✏️ Under One Roof

24. One Consequence

This bonus chapter is dedicated to James Z. Thank you for all your support!

Tegan had planned to give it ten minutes and then storm down the stairs to ask if anyone knew where Ness was. But she didn't have to wait that long before she heard footsteps, and saw Logan coming up. Her hand was just raised to knock on his door again, and she guessed that he had probably heard her calling Ness's name.

"Hey," she said, trying to frame her best concerned expression. She wouldn't accuse him; would just say that she thought he might have picked up her diary by accident. She would leave it to the dads to conclude that this couldn't have just been an accident, and she was sure that Ness saying he didn't know anything about it would make the rest of his testimony a whole lot less credible. "Do you know if Ness–"

"I think he's out," Logan said, with a charming smile. "One of the shrinks suggested jogging to work off stress when he's got a lot on his mind. But if there's something you need, you could call him."

"No," she said. "I don't... I don't know, I don't want to disturb him really. It's just that..." She could easily show the right tone of nervousness and anxiety. She could really feel the heat of the blush under her skin, the nervousness about challenging her brother, and the sudden stream of hot liquid running down her legs. "I was–" she started again, but the words morphed into a squeal of despair as she realised that she was peeing, and her body flat out refused to listen to any attempt to stop.

"Tegan?" Logan said, and his words seemed to reach her through a haze. "Tegan, are you okay?"

"I just..." she stammered, unable to believe what was happening to her. She couldn't stop it, she couldn't fight the urge. Her muscles just didn't respond as the puddle around her feet grew, and there could be no doubt that she had lost any possibility of respect from Logan. "What happened?"

"It's okay," he said, and then turned to shout downstairs: "Drew? I think Tegan might need some help." He at least tried to make it sound neutral, not giving any sense of urgency. Maybe that should have helped her to avoid embarrassment, and she was grateful for that. It just went to show that Logan had all the qualities required of a perfect guy.

"Fank you," she mumbled, and then blushed again as she realised that her words sounded really strange.

"It's okay. Try not to worry. Has anything like this happened before?" he sounded calm, although it was clear that it was keeping a great deal of effort to keep his mood level. She couldn't blame him; he must be thinking that she'd lost her mind. And that had already happened to his son before; although there was a world of difference between unnecessary aggression and inexplicable pants wetting. She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak again until she knew that the sudden lisp had gone, and he continued. "Well. Can you stretch your hands out in front of you, please? Touch your fingertips together, like this. Now, close your eyes, and try to do it again... Raise your right arm... and now your left."

"What you doin'?" Tegan couldn't resist the urge to ask the question any longer, and cringed when she heard the words come out of her mouth. She wanted to run away, but she couldn't bring herself to do anything but stand passively in her puddle as Logan approached to look her in the eyes.

"Checking you're okay," he said. "I'm a little worried, to be honest. Not just because of that, but your voice went a little odd as well. Did you notice? So I felt like I have to check for signs of a stroke, or concussion. But your coordination and reflexes seem to be fine, which is reassuring. It just leaves us with even more of a mystery. I think you should see a doctor, so that... he stopped as they heard footsteps on the stairs. For a moment, she was terrified that it could be Ness, coming to laugh at her and see the results of whatever he had done. But it was just her dad, wondering what Logan wanted.