Hi everyone! So, this is my contribution to the amazing CP Coulter's Dalton-fandom fanfiction. It's Julian/Logan, because those two are simply awesome. If you haven't yet, please do try reading CP Coulter's Dalton; it's a brilliant story. It's the first time I'm writing something for the Dalton-verse, as well as my first time writing using a slash pairing, so if the characters are OOC at some point, I apologize in advance.

Disclaimer: This is fanfiction-of-fanfiction, and the characters belong to CP Coulter. I own nothing.

Fix You

He can't leave. A week later, and the only thing on Julian's mind is the blood on the steps, the rose petals, his mutilated photograph. No amount of distraction, schoolwork, or caffeine can get rid of the images; it replays in his mind like a sick, twisted version of a broken movie. The message is clear: he can't leave. He can't.

(Julian wonders if the universe is trying to tell him something. About danger or Logan, he's not sure, but in some weird way, it's one in the same thing.)

"We have to tell him, Jules," Derek insists one day, expression angry and anxious at the same time. "This is getting out of hand; you're literally not safe anymore if whoever is doing this is targeting you while you're at school. Damn it, look at you, you're a mess! Have you gotten any sleep at all this week?"

"Who needs sleep when we have an unlimited supply of coffee?" Julian drawls, but the effect is ruined by the yawn that escapes his lips. Rubbing his eyes, he knows that Derek's right; he is a mess. Looks and feels like one, and guess what? It sucks.

"Stop being an idiot, Larson," Derek snaps. "Logan has to know about this."

"What for? He won't care," Julian replies easily. The bitterness can't help from escaping, though, when he adds, "He'll probably just bitch at me for making his life more difficult…again."

"Of course he'll care! He's the Stuart prefect, and more importantly, you're his friend!"

"Yeah, real nice friendship we've got here," Julian says sarcastically. "If you didn't intervene so often, we'd have probably killed each other by now."

Derek rubs his temples, obviously frustrated. He looks like he wants to hit the wall—or Julian—but he takes deep breaths before speaking in a much calmer voice. "Fine," he says. "Let's not tell Logan about this. But we have to tell someone. This isn't just some stupid fan anymore; this is a crazy person who could actually be capable of hurting you. We could go to Murdoch, or Ramsey—"

"No," Julian suddenly says. He feels tired all of a sudden, and the more they talk about this, the sicker he feels. "Just drop it, Derek. Please. I'll do what the psycho wants for now—I'll stay. But no one needs to know, especially not Logan."

He sends Derek a look. Drop it. Derek sighs. "You know what, whatever man. If you want to just sit there and do nothing, then it's up to you. But I sure as hell can't do that. I'm telling Murdoch, but I'll make sure it doesn't get out to rest of the students."

Julian wants to argue, but Derek leaves no room for it. With one last look, Derek leaves the room, and he can't even find the energy to call him back. As soon as the door shuts, Julian closes his eyes and sighs, wondering why the universe seems to love being such a bitch to him.

The next day, Julian's in Warbler's Hall, pressing piano keys and picking out a random melody. He knows that Derek must've gone to Murdoch by now, so he's hiding because he really doesn't want to start that conversation with the faculty yet. The Warblers don't have any practice today (which he can't understand since Parent's Night is coming up, but whatever), so he doubts anyone will find him here.

Turns out he's wrong.

The doors fly open, and suddenly Logan's storming in, fists clenched and looking livid. His eyes are focused, so Julian immediately knows he's not medicated, and they're practically blazing with fury as the blond prefect makes a beeline for him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Logan roars furiously. "I know you were stupid, Jules, but I didn't think you were suicidal!"

Julian stands. He has no idea what's wrong this time, but he's starting to feel the adrenaline rush again, gearing himself up for a fight. This, at least, is familiar. "No, that's what you are, isn't it?" he replies coolly, looking as disinterested as possible. He immediately knows it's the wrong thing to say when Logan grabs him by the blazer and presses him into the piano. His eyes are dark green and dangerous now, and—is that actual hurt there? Had Julian really hurt him with that one comment? For a moment he feels bad, but he can't take it back and anyway, Logan started it.

"Let go of me," he hisses, shoving Logan off him. The blond stumbles a bit, and Julian takes the chance to add, "What the hell is your problem? You storm in here—"

"I can't believe you decided to keep this from me!" Logan shouted. "What, do you really think you can deal with some deranged psychopath who leaves blood and a messed-up picture of you on the Stuart steps by yourself? Damn it, Jules!"

Julian can practically feel the blood draining from his face. This is exactly what he wanted to avoid. "What, did Derek tell you?" he demands. "I told him not to—I'm gonna kill that traitor—"

"Derek didn't tell me anything," Logan replies in that same still-furious tone. "I overheard him talking to Murdoch about this—something you didn't have the balls to do yourself. Are you insane, Julian? Why didn't you tell me the death threats were getting this bad? From what I've heard, it's getting serious, and this last one—hell, Jules, I could've helped you!"

"Really? Well, congratulations, Logan, for taking three years to get yourself out of your own world and realize that other people matter," Julian replies disdainfully. "And how exactly could you have helped? Look at you; you're so fucked up that you can't even help yourself. There's nothing you can do—"

"But I wouldn't ignore it either like what you're doing now!" Logan shoots back. "I know I've been out of it this semester, but you're still a Stuart, and that makes you my responsibility."

