He drank that day. Drank himself beyond stupor and cognition. He drank so much that the line between wakefulness and slumber vanished and he found himself staring that nameless girl in the face even though he knew he'd thrown her out hours ago.
She was wearing Lilly's close and Veronica's smile.
"Are all blondes this pesky or is it just the ones that I sleep with?" Logan asked crudely, ungratefully all things considered. He'd never been one to say thank you if his mother wasn't around to make him. And she was dead, so that made things rather difficult.
She smiled at him, blue eyes sparkling and just one corner of her mouth curling upwards. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're fire?"
"I've never even heard that I'm fired," Logan said smartly. "That sort of thing only happens to people with jobs. So I'm told."
"You're fire, Jaded Boy," she continued, not phased by his comments. "Wild, uncontrollable blazes destroying everything in its path. You're destruction without rebirth, damage without healing. You're dangerous."
Logan nodded. "Dangerous. Now that sounds familiar."
"Your fire is going out, Jaded Boy," she said seriously, dancing around him as if angel's breath held her aloft. "You're going to get snuffed out. You'll burn yourself and no amount of wit or miracles could change you back."
He'd heard it before. He'd heard it when Lilly was accidentally serious or when Veronica had packed up all of her things and left her ring behind. Even Weevil, ex-gang leader who lived in the thick of trouble while Logan just full into it, had told him that he was quickly on the path of killing himself. And they'd all left him, whether it was by force or by choice. He was alone.
Except for the girl with Lilly's laugh and Veronica's spark.
"Are you going to save me?" he asked, bitter but hopeful at the same time.
She kissed him then and he almost felt it. "Only if you let me," she said.
He woke up three days later, cold and naked and wanting on the floor. Once he finished crying and throwing up, assuring himself that he was really breathing, he picked himself up and went searching.
