The Book of Serendipity (One shot)

"Now boarding flight 356 to Houston, Texas." The speaker overhead squawked, the voice sounding very bored.

Logan turned to his brothers, both rising to their feet. "Ready?" he asked. Alex nodded, grabbing his bag from the floor next to him. Noah didn't reply, simply slung his backpack over his arm, not meeting his eyes.

"It'll be fine." Logan lied, placing his hand on his youngest brother's shoulder. "Just don't think about it."

Noah scowled at him, a bitter edge to his thoughts. He shook his hand off roughly and shoved past him. Logan's hand stayed suspended in the air a moment longer, the emptiness stinging and the same thoughts echoing in his head.

Let him be Alex told him. He has enough to deal with as it is.

Logan privately agreed. A little bit of help from his part wouldn't hurt.

Alex smirked, an eyebrow rising. This is Noah we're talking about. Come on.

Logan tried unsuccessfully to tune out his other brother's complaints. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to stay. Why couldn't they stay? He hadn't done anything wrong. It made Logan's hands shake with the urge to throttle him. Would he never learn?

He grabbed his bags from the floor, and walked towards to the scanners. When he was told to remove his belt and any other belongings that might contain metal, he noticed the security guard's eyes on him. Lust was written all over her face as he slowly undid the belt on the waistband of his jeans, deliberately taking his time.

When he looked over at her, she quickly glanced away, but her eyes trailed back to him as soon as she thought he wasn't looking. If it hadn't been his plane he was boarding, he might have offered to meet her in the bathroom for a more private scanning of his own. He sent a quick wink in her direction, enjoying the widening of her eyes.

Retrieving his belt, he looked over his shoulder to his brother.

Ready? He asked again.

Alex grimaced and Logan couldn't help but laugh silently to himself. If there was any weakness either of his siblings possessed, it was being suspended in the air. Never mind that they were flying in an airplane and that in case of any emergency, they could always ask a pretty flight attendant to help them relieve any stress.

"Sorry." he felt compelled to say. He paused for a moment, realizing how empty the platitude sounded before continuing. "I really am. Maybe if I had been more careful, we wouldn't have to leave. I know it's not what either of you wanted but-"

"Hey." Alex said, nudging Logan, cutting him off. "Relax. You did nothing wrong. It's just that, well, I know Noah. When he sets his mind to do something - anything - he doesn't really give a damn to what anybody says."

"That's what I don't understand." Logan confessed. "He's my brother. I should have seen something."

"Logan." Alex said. He stepped in front of him, placing both hands on his shoulders. "You did nothing wrong."

Logan hung his head. I can't agree with that.

Alex sighed, clearly exasperated, but said nothing more, just clapped him one more time before walking again.

Logan said nothing, just stared straight ahead. He tried not to listen to his brother's thoughts, but it was hard. He blamed himself too. Even though Logan was the one who looked out for both of them, Alex and Noah were closer, always had been. They talked about things that they wouldn't share with Logan. Not that he minded; there were some things that he was better of knowing. He half smiled, and glanced back to Noah, about to tell all the things they could now do with a clean record, but when he turned, there was nobody following them.