Boo

Ch. 19

"I came to my senses...hours later." Roman murmured lowly, still staring at the floor. "I was back in my apartment, Patton was holding me in his arms, wailing."

Remus laughed awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with Logan.

"I'm sorry, you didn't need to hear all that." Roman frowned, finally looking back at Logan. "I knew this would happen if I came in here."

"I understand, it must've been very traumatic for you." Logan told him.

"Patton says I should be over it by now." Roman murmured, sighing heavily.

"Wow, okay. Fuck you too, Patton." Remus scoffed.

"That's ridiculous." Logan assured him. "You need to recover on your own terms, not Patton's."

"You're right. I know Patton cares, but...sometimes it's easy to forget that." Roman grimaced. "I'm sorry, this--I came here to apologize, not to dump all my problems into your lap." Roman shook his head.

"You're fine, really." Logan assured him. "I'm glad you feel like you can open up to me."

"God, I've just been sat here rambling this whole time." Roman chuckled. "Why don't you tell me about yourself, Laura? What's your family like?"

"My family?" Logan frowned, looking away. He didn't even bother correcting Roman."It's functional, I suppose."

"Functional?" Roman parroted, furrowing his brow. "What does that mean?"

"We tolerate each other." Logan shrugged.

"That sounds more like a business than a family." Roman pointed out. "But you love each other, right?"

Logan pursed his lips, caught off guard.

The kettle went off.

Logan quickly stood up, rushing to pour the tea. He could feel Roman's eyes on his back, so he quickly stammered out a reply.

"Er, yeah. Yeah, we love each other." The words tasted bitter on his tongue, but he didn't dare take them back. "I'm their pride and joy."

"Only child?" Roman asked.

"Yeah," Logan said from the kitchen, taking out some tea bags, "always have been, always will be."

"...you know you can open up to me, right?" Roman told him gently, causing Logan to pause. "I opened up to you, I wanna repay the favor."

"Really, it's--" Logan turned, teacups in hand.

Remus was stood there, staring at Logan intently.

Logan, startled, jumped and dropped both of the cups. They shattered on the ground with a loud crash.

"Are you alright?!" Roman asked from the living room.

Logan glared at Remus, who snickered at him.

"Lewis?" Roman called again.

"No--Yeah--I'm fine!" Logan replied, kneeling down in front of the shattered cups.

Roman walked in, and his eyes instantly widened. "Oh god, did you burn yourself?"

"Thankfully, no." Logan sighed, gently picking up the larger pieces. "I did cause quite the mess, though."

"Oh, um," Roman grabbed some nearby paper towels, kneeling down as well, "let me help."

"No, you shouldn't--"

"Nonsense! I'm not just going to watch you handle this mess all by yourself!" Roman shook his head, tearing a paper towel off and wiping up some of the tea. He yanked his hand away, hissing. "Yikes. Hot."

"I tried to tell you." Logan sighed, shaking his head. "Just let me handle it."

Roman awkwardly stood up, just watching Logan clean the mess.

"I'm not sorry." Remus said, shrugging. "It's not my fault you're so jumpy."

"Shut up." Logan growled.

"Oh, uh, I didn't say anything." Roman said, slightly frightened. "Was I  breathing too loud? Sorry."

Logan opened his mouth to reply, but wasn't sure how to explain himself. He remained quiet, letting Roman wallow in self-pity.

It was silent as Logan cleaned, not even Remus was saying anything.

Logan, realizing that was weird, glanced over at the ghost.

Remus was watching Roman, an unreadable expression on his face. It was hard to tell what he was feeling, but Logan didn't think it was positive.

He would have to confront Remus about that later, but that could wait until Roman left the house.

And, well, after he visited this 'Emile' person.

Speaking of which...

"Hey, Roman?" Logan spoke up. "I wanna ask you something."

Roman tilted his head. "What is it?"

"Have you ever heard of a woman named Anne-Marie Ågren?" Logan asked, not even looking up from the mess.

Remus choked, and snapped his head over to Logan. "Are you fucking crazy?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Um..." Roman hummed while Remus screamed profanities at Logan. "No, I don't think I do." He shook his head. "Should I? I have a terrible memory."

"No, I had just heard her name mentioned around the building." Logan lied offhandedly, still not looking at Roman. "Thought you would know about it."

"Huh, I've never heard of her." Roman frowned. "Maybe I should ask around."

"NO!" Remus screamed, causing Logan to jump. "Don't--No! Make him not do that!" Remus frantically babbled to Logan, pointing to Roman with both of his hands.

"Maybe you shouldn't." Logan said awkwardly. "I mean, I could've heard wrong."

"I dunno, I'm kinda curious about this Alice-Mason Allens." Roman hummed, rubbing his chin.

Remus short-circuited for a moment, before slumping against the counter in relief. "Oh thank god, he's terrible with names."

"Why are you looking at me like that, Lamar?" Roman asked, frowning in confusion.

"No reason." Logan hummed, looking back down at the mess. "I think you should go."

"Wh-What?" Roman stammered out. "Have I offended you?"

"No, I just feel rather unprepared. We should do this again some other time." Logan told him.

Roman visibly sagged with relief. "Of course. I'll be off, then."

"Goodbye." Logan nodded.

A/N:

It's so cold outside and for what?