Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. They belong to Fox, Ryan Murphy and/or CP Coulter.

Sorry if the characters seem a little OC.

"blah" – talking

'blah' - thinking

"He can't stay holed up in there forever, Derek!" Logan growled at his friend, ignoring the stern glare being sent his way by said person.

"He's sick, Lo. He can't really – ".

"Sick, my ass. Jules is just being a selfish, overdramatic diva. Like usual".

"Logan…" Derek tried to interrupt, but the blonde haired prefect kept going.

"I mean, it's probably just about some stupid acting position he didn't get. Well, here's news for you, Julian; it's not the end of the world if you don't get everything your way!" He shouted the last part at the closed door in front of him, kicking it violently. "Grow up! Stop being such a prissy, little prima donna and face your friends!"

He made to kick the door again, but Derek was suddenly beside him, pushing at his shoulder, shoving him towards the banister railing. He fell against it, gripping the wooden bars, surprised at the force from his friend.

Derek didn't give him a chance to recover before he was yelling back, surprising Logan with his ardent response. Derek didn't usually get involved in his shouting matches, leaving that to Julian. His towered above Logan, his fists clenched, his face contorted into a furious mask of anger, frustration and exasperation.

"Just leave him alone, alright! You have no idea what he's going through at the moment!"

"Well, that's hardly my fault! Both of you are deliberatelykeeping me out of the loop!" Logan rose from the floor, never one to walk away from a fight.

"Why is it always about you?" Derek groaned, swiping his hands through his hair violently. "Did you ever wonder why Julian wouldn't want to tell you? Do you wanna know why I'm the only one he'll let into his room? You really wanna know the truth, Logan!"

Derek was beyond infuriated now, completely fed up with Julian's secrets and Logan's obliviousness and the constant fighting between the two of them. Swayed by his rage, he didn't think before he spoke, the words spewing from his mouth.

"Julian didn't tell you because he was afraid you'd react like this!" Derek flung his arm in Logan's direction, indicating his current emotional response.

"Tell me what! I'm his damn best friend! Why can you know? And I can't!" Logan was beyond irate now.

He was sick of all the secrets. If he wasn't so angry right now, he'd probably admit that deep down, he was just worried about Jules. He hadn't seen his so-called-best-friend in almost three weeks.

"His stalker! He's got a stalker, and this one's serious, dammit! She's been threatening Jules! She even got into the school! She's threatening his damned life, Logan!" Derek was almost near tears now, though from anger or fear, he wasn't sure. "And Jules…he won't do anything. He won't leave his room…he hardly eats, hardly sleeps".

"And you wanna know why he didn't tell you, Logan?" Derek paused, taking a shuddering breath, feeling himself calming down with each breath. "He's trying to protect you. He thinks that…if you knew, you'd do something stupid…or the stalker might target yo – Logan? Logan! Logan STOP!"

Derek rushed forward as his friend stormed towards the closed door, meaning to bash it down. He hurried to Logan's side, grabbing his shoulder again, intending to pull him back, but suddenly, he was flying.

He felt his feet leave the ground and then there was that falling feeling. Even if it was only a few feet, he felt his stomach tighten sickeningly and a brief jolt of panic burst through his chest. Derek heard, more than felt, the crash. He landed on shoulder, knocking into the solid wood stand displaying one of the heavy, ceramic – expensive – vases Dalton Academy faculty was apparently fond of. The vase toppled, smashing on the floor beside his motionless body.

Derek looked at the shards of the broken vase beside him, then his gaze slid to Logan. He stood, frozen to the spot, wide eyes glued on Derek. Derek could see the shock at his own actions and concern in his friend's eyes. And just when he thought Logan might drop it and walk away, the worst thing possible happened;

Julian's door opened a fraction.

Julian had actually managed to fall asleep for a little over an hour when he was rudely awoken by angry voices, followed by a loud thud and a smash. Alarmed, he jumped up to the door, unlocking it and pulling it open a bit.

