His mind reeling, Cameron was trying hard to process what was happening in front of him. His young teammate, barely out of college teammate, was slobbering, spreading his saliva, all over a woman he had just met, just met. His lips were travelling all over her face, kissing her lips, neck, ears. He was like a man possessed. Cameron didn't want to go there but they were just short of having sex.

"Aren't you going to stop him?"Sharon hissed from beside him. Her eyes were blazing with fury, glaring up at him and then Logan. In a daze, he wondered whether he had heard her correctly. He knew he had when her gaze returned to him but he wasn't sure what she expected of him. Was he supposed to tear them apart? Physically get between them? Pour cold water on them? Scold him like she had?

"Before I do anything, can you let me know how this happened?"he asked softly. Her eyes were on Logan so he wasn't sure if she heard him.

"I don't know where this woman came from,"she finally said, "but I saw her cosying up to the idiot when I went back. And I don't know what spell she casted or what perfume she's wearing but Logan was all over her. He did everything she said. Like order this, eat this, drink that."

"He's young. And she is very... tempting. It's not going to hurt him."

"That's where you're wrong. So wrong. The wrongest ever! For some reason, the conversation got onto the office and contract and then she wanted to see the office. And what can a poor, bewitched, naïve boy gotta do? He's going to bring her back to the office."

"The office?"

"Yeah. Exactly." She nodded at his bewilderment. "I tried to talk some sense into him but that woman, that witch, blocked me at every turn. It was hard enough to stall him, get him in here- That is vile. I'm going blind. Blind. Please stop that."

Cameron didn't want to turn. From the way Sharon paled and looked determinedly away, it was not going to be a pretty sight. And, truth behold, it was not. A pretty sight. Burying his face under her top, Logan was passionately going at her breasts. And the woman was enjoying it, if the sounds coming out of her and her face were to be trusted.

"I don't want to go there,"he hissed in response. He was physically repulsed. Some men were into that, public, very public, displays of affection. But that was not for him. Especially since he knew Sharon- Wait, no. Why her?

"Well, you have to. I have to get back and, as much as Kathryn sucks, I don't think Matt would want one of his athletes on the front pages."

Letting out a lengthy sigh, Cameron just waved Sharon and the thought away and ran his hands down his face.

What was he going to do?

--------@@@@---------

"Beer?"Cameron asked as Logan took a seat at the island. He had brought Logan back to the apartment after managing to get him away. He had had to physically separate them and his hands had never felt the same. It had taken a lot of effort, exhausting him in the process. All the way back, Logan had been silent, exactly like the sullen teenage impression he had now.

Sighing, he took two beers and joined Logan at the island. No words were spoken as the two of them took the first sip of beer. Feeling his muscles relaxing as the beer did its job, Cameron eyed Logan worriedly.

One of his worries centered on the woman who'd latched onto Logan. She had refused to leave even as Logan turned uninterested eyes on her. She had insisted on going back to the office, screaming and shrieking at their backs. She had even tried to links arms with Logan but he had turned into a docile lamb by then, pushing her away upon Cameron's words.

That was suspicious. Why would a total stranger, a woman especially, want to go to the agent's office? All the women who went after football players, or athletes in general, looked for sex, fame and partying. No one looked for the agent unless it was to be introduced to other, more famous athletes. Which he knew was not the case here because Logan had let Cameron's identity slip but the woman hadn't even batted an eye. Now he knew why Sharon had been concerned.

And the other problem was right across him. Silently chugging his beer, he looked like all the life and passion was drained out of him. It had been instantaneous, the moment their lips and bodies had parted. He hadn't said anything about nor reacted to the woman or the surrounding. It was like he was trapped in his own bubble.

This made him question whether Logan was actually attracted to the woman in the first place. Or was she just a convenient body? To empty his mind of all that was bothering him and just let his body move. Sharon had told him a bit of what the two of them had talked about over text. Cameron could imagine how he was feeling. It wasn't unlike how he had acted when he got hurt. As someone who had gone through this, he knew he should say something.

But why was it so difficult?

