Author's Note: This is based on CP Coulter's Dalton. A week ago, someone asked CP how Julian would ever tell Logan how he feels. "At gunpoint? Blade point? At an inch from death?" Someone else asked "Can someone PLEASE write a oneshot about Julian almost dying (I don't care why) and confessing to Logan? Preferably with a happy ending!" So, here's what I wrote. Link to that ask: .com/post/3921388820/at-gunpoint-blade-point-at-an-inch-from-death.
Rated M because of mild language, some violence, and blood. It's actually kind of somewhere between T+ and M, so I'm going to stick with M.
The morning after the threat, Julian stayed in his dorm while Derek ran downstairs and to see the reaction it would invoke. But it was gone. No trace was left of the rose petals or the picture. The paint was still there, though. But everyone was already chalking that up to the twins and their paint balloons no matter how much they denied it.
And when it was clear no one else had seen it, Julian swore Derek to secrecy…with some difficulty.
"But that was definitely a death threat, Julian. You can't just let it go."
"Yes. I can. And so can you. I get stupid death threats all the time. This isn't any different."
But it was and no matter how much Julian put on a brave face with his friends around, he was scared out of his mind. He became wary of everyone around him, afraid to turn corners, and was seen out of Stuart house less and less.
To make matters worse, he was getting little warnings…at least one each day. Some of them were just a mangled picture of himself splattered with red paint. Others with short, typed notes, the most frightening of which he couldn't get out of his head: There isn't one place I can't find you. It was just that one line on a full sheet of paper he found stuck to the inside of his dorm window after classes one day.
Since the threat, Julian had done everything he could to be surrounded by people everywhere. He was always sure at least one other person was with him no matter where he went.
One day, he was walking back from class with Derek and Adam. Despite being weirded out by how much of a fan the new kid was, Julian was glad he was there – his presence kept Derek from harping on the death threat. Plus, his constant chatter kept Julian's mind off of his situation.
"...and then we moved into this huge place and my parents decided I wasn't going to a public school anymore. So I picked Dalton because I knew you went here, Julian and I thought it would be so cool to even just be on the same campus even if I didn't get to meet you. Actually, I'm more excited about being able to talk to you than I am about them winning the lottery. But, if you think about it, I wouldn't be able to talk to you if they hadn't. It's like the chicken and the egg."
Derek sighed and muttered, "Not really." Adam didn't seem to notice because he just kept talking.
When they had first met the kid, you could barely get a word out of him without him blushing or apologizing for being so new and "uneducated on the ways of Dalton." He quickly got over that and now they couldn't shut him up.
Somewhere in the middle of a garden (and Adam's retelling of the time his dog ate $1.50 in coins), Derek announced, "I'm pretty sure I left my phone back in the classroom. Sorry, guys. Catch up with you later, Julian?" he said with a significant look.
Julian just nodded back.
"Uh, bye, Adam."
"See ya, D," Adam replied cherrfully.
With a huff (only his friends were allowed to call him D), Derek turned back and quickly walked away. Julian started for the dorms again, but Adam grabbed his arm. It startled him and he jumped.
"Jesus, kid!" Julian shouted as he rounded on Adam.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!"
Julian turned away from him. "You didn't scare me," he lied.
"Well, I just had a question for you."
"Yeah?"
Then there was a thud and darkness.
xxxx
Julian woke up to a sensory overload, making him gasp desperately for air. There was so much pain in the back of his head that he could have sworn an elephant had kicked him. But, as he began to breathe regularly, the rest of his situation started to be come clear.
He was sitting on a hard, wooden chair in a dimly lit…gardening shed? Which really didn't help; there were a couple of those all over campus. There was a sharp pain in both shoulders, but when he tried to move his arms to relieve it, he discovered that his hands were tied tightly together behind the chair. In shock, he tried to jump up, but a rope around his waist kept him down and he feet were bound together. His heart started racing and he began to struggle to free anything, which only increased the pain everywhere. That's when he noticed his uniform – or lack thereof.
His pants were still on, but both jacket and tie were missing. And his shirt was unbuttoned.
"What the hell?" he squeaked out.
So many questions started to race through his head at once. What was going on? How did he get here? Where, in fact, was "here?" Who…?
He grew very still as the realization dawned on him.
"Adam," he growled into the space.
A sound exploded behind Julian, making him jump and wrenching his shoulders.
Someone had begun slowly clapping.
"Good job, Jules. You are a very smart boy," Adam Clavell said. "That didn't take you very long at all. About a minute less than I expected. I like a boy with brains.
"Adam! What are you…?"
"Shh, shh. Don't ruin the moment. Besides, I was going to get the to that later. Don't you worry your pretty little head about it." Adam stood next to him and began stroking his hair. "Jules, you don't need to worry about a thing. Just cooperate – you won't get hurt that way. I could never hurt you without provocation…I'm your biggest fan."
