MFT 2/ Final Class

Jake's arrival

In a short time I arrived back at my apartment. There was no one there and I concluded that Presley had gone for a walk with Shadow. I myself was depressed and felt guilty for Kendall's accident and was glad to be alone in my apartment for a few minutes. Although this did not improve or change my feelings of guilt in any way. I, as Kendall's teacher and firm friend, failed to take care of him enough and now he is in the hospital and will most likely have surgery. All because I had taken it into my head to go on a field trip with both classes. Along with my guilt, I retreated to the bedroom so as not to be immediately discovered by Presley. She didn't need to know about the event. I had to deal with it myself and would just need time to process everything. In my bed, I lay down and tried to sleep, to convince myself that it was all just a bad nightmare, but my thoughts wouldn't let me rest. In addition, I heard someone unlock the apartment door and I could hear Shadow barking. Presley was back and I hoped I wouldn't have to explain to her why I was already in bed. Shadow scratched at the bedroom door, sensing that something was wrong. My sister asked what was wrong, but Shadow barked again as he was eager to join me in the room. Afterwards I heard the door handle being pushed down and Shadow stood next to me and looked at me. He didn't know what had happened but he put his head next to mine and cuddled up to me.

His affection felt reassuring and made me feel safe. "Logan?" asked Presley, hesitantly entering the dark bedroom. I didn't bother to answer and just lay still. "Are you not feeling well or did something happen?" she asked, sitting down on the narrow edge of the bed on my side. I didn't look at her and tried to ignore her questions. Instead of asking more questions, she gently stroked my back and seemed to understand that I didn't want to talk. The evening flew by and eventually Presley was lying in bed next to me and seemed to be reading a book, which interested her. My position was the same as it had been a few hours ago and I had no intention of changing it. Mrs. Knight's words kept flashing through my head and I felt the pain on my cheeks again. When my cell phone vibrated on my nightstand with the blue light, I knew Kendall had texted me. Hesitantly, I picked up my phone and looked at the screen where the message from him shone out. "Why did you leave? I miss you," I read, feeling bad. "Fuck!", I yelled out and threw my phone on the floor. Luckily for me, the carpet caught the impact and would reduce the damage on the smartphone. I buried my head in my pillow afterwards, not daring to look at Presley. No matter how engrossed Pres was in her book at the moment, she definitely caught this freak out, thereupon putting her book aside and turning her attention to me. "Logan, what has gotten into you?" she asked in shock, and I felt her gaze on me. In my head, I was watching the scenario of Kendall and Derek's fight again. The way Derek hit him with his hard fists and Kendall passed out as a result was killing me. I lost my temper and couldn't hold back my tears as well as my sobs. "Logan, are you crying?", I heard Presley ask. When I didn't answer, I felt Presley's arms wrap around my body and she snuggled up to me. Through this touch, in a way, she managed to make me fall asleep, so I didn't have to think about anything for a few hours.

In the middle of the night I woke up with a start from a nightmare and tried to get my breathing back under control. My dream consisted of Mrs. Knight throwing things at me again and I could see Kendall dead in front of me. Deceased from his severe injuries from the fight. Presley's arms were wrapped around my left arm, which I gently removed from me and then walked into the living room. Once there, I grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the available storage space on a small side table. I knew I shouldn't drink but according to the current emotional state, it couldn't get any worse. To that end, I took a generous sip of the golden liquid and then coughed. I never drank a large amount of alcohol in one gulp and couldn't help but cough briefly. Two hours later, I thought I heard something in the background, but dismissed that thought and took another generous sip of alcohol. "Are you drinking?", I heard Presley's voice and saw that she was suddenly standing next to me. "Yes," I answered curtly, avoiding her gaze. "Is that how you're going to solve your problem? Has alcohol ever helped with that? I don't think so put the bottle away right now and go back to bed," she explained, trying to snatch the whiskey out of my hand. "I need the whiskey to calm down," I replied slurring my words and holding the bottle tightly in my hand, which Presley tried in vain to snatch from me. "Logan, give me the bottle and we'll find another solution to fix your problem," Pres said firmly, but I didn't listen. "The solution is the alcohol and now leave me alone," I said with a raised volume in my voice, but Presley wasn't deterred. "Logan you put that bottle away and you will come back into the bedroom with me," my little sister stressed sternly. "Leave me alone!", I yelled, pushing her back a little. "Fine, if you don't want to listen to your sister, then get drunk on the whiskey and go into a coma at worst. It's only your health that's at stake!" she shouted and closed the bedroom door again with a bang.