"Tell me honestly, should I even bother with this?"Logan asked, laying his head on the table. He sounded and looked so defeated that Cameron was at an even bigger loss of what to say. "Even if we do all this, would it change anything?"

"What are you talking about? Of course there will be changes. You're already changed so much since you've told me. Tell me, what would you be doing if you kept it to yourself?" He hoped he sounded convincing because he was not convinced. And neither was Logan from the way he rolled his eyes.

"I don't know. Maybe tell myself that I'm just imagining things. Go about my life as per normal, I guess. And thinking about it now, I think it'd be nice to return to that."

"And you still can. This, this part, this time is just a short moment of your life. Looking back from years in the future, you'll realise that this is just a blip in the life you've lived. And, who knows, this could be the defining moment in your life." Logan still didn't look convinced. Instead, he looked worse, his eyes losing even the little bit of teenage rebellion. It was as if his eyes were the abyss. "Don't you want to get your money back?"

"It's not about the money. Well, not all about it." Logan sounded so lethargic that Cameron wasn't sure if he was even awake. Yet he was still continuing the conversation. This was good. He was responding at least.

Playing with the beer label, it was like he was gathering his thoughts. "I don't want to be the one to bring this up. This hasn't happened before, not that I know of. And especially with Matt's agency, and I don't want to bring him down."

"As much as Matt is a trustworthy man, there are bound to be some rotten apples. You see it all the time in the news, agents robbing their clients. It's a risk we take when we get an agent. But if you expose this now, it's going to help Matt to clean his office." Looking at Logan, Cameron felt so helpless. He was becoming increasingly unresponsive the more Cameron talked. Searching for words and failing, he couldn't help but admit defeat. The silence had stretched up long enough. "OK, OK, Sharon and I won't force you if you really don't want to. Although we are both mad that this is happening to you, if you don't want us to look further into it, we'll respect your wishes."

"But I want to do this. I want to find the truth,"Logan mumbled glumly, burying his face in the crook of his arm. Then he turned his head to look at Cameron. "What should I do?"

-----@@@@------

Letting herself into the apartment, Sharon sighed a big sigh of relief. It had not occurred to her but she was quite spoiled. Quite the spoiled woman. Having to return on her own, she had been elated when Cameron called earlier. However, having experienced the subway during the rush hour, she regretted it to the core of her being.

First off, there was so many people. So. Many. People! She had not seen nor been surrounded by that many people in her life. Even the streets of New York had never suffocated her as the trains had. Not even her entire home town could accommodate everyone in the trains.

And there were people from all walks of life and culture. If she hadn't been overwhelmed, she would have looked around more. Instead her vision was focused on what was right in front of her. Like right in front. Everything else was a blur. It was a good thing she hadn't missed her stop. Her brain was fried enough that she didn't know if she could have gotten back otherwise.

And now, she had to think about Logan. Cameron had told her a little bit about their talk in the afternoon. Her concern had skyrocketed but there was nothing she could do. Not then when she was at work and Logan wasn't willing to talk. Not to Cameron and definitely not over the phone.

But, now, having experienced what she had experienced, shelving that for another day was for the best. There was no way she was going to say anything constructive. She dropped her bag at the coffee table and trudged to the kitchen.

Exhaustion weighing down her shoulders, she was getting a cold bottle of water when her eyes caught Cameron taking a seat at the island. Since he didn't say anything, she didn't think much about it. In her mind, she was wondering how she could tell him she hated the subway without imparting any hatred for the subway.

"Have you had dinner?"she casually asked as she looked over the leftovers in the fridge. Should she tell him? Or wait to see if he brought it up? Let's wait. Biting her lips, her eyes skimmed over the contents in the fridge. Hunger had deserted her in the middle of the train ride but she knew she would regret not having anything in the middle of the night. Luckily there was some lasagne left; Cameron must've overlooked it. "Want to share this with me?"

"I'm not hungry,"he responded. The sheer absurdity of that statement made her miss the gloominess in his voice. It wasn't until she turned to him in shock that she noticed. He looked as if there was a black cloud hovering over him. Deciding to remain mum for the moment, she heated up the lasagne in the oven before taking a seat across him.

