Before its late

"Oh my goodness!" Grecia jumped up from the couch and dashed to his side.

Logan groaned loudly as he wiped the blood from his lips. "Why are you up this late?" he asked, an exasperated tone in his voice. Logan changed from his morning outfit to grey joggers and a black sweatshirt, his hair was messier than usual. I got up from the couch as well, but I couldn't move any further. It felt as if an unseen force was pulling me backward. Grecia examined him by holding his face in her hands. To see his face clearly, she had to stand on her toes. Of course, he's 6ft tall, and Grecia only needs to stand on her toes to see his face; I'll need a stool for that.

Logan said, "I'm fine, Ma," and took her hands off his face. Logan's lips had been slashed, and blood had congealed at the red lips' corners. His face was already starting to bruise, and there was a trail of blood running down his nose. His hands were also swollen and red. All of this points to the conclusion that he lost the fight today.

As he turned his head, his gaze fell on mine, and I saw him remain in his position. His gaze was piercing as if accusing me of something. What, it's not my fault he arrived home to Grecia bruised and battered!

"My boy, what happened? "What were you doing?" Her voice trembled slightly as she inquired. No mother wants to see their child, especially someone as sensitive as Grecia, suffer. Logan simply shrugged, running his bloody hand through his hair.

"It isn't anything. I'm fine-"

Grecia said, raising her voice, "Don't say that word again when you're not."

"Did you have another fight with Patrick?" He clenched his jaw and looked down when she asked.

"REPLY TO ME." She confronted him with a yell. Logan remained calm but I flinched at her voice.

"Yes." He said it timidly, not looking her in the eyes. Grecia sighed heavily after a brief moment of silence.

"I should have foreseen this. Why did I bother to ask you?" Grecia expressed her displeasure with a scowl on her face. Logan's fists were clenched at his sides, which I noticed.

"You fight, then you both make it up, what kind of childish behavior is this?" "You guys are no longer kids," I frowned as I realized what was going on. I fixed my hard gaze on him. He's tricking his mother! This only made matters worse.

"You need to clean up "Go, and I don't want to see you like this again, okay?" She gave him a warning and turned to leave the room.

Logan looked down for a moment before looking up. My glare became more intense, my lips thinning, as his gaze met mine. He quickly broke the stare and walked past me. I closed my eyes tightly as I felt a pang of pain in my heart. But the pain quickly turned to rage at what he was doing. I was about to go after him upstairs when Grecia called out to me.

"You don't have to be concerned about him, sweetheart; this has almost become a routine sight for me now. Patrick and Logan have been friends for a long time, and it never ceases to amaze me how much they fight. What's funnier is that they make it up the next day, as if nothing happened. Grecia says with a small smile on her lips, "Lunatics" My heart was broken to see her living, or rather being fed, lies for all these years.

I felt sorry for her because I couldn't say anything. I simply nodded and remained silent. But my rage grew with each second I thought about how he was deceiving his own mother. He can't go on like this.

I excused myself from Grecia and stormed up the stairs, blinded by rage. How could he? He's been lying to her since he was 16 years old! I remember him telling me that hiding this profession is only for the best, but after revealing my past and seeing how well she handled it, I strongly disagree with Logan's statement.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I walked towards his room. I knocked on the door before turning the knob. Logan's grunts and hisses of pain could be heard coming from the bathroom. I came to a halt in front of it before knocking on the door. I may be angry, but that does not take away my decency. I also don't want to see anything I shouldn't.

"Is that you, Mom?" From the other side, he grunted.

"It's me," I said flatly. I didn't get a response from him; instead, I was met with silence. Going with my instincts, I decided to interpret this as a green light.

I pushed open the door and stepped inside. Logan sat shirtless on the edge of the bathtub. He was so hot that it made my heart skip a beat. When someone is injured, how can they look so sexy? But I quickly remembered why I came here, and I'll never forget the harsh words he spoke to me in his office.

