Sorry for the delay! I;ve been working ton's of extra hours before school starts and also, the impending storm of doom heading my way, so you know how it goes. P.S. Getting a review from you guys is like getting a present on Christmas morning. All of your amazing support makes me want to try even harder at bringing you better stories. Thank you so much for reading!
"Kendall will you stop hovering? I'm fine!" Logan said to his boyfriend, annoyance lacing his voice, but a with small smile forming at his lips, it showed that he wasn't all that annoyed with his boyfriends actions.
They were in a hospital room further into the city, where the boys were waiting for Logan to be discharged. After being thoroughly chastised by Officer Garcia for disobeying his orders, they were dropped off at the local hospital while Carlos's dad brought Dr. Bonner to the police station.
Logan was currently hooked up to an IV since he was suffering from dehydration. He didn't need to be admitted, but he had to wait until the saline bag was empty to even begin to the process of being released. In addition, he had to talk to the cops Officer Garcia was sending over.
Carlos kept trying to poke the newly applied bandage on Logan's head, which covered a not very large but quite deep cut, and James continued smacking his hand away.
"Ow!" Carlos whined for the third time. "But he won't tell us how he got it!"
Logan sighed. "I don't want to talk about it. I will just tell everything once the cops come."
Carlos opened his mouth to protest but the words died when he saw the glare Kendall gave him.
Before, James and Carlos had thought of Kendall as being a bit over protective of Logan. Now, the boy had seemed to grow a whole new role of shielding his boyfriend. Ever since they found him in the basement, Kendall was either holding his hand, rubbing his back or just standing centimeters away from Logan. And with every new medical personnel who entered the room, they soon became subject to Kendall's glare of doom if they got to close to Logan.
"Relax Kendall." James started, stepping in front of Carlos. "We were just as worried as you were."
Kendall gave a snort and Logan rolled his eyes at his boyfriend. "Be nice Kendall. If you glare at one more nurse or doctor or candy stripper, I'm kicking you out of this room."
Kendall gave Logan a pout and grabbed his hand, placing soft kisses along each knuckle. "I'm sorry. I was just so worried about you."
Logan glanced down, his face turning red. "I'm sorry. I-"
"Don't start that again. You've been apologizing since we got here." Kendall pulled Logan towards his chest for a hug, kissing him gently on the head. "You have nothing to be sorry for. We just want to understand what happened."
Logan nodded and took a breath to reply, but officer Garcia walked in. "Hey boys. Sorry but there's an officer here who wants to talk to Logan...alone." He said, looking straight at Kendall.
Kendall bit his lip and turned to Logan. "Will you be all right?" He asked, nervous about leaving his boyfriend alone. He had mentally promised himself to never, ever leave Logan out of his sight again.
Logan nodded, but said, "Don't go to far."
"I wont." Kendall replied, giving him a kiss before leaving.
"How about I take you boys to the cafeteria, get you some food?" Carlos's dad suggested. While the other two boys nodded their heads, Kendall declined,
"I'm just going to wait out here til they're done." he said, taking a seat next to the door to Logan's room.
"We'll bring you back something." James replied to Kendall as they began to walk away. He nodded his answer, and pulled out his phone to call Jenny back to let her know they found Logan.
"What did the cops say about Logan's parents?" Carlos asked his father as they went inside the elevator.
"Not much, but from what I can tell, they're back in Minnesota."
James contemplated this. "So they just left him with this Doctor Bonner guy?" The whole situation was ridiculous to James. How his friends parents could even do this to Logan...it was just beyond him.
Officer Garcia nodded. "We're dredging up Bonner's case load. From what you boys told me, this isn't his first altercation with Logan and his family. Chances are that's why they left Logan with him. They have history."
The three left the elevator and headed into the cafeteria and gathered an array of chocolate milk, french fries and sandwiches before convening at a table.
"But he's going to jail right? He wont get Logan back...right dad?"
Officer Garcia sighed and said, "It's complicated Carlos. We don't know what happened between Logan leaving us at the restaurant and you guys finding him in that basement. Bonner's involved all right...just how much is difficult to say." He looked behind his son, sat up a bit and waved. "That's why I brought in a secret weapon."
James nearly chocked on his sandwich when he saw who the officer was regarding. A tall, well built woman with long black hair and sharp blue eyes came power walking towards them, her face as serious as the three piece power suite and sensible Parada's was wearing.