"You're insane."
In an instant, Adam grabbed a handful of the hair he was stroking on the back of Julian's head and pulled hard. The pain in his head increased exponentially and Julian cried out.
Adam, his face contorted in rage, put himself right in Julian's face. Their noses were almost touching and Julian was too afraid of the crazy look in his captor's eyes to blink or look away.
"It would be in your best interest not to insult me." It was impossible that such a threatening voice could come from someone who had seemed so demure and kind. And just as Julian was trying to compute that, Adam was smiling and releasing the vice-like grip he had on his hair.
Patting him on the top of his head, he said, "Now, I have a meeting in Hanover. I won't be back for another 45 minutes or so. Be good. And don't worry, no one comes out this way and the gardeners don't do much in February, so screaming won't help. You can save that angelic voice of yours. See you at 6!"
And then Adam was gone, out of a door somewhere behind Julian.
He let out a long, shaky breath, unsure of how long he had been holding it. None of this made sense, but he couldn't waste time thinking about it. Now he needed to get out while Adam was gone. As soon as he was sure Adam was out of range, Julian began to scream.
"HELP! PLEASE HELP ME! Is anyone there? SAVE ME, PLEASE!"
He started to lose track of time as he alternated between shouting and trying to free himself. He was beginning to get hoarse when he thought he heard his name. He stopped and croaked out, "Hello?"
"Julian? Julian, is that you?"
It was Logan. Logan had found him.
"Logan! I'm in here! Help me, please, before he comes back!"
He heard the door open and Logan's whispered, "Oh shit." When he tried to look behind him, everything stabbed him with pain. To his surprise, he heard himself whimper. Logan was instantly in front of him, checking his face, head, neck. He took in his state of dress and the worry on his face increased.
"What is going on?" he asked Julian.
"Please untie me. I think he'll be back soon." He couldn't get to the explanation yet, he just needed to get out.
Logan ducked behind him to work on his hands. As he struggled to untie him, Logan asked again, "What is going on, Jules?"
"Don't call me that. He keeps saying that," Julian continued to deflect. He was finding it difficult to tell his friend what exactly was happening – partly because a piece of him reminded him that Logan had warned him about his fame. But, mostly because he wasn't exactly sure what was happening, himself.
A particularly forceful tug of the rope made him cry out.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll be careful."
The two were silent for a moment, Julian trying to swallow the pain and Logan rubbing his fingertips raw in the tough knot.
"It's Adam," Julian finally said, "the new kid."
"Jesus," Logan breathed. He continued to struggle with the knot for a moment before he said, "Isn't he your number one fan or something?"
"Or something…"
A few minutes later, his hands were free, which turned out to be just as painful for his shoulders and arms as before. It took everything Julian had left not to scream. Breathing deeply, he slowly worked his arms forward. Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes and he was glad Logan was still behind him, unbinding his waist.
When the rope around his stomach went slack, the skin began to burn. Julian gasped and tears slipped down his face.
"I'm sorry," said Logan, now standing in front of him.
"It's not your fault. Don't apologize. Just, please, get me out of here." It all needed to be over.
Just as Logan began working on the rope at his feet, the door flew open again.
"Jules! I'm back! I even brought din – How are you untied?"
Logan jumped up, incensed.
Next thing Julian knew, Adam was tackling Logan, knocking him to the ground. Logan punched him in the face, only to be knocked in the head with a trowel Adam had found on the floor nearby. Logan stopped moving.
"No!" Julian screeched. "Adam, please…"
"Don't whine, Jules. It's unbecoming." Adam stood up and wiped blood from his nose. "He deserved it. He's trying to take you away from me. He's ruining everything."
"Adam, let us go." Julian could see the blood trickling down Logan's head and face. He needed help.
"I can't! Now that I have you, you're never leaving me!"
this couldn't be happening. Julian had heard of obsessed fans, but this…this couldn't happen to him.
"This isn't even how it was supposed to go," Adam continued. He began pacing in front of him. "None of this was supposed to happen."
"What do you m- ?"
Adam grabbed his shoulders with such force, the chair tipped backwards.
"You were supposed to fall in love with me!" he bellowed into his face.
Once again, Julian was too frightened to move. It seemed like eons before Adam started to look calm again and whispered, "You have the most wonderful eyes." This was just as terrifying as the anger.
Adam backed up, letting the chair's front legs come down with a soft thud. Julian could see Logan again, still lying on the floor, bleeding a little from his temple.
"He's fine." Adam did not mask the contempt in his voice. "For now." He pulled Logan up into a sitting position and leaned him against the wall. Taking the rope that had been around Julian's waist, he tied Logan's hands together.
He made his way around Julian and forced his hands back to tie them once more. When he reappeared in front of him, Adam was carrying another chair. He sat down and stared at Julian.
