Heavy metal melodies blared as Louise stared at Kuchi Kopi in her arms. Her brain started to put the reality puzzle together and eventually she reached over to grab her phone from the nightstand. Sitting up, she turned her alarm off and stretched her muscles. Thankfully she was still small and young enough to survive a night on such a broken-in piece of furniture. On their way down, her hands fell to her face and dragged the skin as she groaned. Had she really broken up with Rudy just because he was going to Europe? Yes, yes she had because how could he drop that on her out of nowhere and obviously in public to lessen the chance of her going off?

I should’ve thrown something, she mused. Soft footsteps broke her thoughts and Louise looked up. When she caught sight of that strong and scruffy jawline, she scrunched up her nose.

“Don’t you have a nice apartment to stay at?”

Logan not only stopped, but took a step back. “Wow, guess I’ll just take this coffee downstairs to Linda.” He grinned as Louise’s look of disdain dropped to distress. Still, he waited with his brows arched, sipping his own coffee while holding out the extra mug. His benevolence was obviously limited, and the realization that she would not be waited on further caused Louise to huff as she got to her feet and marched over. Reflex told her to snatch the mug from Logan’s hand, but logic reminded her that there was a sweet elixir in there and she did not want to risk losing a single drop or worse.

The aroma of roasted bean was the most welcome thing in the world to Louise right now. She could cry just from that. Of course, the young woman thought like this every morning as she took her first sip of the day so really it wasn’t that alarming. What was alarming was that the sip today was almost exactly like she had made it herself, just a tad sweeter than usual. She looked up at Logan, eyes suspicious through the steam.

“Thought you’d need the pick-me-up,” he told her with a shrug.

“But how did you know my exact ratio?”

This time he scoffed. “I’m observant, Louise. Learned to pay attention so I wouldn’t be labeled a self-absorbed dick my entire life. I’ve seen you make your coffee a billion times," he paused with a smirk before adding, "Plus sometimes you sing a song about it under your breath thinking no one can hear you.”

The beet-red shade the younger one turned was enough to make Logan throw his head back and give a barking laugh. It was worth the slug he got from Louise in turn. It later replayed in her mind as she got ready for work, and followed her down to the restaurant.

When a bell chimes at an opening door it ruins your ability to slip into a building unnoticed, something that Louise often considered the nonsentient bane of her existence. As much as she would’ve loved to have just quietly walked in and gone right to the basement to pretend to take inventory or clean, the girl found herself flinching at the shrill yet concerned voice of her loving mother. There was no chance to dodge the warm trap of an embrace.

“Ooohh my baby! Your father told me about Rudy. Awwh, hun why’d you walk out on that poor boy like that?” Linda cooed, gently rocking her youngest to and fro and patting the top of her head.

“Mom, com’on” was all Louise could muster at the moment, face practically smooshed in the crook of her mom’s neck. At the same time she could hear Bob’s monotone from the other side of the wall, “Lin, come on. Give her some space.”

Knowing it was the best but not happy to fight her natural instinct, Linda released Louise with a quiet aw of disapproval. In turn, Louise understood where her mom was coming from and gave her a gentle pat on the arm.

“Be better if we don't talk about it. Don’t wanna clog up the restaurant with my problems, do we?”

There was no way she thought the matriarch’s eyes could get any bigger or more watery, but Louise was sure they did. She could also tell that Linda was still fighting with herself to find the right thing to say in such a delicate situation. The corner of the woman’s apron was pulled up and being twisted in frantic fingers. Louise braced herself. “Well, whenever you’re ready hun, just don’t keep it bottled up,” Linda finally settled on before going back behind the counter.

The younger of the two gave a quiet affirmative before following to grab her own apron. The empty restaurant wouldn't really need her for another hour or so, so Louise did make her way to the basement to check on the lettuce. Once completely alone, save for the ancient meat grinder and all the produce and supplies, she pulled out her phone. Sure she could say it was merely to pick her podcast of the day, but the girl’d be lying if she denied the not-so-subtle anxiety she felt as she unlocked the screen and readied herself for any notifications.

And there it was blaring at her face in its regular size; [Rudy : Hey Louise, your dad said you g…]

Steeling herself with a deep breath, Louise opened the text. [ Rudy : Hey Louise, your dad said you got home okay. I was relieved about that. So I know you got upset and ran out before I finished talking and it seemed like you wouldn’t mind if I fell off the face of the Earth but I was hoping you’d want to come to Europe with me? ]

The temperature of Louise’s blood could suddenly not make up its mind. First it ran cold, how could she make such a mistake? Of course Rudy wouldn’t just want to leave her behind while he had a life-changing journey. But then it boiled, how could Rudy think she’d be able to leave her family and the restaurant for a full year? Everything would fall apart without her! It’s like he didn’t even know her!!!

A growl rumbled from her as Louise winded up to hurl her phone at the concrete wall, misplacing her anger on the easiest target. Thankfully her brain caught up and forced her to take another breath. Instead she picked her podcast, pocketed her phone, and hurried to the walk-in and to start counting that lettuce.

Eventually Louise went upstairs to help her parents and Logan with the lunch rush. It went the same as usual, and the young woman found solace in the routine. Bob and Linda went to run errands before the dinner rush, leaving the kids to run the restaurant. Things stayed quiet for a while as they cleaned up and made small talk about the burger of the day. “Gotta say, I wasn’t sure the Slaw Kimchi to Me Burger was gonna do too good in this area,” Logan mused.

A scoff came from Louise as she swiped her rag over a particularly stubborn stain on the last table, “There’s adventurous people on the Wharf. Not that kimchi is really that scary, just better and spicy sauerkraut.”

She’s sure Logan is about to make some rich people remark, but she doesn’t hear it. At that moment she happened to look out the windows and caught sight of a familiar car. The hair on the back of her neck shot up and her stomach twisted. She clenched the rag in her fist as she spun and dashed to the kitchen. The sudden intrusion catches Logan off guard, and he gives her a shocked look. Wide eyes stare back at him before Louise pulled herself together just enough to push out, “Actually I might’ve had too much kimchi. Those microbes are really fighting right now so I’ll just be in the bathroom for, gosh I don’t know, however long this is gonna take.”

And then she’d barely heard the “good luck” Logan shouted as she slammed the door to the employee bathroom just as the bell chimed up front. Keeping her ear to the door, Louise flipped the exhaust fan on for cover. She focused on listening for her chance to bolt. There was absolutely no way she could face Rudy right now. He didn’t deserve a resolution just yet.

From her vantage point, Louise had to really strain to make out actual words and really she could only just barely pick up that her rival was being very amicable with the young man who he knew had caused her such grief. Classic, just standing there acting like Rudy committed no crimes. Enemy of my enemy I guess, she ruminated, rolling her eyes.

Freedom came what felt like an eternity later. In reality it was maybe ten minutes. From what she could tell, Rudy didn’t stay to eat or even order any food. She wasn’t sure if Logan bought her “gotta blow up the toilet” schtick, but either way she’d stayed in the bathroom long enough to convince everyone that she was not coming out and she'd won the waiting game. Sensing safety after another bell chime, Louise emerged. One could probably compare her to a deer surveying a clearing after a gunshot. That one was definitely Logan and he was lucky that all he got for the comment was the bird and the silent treatment until Bob and Linda got back for dinner.

The next few days went similarly. Louise worked, Rudy would stop by to try to see her, she would masterfully dodge him and hide until he went away, never getting the message. The message that Louise could have told him if she would just face him. The message that Louise could face him with if she would admit it to herself.

It was a full week of dodging her regular-sized not-so-beau and Louise may have started to lose it. Every jingle of the bell had her jumping, ready to bolt at the drop of a dime. Everyone pretended not to notice the newfound twitch of her right eye - and that had just been while she was working. Not even being off the clock and upstairs was a safe haven for Louise’s psyche. She rarely came out of her room, just barely coaxed out for dinner. If her replies were more than two syllables then they were dripping in snappy sarcasm. It had gotten to the point where she was given a wide berth. That is until Tina had come home for the weekend.

Though she’d been briefed early on by their mom, Tina was still Tina and therefore headstrong in trying to break down walls. Especially when those walls were making life difficult for every single other person. Louise was on a forced day off, having been diagnosed as too unable to put on her customer service visage. Not that being shut up in the house was doing her any favors. Tina found her youngest sibling pacing madly around the small living room and offered to take her out for lunch. “A change of scenery,” she added when Louise just stared, frozen as if contemplating every possible scenario that may happen outside of her 'sanctuary'.

“Change of… so I’m guessing you don’t mean Pesto’s?” Louise dug, still cautious.

“I was thinking Pie in the Sky, see if you could beat your record.”

There were two wolves inside Louise at that moment, and damned if the one hungry for pie didn’t beat the one that wanted to hole up in the Belcher apartment for forever. For the first time in days, her voice was soft, “Sounds good.”

The table between the sisters was laden with pie. Tina was certain every flavor on the menu was in front of them already, and if it wasn’t yet then it would be soon. Which was fine. The dent in her college-student wallet was going to be an acceptable price to pay to get her family back to normal.

She bided her time with small talk until Louise was three slices in, then it was time for plan “Get Louise to Talk About Her Feelings and Stop Being Grouchy”, which she thought was the perfect length for a plan name. “So, Rudy's going off to Europe with no regard for how you feel,” she opened, placing everything on not-Louise. Of course she'd already gotten the run down that Rudy has been by every day since trying to talk to his beloved. And of course, right on cue is the scowl on Louise’s face. Her fork freezes for a moment. Then she finishes the bite she was about to take before setting it down and sliding the plate away as if the pie was poisoned.

“I should've known this was a trap. A delicious trap that you knew I couldn't resist. Diabolical, I'd be proud if I wasn't so flabbergasted.”

In response Tina merely leaned forward, interlocking her fingers and resting them under her mouth, thick brows arching up. Louise huffed back. Her dark eyes narrowed at her older sister.

“Mom told you everything.” There were no secrets in the Belcher family, even the ones that have deserted the nest. Tina stayed silent, waiting. The stalemate didn't last long, Louise didn't have the patience for it anymore. She dropped her eyes down to the pies. “I can't leave Mom and Dad for a year, they're too old to run the place alone.”

Tina shot back instantly but softly, “They have Logan, plus me and Gene on the weekends.”

“They have to pay Logan,” Louise reminded her. Sure business had picked up some, but having a body they didn't have to pay as much was still keeping them afloat right now.

“You know I would come back more often, and Zeke would help out for your wages.”

Zeke and Tina had been getting more serious the past year, and Zeke had opted to do odd jobs around town in lieu of going to any kind of college. Teddy had even semi-taken him under his wing, that boy was truly a jack of all trades. And so head over heels for Tina that he was always ready to jump at the drop of a hat to help her or the other Belchers.

Louise poked at the slice of pecan pie in front of her. She'd never had a problem making people do her work for her, so Tina knew the red on her face wasn't embarrassment over her ego. There was more prodding to do.

“You know, someone once told me that feelings are scary,” Tina started. Louise took a bite of pie, opting to look out the window at the moving scenery. At the whole city below her looking so small in the glow of the setting sun. “And he's right. Feelings are terrifying, and they can change which makes them even scarier.”

Louise swallowed her sticky, sweet pie before pointing the tines of her fork at her older sister. “My feelings are as stable as where a horse lives, T.” She spoke with bravado when she tacked on, “The only thing scary about them is how passionate I am.” Instead of a mic drop, Louise let her fork fall to the table.

“And passion means running from someone you've been with for five years instead of letting him know how you feel…about a trip to Europe?”

The youngest Belcher scrunched up her face and fell back in her seat. Waving a hand over the table she mumbled, “I'm not in the mood for pie anymore, let's get this boxed and go home.”

When the girls got back to Ocean Avenue, that familiar car is there once again. Tina turns her head to look at her sister, who looks ready to hurl - a look Tina knows all too well. She watches as Louise takes a deep breath before opening the car door…and bolting for the apartment. Feelings are scary, and Louise would be damned if she was gonna deal with them right now.

Instead she ran right to the bathroom, slammed the door and ran the cold water. Ice stung her hands and then pierced her face as she splashed. The collar of her shirt was soaked by the time she stopped, gripping the edge of the sink and staring at her pink reflection. She practically growled in frustration with herself. Why is this so hard?!

