Hi, I am back with the last chapter of the story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
James is a nice guy, or so he likes to think. He never thinks ill thoughts of anyone, not even those uglier than him, but right now he is ready to kill Logan. For some reason the guy is having the hardest time accepting the fact that he's good-looking.
James understands that Logan has always been praised for his brain, but the reason they do is most likely because no one thought someone with such good looks could have a brain that takes him from merely sexy to damn attractive. If James weren't so sure of himself, he'd be really jealous of Logan.
"Dude, what do you see in that mirror? This is like the 5th time I've asked you. Tell me already."
Logan has been staring at himself in the mirror for over 20 minutes now. He loves how homey the bathroom is, but damn, can he leave already? James has some bright idea that if he looks at himself long enough, he will finally be in the mindset to see all of his 'positives', but right now all he can see are his 'negatives'.
He hates how his face looks. He hates how scrunchy his eyes are and how long the bridge of his nose is. The longer he looks at himself, the more these things begin to isolate themselves.
"I see small eyes and a really long nose." He finally answers. "Plus my hair and eyes are boring. Why couldn't I have cool eyes like you?"
James can't believe he's hearing. "Are you kidding me, dude? You look awesome." James walks up behind Logan and puts his hands on his friend's shoulders. "How can you not see how handsome you are?" He chooses to ignore the look Logan gives him and moves on, "Maybe you're looking too close…." He says to himself.
And that's how Logan finds himself spun around and being squeezed by his friend in a semi-awkward hug. "James, what the hell are you doing?"
The guy only squeezes tighter. "I think you will become comfortable with yourself if you can hug me without feeling weird about it. So put your arms around me and calm your heart rate."
"What kind of logic is that?" He says into his friend's shoulder, squirming to get out of the constricting hold.
He rolls his eyes, "Just do it, Logan." James tightens the hold. "Come on. Hug me back."
Logan finally gives. He takes a breath and wraps his arms around him.
A few long minutes of silence pass and the hug is still as awkward as ever.
"Your heart is still beating really fast. Calm down."
"This is weird, James. This is really freaking weird, James." Logan is on the verge of sweating through his clothes. His heart won't slow down for anything.
James decides to make it weirder by starting to rub his back. "You are an awesome guy and you're super smart." He says, closing his eyes and resting his head on top of Logan's. "You are handsome and anyone would be lucky to have you."
"Are you flirting with me?" Logan asks playfully, loosening up some.
James laughs, "Maybe a little, but it's true." He says. "You are good enough just as you are. Okay?"
"Uh-huh."
"Say it, Logan."
He doesn't say anything. He doesn't want to say something he doesn't believe.
"Logan, just say it." James is getting a little annoyed with Logan's self-dislike. How can someone look like Logan, be as smart as Logan, be as sweet as Logan, and not like who they are?
Logan huffs, "I don't think I'm handsome or awesome. The only good thing about me is my brain and even that isn't as up to par as some of the other geniuses around the world. I'm not good enough."
"I can't believe I'm hearing this." James breaks the hug and storms out of the bathroom. "Follow me." He says.
"What did I get myself into?" Logan isn't happy about this situation at all. He knows James means well, but what's the point of doing this? So he doesn't like who he is, doesn't mean it's going to negatively affect his life, aside from the whole taunting Kendall thing.
Logan follows James into the living room and sits on the couch. He's eyeing his friend, who's sitting on the far end of the sofa with his arms folded. "Don't be mad at me. I'm sorry if this whole 'love myself' thing is proving to be more difficult than you expected, but I'm fine."
"How can you even open your mouth to say you're fine? You are not fine, Logan. You are the most awesome guy ever and you don't see it. You don't even like yourself and I don't get why." James can't even look at his friend right now. "This is not working out like I'd thought." He rubs his temples, "Go home, Logan."
That catches the his attention, "What do you mean?" Logan asks.
"I mean that I want you to go home. We'll try again another day." James says, finally looking at him. "You have a problem and I just need some time to figure out how I can help you through it."
In a childlike voice, Logan asks, "Are you mad at me?"
James' heart melts. In this moment he's never been more reminded of Liam. He launches himself at his friend and puts him in another vice grip of a hug.
Logan returns it just as strong without even thinking about it.
James starts to well up a little. "No, I'm not mad. Just give me some time and I will call you when I'm ready."
Logan nods and breaks the hug. "Okay, but recognize that I just hugged you and it wasn't weird. I'd call that progress." He pats his shoulder and leaves the apartment.
It's dark outside, a grossly rainy day.
