I don't own Zoey 101 or it's characters. Also, I don't really watch the show so forgive me if they're ooc. I've only seen the scattered episode. Enjoy!
Beware, this is slash. It contains two males in love, please do not flame me if you don't like that. You have been warned.
(Michael x Logan)
Michael, a young black man with thirteen years, lay on his bed. He was basking in the glory of air conditioning and fans during the sweltering heat of the summer. His short and probably curly hair was scattered with droplets of his salty sweat. When he entered the room he'd torn off his shirt without actually tearing it and exposed his also sweaty chest. For, he'd just been out running on the tracks, getting ready for a race with the whole school.
Well, not the whole school, only those who chose to run in the boiling temperatures that existed. (A/N: I'm not going to mention the actual temperature because I only know Celsius and Americans stupidly use Fahrenheit, nor do I know what "hot" is in California) There were some of the best runners in the school that had backed out because they couldn't stand the heat. Literally, some people had already fainted while walking from their classes. Michael was actually only doing the race because the winner would get one of the swimming pools for him or herself and a few friends, and with the chances of winning going up he couldn't back down.
Just as Michael's daydreams threatened to send him into unconsciousness, the door slammed open and a sweat-stained, grey muscle shirt was thrown on him.
"Gross!" Michael coughed and rolled over, tossing away the dirty shirt. "Logan, what'd you do that for?"
"What?" Logan turned around, having much the same sweaty appearance as Michael. Logan was white—though he loved to have a tan—and his dirty blond hair was in long curls, like an afro. His face was flushed from the high temperatures and he was out of breath. "Oh, sorry, I didn't think anyone was in here. There are free snow cones in the cafe downstairs. I thought everyone was there."
"Nah, I left." He stared for a moment at the glistening skin, but diverted his eyes with difficulty. "There were so many people in there that the snow cones were almost pointless. I find it better just to sit here with my fan." Michael tried to relax again and turned his fan to face his new position.
"Well, I'm going to have a shower." Logan left the room and soon after the sound of the pressurised water was pounding in the bathroom.
Michael rubbed his eyes sleepily and began to fall asleep again. He did want to have to think about Logan in the shower.
His dream was short and filled with a mixture of cold and heat. He figured in what bit of consciousness he had that someone had set the fan to be turning. The dream he had consisted of the noises of running shower water, steamy bathrooms and a figure stepping through the moisture clouds toward him, wearing nothing but a towel around her waist. Though, it wasn't really "enjoyable" as her chest was covered by the dense fog of the bathroom. It was definitely a woman, though, because Michael didn't have dreams about men coming to him from their showers.
Then as she was about to come out of the waves of clouds, he woke up and the dream faded. Michael groaned and rolled off his stomach (which he'd turned onto while he slept) and wiped the drool that had appeared when he slept face down. He looked at his fan and found that he had guessed right, it was turning.
"Logan, that's my fan…" Michael muttered uselessly.
Logan came out of the bathroom just in time to hear it. He had put his shorts back on but his hair was still wet. "Sorry, I thought the whole room could use some cool air blown around." His voice was as pompous as ever, no surprise.
Michael avoided looking at the bare skin, he gave up the fight. He had to admit, though, Logan was right. The whole room deserved the cool air. It was selfish of him to have it only on himself.
"Do you want to go down to get a snow cone now? The crowd has probably calmed down." Logan offered up an opportunity to leave the room for a while.
Michael raised his shoulders carelessly. "It's only been half an hour…. And the cones might all be gone."
"Do you think you can stand the heat with fifty other guys for thirty minutes?" Logan asked pointedly. "And, they aren't gone. I… um, they said they'd be there for the whole day."
Michael shrugged in agreement. "Sure, I'm coming. Who are 'they'?" He slipped out of bed.
"The two guys making the snow." Logan raised his arms like it was the most obvious thing. "Let's just go." He went to open the door, but Michael stopped him.
"Logan…" He grabbed the other guy's wrist that was on the door handle.
"Huh?" Logan took a gulp nervously.
"You might want to put a shirt on." Michael nodded at his bare skin, keeping his eyes on the blank door.