"Garcia." she said as a way of hello, shaking his hand with a firm grip and barely regarding the two dumbstruck boys beside her. "I heard you got him." She continued quickly after his hello.
"For now, yes. It's not much, but if anyone can build anything substantial out of this, you can." Garcia said, offering her a chair and a water he had purchased. She gave a small thank you and waved the water away, before turning to the two boys.
"These are the friends who found..." she trailed off, pulling up her blackberry, glancing it over before looking back up, "a Logan Mitchell?"
Garcia nodded, "Yes. This is James," he pointed to James who flashed his most winning smile with a small wink.
"And my son, Carlos." He drew a arm around his son, and the woman gave him an almost real smile, "Right, Carlos. Your father has mentioned you often. My name is Sabrina Stafton. I will be representing your friend, Logan."
"Representing? What do you mean?" Carlos asked, turning to his father for answers.
Sabrina flashed a quick glance at Garcia, looking for the go ahead, and when he nodded, she continued, "Well...your friend is in a...predicament. He is the son of two publicly known, respectable citizens of a well to do community. But these...so called respectable people left their son in the care of a man who is...practicing medicine...immorally. I am here to make sure that Logan is not put into that kind of position again by them."
James and Carlos took a moment to register what this woman was telling them, until Carlos spoke up. "So you...want to take Logan away from his parents?"
Sabrina let out a small sigh, and turned to officer Garcia for help. "What we really want to do is get Doctor Bonner to pay for his involvement in some crimes that have been committed. And to prove that he is unfit to practice medicine and should be held responsible for what has happened...we have to prove that Logan's parents were wrong for letting Doctor Bonner care for him, because of his past."
"What kind of crimes?" James asked. He didn't want to know, and he knew he wouldn't like the answer, but he had to know.
Sabrina tucked some hair behind her ear and answered, "Well...there has been a pattern of his patients, ending their lives prematurely."
"Suicide?" Carlos asked, his eyes wide. She nodded and continued, "It seems that after seeking his help, his patients all went through similar symptoms. Change in personality, avoidance, depression, self harm and eventually..." She trailed off, before continuing, "Another similarity is that these patients went to see him to deal with their sexuality."
"They were gay." James stated.
"Or thought they might be. Or didn't want to be. Or their families thought they could be. Each situation is different in its own right, but the concept is still the same."
Garcia cut in, "Sabrina here has been working for years to get his medical license revoked and to prove that he had an involvement with these deaths. We're hoping that maybe this may be the break that we need to keep this guy from hurting any more Logan's out there."
Sabrina nodded, pulling out some papers and a binder with a pen, before regarding the two dumbstruck boys beside her.
"Now boys, I need you to tell me everything you know about what happened, from before to when you found Logan."
She pulled out a tape recorder and placed it on the table in front of them. James and Carlos looked at officer Garcia for consent, and when he nodded, they began.
Logan leaned against Kendall's chest, Logan letting the vibrations of his boyfriend humming softly 'Worldwide' relax him as Kendall's deft fingers carded their way through his hair. They were laying together on the hospital bed, enjoying the silence and comfort of each other.
"How do you feel?" Kendall asked. Logan let out a content sight before answering, "A lot better."
Kendall could feel how tense and drained his boyfriend was. Logan was not in the interview with the officer for as long as Kendall had thought he would be, but Logan had explained that it was only the initial interview so they could charge Bonner, and that there would be more statements and interviews in the future. Kendall had hoped that Logan would tell him what happened, but so far Logan had kept his mouth shut about it.
Logan shifted a bit so he was looking into Kendall's eyes, and said, "Thank you for finding me."
Kendall let out a soft laugh and said, "Of course I would find you. I'd look for you forever." Logan blushed at his statement, "But I never would have had a clue if it wasn't for you leaving Jenny's number." Logan looked down and grasped Kendall's hand, focusing on the entwined fingers. "I was hoping you guys would figure it out."
"It was James actually who got it." Kendall was silent for a moment, but he couldn't hold it in any longer. "Why didn't you ever tell me about the doctor?"
Logan's movements stilled, and he didn't look up at Kendall.
"Logan...please don't shut me out. Something happened between you and him and your parents, and I... I want to know. I want to help you. Please." Kendall placed his hand under Logan's chin, forcing him to look into his eyes. Kendall nearly lost his breath when he saw how pain filled they were as they began to fill with tears.