Julian can't help it; he laughs at that one. It's amazing, really, how Logan knows exactly what words to say to push that knife in deeper. "Responsibility?" he echoes, before shaking his head. "You know, Logan, its times like these and words like that that make me understand why we aren't better friends."

There's something that sparks in Logan's eyes, and he gives a small growl of frustration. "That's not—that's not what I meant," he tells Julian. "Look, I know that didn't come out right, but the point is, we're friends, and you can't shut me out of something so serious."

"Oh, because you were so open all this time?" Julian challenges. "The whole time I was away, I had no idea what was going on with you. And the moment I come back, I get hit by the fact that you're doing a repeat of last year, only with a different 'second soloist'. I don't know why you seem so determined to set yourself for a train wreck, Logan, but until you solve your own problems, you don't get to meddle with mine."

"Hypocrite, you're the one who's been helping me with Kurt while you've been getting deeper and deeper into this mess," Logan retorts. "And it's not just the fact that you're being stalked, it's the fact that if this hadn't happened, you'd be long gone by now without telling anyone! What, did you think none of us would notice if you just disappeared?"

Without really meaning to, Julian steps back. He remembers how he stood in front of Logan's door, trying to gather the courage and failing. It feels like there's ice in his stomach, like someone's just stabbed him with something so cold it travels throughout his bloodstream and freezes his body. And yet his heart is beating fast, much too fast and too strong, and god, he doesn't know how much more of this he can take.

"Yeah, you'd probably notice, but the fact is, you probably wouldn't care!" Julian's yelling by now, his mouth spewing out words that he promised himself he would never say. "You never have, Logan, and that's exactly why I wanted to leave."

The moment he says it, he sucks in a breath, wishing he just kept his mouth shut and shoved Logan out the door. Logan stares at him. It's amazing how much of an open book the prefect can be when he's in this state, and Julian can practically see all the gears turning in his head. There's surprise, thoughtfulness, and then—the other boy's expression suddenly changes. Comprehension's in those green eyes now, but still Logan asks, quietly, calmly, like he wants to confirm something he already knows the answer to, "What's that supposed to mean?"

There's no turning back now. It's pretty clear that he knows, or at least guesses by now, and Julian shrugs and admits defeat. (He's so damn tired of hiding and pretending.) "God, for a self-centered person, you sure have no idea, do you?" Julian shoots back with another derisive laugh. "You're the reason I want to leave, Logan. This whole mess is about you. I'm done pretending I don't give a shit every time you fall for someone else and ignore what's been right in front of you this whole time."

There's a heavy silence that hangs in the wake of that statement. The air feels electric, like everything could either fizzle out or explode in the next few seconds. Julian wants to look away, but he won't. He just violated every rule he's set for himself, and if he's going to get his heart broken, he's going to do it with as much dignity as possible.

"Jules," Logan starts, then stops, like he doesn't quite know what to say. Julian can't blame him. Logan shakes his head, and Julian isn't sure if what Logan says next is directed to him or himself. "I can't…I can't believe I didn't see it."

"You couldn't, not when you had eyes for every other guy here but me," Julian points out.

Logan actually looks bothered by that. "Julian, how long have you—"

There's really no stopping the fall-out now; might as well let it all out in the open. "How long have I been in love with you? Freshman year, there, now you have your answer," Julian says with as much scorn as possible (it's not a lot, really). "Now can you please get the hell out and stop trying to pretend that you care?"

There's a pause, a short but painful pause, before the other boy replies. "See, that's the thing," Logan suddenly says slowly, eyes meeting Julian's. Those eyes are still so intense and his face is flushed with anger, and god, it's ridiculous how perfect he looks right now. "I do care. Not in the way you want me to yet, yeah, but I do care about you. I'm a lot of things, Julian, but I'm not the type of person who doesn't care about the people who are willing to put up with me."

Julian doesn't…what is going on here? He's pretty sure—no wait, he's not, because this doesn't seem real. None of this does. And at the same time—he's not even making sense anymore, so he tells his brain to shut up. "So what happens now?" he asks the other boy, almost afraid of the answer. "You know my deep, dark secret, so what's next? Are you going to pretend I never said anything, or are you just going to plain ignore me? Either option's good, at least then you'll stay out of my life and I can finally try and get rid of this."

Logan steps forward, eyes flashing. "This is what's going to happen," he tells him very seriously. "I promised myself that I'd try—really try—to stop chasing after Kurt, and I will. But in the meantime, we're going to fix this. I don't care if I have to enlist Hanover and Windsor's help, we're going to find the sick son of a bitch who's doing this and we're going to get your life back to normal; well, as normal as it possibly can be." His expression softens a bit then. "And after all this is over, and I've let go of Kurt, well…we'll see what happens next."

Julian sucks in a breath. He's not sure if he heard it right, but he could've sworn that Logan just said he might have a chance. Suddenly it becomes the only thing that goes through his head, and yeah, maybe it means that he really is pathetic and completely messed up, but he'll take it. He has a chance, and for now, that'll be enough.

Logan sighs, but this time, it isn't angry or frustrated. He grabs Julian's arm and leads him to the doors. "Come on, we're meeting Derek and Murdoch. We'll sort this out, Jules, don't worry."

They walk through the hallway, and Julian knows that every step is just leading to a potential problem for all of them. Now that everything's out and this whole problem's been aired out in the open, he's sure that whatever happens next will be nothing short of an explosion. They've just opened a huge can of worms that could threaten to destroy everything, and he knows that after this, nothing will ever be the same again.

But for the first time, Julian dares to hope that it'll be for the better.