A/N: So, here we go, chapter 5. Hope you like it. Also, if you tried to click the link for the model and it didn't take you straight to her page, I fixed it, kind of. Lol.

Sun Down

Chapter Five

As I walk down the stairs to face another day.

The first time Logan actually saw Buddha Bob and Maddy together, it was interesting. So Logan put on his tree hat. He tried to get close enough to hear what they were saying, but it was hard, the pool was loud and laden with teenagers on an awfully sunny afternoon, like it was every day in Los Angeles until the end of December.

Maddy had been absent from school for the past few days. Logan wasn't saying that he missed her, per se, because they didn't talk all that much, but still. Her presence beside him had become the norm. Not to mention the last time he'd seen her she seemed so silently distraught.

Buddha Bob looked at Maddy with a fatherly kind of love. But they really looked nothing alike. Bob was trimming the hedges, stopping every so often to turn and say something to his niece. But Logan couldn't hear anything, so he decided to get closer.

It was the first time Logan ever heard Bob speak and actually sound rational. He wasn't being philosophical or giving Katie business advice. He sounded like a normal man.

"I'm sorry." Maddy said to her uncle.

He turned around and set the trimmers down. He looked down at her and said in a very serious tone of voice. "You can't keep going back there, Maddy."

"I know." She responded quietly.

"You're parents sent you here for a reason. But there's no point in being here, there's no point in me trying to help you if you won't stay away." Bob put his hands on her shoulders. He brushed her cheek with his thumb. She looked away from him. "It's bad for you Madison. That place, those people." He touched the fading bruise on her arm and in a much softer voice said, "He is bad for you."

"I know."

"We just want better for you. We want you to be better."

"I'm sick, I know." The sound of her voice was heartbreaking. She sounded so lost. Logan didn't know what she was talking about, and he suddenly felt as if eaves dropping had been a bad idea. Some things are meant to be kept between certain people. He was listening in a conversation that he should never have heard, it was a moment that was wrong for him to experience.

"You aren't sick, Madison. You just need a little bit of help."

Logan snuck away, the same way he snuck in. He took off his tree hat and made his way back to 2J. He tried to stop thinking about it, he tried to stop guessing the situation, but he couldn't. It was there, in his mind, playing over and over. She was sick? With what? Where did she keep going? Why was it bad for her? Who were the people that were bad for her? More specifically, who was the he that was bad for her? It wasn't his business, but it didn't stop him from being curious.

He didn't mean to, but he ended up knocking on Buddha Bob's door later that evening. The bearded man opened the door and looked down at the teen with a quirked brow. "Can I, help you Logan?"

"Um," he faltered. What was he doing there? What did he plan on saying to Madison? Did he even have anything to say to her? He couldn't just ask about what he'd heard before. "I, um, can I see Maddy?"

Bob gave him a long hard look before he held the door open wider. "She's in the first room, down the hall to the left."

Logan stepped around Bob into the apartment and was surprised as he looked around to find that it looked just like every room at the Palm Woods, except 2J of course, theirs was custom. He had expected Bob's room to be, well if he's honest with himself, he thought that Buddha Bob looked like he should be living in a jungle. He's was Tarzan's brothers, Bob should be swinging from vines, hanging from trees. But no, Bob was normal. It was so weird.

"Logan." Bob said from the doorway, he held up a wrench in his hands and said, "I need to go up to the seventh floor, don't let her out of the apartment, alright?"

Logan nodded uncertainly. "Oh, oh okay."

Bob saluted him with the wrench and shut the door behind him as he left. Logan found himself adjusting his clothing as he walked towards her room. Pulling up his jeans. Pulling down his jeans. Flattening his shirt, he even went so far as to smell his breath. He took a very deep breath before he knocked.

"Come in."

He opened the door slowly, peeking in before he actually stepped forward. She was there on her bed, music playing softly. Propped up on her elbows she read a magazine that lay on her pillow.

