As soon as the last of the group therapy kids left for the day after feeling saddened and angry over what I had recapped to them everything that was said back at my private therapy session, I was left with both Logan and his uncle with Dr. Valenzia standing in the back of the room as a silent yet observing witness. "So, what was your life story with your family?" I asked as we stared at each other, still taking in the last few hours. "I mean, you said that your life was like mine with a lot of family dysfunction, but it was worse in a lot of other ways."

Logan took a deep breath, his eyes telling me that he was as nervous about telling me his story yet knowing that it had to be done. "Yeah, Wendell," he said quietly. "While your family was known to be the aggressive abusers with adding a lot of highly impossible ideals, mine were the ones to let me have it without causing me physical harm."

"So they were just emotionally abusive?" I deduced. "That's worse than mine."

"No, Wendell. It's not. My parents- if I can even bother calling them that anymore since they bit the dust- were the type of people to change the script on me while I was doing what they wanted," Logan replied. "And just like your family, they always wanted me to slip and fall while using and mentally abusing my self-esteem. They treated me like I was their toy- to be played with until they grew tired and decided to throw me away. All the while, my sister Cara was the one child that they adored- the true heiress of the Michaels-Chandler family name. She was everything that they and I knew I would never be: outgoing, popular, alluring and seductive, and most of all- a girl."

That caught my attention. "Wait, they treated you shoddily all because you were born a boy? That's the biggest kind of low I had ever heard in my life."

"I know," Logan replied. "They wanted to have two twin daughters to train to be the darlings of all Seattle and have them play the game of popularity. Instead, they got blessed with one girl and stuck with me- the oddball of the family that never really got the picture."

"Please don't tell me that they wanted to force you to have a sex change when you were in middle school," I groaned. "That would be all kinds of wrong if they made you wear wigs and makeup and dresses when you were a kid."

Logan snorted. "They wished," he spat. "Since my family was hardcore Catholics, they knew not to bother with gender transitioning and all that. No, they decided that I wasn't worth training and just left me alone. But that didn't mean that I got off easy- the verbal insults were well-crafted and optimistically sarcastic, but they still stung nonetheless. 'You never take life seriously like your sister.' 'The best and only way you can ever have friends is that you even dare to be more aggressive.' Or my personal favorite, 'It would be best if you just distance yourself from us, son. At the rate you are going now, you might as well just disappear.'

"I started taking antidepressants to just make sure to get through middle school, even though I mainly bummed a bottle or two from my mom's relatives. And Cara didn't make it any easier either since she was the toast of all the middle and high schools in Tacoma and Seattle. While she didn't join in with our parents, she didn't bother helping them either. She just usually laughed or stuck with hanging out with her equally-vicious friends," Logan continued. "And in school, I had no one, especially at Millerfield West High."

"Let me guess, it was the kids who took to physical bullying," I said.

"Bingo," Logan answered. "And unlike you and Ms. Whitfield, I had no teacher to have my back. All of them simply agreed with my parents and just added more woes to my life- impromptu detentions all because I was dressed differently or when I was just being a part of the class, having to attend mandatory pep rallies only to be humiliated and beaten up by the jocks. I was lucky enough to get through a day without wanting to feel like I wanted to die- like I deserved everything that I got."

"And how long did it last?" I wanted to know.

Logan gave me a sad look. "All the way up to the start of sophomore year," he said softly. "It was also when I was outed by Cara and one of her goons- a handsome yet heartless linebacker named Drew Sears who seduced me into his bed and almost made me a man by having sex. One moment, we were lost in lip-locking and love bites. And then, Cara burst out of his closet and started to take pictures on her phone, sending them to everyone- the entire school, our church, and even our parents who immediately cut ties with me before sending me away to Uncle Lucas."

"And that's when I came in," the older man said. "By the time I saw him when I came to pick him up from my brother's, Logan was basically on the edge of planning to end his life. I knew that my brother and his wife made a mockery out of him and wanted him out of their lives. So, I made sure that their wishes were granted without causing any drama- I filed for a petition for custody, which was happily granted by Judge Atelier- someone whom you know already."

I nodded. "The judge was someone who knew that kids like me were given a bad rap- the outcasts who were mistreated and cheated out of life's offerings," I replied. "God bless the man for helping me out with getting me away from my family."

Dr. St. Pierre smiled thinly yet genuinely pleased. "He saw right through Logan's family and called them out on their plans to get rid of him- through hiring a hitman to take him out and making it look like my nephew wanted to end it all by himself," he said. "He knew that they knew that Logan, with a life insurance policy that they filed on with a hefty payout in case he died, was worth more to them dead than he was alive. And not only would the insurance check would pay off their gambling debts and Cara's shopping fetishes, but they would also be able to fund their 'secret drug usage.'"