Logan looked down and jumped. "Oh! I kind of forgot…." He turned away from Michael quickly and walked sideways over to his dresser.
Michael himself wasn't wearing a shirt, and so grabbed a clean, white ond from his drawer and they left shortly after. "What flavours are there?"
"Uh, I don't know. I think there's tropical twist, strawberry and… caramel or something like that." Logan shrugged and scratched his temple.
"Got a headache? I wouldn't be surprised with these high temps." Michael shook his head, very disappointed with the weather.
"No, just itchy." Logan turned away from Michael again.
Michael laughed. "What, you got some strange rash that makes your face look horribly hideous?" What wonders there were in mocking Logan's ego!
"Uh, no… I would've fixed that immediately." Logan scoffed and jumped the stairs. The air blew through his hair and created a strange effect like very thick tumbleweed that was stuck in one place, grounded by something.
Michael stared at it, replaying it in his mind over and over. Then he had to jump down those last few steps to stay together.
"It's a shame our dorms aren't co-ed. I'd like to have some of the ladies in here." Logan looked around at all the slumped guys that populated the cafe. "Well, time for some snow cones."
He bounded over to the little stand that was set up just inside the doors. Logan mouthed something to the two men in the booth and they nodded. "So, I'll take a chance with the tropical twist, and Michael?"
"Strawberry, please."
The flavoured ice was ready in a matter of seconds and they honoured the sweet, chilly crystals.
"Wanna be a daredevil and go outside?" Logan asked daringly.
"We'll have to eat these quick." Michael said in an equally bold voice. "Beware of brain freezes."
"Alright!" They grinned madly and walked out the doors into the evil weather, gulping past the coldness of the ice and savouring in the taste.
"Damn it, it is hot out here!" Michael whooped and stared longingly at the building containing the swimming pool that he wished to win for a day, any day of his choice.
"It's a good thing that you have to sign up for the race." Logan said suddenly, knowing what Michael was thinking about. "If it started raining that day, everyone would come and we wouldn't have much of a chance to win."
"You're going too?" Michael asked incredulously. "Well, then we have double the chance of getting into the pool!"
Logan laughed in that egoistic way. "Double the chance? No, I'd invite all the ladies, Michael."
"You'd invite us too, though, right?" Michael asked hopefully.
Logan hummed about it. "I don't know, there are a lot of girls in this school."
"Ah, come on man! I'd let you come!" Michael moaned.
"Okay, so maybe I'll get you to come. I don't know about everyone else though. And if you did come, you'd have to be quiet about it. I wouldn't want to make any enemies." Logan laughed mercilessly.
"Make enemies?" Michael snorted. "No, you'd onlyaggravate your enemies."
"Yeah, I wouldn't want that either." Logan shrugged nonchalantly.
Michael looked down at the stained red paper he held. "I think it's about time to go back inside. No, I think I'll do another few laps. I'll see you later, Logan!" Michael jogged over to the track, throwing out his trash on the way.
Logan watched the boy's receding white shirt slowly turn translucent. He thought to himself, I should do a few more laps too, and headed for the track as well, though he walked. At the track he began to do stretches, but as he lunged to stretch his legs, he caught a glance of Michael tearing across the track and he paused to watch. Michael seemed to be involved and part of the track. The way he ran, he was just… doing it.
Still, Logan had to beat him in the race to execute his plan. Anyway, stop thinking. If you don't stop staring and start running soon he'll get curious. But…? New plan! Watch him because you're going to race him. Watch him come up to where you are, then go with him, and give him a bit of an advantage, he's already gone a lap.
Logan started to jog on the spot and rotate his arms, waiting for his upcoming opponent. "Get tired, get tired." He muttered to himself, half inside his head and half out.
Then Michael arrived and Logan started.
"Unfair! I…started…before…you!" Michael gasped as he ran.
"I'm not going as fast as I usually go! I realised that, I'll give you some slack!" Truthfully, Logan was just trying to stay with Michael as he ran, he didn't want to go behind to watch the focus because then he would be loosing, nor did he want to go in front though he would win, he wouldn't see Michael's intensity.