"Hey."

Her head shot up. "Logan? What are you doing here?"

He shifted his weight, stuck his hands into his pockets and coughed awkwardly. Did he have an answer for that? Not really.

"I, well, you know, you haven't been in class for the past couple of days. So, I, I wanted to come see if you were," he scratched the back of his head, "all right." He finished lamely.

She sat up on her bed. She wasn't wearing any pants. Boy shorts still qualified as underwear. Logan felt himself begin to blush looking at her. She wasn't wearing much, a white tank-top, black boy shorts, and stripped knee high socks. That was all.

"Well, I'm fine." She said tilting her head to the side. She was trying to meet Logan's eyes, but if he looked her in the eye, she'd see how red he'd gotten. Logan wasn't a virgin. He'd lost his virginity to this girl back in Minnesota a few months before the boys made the big move. Then of course he and Camille had been off and on, friends with benefits for a while, even before they actually defined their relationship. But maybe this was his whole chivalry thing. He had seen girls naked in the flesh, but was she okay with him seeing her like this?

"Yeah," Logan said, looking only into her eyes, which wasn't much better. "I see that. I guess, I can, get…going now."

He reached for the door knob, but she stood, oh shit. It was all he could think as she walked toward him in such skimpy clothing. "Don't go." She said and crossed her arms across her chest. Without shoes on, she was only an inch or two shorter than him. She didn't have far to look up. It wasn't a demand, the look in her haunting green eyes told him it was more of a plea.

"I've been cooped up in here for the past few days, my only human contact being my uncle."

He locked eyes with her. He wanted to know what her deal was. He wanted to know why she seemed so distant to the rest of the world; he wanted to know why she seemed so sad. Her eyes were always so far gone, in another world. She walked like she knew exactly who she was; she tossed her hair over her shoulder with confidence, and spoke with such clarity. But it was there in her subtleties. The blank expressions on her lovely face, the way her smile never reached her eyes, how she had looked up at the sky the night they first met, and in the expression as she let the coin fall into the well, like her life as depending on it.

"Okay." She went back to her bed and sat with her back pressed against the wall. Madison patted the spot next to her. Logan obeyed. They sat there, inches apart, silently for what seemed like forever.

"Do you like to sing?" she finally asked.

They were both just sitting there, feet dangling off the edge of the bed, staring at the wall opposite of them and the door Logan had closed behind him. Next to the door hanging on a nail a pair of pale pink ballet slippers, they look used and worn. He wondered if she danced.

"Of course." He said, "This band wouldn't work if we didn't."

"It was just, you said that this whole thing was James's dream."

"It was, but now that I'm here, I have fun. Besides it's a lot warmer here than it is in Minnesota during the winter."

"So," she pulled her knees to her chest and shuffled up the bed so she could face him. "What's your dream?"

"I want to be a doctor." He was still looking at the pair of slippers hanging by her door.

"Medical, physical, psychological?"

"Medical." He kicked off his shoes and imitated her, sitting cross legged facing her. "What about you? What do you want to be?"

"I want to be a psychologist."

"Really?" he leaned forward slightly. It was an answer he'd not been expecting.

She nodded, "but I have so many of my own fucking problems I don't know how I'd ever help anyone else." She said like she was trying to convince him, or maybe even herself, that she thought it was funny, but Logan wasn't fooled. He could see the despair in her eyes. He just wanted to know why, what caused it?

She fell back on the bed and sighed. "Hey Logan."

"Yeah?"

"You want to get drunk?"

No. "Sure."

"Do you know anyone willing to buy? I've got cash."

Don't tell her. "Guitar dudes brother just turned twenty-one last week."

"Sweet." She said and jumped off the bed. Logan watched her dig through the drawers of her dresser. She took out a pair of sweats and wiggled into them. He tried not to watch, but he couldn't help himself. Her boy shorts were barely covering her ass anymore, and her hips moved like they were in rhythm with a song. He swallowed hard.