“Just admit it, admit that you're too chicken shit to tell your best-friend-turned-boyfriend that you don't want-” and then she trailed off into another loud snarl. Her fingers unhooked from the sink and dug into her scalp, displacing her beanie. With a groan she drug her hands down over her face before looking at the mirror again. Nothing would be accomplished here. Recognizing this, Louise fixed her appearance before going to her room for a fresh shirt - one with a lower cut than most - and her fake id. Not wanting any type of confrontation, she slipped out through the fire escape and made her way to that new bar a couple blocks away, The Dizzy Fish.

There was just enough of a crowd at almost twilight that no one gave Louise a second look. Well, almost no one. She could definitely feel eyes on her. But right now her focus was on finding an open space at the bar and confidently ordering a rum and Coke. It seemed like a thing any bar would have, and she hoped it was strong enough to drown out her thoughts for a moment. When she slid her id onto the counter, the very young woman kept her face neutral as if she had done this many a time and was over it. In return, the bartender looked from the card to her and back before pushing the card back, “Starting a tab?” he asked. Louise gave a curt nod and watched as he turned around and got to work. It wasn’t long before a cold glass was placed before her. She thanked him and weaved her way through the crowd to a booth towards the back. The drink was…well Louise was used to bottom shelf vodka mixed with whatever high schoolers could get their hands on, from that one party of Chloe Barbash’s that she was dragged to by Jessica in hopes of getting in with “the cool crowd”. That was a dark phase, Louise thought with a grimace. She’s still thankful that her friend eventually decided that her lot in life wasn’t so bad after she spent that night hurling her insides and the next morning unable to open her eyes without wanting to take them out. “If this is what it takes, I ca- I just can’t. Masochists, that’s what they are,” Jessica had rambled later. This drink was better than that, but Louise wouldn’t say it was anything to write home about. It burned though, and that’s what she was looking for. Well that and…

“This seat taken?” a somewhat deep voice asked.

Right on time, Louise thought while glancing from her drink in appraisal. He was an okay height, taller than her if she’d stand but not by much; broad shouldered, with light hair and blue eyes. College age and back home to mooch off Mommy and Daddy for the weekend, if she had to guess. A drink in each hand.

With a grin she leaned comfortably back in her seat and flourished to the spot opposite her. “It's not, but it'll be hard to take it with you.”

That, of course, earned her a chuckle. And then the mystery guy slid into the booth and placed the more colorful drink in front of her. Louise cocked a brow at him in effort to play coy. In turn he mirrored her earlier flourish, “Thought you might want something that tasted good after you finished something so manly.”

Louise was sure her grin took on cheshire qualities as she chugged her rum and Coke, slammed her glass down, and leaned forward to grab the darker alcohol. “I assure you that I can handle manly,” she purred, swapping the full glasses to the correct placement.

She watched as he took the colorful drink with a smirk, lifted it up in a “cheers” motion, and took a sip. Then she was sure this might've been his first taste of a fruitier drink with the way he paused to take it in and then drank half of it after looking around. No way he’d let his bros know he liked a girlie drink, she's sure.

“Name's Brad, by the way,” he stated, somehow managing to be smug after committing a cardinal guy sin.

“Sidney,” is the name Louise offered in return. It was the one on her id, after all. Shouldn't muddy things too much. Besides, she considered her real name to be on a need-to-know basis, and Brad here didn't need to know anything about her.

Which seemed fine to him with how he proceeded to either drone on and on about himself or make stupid jokes that Louise forced herself to laugh at. They had a few more drinks before Brad decided he'd talked enough and leaned across the booth. One of his hands found hers and tapped as he spoke, and wow did it take some effort for Louise to not flinch or roll her eyes.

“Why don't we go some place more private? My parents are on a trip this weekend.”

She was absolutely positive he thought he was being enticing. And unfortunately Louise didn't pick this revealing top out just to get free drinks from horny patrons at a bar, she only wished her catch had been wittier. Just as the girl swallowed a groan and nodded, priming her body to slide out of the booth, a VERY familiar voice cut in, “Isn't it past your bedtime, Four Ears?”

Not bothering to hide her annoyance this time, Louise looked at the end of the booth with a groan. “Logaaan, what a pleasant surprise, we-” she emphasized with a wave across the table, “were just leaving. Brad, you said something about your parents being gone?”

Well now poor Brad was blinking, trying to figure out what was going on. Slowly he stood up. He almost matched Logan in height…just shy a few inches. “Huh? Oh yeah. Sorry man, but Sid’s coming home with me tonight,” he declared smugly, clasping Logan's shoulder as if he won an undeclared contest.

The taller man just cocked a brow at Louise and smirked before slowly removing Brad’s hand. “Yeeeeeah, no she’s not. Sid here’s on curfew, being 18 and all,” he sighed dramatically. Without another word, he stretched a hand out to help Louise from the booth. Louise merely glared in return, suddenly feeling very glued to her seat.

To Brad’s credit, he was fast enough to do some math, “If she’s 18 then she’s old enough to make her own choices.”

“How many drinks did you buy her?” Logan asked simply.

“Wha-?”

Logan waved an arm over the tableful of empty glasses. “I’m sure you didn’t drink all these yourself, and surely an upstanding guy such as yourself wouldn’t let a lady buy her own drinks,” he led. When the only response was Brad’s dumbstruck face, Logan carried on, “You’re right, doesn’t matter how many. If word gets out to my boss about this…gosh, let’s just say there’s a bigger fisch that’ll make you dizzy.”

Seeing her potential one-night-stand go pale, Louise slammed her hands on the table and sidled out the booth. Her legs were only a little like jelly, but she refused to give Logan any satisfaction and did her best to stabilize on her own. Somewhat regrettably, she looked back at Brad. “Don’t be afraid to look me up next break,” she half-heartedly insisted while being whisked away, one of Logan’s hands on the back of her arm. How chivalrous, she inwardly groaned.

Once they were outside, Louise broke out of line a few steps…well, stumbled was more the word. She noticed the way Logan took a step toward her, his arms going up like he was ready to keep her face from kissing the concrete and his eyes wide with sudden concern. In a flash she straightened up again and gave her most killer glare yet. “Okay Spike, I’m no longer in danger from the big bad lucky-baby-ducky, so you go back in’n enjoy your night. I’ll make sure I get home in one piece,” she asserted.

“Lucky-baby-du…” Logan muttered, assuming his boss’s kid was possibly too drunk to know what she was saying. To the girl’s dismay, she watched him shake his head. “You’re wasted and Linda would kill me if I didn’t make sure you got home safely, and you know she'd sense that. Really you’re lucky she has no idea that you’re gone as it is.”

Naturally, Louise hadn't even thought about the consequences her actions would bring - that was going to be a problem for Future Louise. Thinking about it now caused Louise to give a dramatic groan. There was no way she's gonna be able to slip back in, and definitely no way to hide that she'd been drinking.

“Heyyy, Logan, do me a solid and just let me crash at your place tonight, buddy?”

The man in question grimaced. “Definitely not. You're not coming to my place and ralphing on all my stuff.”

Leaving no more room for debate, Logan grabbed the girl's arm again and started to lead her home. They were walking in silence for a few buildings before it started to feel uncomfortable. Neither of them were really ones for staying quiet.

"Can't believe you bluffed the big Fisch into this," Louise grumbled.

"That wasn't a bluff, Louise. We all know your landlord is fond of your family. Word could easily get around if something uncouth happened to you."

There was a shorter pause before Logan poked again, "He was quite the rebound by the way." He glanced down in time to see Louise scrunch her nose.

“Unlucky hand. He sat down first,” she grumbled in response. Her feet scuffed the ground as she tried to kick some of the sidewalk debris. It was actually probably a good thing Logan was still holding onto her. That was evident when she stumbled and was quickly steadied.

He chuckled, clearly reveling in her misery. “Far be it from me to tell someone how to handle their shortcomings, but I don't think -”

“Shortcomings?!” Louise interrupted with a shriek, halting in her tracks. She huffed, “I am absolutely perfect.”

“Uh huh, and that's why you snuck into a bar and waited for a guy to sit down and booze you up so you could go home with him, after your very recent ex spent all week trying to reconcile a misunderstanding?”

Louise huffed more, even puffed some. “I didn't sneak in, there's no bouncer. ‘sides, I have a fake id that works perfectly.”

This time she snuck a glance up at Logan, whose brows raised significantly as he clucked. They started walking again.

“I'm impressed with your dedication to being a delinquent, but maybe go with some friends next time,” he suggested. After a moment he added, “And not somewhere your only non-related coworker goes to. I'd rather have plausible deniability to your crimes when I see your parents.”

“Easy there, almost sounded like you cared,” Louise remarked. The throaty chuckle that came from Logan in return caused her insides to warm. That wasn't something she felt like dealing with right now, she was just not drunk enough to know these were also scary feelings. Besides unlike Braaad, Logan was someone she had to deal with on a regular basis. To distract herself, Louise pulled out her phone. Her feet became glued to the ground, instant regret building in her stomach.

[ Rudy : Sorry, I know you clearly want your space but I wanted to let you know that I was boarding my flight. I hope we can talk when you're ready. ]

It was like she could feel the tears Rudy’d held while typing. When something wet plopped on her lit up screen, she realized that those were her tears. The pit in her stomach seethed, the meager and mostly liquid contents bubbling up.

And then Logan jumped back just in time to avoid any backsplash as Louise threw up her feelings all over the sidewalk.

“Whoa see, this is why I didn't want you in my-” Logan started to exclaim, pausing when he noticed the state of the younger one's emotions. “Oh, um. Hey champ, it’s alright why don’t we..” He was at a loss. His training from college benders did not prepare him for a heart broken girl that he knew and wasn’t interested in crying and throwing up. Frantically he looked around to see where they were, all the while praying that no one was around to wonder what he did to make this child so upset and sick.

Someone, somewhere, was looking out for him. He was sure of that when he realized they were by the empty corner lot with the stairs that kids like to hang out on after school. That meant that they were also near that late night drugstore, and that there was somewhere for Louise to sit and not go in a very lit store with her face all gross. “Okay so why don’t you sit down here and not move while I go get some wipes to clean you up?” he suggested, guiding Louise to the stairs while rubbing circles on her upper back. She thought she felt movement around her left pocket, but her head was too full of anguish to think about that just now.

Numbly she sat, breathing heavy and wondering if there was possibly anything else her stomach could push up from the depths. This would definitely keep her away from alcohol for a while, even if it were only one ingredient in the nausea soup.

Louise wasn’t sure how long she’d sat staring at the pavement before Logan’s black sneakers came into view. A look up showed that he was holding a somewhat full bag. She watched as he slowed his pace to dig through said bag, pull out a small pack of baby wipes, and held them in front of her. Ready to not feel horrifically gross, Louise took the package and opened them. As she cleaned up, she could see Logan settling next to her in her peripheral. He was still digging in the bag, and she saw him set out two bottles of water.

“One for each of us,” he explained in case her brain was too fuzzy.

When Louise was adequately cleaned up and just holding balled up wipes, Logan finished emptying the bag and held it out to her for the trash. And then he handed her an ice cream drumstick. She blinked a few times as she took it, not sure what to make of the action. Logan must’ve noticed the confusion, because he offered, “It’ll help you feel better,” before he unwrapped his own treat. They ate in silence, too busy making sure they finished before anything melted in the summer air to consider how heavy the quiet was. Once Louise no longer had the waffle cone to fidget with though, her brain went back on the offensive.

She couldn’t help but fall on Logan’s arm and let out a shaky sigh. “What’s wrong with me?” she bemoaned, staring in the direction of the ground but more in a dissociative way.

Holding no punches, Logan responded with, “Well you still haven’t thanked me for the wipes and ice cream, for one.”

That earned him a snort and a punch to his thigh.

“You haven’t! But really, there’s nothing wrong with you per se. You just,” he paused, trying to pull the right words for this currently fragile girl. “You’re young and you’re not great with change. And you take a lot of comfort in the people around you, it makes it difficult to handle big shifts.”

There was a decent moment of Louise pondering this before she deadpanned, “Wow, that sounded deep…ly dumb.”

Logan rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to defend himself when Louise mumbled, "And what Tina said too." She sighed and looked at Logan with her big, pathetic, watery red eyes.

"Help me up?"

The blonde simply stood and grabbed the bag of trash. Louise waited some seconds, one hand outstretched. When she was left hanging, she huffed, "Well?"

"Stiiiill waiting for that 'thank you'," he chided, arms crossed.

