They didn’t want to allow him another conjugal visit but Ehren fought tooth and nail until they finally gave in and granted it to him. The longer Logan was locked up, the more Ehren thought about him. These days it seemed like nothing else was on his mind and it was starting to make him feel a little crazy. The room was the same one they’d brought him to before except now two chairs sat on the far wall of the room.
Just like the last time, Ehren waited in the small room for a long time, desperately listening for the sounds of the door opening. He sat thinking about what he should tell Logan. Would he be upset that Ehren had peered into his future? He hadn’t meant to but somehow he still felt like he invaded Logan’s privacy. The battle in his head was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and he quickly stood to his feet.
The process was the same as last time - Logan had been sitting in the cell, quietly and with his head down, when the guard approached to tell him he had a visitor. In a cacophony of shackles, shouts, hooting, and footfalls he was lead down the long corridors that made up the detention center. This time he was cleaner; someone had granted him showering time and small things like a toothbrush that he coveted. Today his hair was tied back in a low ponytail, out of his face, though some of it had fallen back into old habits and refused to be tamed.
Logan walked with the guard to the small room, once more shoved through the door by surprise but only after he’d been told to give his wrists. The shackles came off much to his surprise and delight, and then he was standing in the little room looking at Ehren.
Ehren was the only person who seemed to care about him these days. That wasn’t a shock at all if he was being honest with himself. He didn’t make friends for fear of hurting others and Ehren was unlike anyone he’d ever met. Annoyingly persistent but in a way he found adorable.
“Hey,” he breathed, trying to refrain from just sprinting across the room and lifting the other man off of the floor entirely like they did in the movies.
A small smile played across his lips, only a bit of sadness in his eyes. “Hey.” He replied, taking a few steps forward to meet Logan where he stood. “I came because they got back the autopsy. I wanted to let you know what was going on.” He swayed on his feet, unsure if the time he’d been incarcerated had changed his feelings toward Ehren.
“And I wanted to see you, I guess.” He teased, because by now if it wasn’t totally obvious that Ehren was obsessed with him then Logan wasn’t as smart as he seemed. He breathed, a not so clever distraction from the desire to be closer to him. Of course it didn’t work and he found himself raking his fingers through the coarse hair on Logan’s cheek.
“How are you doing?” He wondered aloud. Logan looked cleaner than he had the last time they had seen each other.
Normally he tensed when others got close but in this case he stood tall and solid but with eagerness and interest as Ehren approached him. There was no hesitation in the way he reached out, encircled the other man in his arms and drew him in even closer. Being without physical touch was a challenge now that he’d had more in these last couple of weeks than the last five years combined. It took a lot to change his mind and so far he was convinced that there was still something there, something that kept Ehren fighting for him, kept him coming back.
“You guess?” The question was posed with amusement. Logan leaned into those fingers as they grazed the hair on his face. His beard was getting long, he needed to trim it, but he supposed that would have to wait until he was cleared. If he was cleared.
“I’m much better now,” he confessed. A soft kiss would be pressed upon Ehren’s mouth. He fought the urge to deepen it, to keep going. There was business to tend to and it needed to be done considering the little time they actually had together before they were torn apart again.
The kiss, as short lived as it was, sent a shockwave through his system. It seemed like something he’d wanted for so long and it was over in an instant. He smiled as he drew back. “You said that last time.” He replied. “Maybe if I keep coming back you’ll be back to normal.” Although that was doubtful. Things wouldn’t get back to normal until Logan was freed.
Letting his own arms wrap around Logan’s middle he looked up into those blue eyes. “The autopsy suggested it was an animal shifter, but the surveillance photos show another kind of animal, they’re not really sure yet what. There’s still a lot to be done but things are looking good.” He finally said, he wanted to get it out of the way, off his tongue so he didn’t have to taste it anymore.
“Anything is better when you’re around,” He explained as if Ehren hadn’t realized it. There wouldn’t be much of a normal without the other man now that he was so ingrained in Logan’s life on the island. The days stretched on - boring and wasted - and he knew there would be no conclusion until he was out of here.
Listening to the explanation of the report his brow furrowed some. Another animal? Big enough to kill a man? An armed guard? At least there was something to prove that he wasn’t at the scene the way everyone had thought originally. That was a good sign.
“How do we find out what it is?” Or who it was considering he’d never seen an actual predator on this island that wasn’t already a human in some form.