"I told your uncle I wouldn't let you leave." He said hoping that maybe it would sway her.

"Did he go to the seventh floor?" She asked running her fingers through her long blonde hair. How had she known?

"Yeah."

"He's boning the lady that lives up there; he won't be back till around midnight."

Logan grimaced. The thought of Buddha Bob having sex with anyone was extremely unattractive. He was so hairy…. Logan shivered.

Logan followed her out of the apartment, but once they reached the elevator, Logan took the lead. He led her up to the fifth floor and knocked on Guitar Dude's door. He knew that he shouldn't be doing this. He's promised Buddha Bob. Looking at her, it was obvious this was the last thing she needed. But Logan couldn't stop himself. Because while it was the last thing she needed, an escape looked like the thing she needed most. Alcohol, however temporary, could help provide that. It was a bad idea, but it was too late now, Guitar Dude had already opened the door.

"Oh Hey, Logan, Maddy." Guitar dude waggled his eyebrows at the tall girl beside Logan.

"Hey, is your brother home?" Logan asked trying to get his point across.

Surprisingly, Guitar Dude understood, he laughed all-knowing and said, "Yeah, let me grab him."

A taller, slightly less skimpy version of Guitar Dude appeared. "Hey, Joseph," Logan said, "can you help us out?"

"Yeah, sure bro, but I just got my license revoked. So can one of you guys drive? Buying alcohol for minors and driving without a license is a double-whammy."

"Yeah," Logan lied, "I can."

Logan still had his Minnesota's learners permit, but he didn't think that it was valid in California. Oh well, too late now, he tried to tell himself. But he was surprised at how well he was ignoring his inner morality. If he had been with his friends, he would have been the first one to object. But something about Maddy made him want to seem, better, braver, stronger.

In the elevator on the way down to the lobby. They stood behind Guitar Dude's brother, Madison reached over and grabbed his hand. She didn't say anything, didn't look at him, she just held it in hers. Logan looked down at their hands, fingers clasped. What was this? Who was the boy doing this?

But then he realized, isn't this what he wanted? He wasn't acting like the old Logan. This one was taking a risk, driving without a license, getting someone to buy him alcohol, getting drunk with a pretty girl. All things he'd never done before. It was because of Maddy though. He wanted her to be impressed by him. But he didn't know how he could do that when he was still wearing button up shirts, sweater-vests and boots instead of something stylish like Vans or Converse.

When the elevator door opened, Joseph stepped out and Madison let go of his head. He watched her take a few steps before he followed them out. He didn't know what he felt when he looked at her. Maybe a mixture of lust, want, pity and confusion. What an odd feeling.

They ducked through the lobby avoiding anyone they thought might stop them or rat them out. But once they were out of there, it was all downhill. Joseph's car was this little, rusty, chipped black paint, piece of complete and utter shit. Logan didn't know how it could even run. It was a pathetic excuse for a car.

"Don't give me shit." Joseph said when he saw Logan eyeing it. "I work at a retail store and the pay ain't so great. Sucky car is better than no car."

Joseph tossed him the keys from the passenger's side. Madison slid into the back seat, looking out the window like she was bored; she could be with cooler people, getting drunk with people who were actually worth her time. But then again, maybe that was the truth of the situation. Logan was in a teenage boy-band that was yet to be on the brink of fame. He signed a pig while on tour, that wasn't not saying much. Not to mention their bands fan base were mostly under sixteen. It's not all that impressive. He himself was this nerdy little boy, not too tall, not too muscular, only kind of cute. While Maddy on the other hand was this tall, stylish, beautiful, model type girl. How they ended up together in that shitty car with the world's biggest stoner on their way to get some boos was beyond him.

Logan started up the engine and pulled out of the Palm Woods parking lot. Joseph gave him directions to the nearest liquor store. Driving in Los Angeles was much harder than it was in Minnesota. He got cut off, people hit the brakes constantly, ignored the use of signals.