James is curled up on his couch with a blanket. His hair is all over the place and his eyes are red and droopy, as if he hasn't slept in days. He wants to sleep, but he can't. The nightmares of Jett and Logan at the bottom of the stairs are stuck in his head. Seeing Logan bleed out on the ground brought back thoughts of his little brother. Why did this have to happen to Logan?
Carlos walks out of the kitchen with a bowl of his famous tomato soup in his hands. He sits next to his friend on the couch and taps his shoulder. "Come on, James. Sit up."
James groans. He doesn't care about food or anything now that his little buddy isn't with him anymore. "Just leave me alone."
"James, you can't live your life like this forever, it's already been 3 weeks. You need to start living your life again." When he doesn't react, Carlos keeps speaking, " If this is about Logan, just go visit him, it's not like he's going anywhere." Carlos says as he sits the bowl of soup on the table.
James sits up angrily and glares at Carlos, "How could you say that about him?"
Carlos rolls his eyes, "Dude, he's in a coma. Why don't you look on the bright side? At least he's not dead."
James closes his eyes and exhales. "True."
Carlos picks up the soup with a smile. "Good, now eat your soup." He holds the bowl out.
James' eyes shift to the cutest puppy-dog look ever, "Will you feed me?"
He giggles, "Sure." Carlos is the best person. He has his flaws, but he always tries to be the best he can. He picks up a spoonful of soup, "Open wide." He sings as the spoon nears James' lips.
James wraps his lips around the spoon. His eyes close in bliss. "Oh my god, this soup is damn good." He pushes the blanket off him and grabs the bowl from Carlos. "So good." He whispers as he scarfs it down.
"Freaking weirdo." Carlos shakes his head and goes back to the kitchen.
Kendall, Carlos, and James are standing in Logan's hospital room. Thank God for James' good looks and his charm. The three guys are watching their friend sleep. It's a little creepy, but they don't care. Their friend is in a coma and it hurts to see him so vulnerable.
"Hey, Logan." Kendall begins. He walks next to his friend and gently lays a hand on his shoulder, needing to make sure he was still alive. "I miss you, man. Please wake up soon, okay? With Jett being gone, we need you…I need you." He gives Logan a friendly pat and looks back to his friends with a sad smile. "I'll leave you guys alone." Kendall leaves the room before the tears can fall.
"This is your chance to get it all out, okay?" Carlos gives James a pat on the back and follows Kendall out.
James nods and walks closer to the bed. He starts to cry, "I'm sorry this happened to you, Logan. I'm sorry I came into your life and ruined everything. I promise that when you wake up, I will make this up to you." James breaks down. It takes some time, but he pulls himself together. He wipes his eyes, "I promise I will make this up to you."
Carlos grabs Kendall's hand and leads him down the hall to the waiting room. Kendall looks at Carlos with a tight-lipped smile, knowing that Carlos needs the comfort. He tightens the hold as they take a seat.
"I still can't believe he's dead. We've known him for years and now he's gone. And Logan's in coma. Why did this have to happen to us?" Carlos says.
Kendall blinks rapidly to hide the stinging in his eyes, "I know, Carlitos. I miss Jett too."
Carlos notices the tears rolling down Kendall's face and whines as he gives him a hug. "I hate this. The funeral was nice though. I'm glad that he was loved, even if he caused all this."
"That's debatable." Kendall sniffles, "If I didn't have to go and punish him, he might not have attacked Logan. And if I didn't make Logan mad, he wouldn't have left and we could've avoided all of this."
Carlos tightens the hug, "Don't say that…I guess in a way it was no one's fault. It's a crappy accident. Don't blame yourself. Okay?"
Kendall nods and weakly says, "Okay, Carlitos. I won't."
Logan wakes up all alone on a Sunday. It's been 3 months since the accident and he's finally awake. He's exhausted and alone, but he's in his right mind and he's happy that he didn't have to wake up to people crying all around him. He doesn't want to feel like he's on his deathbed. He doesn't want anyone mourning over the fact that he's in the hospital, especially not his mom.
Where is my mom? Is she okay? I hope she's all right.
He pressed the call button for the nurse and immediately one came into the room.
"Hi, Mr. Mitchell. It's good to see you're awake." The nurse was beautiful with her brown hair and matching eyes, and her smile that reminded him of his mother's, which only makes the situation more pressing.
"Where is my mom?" He asked with a scratchy voice.
The nurse pulled up a chart and checked some things off before she looks into his eyes, "Your mom is doing okay. She actually just left to get some food not too long ago. I'm sure she'll be back any minute." She scans the chart for a second longer, "Okay, well I believe you're doing well. Are you in any pain?"
Logan shook his head, "No. I feel kind of numb." He says simply.
The nurse nods, "Okay. I will go get your doctor." She gives him a cute smile and leaves the room.