Hoping she wouldn't spontaneously combust or throw up again, Louise swallowed her pride and batted her eyes. "Thank you."

She watched Logan's brows raise just a little.

"Foooor?" He coaxed, obviously sadistically enjoying her pain. She gritted her teeth.

"For getting me ice cream n' water."

Oh how she wanted to smack the smirk off his face. He reached out, put his hand around hers, and pulled. He also definitely forgot how small Louise was and miscalculated, causing the small girl to go flying from the concrete to his torso. The impact pushed an "oof " out of Logan, while Louise gave a startled shriek. Not wanting to dwell on his expensive cologne filling her sinuses, the young woman hastily shoved Logan's chest. However, she couldn't find a witty remark with the smell of wood and spice swirling her senses and simply stomped towards home.

After Logan decided he'd never process what happened, he shrugged and caught up easily. They walked through idle chatter with Logan on his phone as Louise calmed her steps. It wasn't long before they were at the Belcher door and Logan was watching Louise pull her keys from her left pocket. Then he watched astonishment strike her face as she frantically felt around her person. When she began scanning the ground around them, he finally pulled a fold-up Kuchi Kopi wallet out of one of his own pockets and mostly held back his smarmy grin.

"You dropped this at the steps, was wondering when you'd notice."

Pausing and turning her attention to glare daggers, Louise snatched her wallet out of the man's hand. There were no words as she unlocked the door and came face to face with a stern looking Bob.

"Hey old man, what're you doin' up?" Louise asked sheepishly.

Her dad sighed in return, not able to hold the facade for long. Sure he'd been more than a little upset that his youngest had snuck out and gone to a bar, but he knew what she'd been dealing with and was just glad that she was safe. However,

"Logan texted me," he started, shooting the blonde an apologetic look for knowing he just put a target on the man's back. "You'd better get up to bed, you'll want some sleep before you see your mom in the morning."

Too stunned that she wasn't getting a lecture right away, Louise opted to simply turn and stick her tongue out at Logan before passing her dad and going up the stairs. She didn't even take into account that Bob didn't follow her up right away. Nothing matters to Louise until she gets into the bathroom to pee and change into pajamas. When her wallet falls off the sink and lands open, and she slowly picks it up and notices one blaring discrepancy. She goes to sleep thinking about how Logan definitely didn't just find her wallet on the ground, but damn that was a sneaky way to confiscate her fake id.

In the morning she'd check her bank account and see no purchases from last night…right before Linda came in to have a long, emotional, and vaguely threatening talk.

Stepping out of the shower, 22 year old Louise sighed. It was annoying how much her family cared about her sometimes. Any other 18 year old would've been given some kind of huge punishment for the stunt she pulled back then, might've never seen the light of day again. Instead, her parents just forced her to talk to them and cry in front of them over a boy she no longer loved romantically…then cut her fake id in front of her.

With a fond yet sad smile, the young woman got ready for her shift. She caught Gene up on the end of last night, making sure to rave about how great it was that Logan wasn't working with them anymore and getting his stupid, rich guy stink on everything. Even with the change in routine, it wasn't too bad. Sure there was something missing, tugging at her heart, but she decided that was just the phone that definitely broke on impact that morning. Louise would absolutely deny that she was alert to every door chime, a hopeful light in her eyes extinguished each time a customer or even Teddy walked in.

Or, she would have denied it if anyone had dared to say it to her face. Instead the rest of the Belcher family glanced or whispered to each other when just out enough of Louise's vicinity to not catch her ire. She dragged more and more each day, not even pulling herself out of bed for most of her Wednesday off.

The collective breath the family was holding was let out just a bit on Friday when, after coming down and seeing the "Cherry Up, Bud" burger of the day and glowering at her beloved dad, Louise was snapped into furious action. She zipped back upstairs, snagged her beaten phone off her end table, dug some tools out from a drawer, and slammed herself into the far booth. For hours she ignored the restaurant around her and did all she could to fix the screen and the disappeared pixels, but in the end she placed the pieces in a to-go box in front of Teddy and asked him to fix it with uncharacteristic politeness before getting to restaurant work. There was talk up front on if she'd been pod-peopled while she added cherry glaze to burgers in the back, sneaking in incensed tastes between orders.

Any talk about Louise Belcher getting swapped for an alien or changeling was put to rest on Saturday afternoon. She had the late-afternoon/dinner shift that day and was finishing up her pre-work second coffee when she glanced out toward the wharf. Right there in her line of sight, on the hallowed ground that is the end of Ocean Avenue, was one very familiar and aggravating car.

Oh hell no, she thought. Teeth gritted, Louise took a deep breath before flying down the stairs and into the restaurant.

She beelined for Logan standing in front of a booth, and socked him square in the jaw.

“Gee Louise, I don’t think-” 

And then Gene’s voice cut through the wedding lo-fi he’d been playing, “Alright party people, it’s o-fish-ially time to sit down and get your chow on! Oh and don’t worry, if you rsvp'd for the chicken like a sane person then you won’t be eating the fish.”

Louise would swear she watched a lightbulb go off in Mickey’s head as he met her eyes. 

“Whelp Louise, really wish I could get you something, but looks like it’s time for this bartender to tend to some tendies,” he said as he sprayed a clear soda into her glass and slid a full jar of cherries her way. And then she watched, incredulously, as he turned away and pretended he couldn’t hear as she sputtered about needing a drink.

Coming to terms with cruel reality, Louise snatched her glass with one hand and the cherry jar with the other and walked back to her table. The entire way was spent grumbling about how they weren’t even serving chicken tenders and how dare Mickey try to cut her off at her own sister’s wedding.

Upon reaching the table and seeing the only two empty seats, one for her and one for Gene, a thought crackled through Louise’s mind. One spot was between Bob and Logan. She liked sitting next to her father, it made it easier to whisper inside jokes. But she was willing to sacrifice that for the more coveted spot between Linda and Alex. She could ask him to trade, maybe even bribe him. Unfortunately she knew that spot was more coveted by Gene than herself. Those were their two favorite people; they still loved sharing food with their mom from her plate, and Louise isn’t sure of the last time they’d sat around Alex without being next to him. Besides, it would look suspicious if she asked to be closer to her mother’s boisterous energy and Alex’s food spray. 

Holding back a groan, Louise settled down next to her dad and decided maybe it would be fun to watch Logan be in the spit zone.

“Louise you didn’t steal the cherries, did you?” Bob asked immediately as his youngest sat down. He looked a little concerned when Louise protectively scooped her jar closer to her.

“Of course not! Mickey gave them to me as a bribe for his life,” she answered, plucking out a syrupy cherry and popping it into her mouth. The chewing that followed was more to cover up her disgruntled gnashing than to make a show of her loot.

Thankfully servers came and set everyone’s plates in front of them, relieving Louise of any further conversation. That is, until Logan leaned over a tad and whispered to her,

“Looks like we’re the only ones to get the salmon, great minds huh?”

Rolling her eyes with a scoff, Louise pointedly ignored him and turned to Bob. Her tone was a little on the accusatory side.

“What’s the deal old man, I thought we agreed to both get the fish?”

The old man in question shrugged, a bite of chicken already in his mouth. He chewed and answered at the same time, “Thorry Louithe, I justh-” he paused to swallow, “Your mom made the chicken sound so much better. And it might be, it’s actually really juicy. I might have to ask the chef how they cooked this.”

Louise caught the way Bob was starting to tear up over the marvel of the chicken and huffed a little before poking at her salmon. There’d be no further shaming of her dad, he wouldn’t even hear her at this point. Besides, she was a big girl now and she didn’t need to copy every little thing that her beloved father did. She knew they were on the same team even if they did different things. Even if he did switch dinners on her without letting her know. Not that she thinks she would’ve changed dinners with him. The best chicken could not compare to a good, fatty slab of salmon to her, and she wouldn’t take that risk. She turned back to Logan, who had apparently not moved back out of her bubble and was instead eyeing her with that stupid mischievous gleam he’d get.

“I’ll admit, sometimes you have enough brain cells to choose the superior option like me.” And with that she started to lift a shred of fish to her mouth. The words tumbled through her brain before a blare went off. Like me?! She couldn’t let a possible double entendre be left hanging. Especially not when she risked a glance and saw that dumb smirk like his shriveled brain caught onto something. (It didn’t, he just thought that his stupid comment actually hitting a nerve was funny.)

The next words crashed out of her, “Like I do.”

There, totally saved it. (She did not, this actually caught Logan’s attention and caused that brain hamster to run on its wheel.)

Pleased with herself, Louise went on to eat her dinner and drink her cherry-loaded soda with ease. The whole table bantered together. Linda went on about the twist on the groom situation and how she was totally not caught off guard because she thought those three had been acting weird lately. Bob and Louise shared a look before nodding along like they believed her. Louise had even been nice enough to not give away that he’d kept that secret knowledge from his own wife. Friends and family stopped by to congratulate the parents almost as much as they went to the main table. Gene and Alex went back to manning the dj station. Gayle rolled Grandpa Al over, and then left him between Louise and Logan when she thought a waiter winked at her. 

It’d been a few years since Grandma Gloria passed and Linda convinced her own dad to move to the Elegant Doily where she could keep him company. He still had one kind of good ear, but the right had finally gone out completely - something that Louise thought he was perfectly fine with considering how he constantly declined offers for an implant. 

Seeing that she was on the hearing side, Louise waved sheepishly, “Hi Grandpa.”

Unfortunately she had never been great at small talk with her much older family. Not that it mattered to any of them. Al could barely hear, Gloria had always preferred to talk at her, and graciously Big Bob was just as awkward as she was. Still she liked to try, just a little something to let the generation know that she remembered they were still breathing.

More fortunately a not so light snore caught everyone’s attention. Linda let out a little “aww” at the sight of her very elderly father taking a little wheelchair nap. The small talk crisis was averted.

“Bored him to sleep in less than five seconds, that’s gotta be a record Four Ears,” Logan quietly quipped.

Louise opened her mouth to retort, but at that moment something was laid over her right hand. She looked to see a liver spotted hand covering hers, and moved her eyes to catch Al staring back.

“Who’s the chump?” he hoarsely asked, gesturing over to Logan. Catching the scandalized look on the blonde’s face caused a very loud “HA!” to escape Louise’s throat.

Placing her free hand on top of the hand on hers, Louise assured her grandpa that the chump was some rando that worked at the restaurant. The gleam in her eyes faltered when she looked up to catch Logan staring at her with his usual cocky grin. He's not supposed to be grinning while she insults him! Thinking fast and not childishly at all, Louise stuck her tongue out at the blonde. He looked ready to say something when Gene’s voice broke through the chatter of the room. 

“Everyone get your cameras and tears ready, cus it's time for the bride and her father to take center stage. And here to accompany their dance is a very special group of guests. Gentlemen…”

Louise perked up at the announcement as the lights began to dim. This was her main gift to her dear sister, and she didn't want to miss the look on Tina's face when she realized what was happening. 

You're not the only one who can keep a secret T, the young woman thought fiendishly. 

While Bob and Tina (and Linda to get the best filming zone) made their way to the dancefloor, guests started whispering as four pretty familiar pretty men walked out from behind a curtain. Louise cringed a bit, forgetting how earsplitting the screams of excited grown women could be. It was so worth it when her big fish of a sister locked eyes with her. She'd never seen those deep brown eyes sparkle so much. It was a miracle that her legs still worked enough to be able to dance to the graciously slow song that was chosen. 

Catching the interaction, Logan leaned over a bit and asked, “How'd you get Boyz 4 Now to play at your sister's wedding, lie and say it was a Make-A-Wish thing?”

There was no moment wasted as Louise rolled her eyes.

“First of all, they're Men4Eva now,” pause for dramatic flourish, “and secondly I don't have to use such underhanded tactics when I'm friends with BB.”

To punctuate, she turned and waved at the stage. Logan watched as the shortest guy on stage sent a subtle wave and wink back, his face perking up just a notch above his performance smile.

Louise was pleased when Logan looked back at her, mouth dropped open. She leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed under her chest.

“I can tell you're impressed, it's okay to say so.”

It felt like ages before the gears in Logan's brain cranked enough to shut his mouth and then open it again to speak. Unfortunately for him, his voice may have cracked a little.

“H- hOW are you friends with a famous boy band?”

Louise shrugged before leaning forward once more. She rested near her chin on her fist and grinned slyly. Between them, Grandpa Al snored.

“Well you slap a guy enough and you tend to leave an impression.”

