Not even one o'clock yet and Dustin was sitting on the ground by the trashcan crying his eyes out. Today had to be the worse day of his life. He failed his math test, lost his wallet, and fell down a hill, but the reason he's crying is what happened in the reatroom. He would sometimes be picked on for being gay from two guys and today they decided to beat him up and leave him in the restroom. He came out the bathroom with some bruises and a black eye, which was more than usual. Dustin was too afraid to tell anyone, even Zoey, because of possibly having to tell his secret and making things worse, so he decided to just make his way back to his dorm and just stay there for the rest of the day. He quickly got up from by the trashcan and began his walk to his dorm with his head hanging low. Dustin blocked out all the people around him and was too wrapped up in his thoughts just hoping to make it to his dorm without any trouble. However he was too unaware that he had eventually walked right into Logan.
"What the heck is wrong with you don't you see me walking here?!" Logan yelled scaring Dustin out of his thoughts.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry, Logan! Please don't hurt me." Dustin flinched back. That caught Logan completely off guard. He didn't understand why Dustin would think he would hurt him. Sure he does some scheming now and hen, but he's not that bad of a person, he would never hurt him. Though he continued to ponder why Dustin flinched, he couldn't help and point out the purple he noticed around his eye.
"Hey what happened to your eye?" Logan asked trying not to sound to concerned even though he was curious.
"Nothing happened." Dustin shot back quickly while he avoided looking up at Logan.
"Well if nothing happened then why is it not all swollen?" Logan badgered on. He knew something was wrong with Dustin from the unsual way he was acting, but wondered why he wouldn't tell him.
"Okay! I got hit with a basketball. I have to go now." Dustin attempted to end the conversation and began to walk around Logan, but was immediately stopped by his hand on his chest.
"I'm not dumb. Do you expect me to believe that?" Logan pushed Dustin back in front of him. Dustin sighed in defeat knowing he wasn't going to get away without telling what's wrong.
"Okay, Logan. The truth is that..."Dustin began to speak, but soon froze with fear after seeing familiar faces in the distance. Three guys Dustin knew all too well we're walking in their direction.
"Dustin, what's wrong?"Logan waved a hand in Dustin's, failing to get his attention. Logan then followed Dustin's gazed to see what he was looking at, and all he saw the two guys walking their way.
"Why are you looking at them? Did they do this to you?" Logan asked. Dustin however was to scared to answer. As the two guys approached, Dustin quickly hid behind Logan as they continued to walk by.
Logan could feel Dustin gripping on to his shirt and shaking virgorously behind him. Logan looked at the two guys as they walked by. After they left Logan took a look back at Dustin to see him still frightened. He soon put two and two together and grabbed Dustin by the arm and pulled him along with him.
"Ow! Logan where are we going?" Dustin whined from the slightly tight grip Logan had on his arm. Logan didn't answer and just kept pulling him along until they reached Logan's dorm. Logan barged in, knowing neither Chase nor Michael would be there, and pushed Dustin on the couch and sat beside him.
"What the he'll is going on and why are you hiding from those guys?!" Logan yelled louder than he attended. Dustin was flinched once again from the outburst feeling tears form in his eyes. Logan sighed and tried a different approach. "Tell me what's going on and what did those guys do." Logan demanded in a softer tone. Dustin relaxed a bit on the couch and began to explain.
"Those two guys are Andy and Alex and they always...bully me and are the reason I'm bruised. They always hurt me and make fun of me because..." Dustin paused afraid to finish, feeling as though he's said enough.
"Because what? Why do they bully you?" Logan asked feeling curious, but concerned.
"Because I'm... I'm...gay." Dustin spoke lower and lower as he finished. Logan remained silent which made Dustin feel instant regret as he waited for a "Get out! or "Your disgusting!" but he continued to hear nothing. The never ending thoughts of bad reactions clouded Dustin's head as he felt his tears stream down his face.
Logan on the other hand was just speechless. Not from disgust and hatred, but from surprise and experience. When Logan was younger he figured out he had a attraction to girls and boys. He told his dad and friends at his previous school he was bi, but things didn't go too well. His dad refused and neglected to acknowledge his sexuality and they never talked about it however with his friends it was a different story. They talked and teased Logan to the point where his dad had to get involved, and forced him to change schools. Now at PCA, Logan never told anyone about that part of his past and planned to keep it that way. He would put on a tough act and pretend to be only interested in girls even though there were guys in his life he wished he could have talked to. It was exhausting and saddening, but he didn't want to have a repeat.
Now Logan's faced with Dustin going through pretty much the same thing and he doesn't want to see that happen to him. Now out of his thoughts, Logan looked down at Dustin and saw him was now crying. Seeing Dustin brought back memories of him crying alone in his room wanting someone's comfort. Unable to bear the sight Logan did what he wished someone would have done to him when he cried, he lifted Dustin on to his lap and gave him a big comforting hug.
"Lo-Logan..."Dustin wept into Logan's chest.
"It's okay, little buddy. I'm here for you." Logan soothed. The two of them sat there for some minutes relaxing in each other warmth until Logan relized the time.
"It's getting late. We better get you back to your room." Logan spoke. He tried to move Dustin off his lap, but he wouldn't budge.
"I don't want to leave. Can I please stay?" Dustin pleaded giving him his puppy eyes.
'Damn he's too cute.' Logan thought to himself.
"You can't stay. Michael and Chase will be here any minute and I don't want them thinking I did something." Logan explained. Dustin reluctantly gave a nod.
"Can you walk me there? I don't want to go alone." Dustin pleaded again.
"Okay. I'll walk you there." They got up the couch and left Logan's dorm and walked all the way to Dustin's room. Along the way they talked and Logan learned more about Dustin like his favorite video games and other things as well as Dustin learning about Logan. The whole way there Dustin held Logan's arm, not wanting to let go. When they arrived to Dustin's dorm, Logan gave Dustin a rub on the back and goodbye and turned to leave, but was stopped by Dustin's threw his arms around his waist in a hug. Logan heard Dustin whisper 'thank you' and he scurried into his room. Logan stood there for a moment smiling to himself before heading back to his dorm.