He poke his head out, spying Logan not far from him and Derek lying on the floor nearby, surrounded by ceramic shards.

"What is going on here? Derek? Are you okay?" he asked, concern for his friend winning over his annoyance at being woken from his much needed sleep.

Both friends' heads snapped in his direction. Two pairs of eyes zeroed in on him; one blazing with a green fire; the other a warm brown, pleading with him. Then suddenly, Logan was striding intently towards him. Julian could see Derek try to get up, but he put his hand into the shards. He heard Derek hiss, and saw him hastily snatch back his injured hand before Logan was on him, harshly shoving him back into the room and following him.

A fraction was all Logan needed. Disregarding Derek's yell of indignation, he rushed towards the open door. He shoved Julian inside, before turning back around to jam the small desk chair underneath the door handle. He followed the actor into the room, stalking forward until he had pressed the other boy against the wall. For every step Logan took forward, Julian took one back until he could feel wall behind him. Surrounded by impassable barriers – the hard wall at his back, Logan's muscled arms on either side boxing him in, Logan's solid body in front of him – Julian was beginning to feel claustrophobic. He could hear Derek kicking at the door, shouting Logan's name.

"Why didn't you tell me, Julian! Why can Derek know and I can't! We're supposed to be best friends!" Logan was screaming, leaning dangerously close to the slender actor.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Logan. Now please leave…I'm not feeling well today…" Julian tried to remain calm, but he could feel his restraint slipping.

"DON'T play around with me, Larson! You know I meant your stalker!".

"…Derek told you…H-he's overreacting," Julian's mask almost crumbled, but he managed to maintain his emotionless façade. Thank goodness for his acting abilities. "I've got everything under control. Now that we've settled that, you can leave."

He shoved past the blonde prefect, heading towards the adjoining bathroom. He didn't get far. Logan's hand shot out, grabbing his forearm, jerking Julian to a halt.

"Enough with the BS!" Logan growled, his grip on the actor's arm tightening.

Julian tugged violently, trying to get away from Logan's grasp. It was starting to hurt now. He was sure it was going to leave bruises – in the shape of his crush's fingers.

"Don't bother fighting, Larson. I'm stronger than you". Logan – as astute as ever. "Just tell me what's going on with you?"

Julian kept struggling, viciously trying to jerk his arm free of Logan's powerful grip. He was just about to swing his arm around into Logan's infuriating, smirking, handsome face when suddenly he was being wrenched aggressively in the other direction.

Tired of the smaller teenager's pitiful attempts to get free, Logan yanked said captured arm and heaved the body attached towards the wall. He watched with detached morbidity as his friend's body smashed into the unyielding wall. Julian's eyes clenched shut at the impact, and he bit his lip, but not before the startled yelp escaped him. His knees almost buckled, but he regained his footing. And before Logan could react, was rushing towards him.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Julian was angry now. That had damn well hurt. And what right did Logan have to snoop into his business. He'd never cared before, anyway. Logan was going to pay.

He lunged at his blonde friend, arms half-outstretched, intending to shove him. Before he could do anything, Logan had grabbed both arms in his giant grip and was spinning him bodily around like a rag doll. Disoriented by the sudden change in momentum, Julian was only vaguely aware he was being roughly forced back…until he brutally made contact with the tall dresser.

He cried out in surprise and pain. Tears sprung to his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. One of the sharp, metal knobs was digging into his back, close to his spine. His outcry was cut short when Logan jammed his forearm into his throat, threatening his air supply. His other hand clutched both of Julian's wrists, holding them above his head. Derek must have gone from kicking the door to ramming his whole body against it – as if he knew things were going downhill inside – and it reverberated from the force of his abuse.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me! I deserve to know!".

Logan pressed the brunette back more, applying more force to the arm across his neck. Julian let out a choked gasp as the knob dug into his back harder, bruising the tender flesh. He could feel his precious air supply dwindling. He couldn't reply even if he wanted to.

