smokin' | louigan

thirty

a/n: new year new chapter woohoo!

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angry red lines streaked across his right palm, reminding him of the glass he broke to pieces, reminding him of louise's arms wrapped around someone else. even as logan woke up next to her, tangled in the same sheets, he couldn't forget that. he just couldn't.

she was sleeping in his arms, short black hair tied back messily from her tan face. her eyelashes were long, pressed against her flushed cheeks. logan sighed, moving a hand to brush softly over the curve of her jaw.

she awoke in his arms that morning with a soft mewl. her eyes opened, large brown irises warm and brassy in the early morning light. a smile lifted the corners of her plump lips and quickly found his in a closed-mouth peck.

hours later his lips were still warm with the cinnamon taste of louise. of a woman who he once considered his mortal enemy, of a woman he now considered his match. her wit was exceptional, her intelligence beautiful.

even as he poured a customer some coffee, he couldn't get her out of his head. each time he returned to the window to place an order they'd share wide smiles and flushed cheeks. the itch for another cigarette was replaced with a longing for more late nights with louise, the little woman who flirted with him like the very smoke that tickled his lungs.

the bell above the door sounded. the pain of his hand seemed to tenfold as the redhead walked in.

rudy.

he was lanky, a few inches shorter than logan, with a small smile on his face. his hands were buried in the pockets of his maroon jeans.

louise slid out of the kitchen with two plates in hand. her hair was messily held back by a white clip, stained apron tied at the waist. she approached a table—an elderly couple—bit her lip at their intertwined hands. their smiles were watery like their aged eyes. she turned around and spotted rudy and logan talking at the counter.

"rudy!" louise stated and walked over. he pulled her to his side in a small squeeze and logan's thumb rubbed against the bandage wrapped around his palm. his arm remained around her small waist, the pain flowered into logan's hand.

"hey, lou." rudy's smile was wide, awkwardly stretching his pink cheeks.

"do you remember logan bush? he was a few years ahead of us in school." he nodded along and held out a pale hand to shake. 

"nice to see you." logan grimaced at rudy's tight hold on his injured hand. the two quickly retracted their hands and rudy turned to louise,

"i a-actually came here to invite you to a-a party of sorts, to celebrate my first year at college and, erm, m-my birthday." logan's brows furrowed as louise practically giggled over rudy's stuttering.

"sounds like fun." louise stuffed her hands into the pockets of the disheveled apron around her waist. rudy blinked in surprise before smiling wide. he quickly fumbled into his pocket and pulled out a piece of blue paper. rudy slipped it into her outstretched hand,

"awesome. see you then." and with a kiss to her flushed cheek, rudy exited the restaurant.

logan didn't know what to make of the bright smile on louise's flushed face. her brown eyes were practically sparkling in the fluorescent lights of the dingy restaurant. there was an element of anger, sure. but he's never seen a smile so bright, so warm, so happy.

and even if logan wasn't the reason for her smile, he was hellbent on making sure it stayed there.