Open Doors

Chapter 19

The bathroom light was on as Dee walked into the house. "Weird." He whispered, making his way that direction. Curiosity was going to kill him one day but, well, he should have been dead already so what was the harm. Pushing the door open he was only slightly surprised to see Logan standing there. His hand was shaking as he held a straight razor to his arm, it had not yet pierced his skin. Logan's eyes were filled with fear and pain as he turned to look at Dee.

"Hey, it's okay." There were so many different thoughts going through Dee's head, and for a second he couldn't help but see Virgil standing there with that same look of pain and fear. "It's okay. I'll take that burden from you." Dee held his hand out, waiting patiently for Logan to give him the razor.

Logan seemed to hesitate, his eyes confused and hopeless. His knuckles were white as he clung to the blade. Dee didn't move. He kept his hand out calmly, not saying a word, giving Logan time to think. Finally, the tall man handed over the razor, slowly backing up, and sitting on the toilet. Logan hid his face in his hands, devastated by what he had almost done. He had been warring with his own mind, trying not to fall back into bad habits. He was so thankful Dee stepped in. Having someone else here made his battle easier to fight.

'There it is,' Dee thought to himself, making note of the deep scar on Logan's arm. Just the one scar, but it looked painful and mangled. He suspected Logan would intentionally cut the same spot. It was right where Virgil thought it would be, and Virgil had said Logan would be smart about hiding it. One cut was easier to hide than many.

"You can talk to me." Dee said softly. "I know you don't trust me, and that's fine, were basically strangers. That means I have no investment in your life, which also means, logically, you can say anything, and I won't care."

Logan looked up as him with a slightly broken smile. "You are a strange human Dee." He choked out, reaching for his shirt to put it back on. "I'm not sure..." His voice faded out, fingers clinging around the material.

Sure he had been here less than a week, but Dee had to admit, it was strange to see Logan break down like this. "Then I'll talk. Virgil gets like this sometimes." He said softly, jumping up on the counter and looking at Logan. "He doesn't like to talk about why, so I talk." Dee stretched with a yawn. "What about? Oh I know, you seem like someone who would enjoy learning the history of stage magic." Dee began to talk, allowing himself to ramble about a subject he would never admit he liked. He was actually very good at performance magic, but Virgil was the only one who knew. As a kid, he had had posters of Houdini in his bedroom and in his freshman year of high school he had even performed in the school talent show. Dee had no intention of telling Logan all of that, but he could talk about the history and theory of magic for hours. Thankfully, he didn't have to. After about ten minutes, Logan seemed to visibly relax and almost enjoy listening to Dee speak.

"Well, I think that is enough for me," he said with a smirk. "You should be heading to bed."

"S... sorry," Logan said with a yawn. He realized he was finally tired. "But thank you. I immensely appreciate the help tonight."

He shrugged. "Let me know if you feel like using that for unintended purposes. Anytime, night or day. It would make my brother sad if he knew you were damaging such delicate skin, and I don't like to see Virge sad."

That seemed to wake Logan up a bit. "I'm not sure why it would bother Virgil."

Dee rolled his eyes. "Well you are the smartest one here, if you don't see anything I'm sure it must be nothing." He slid off of the counter. It wasn't his job to get his brother a boyfriend, besides, if Logan was still being harassed by his abusive ex, another boyfriend so soon might not be a good idea. Dee did not want to see Virgil hurt. "You should head to bed."

Logan nodded, watching as Dee left. The feeling of loneliness washed over Logan was again, but it wasn't as strong. Rather than consuming him, it gnawed gently at the back of his mind, easily pushed back by the other thoughts in his head. What had Dee meant? He knew Virgil was his friend and wouldn't like the fact that he felt pushed to self harm again. Grabbing his arm weakly Logan continued his thought; Dee had made it seem like it was more than just a friendly thing. Was Logan ready for something more than friends?

He closed his eyes tight. Logically speaking, if Virgil did like him beyond friends, he would be willing to wait for Logan to figure out where he stood on the matter. He wouldn't push the subject, and if he did, he wasn't the type of partner that Logan wanted anyway. After Lewis, did he want another partner? He had given so much to Lewis, even compromised areas of comfortability to make Lewis happy. Was he ready to take those risks again?

His thoughts continued to buzz through his head, but at some point he must have fallen asleep. He was rudely awoken by the sound of his alarm clock. Maybe, for the first time in a very long time, he should call in sick.

AN: I really don't have much to say after this one. I hope you enjoyed it!