For reasons unknown, Logan felt a fire light in his stomach. Not that Louise had much time to revel in the confused look on his face before Tammy exuberantly pulled him out of his chair and into the crowd.

The music was picking up now, with the band getting revved up by the energy. Bob was being guided back to his seat by Zeke, the older man holding his back as he crouched a little. He was only a little pink in the eyes. It was a welcome distraction, not that Louise would admit she needed to be distracted from anything. 

“You did good out there old man,” she congratulated as Bob eased himself to his seat. 

“Not as easy as it used to be. I may be out of shape,” he answered a little windedly.

Louise gave a p’shaw. “You?! Noooooo.” The cheshire grin she gave him was not interrupted as she nodded to groom #1. “Zeke.”

It wasn't too curt. Just enough to let him know she wasn't happy with how the day had gone. The brunette chuckled nervously as he nodded back.

“Sorry Lou, my hands were tied on every aspect,” he said, throwing his hands in the air to emphasize. “I thought you shoulda been in on everything, but T-bird-”

“Likes to make everything into a big story, I know,” Louise sighed. A fond smile found her face as she shook her head. “I'll at least forgive the whole we're also marrying Jimmy Jr fiasco.”

Zeke grinned and tousled her hair just a little. It earned him a swat that he took in stride. The rough and tumble guy had certainly grown on the entire Belcher family over the years, and Louise found it hard to hold a grudge against him. He was definitely older brother material.

As she watched him leave to find his spouses, Louise found her eyes wandering across the crowd. Not that she was looking for anyone in particular. She just liked to people-watch. Her dad joined her and they made a game similar to their burn unit. Another great distraction from nothing. 

Until that nothing was front and center. 

The nervous chuckle that followed could not be disguised. “What can I do ya for? More soda, cherries?”

Louise shook her head and tapped the half empty water next to her. “More water and two wines, please, my good man. For the Burger Patriarch.”

She figured if she put the full request in the name of the father of the bride then Mickey wouldn't have as much room to deny her. It was a crime that she couldn't get more alcohol directly, but it wasn't like underhanded tactics were beneath her. 

And much to her pleasure, Mickey did indeed nod along and start to pour. He went on about how beautiful the father-daughter dance was and how he was so happy to be a part of the big day of one of his friend's children. Since she still liked him, despite his crimes against her tonight, Louise engaged in the conversation. It was honestly nice that so many people from her childhood were still in the Belchers’ lives, forged by burgery bonds.

The drink pouring didn't take nearly as long as the talking, but with her back to the room Louise wasn't complaining. And then a roar from the crowd caught her attention and she couldn't fight turning around. 

The commotion stemmed from, of course, the dance floor. It wasn't quite the middle, the way Tina would've written in one of her erotic fictions, but the crowd still had to part some for Louise to see what was so amazing.

It was, in fact, Jimmy Jr and cousin Leslie engaged in a dance battle. Louise finally took note that M4E’s set was done and Gene had busted out their own jams. She had to admit that J-Ju had gained more skill over the years, probably from actually having someone like Leslie to bounce techniques off of. The two were pretty impressive together, and the sight of his spouses watching with pride wasn't lost on Louise either.  No one would get her to admit that she was smiling over the way Tina and Zeke’s eyes shone watching their partner.

That totally-not-there smile faltered when her eyes moved to the front lines where Tammy was still hanging onto Logan's arm as she practically frothed at the mouth. Not paying enough attention to see that Tammy's eyes were locked on Leslie or that Logan’s neck was craned to look at his table of origin, Louise scoffed and turned back to the drinks before her. There was no time for Mickey to react as she knocked back not one, but both glasses of wine. Then she asked for two refills. Conflicted but understanding his life would be on the line, Mickey obliged hurriedly.

Louise didn't want to leave her dear dad dehydrated any longer, but now that she looked at the glasses she realized that three might be annoying to carry through the throngs of bodies.

She was pouty as she asked, “Hey Mick, do you have a tray?” 

His smile was more soft and genuine than earlier as he pulled a black tray from under the bar. Louise thanked him before putting her waitress skills to use. With most of the reception gathering to watch the dance off, it was a pretty easy trip back to the table…. 

Is what Louise would've thought until a small tyke darted out from nowhere and clipped her leg real good. Seriously, how was that kid so solid? It was like a deer hitting you on a bicycle, they didn't even flinch - just kept going.

Louise, on the other hand, had spun. The heels she wore betrayed her, slipping and letting her ankle bend as the tray she was carrying flew up. The impact she was bracing for didn't come though, and neither did the crash and clatter and splatter from the drinks.

The feeling of an arm under her back was the first thing she noticed before cracking one eye open. Blonde hair above her was the next. Her eyes went wide.

“Of course you'd catch me and perfectly get all the drinks back on the tray, you beautiful garbage angel,” Louise scoffed as Boo Boo gave a patented smolder.

The grin she started to give him in return faltered when weight was put back on her feet. BB caught on quick, as a dancer he could spot an ankle injury from 11.3019 miles away, and smoothly repositioned to support Louise.

They would think the stunt went completely under the radar, with everyone totally engrossed in Jimmy Jr and Leslie. They'd be very wrong though. Not only did Mickey and Bob manage to see pieces, but Logan saw the whole thing. 

He'd broken from Tammy's grasp the moment he saw the kid bump into Louise. Weaved through the crowd with the intent to at least be able to help her back up, knowing there was no way he'd make it to her before she landed. The squeak from his shoes skidding was drowned out by applause behind him when he saw someone with big blonde hair reach out and save the day. He should've been relieved, and he was! But the look he could sorta make out from under those bangs put something hot in the pit of his stomach. After the briefest moment of hesitation, Logan marched up to them.

“Good catch man. Lemme help you back to the table,” he said, extending a hand. 

Boo Boo looked from Louise to Logan, gauging the other man, before handing him the tray and thanking him. Logan was given little time to process that he'd meant to take Louise, because why would that have been the goal when she was perfectly situated with her arm over the shoulder of some guy only slightly taller than her. It's not like Logan was imagining picking her up princess style and carrying her back to the table. 

She was being escorted to her seat already, and Logan shook his head clear before following. 

By the time Logan got to the Belcher table, Louise was already sitting down. Boo Boo was gently scooting another chair up for her leg as Logan set down the drink tray. He was mentioning something about a grade 1 sprain. Bob thanked the shorter man for his help, and for coming to Tina's wedding.

The performer waved his hand and was nonchalant in his reply, “Oh it's no problem, I'd do anything for Lou-bug.”

There was no missing the way Louise’s face turned pink. Reflexively she reached up to pull her hat down, forgetting it was at home, and ended up just covering her face with her hands. Logan didn't miss Boo Boo’s chuckle at this either, or the hand he put on her shoulder. 

“Well anyway, we have to get to our concert. Be sure to keep that foot elevated for a few days at least, talk to you later Lou-bug,” Boo Boo said before placing a quick peck on her forehead. It was met with a gentle swat, pushing his face away. He smiled genuinely, Logan hated him for some reason. “Nice to see you again Mr. B. And thanks again uhh..”

Arms crossed, Logan leaned back and was curt in saying his name. He bit back on saying anything else, but best man and employee who gets to spend a lot time with the Belchers were at the tip of his tongue. Catching the way Louise still had a hand lingering on the guy, Logan couldn't choke back the

“See you around, Biebo,” that he'd also been fighting with.

And since he was so busy pointedly staring the celebrity down at that time, he didn't see the way Louise’s brows quirked. Boo Boo, on the other hand, simply looked confused. 

“It's Boo Boo? Lifelong pop sensation who- oh sorry I really gotta go. Bye Logan!” He started walking away while still speaking, having to catch up with the rest of the men(4eva).

The interaction wasn't lost on either Louise, nor even Bob. Not that Bob was going to say anything, he liked minding his business and had a wine to drink. Louise, however, was never one to leave well enough alone. Getting into people's business was her business. Especially when that people was Logan, and she could get under his skin.

That was the plan, until a “chump” was snored out by Grandpa Al who hadn't been moved this whole time. Louise didn't need to say anything after that. She simply grinned, staring into Logan's astounded green eyes before lifting a wine glass to her lips. A small cough from her dad caught her attention. Glass tilted for a drink, she moved her head to look at him.

“You probably need some ice for that,” he stated, starting to scoot his chair back to stand. His intent was definitely to give the two some space, with Al not really counting as an intruder of any private talks. However, Belcher plans kept getting thwarted left and right today it seemed, because Logan put up a hand.

“Don't sweat it Bob, I'm already up. You keep resting that back of yours buddy,” he insisted. As he passed to head back to the bar, he couldn't help but to throw on a teasing, “Sit tight, Lou-bug.”

He didn't look back to see the puzzled expression on the woman's face. Just focused on not breaking stride or getting knocked over by more freight train kids, because wouldn't it be embarrassing to twist his ankle while on the way to get ice for someone who just twisted their ankle due to a hit and run?

Mickey didn't look too surprised to see him. In fact, he already had a bag of ice at the ready. There was a look on his face under the sympathy that Logan couldn't quite place. 

“Saw what happened to poor Louise. Good thing that Boo Boo guy was there at the right time, ey?” he remarked. 

It was a harmless thing to say, and yet it felt a little bitey. With some effort, Logan only grimaced a little when he nodded in return.

“Yea, sure.” He couldn't even think of a quip. Get a hold of yourself, Bush.

Mickey pressed on, “Yup could've reeeeaally hurt herself if he wasn't close enough to catch her and the drinks. Now THAT was some spiffy work.”

Logan swore his stomach was on fire. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“Hey Mick, do you think you could pour me some vodka?”

That got the other man to pause. It was a beat before he asked, “Anything in it?”

When Logan shook his head, Mickey shrugged and did what he was asked. Aaaaand that glass lasted about five seconds before Logan slammed it back on the counter. Mickey wasn’t sure he was surprised at this point.

Big Bob, on the other hand, gave a low whistle. The other men looked over to the eldest Belcher, neither sure when he got there.

“Now that’s the slam of a troubled man. Not usual at a wedding, but that I’m sure that’s none of my business,” he commented before turning his attention to Mickey. “Could I get a rum and coke, buddy?”

Logan’s head thumped briefly on the counter.

As he neared his goal, Logan could hear Louise guffawing at something. Most likely something that Bob had said.

“You have got to get your eyes checked, old man!”

Logan made it in time to see his burger boss give something some thought before shrugging. If there's one thing about Bob, he knew better than to argue with Louise when she was wound up. And boy had she gotten wound up over something. 

Not that Logan had time to think about that. Once he came into view, Louise let out a loud, “Finally!” with her hands in the air to thank whoever. 

“I thought I was gonna hav’ta get up myself,” she chided.

“Yea well you know how Mickey is,” Logan replied, flesh burning since he knew he was throwing a friend under the bus. Trying to assuage his guilt, he grabbed one of the cloth napkins and wrapped it around the bag before placing it gingerly on Louise’s ankle. He forced himself not to look up at her when he heard her wince. Acknowledging her weakness would get him kicked with her good foot.

Instead he simply made sure the pack wasn't going to slide off, then moved to take his seat. Continuing to try his best not to look at Louise, he slid his complimentary water glass near him and played with the condensation. After tracing his fourth water trail with intense focus, he heard Bob clear his throat. Two pairs of eyes looked up to see him slowly getting out of his seat.

“I’m uh, I should take Al over to Tina and the boys,” he announced. Louise was the one to speak up.

“Dad, the man is asleep.”

“He’s just resting his eyes,” Bob started just as Al let out a timely snore, “That-that’s just him gearing up to congratulate his oldest grandkid.” As he unlocked Al’s wheelchair, he locked eyes with Logan and very subtly tilted his head to Louise. The older man was obviously trying to give him instruction, surely asking his off the clock employee to keep an eye on his injured daughter. Seeing Logan nod in confirmation, Bob pushed his father-in-law over to the big table where Tina sat chatting with several friends of the family.

Logan didn’t miss as Louise muttered traitor under her breath.

He let out a huff of his own, “I could just leave you here if my presence bothers you that much.”

With the way her mouth gaped, he’d think Louise was taken aback. Or just off guard. Either way, he raised a brow and started to scoot his seat backwards. Before he could get far enough to stand, a hand reached over the crisp tablecloth.

Put on pause, Logan looked down at Louise’s hand and then back up at her face. He noted the twitch at the right corner of her mouth as she probably also processed what she was doing. A second that felt like eons passed before she forced herself to retract and speak up,

“Bring me something strong?”