"Jules, I'm going to tell you a story. Afterwards, you're going to have to make a decision. You will not interrupt me while I talk. You will listen to everything I say. If you're good and you make the right choice, I may even go out and get you dinner again. Now, tell me you'll do what I say."
What he wanted to say was, 'You're insane.' "I'll do everything you say."
"Good boy."
Adam crossed his legs and settled back into his chair. "Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Adam. He was the last child of 3 in an influential family. He was always different, but he didn't know why. Until one day, when he was watching TV and he came across this wonderful, popular show with a charismatic, handsome lead actor. He was instantly smitten, but he couldn't tell anyone. They already made fun of his quiet manner, weird moods, and affinity for books. He couldn't add "gay" to the ammunition.
"Soon, he had everyone convinced he was obsessed with the show because, just like every other guy, he had a crush on the girl playing Julian Larson-Armstrong's girlfriend. People started to kind of like him. He started going to events, red carpets, conventions, just to catch a glimpse of the handsome actor.
"One day, he was in line at a convention early enough to get an autograph. Fate was shining down on him that day. When it was his turn to get Julian Larson-Armstrong's autograph, their hands touched, their eyes met, there was an instant connection. He knew he was in love.
"At another convention, he felt that connection again. Something was telling him they were meant to be together forever. The boy did everything he could to get close to Julian – he wrote letters, entered contests to visit the show set, tried to find out where he lived.
"Then, Fate intervened and the boy stumbled across an interview in which Julian revealed that he attended Dalton Academy. At last! His ticket to true love and happily ever after. He convinced his parents that he needed to go to Dalton and was quickly enrolled and shipped to Ohio to live on the same campus that Julian Larson-Armstrong lived on."
At this point in the story, Logan shifted, moaned, and opened his eyes. "What the hell?"
Adam pulled a penknife out of his pocket and pointed it at him. "I suggest you stay quiet."
Logan's face filled with loathing, but he kept his mouth shut and didn't move. Adam lowered the knife and continued his narrative.
"The plan from there was simple. The boy would find out who Julian's friends were, endear himself to the group, and show Julian that he was the one for him. But, some things went wrong. It was not easy to keep track of Julian on campus. They lived in different buildings. And his friends were few and unwilling to say much about him. Then, as soon as he found his way into Julian's life, he learned that his affections were placed in a tall, arrogant, blond boy who was in love with someone else."
"What?"
"I told you to be quiet, Logan," Adam said, pulling out the knife again. "So, the plan changed, Jules. I'm going to force you to see the light. That's why we're here. You belong to me and I will make you understand that."
Julian could hardly comprehend all that he had heard. He wanted to scream, shout, punch, kick, run away…but he was too much in shock to do anything.
"Now, here comes the part where you make a decision. Regrettably, the choice I was going to give you has to be altered now that Logan's involved. So, here it is: choose me and only Logan dies. Choose Logan and both of you die. If I can't have you, no one else can."
And there it was. For a moment, Julian couldn't even believe he was awake. This all had to be some sick nightmare.
"So? Make your choice, Jules. Now."
How was this real? What kind of choice was this? Why did they have to die?
Logan jumped up with the trowel in his hands. "Let us go. Now."
Ominously calm, Adam rose from his seat, raised his knife again, and said, "No."
"Logan, don't do it," Julian begged. He could see it now: Logan's hands were still tied and he would still try to attack with the small gardening shovel. Adam would stab him with the knife. And there was nothing he could do to help. "Please, we can do something else. We can get out of this another way."
Adam sneered. "No, you can't." And that's when Logan lunged. Adam jumped back just in time to avoid being hit in the head, but not soon enough – he got nicked on the cheek and started bleeding. He had no time to react, though, because Logan just kept attacking.
Julian sat in his chair, helplessly, hoping to God Logan would continue to miss Adam's knife jabs. Both boys swung wildly at each other. But, it looked to Julian, that Logan had the upper hand.
Soon, he knocked the knife out of Adam's hands. He raised his trowel to hit him again before he was able to get another weapon and Julian screamed.
The knife had landed in his left shoulder.
Adam crumpled to his knees next to Julian. "No! Jules, Jules! You'll be okay." His hands fluttered here and there over his chest, trying to decide what to do with the knife. Then, he rounded on Logan. "It's all your f-"
Logan brought the trowel handle down on the boy's head, knocking him out before he could finish his sentence. Adam and the trowel both fell to the floor and Logan began to untie Julian.
"Julian, please hang on." He untied his feet.
"Logan…Logan it hurts too much."
"Please just stay with me." He ran behind him to untie his hands.
"Logan. I should tell you something."
"Not now, Julian. Keep your strength. I don't have my phone, so I'm going to have to carry you out of here. We're too far away from the dorms to leave you while I go call. I'll patch you up."