"I hope my mom's okay." He mumbles, suddenly feeling tired. He takes a breath and passes out.
James is sitting alone in the hospital cafeteria eating a salad. He's playing on his phone to not look like a complete loser because he's eating by himself, not that the four other people in the room actually care about what he's doing.
It's a sad sight to see. James is normally the handsome one with a pretty smile and a confident air around him, but now he's broken. He's sitting quietly like the anti-social nerds he used to make fun of back in high school. Now he's one of the "Logans", one of the lonely ones, and it makes his heart hurt even more for all the kids he bullied.
"Hi, James. Can I sit with you?"
He looks up to see Joanna Mitchell standing in front of him. His dazzling smile makes a comeback for a moment, "Hi, Joanna. How have you been lately?" He pushes his salad away.
Logan's mom sits across from James, putting her purse in the seat next to her. "I've been a lot better. My son has been in a comatose state for over 4 weeks and I'm going just a little crazy without him. Our house has never been more quiet, but I guess it's something to get used to." She takes a shaky breath, willing herself not to cry. "One day he'll move out and I'll be alone anyway."
James frowns and reaches across the table, taking her hand in his. It's a comforting feeling. "I think you need to take some time for yourself, Joanna. We've been friends for a while and I know for a fact that you've turned down a few good men for the sake of Logan. He wants you to be happy." He tightens the hold on her hand and looks deeply into her eyes, wanting to be taken seriously, "Allow yourself to be happy."
Joanna starts to cry. She nods, knowing that she needs to learn to do some good things for herself.
He smiles, "Good." He takes his hand back. "Now, I have something I want to run past you."
James, Kendall, and Carlos are fixing up a huge 4-bedroom apartment. The place is spacious with large windows to let in a maximum amount of sun.
Kendall and Carlos just put the finishing touches on the living room and are now lounging on the blue sofa.
"Dudes, this place is freaking awesome. Why didn't you buy me something like, James? We've been friends forever." Kendall asks with a hint of laughter in his voice.
James, who just came out of the back room, only smiled. "You didn't almost die on me." He looks around the wide living room and the dining room area. "This looks good."
"Totally!" Carlos says. "This is the greatest bachelor pad ever. We should all move in here with him."
Kendall laughs, "Only if the warden will allow it, Carlitos. 'It's for Logan, not for you losers.'" He says, repeating James' words. Kendall and Carlos make eye contact, "Wanna push me down a flight of stairs? I'll let you move in with me."
James rolls his eyes, "Don't even joke about that."
"Yeah, you never know when someone with sensitive ears will walk into the room and start crying." Logan says from the door.
The three boys jump at the sound of the boy's voice.
"Logan!" James shouts, practically teleporting to the boy and giving him a rough hug. He pulls back and slings an arm over the boy's shoulder. "So how do you like this place?" He asks.
Carlos and Kendall nod at each other and decide to keep their mouths shut until further notice.
"Uh…" Logan looks around the place with childlike eyes. "It looks really cool. It's like a game room and a loft all in one." He turns to James, "The sexy white carpeting is a nice touch." He grins.
Carlos opens his mouth to comment on Logan's new found confidence, but promptly closes it.
James is happy he likes it, "Great. It's yours."
Logan's mouth falls open, his jaw practically hitting the floor. "Huh?"
Not able to keep his mouth shut anymore, Carlos speaks up, "James bought this huge ass apartment for you, dude. It has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and your room has the biggest bathroom I've ever seen with a hot tub. If you say no to this place, I will be forced to guilt trip you into taking it." He says in one breath.
Logan nods and bursts out into laughter.
Kendall shrugs and joins in, "We know you've only been out of the hospital for a few weeks, but I think you should take it. We've all grieved over Jett and you being in a coma for three months, but now you're awake and okay. You're healthy, uninjured, and we can all start our lives together as friends.
"I already talked to your mom and she is 100% okay with you moving in, especially now that Jeffery is in her life. And don't worry about transportation, because the 2015 blue Lamborghini you passed on the way up is yours." James pulls the keys out of his pocket and holds them out for Logan.
The sensation of happiness overwhelms Logan, bringing tears to his eyes.
The three boys attack Logan with a group hug.
"It's okay to cry, Logie." Carlos says.
"Thank you guys so much." Logan manages to get out through his blubbering.
James breathes deeply, "I'm glad you like it."
The three boys step away from Logan to give him some space.
"I love it." He starts, "I just have one condition, James." Logan wipes away his tears.
"Anything." James says.
"No more stalking me."
This is the end. I hope you guys liked the story. I wish I had outlined it better from the beginning, but I like where and how it ended.
Please review!