Logan knew he could have gone much faster than he was, even if he were as tired as Michael, but still he wanted to see the muscles flare under his dark skin, watch the sweat roll past his eyes, down his neck, through his shirt. Suddenly, Logan didn't want to run with him or to see him; he sped up and ran off the course to the dorm.
He panted as he stumbled up the stairs and shuffled to the room. He threw off his shirt into his hamper and slunk into the shower, for a quick one this time. He washed off his body and through his hair, rinsed and got out of the shower to dry. He stepped out with the white, fluffy fabric around his waist and grabbed the third pair of shorts for his day. He needed to do some laundry soon or he'd run out of cool clothes.
With his shorts on, he flopped onto his bed and accepted the harsh, low temp air. The door opened in the middle of his falling asleep and he glanced toward it.
"Chase, where've you been all day?" Logan muttered.
"Watching movies at the theatre." Chase shrugged. "It was free, and air conditioned, so I went. Where's Michael?"
"Either on the track or somewhere in between here and there. Otherwise, I don't know." Logan grumbled.
"What's with you?" Chase asked, wanting to laugh. "You're never moody—like this anyway."
"It doesn't concern you."
"I find that it does, since you kind of live with me, you know." Chase raised his eyebrows and gave that squeezed, kind of confused smile.
"It doesn't concern you," Logan repeated angrily, "for now, but if you keep pestering me it will."
"Oh, I bet a girl dumped you. Again." Chase nodded, convincing himself that Logan actually had liked a person instead of liking a body.
"Chase." Logan's voice growled threateningly.
"Okay, okay! I'll stop bothering you!" Chase exhaled loudly and left the room.
Logan turned over and faced the ceiling. "I have to win that race. I have to get something to eat…."
That night he fell asleep with a last glare at Michael. Then he dreamt of swimming in the indoor pool on a rainy day, a giant rubber duck floated with him in the chlorinated water. That was the majority of the dream he had; the others he couldn't remember.
He woke up the day of the race, in which a total of eleven people were participating. Good odds, but as he looked out the window he saw that the sky was dark. Even better, it would be easier to run and concentrate on the running. At least the sun wouldn't be shining off that physique he admired so much.
At eleven o'clock that Sunday morning, he got ready to run. Stretches, hydration, energy. He got set… BANG! They began to run, all eleven of them at eleven o'clock. A spatter of rain hit Logan's face as he ran, starting off slow but gradually getting faster and catching up to the head of the line; Michael with a steady pace.
At the quarter point of the race (half way around the track) the rain began to come down. It was only spitting, but it was gradually increasing. Students started to leave the stands, and some teachers ran to get umbrellas for those in charge of the race. The runners kept going.
Well, who wants to write about the whole race? Certainly not me, anyway. Near the final three hundred meters it started pouring and Logan saw the water bouncing off the hard muscles of Michael and he blinked it away. He ran faster, not wanting to see it, trying to get ahead of him. One hundred meters to go… and… three—two—one!
Logan won, just a tiny second before Michael. He cheered triumphantly, hiding his anxiety and jogged a bit to slow down his heart. Michael hung nearby, feeling a little grudge but it was fair in the end.
Logan slapped his wet arm across Michael's wet shoulders and said, "Don't worry, you're still coming. You're an excellent runner." Then he strutted away, speaking to some giddy girls under umbrellas on his way back.Michael pushed himself up from his bed and quickly, while no one else was in the room, put a sign on the locked door of the bathroom. It stated: "Michael in bath, pretending to be swimming in pool—do not disturb (or enter)" Then he grabbed his bathing suit and sneaked out of the building, watching for Zoey and Logan (who he'd been hanging out with).
He got into the pool and found Logan in the change room, having just finished getting into his suit.
"Hey," Michael said, sliding off his shoes and picking at his socks.
Logan inhaled sharply with shock. He turned around slowly to meet Michael taking off his shirt. "Hi. Just… come to the pool when you're done." He quickly jogged out of the room.
Michael watched after him curiously, but decided to ignore that strange behaviour and put his swimming trunks on. He grabbed his clothes and shoes and went to the pool. Logan was the only one in the pool, he was just getting used to the cold water. Michael looked around and noticed that none of the girls were finished changing, yet.