Logan was yelling more, but he couldn't make sense of it. It was like the volume in the room had been turned down, muffled. He couldn't even hear Derek anymore. Everything was blurring in front of his eyes, the colours blending together. He felt water on his cheeks and knew he'd lost his valiant struggle to hold back his tears. He wheezed, needing air, but he couldn't…he couldn't bre…

'I can't breathe…I can't breathe…Lo'

Numbed, Julian was vaguely aware of the tears running down his cheeks like waterfalls. He couldn't stop them, but it didn't matter. He couldn't feel anything anymore; not Logan's arm pressing down on his windpipe; not Logan's hand clamped around his wrists; not the harsh metal knob almost impaling his back. He was too weak – too emotionally tired and physically exhausted after weeks of inactivity – to break Logan's grip; he didn't have the breath to shout out.

His vision was starting to grow dark around the edges when he was suddenly released.

Logan grabbed at the outstretched arms of the enraged figure of his best friend. He spun him around and slammed the smaller body into the nearest solid object he could find: the dresser. He felt the vibration caused by the force ripple up his own arms and somewhere in his subconscious he knew he must have hurt Julian. He dully registered the actor's cry of pain and the way his eyes scrunched tight. But he was too angry to react right now. All he wanted to do was hurt Julian so much that he was forced to tell him everything.

Without thinking, he jammed his forearm into Julian's throat and used his other hand to capture the pair of delicate wrists.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me! I deserve to know!" he yelled, pushing more of his weight against his friend.

Julian didn't reply, so he only got angrier. Blinded by his rage, he couldn't see how much hurt he was inflicting on his friend.

"Why do you always have to be such a little primadonna! Why can't you tell your friends when something's wrong? Instead of just overdramatising everything!"

Logan couldn't look at his friend, his head dropping so that he was glaring at the carpet. He didn't want Julian to see how much his own words were affecting him. Honestly, it hurt that Julian wouldn't trust him with something important like a dangerous stalker.

"Why can you tell Derek and not me! I know I'm angry a lot of the time, but…I REALLY CARE ABOUT YOU, JULIAN!"

Julian was silent, hardly moving. Logan raised his gaze.

And was met with one of the most heartbreaking and yet, beautiful sights he'd ever seen. A sight that managed to wake him from his heated trance.

Julian, slumped against the dresser and only held up by Logan's arms, his hair mussed up; his cheeks marred by a light pink blush and wet tear tracks; his sepia eyes glistening and reflecting his pain.

Julian felt the grip around his wrists and throat loosen. His knees were too weak to hold him up and he crumpled boneless to the floor. He gasped desperately, his chest heaving with the intake of fresh air. He was shuddering violently, but he couldn't control his body. Tears were still silently leaking from his eyes.

He let his body slide down until he was laying on his side, his knees curled up to his chest, and as his breath returned, he started sobbing. Great heaving sobs that rattled his body. He choked, but he couldn't stop the tears. He was so, so tired. Of everything; of the death threats; of being scared; of Logan; of having his heart broken again and again and again.

He didn't want to fight anymore. Not with Logan. Not with the boy he loved. So when he felt strong arms gather him up and hold him against a warm, solid chest, he gave in. Words spilled from his mouth, interrupted only by his uncontrollable sobbing.

"…Lo…Logan I'm so sorry…I…I," he couldn't finish as he struggled to breathe.

Logan looked down at his friend. He looked so small and vulnerable huddled against Logan's broader upper body. He was striving to breathe, looking alarmingly close to hyperventilating. Logan tightened his arms around Julian, pressing the actor's back to his own chest.

"Jules, calm down. Take deep breaths. Feel me breathing. Just copy me...c'mon Jules," he spoke as calmly as he could manage, hoping to encourage Julian. "That's it. You're doing good. Keep it up".

Feeling Logan's chest rising and falling with each deep breath, Julian found he could mimic the actions. His lungs filled with air and he calmed down substantially. He took a shaky intake, and then tried to continue his explanation.