"What exactly do you want?" he inquired, his gaze fixed on the floor, not even making eye contact with me.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked directly and without hesitation. He gave me a brief glance before returning to his cuts and bruises with an antiseptic tissue.

"Doing what?" I made a funny face at him. ,

"Keeping the truth hidden. Do you not feel ashamed?"

"What?" He questioned, perplexed. But his reaction only added fuel to the fire.

"You've been lying to your mother for years, Logan. How can you do it?" With reproaching eyes, I inquired. As he caught on to what I was saying, his jaw clenched. But he pretended to be confused in order to mask his reaction.

"What are you on about?" He pretended to be unconcerned as if he were dismissing me.

"Don't try to act as if you don't understand what I'm saying. Lying to your mother, whom you claim is the only person you care about in the world. How are you able to do so? You've been telling her for years that you fought with Patrick when in reality you're doing underground fighting or whatever you call it!" I tell him. I'm enraged. His silence compelled me to continue.

"She believes in you and trusts you wholeheartedly...the amount of pride she has in you. But she doesn't get the same back." I shake my head. I know I'm going overboard here, but things have to be said when they need to be said. Logan grips the small towel so tightly between his fingers that I feel sorry for it for a moment.

"The poor lady believes you have always been honest with her, but she has no idea that her son is concealing a significant portion of his life from her. Don't you feel guilty every time you tell her a lie?" I raised my voice a little and noticed how his jaw twitched. I'm glad he didn't respond to my rude but honest criticisms until now, but that won't last long.

I don't care if he was getting angry, but I'm afraid if this continues, it will end badly for both of them. I've seen how much Grecia adores him, and it'll be a disaster if she discovers it on her own.

"She isn't going to find out. I'll make certain of it. So don't even think about saying anything about it." Logan gave me a menacing glare, but I could tell he was apprehensive. He knows I'm correct. I could see a flash of guilt flash through his eyes.

"How long do you think you can keep it hidden from her?" He bowed his head and buried his face in his hands as if defeated. To keep his cool, he clutched the back of his head with his hands.

"All the truth will eventually come out, Logan. You believe you are doing her a favor by keeping her from learning the truth. But do you realize how heartbroken she will be when the truth is revealed? Worst of all, you will not be the one to reveal it."

Logan's eyes were downcast, his front hair almost covering them.

"Believe me, she will feel betrayed, just as she did when she learned about your father. You are no different from him if you are hiding everything from your mother as well." Karrie, get out! Close your mouth and walk away!

"Stop," Logan gritted his teeth, but I continued.

"And no one will be to blame but you if you lose her this time. You are the only one." I saw him get up from his seat for a split second before I was slammed hard against the bathroom counter. The dull pain I felt when he slammed me to his desk this evening had now skyrocketed, and I was emitting a shriek.

"I SAID. Logan yelled in my face, "STOP!" His grip on my shoulders tightened, exacerbating my pain.

When I lifted my head to snap at him, I was surprised to see a tear fall from his left eye. He was enraged, but I could see regret in his eyes.

"You know I'm right," I said softly to him. His bruises appear to be excruciatingly painful up close. Logan, according to what I've heard, never loses a game. So, what caused him to lose his concentration today? Logan's face was now filled with a range of emotions as he stepped back from me. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, his body visibly trembling.

"F***" He cursed and I flinched as he threw everything on the counter down, making a total mess.

He turned his back on me, and I could only see his tensed shoulders rising. He flexed his back muscles as he ran his hands through his hair a few times. When I suddenly felt cold, I hugged myself. I had forgotten how much being in a closed room with him affected me. I never felt strange until yesterday, but right now I just want to disappear, away from his presence. The scene in his office flashed through my mind, and I felt compelled to flee from his room right then and there. But I didn't have to excuse myself to get away from the suffocation because Logan did it for me.

"Get out," he said darkly without looking at me, and I was comforted by the fact.

