~[BTR, AU] 3rd Person's POV
"First off, I just wanna thank you guys," Lars leans forth, smiling at the three. Immediately they were enchanted by his pearly-toothed smile, how gentle his eyes were… 'Logan's family must've had amazing genes,' Kendall wonders, actually looking forward to meeting his parents.
"Why…?" Carlos asks curiously, Lars sighing. "It's just… In his entire 16 years old of living, he's never had any friends over," Lars began, his eyes trailing back to Logan, who's happily cooking in the kitchen.
"Did… Did he ever tell you guys about… Our parents?" Lars asks slowly. They shook their head in unison. Only then had they noticed… The giant room downstairs has a lot of photos. Some are beautiful paintings, some are actual photos of the family… Except there's only Lars and Logan. No father figure, no mother figure. Though there is a photo of Lars with another blond haired man, both of them holding hands and smiling warmly.
"Right… I should tell you guys then," Lars begins, hoping their story won't cause these guys to just bolt. Because if they did just bolt like that… Lars' gonna hunt them down.
"Logan and I… We grew up in a terrible household," Lars began talking.
"Growing up… We were always tortured. Mentally, Physically, Emotionally… I always got the worse ones, since Logan was quite young. I was 5 years old when he was born… As an accident," Lars talks, his fists clenching as the past came back. "I… I was so happy when I graduated, I literally just upped and moved out," He sighs, pausing for a bit.
"Fast forward 6 years later, I came back, hoping they'd changed… They did, but for the worse," His gentle smile now turned into an angered frown. "Back then, I was just pushed around, punched, ordered. Logan… He got whipped. Cut. He told me he was pushed off of the stairs at one point. He was treated like a slave. You guys couldn't imagine how furious I was when I came back," He continued, feeling extremely guilty that Logan had to go through all that for 6 years.
"I made sure they got sent into prison for life. I found the best lawyer I had, which is my fiancé," Lars points at Jack, the other three nodding.
"And now I'm Logan's legal guardian," Lars smiles at the three again, once again enchanting them with his perfect, dimpled smile. Exactly the same smile Logan has.
"I uh… I-I gotta go outside for a bit," James suddenly says, standing up and walking towards the backyard gym Logan has, an otherworldly amount of anger suddenly builds up in him.
He exits through the back door and immediately goes for the punching bag. He planned to release his anger, knowing it'd haunt him all the way back home if he didn't release it now.
One hit, he angrily remembers Logan's words.
Two hits, he thought about how the bullies actually touched Logan.
Three hits, he hates himself for taking so long to approach the poor boy.
The fourth, hardest hit… He released all the anger within him. With a loud, angered cry… He hits the punching bag hard enough, causing it to shift from its original position slightly.
"James?" Logan immediately pops out to the back, seeing a broken down James, repeatedly hitting the bag, letting tears of anger escape his eyes.
"James, what's wrong?" Logan runs towards his boyfriend, grabbing both hands and stopping the tall boy. "I'm so sorry Logan," James hugs Logan tight, feeling insanely guilty.
"I'm so sorry for not approaching you earlier," James cries, immediately Logan remembers what he had told James earlier that day. "Lars told me… A-About you and your parents," Logan freezes in his place once James says so, memories of his past threatening to haunt him again... But he manages to push past it.
"James," He hugs back, resting his head on the boy's chest. "It's fine alright? All that shit's passed," He smiles, feeling James' warmth envelope him. He felt safe being in James' arms.
"Right now… I have you guys, that's all that matters," Logan sighs, burying his face into James' clothes, taking in the boy's intoxicating scent, even though he's didn't use any cologne.
Hearing Logan's words at that very moment made James swear mentally, that whatever happens, he'll be there for Logan. He'll protect the boy no matter what.
Meanwhile… Back inside…
"If he decides to spoil you guys, please let him. I'm guessing he's the one who bought you three the new phones?" Lars points at the phones in Kendall and Carlos' hands, having similarities with the one Logan put on the kitchen counter, albeit having different covers.
Carlos nods, a small smile appearing on his face. "So… Spoiling us'll make him happy?" Carlos asks, though feeling a bit guilty to have Logan spend his money on them… If it makes the boy happy, they'll have to accept it.
Lars nods, his face shifts into that of a curious one afterwards, "Now which one of you's his boyfriend?" He asks, tangling his fingers as he eyed all three. He actually has no idea what type of person Logan's into… He doesn't even know if his brother's gay or not. Logan spends most of his time studying or doing house chores. Even the boy's browser history is innocent. Or at least, the one Lars' has seen is mostly innocent.
"Uhm…" Carlos turns towards his leader, who gives him a look of utter disbelief, expecting him to answer.
"W-We all kind of are… A-And there's another one, but he's not here," Kendall hesitantly answers, watching Lars' eyes twinkle as a smirk grew on his face. "Oh…" Lars' small smirk turned into a full on devilish grin. "Didn't know my brother was that kinky," He winks, watching both them blush furiously, unable to actually deny it.
"All I ask from you guys is just… Protect him at school, please. I know he's safe here at home but… I'm always nervous when he's not here," Lars sighs, watching as Logan returns to the kitchen, James sitting down in one of the dining area's chairs, looking rather gloomy.
"James? You okay?" Kendall asks, leaving Carlos and Lars together to enjoy some games. "He was bullied, Kendall," James growls as the boy sat down next to him. "You… You and Carlos were right. I should've approached him sooner," He grits through his teeth.
"What?" Kendall asks, a bit confused. "He told me earlier today… W-When we were alone in his room," James recalls the event that happened in Logan's room, blushing a bit remembering how Logan dominated him.
"He was bullied. That's why he's so scared of me… Of us," James shuts his eyes, visibly looking distraught and pissed off. "James, buddy," Kendall side-hugged his friend, grabbing one of his hand, gently intertwining their fingers.
"That's all the past, alright? Right now, we're here. Our biggest objective right now is to make sure Logan enjoys his last year in PalmWoods. And… Who knows? Maybe we could finally win Battle of the Bands with Logan as our keyboard player," Kendall tries to cheer up James, pointing at the giant grand piano he had somehow missed earlier.
"You think so?" James smirks, remembering how they'd always place either 2nd or 3rd. "Oh, I know so," Kendall grins, watching Logan's graceful movements in the kitchen, plating up the dishes.
~End of the Night
Logan turns on his phone for the first time, lying in his bed with a big grin. He completes all the steps required, registering with his email, immediately downloading WhatsApp. It's his first time actually using a smartphone, since he didn't really bother buying one before, which meant it was a bit weird for him.
Immediately his phone chimes once he completes his WhatsApp registration.
[Carlos]
"Hey Logie" 21:12PM
He remembers how he had saved all three of their numbers, still curious about his fourth boyfriend.
[Carlos]
"I made a group for us, I'll put you in" 21:14PM
"Hold on," 21:15PM
He smiles, typing back his reply,
[Me]
"Sure" 21:15PM
A moment of silence passed until his phone chimed again.
[Big Time Rush]
"Kendall created group 'Big Time Rush'"
"Carlos added you"
[Kendall]
"Logieeee" 21:16PM
[Me]
"Um… What's 'Big Time Rush'?" 21:16PM
[James]
"It's the name of our band." 21:16PM
"You're officially our fourth and last member," 21:17PM
Logan blushes slightly, remembering how Kendall, Carlos and James always participate in their school's 'Battle of the Bands', though he's unable to remember any time where they took first place.
Turning his phone off with a small smile, Logan plugs in his charger and goes to sleep.
For the first time in forever, he's actually looking forward to go to school tomorrow.