"You mean that his parents were closet druggies?!" I exclaimed. "What the actual feather-plucking, chicken-clucking mess is this?!"

Logan chuckled at my use of language since I didn't bother trying to cuss anymore. "I know, right?" he said. "And it's okay to curse once in a while, more so since you want to chew out my family if they were still alive."

I shook my head. "It's no use now," I said. "Since coming here and my inner saboteur giving me the chop, I decided to stop using profanity. But I'll keep that in mind in the future."

And then, something clicked in my mind. "Hey, how did the Three Stooges get the bullet?"

"Well, Cara's still alive as much as I hate to say it. She managed to get herself a man to be her sugar daddy all before blowing it by being found out with a heavy drug bust that she used the money from her man. He cut her off and she's rotting away in prison for drug trafficking," Logan replied. "As for Mom and Dad, they took a bad batch of cocaine and LSD that claimed their lives. Cara forbade me to come to the funeral and sold off everything so I wouldn't be able to own a single thing. The funny part about it all is when she did, she then accused me of not caring enough and continued to hurl her insults at me. Of course, that's before the 'Sugar Daddy/Baby Scandal of Seattle' and she got sent to prison."

"How did you come to Cartier Valley?" I asked.

"It was decided by Atelier and my uncle that I would have the chance to finally break away from all of the drama and find my path to my true purpose. I already knew that Uncle Lucas owned and founded Cartier Valley Academy, so he decided to take me in and mentor me with a stricter regiment than yours. And it wasn't an easy ride since I was still angry at my parents, Cara, my old school, and anyone who sided with the people who treated me like shit. But I was mainly mad at myself for not fighting back like you did with your family. I wanted to at least hold my ground and go off on them. I took out my anger through verbal insults that were held up inside and a few fights. But it wasn't until I learned of my parents' death to realize that the only person that I was hurting was myself. I was my own worst enemy and I needed to accept the fact that things could've been much worse- like the fact that Cara could finish what our parents planned in the first place to have me killed off and make it look like a suicide. I could've had no support or hope for a clean slate and be left in the streets- made a mockery to be a gangbanger's punching bag or some other body for the state of Washington to bury in a shallow grave with no formal ceremony. Or I might have gotten in prison or the state reform school and I would be left alone with no chance of survival and ending my own life."

I nodded. "Thank goodness that you decided to take the opportunity to give this place a fair chance," I said. "I don't think that I would have a chance to survive without you here. And things might have been different if you weren't around."

"I can only imagine," Logan agreed. "But yeah, you and I are alike in a lot of ways, from having shitty families with only one or two supporters who saw the best in us to being outed in the worst possible ways and being tormented and making a pariah at school. Hell, even Judge Raymond Atelier played a role in giving us second chances."

"So, Wendell. Do you see why I figured that you two would be the perfect match for each other?" Dr. St. Pierre asked me. "The both of you weren't blessed with charmed lives and you both were treated like unwanted guests in your homes. And other than myself and the people who supported you- Judge Atelier included, no one saw either of you as worthy. That was when I knew that you two deserved to find happiness in not only each other but in yourselves."

I nodded. "I can honestly say that this was destiny or some form of kismet that Logan and I were meant for each other," I replied. "But we still have Superstorm Braeden who's still intent on making our lives miserable- well, he's intent on making me disappear and wanting Logan for himself. Does that boy ever know the meaning of the word 'quit?'"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Logan said as we headed for the dinner rush. "Sadly, he's out of isolation and still planning to get rid of you. But as my uncle told him, he was on thin ice and he used his first strike. He only has two more chances and he'll be on a bus to the penitentiary with the wrath of my uncle and I on his tail. And as for you and I? Well, we know where we stand and I don't plan to let you go."

I nodded slowly. "Well, I'm not too sure if what we have can and will last, but I want to treasure each moment for as long as I can," I said. "But I have one more question before we go."

"Fire away."

"Did you even take the marshmallow test?"

"I did," Logan replied. "I bombed after two seconds into the matter. I'm not even sure how you managed to withstand temptation."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm an old soul and even as a kid, I knew that I wanted something more. That, and on the day before I took the marshmallow test, I had a dentist appointment that Grandma Lillie Jean took me to. And I knew that I couldn't eat sweets until I finished the test. So even after my father finished lashing his rage out at me, I knew that I would be rewarded with one of her freshly-baked goods. And for the record, I know all of her recipes by heart and can whip up a mean apple pie."

"That would be something, since next week is Home-Ec Week," Logan replied. "Maybe I can see you in the kitchen and see you demonstrate a few recipes for the visiting culinary arts teachers from NYC."

"I'm down for that."

So now you know Logan's backstory. And I thought Wendell had it bad! Logan's family was almost worse!

Anyway, we'll see our lovebirds talk about how they were meant for each other with sensual content ahead! Stay tuned!

Dedication: still_just_me.

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