"And you don't have to worry about me telling Grecia the truth. I just came here to smack some sense into your thick-ass egotistical head before I leave this place. It is up to you whether you continue to deceive the poor soul or tell her the truth and save her from the agony she will face once she discovers the truth for herself."

With those sorrowful words, I walked out of the room, telling myself not to cry. He does not deserve my tears. After all, in his eyes, I'm a prostitute. I walked into my bedroom and opened the door before locking it. I sighed deeply, exhausted by the events of the day. I took a look at the frame on my bedside table. It was a photo of my parents from my second birthday. I was sitting on my father's shoulder, clutching his hair tightly and beaming brightly. Mom was standing right next to him, hugging both of us.

I approached the frame, lifted the picture to my lips, and gently kissed the glass. I closed my eyes and took slow, deep breaths, allowing oxygen to fill my lungs and calm my mind.

"I miss you, Mum and Dad," I said quietly, clutching the picture frame to my chest. I'm also clutching at my pain, afraid that if I let it go, I won't be able to climb back into life.

****

I walked down the corridor with a flask in my hand after an hour. I forgot to refill the water bottle, so now I'm thirsty. When I noticed Grecia's bedroom door, which was the first room near the stairs, was slightly open and the light was turned on, I frowned.

Curiosity drove me to slow down and peer into the room through the small space where the door was ajar. The scene in front of me jolted me. Logan was sitting on the floor, his head on Grecia's lap, who was sitting at the edge of the bed, his shoulders shaking. He was sobbing.

Grecia's fingers were playing with his hair as tears streamed down her cheeks. I swallowed hard, becoming emotional as well. When I realized I had provoked Logan to open up, I was overcome with emotion. After a long time, I finally feel like I accomplished something worthwhile. I left the room, not wanting to disrupt their emotional moment, and went downstairs to get some water.

I waited for another hour downstairs, afraid that if I went up, they would see me and ruin the moment. I looked up when I heard the sound of footsteps.

"Karolia?" Grecia sounded surprised. Her eyes were puffy and red, but she still looked lovely. I smiled at her and patted the seat beside me, inviting her to take a seat.

"I thought you were sleeping," she said as she sat down. I indicated the flask on the coffee table.

I needed some water," I explained. We sat there in silence, staring at the wall in front of us, until Grecia broke it.

"He's sleeping," she explained. She must have assumed I saw them upstairs. I nodded and took her hands in mine, lightly squeezing them.

"How are you feeling?" I inquired softly.

"Truly?" she chuckled, making me smile a little. "At first, I was so hurt and angry," she admitted. "I'm afraid I'm not a good mother to him. If I was, I would have known my son well enough to figure out what was going on in his life," she said, her eyes welling up with tears. She sniffled.

"You are the best mother any child could ask for," I said. She gave me a weak smile as she looked at me.

"But I'm glad he opened up. I knew he had a difficult life, but he found solace in this."

"Did he tell you-"

"Regarding the drugs. Yes, he did," Grecia confirmed, and I nodded once more. Logan must have told her I knew his secrets and I honestly don't know what to think. Consider how you would feel if your own blood kept secrets from you, but they told everything about their lives to someone else, someone who is not a member of your family.

"He didn't tell me voluntarily. "I found out," I said quickly, and she squeezed my hand.

"I'm not angry or jealous," she said, and my admiration for her grew.

"I'm glad someone like you joined our lives, Karolia," Grecia said, and I tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. I'm not sure why, but I always feel shy when someone praises or compliments me.

"He even told me what happened today at his office," my heart rate increased, and I looked at her expectantly.

"Did he explain why he acted the way he did?" I inquired of her. I couldn't wait to find out what was causing his sudden behavior.

Grecia nodded, but she said it wasn't her place to tell, which disappointed me.

"Just don't let go of my son, Karolia," she finally said. "He needs someone like you in his life," I said as a tear fell from my eye.

"It is entirely up to him. He has the ability to either repair or break our connection. "Not me."

************************************