Logan very wisely did not return to Minako’s apartment until he was sober, which took a surprisingly short amount of time as he had been kicked out of the bar early after attacking another fair-haired patron. He had then holed himself up in a coffee shop and guzzled too many espressos to count. He was now standing outside her door, trying to hold his hand steady enough to knock.
When she opened the door, he knew she’d been crying. He also knew she was alone, and he was relieved.
She looked him up and down and grabbed his trembling hand. “You’re shaking,” she observed.
“Caffeine,” Logan explained.
Minako looked up at him, her crystal blue eyes cloudy with sadness. She gestured back at her apartment and said, “Do you want to come in?”
Logan nodded and stepped inside, shoving his hands into his pockets. He glanced around as if expecting some drastic change to have taken place there. He could see nothing different or out of place, but then he didn’t know what he was looking for to being with.
When he heard her finish locking the door behind them, he turned around and said, “I’m sorry.” He paused, coughing a bit. “About yesterday. I’m sorry.”
Minako nodded, glancing down at the ground. “So am I.”
Logan shook his head. “Don’t be.”
As usual, Minako didn’t listen to him. “I shouldn’t have lost it like that. I don’t even know why--"
Logan stepped forward, cupping her face with his hands and tilting her face upwards. “I said,” he whispered, smoothing the pads of his thumbs over her cheekbones, “don’t be sorry.”
Minako closed her eyes and pushed herself forward, hooking her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest. His arms closed around her and he rested his chin on the crown of her head. She wasn’t crying; she was just hiding. And a part of him knew that she would have hugged anyone at that moment. She would have hugged whoever had been at the door, but he decided to ignore that and just breathe her in.
“I thought he was dead,” Minako said after awhile. “I never thought I’d see him again.”
Logan nodded, feeling his throat tighten. “I know.”
He held her for awhile, listening to the sound of her breathe and contenting himself with the feel of her heartbeat pounding against his rib cage. He couldn’t say that he wanted to stay like that forever because to be perfectly honest he could think of a few other things he would rather be doing with Minako. But he also couldn’t say that he didn’t enjoy holding her. What contact with her or any other human being didn’t he enjoy after all?
“So…” Logan began awkwardly, his arms still wrapped around her body. “Are you two going to live happily ever after?”
Minako pulled back, looking up at Logan with an expression he couldn’t identify. “Is this your version of the “choose one” speech?”
Logan looked at her evenly, his fingers resting on her hips, still for the first time in hours. “I need to know if you love him, Minako.”
She looked down again, closing her eyes so that her coal black lashes were fanned across her cheeks. “So do I.”
Logan blinked, his eyebrows drawing together. “You don’t know?” he asked, his tone a bit harsher than he had expected.
Minako looked at him like he was being ridiculous, which he probably was. “I suppose I’m not that self aware. No, Logan, I don’t know what I’m feeling for whom right now. Yesterday was extremely upsetting on all fronts, and you know it, so don’t try and bully me in to anything.”
Logan was perfectly still for a moment and then he nodded, knowing she was right. He let her go, turning around and rubbing the back of his neck. He felt his hands begin to shake again now that he was no longer touching her, and at first he thought his lower lip was trembling as well. Then he realized he was speaking.
“It’s just that sometimes I think I love you, you know?”