He jumped into the shallow end, wanting to get that over with. A quiet squeak came from his throat as the cold seeped into him too quickly. Logan watched and laughed, as he was splashed with the water from Michael's jump.
"No jumping in the shallow end." The lifeguard said dully, obviously not wanting to be there.
Michael rolled his eyes and dipped under the water. He jumped out immediately, embracing the warmth, slowly getting used to the wanted cold. The two boys gradually made it out deeper, to where they began to dive and do tricks underwater.
A few minutes later, Michael looked around at the deck. "Where are all the girls?"
Logan looked to around, too. "I guess they're being bashful. How cute." He dove underwater and swam around for a few seconds. Michael swam to the edge and got out of the water.
"Where you going?" Logan said when he emerged.
"I'm getting a tube, I'll be back." The young teen walked to the closet holding the water toys and brought out a large, air filled, blue tube. He threw it in the water and followed after it.
"I'll just be relaxing now. Wake me up when the ladies get here."
"Michael? Are you in there?" Zoey's knocked on the door, ignoring the sign. "Michael, talk to us."
"Are you still above water?" Chase asked, jokingly.
Zoey hit him, grinning. "Shut up, Chase. Even taken seriously, he wouldn't do that." She paused, thinking. "Would he?"
Suddenly her knocking became more intense. "Michael!"
The lifeguard climbed down from her perch. "Sorry, but I'm leaving, kay? I'm just really bored, with only two of you here. Don't drown, okay? But that doesn't really matter, I don't care if I'm fired." She walked away.
Logan watched her go carefully. He waited a few seconds after she left, to make sure she was gone. Then he swam over to Logan's tube. Quietly and slowly he pushed him into the shallow area.
He stared at the shining, almost dry skin; the bare chest that calmly rose and fell; twitching arm muscles; full lips, slowly opening and closing. He needed to kiss them, he only hoped that Michael wouldn't absolutely despise him.
Holding the tube tensely, he leaned his head over Michael's and touched their lips together. Logan felt relieved, slowly letting his eyelids droop shut. Just before they closed, he saw the dark lids open groggily."Michael! We're coming in, okay?" Zoey warned to nothing, though she didn't know that, and stuck a bobby pin into the doorknob.
"Does this usually work?" Chase asked nervously.
Zoey nodded as the door clicked open. "See? Don't doubt me."
They looked in the room and saw the empty tub, the untouched bathroom.
"I take that back. Doubt me when I think that our friend has drowned himself." Zoey muttered. "Where is he?"
Chase looked at the note shrewdly. "Maybe he isn't 'pretending' to be in the swimming pool."
Zoey turned to him and narrowed her eyes at the note. "Oh, that jerk…."
"Well, Nicole went, too…" Chase murmured. "I guess they made a—"
"Did someone say my name?" Nicole stood in the doorway to the room, holding out shopping bags. "I had such a good time today at the mall!"
Zoey's mouth dropped, but she quickly fixed that. "I thought you were swimming."
Nicole smiled in confusion for a moment, then she understood. "Oh, no. Logan gave us all a whole bunch of money so he could be alone in the pool."
"Alone?"
No longer could the shower be heard, but the mist still flowed through the blinding white room. A figure still walked forward with a towel secured around her waist. Michael watched her approach cautiously. He'd called out to her in the same dream the previous night and she'd vanished. Now he would wait with patience.
"Michael…" She said lushly in her low voice. Her hand reached out and beckoned him come.
Michael took a gentle step forward. She stayed, and he dared to proceed forward to meet the mystery woman. Slowly, he began to see through the mist.
"Logan?" he whispered. He wanted to stop, but he continued forward as if… as if he did want to meet the boy's close-to-naked body. Oh god, he didn't want to….
Logan smiled and spread his arms wide, showing his flat, yet so alluring, chest. Michael did pause now, uncertain of how he was feeling. He had… once or twice thought about Logan in… this way…. No, it was just a curiosity. He'd blacked it out from his memory. Besides, they wouldn't be able to do anything publicly, like going to a restaurant or….
