The apartment was quiet.
Logan sat on the couch in the living room, one leg folded slightly beneath him. His headphones covered his ears while soft music played through them.
A book rested in his hands.
He turned a page slowly.
From the hallway he could hear the faint sound of water running.
Ava was in the shower.
The apartment felt different when she wasn't in the room.
Quieter.
Logan didn't mind silence, but he preferred having something filling the space. Music helped.
Footsteps padded down the hallway.
Logan glanced up briefly.
Liam walked into the living room.
Logan nodded at him once before returning his attention to the page.
Liam opened the fridge and grabbed a juice box. After closing it carefully, he walked over to the armchair beside the couch and climbed into it.
The television flickered to life.
Logan expected cartoons.
Instead, a documentary channel appeared.
A slow shot of the ocean filled the screen.
A narrator's calm voice began explaining the migration patterns of whales.
Logan glanced up again.
Most five-year-olds would have chosen something else.
But Liam was… different.
The boy watched quietly, sipping his drink.
For several minutes neither of them spoke.
Then Logan noticed something.
Liam was looking at him.
Logan didn't react immediately.
He waited.
Eventually Liam spoke.
"Are you Ava's boyfriend?"
Logan blinked.
That wasn't the question he expected.
He lowered his book slightly.
"…what?"
Liam looked completely serious.
Logan leaned back slightly against the couch.
Was he Ava's boyfriend?
He thought about it.
He stayed at her place regularly.
They spent time together almost every day.
They walked to school together.
Ate together.
Studied together.
Yet their relationship didn't look like Raxian and Sable's.
Those two were openly affectionate.
Always touching.
Always close.
Marcus and Tess were different.
Marcus teased her endlessly, while Tess pretending nothing was going on—but it was obvious something was.
Logan and Ava…
Were different.
Quieter.
But she was always there.
And so was he.
Logan realized something as he thought about it.
He couldn't imagine spending all his time with anyone else.
He looked back at Liam.
Then shrugged slightly.
"I might as well be."
Liam tilted his head.
"What does that mean?"
Logan rested the book on his lap.
"It means… if we were together, nothing would really change."
Liam frowned slightly.
"Why?"
Logan considered the question.
"We already spend all our time together."
Liam was quiet for a moment.
Then he asked another question.
"Do you and Ava ever argue?"
Logan answered immediately.
"No."
Liam blinked.
"Never?"
"Never."
Logan didn't even have to think about it.
Liam looked back at the television.
On the screen, a group of whales swam slowly through dark water.
The narrator continued calmly describing their journey.
But Liam's thoughts were elsewhere.
He thought about his parents.
They argued.
A lot.
Sometimes loudly.
Sometimes quietly.
But always… tense.
At kindergarten, other kids talked about their parents.
They seemed happy.
Kind.
But Liam had learned something already.
Adults behaved differently in front of teachers.
His parents did it too.
They smiled.
They acted nice.
Then at home everything changed again.
Maybe everyone was pretending.
Maybe that was what relationships were.
Liam looked back at Logan.
"Do you promise?"
The seriousness in the five-year-old's voice made Logan pause.
Logan studied him for a moment.
Then he understood.
Liam wasn't asking a casual question.
He was worried.
Worried Logan might treat Ava the way their parents treated each other.
Logan hesitated.
Not because he doubted his answer.
But because the question felt heavier than expected.
"I wouldn't hurt her," Logan said quietly.
And he meant it.
At that exact moment the bathroom door opened.
Ava stepped into the living room.
Her hair was still damp from the shower, falling loosely around her shoulders.
A faint scent of grape shampoo filled the room.
Logan noticed it immediately.
She paused slightly when she saw them.
Liam in the armchair.
Logan on the couch.
The television playing quietly.
On the screen, a polar bear wandered across a frozen landscape.
Ava raised an eyebrow slightly.
"You're watching documentaries again?"
Liam nodded.
Logan removed one side of his headphones.
Then—
The front door unlocked.
All three of them turned their heads toward the entrance.
The door opened.
Ava's parents stepped inside.
They stopped when they saw the living room.
Their eyes moved across the scene.
Liam watching television.
Logan sitting on the couch.
Ava with damp hair.
Their father's expression darkened immediately.
"What is that boy doing here?"
The way he said it made Logan's stomach tighten.
Logan stood up.
"It's fine," he said calmly. "I was leaving anyway."
He grabbed his jacket.
Ava didn't say anything.
She just stood there.
Logan walked toward the door.
Before stepping outside, he glanced back once.
Ava met his eyes.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Logan understood something clearly then.
What she dealt with in this house…
Most people wouldn't handle it the way she did.
She was stronger than almost anyone he knew.
Then Logan stepped outside and closed the door behind him.