Not sure what he was expecting to feel this kind of disappointment, Logan slumped.

“Louise, I’m pretty sure Mickey has both of us on the water for the rest of the night list. Also I’m not sure I can handle going back there without a few more hard drinks in me first.”

It was Louise’s turn to quirk a brow, but she gave her head a minor shake and stared into Logan’s eyes. Hers glimmered with a challenge,

“Poor widdle Wogan can’t get drinks at a party.” She smirked as he scoffed in return.

“I haven’t had to sneak booze at a party since I was 17,” he said. Louise rolled her eyes.

“Lose your touch in the last fifty years?” she retorted.

“You know I’m not sixt- Look Louise, I don’t think you need any more alcohol anyway,” Logan changed course. In response, Louise pouted and gestured to her ankle.

“But Logan, I’m injured. I need the booze to forget how much it hurts.”

“Ibuprofen would work better, and I’m sure your boyfriend wouldn’t approve of mixing the two while you’re on the mend.” Not that he emphasised Boo Boo’s status out of anything other than the need to convince Louise of his reasoning. And not that it worked since after an extra second, Louise hit him back with -

“I’ll take pills tomorrow, when I’ll need them to deal with the hangover I’m gonna have so I can watch you pick up my slack at the restaurant.”

The restaurant, Logan paled at the thought. 

“About tomorrow…” he started, only to get cut off.

“Don’t worry about tomorrow. I will be my usual benevolent self regardless of pain level,” Louise ensured with a grin.

Logan stood up with a gulp,

“Right, I’ll go find us some drinks.”

Unable to do much of anything else, Louise fully relaxed in her seat as she watched Logan weave through the crowd. Now she was all alone with her thoughts. Her thoughts that were, admittedly, already more than a little buzzed from those drinks earlier. But she wanted those thoughts - and her throbbing ankle - dulled.

Ugh, stupid Dad asking what was up with me and Logan. Why would anything be up? This is just a night that we’re forced to spend time in close proximity without a wall between us to keep me from strangling him, she ruminated. Her arms crossed, self-manicured nails trailed anxiously along her skin. 

Lost in her mind’s theater replaying Boo Boo bringing her back to the table, Louise was jolted back to reality when a tray was placed in front of her. Her stunned expression was quickly replaced with a glare when she heard Logan laugh.

“Sorry, forgot how easy you startle,” he chuckled as he sat down. Grinning wide, he gestured at the assortment he acquired. “Turns out it’s easy to flirt and get a tray of drinks.”

Something stirred in Louise’s stomach. She ignored that and picked up a glass of something colorful as she quipped, “From Mickey?”

“Hardy-har-har. No, some waitress from the catering group,” Logan answered with a non-committal wave of his hand.

“Seems a little unprofessional,” Louise mused. Her tone must’ve been sharper than she intended, judging from her companion’s look that she saw while tossing that colorful liquid back.

“It worked in our favor,” Logan retorted. His better judgement was still around to tell him not to egg on how jealous the woman before him had just sounded. She’s got a boyfriend she never told me about - not that it matters. She doesn’t have a reason to be jealous. And neither do I! Why should either of us be jealous? I’m just imagining things, I’m too sober that’s all.

He reached over for a glass as Louise swallowed. The lack of comeback didn’t go unnoticed and Logan risked a prolonged look. His prize was watching Louise chug the rest of her first drink before surveying the rest of the selection. He poised, ready to annoy, and the moment Louise reached for her next choice Logan put his grubby little mitts around the glass first. Irked but not dissuaded, Louise moved to pick another drink. Logan pursued. The torment carried on until they’d touched every glass and Louise finally let out a snarl and glared at Logan, who looked back with mischievous eyes. No longer watching the playing field, she didn’t see her hand’s trajectory. When she was met with something soft and fleshy, they both looked back down to see they were holding the same glass. Or rather, Logan was holding the glass and Louise was holding his hand.

The pink on Louise’s cheeks was most definitely from the alcohol coursing through her blood and nothing more. The pink on Logan’s face and ears was clearly from adrenaline as he slipped his hand away and opened his mouth,

“All you had to do was ask.”

He dangled his hand in front of Louise’s face daintily. Blurry visions of murder danced in her head before she remembered Linda’s threat carried on through not ruining tonight either. The woman settled for just swatting the hand before grabbing a drink. She hoped it was as strong as the last because damn would she need it to survive the night.

The burn that hit the back of her throat promised a lack of feeling soon. If she could finish it, that is. The scrunch of her face did not go unnoticed, judging by the chuckle across from her.

“What’s the matter Bun-bun, can’t handle a little liquor?” Logan ribbed.

Forcing her face to straighten up for maximum effect, Louise slid the glass over. Her hand gestured, albeit with a wobble, between it and the annoying man before her. The annoying, smug man held her gaze as he wrapped his fingers around the glass and brought it to his lips.

The curve of his lips dropped down as he inhaled and the scent of so many spirits that he couldn’t place them all punched his sinuses. Not one to back down from a challenge though, especially one from his arch nemesis, Logan held his breath and gulped.

His sputter at the attempt of the second gulp brought a glow to Louise’s face. Elbows on the table, she leaned forward with her chin on her fists. It was her turn to chuckle and mock him,

“Awwwh, poor Raspberry can’t handle a widdle wiquor?” She even added in a little lash batting.

After coughing the death out of his chest, Logan recovered enough to smirk,

“How original.”

Sitting more upright and giving a little swagger, Louise grinned wide and swept the glass back to her,

“Yes’siam.”

This time the drink tasted a little sweeter. Absolutely because of her high from such a great tease, and not because she was thinking about how there was a chance Logan’s lips were on the same spot hers are now. 

After a while her beloved Pesto twins came by, hearing from Bob the tragedy that befell her. Their company was welcome by both parties, Logan having wormed his way into their hearts like he did everyone in Louise’s life. Much to her chagrin. She thought she heard them congratulate Logan on something, but the subject changed so quickly that she figured it was trivial. Maybe he told them about the waitress he flirted with. Did he get her number? 

Her brow was furrowed, trying to remember, as a very fast paced song started to blare, one that must've been popular judging by the way Andy and Ollie gasped at each other. She watched their blurry shapes bounce as they shouted their goodbyes and danced away. 

What felt like hours but was only minutes, according to Logan's Goodwin watch, the two drank and merrily judged the other reception goers. Any tension was washed away by sweet, burning liquid. Their rivalry still held tight as they tried to one up each other's increasingly slurring insults. The alcohol kept Louise from yanking her hand back the next time Logan enthusiastically tapped it to point to a Pesto elder stiffly dancing to the house music Gene had playing. Her eyes dazedly drifted to where the radiator Logan called a hand was burning on top of hers, yet she could not seem to pull away. Not just that, she didn't want to. In fact, she envisioned herself leaning towards more as her eyes got heavy enough to shut without permission. 

🍔🍔🍔

Warmth surrounded Louise as she grasped the dress shirt under her and buried her face. A buzzed inhale had her head swimming in all the alcohol she drank earlier. A second breath unveiled a mix of lavender, sage and bergamot. Through the fog she thought it smelled familiar. Her brain jogged through memories until it found the right one; Louise sniffing tester strips of whatever Tina handed her, recoiling at half of them for being too strong while hemming and hawing over others that are more subtle and pleasant. She must've smelled everything in the men's section 27 times, trying to find the perfect scent for the person she got for Secret Santa this year. Of course she'd get the one person who could get everything he wanted from Mommy and Daddy if he whined enough. But she figured a thing of cologne was just impersonable but thoughtful enough that she could get away with calling it good. Besides, if she was gonna be in close quarters with him so often then he might as well not smell nauseating.

Coming off memory lane, Louise squinted up at Logan’s annoyingly nice jawline.

“How’re you s’ill walkin?”

“I’m old, remember? All that liquor filters right through me,” he answered, looking ahead to carefully get both of them safely up the stairs.

In truth, he started chugging water the moment Louise’s head plunked on their hands. He knew only him or Gene would be able to carry the extra incapacitated woman up the apartment stairs, but only he had carpooled with the family. Besides, I can't get shown up twice in one night, someone else thought in his head.

The answer was seemingly good enough for Louise’s muddled brain though, as she merely nodded before clinging tighter to his shirt. Glazed eyes watched the grime on the walls move as Logan made it to the landing and headed to her room. The unfortunate habit of closing her door whether anyone was home or not bit her in the ass a little, as Logan jostled her a tad in order to get to the knob. 

At least it wasn't locked, he thought while shouldering into the room. Looking in the moderate darkness, he was also glad that Louise had gone back to having a standard floor bed. Loft would've been a nightmare. 

Gingerly as he could, Logan laid Louise at the edge of the unmade bed and reached over for her blanket. He stiffened when one of Louise's hands found his bicep, and glanced to watch her shape pull itself to sit up.

“Y’wearin th’stuff I bought. Nev’r smellet on ya,” she practically whispered, as if speaking about it normally would make the lavender go away.

In the dark they studied each other for a moment before Logan cleared his throat,

“I, yeah I use it for special occasions.”

Another heavy silence until Louise nodded slowly. The glow from Kuchi Kopi put a halo around her, leaving her face shrouded. Something between knowing Logan wouldn’t be able to see her face too well and finding out that he might actually value something she got him emboldened her a bit. Or the alcohol rewired her brain entirely - which is what she would tell herself later. No matter what the trigger, Louise leaned closer to her rival and studied the way her nightlight reflected in his green eyes. Her mouth opened then closed when the words got stuck, then opened again.

“S’not m’boyfren,” she forced out meekly, doing her best to read his expressions.

Expressions that were stuck on a loading screen for eons before green irises were engulfed by black. She thought she saw him lick his lips before responding,

“That’s co-, um, why..why are you telling me? He’s not my type.”

Louise snorted and rolled her eyes even though she knew he wouldn’t see. Her hands hesitantly cupped his cheeks. She spoke her next words very carefully,

“I am telling you becau-”

And then Logan saw Louise’s hands rapidly move to her face. He scrambled to lean over and grab her wastebasket, just barely stable himself as he moved it in time to hear the retching. Her arms wrapped around the basket like a lifeline as she doubled over it. Feeling the extra support, Logan moved his hands to hold back some hair that had loosened over the night. They stayed like that for a while, until Louise felt completely emptied out. Once she straightened up, Logan took the basket back and placed it strategically on the ground where she'd be able to lean and puke if she needed to again.

Sitting back down and rubbing tentative circles on the woman's back, Logan snickered,

“Probably a good thing you slept through the cake. Wouldn’t’ve been as good coming back up.”

Falling against him with a groan was Louise's response. She used his scent to clear herself of the acrid vomit, siphoned his heat in an effort to rejuvenate, kept herself anchored by the solid body under her. The often volatile woman was certain she'd never felt so peaceful in years.

And Logan? He felt like he was testing the limits with a wild animal who would soon recover and remember he was the enemy. Chancing a good look at her face, Logan felt that pull in the pit of his stomach again. It was so rare that he's seen Louise so vulnerable. Without a thought about how gross it was, he reached over and wiped a stray line of puke off with his sleeve. He was sure he didn't want this to end.

Unfortunately they both needed to be well rested in the morning, and with a sigh he started to shift away.

“Stay?” Louise requested, a little hoarse from the throwing up. She'd grabbed at his clean arm again.

Logan’s smile was just a little regretful, if Louise had been well enough to look into his eyes. Those stupid, beautiful, sad green eyes.

“I think you should get some rest. You're working with Gene in the morning.”

Even in a daze Louise knew the work schedule by heart. She frowned. “No, you. I'm workin’ with’ou ‘morrow. S’monday.”

Her frown deepened as Logan shook his head. “I'm uh, I'm starting a new job with my cousin tomorrow.”

The spinning in Louise’s head came to a grinding halt. Everything else was suddenly forgotten as she bolted upright while screeching, “WHAT?!”

The two of them winced for separate reasons; Louise for the ax she felt split her head open from the sudden action, Logan from both the ear piercing frequency of the shout and immediately knowing that he fucked up. Louise put one hand on her head and the other on the pillow behind her. Logan's were quickly in front of him in a frantic wave.

“I-I tried to tell you but-” He was cut off with a faceful of pillow. 