Why should he even considering these things? It's not like Logan had ever, or would ever, think about Michael like that. He was a lady's man, and no one could forget that.
But this was just a dream, right? No harm could come from it… so, why not?
Michael smiled and advanced upon Logan and took him in his arms. Their lips brushed against each other, and it felt so real. Michael didn't want to forget that good feeling of those lips. He couldn't imagine what Logan's actual skin would feel like against his.
The mist suddenly vanished and he found himself in a pool, resting on a tube. He supposed that was because he fell asleep there. Logan was still there, kissing him. But as soon as Michael's eyelids opened, the blond boy pulled back, dread in his eyes.
Then he realised he wasn't dreaming. He had actually come into wakefulness a few seconds ago in the pool.
Logan's mouth worked over words as Michael slowly processed the scene. "I'm really sorry…" Was all he seemed to manage.
Michael assumed that Logan had kissed him while he was asleep, trying to get something in while he was unconscious. Did Logan actually feel for Michael the same way that Michael felt for him? Was he actually awake, or was his mind really tricking him that well?
"Am I awake?" He muttered. Logically, it had to be a dream.
Logan took a moment to state his response. "Is this what you dream about?"
Michael looked at him. He didn't seem to be a dream, he was too perfect and that… waking scene had felt so much better than a dream. "Yeah… I guess…." Should he have answered that honestly?
Logan's mouth twitched into a sheepish smile and he drew himself closer to Michael once again. "Really?"
Michael swallowed, trying to loosen his tightening throat. "Are you sure this isn't a dream? Logan wouldn't really like me—"
"Yes, Logan really would like you." Logan whispered and leaned in another time to let their lips meld together.
"Oh my god…." Nicole's mouth dropped when she saw the two boys kissing.
Logan pushed away violently from Michael, tipping the tube over.
"Nicole!" Zoey hissed, even though it had already been ruined.
"But, I mean…." Nicole stared at them, with her dumb look ever present.
Michael splashed back to air and knew now, for sure, that this was no dream. Which was wonderful, because he liked Logan and Logan liked him back. It was horrible, though, because Nicole, Chase and Zoey knew that they liked each other.
Chase hadn't even said anything, he was only staring at the water, slightly horrified.
Zoey grabbed her companions' arms and began dragging them away. "We're sorry, so sorry, for walking in like that. You… you continue on, okay?" She turned around, taking the other two with her and dashed out of the building.
Logan and Michael were silent for a few seconds.
"So…" Logan muttered. "Sorry for pushing you into the water."
Michael turned away from the door. "No, it's okay. I'm okay."
Logan peered deep into his eyes sincerely. "Are you?"
Michael knew what he was referring to. "Yeah…. Are you okay?"
"I think I will be…." He said uncertainly. "Do you want to get out of the water now?"
"Yeah… yeah I think that would be good."
They stepped out of the water and grabbed their clothes and towels (supplied by the school) as they went to the change rooms. They awkwardly changed into their clothes, looking away from each other even though they couldn't keep their eyes off each other.
Few things were said as they walked back the dormitories. They did notice, and did comment on, the change in the weather.
"It feels much cooler." Michael murmured while he stared at the ground.
"Yeah…. Doesn't make much sense; rained yesterday." Fragmented sentences came from Logan's vocal chords.
The silence enveloped them and continued until they were standing in front of the doors to the building. Logan stopped and stared at the walls.
"What do we say to them?" He said hesitantly. "You know they'll ask questions."
Michael looked back from the door. "The truth… I guess." He looked at the door, and continued. "They're our friends…. So…."
Logan brought his eyes down to Michael. "Yeah, they're our friends."
"And…" Michael blurted out, but stopped.
Logan walked up behind him. "What?"
"What do we do?" His voice lowered dramatically. "With ourselves?"
The blond tilted his head to look at Michael's clenched hand at his side. "Well… we stay together." Logan gripped the tense hand and rubbed it. The hand twitched but gave in to comfort and loosened to hold the one holding it.
They released each other, though, as they entered the building and went to their room.