"I'm s…s…so scared, Lo. I wanted to tell you…but I didn't want you to get involved".

"What do you mean, Julian?"

"Sh…she knows where I am…she got into Dalton…I was afraid she'd get to you too".

"But, you told Derek – weren't you worried about him?" Logan gently coaxed, hating to see his friend so defeated.

"Derek saw the…present…she left. And it's different – ".

"What's different, Jules?"

Julian paused, seeming to debate telling him, but then he twisted in Logan's hold and raised his watery sepia eyes to Logan's and held his gaze determinedly. His voice, when it came, trembled, but he never faltered.

"It's different because I feel differently about you compared to D. I didn't want to tell you 'coz I love you. I don't want to lose you".

After his speech, Julian lost his will to hold Logan's eyes and lowered his to the floor. On the other hand, Logan couldn't tear his gaze from his best friend. His revelation had shocked him. He'd always thought Julian was straight – he'd never shown any interest in any of the guys at Dalton – but this changed everything. Breaking from his stupor, Logan gripped his friend's shoulders and held him at arm's length. He looked at him, as he hadn't looked at him since freshman year.

He'd always thought Julian was good-looking. They somehow managed to get along as friends, even if that friendship revolved around them throwing insults and punches at each other. Julian had stood by him all these years, always helped him with his boyfriend conquests. And only now did he realise how much that must have hurt his friend; to watch the person he'd been crushing on chasing after other guys. He'd never thought he actually stood a chance with Julian, was so convinced that he was straight, but after Julian's confession, he was now free to pursue his interest.

"Jules, look at me. Jules, it's okay," he didn't continue until Julian had warily raised his gaze again. "Jules, I never told you because I thought you weren't gay – "

"I'm not gay," Julian mumbled. "Bisexual."

"Regardless, I didn't think you were interested in guys. Otherwise I would have told you…I would have told you I love you. I just…never thought I had a chance with you."

Julian held his gaze this time, despite still seeming hesitant.

"So…"

"So would you do me the pleasure of being my boyfriend, Julian Larson?"

Julian simply stared at Logan for half a minute, searching his face to see if he was telling the truth. Then he launched himself into Logan's arms again, wrapping his own arms around the blonde's chest.

"Yes! Yes!"

Julian reached up and, encouraged by his overwhelming joy, roughly pressed his lips to Logan's. Both pairs of eyes slipped closed as Logan returned the kiss with equal fervour. The blonde prefect wrapped his arms around Julian's lower back, tugging his new boyfriend closer. He gasped, giving Logan the opportunity he needed to slip his tongue into the other's open mouth. Logan's tongue was busy memorising the inside of Julian's mouth when the actor let out another whimper and flinched violently. Logan quickly pulled away, staring with concern at the smaller teen. Julian had his eyes clenched shut, panting heavily.

"Jules? What's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, it's just my back," the actor explained, twisting one of his arms around to probe at the affected area.

Logan turned him around, swatted his hand away and gently lifted up the brunette actor's shirt. He gasped when he saw the extent of the damage. A fair sized, circular bruise stood out smartly against the pale skin. Colours mixed together; blue, purple, green, black. It looked nasty and even worse was the small patch of broken skin, leaking a thin trickle of blood. Knowing he was the cause of Julian's pain, he felt terribly guilty as he turned his boyfriend around to face him again. He took a few minutes to inspect the slender boy.

Julian's wrists were surrounded by deep red hand imprints. Julian's neck was starting to develop nasty shades of red and purple across it, and Logan had to wonder how hard he'd been pressing down. His cheeks were flushed and wet from his tears, and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked terrible and Logan knew he was solely to blame.

Julian looked at his boyfriend – 'I don't know if I'll ever get used to that word' – and saw the guilty look on his face. He was quick to reassure him.

"Lo, it'll be alright. I've had worse. At least, nothing's broken – ".

"But I shouldn't be doing this! I shouldn't be taking my anger out on you! Or Derek!"

