think there's more than that, they might not let me go over every day."

"Okay, I can see that," Carlos nodded. "But really? You guys won't even kiss?"

"No. We're done with that."

Curious, Carlos sank down onto his bed. "What's it like? To kiss a guy?"

Logan shrugged. "Probably just like kissing a girl."

"Yeah, that doesn't help me."

"I'm sure it's different depending on the person. I've kissed guys in the past and none of them felt like kissing James."

"Yeah? So it's—wait. You've kissed other guys?! Why didn't you tell me? I thought you never had a girlfriend before!"

"I haven't," Logan said honestly. "I didn't lie about that."

"But you've had boyfriends? How? Your parents wouldn't even let you eat cheese!"

Logan chuckled. "I can be sneaky when I need to be. And no, there were no boyfriends. Just...experiments. Needing to know what it's like."

"Man. How much other stuff are you hiding from me?"

For a second, the guilt returned; he was hiding massively important things from Carlos. But as Roger would tell him, it was all for the greater good. "Can we get back on the subject? It's getting late and your mom's going to wonder why you're not in the shower yet."

"Dude, stop calling her that. Just call her 'Mom.' She's yours, too."

It was easy to forget that. "It's hard to get used to."

"I know, but...we're family now. Forever. Right?"

Logan heard it in the question—Carlos needed him to say yes. "Right. You don't have to be afraid to grow up, Carlos. We'll take care of you."

Carlos bit his lip. "But in a few months, you'll all be gone to college. Papi says not to worry about it, that I'll make new friends if I go to the community college. Or if I get a job. But I don't want new friends! I only have a few more months with all you guys and—"

"Hey," Logan interrupted softly. "Don't you think Kendall deserves to know how you feel before he's gone? That might affect his decision on where to go." When Carlos remained quiet, Logan asked, "Has he said anything about that? Where he wants to go to college?"

"Not really. He doesn't like talking about it."

That wasn't a surprise; for all the anger Kendall expressed toward James for not wanting to talk about painful subjects, he was no better. "Maybe that's because he doesn't want to go anywhere."

"Of course he does! He'd be stupid to stay here, everyone says so."

"Everyone? Do you say that?"

"Duh. He's got so many choices because of his hockey skills. He could go anywhere, dude."

"That doesn't mean he wants to go anywhere." Carlos shook his head as if Logan was speaking nonsense. "All I'm saying is that without all the facts, he can't make an informed decision. He needs to know what's waiting for him here if he stays."

"Logan, he's not gonna stay!"

"Not if you don't tell him."

"No, you're being dumb. I like him, but he doesn't feel the same way about me. That's not gonna change."

"Carlos, I'm telling you that he does. If you'd just—"

"I'm out of here. You don't know what you're talking about." Carlos bent down to grab his boxers before standing.

"I do. He's as scared as you are to—"

"I told you before, Kendall's not afraid of anything."

"And I told you the day we met that Kendall's afraid of losing you. When are you going to believe me?"

"When pigs fly."

With that inexplicable comment, Carlos stormed out of the room and slammed the bedroom door. Logan groaned and flung himself back against his pillow, wondering where the people of today got these weird colloquialisms. Pigs flying? What next? He hoped Carlos would hurry in the shower because he just wanted to close his eyes and relive the best parts of last night and today but couldn't do that until Carlos had fallen asleep. Then again, Carlos might not even be speaking to him.