"…probably coming back." Zoey was saying when they entered. She glanced up and pulled her eyelids up, startled. "I guess I was right?"
Logan and Michael gawked at her, mistaking the meaning.
"W–what do you mean?" Michael dared to inquire.
Zoey realised their confusion. "I… I suspected that you were heading back from the pool. I never thought…."
"That might be—" Logan began quietly.
"When did this start?" Chase blurted out, unable to hold back.
Logan stumbled over those words he was about to say, his face growing bright red.
Michael glanced at Logan anxiously, but to answer looked at the bed Chase was sitting on. "Just then."
Chase's head stiffly nodded. He couldn't respond, though. The news was still trying to get through him; he was still trying to understand.
"So we witnessed the first kiss?" Nicole asked them with an awe-struck look that also kind of made her seem like she'd just walked into a wall.
"Uh…" Logan and Michael shifted uncomfortably, glancing at each other bashfully. "It was… kind of the second…." Logan spoke for them, in a very quiet voice. "B–but it didn't really count 'cause … 'cause he was asleep. Mostly."
"That's cheap." Nicole muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Nicole, shut up." Zoey said sternly, seeing the hurt in Logan's expression. "I just want you to know that… that I support you."
Neither of the two was sure of what to say to that. Michael nodded slowly, only to acknowledge that it had been said.
"Right, yeah. I do, too." Chase said quickly after receiving a harsh nudge from the blonde girl beside him. "You go ahead and… do stuff…."
Suddenly the situation in front of him made Logan laugh. It sounded slightly hysterical, but he was still humoured. Everyone stared at him, Michael began to think he'd been fooled. Any second now, Logan would speak through his laughter to say how stupid they all were for falling for something like this. After all, he was Logan, who loved the ladies.
"What are you laughing at?" Nicole said, feeling that she had missed a joke somewhere.
Logan calmed down a bit, but still smiled at them. "It's ridiculous… so… heh, ridiculous. It… I mean, it's just…. We really wouldn't be reacting like this if it had been a girl and a boy…. So why should this be any different? Why should it… seem a bit strange?"
Zoey and Chase looked away guiltily, and Nicole didn't get it so she just stared in her utter impenetrable confusion. Michael began to smile, with relief and admiration, at Logan.
"So, just… leave it be." Logan nodded, not entirely satisfied but he knew he'd said what needed to be said. He turned with a little blush on his face to Michael after he finished. "Let's go somewhere… with less people." He stood close, holding their hands together.
Michael grinned and bit his lip, he glanced timidly at their hands. "Okay. But, where would that be?"
"Oh, we'll leave." Zoey stood up and motioned for the other too to leave. "You can stay here." She had to grab and pull Nicole from the room, who was only gawking at them.
Logan pushed Michael's chin up and faced him. Without another word, he kissed him. Michael twitched nervously, and released his hands from Logan's grip. He brought his arms around the other boy's torso and held them there. Logan gripped Michael's head and opened his mouth to push his tongue against Michael's lips. He felt the arms around him clench quickly.
Michael hesitantly opened his mouth and let Logan's tongue in. Suddenly he was walking slowly backwards and fell onto Logan's bed.
Michael tore his face away to ask, "What are we doing?"
"Only kissing." Logan said as he dragged his tongue across Michael's jaw line. He propped his head on his hand after he received no returning affection. "Don't you want to?"
Michael nodded before Logan could arrive at any conclusions. "But isn't this a bit fast?"
Logan relaxed upon Michael's chest. "Maybe…. I'm afraid that you'll realise you don't really like me and you'll leave… and I… I can't let this opportunity escape me."
Michael put Logan's head in a awkward position as he made him face him. "I won't leave you. You won't run out of time with me, I promise."
Logan smiled and took his head back to a comfortable position and closed his eyes. "Good. And, to reassure you, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."Teehee, as I finished this "Michael" started to play. How fitting!
(And I'm surprised at how long this is…)
So, what I was planning on doing with this was just making a whole bunch of one-shots on all the possible same-sex pairings in Zoey 101--'cause that's all the show is good for. If I did do that, it would probably take me a while to get through it. This definitely is not my first priority.