“Traitor! Were you just having fun playing pauper with my family?” wham “Bob's Burgers just a little game for you?” whAM “ Did you just go back to Cynthia every night and laugh about the peasants working hard to scrape by?!” WHAM!

Logan took every hit of the pillow with merely his arms up to protect his face. He knew Louise had to get this out of her system before she'd listen to a word he had to say. When there was a break in the onslaught, he braved to peak out and saw that she was facing the door - refusing to look at him. The shimmer from tears reflected from the Kuchi Kopi nightlight. Her chest was heaving with the effort to not break down sobbing. His own heart stuttered as he reached out for her.

“Loui-” “Get. OUT.”

He faltered before trying once more, cautiously, to embrace the young woman. But he was met with the hardest slap to the face he'd ever received. If the circumstances were different, he'd have complimented her on it. As it was he merely dropped his arms to the side and pushed off the mattress.

Without another word between them he crossed the threshold of the door and closed it to give Louise the privacy he knew she'd be wanting. Watching through the diminishing crack, he saw that she refused to even glance his way. Pinpricks of hot tears threatened him as he looked down the hall. He had planned on staying on the couch tonight as just waking up extra early, but he didn't think Louise would want to see him still around in the morning. 

Besides that, Bob and Linda were standing outside of their own door. Actually Linda was heading for Louise's door, expression worried. Bob looked at him with sympathy, and a bit of pity. They'd all been on Louise's bad side before, but not even when they ruined her first Kuchi Kopi was it this bad.

Linda pressed the side of her head against the door, knuckles between her teeth as she sucked in a breath. Not that she needed to be that close. Even with the mom-sized gap between him and the door, Logan could hear the muffled sobs. Linda turned back and put a hand on Logan’s shoulder, and it took more strength than he thought he had to not crumple. Instead he placed his bigger hand over hers and mustered a small smile. She cracked one back and nodded. 

He let Linda walk ahead of him while he tried not to look directly at the man who taught him so much over the last five years. They both knew Louise wasn't going to take this news well, but no one could have foreseen this. Neither man did more than give a weak wave goodbye as Logan got to the stairs.

Logan played it cool only until he got to his car. Chuckling at how he couldn't even make it home, he pulled out his phone and opened his texts. Four Ears🐰 was top on the list, her message from last night reminding him not to be late or she'd mangle his right leg and his “🦿✅❔” response the last correspondence. 

In the silence of his inactive car, Logan began to type through the tears.

🍔🍔🍔

A familiar, nonintrusive yet still annoying jingle woke Louise up the following morning. It was turned off without her looking, something that was so habitual from knowing that she had to get right out of bed if she didn’t want to loiter. With a heavy sigh, she sat up and swung her legs over the bed. They knocked against her wastebasket, which had a brand new bag in it. Sparing a glance at her nightstand, she saw that Linda had snuck in and left her a glass of water. Mentally thanking her. Louise took a few slow sips before chugging like her life depended on it. Which it might, between the full night of drinking and all the fluids she just expelled. Refreshed as she could be, the woman stretched her upper body before getting up with the intent to start her morning routine.

She grabbed her phone to pick out the morning music. At first she did a double-take on the time. Monday’s alarm was supposed to go off hours ago, how did it get reset? The detective sidequest didn’t last long though, as her eyes drifted down to the sole notification below the clock. 

✨ Princess 🛹

🔪📇🗓️

“Gimme your strongest, Mick,” she said, sure that her tone held the appropriate amount of desperation - which would be none, and she’d be wrong about that. Mickey raised his brows but shrugged and began to make his signature concoction.

He couldn’t help making small talk though, it’s just who he was. “Work up a sweat out there already?” he asked as he placed the glass on the bar. Louise squinted at him in a way that could be construed as menacing. Mickey construed it as such, at least, and gave a weak smile before nudging the glass toward the young woman. It broke her concentration and even her death glare. Maybe even her brain.

Louise looked back up at Mickey, eyes now wide. She pointed at the thick and cloudy monstrosity in front of her with pretzel sticks poking out. “Mickey, what is this?”

“That? Well you asked for my strongest Mick. So that’s my strongest ‘Slipping You A Mickey’. Beer, wine, milk, pretzel sticks and protein powder, with extra protein powder for extra strength!”

The way he beamed made it difficult for Louise to be harsh. She inhaled and exhaled before giving him a smile.

“Thanks Mickey, I’ll take this one to Logan in a sec - so sure he’d appreciate the extra protein. In the meantime, do you think you could mix me up an Old Fashioned and drop in some extra cherries?” 

“Oh yea, sure thing Baby Burger! Comin’ right up!” Even as he said this, Louise decided to watch him closely this time. Even if he’d gotten his liquor license (had he?), she wasn’t sure Mickey had passed any bartending classes. She didn’t see anything odd go into this glass though, and was at ease when Mickey turned around with the fresh drink that included an entire layer of maraschino cherries. For this, Louise slipped a $20 bill under a garnish jar as she verbally thanked the bartender before turning around with both glasses. It was the first time she was aware of the crowd that had grown around them.

Pushing her way through, Louise was careful not to spill either drink on her way back to the table she shared with her family…and Logan.

Although she noticed the table was a little lacking on the family side. The frantic way she looked around for anyone else was extremely noticeable. Logan fought back a chuckle.

“Linda and Gene are at the bar, Bob’s talking to the guests of honor,” he said neutrally as he could. Catching the glasses Louise set down, notably the one she set in front of him. “What is that?”

“That’s your free drink,” Louise answered matter-of-factly as she sat down. Then she dared to look at the blonde through her mascaraed lashes and added, “Got it just for you.”

And it’s not like Logan could turn down a “goodwilled” gift from his nemesis. And it’s not like Logan could turn down anything from someone who looked at him like that. Swallowing any odd feelings, that were definitely just from anticipation of what this drink was made of, Logan put a hand around the glass. Returning Louise’s gaze, he lifted the drink.

“Well, thank you then,” were his famous last words before the edge of the glass touched his lips. The way Louise’s face lit up in real time as the life drained from Logan’s could be considered demonic. As if she had used the moment to drain his soul through the alcohol-protein-milk monstrosity.

It spoke volumes that she managed not to cackle at the sight of her main tormentor doing his very best not to vomit or otherwise cause a scene. Not that she could stay entirely saintly, however.

“Don’t forget the free snack, Logan,” Louise insisted, reaching over the table to pull out one of the pretzel sticks and waving it in front of the man’s discolored face. She reveled in how long it seemed to take him to regain his composure. At least, until her mother’s voice chided from behind her.

“Louise Lilith Belcher.”

Said Belcher flinched. Bush let out a single “ha” before covering his mouth again. Louise scrunched her face at him before turning in her chair to smile sweetly at her dear mother.

“Yes?”

“Mickey told me what drink you brought for poor Logan. Didn’t I tell you to be on your best behavior?” Linda asked as she continued to stand over her youngest. Even with a glass of wine in hand at the ripe age of ‘mom to adults’, a stern Linda Belcher was sobering. Louise thought quickly to fix the situation and avoid the punishment of extra shifts this week.

“Mother, dear sweet Mother, Mickey must’ve heard me wrong. I brought Logan this very nice drink while I got this one for myself,” she sweetly corrected, smiling wide as she reached for both glasses. “Silly Logan just mistook which one was his and drank the wrong one.”

Linda continued her intimidating staredown as she took her seat. She didn’t look away from Louise once and instead made a motion. Drink, she silently insisted. Louise wanted to bolt from the table, but stubbornness held her captive as she lifted the abomination to her lips and closed her eyes. She hardly had time to think about if it was the same spot Logan’s lips had touched earlier as she slammed the remaining 9 ounces of sludge.

Tears were halfway down her face when she opened her eyes to see her audience had grown by one impressed Gene and Alex,  and a concerned Bob. 

Wiping her arm across her lower face, Louise returned her mom’s look with a smile that was more sickly than sweet.

“See? My drink, for me.”

Though she raised a brow, Linda let the transgression slide and sipped her wine. There was still a warning look though. The silent threat that no other shenanigans if she wanted to live to see the sun rise. Louise let her smile drop as she gave the most microscopic of nods in acknowledgement. Though she was starting to think it would’ve been better to get extra shifts as she heard Gene whisper, “That’s going to be awful coming back up.”

Her Old Fashioned had been slid back in front of her at some point, and she looked up to see Logan speed-walking towards the bar.

~x~x~x~

It was not on Logan’s bingo card to see just how long Louise could inhale a thick liquid for. Not that he actually knew how long it took her to down 9 ounces of something, because he brain stopped working when she didn’t take a break after a few gulps. It was impressive on multiple levels, but he tried to tell himself that it was just because he knew how horrible that drink was and that there was no way he’d be able to handle even a second sip of that.

He slid into an open space at the bar and was surprised to be automatically greeted by Mickey. 

“Back for another strong Mick?” the eccentric carnie exclaimed. Logan held back a grimace for the other man's sake. Instead he gestured at the Belcher table.

“Louise decided she actually really wanted both drinks,” he started as he glanced at the various bottles on the shelves. “I did get to try it though, very good. You should market that one.”

He stalled while processing what straightforward drink he could ask for that could get that image out of his head. The calculations finally halted, and he pointed at a champagne flute.

“Could you put a little absinthe in that and then fill the rest with champagne for me please?”

Mickey turned to look before nodding enthusiastically. “Yea I don’t see why I can’t, I’ve got those things right here!”

In the few seconds it took the bartender to pour the alcohol, Logan stared at a speck on the bar. The whole bar was patterned in specks, so honing in on that specific one really gave his brain something to do. Just when he thought that maybe his speck would move, the champagne flute was in front of him.

“Here ya are, one death in the afternoon! Kinda macabre for a wedding, but hey who am I to judge? Don’t let Louise take that one too. She should be on lighter drinks after what she’s had, I’d suggest water but I wouldn’t want to be the one to actually tell her…” Mickey rambled on for a bit. Logan politely nodded along, sending out ‘mhms’ where appropriate. Honestly it was better than going back to the table right away, and no one would doubt if he said Mickey held him up. They all knew he could give Teddy a run for his money on idle chatter.

In fact, Logan sat and nodded again and even took a sip of his drink. Hearing a loud and sarcastic laugh from across the room, a very prominent loud and sarcastic laugh, Logan chugged the drink and asked Mickey for another. The older man took the glass back with a nod, but Logan thought there was a look in his eyes this time. His voice dropped a bit.

“Be careful with this one, yea? Absinthe doesn’t mess around ya know.”

Unsure on if he was being cautious of telling an adult patron how to live, or if Mickey somehow recognized that Logan was battling a specific black haired demon, Logan grabbed the flute with a wry grin. Before leaving, he dug in his pocket and slid a $20 bill across the bar.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Mick, thanks.”

En route back to the Belcher table, Logan was blindsided by someone grabbing his free arm. He looked to see Tammy pull him a few steps off his path. Obviously she was trying to play it cool; but for the five years he’s had the displeasure of knowing her, Tammy has never had a passable pokerface. So Logan quirked a brow.

“What’s up Timtam?” He couldn’t help but grin at the way her face scrunched then recomposed. What could he say, he loves annoying people.

“I need you to dance with me later. Hopefully just one song, but-”

He had to interrupt, “Who’s not giving you the time of day now?”

Another ‘mmph’, this time coupled with the crossing of her arms. “Zeke’s cousin Leslie.”

Leslie was a cool guy, Logan didn’t think he would get so jealous of watching Tammy dance with someone else that he’d feel strongly enough to intervene. He was just about to tell her this when he got shoulder checked. Well, someone’s shoulder bumped into his arm at least. And judging by where on his arm he was hit…Logan moved his head just enough to watch Louise walk up to the head table. Maybe it was the alcohol hitting, but a gear clicked a few notches in Logan’s mind. He nodded. 

“Yeah, sure I’ll help you out Tammy. Pick you up after dinner,” he informed her with a friendly shoulder pat. The woman barely got the first syllable of gratitude out before Logan continued his journey back to his chair.

He’s proud to say that he didn’t look back at Louise until he sat down.

Louise stood in a deeper purple dress, hair done up not as elaborately as Tina’s -who Gretchen put extensions on in order to braid and twist and cascade- but it was still a nice half-up/half-down. It had her feeling not too bad about not having her beanie for another night.

She looked from Tina up on her horse, to Bob who was next to them and holding the reins. His eyes were shiny with the tears welling, but he was holding it together better than everyone thought he would. Louise might lose the pool on that one, but oh well. She already won the “when will Linda burst” pool. That woman was way too predictable. It happened when the bridal party took their pictures.