Presley POV:

My sleep was fitful and I woke up in the wee hours of the morning. According to my cell phone, it was only 7am, but I decided to get up and check on Logan. It's a big red flag when he resorts to alcohol and, once he was drunk, he couldn't be talked into anything. With shaking hands, I pushed the door handle down and entered the dark living room. With the help of a small lamp next to the bedroom, I managed to bring a little light into the darkness. With slow steps I approached the couch and saw Logan lying on it. His hair was completely disheveled, his shirt was covered with some stains and he was snoring softly. He never did unless he had a rough night before. On the table next to him was the half-empty bottle of whiskey he had drunk that night. All because you don't manage to talk about your problems, I thought to myself and took the bottle to the kitchen and would dispose of it later so that he wouldn't get that stupid idea again. After a glass of orange juice, I grabbed Shadow's leash and took him for a walk. Logan wouldn't wake up for the next two hours and would continue to lie on the couch like a half-dead man. Dressed in my thick winter jacket and gloves on my hands, I roamed a few parks with Shadow, enjoying the crisp yet cold winter air. After about 1 1/2 hours I arrived back at the apartment block and saw a familiar car parked in the lot. Instantly I got a big smile on my face and walked with quick steps towards Jake, who was just lifting his suitcase out of the trunk. "Jake," I greeted him, hugging him with joy. "Presley, my little girl. It's so good to see you again," Jake mentioned, wrapping me in his arms. "I'm so happy to see you but aren't you supposed to arrive tomorrow?", I asked a little confused. "I told you guys I would arrive on 12/23. You two didn't listen to me again," Jake stated with a grin on his face. "Possibly we got the days mixed up," I admitted, looking down at the floor a moment later. "Where's your brother?" he asked as he approached the apartment block with me.

"In the apartment. He's probably still sleeping," I replied, unlocking the large front door and then entering Logan's apartment with him. Jake took off his jacket and put his suitcase down in a corner of the apartment. A moment later, he caught sight of Logan on the couch and had to grin slightly. "Did you kick him out of his bed?" he asked, amused as he eyed Logan. "Actually, it was Logan's decision to spend the rest of the night on the couch," I replied and Jake looked at me confused. "The rest of the night?". "Yes. Jake I'm going to be honest with you. When I got home last night, Logan was acting pretty weird. He laid in his bed all night, didn't eat or drink anything, and had an emotional outburst. He didn't tell me what had happened and in the middle of the night I caught him drinking alcohol," I told him and he looked at me with wide eyes. "What did he have?" he asked, stunned, putting his hands on my shoulders. "Logan drank half a bottle of whiskey last night alone. When I tried to snatch the bottle from him, he yelled at me and pushed me backwards." "Did something happen to you?" asked Jake worriedly, looking at me. "No. I just want to know what happened yesterday," I mentioned and Jake nodded. "I see, I'll talk to him when he's awake. Are you hungry? I brought rolls," Jake changed the subject and I sat down at the dining room table and had breakfast with him. After about an hour, Logan woke up and we first heard him cough. After that, the coughing turned into retching and we realized that he just threw up. "I'm glad I never had to experience that with you," Jake mentioned as I got him wipes and a bucket from the kitchen and went to Logan. "Spit it all out in the bucket boy," Jake said as he stroked Logan's back. Before the stench of vomit could spread through the apartment, I decided to open a window and tried not to throw up myself. After a few minutes Logan calmed down again and we were curious what he would tell us now.