"Can I smoke?" Madison asked from the backseat.

"Yeah, sure, light up, can I get one?"

She handed Guitar Dude's brother a single stick. Logan watched her light up in the review mirror. She met his eyes. He didn't want to look away, but he was driving. If he didn't they could all die.

Logan parked.

"So what do you guys want?" Joseph asked.

Logan automatically looked to Madison. She sat forward in her seat and said, "Get us a six pack of anything, and a bottle of tequila." She handed him some crumpled bills and Joseph left them alone in the car.

"You don't have to drink with me if you don't want to." She said blowing smoke out the window.

"I can't let you drink alone." Logan looked at her through the mirror. "That's depressing."

She cracked a smile. Logan felt this thing in his chest. Not quite what he felt when he first realized he had feelings for Camille, and definitely not what he felt when he saw her walking around with that Steve guy. She was doing it just to spite him. He knew it. It'd been a while since she pulled him into the supply closet or came around when he was the only one home. But if that was how she was going to be, let her. It all started when he brought Maddy to hang out with them. But then Maddy disappeared for a week and he met that girl Peggy. It snowballed from there. But if Camille was just going to end things so abruptly between them then there was nothing wrong with him getting shit-faced with Madison right? Who knew if he would even drink that much, but still, Camille couldn't complain if she saw them together.

"Sometimes," She said, "being aware of the world sucks. If it's not personal shit, the world is ending somewhere for someone on the news, and if isn't the news, then it's personal. The world sucks, my life sucks. Everything is just one big parade of suck."

"Why does your life suck?" He inquired. Their eyes met through the mirror again and she blew smoke from her nose. Logan smiled slightly, it looked amusing to him.

She shrugged and looked back out the window. "Lots of reasons."

"Like?"

"It's a bit complicated, dear."

"I'm smart." Logan shrugged, "I think I can keep up."

Madison shook her head and took another drag. "It's not… I'm not… ready." She finished quietly. "Maybe one day, I'll talk about it. Who knows, maybe one day I'll tell you. I like talking to you. But now, I just, I can't."

A worried feeling overcame him as he frowned. What happened to her? Why was she so damaged?

"Alright, guys got you some Heineken, and top o' the line tequila, its Blanco or something like that. I don't know. As long as it's got alcohol I'll drink it usually." Joseph got back into the car and handed the bottles back to Madison. She took them and thanked him.

By the time they got back to the Palm Woods, the sun was almost down. It'd been late when they set out. Logan gave the keys back to Joseph.

"You two kiddies have fun." Joseph said, "I'm off to blaze."

Logan didn't know how Bitter didn't ever say anything to those two boys, but maybe they were bribing him. Bitters could use something to make him relax. But the thought of it was so ridiculous Logan almost laughed out loud.

"Want to sit by the pool?" Madison asked.

By now the pool was empty, and it was a school night so bon fires were not allowed. They would have the entire pool area alone.

"Sure."

Outside, Madison lit up another cigarette. Logan wondered how many of them she smoked in a day. How did she have the money to buy more if she didn't work? Well, just because she didn't work in show business didn't mean she didn't work, Logan just never heard any mention of a job.

He decides to drop Hortence Logan Henderson for the night and just be Logan. To hell with rules, and consequences. He'd step out of his shell tonight even if there was hell to pay tomorrow.

"Can I have one?" He asked.

Madison quirked her brow, "I thought you didn't smoke?"

"I don't."

"Logan –"

"Just tonight. We don't have to go to the studio tomorrow, I'll be fine."

She looked uncertain, but hesitantly handed over the pack. He took one out and put it between his lips. It felt odd. She lit up her own and then held the lighter flame beneath his.

He took it out and said, "How do I do this?"

She laughed, "Just suck on it."

He was surprised at how steady his hands were because on the inside he was freaking out. He put it back in his mouth and sucked on it. The embers on the end of the stick lit up and he felt his lungs being filled with everything but air.