"Kendall...I-I..." Logan started, not sure how to find the words, "I don't want you to think of me...differently." Logan finally managed to choke it out, his voice barely above a whisper.
Kendall pulled Logan impossibly closer, hugging him and burying his face on top of Logan's hair. "Logan I love you and nothing will ever change how I feel about you. But, please tell me."
Kendall felt awful that his boyfriend was scared that he would ever not love him. Kendall couldn't imagine his life without Logan. That last night and day without him had been torture.
Kendall could feel Logan tensing under his arms and he knew he was pushing him. But he was still so scared for Logan. He hadn't realized how close he was going to come to loosing Logan, and now that he got him back he didn't want to risk loosing him again.
Before Logan had a chance to answer, the door to the room opened and a male voice inquired, "I need to speak with Logan Mitchell?"
Kendall looked up. The man was in his mid-to late 40's. He had graying hair and a sullen face. His body was adorned in a serious business suit and he carried a large black briefcase.
Kendall eased out of Logan's grip, hopping off the bed and demanding, "Who are you?"
The man walked further into the room, "I'm Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell's lawyer. They've asked me to come and bring Logan home." He turned to Logan who was sitting up and hastily wiping the the tears from his eyes. "Logan, get yourself together. I'm bringing you back to Minnesota."
Kendall stepped in front of the man, fists clenched, "They hell you are!" He was ready to defend Logan no matter what. No way was he going back to his parents.
"Logan is still underage, and if his parents want him back home, that's where he will go." His voice indicated that this conversation was over as he motioned Logan to follow him.
"I don't think so." Came a voice from the doorway. Kendall turned to regard the tall, dark haired woman stalking into the room with a determined expression. She carried a manilla folder in her hand which she thrust into Logan's parents lawyers hands. Behind her came officer Garcia, with Carlos and James dashing in to stand next to Kendall defending their friend.
"Hello Mr. Gardner. You'll see here that I've gotten consent from a judge that states Logan will be in the care and custody of Officer Garcia until everything is straightened out."
The lawyer looked over the papers and snorted. "Taking a child away from his parents? Rather cold-blooded even for you Sabrina."
The woman barely raised her eyebrows, and retorted, "Let's just remember that a child's welfare is at stake here. I'd like to say we'd both agree its a tad more important that the reputation of a crazed physician."
"Um...I'm not a child. I'm seventeen!" Logan tried to intervene, but no one acknowledged his words.
"This is unacceptable. Considering his parents statement about Logan's mental state, he won't be safe being around these people. I recommend having him institutionalized until the hearing."
Logan shouted a "Hey!" as Carlos, James and Kendall began to argue that Logan was not crazy.
"I am aware of their statement." Sabrina cut through the chatter, "Which is why I've already set up a meeting with a psychologist for tomorrow to give an accurate and professional statement of Logan's mental state, which we will use in court. Until then, he is free to leave with Officer Garcia."
"I don't need to see a shrink!" Logan exclaimed when he heard Sabrina.
"His parents aren't going to stand for this." Mr. Gardner said, ignoring Logan and getting close to Sabrina in a threatening manner.
"Well how about you tell them to come here to L.A and say that to my face instead of sending a patsy to do it for them from Minnesota?" Sabrina countered.
"He isn't in the right mind state!" Mr. Gardner nearly shouted back.
Whatever Sabrina had been about to say died on her lips as a figure walked in, "Considering my patient was telling me how to treat his own concussion, quite correctly I might add, I would have to weigh in that Logan is quite stable." Logan's doctor had appeared, heading straight for Logan to begin checking him over again. He was an older man of about 50 with kind blue eyes and a soft face. "If I had any doubt that he was not stable, I wouldn't let him leave this facility. But, my opinion is that he should be quite all right to leave with is friends."
The male lawyer shook his head, defeated but not down, and said, "We will talk. This isn't over." Then left.
The four boys gave audible sights, and Logan turned to the doctor gratefully. "Thank you."
The man smiled and said, "It's no problem. So, I want you back here in two weeks to get those stitches out. But if you have any headaches or nausea that wont go away, you come back here immediately. All right?"
Logan nodded and the doctor left.
Kendall replaced his jacket around Logan's shoulders and said, "C'mon. Lets go home."
The group had barely walked through the door before the three mothers descended on Logan like hawks. In a chorus of motherly love, they cooed and fawned over him, each exclaiming their own personal opinion of how to mend, help and coddle him. In addition to Brooke's apology.