"Where's Logan?"she asked gently. A part of her was relieved that she wouldn't have to admit her pure naivety with the subway. But she was still concerned.

"Sleeping off the beers,"he answered. Knowing that he had a frustrating afternoon, she waited for the incoming explosion. And the wait wasn't long. "He wouldn't even talk to me. I don't think he even listened. All he did was walk to the fridge and get the beers. Just drank. Like a bloody fish. Even a fish would know when to stop."

"I would think a fish only knows to drink."

"Well, they'd know if a big great shark is glaring at them,"Cameron mumbled under his breath. He looked so cute, all sullen and disgruntled that a smile unexpectedly formed on her face. Hiding it behind her hand, she tried to find a way to cheer him up. "It's so weird. I don't know why he's hesitating so much. Doesn't he want to know the truth? If it was me, I would be the first on knocking on her door and demanding truths."

"Not everyone is like that, Cameron. Some people are into denials, scared about the truth and what it means for the future." She, herself, was one of them. Recalling the months of ignoring the clear signs of cheating, she couldn't help flinching in dismay. It seemed she had found a comrade in Logan. "Others are like you, confronting whatever or whoever the problem is. Not that that's bad. It's just that we all have our ways of coping. So all I'm saying is that give him time to come to a decision."

"But it's so hard,"he whined petulantly. She almost burst out laughing but held it in. To distract herself from this, she went to check on the lasagne. Having unwrapped it from the aluminium foil, sticking a fork in the middle determined that it needed a bit more time.

A sudden weight on her shoulders and a pair of arms appeared in front of her, coming from the back. The arms crisscrossed and something landed on the top of her head. Stiffening immediately to resemble a statue, the oven door swung close and the heat from her back burned her. Nothing was said for a couple of minutes. And then, the weight left her. The arms retracted. She was unsteady on her feet from the sudden change.

"W-what was that?"she demanded, turning around. She was further flustered when he looked unperturbed, expression unchanged. As if this was a commonplace occurrence. In fact, there was a refreshing air around him.

"I don't know. I just felt like it. And it was nice too. Wow, that really worked up an appetite. When is the lasagne going to be done?"

"W-work up a-an ap-appetite? You were barely moving,"she shouted in outrage. Now that there was some distance between them, her heart had restarted with a vengeance. It felt like it could beat out of her chest. Looking down, she was surprised there was no outline of her heart. Unable to withstand the pressure, she made an instant decision. "It just needs a couple more minutes. Take it out when the timer rings. I'm going to bed."

Ignoring him and his call, she headed to her room.

Her mind couldn't take it any longer.

-----@@@-----

Ignoring the grumbling from her stomach, Sharon trudged out of her room. Her limbs felt like lead and her eyes could barely stay open. It was a struggle to get ready for work. To be honest, she didn't want to go to work.

Well, this is what you get for skipping dinner, the ever chipper part of her admonished. Waving her hand over her head, her brows furrowed in irritation as she headed for the kitchen. It was bad enough sleeping on an empty stomach; she didn't need someone to preach to her. Even when that person was her.

Entering the kitchen and willfully ignoring the mess in the sink, she dug around the cupboards for something to eat. Her plan was to have something to tide her over till she reached the diner. This was not a day to scrimp and save. She was going to indulge herself.

"Eh, um." Hearing a noise, she peeked over the cupboard door and was surprised to see Logan seated at the island. "G-good morning."

"Good morning." She gave up on finding food, realising there was something more important. From the almost empty jug of coffee, it was clear he had been there for quite some time. His eyes were clear and he didn't appear to be suffering from a hangover. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I woke up to take a leak and couldn't fall back to sleep,"he answered meekly. As intrigued as she was, concern overshadowed that. He didn't sound at all like the Logan she knew. This was a mere shadow of the man. She wanted to ask him more questions but her stomach decided to remind her of the empty cavern that it was.

"Let's get some breakfast."

AN: Hey guys. Hope you're well. Here's a new chapter. TA-DAH! I'm quite happy with it but let me know what you think. Sad Logan is sad.

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