Ehren shook his head at that. “I don’t know, I think it’s just best to find evidence that it’s not you.” Ehren was pretty sure he knew who it was and the idea killed him. Why would the faction let an innocent man go to jail. It was obvious they were trying to cover their tracks, but why blame Logan?
“There’s something else. I just want to preface this by saying that I wasn’t trying to snoop around, I just can’t tell where my mind is going to take me.” He said, watching Logan’s eyes for his response. Hopefully knowing that Ehren hadn’t done it intentionally would be enough to be good news for him.
He waited for the answer, searching for it on Ehren’s face long before the words were uttered. His heart sank a little but he understood. Evidence sometimes could be tricky. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, either, considering freedom was further away on the horizon than he ever imagined it would be. Maybe it was hopeless. His shoulders slumped slightly with the weight of it.
Tilting his head to the side with interest at the next part, Logan’s eyebrows would arch. Putting two and two together Logan took a shot in the dark. “You had a vision?” It was a wild guess but maybe that was what Ehren was getting at. “What was it about?”
A hand came up to tuck a stray hair behind his ear. “You were free.” He said, a smile coming to his face as he thought about it. “There were a lot of people who still thought you were guilty but I saw it. You were found innocent.” He brushed his thumb across Logan’s cheek, taking in this moment. He didn’t get to see Logan nearly as much as he wanted to and he found himself thinking about these fleeting moments when he was alone.
“I want to see this happen but if I don’t go on the correct path, it might not.” And that frightened him, he could still fuck this all up. It weighed heavy on his shoulders but it was a burden he was more than ready to take on. Was he doing this for selfish reasons? Maybe but all that mattered to him was that Logan was safe. His own safety be damned.
Unable to help himself smile at those three words, Logan lifted a hand to cup the sharp jawline of the other man. He looked down into Ehren’s eyes as if the answers to all of his problems lay wound into those beautiful optics. He felt moved by the confession - someone had seen a wonderful vision and he wanted so badly to see it come to fruition.
“We won’t let it mess up,” he assured Ehren in a soft, yet confident breath. “I believe in you.” He didn’t know what such a gift entailed but he’d do everything he could to try to make that dream come true. Ehren had been the only visitor during the weeks he’d been locked up and that meant something.
Ehren wrapped his arms tighter around Logan and leaned into his lips. He wasn’t sure what it was he did to inspire so much confidence but his faith gave Ehren an energy he’d never felt before. The softness of his kiss was a promise, a promise that he’d try his hardest. When he pulled back it took him a moment to open his eyes. “You inspire me.” He said, sort of unintentionally. Logan never made him feel bad about saying what was on his mind.
“I mean, nobody really believes in anyone anymore. You saying you do makes me want to prove you right.” He’d never really been good at articulating what he meant but Logan was smart and understanding. He was discovering so many different things about Logan that he liked, and each one was more surprising then the last.
That embrace was warm, strong. He felt as if he could take the world on with a simple, powerful gesture. As if he could face any obstacle. The collision of their mouths was the perfect compliment to the moment and he radiated in the connection. When they parted he looked down at Ehren and offered a small smile, “Really?” He wasn’t sure how or why he would ever inspire anyone but he would take the compliment for what it was worth.
“How could I not believe you?” Ehren saw the future. That was a powerful thing. They’d be apart again soon, for how long he wasn’t sure so he wanted to drown in this moment. To save it for later when there was nothing but cold brick and bars.
His fingers came up to brush the side of his lip at that smile. Those little looks were enough to stop his breathing. When was still a factor, Ehren hadn’t had a dream about Logan being freed and he worried that it was the only way he’d know for certain that it would happen. A small chuckle escaped his lips as Logan questioned his belief. “Ok Romeo, maybe when you’re done proving the existence of aliens then we can set out to find the great city of Atlantis.”
It was a bit of a defense mechanism, the addressing of his own self worth. Ehren hardly felt like he should be trusted with Faction business much less long legal battles. The fight he had in him was the most he’d had in years. Still, Logan had once expressed a fondness for his style of awkward humor, maybe he’d glaze over Ehren’s feeble attempt at shielding himself.
A soft laugh would leave him at the quip. “You dork. I’d find Atlantis, it’s out there,” he teased, feigning confidence. He was no Romeo, either, but who was he to argue with Ehren? Nobody. Just another man.
They didn’t have much time left together, he didn’t want to squander it on debating self worth. “You’re still letting me take you out once I get out of here, right?”