Grasping his arms gently, the older woman pulled Logan away from the motherly huddle and looked straight into his eyes and said, "I am so, so sorry for all this. I never meant to cause any harm or trouble." Her eyes were welling up with tears which made Logan slightly panic.
"No! Please don't worry about it. Really. It's not your fault. You had no idea how my parents would react. Really." When the tears began to fall, Logan seemed to panic more, "Ms. Diamond its OK. I'm fine really!"
James intervened, unable to see his friend squirm anymore, despite how fun it was to watch. "Mom! You had no idea OK? Its not your fault not every mother is as awesome as you are." James said, which made his mother smile and give her son a big hug.
"Well, now that that is settled, how about Logan you go take a shower and we will get dinner started-" Mama. Knight began, before their front door opened, revealing a steaming, seriously pissed off Gustavo with a put upon Kelly hanging onto his shoulders, arms wrapped around his neck to slow down his charge. She was waving a hand and yelling, "Run!"
All four boys yelped and jumped behind their mothers, who stood defiantly in front of them.
"Gustavo...before you overreact..." Officer Garcia started, walking slowly towards the raging bull in front of him.
"Overreact?" Gustavo started, walking into the room and then knocking off Kelly, who fell to the floor with a yelp.
"Overreact? They didn't show up for their own concert! It was a disaster! People wanted their money back. Do you know how Griffin can get when people want their money back? Do you!" He bellowed so loud the cabinets opened, dishes fell to the floor. Car alarms went off.
"Gustavo..." Kendall began, slowly edging his way out from behind his mom.
"Logan!" Gustavo yelled, which made Logan jump and give out a not so manly squeal. "Where. Were. YOU!"
"I..uh... well..." Logan began, tripping over his words, unable to start.
"We found him locked in a basement. His parents sent him to some guy to get brain washed!" Carlos exclaimed from behind his mom.
"What?" Gustavo screamed, confused and not quite believing Carlos.
"We don't know the whole story, but Logan's parents left to go back to Minnesota early this morning. They left Logan with a man who is some kind of doctor who specializes in...straightening out people. People who are different." Officer Garcia cut in, trying to explain the situation to the man. "The boys were able to locate him, and found out that the doctor was trying to hide Logan in the cellar of his office here in LA. He was locked in a cage man."
Gustavo ran his hands over his face and said, "All right. Fine. Fine. Let's get this figured out." He paused and sighed, staring at Mama Knight. "I'm going to need some coffee. This is going to be a long...long night."
James wanted to turn off the TV and head to bed, but he couldn't. He knew if he did, his mind would just be plagued with the kinds of questions he had wanted to avoid thinking about since this whole debacle had started. Like, how could Logan's parents do this? What was going to happen with Logan, the band, their little family here in 2J? And...how was he going to deal with his new feeling for Carlos that would eventually lead to getting with him?
The new Jane Eyre movie was playing on On Demand, one of James's favorite classic romance novel, but it was muted. James sighed, not wanting to admit it, but he knew that the only real answer was that the next few weeks were going to be difficult, especially on his smart friend.
Another reason James couldn't bare to go back to his room was the absence of Carlos. His mother had been so upset about what happened with Logan, she practically dragged her short son out of the door to spend the night at their hotel with her and her husband. James didn't want to actually admit it, but he missed his friend the moment he went out the door. Missed him more than he realized...
The sound of a door shutting almost forcefully broke James out of his thoughts, and he turned to see Kendall stalk out of the room, an almost angry expression on his face, and head towards the kitchen. He threw open the door and glanced inside, before shutting it again, heaving a big sigh.
"You OK man?" James asked, causing the tall boy to jump.
"Jeez James. I didn't know you were still up." Kendall said, spinning around quickly with hand to his chest, startled that his friend was still awake. He walked over to his friend and plopped down on the couch next to him.
"Not ready to go down yet." James answered, turning to his friend, "What's wrong."
Kendall ran his hands through is face and hair, leaning back onto the couch and heaving another sigh.
"It's Logan. He won't talk about what happened. At all. He just keeps...freezing me out."
James wasn't surprised by this. "Give him time man. This is all kind of fresh, and hard. Especially for him."
Kendall shook his head, "I just...I can't help but feel like he doesn't trust me."
Leaning his head against his fist resting on the edge of the couch, James said, "Can you blame him? Look at what raised him. I bet he doesn't trust...anyone really."
