Logan

30. To Be Alone

*Damien's POV*

I was confused as to why Logan had said the name 'Jacob' and when Natalie went off with him, I volunteered to ride back with Alex and Alberto, hoping that I could possibly get an explanation out of one of them...

"Alex, I hate to ask, but who's Jacob?" I saw him grimace in the glare from an oncoming car behind us, and as it passed, he stared back at me, where I was sitting alone in the backseat.

"Jacob is Natalie's ex-boyfriend. He was, to put it simply, abusive. I don't know exactly what was going on, and I doubt she'll ever tell me. At some point, she just stopped being happy and she started blocking everyone off. She was ignoring my calls, my texts, she barely responded even when Mom and Dad would drive to his apartment looking for her. When they saw the bruises, she made excuses. Natalie would explain in such detail that she fell, or tripped. But my Dad had an abusive father, and he picked up on her movements and her speech. When Jacob put her in the hospital, that was the last straw for my dad. He went to Jacob's apartment personally. Dad had some police friends go to the apartment later to pick up her things, and told him to stay away. Natalie broke up with him, and everything kind of went back to normal. She was withdrawn for a few months, but she never really got back to her usual self. Actually, she was kind of returning to her normal self until..."

I saw him hold his breath for a moment, stealing a glance at AB before looking back at me again.

"The accident... she's been a lot more withdrawn. She wasn't a social butterfly before all this but... I mean, my sister is physically alright, but she seems to get tired a lot easier now. And there are good days... and really, really bad days." I nodded, patting Alex's shoulder before slumping back in the seat "Besides that nightmare, she hasn't had a single bad day since meeting you. And I can't thank you enough for that."

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*Logan's POV*

I knew the moment that she told me she got hurt, that it was my fault, and I felt terrible for it. The road jarred me for a moment, the sound of the bumps grinding in my ears.

"Watch out, Logan!" Natalie's hand was out, across my chest, braced for impact "You're swerving, can you please watch the road? If you want, we can switch," she whispered the last few words, and I put my hand on her leg for a second before pulling it away.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm just thinking about some things, that's all." I ran a hand through my hair for a moment, refocusing on the road before changing the subject.

"Are you hungry at all?" I asked, fumbling around for my wallet. "We can go wherever you want?"

She shook her head for a moment, "I don't know where I want to go. I'm not sure I even want to go inside. I just want to go home and rest."

"We don't have to go inside, Nat, we can just get drive thru and go back to your place." She nodded, pulling out something from her purse.

"I've got coupons for a few places. I just can't make up my mind." I glanced at the coupons from the road lights flashing by, and decided.

"Why not just get what we want from wherever." I watched her laugh every time I ordered with a dramatic falsetto at the end, Queen style. Freddie Mercury was the man.

Everyone else was at my house, even Alex and Scarlet's cars, which meant more alone time with Natalie for me. I pulled into her driveway, and I opened my door, running to the side to grab hers.

"You don't have to do that every time, you know." She smiled at me, holding one of the food bags.

I grabbed the drink carrier, "I want to. I'm supposed to be your boyfriend you know, a gentleman opens the door for his lady."