He took it out and coughed violently. It tasted terrible, and his throat already hurt from coughing. Why was he doing this?

Madison put her hand on his back and scooted closer, her cigarette still hanging on her lips. She took hers out between her middle and index finger, "Are you okay?"

He nodded and coughed again.

"Let me put it out." She tried to reach for his, but he held it from her and shook his head. "No, it's okay. Come on, I have to smoke at least one whole cigarette before I turn eighteen."

She shook her head, a hint of a smile evident. Madison pulled out the six pack and held a bottle up to him, "Can you get the top off?"

Logan put the cigarette back in his mouth and tried his best to hold in the smoke, to keep from coughing. He popped off the bottle cap and gave it back to her. She took the cigarette from her mouth and drank from the bottle like she'd been doing it for her whole life. Maybe she had, but to Logan, it was kind of sad. Madison was only sixteen, what in her life was terrible that drove her to drinking herself away on the nights she couldn't handle the pain of reality?

He took his own beer out after that. He was still coughing slightly, but by his fourth drag it was a little bit easier from him to inhale it. But he didn't know how people did this every day, or at all. It hurt and tasted terrible. Not to mention caused multiple diseases.

He drank from the glass bottle. The taste wasn't much better than that of the cigarette. He forced himself to swallow. It wasn't the first time Logan drank. He'd gone to his first party with James at the beginning of their sophomore year. James hadn't pressure him to drink, but James was fucked up before the night ended. He's also gotten laid before they left as well. But Logan had been standing awkwardly next to a bunch of upper classmen that he didn't know when they pulled him into the garage for a game of beer pong. Logan had won; he'd only been tipsy by the time they left. But the two teenage boys had stumbled down the street together, Logan laughing every time James fell over. James had been an asshole back then too, but just not as much as he was as of late. Or maybe it was just Logan. James was the same as he had always been, but it was Logan who was changing. Wanting to be different. But he'd never done anything about it. Every time James did something that was expected or typical of him to do, Logan grew irritated, classified him as an asshole. It was just Logan getting tired of being everyone's punching bag.

But Madison didn't know that side of Logan. She was getting to know a side of him that Logan himself didn't even know. Maybe it was a good thing.

"Aren't we supposed to drink the liquor first?" Logan asked taking the long glass bottle of tequila in his hands.

Madison shrugged, "I never did it that way."

Logan figured she was the expert, he'd only been drank that once.

They finished the six pack together and moved on to the tequila.

"Vodka's gross." She said lying back on the ground. "I'd much rather just chug tequila."

Logan was feeling buzzed by now. He wasn't drunk, not yet anyways, but his body felt loose and warm. He and Madison struggled to open the bottle and giggled when they finally did. Since getting drunk all had to do with body mass, Logan reckoned that Madison would be farther gone than him, but she seemed to be holding her own.

She put the bottle to her lips and looked deep into Logan's eyes as she drank. He took the bottle from her, keeping her gaze and drank as well. She took the bottle back from him, "Thanks, Hortence."

"Don't call me that, Madison."

She scrunched up her nose. "I don't like being called that."

"I don't like Hortence."

"I do." She said softly.

She was closer to him than Logan remembered when they started. But he didn't mind, why would he? She was gorgeous, in fact he longed to reach out and touch her. She put her hand on his thigh and his body caught fire. Bottle in her hand, hand on his thigh and dark eyes.

He kissed her. How could he not? Her lips hanging just slightly ajar, that look in her eyes, he had to. Or maybe Logan was just an opportunist. Their lips touched gently, pressing together, holding for a few seconds. He closed his eyes. When he opened them, hers fluttered open as well. She set the bottle down and took a gentle hold with both hands on either side of his face. Their noses touched, he could feel her warm breath on his lips. She smelled like cigarettes and alcohol, but he was pretty sure he smelled the same.