“Whelp that’s it. I’ll see you two crazy kids at the other end of the aisle. Don’t biff it at the home stretch,” she bantered, giving a very gentle nudge to their dad’s shoulder before going to get in line behind the floral arch.

Which of course put her back into Logan’s vicinity. She did her best to not let it bother her when she caught him grinning at her. Except it bugged her a little because it didn’t feel like a grin where he was about to say some dumb remark. It felt more genuine and like a…smile? Was she reading that expression right? Didn’t matter, she opened her mouth as the music started up.

“Damn that color looks so bad on you.” They stepped forward.

To her surprise, he just nodded and shrugged, “Honey isn’t really my color, but I knew that when I agreed to the job.” They stepped forward again.

“Job? Ha, I don’t think anyone would or should pay you to wear that.” They stepped forward again.

“You’d rather I take this off then?” Logan teased, pulling the lapels of the jacket forward as he raised his right brow. Seeing her mouth gaped open, he dropped everything and cleared his throat. He didn’t know what came over him. Louise obviously didn’t either, since she froze and nearly missed their cue to walk the aisle.

They walked in silence the rest of the way, both focusing on their steps and replaying that moment.

They stood on their marks and watched as Zeke walked down the aisle in a rose-gold suit, a few sprigs of lavender pinned on the pocket. Then watched as the music shifted into something magical and everyone stood. Bob, Tina and the horse made their way down the aisle. Louise couldn’t help but think about how beautiful her sister looked up there. With her rose-gold laced veil flowing behind her and the sun casting what seemed like the perfect light, she looked so ethereal. 

Zeke helped Bob help Tina off the horse, both men had eyes so red that you’d think they’d been poked repeatedly for the past hour. Louise wouldn’t admit that her eyes had also watered. She opted to look away as Tina and Zeke carefully stepped to the altar. It was then that she noticed both Andy and Ollie standing at the end of Zeke’s line. Louise had been so busy with everything else that she forgot the twins were a part of this. It made sense though, as they were every part Zeke’s brothers as they were Jimmy Jr’s. Next to them was cousin Leslie. Then Logan, whose misty eyes made contact with hers and forced her to look into the crowd. Which was full of mostly familiar faces. The parents of both parties, Gene, an empty seat for Jericho, Teddy and Kathleen, Mort, Marshmallow, Trev…

Louise did a double take. The Pesto twins made perfect sense being here, but the long time honorary Pesto who was still mostly just an acquaintance to Zeke and Tina? Louise narrowed her eyes. Something was up.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today-” the officiator had started and was cut off by a sudden crescendo of music and a whinny.

“To rock your socks off!” declared one Jimothy Pesto Jr from the back of that second black-and-white Irish Cob Louise had questioned before. He was dressed in the same color as Zeke and Louise took a step to stop him from shimmying to the altar, but Susmita put an arm out and nodded at the couple. To her surprise, Tina and Zeke looked excited to see their best friend crashing their wedding.

“Sorry Louise, it was a big surprise,” the older woman whispered.

I’ll say, Louise thought as she watched the three of them situate themselves in a very rehearsed manner at the altar. She was going to have some very choice words for the bride later. Both as a maid of honor and as a sister.

The rest of the ceremony went smoothly. Vows were said (Zeke did indeed tell a shortened version of when Tina helped him get the Wagstaff mascot costume for his grandma, who cheered from the audience), rings were slipped on fingers, and kissing happened. Louise looked away at that. Tina was kind enough to keep it pg for everyone, but it still wasn't something Louise preferred seeing. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw Logan smirking in her direction. Probably finding it funny that she still shied at watching her sister be intimate on any level, but she had gotten more than enough of that in their childhood thank you very much.

-x-x-x-

After the party had filed back down the aisle and into the rec building, Louise beelined for the “ladies room”. She wasn’t as careful at opening the door this time, half shoving it open before she thought about how Tina could be just behind it and eased up. Her sister barely got a “hey” out before Louise went off.

“T what the actual hell?! I thought Jimmy Jr couldn’t be your best man at the last minute because he had a dance thing!” Somewhere in that sentence someone had tried to open the door, but Louise heard it close again so she assumed they decided now wasn’t the best time to change into reception clothes. Arms crossed, she raised a brow to clue Tina in that she was waiting for a response.

When the newly not-Belcher gave a classic groan, Louise just sighed and dropped her arms back to her sides. “Tina. Did you know the entire time that Logan was going to be the best man?”

Turning her face ceiling-ward, Tina cleared her throat. “Uh, no? We made a list first and then narrowed it down to him.” She braved a glance at her usually volatile sister. When she didn’t look ready to lunge for Tina, she let out the breath she was holding.

“Who all knew?”

“Me, Zeke, Jimmy Jr, Susmita, Andy and Ollie, Leslie, Trevor, Dad and Logan.” Thorough, as usual. She hoped Louise wasn’t going to make that into a hitlist. Louise was certainly thinking about it.

“And why, praytell dear sister, was my nemesis the chosen one for this?” Her tone was a little too sweet for Tina’s liking. The one that was just before something diabolical.

Tina gulped. “I, uh, thought you’d look best dancing with him for the reception number?” Quickly she added, “Like you wouldn’t look ready to maul any of the other bridesmaids for touching him if we put you with someone else. Ahah.”

For the second time in as many days, Louise clutched her imaginary pearls. “Tina! I can’t believe you would think that I cared if anyone so much as looked at Logan, let alone was subjected to dancing with him.”

Admittedly, Tina looked a little smug at this. “I didn’t say anything about anyone looking at him.”

Aghast, the younger sister sputtered for a moment. “Cement-ticks, T.”

Then she spun around and opened the door to see Susmita, Tammy and Jocelynn all looking at their nails or phones suspiciously.

“Meeting’s over, everyone get in and get changed,” she barked. They all filed in, continuing to not make eye contact with her. Rolling her eyes, she closed the door and got into a regular blouse and dress pants. All chatter was graciously on Tina and how great the ceremony went.

-x-x-x-

Soon the guests were seated in the ballroom. Louise had Gene and Logan on walkie talkies, giving orders and getting everyone into position. She may be furious with a choice few people in the building, but she was willing to put that aside to make sure every second of Tina’s big day went butter smooth. She’d deal with the loads of betrayal later. 

“Alright Gene, make with the emcee. Logan, fuck this up and I’ll end your family line.” 

Before getting a confirmation from her sibling, Logan buzzed in. “You hear something Gene? Over.”

“Uuhhh no? Over,” was heard in reply, along with snickers from both Gene and Alex.

Louise pinched her nose and growled into her mic, “I swear to the scariest being you can think of, if the two of you don’t get your shit together right now then I will bury your bodies under Wonder Wharf where no one will find them. Over.”

There was a beat before Logan piped up, “Right. Yep. Hear you loud and clear!” Sheepishly, and perhaps cautiously, he added an “Over.”

Hearing the beat to a Men4Eva song start up, Louise tossed the talkie aside and motioned for Tammy and Jocelynn to go out the door to dance their way to Andy and Ollie in the middle of the dance floor. Susmita was next as Louise gave Tina a tight hug.

“I’ll pay you back when you least expect it,” she whispered. Tina got whiplash from how fast her youngest sibling went from that to a cheerful “Break a leg,” before she stepped out the door.

Having practiced the choreography for weeks, Louise wanted to slam her head into a wall. She should’ve known Jimmy Jr was still involved somehow with how extravagant the pre-reception dance number was. Hell, Louise was pretty sure most weddings didn’t even do anything like this. Not like she’d been to many, but Teddy and Kathleen’s was definitely more laid back than this.

Instead, she sucked it up and took a breath as she met Logan. 

Logan was wiping tables when she came in, and hardly spared a glance in her direction. She stiffly marched past him and into the kitchen where Bob was frying Teddy’s last burger of the night.

“How do I look?” she asked, spinning in the doorway. Bob looked up and grinned.

“You look nice sweetie.”

“Hey, hey Louise! Did your little friend say where he was taking you? Is it that new place on 4th?” Teddy called out from lobby side.

Sharing a look with Bob and trying not to laugh, Louise shrugged. “He didn’t tell me Teddy, but he should be here soon.”

After giving her dad a hug and being shooed out of the kitchen so she wouldn’t see his tears from his baby girl growing up, Louise managed to knock a salt shaker over on one of the clean booths.

“Hey Logan you missed a spot,” the still very childish young lady called to her coworker. From across the building she watched as Logan’s head shot up to glare at her. It was hard for her to keep a straight face as he moved from the front counter, death glaring with a wet rag in hand, past her to the salty booth. Alright, she didn’t keep a straight face. She had a very cheeky grin on her face. She was allowed to, she’d just inconvenienced her rival and he let it show. 

“Careful Four Ears, bad luck spilling salt,” he said in a warning tone. He was still getting back in the swing of dishing what he took, and Louise had been only moderately patient with our calm he could be now. This was one of those times, she decided as she shrugged in response.

“Bring it, I say.”

There, now he’s seen me for sure, Louise’s invasive thoughts gloated. She grimaced at her own mind as she took a seat next to Teddy. The two of them talked, well mostly Teddy talked and she nodded, until the bell above the door gave a little ring. Nobody had to look up to know who it was at this hour, so it wasn’t a surprise when Louise heard Rudy call out a greeting to the usual restaurant habitants. 

Louise was quick to stand and call out a general goodbye to ensure Teddy wouldn’t get Rudy caught in a trap of politely listening to him go on about the new place on 4th. When she made it to the door Rudy made sure to compliment her attire and leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. Normally she didn’t allow any PDA, but tonight something in her brain frizzled and she let it happen. 

Her eyes darted to Logan immediately after, but he was walking toward them with a bro-like grin on his face. Very much not bothered by the younger two in love, Logan gave Regular-Sized Rudy a good natured clasp on his shoulder.

“Hey, make sure she doesn’t get you arrested man. And make sure she’s back by midnight or she’ll turn into a cantaloupe,” he teased before dodging a predictable jab from the girl in question.

“Don’t worry she’ll be back in one piece,” the younger man assured. He then held his arm out for Louise to take, like a gentleman. She stuck her tongue out at Logan as she left, holding on to her boyfriend.

-x-x-x-

That was the night Rudy said he was going to travel abroad in Europe for the year for whatever he wanted to do in his life. Louise wouldn’t know, she didn’t stay long enough to hear. Choosing to, for once, not make a scene she’d just told her regular-sized beau to have fun, that it was over, and walked home.

And so 9 o’clock saw a puffy eyed Louise back at her door and up the stairs. Though it would’ve been so easy to go straight to her room without anyone noticing, Bob’s laughter from the living room drew her away from promising solitude. She knew her dad wouldn’t ask her what was wrong if she went to sit and asked for a burn unit. Unfortunately she didn’t wait long enough to hear someone else make a joke about whatever was on tv. This is how Louise found herself standing at the edge of the living room, ready to turn around when she saw Logan sitting on the couch with Bob and checking his watch.

“Dang Four Ears you didn’t scare him off did y-” The taunt was cut short as the blonde looked up and saw the blotchiness that was surely all over Louise’s face. The girl watched numbly as he nudged Bob before standing up.

“Louise are you okay?” the Belcher patriarch asked as Logan excused himself to the kitchen.

The heat that radiated off the blonde as he brushed by almost caused her to break down. 

But this was Louise Belcher, and Louise Belcher doesn’t cry over any boy. Not Rudy, who was running off to explore Europe and probably himself. Not Logan, who felt almost like an entirely different person than the snot nosed punk who’d bounced her own energy back at her in their youth. And not her father, who she had been counting on to not break the battered dam of emotions welling up inside her. No. Louise Belcher doesn’t cry over any boy or anything. Louise Belcher sits on her decrepit couch and stares in the direction of the tv, not quite taking in whatever schlock was on at 9 p.m.

And so Louise walked quietly to the stain-covered couch and did just that. Ignoring the prickling near her eyes and the tears she dared to try to spill out.

She had just started to relax when Logan came back with three mugs of hot chocolate. Two were set on the coffee table and Logan took the other one with him to the armchair, where he continued to try not to look at the girl who was known for not liking to share certain emotions.

Louise stared at the steaming cup of her favorite drink and felt her heart try to bust out of her ribs. From anyone else she would call this a comforting gesture, but from her nemesis a hot drink in summer was obviously something to make her overheat and get sick. It almost made her smile. Almost. Her voice was still monotone when she scoffed.