"Tell you what; I'll forgive you if you rub some of that bruise cream into my back. And we should probably let D back in. Check if he's okay".

"Yeah, I completely forgot."

With a quick peck to Julian's cheek, Logan rose and headed towards the door. He wrestled the chair from underneath the handle and pushed it to the side. He opened the door, to find Derek kneeling at his feet, cradling his hand. The athlete snapped his head up to glare at him, then his gaze slid to the other figure in the room. His eyes widened at the sight of Julian.

He jumped to his feet and pushed past Logan without a word, still shielding his injured hand. He knelt by the actor and hoarsely asked if he was alright. Julian replied quietly, even managing a small smile. Logan watched them for a moment and then went into the adjoining bathroom. He found the small first aid kit and came out to stand beside his two friends.

"Derek, here, let me see your hand".

All three of them knew that was the closest thing they'd ever get to an apology, but that was just the way they were. Derek glanced up at him, disbelieving, but then he rose to sit on the bed and held his injured hand out to the prefect. Logan took it gently and inspected the damage. There was a thin, but deep cut diagonally across his palm. Most of the blood had dried up, but it was smeared across his entire hand. Logan tenderly washed away the blood, then proceeded to rub cream against infection into the wound before wrapping a sterile, white bandage around Derek's palm. Derek stayed silent during his treatment.

Logan turned back to Julian then and guided him to the bed beside Derek. The actor held out his arms as Logan lovingly rubbed bruise cream into the raw skin of his wrists. He lifted his head as Logan also rubbed the cream onto his neck. Logan guided him to lay on his stomach, and hitched his t-shirt up to his shoulders. Derek remained silent, watching him work. Logan cleaned away the blood on Julian's back before rubbing infection cream and more bruise cream onto the wound. He covered the broken skin with a sterile patch and rolled the actor's shirt down.

"All done".

"Thanks Lo…" Julian's voice was muffled by the pillow, but it sounded tired and hoarse.

Both friends glanced down at the slim teen, and smiled gently. In true cat style, Julian could fall asleep anywhere. They couldn't blame him though; it had been a stressful few weeks and Derek knew his friend hadn't slept nearly enough most nights. Not caring that Derek was present, Logan leaned down to kiss the top of Julian's head and gently ruffled his soft hair.

"We'll leave you to sleep, Jules".

However, just as he was getting up, Julian carefully grabbed at Logan's arm, tugging him back. He then reached out his other hand to grip the sleeve of Derek's top.

'Stay…" he sleepily mumbled.

The two friends glanced at each other before sighing and giving into the actor's wishes. Logan rolled Julian onto his side, sliding down behind him so that the slender brunette's back was pressed softly against his chest. He wrapped his arms around the body in front of him and nuzzled his face into the soft hair. Derek stiffly lay down on Julian's other side, until Julian reached out and tugged him closer. He wound his hands into Derek's shirt, refusing to let go. Resigned to spending the afternoon in bed, Derek tried to get comfortable. Julian seemed to have already fallen asleep, his breathing turning deeper. Derek glanced over his smaller friend to grin at Logan.

"So you and him, huh?"

"Yeah, turns out he's li – "

"Lo, I know".

"And you don't mind?"

"All I've got to say is this: finally," his grin widened even more at this, resembling Julian's infamous Cheshire cat smirk.

That shut Logan up. He was glad, though, that Derek knew, that Derek was okay with it. He watched Julian sleep, and gently ran his hand through his hair again. Julian sighed in his sleep.

"D, about his stalker…you were right – I can't just stand by and do nothing…not while he's in danger…".

"I've already tried to talk him into telling the police or the school, but he's stubborn, you and I both know," Derek sighed exasperatedly. "The best we can do is just be with him at all times. We'll protect him".

Derek said all of this so blatantly, as if it was the most obvious truth in the world. And Logan believed him. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt his Julian.

Both boys shared another smile before settling down. They watched their actor friend as he finally slept peacefully for the first time in almost three weeks. Eventually, they succumbed to slumber as well.