Imperfection

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Author's Note # 2: This story will contain slash writing. So if that's not your thing, then please don't read this story. Reviews are welcome, as is constructive criticism. Flames however, are not.

Enjoy the story.


It was by far the hottest day California has had all year. The blazing sun, hung high in the cloudless blue sky, adding to the scorching heat being brought down upon the tenants of the Palm Woods Hotel.

There were the few, James amongst the group; that reveled and soaked in the sun's rays, wanting to get the perfect tan. Then, there were those that found themselves enjoying flavored snow cones, the lucky few which included Kendall that was able to share their flavored treat with their significant other. There were others that…

"CANNONBALL!"

As Carlos' body impacted with the water of the pool, everyone let out cheers of approval as the few splashed with water were momentarily kissed by the cool caress of liquid. When the Latino emerged from the depths of the pool, the smile on his face enough to rival the brightness of the sun, he noticed one person that wasn't smiling from his recent attempt to cool off. In fact, he noticed that the person wasn't even paying him any attention.

As Carlos made his way towards the edge of the pool, he used the buoyancy to prop his arms along the tiled edge of the pool and placed his head on top of his folded hands. There, seated under a sun umbrella, sat none other than Logan.

Hunched over and leaning into the table, the pale boy sat with a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. Instead of tanning in the sun, Logan sat with a tee shirt, blue board shorts, and one of his famous cardigans. Instead of having a snow cone, Logan held a thick book in his hands. Instead of joining Carlos in doing cannonballs, Logan sat by himself reading a book in a freaking cardigan on the hottest day of the year!

"Logie," the Latino called to the pale boy in exasperation. "What are you doing?"

Again using the buoyancy, Carlos made his way out of the pool and made his way towards Logan. As the water dripped from the Latino's body, causing the caramel colored skin to glisten in the sunlight, Carlos noticed the pale boy's face suddenly redden. Though it was hard to tell whether it was due to the heat or by what Logan was staring at.

"Hey Carlos." Logan said as he flashed the Latino one of his crooked grins. Carlos however was not happy as he stood in front of Logan leaning his face in close and crossing his arms across his chest.

"Don't 'Hey Carlos' me," the Latino said as the few droplets from his hair ran along the frame of his face, Logan's eyes following its trail, and dropped onto the current page in Logan's book. "You didn't answer my question."

"Well," Logan began as he took his sunglasses off and closed the book that he was reading and held the cover up to show Carlos. "I was reading about the solar system. There are so many interesting things that go on out there that you wouldn't believe. For example, did you know that it takes Pluto a total of 248 Earth years for it to orbit the Sun? Also-"

Logan's eyes widened as the book was suddenly grabbed out of his hands. Carlos sat himself across from Logan and studied the book before thrusting the cover in front of Logan.

"Logie, I don't know if you've noticed or anything, but it's freaking hot as heck right now! What are you doing reading a book?" Carlos emphasized his words by smacking the cover of the book. The Latino then shifted his gaze to Logan's chest before commenting again. "A better question to ask might be why on earth you're wearing a freaking cardigan! It's so freaking hot out, you should be cooling off not putting more layers on."

Logan's lips turned downward as he grabbed the book back from Carlos.

"I am cooling off," Logan began as he started flipping the pages of the book and set it down once he was on a specific page. "See, I cool off by imagining how cold it is on Pluto. It says here that the temperatures on Pluto can reach up to -235 °C, which if you convert it," Logan's brow suddenly scrunched up as he began to think and a moment later answered. "Is approximately -391 °F. Can you imagine how cold that would be if Earth's atmosphere reached temperatures like that? Well, we probably couldn't because if it did, we'd all be dead."

Logan continued to ramble as Carlos just stared at his friend in confusion before cutting him off.

"Well since we won't be getting temperatures that cold any time soon, do you want to cool off and go swimming with me?" Carlos offered. The Latino noticed Logan suddenly grip the book hard and seemed to become more guarded.

"No." Logan said as he shifted his gaze away from Carlos. Not one to give up so easily, Carlos tried again.

"Come on Logie, wearing that cardigan can't feel good right now. Why don't you take it off and you and I can cool off by doing cannonballs in the pool?"

"I said no Carlos," Logan suddenly shouted as he stood up and leaned towards the Latino boy. Carlos stared with wide eyes at his friends sudden outburst as Logan realized that he had suddenly lost his temper. "Sorry," The pale boy unnecessarily cleared his throat to try and get rid of the awkward silence before sitting himself back down. "I guess the heat is starting to get to me a little bit. I'm going to go get a snow cone, maybe that'll help."

Carlos was left feeling confused as he watched as the pale boy scramble out of his seat and make his way towards the snow cone stand. As Carlos sat there staring at his friend, he couldn't help but notice the way that Logan seemed to draw into himself as he hunched over and hung his head low refusing to met anyone's stare. Something Carlos had said had struck a nerve within the pale boy and he was determined to figure out what had caused that. Giving one last look towards Logan, Carlos stood up and made his way towards Kendall and James.