"No, Logan. I have to tell you…"
"Not now, Julian. You can tell me later." Logan ripped off his shirt. "I'm taking out the knife now. Okay?"
Julian simply nodded. Without warning, the knife was ripped from his body and he screamed again. He couldn't fathom this kind of pain.
"You'll be okay, you'll be okay," he could hear Logan through the throbbing haze. Logan used his shirt to tie up the injury. The pressure made Julian cry out more.
He didn't think he could take anymore. If only he could go numb. Make it "stop…"
"We'll stop soon, I promise."
Julian didn't know he'd said that out loud.
"I'm going to lift you now."
"But, Logan, I have to…" Logan lifted him and he couldn't finish his sentence. He knew he was fading, but he had to tell him…just in case something happened.
"Logan…" Fresh air hit him. They were outside.
"HELP!" Logan shouted. "Please!"
Julian felt himself being jostled. They must be running. But he couldn't feel the pain anymore. Good. Good. He can tell Logan.
"Logan. I have to tell you…" He couldn't keep his eyes open.
"CALL 911, PLEASE! SOMEONE!"
"Logan, I…"
Two more voices. They stopped.
"Kurt…Blaine…call 911." Logan was starting to sound scared.
He shouldn't be scared. He had found friends. And it didn't hurt anymore. Julian was going to be okay.
"It's okay, Logan," Julian could hear himself slurring his words. "Everything's okay."
"Julian. Oh, Julian. I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault, Logan." Julian found that he could open his eyes a little and he smiled up at Logan. He could see the starry sky above him. "Huh…it's nighttime. Time sure flies when you're…kidnapped or…whatever."
"Julian…"
He couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. He could feel sleep coming. But he had to say this before he was completely gone. "Logan." Julian tried to raise his hand to his friend's face, but found he couldn't. Deciding it would be sappy to touch his face anyway, he simply said, "I love you."
Then there was darkness.
xxxx
Julian opened his eyes to a very white room. It smelled weird and there was a strange beeping noise somewhere to his left. How did he get here?
"Where am I…?"
"Julian!" And there was Logan, suddenly standing at the foot of his bed. He was in a bed?
"Logan. I'm in a hospital." As he continued to wake up, everything started to become clear.
"Yes," Logan said, making his way to Julian's side, "and you almost didn't make it. But we got you in an ambulance in time and here you are. Alive."
Julian smiled. "Good. I'm glad I'm alive."
Logan chuckled.
And then it occurred to him why he was even there. "What about Adam?"
Logan's face fell. Way to kill the mood, Julian.
"I'm sorry."
"No, don't worry about it. I told the cops everything I knew about what happened. Right now, he's in a cell. But, they're pretty sure, once they've spoken to you and taken this to a judge, he's going to be put under psychiatric care. He's really messed up."
"That's the understatement of the century."
They fell silent. Julian knew what was on Logan's mind, but he didn't know how to bring it up. He had the fuzzy memory of confessing the love he felt for his friend and he regretted it. And, by the way Logan was shuffling uncomfortable next to him, Julian knew that his friend was very uncomfortable with it.
"So," Logan broke the silence. "Almost half of Dalton is out there. I figured I could bring them in a few at a time. Maybe Blaine, Kurt, and Derek because…"
"Logan. I meant what I said." Julian had decided he was going to just take a chance. "I'm sorry. I know you don't feel the same way and you're still trying to get over Kurt. I just…I thought I was going to die, so I needed to let you know and you can hate me or ignore it or whatever you want…"
"No, Julian. I can't hate you for that. And, I have a confession."
This was too good to be true. But, he couldn't also love him? He was still in love with Kurt, wasn't he?
"After the whole Blaine thing, you were there for me. And…I started to like you. But, I didn't think I could tell you because you're this big star and, well, I was a mess. I didn't think you could like me back. Then, Kurt came along and you were gone, so I just let you go."
The whole time. The whole time. Logan liked him then and he didn't know. He left the school because he needed to avoid Logan. He didn't have to. Julian was speechless.
"Now, I'm not sure exactly how I feel about you beyond the fact that I care for you and seeing you bleeding out in my arms almost tore my heart apart."
Oh. Oh my.
"Please stay at Dalton. I want to see where we go. I think we could…eventually..."
The door slowly opened to reveal Blaine, Kurt, Derek, and what looked like a sea of Dalton blue and red behind them.
"Julian's alive!" a twin shouted and the door flew open, allowing a swarm of boys to fill the room. Logan backed up against the wall, clearing the way for the bed to be surrounded.
But Julian wanted to finish the conversation. He looked over at Logan and smiled. Hoping to avoid giving everyone too much information, he said, "I'll be staying in school for the rest of the year."
Everyone began asking him questions all at once and Julian settled in for a long day. Which was okay because Adam was gone and Logan was going to love him.