“It’s the middle of summer and, like, a million degrees, dipshit.”

 Logan didn’t turn to look at her, but she could still see him roll his eyes.

“Actually it’s 67 tonight, so hush or I’ll drink yours too,” he quipped back. Louise let out an offended gasp and immediately moved to pick up her mug. The movement must’ve been enough to catch the blonde’s peripheral, because Louise looked to see him smiling now. It wasn’t the usual smarmy smirk he had when winning an argument between them. It was genuine, and it made Louise forget that she’d been upset. She took a breath.

“Rudy’s going to Europe for a year,” she finally announced. Bob looked a little surprised.

“Oh uh, ar-are you guys going to keep in touch? That’s dumb of me to ask of course you-”

“I broke up with him,” Louise interrupted, voice small.

“Dooo you think you’re going to try to patch things up before he goes?” her dad asked. Louise shrugged and put her mug back on the table.

“I didn’t yell at him, so maybe.” She wasn’t so certain in the moment, that that’s what she wanted. Rudy knew her, maybe they both knew it was time to move on but weren’t sure how. High school sweethearts rarely make it too far, statistically. 

A hand resting on her shoulder broke Louise out of her thoughts, and she looked to see Bob give her an encouraging smile. She smiled back in silent thanks before the three of them commenced the burn unit. For once, she wasn’t upset at sharing her favorite dad-tivity with someone else. When Logan didn’t make a good burn, Louise turned against him and reveled in his fake-hurt gasps or whatever quip he shot back.

The end of the night saw Louise still on the couch, a blanket wrapped around her as she fell asleep leaning on Bob. At some point he got up to join Linda in bed, and let Logan know he was welcome to crash in Gene’s room like always. Bob was very careful in making sure his little girl was carefully laid back down, with a pillow in his place. 

It wasn’t until a while later, when Logan left the armchair to clean up and go to Gene’s room, that Louise somewhat woke up. Everything was hazy as she saw what she thought was her dad move past her, seeing only the legs, and she reached out to grab his pant leg.

“Dad, can you get Kuchi Kopi please?” she asked groggily. Anything after that was a blur as Louise passed out again immediately and was surprised to find the Kuch in her embrace when she woke up the next morning.

She did not patch things up with Rudy until he got back the next year. Just as friends.

Zeke’s cousin Leslie was already unfolding chairs outside when the Belchers arrived, a gaggle of children running around and not really helping. Who was helping though was a very tired looking blonde. Louise grimaced as Logan spun around, swinging a chair like Leatherface as he tried to not hit any of the children dashing about. He was very off balance and Louise sipped her caffeine and hoped she’d see him fall. Maybe he’d twist his ankle and someone else would have to stand it as best man. Leslie would be a suitable choice, he could even dance.

No such luck. Brown eyes squinted as the man righted himself and managed to set the chair down without incident. They then looked down at her just as dark coffee as the blonde started walking over with one of those smarmy little smirks of his.

“You gonna help with the labor or just stare at the workers?” he chided, arms crossed and that left brow of his raised so high Louise thought it may get lost in his bangs. Not bangs she could hide under like an umbrella if it rained, but a jungle that her fingers would probably get ensnared in if she- 

She blinked. Then she scoffed. “Unlike yooou, I have the all important job of making sure the bride doesn’t lose her shit. This means that I don’t have to do manual labor, thank you very much.”

Logan rolled his eyes and huffed a little, but then he motioned to the building. “Bride-not-zilla is in there with Susmita already.” He looked like he was about to say something else, but Louise spoke first,

“Great well you keep doing a mediocre job out here and I’m gonna go crush it in the dressing room.” 

She pushed past him, a little bit of coffee splashing his shirt and giving a “ha!” when he called out her name in an accusing whine. 

Dodging way too rambunctious children, Louise crossed the lawn and the ballroom. Then she cracked the door open for a decency check before sliding in. Linda had beelined when they arrived and was flitting about while Susmita handed a robed Tina a thermos.

“Bit early for vodka ain’t it?” Louise cracked. Her sister gave a sleepy glare. She shrugged and muttered, “Tough crowd,” and went to the pile of bags. She and her mom had put their stuff in the same bag and now was the time for Louise to dig around. They had a couple of hours before they were needed for the photoshoots, but Louise knew if she wanted to avoid manual labor she should get ready asap.

“Louise don’t you wanna lounge for a bit in the fancy robes?” Linda asked, waving a fluffy pink robe around. The question stopped Louise in her tracks. She stared at the cloth in question as it beckoned like a siren. If she put that on then not only would she not be forced out of the room, but she also wouldn’t have to use any effort to make herself up much earlier than she needed.

“Yes Mother, I would like to lounge in the fancy robes, thank you.” Louise agreed while putting down the bag. She took the robe from her mom and slid it over her pj’s. The microfiber fleece lulled her into a sense of security. How can Tina be grumpy in this?! she wondered for a moment. But then she remembered how little sleep everyone had gotten.

“Alright so. What’s the game plan Sus?” She decided it was going to be much better directing all inquiries to the bride’s maid who had it all together.

-x-x-x-

An hour of sitting around later and Louise found herself growing….bored. She was currently hanging upside down on the settee, scrolling aimlessly on her phone. Her coffee was gone and replaced with a mimosa flute. Which she was nursing because she felt like 8 am was too early for alcohol but Linda was still always ready to get a party started.

“Besides, Louise, a mimosa is a morning drink. It’s perfectly acceptable,” the older woman insisted while lifting her own flute up.

“It’s a brunch drink, Mom,” she countered with a smile. “Brunch starts at 11, 10 if you’re being generous.”

“9 am if you’re in the Philippines,” Susmita chimed in without looking away from her tablet. Louise heard a Level Up come from the device and caught Susmita grin.

Linda let out a tchk. “Ahhhh you girls and your cement-ticks.”

“Semantics, Mom,” Tina joined in. Her tea was finally kicking in, she still wasn’t allowed to have coffee after that whole espresso episode she had as a teen.

“What did I say?”

“Nevermind, Mrs. Belcher. Hey, do you know when Gretchen will be here?” Susmita asked, expertly redirecting the subject. Louise admired that. It was nice to have someone else who could handle the family.

And like magic, the door opened to reveal….Tammy and Jocelyn. Louise groaned the smallest amount. The two may have grown up over the years, and sure Louise and Tammy have had their fair share of “same wavelength” moments but... 

“Tinaaa, girl we’re heereee!” Tammy exclaimed with way too much energy for 8 in the morning. She made a type of shrill sound that Louise wasn’t sure she could describe. “I can’t believe you’re getting married today!”

“Yeaah you’re, like, making it so official today,” Jocelyn added in the same lilted monotone she’s always had. Her head turned to the minibar next. “Ooo is that orange juice?”

Some things don’t change and it was just too early. So Louise took this as her cue to stop hiding inside and flipped herself off the settee. “Whelp looks like you’ve got enough people to hold down the fort in here T, I’m gonna make sure everything’s going smooth on the battlefield,” she announced while straightening out her robe.

Before Tina could protest, Louise gave her older sister a quick kiss to the top of her head which was graciously washed this morning, and headed out the door with her mimosa in hand.

She didn’t immediately regret it, even if she had to quickly dodge a gaggle of scamps rushing by. But she did so without spilling mimosa, so that was a win. Smirking to herself, she noticed Gene shuffling by.

“Yo Gene, where’s the fire?” she called, already heading toward them. 

The middle Belcher looked around without stopping. “Oh Louise!” They gave an appraising up and down glance before pointing. “I do hope that I have a robe waiting for me in either dressing room.” When Louise just raised her eyebrow, they shrugged and turned back to watch where they were going. “The fire’s at Alex’s van. Not a real fire, this time, just that the equipment is there and it needs to be-” they flailed an arm in the general direction of the building, “there.”

Louise now regretted coming outside. Or at least regretted blindly following her sibling. Carrying equipment while holding a drink was going to be way more work than she planned on doing.

“Bob why don’t you trade m-” a voice grabbed Louise’s attention, shaking her from her musings. Not that she’d admit just whose voice did that. A little ways in front of them Bob was at a wizard painted van with Alex and Logan, waving the blonde away with one arm and clutching something that looked hefty in the other.

“I got it, Logan, don’t-” pause for straining noise, “don’t worry about it.”

Gene and Louise shared an eye roll and hurried a little faster to the group. Louise shouted out, “Dad come on you’re one wrong breath away from dying at any moment, let the middle aged guy throw out his back instead.”

Close enough now, Louise could see Logan huff and roll his eyes. “I’m not even 30, Four Ears.”

“And?” she quipped back, not having any real backup. Which she cleverly hid with a sip of her drink. Seeming to pick his battles, Logan just shook his head. Louise thought she saw the corner of his lips tug up. But that’s something neither of them would admit.

Turning her attention back to her elderly father, Louise tutted. “For real, Dad, let someone else get that. I’ll trade you,” she said while holding out her half empty flute. The fast action caught the patriarch off guard and he precariously handed the cargo over in exchange. Louise finished the transaction by taking a careful step towards Logan. 

“And now you take this,” she chimed while lifting the luggage by the handle. When the almost-30 year old took it without a second thought Louise prided herself on not cackling right away. The double take he did when he realized what happened caused her to burst, however.

Of course she had expertly weaseled her way into carrying the smallest thing there was. “You were really going to make the father of the bride carry a cd case? You monster,” she teased. 

Logan let out a single bark of a laugh. “You should’ve been out here earlier when I handed him the extension cord.” The twinkle in his eye as Louise reached for imaginary pearls was not to be missed. And Louise thought she caught that too. “This is the last of it though. So classic Louise-timing.”

“Pssh, it’s an art, really,” the young woman boasted. She tried to block out Gene and Alex behind them. But when your sibling only knows stage whisper as a lowest setting that was difficult, especially when that skill is extended to their platonic soulmate.

It was Alex who spoke the question, “Do you think we’re going to perform at their wedding soon?” 

And Gene who answered, “Not for another 7 years.”

“Right, right. In their 30’s,” Alex concluded, referring back to Gene’s ancient prophecy. 

For the millionth time in 3 hours, Louise rolled her eyes. Gene said a lot of things off the cuff, and that was just one of those things. Her sibling was not a prophet, and she was never going to reconnect and marry Logan Barry Bush in her 30’s. For one thing, they had already reconnected now, before Louise’s 20’s. So that was already not going well in Gene’s favor. 

Still, she cast a quick glance at Logan and noticed that his face was just the slightest shade of pink. An impish smile took her face.

“I don’t know Logan, I think we should see if Hall and Oates would get back together for us. If they’re still alive in 7 years that is,” she said a little louder than normal. The blonde had the briefest moment of confusion before that rusty gear in his brain clicked over.

“Awh but I was really looking forward to Beyonce,” he pouted.

“I don’t think we’d be able to afford her baby,” she consoled. Cue the indignant gasps from the peanut gallery in the back, and a confused noise from Bob up front. Choosing to leave the former suffering, Louise called out to the latter, “Nothing, Pops!” Then shared a snicker with Logan.

And that really helped pass the steps back to the main area. Thankfully because Louise was thinking that she needed a refill-osa after that. God maybe I am turning into Mom a little. 

“So has anyone checked on Zeke?” she asked, setting down the cd case and opening the door to the building. Gene went right on past her, presumably to cash in on their own pink fuzzy robe. Without answering, so she assumed that was a “no”. So she looked directly at Logan.

“Yeah I’ve been checking in between tasks. He’s got the rest of the party in there with him for company.”

Satisfied with the answer, Louise gave a nod and went inside. Sure enough, Gene was walking out of the “girl’s room” in a fluffy pink robe and two flutes of whatever concoction they made. Louise knew one was non alcoholic for Alex, so it was probably just orange juice and Spryt. The two passed with a nod. However Gene paused and caught Louise’s attention.

“You’re not really gonna hire someone else to do music for your wedding, are you?”

The youngest Belcher sighed with a smile. “Of course not. If I ever get married you’re the first person I’m hiring. Third person I call. If I don’t dual-call Tina and Millie first I’m pretty sure they’d materialize and murder me.”

Gene laughed and gave a thoughtful, “That does sound like them.” Then they were out the door and waving one of the flutes around, splashing the contents everywhere. Louise chuckled and re-entered the bridal world once more.

Before she knew it, it was wedding time.