Chapter Text
TWO YEARS LATER
Logan hugged his sister tightly.
"Let me look at you!" Eloise said, pulling back and grinning. "You look so tan!"
"Living in Monaco would do it," Logan said dryly.
"Where's your worse half?" Eloise said, craning her neck, as if she expected Arthur to be hiding behind him.
"He'll be here soon." Logan rolled his eyes. "He's getting wine for Dad. The wine we brought with us got broken in transit."
"Ouch," Eloise said, taking his arm, and walking toward the house. "The kids will be so happy to see you. They missed you. We all did."
"I missed you guys too," Logan said softly, looking at his parents' house festively decorated for Christmas. "I'm sorry we missed Christmas dinner, but Arthur has a big family and we had to spend Christmas with them."
Strictly speaking, they didn't have to spend Christmas with Arthur's family, but Logan had insisted. He'd been gradually convincing Arthur to act friendlier with the clan instead of ruling them with fear. It was slow going, but Logan was satisfied with the progress so far. There were already a few relatives he could legitimately call friends and who didn't piss themselves every time Arthur frowned.
"I get it," his sister said. "How is business?"
"Good," Logan said. The game development studio that he'd founded in Monaco had been doing a little too well, in fact. So well that Logan had a sneaking suspicion Arthur was helping it take off, even though he'd denied it.
"What about your personal life?" Eloise said.
Logan found himself smiling. "Great. We're great."
They were great. More than great. It wasn't that he and Arthur didn't have disagreements or fights; they did. They both were stubborn and too set in their own ways from time to time, especially when it came to Arthur's overprotectiveness. But the good far outweighed the bad, and Arthur was very sweet and considerate after their fights. Not to mention that the makeup sex was amazing. To be fair, all sex with Arthur was amazing.
"Is Mom going to be okay with Arthur?" Logan said, changing the subject before his body could react to those thoughts.
Eloise squeezed his arm. "It's going to be fine, don't worry about it. Any doubts she had about your mafioso boyfriend are nothing compared to the fact that he got Ollie back. Right now Arthur is probably her favorite person in the world."
Logan smiled. "I know. I still can't believe Arthur found him.”
"How is he?" Logan said.
Eloise shrugged, her expression turning grimmer. "Putting on a happy face, but I can sense that something is off. I don't think he's as happy to be saved as he pretends to be."
Logan frowned. "He probably just needs time."
"I don't know," his sister said. "It's been months already. He isn't getting better and he still refuses to talk or file charges. He claims that nothing happened, but I find it hard to believe. Maybe it's some fucked-up Stockholm Syndrome."
"Yeah," Logan said, but his attention was already drifting away as Arthur's car rolled to a stop in the driveway.
"Your man certainly travels in style," Eloise said, whistling. "Sweet ride. Though I could have done without dozens of bodyguards on the front lawn. They ruin the view."
Logan chuckled distractedly, watching Arthur emerge out of the car.
"One might think you haven't seen him in days instead of half an hour," his sister said, laughing. "Jesus, your heart-eyes are embarrassing for a grown man."
"You're just jealous," Logan said.
"I am," she admitted with a grin. "Wish Paul made me look at him like this."
Logan felt his face become warm. He hated being this obvious, but he could never control his expressions when it came to Arthur. And truth be told, he didn't try very hard. He knew Arthur loved the affection and the adoration—he greedily soaked it up, no matter what he might claim otherwise. So Logan didn't restrain himself. Arthur deserved all the love in the world.
"Eloise," Arthur said, pecking her on the cheek.
Logan beamed at him proudly. A year ago, Arthur would have never done such a thing.
He grabbed Arthur's hand as soon as his sister let go of him and entwined their fingers together. "Well done," he whispered, kissing him on the stubbled cheek and inhaling his masculine scent.
Arthur quirked a dark eyebrow. "I can pretend to be normal, you know."
Logan glared at him, gently stroking his coat lapel. "You're normal," he said, darting forward to steal a kiss. "Just the way you are. Pretending to be polite doesn't make you normal—it just makes you seem less aloof, which is our aim."
"Aye-aye, sir," Arthur said with a wry, heart-stopping smile, and Logan just had to steal another kiss. And then another.
"I love you," Logan murmured against his lips.
Arthur pulled him closer and whispered, "I love you, too." There was still a certain hesitance in his voice when he said it, as if he was getting away with something every time he said those words, as if he couldn't possibly deserve to love and to be loved, and Logan hugged him tightly and kissed him deeper, his heart so full with adoration and love that he was almost choking on it.
"Jesus, Logan, get a room!"
Grinning sheepishly, Logan pulled back and looked at Arthur, who didn't even glance at Eloise, his eyes only on Logan, soft and glassy with want.
God, he loved him.
Cradling his husband’s stubbled cheek, Logan stole another quick kiss, before heading toward his parents' house, hand in hand with the man he loved.