"L A B E L S"

Episode 52

Mia steps inside Logan's small apartment and looks around at a small mess. There are a few papers lying around and a pizza box on top of the counter. She sees a sink full of dishes and a table that looks like it has about a foot of dust on top of it.

Logan's standing beside her and looks over at her. "Now do you see why I wasn't exactly thrilled about you seeing where I live?"

She smiles lightly and walks further into his apartment, turning to face him. "So you're mom isn't big on cleaning...neither was mine." She chuckles, jokingly.

He looks down in sadness for a moment then back up at Mia. "My mom's not around."

She looks at him with strong empathy. "I'm sorry." She looks around and back at him with a smirk. "Okay then, so your dad isn't too keen on cleaning. I think that's a little more common."

He walks over to his couch, sitting down and motioning for her to sit beside him. "Sit."

She looks at him with curious eyes and sits beside him.

He turns to look at her and takes a deep breath before speaking. "My dad died when I was twelve. Two years after he died, my mom remarried and he turned out to be a complete ass. He pulled my mom into his dangerous, criminal life. He ended up getting put away after robbing a convince store, he did things before that were even worse, but that's what the police ended up putting him away for. My mom got put away for being an accessory to a robbery and they've been in prison for close to three years now." She sits there starring at him in shock as he lets out a small chuckle at her facial expression. "I know, it's a lot to take in."

She looks around his apartment then back at him. "So...you live here by yourself?"

He nods. "I got emancipated after they left because I had a job and was able to provide for myself without help from a group home." He looks down at his folded hands and shakes his head with sadness. "It's just...it's hard. I guess it's true what they say...people always leave, huh?" He looks up at her, forcing a small broken smile.

She shakes her head and leans closer, taking his hand in hers and looking at him with honest emotion. "I'm not going anywhere...ever." He looks at her with hopeful eyes as a small smile begins to show on his face.

~~~

Dani's walking down the sidewalk beside Nick, with an ice cream in one hand when he looks over at her with curious eyes. "So, what happened with you?"

She gives him a look of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You used to be popular, you used to hang out with Chelsea...you went to Cody's parties...what happened? Why'd you turn..."

"-into a goth-loser?" She finishes his sentence with a small smirk.

He shrugs with a small smile and takes a bite of his ice cream.

"It wasn't what I wanted. I thought being popular and going to parties every weekend would fill the void, it only made it bigger."

"What void?"

She looks over at him for a moment before shaking her head. "Never mind...I just didn't care about the popular label anymore, it seemed pointless and stupid."

"Did you finally fill the void?"

She thinks for a moment as a face begins to appear in her mind and a smile begins to show at the corners of her mouth. She nods, looking straight ahead and thinking of the only boy who seemed to make everything okay...her best friend. "Yeah, I think I did..." She smiles as they continue to walk for a few more minutes.

"So...the void, were you talking about the one your mom left?" He asks politely with honestly curiosity.

She nods and glances over at him with a sad smile. "You remember the announcment of my horrible tragedy over the school intercom?"