He didn't wait for her to close the distance; he put his hands on her and pulled her closer. She ended up in his lap, legs around his waist, his arms around her back, pressing her close against him. He could feel her spine and the definition of her ribs, but he was too drunk now to worry. Their lips were meshed together, teeth clashing, tongues battling. It was unlike Logan anything Logan had done before. He felt like a different person there with the alcohol running through his veins, his second cigarette smoking beside them, forgotten in the heat of the moment. A girl like Madison in his lap, Logan never thought the day would come. Kissing Camille was great, she'd taught him how to do it, but it was a completely different feel with Madison, like he was a rebel. There was the fear and excitement that anyone could walk outside and find them like that. Hands roaming each other's bodies in ways that probably wouldn't be allowed if they were sober. The kiss too sloppy, too much saliva, too much teeth, too much tongue, but just enough passion. If someone saw them, they'd think they were trying to eat each other. But maybe that was an accurate description deep in the crevices of her mouth past the cigarettes and tequila, he could taste Madison.

"What are you doing?"

They didn't pull away quickly; in fact Logan wouldn't have cared if they didn't even respond to whoever it was. He was drunk, high off of Madison.

Jo stood there, hand on her hip, wearing a pair of stripped pajama bottoms and a t-shirt that Logan vaguely recognized as Kendall's.

"Hey Jo." Logan slurred.

"Are you drunk?" She asked incredulously.

"Naw, naw, well, yeah, maybe just a little. You want some? We've still, got some… somewhere…."

"Logan, everyone has been wondering where you are, go back to 2J."

"I'm not a fucking baby, Josephine." He tightened his hold on Maddy. She was hiding her face, buried it in the crook of his neck, but she was still kissing him. She bit and Logan winced slightly, but he managed not to curse.

"Logan, get your ass back up stairs."

"Why are you down here?" He asked not moving.

"I forgot my towel, its laundry day tomorrow morning."

"Laundry, who does laundry? Mom's do laundry. Are you pregnant Jo?"

"Logan, get the fuck up before I get Bitters."

He stuck his tongue out at her but he did as he was told. He lifted Madison up, she wobbled, but held steady eventually. Logan tried to get himself up but fell over laughing. Jo gripped him harshly and pulled him to his feet. She took what was left of the bottle and dumped it into a plant behind her.

"No! Hey, we paid for that! Or actually, she paid for that, but-" Logan complained.

"Come on, back to 2J." Jo turned to Madison, "What floor do you live on?"

"Fourth."

Madison held on to Logan's arm to steady herself, but it didn't help much, Logan was hardly stable. She laced her fingers with his once again. Logan felt a lazy drunk smile replace the scowl on his lips.

Jo dropped him off in front of 2J first.

"Wait, what about Maddy?"

"I'm taking her, I live on the fourth floor too, remember?" Jo said shaking her head. She was much gentler with Maddy than she was with Logan. But still, their hands were torn apart.

Logan stumbled inside the dark apartment. He tripped over something and laughed much louder than he should have. He shushed himself and tried to find his way in the dark, but it was futile. He tripped again and ended up on the floor, rolling around laughing.

"Logan?" Carlos flipped on a light. Logan continued to laugh.

"Dude, are you drunk?"

"Are you drunk?" Logan shot back, words slurred together to a point where they were almost unintelligible.

"What's going on?" Kendall and James came out in to the hall rubbing their eyes.

"I'm a wee bit tipsy." Logan said with an English accent.

"Fuck that, you're wasted."

"'M not! Oh, wait, I don't feel good." Logan scrambled on to all fours. He gagged.

"Oh shit!" James exclaimed, the three boys picked Logan up and as he began to heave.

"Mom!" Kendal called.

A/N: So, this chapter was kind of long, huh? Well, lot's longer than the others. But I liked it. Hope you did too. I just figured Jo was short for Josephine. I may be wrong lol.

Reviews?