By the look on Kendall's face, James realized that his friend hadn't thought about Logan's situation like that.
"How can I just prove to him, once and for all, that I'm not going to hurt him?" Kendall asked, desperation in his voice.
James thought about it for a minute, then shrugged, "I don't know man. I guess you just got to keep doing what you're doing, and being there for him when he needs you. If you just keep doing that, I think he'll come around."
Kendall heaved out one more sigh before standing, "Let's hope so. I just..." Kendall paused looking at the ground for a moment before turning to James. "I just can't loose him."
James nodded and watched Kendall as he retreated back to his room.
He turned back to the TV just as Mr. Rochester leaned over to kiss Jane. James sighed longingly. He wanted love so badly, and he was beginning to realize he had been looking for it in all the wrong places. Like Mr. Rochester taking so long to realize he loved the woman working for him James realized his love had been right in front of him the whole time as well.
James awoke to the feeling of someone shaking him. He jerked back, wondering why someone was grabbing him, and opened his eyes to reveal a red eyed, bed head Logan.
"Dude. Why are you waking me up so early?" James croaked out before trying to shift. He realized he was still on the couch, never leaving to go to this bedroom. He must have fallen asleep sometime after Kendall left.
"Have you seen Kendall? When I got up he wasn't here and he's not in the apartment." Logan asked, concern lacing his voice.
James shook his head before replying, "He probably went to the gym. He's been trying to go more lately," he paused to give out a big yawn before continuing, "I'm sure he just wanted to get there early because you," James pointed to his friend who had now taken a seat beside him on the couch, "have a big day today. And Kendall wants to be there for you."
Logan cast his eyes downward and said, "It's ridiculous. I don't need to go see a shrink."
James shrugged, silently disagreeing with his friend but not wanting to voice his opinion. Instead he
focused on his conversation with Kendall last night, "You know you're pushing Kendall away right?"
Logan turned to James and sighed, "Look. It's just...hard for me to talk about...everything. I can't just turn it on and off."
James shook his head and said, "Not what I'm talking about dude, but definitely a part of it. What I mean is...you're pushing him away, like...he can only take so much before he can't take any more."
Logan jerked back, surprised at James words. It made James feel like a jerk for hurting his friend, but he knew that Logan wouldn't realize it until someone laid it out for him, "Kendall loves you...but if you keep pushing him away, it will only make him feel like you don't love him back. And...well...a person can only take that much rejection until they don't want to be rejected anymore."
Logan was silent for a moment, contemplating his friends words. "So...how do I prove to Kendall that I love him?"
James shrugged, feeling an odd sense of repeat at this scenario, but he answered anyway. "Just show him that you trust him...the rest should follow."
He sleepily rolled off the bed, falling to the floor with an "omph!" before he jumped up to stand. He stretched a bit as his friend sat in silence, taking in James's words. Clasping a hand on his shoulder, James said, "You don't have to tell him everything...but at least try to tell him something."
Logan nodded as James walked away heading towards the bathroom to shower. He felt so grungy and tired, just wanting to wash away yesterday. He was almost done shutting the bathroom door when he heard the front door open and Kendall's voice in the hallway.
"Hey." He heard Logan reply, and James opened the door partway, not wanting to stick his head out and be obvious, but wanting to hear the conversation between the two.
"Where'd you go?" Logan asked, standing up to greet his boyfriend. He had his hands clasped behind his back to hide his nerves.
Kendall held up his gym back and said, "To work out. I didn't get to much sleep last night so I just went kinda early. Clear my head ya know?"
Logan nodded, leaving his eyes downward, not sure what to say. He nearly jumped in surprise when he felt two arms enveloping him and pulling him in close.
"Good morning." Kendall said, burying his head into Logan's morning mop top.
Logan could feel Kendall's words vibrate through his chest and smiled. "Good morning to you to."
James quietly shut the door to the bathroom, smiling.
So the next chapter might take me a while to update because I'm going to add some parts to it. I've realized in going over my story that the initial writing of the whole connection with Logan, Doctor Bonner and Jenny is a bit patchy and hard to follow, so I will need to change and update some of that to make it more understandable for you. But it won't be that long until I do, Scouts Honor. But don't worry it will get published. Actually, I promise this whole story will get published. I already have it written up. I just do one part at a time because I like to spell check and update some parts. But don't worry, it won't take me to long! Thanks for reading and all the reviews. You guys rock my socks ;)
xoxo BA