James was the best friend he could have ever had.
He was always so helpful, so kind, and especially oh-so-very loving to his three best friends. He seemed self-obsessed at times but was never afraid to stand up for them when they were hurt, or bullied. But Logan knew that James would only ever view him as a younger brother. However, Logan knew better. Knew how his heart sped up every time he came close, knew how a blush would spread along his cheeks whenever he smelt that Cuda spray. Logan knew he was in love, and he had fallen hard.
His heart threatened to stop every time James flirted with girls or casually commented how pretty a certain girl was. A dull ache throbbed deep inside of him whenever James when on dates with girls; very, very pretty girls that Logan knew he could never match up to. And then he met Camille, a pretty, and crazy girl that was in love with him and he thought this was his escape. Hang out with Camille, stay away from James, and possibly forget the heartache that his own band member caused him, because he knew nothing could ever happen between them.
Today, Logan was relaxing at the poolside, Camille sitting on his lap and cuddling up close to him. The warmth from her small frame caused Logan to relax, as a small cool breeze blew through the Palm Woods. Just then, a familiar smell hit his nostrils. A smell he could recognize any day.
"Hey Logan." Logan looked up to see James walk up to the pair. For a moment he thought he saw James' eyes flicker to the girl on his lap but immediately dismissed it as his imagination.
"Hey James. Anything in particular you doing today?" Logan asked, trying hard not to stutter. Camille chose this moment to look up at the taller boy and shoot him a small smile. She then proceeded to place a small but tender kiss on Logan's lips and smile widely to him. Logan smiled back, but for some reason, constantly having the image of James in the corner of his eyes. He shook it off and proceeded to question his girlfriend, "Strawberry?"
"Your favorite isn't it?" she replied with an adorable half smile. "Anyway I need to go rehearse for a huge audition so I thought maybe I'll leave you two to have some man-to-man time, only if you promise me we'll have dinner together sometime soon."
"How about tomorrow night since I might have some recording to do after this?"
"Yup, sure," she replied heartily. "Ok, you two go enjoy yourselves, and I'll see you tomorrow night," she said, winking at Logan before placing another chaste kiss on his lips.
"Mmm, see you," he mumbled against the kiss.
"Do the two of you seriously have to make out right in front of me?" James asked as he settled into an empty seat next to the smart boy as Camille left to rehearse. Logan thought he detected hurt in his voice but passed it off as disgust at the couple's earlier actions.
"Sorry, didn't mean to do it in front off you." Only did it to hide my true feelings from you, he thought to himself bitterly. If only James knew how much effort he had put in, maybe he won't be complaining so much.
"You know, sometimes, I'm so jealous of you guys," James commented a little too casually.
Logan thinks he hears his heart break. James doesn't want him. He wants a girl, someone like Camille, or Jo, or Stephanie...someone pretty, someone that wasn't Logan Mitchell.
The two sat in silence for the next few minutes. Everything about James seemed all too familiar to Logan, so familiar it hurt. The way he leaned back, nose tilted, chin raised towards the sun, sunglasses slowly sliding down his high nose bridge. He lifted a long finger to gently nudge his glasses back in place. He ran his finger slowly through his hair, those soft brown locks that Logan saw in his dreams every night. He sighed. Oh how he wished he could sit snuggled up to the taller boy, arms around his waist, face snuggled into his chest...
James abruptly sat up, staring straight ahead.
Logan follows the pretty boy's gaze to see a girl, chocolate locks, tanned skin, sapphire blue eyes. She was pretty, no, she was beautiful. The tears sprung to his eyes afresh, but after years of practice, he easily fought them down.
James threw a sidelong glance to Logan before flashing his award-winning smile. "New girl. I call the dibs on her." And he was off, before Logan could even reply. He watched the receding view of the brunette rush up to the girl, link hands with her, and lock lips...
He turned away. The tears started forming again. Was God punishing him for something? He quickly rubbed at his eyes to disperse the tears. He can't cry. He can't.
"Hey Logie. You ok? I thought you had a recording?" He opened his eyes to see Camille standing over him, looking worriedly at his hunched image.
"Yea...I'm fine. Tell you what, let's go for dinner tonight. I don't think there's recording today," he replied, attempting a weak smile.
"Sure my dear. Though your man-to-man talk ended rather fast, you guys used to talk for hours on end."
A silence fell between the two. Camille looked worriedly at a blank-faced Logan. He looked to her and attempted another smile again. "Yea. He saw a girl, like you know James," he said, and nearly choked on his own words. "Let's just go, before anything else interrupts our date tonight." he quickly said and inter-laced their fingers, walking quickly from the poolside.
Little did he know that a certain someone was watching his retreating figure.