A smile grew wider on his face. Something about the way Logan called him a dork made him feel warm inside. “As long as you promise to let me order the most expensive thing on the menu.” He teased. He wouldn’t of course, nor would he expect Logan to pay for him. “And I’m going to have somebody do something for me while we’re on the date, so you have to promise me not to ask any questions.”
Of course this was referring to the surprise he had for Logan. It was one thing he was really looking forward to and plans were already set in motion. “Promise me.” He repeated with a cheeky smirk.
His eyebrows would lift. “Something like what?” He inquired anyway, unable to help himself. That smile grew into a playful grin, curious but respectful otherwise at the idea of a surprise. He’d done the same thing to Ehren only weeks ago - which felt like a lifetime past - so it was only fair to have it done to him.
Whatever the date entailed he didn’t care what Ehren wanted. He just wanted to get out of here and really make good on that promise.
At that little smirk Logan rolled his eyes in a playful way, “Alright, no more questions. I trust you. I promise.”
“Good.” He said and pressed his lips against Logan’s quickly. It felt easy to fall into the jokes now that he saw Logan’s freedom. His eyes fixed Logan’s, searching for that glimmer of hope in them. It didn’t take long, his feelings may not have been worn on his sleeves but it glimmered in his eyes.
“You’ll like it and if you don’t then too bad. You’ll be stuck with it.” Much like a dog, but Ehren happily obliged because now Daisy was a big part of his life. He bit on his lip before leaning in again to press them against Logan’s.
Now he really wanted to know what this thing was, and waiting like this was different than waiting in his apartment. Ehren was worth it though and he knew he had no other choice but to go along with things. “There’s no way I couldn’t like it.” If it came from Ehren it was a guarantee that he’d figure it out, whatever it ended up being.
As their mouths collided again Logan’s eyes closed. He took his time kissing the other man, yearning for whatever small contact he could get so as to have something to hold onto.
That was then the knocking started on the door, a harsh pounding sound, which signaled that time was nearly up.
Framing Logan’s face in his hands he held on as tight as he could. Soon he’d have to leave again and Ehren would have to go back to the loneliness of his apartment. It had only been two weeks but for him it felt like a lifetime. He liked the way Logan kissed him, so carefully and exploratory. Who knew the drunk man he carried home from the bar would have such an effect on him?
The knock made his heart drop, a signal that their time was almost up. Would if he could just do something to be locked up with Logan, but that wasn’t going to help anyone, especially not Logan. He kept his wedding ring safely wrapped up in a drawer in his apartment and each day he pulled it out to look at it. Logan’s finger still had an indent on it from where he’d worn it for so many years.
Another loud knock and Ehren pulled back to fix his eyes on Logan. “Please, stay safe for me. I want you back in one piece.” He breathed.
Parting was always a challenge for him when he was close to someone. He knew it bordered obsessive at times when he’d wait impatiently for Casey to return from the grocery store because he felt she’d been gone too long. It must’ve been the same for Ehren, or maybe he, himself, was just a lunatic.
“I won’t ever make promises I can’t keep,” he breathed softly, looking at the other man. He had no control over what happened there only a hope that he could evade anything that might pose as a threat.
A kiss would be placed on Ehren’s lips at the corner where the seams would meet and then he was pulling back slowly.
His teeth pulled gently at his bottom lip. Of course he couldn’t promise that, he had no rights and just had to do what they wanted him to do. He nodded to show he understood and remained quiet for a moment. “Well then promise me you won’t forget about me.” Which he hoped was something Logan could promise. It had to have been lonely in that cold cell and he could see himself going crazy like that if he didn’t have something to look forward to.
“Or Daisy.” He added, offering Logan a small smile. He’d do anything to see him return one in kind. Logan’s smile had been one of the few things he’d grown so fond of and any chance to see it he’d take it.
“I would never forget you,” he promised softly, grinning like a fool. “Or Daisy.” Honestly he thought about the both of them a lot - wondered what they were doing, how they were feeling. You couldn’t just forget someone like Ehren.
The door would creak open and Logan turned, shuffling away from Ehren. Holding up his hands to the guards he allowed the shackles to come back. A glance would be cast at the other man over a shoulder and then Logan was moving out of the room.
That smile was what he was waiting for, so bright, so honest. That little moment was enough for him to think about for the next couple of days. When the door opened he felt the absence of Logan from him suddenly. He felt cold without the other man’s warm embrace and he watched them take him out again. It didn’t hurt so much now, since there was real hope he’d be released.
When the door closed, he felt his heart sink. All he could do now was hope that Roman would give up his vendetta against Ehren and get him out of there.