first off, i wanted to say that this is a companion piece to the second chapter of clarity, but it's not necessary that you read it to understand what's going on in this fic. but anyway - this was going to be just another chapter of clarity, but then it got longer and longer and pretty soon, it turned into its own fic. so here we are haha.

i didn't proof read this. at all. and every thing is really rushed, so i apologize for, like, everything. yep. but hopefully you guys enjoy it!

also, the summary is just jack johnson's "constellations" lyrics. lol i found them appropriate, and i couldn't think of anything else, so...

warnings: it's gay and fluffy.
disclaimer: haha i don't even own the summary.

Carlos and Logan have this tradition of stargazing practically every night. It started out as just two friends hanging out in Carlos' backyard while the camped, trying to spot UFOs even though Logan insisted that there's no such thing. But Carlos is stubborn and made his best friend lie down and stare up at the starlit sky until it was time to go to bed.

Eventually, Carlos gave up on trying to see alien spaceships and opted for just watching the way the stars twinkled. Being the science geek that he is, Logan would still come over to Carlos' house and night and watch the stars with him. It took a long time for Logan to convince his best friend that, no matter what The Lion King says about the stars, they're definitely not fireflies that got stuck up in the sky or all the great kings of the past.

"Hey Logan, what are constellations?" Carlos asks one night as they're hanging out in his backyard. The question catches Logan slightly off guard and he sits up at bit, staring at Carlos like he's got lobsters crawling out of his ears.

"Um…" Honestly, Logan's at a loss for words. He's knows exactly what a constellation is and how to describe one, but going through the explanation in his head, he realizes that Carlos wouldn't understand a lick of what he's saying. Dumbing down the definition is a lot harder than it looks. After a few minutes of mulling through his vocabulary, he finally comes up with something that, in Logan's head, sounds stupid. "It's a bunch of stars that form a picture."

Carlos' mouth forms an 'o' shape and returns his attention to the sky. "I don't see any pictures," he says after taking a good hard look, squinting his eyes in hopes that maybe if he does that, something will pop up. Instead gets a big fat nothing.

"Well you have to know what stars to look for." Logan sits up and scoots a bit closer to Carlos' lying form and points up to a particularly bright star. "See that bright star there?"

"Yeah, that's the North Star, right?"

Logan nods, slightly giddy that Carlos knows at least something about the stars. "Yep! That's the end of the constellation Ursa Minor, or The Little Dipper," he explains. His finger swoops to the side, tracing the stars that line up next to the North Star. "Those stars next to it make the handle of The Little Dipper. Follow me?"

"No…?" the other boy admits and he cringes a bit when Logan sighs. "I'm sorry. Point it out to me again?"

"Don't be sorry. I really didn't expect you to see it right away anyway." The brunette stands, holds his hand out for Carlos who gladly takes it, and hoists him up. "Now…" The sentence trails off as Logan positions himself behind the shorter boy, kneeling slightly so their heads are side by side. Before he continues, he takes Carlos' hand in his and brings it up, pointing at the North Star again. Together they trace the outline of the constellation slowly, drawing an imaginary picture of a small ladle.

"Do you see it?" Logan's voice is low when he speaks but it's so very loud in Carlos' ear. A shiver slithers down his spine and it's enough to get the boy to stand up, body suddenly tense against the other's. The nod he gives is subtle, but Logan catches it, grins and drops their arms, letting his hand linger just a bit before backing up.

They spend the rest of the night back in the grass, Logan pointing out and explaining the various constellations that could be seen at that time of the year to Carlos. The shorter boy stays quiet most of the time, just letting Logan ramble on about his nerdy stars. He's listening, but barely. In truth, his mind is way too fogged up with what had happened earlier. Whatever that was.

What he did isn't something just friends do. It was like when the main character of the cheesy high school movie takes the girl out bowling, but she doesn't know how to bowl, so he teaches her by going through the motions with her. Okay, well maybe it wasn't exactly like that, but it was pretty close. And that meant something, right?

He gets this crazy idea four days after what happened with Logan. They're in the backyard like usual, heads poking out of the tent as they're watching the night sky. Logan is asleep earlier than most nights, but it doesn't bother Carlos. If anything, it gives him time to think and observe the stars and the way they move. (By now, Carlos knows the constellations like the back of his hand and he spends a good majority of the time testing himself to see if he can remember them all correctly. He does and feels a brief burst of pride whenever he thinks of how impressed Logan will be once he wakes up.)

There's a group of stars Carlos spots that, if he looks hard enough, form kind of an awkward shaped heart. Almost instantly, the idea pops into his head and it's hard to fight the way his lips curl up at the edges. He turns to Logan's sleeping form, watches him for a moment before giving into the smile that's been trying to form.

Boy, is Logan gonna be in for a surprise tomorrow night.

When Logan gets to Carlos' house the next night, he's a bit skeptical. I have to show you something awesome when you come over, Logie! So hurry up! Carlos had said over the phone. The last time he said something along those lines, it was a roadkill raccoon and both of them ended up in the hospital because Carlos touched it and it was ridden with disease. So of course, naturally Logan is hesitant when he walks through the gate and sees Carlos bouncing on his heels.

"So guess what I found last night!" the hyper one says quickly once Logan tosses his backpack into the tent.

"Please don't say another roadkill animal…"

"No!" Carlos huffs, but snaps back to his overly excited demeanor. "I found a constellation!"

A wave of relief washes over Logan's body. Oh thank goodness. "Carlos, you can't just find constellations," Logan starts to argue the moment he steps out of his thoughts but is cut off by Carlos' protests.

"Yes you can, and I totally did last night!"

"Okay, then show me this new, not real constellation. I'm dying to see it."

"Fine, I will!" And like that, Carlos is behind Logan, steering him around until he's facing the general direction of where the stars should be. He pulls Logan's body back a little, leaning so that they're eye level. One of Carlos' arms snakes around the taller boy's waist as he takes Logan's hand in his own and pointing to the group of stars, copying the motions Logan had done with him a week prior.

"It's in the shape of a heart – do you see it?" the tan boy echoes the words Logan said. He's smiling once he takes in the light blush tinting the other's cheeks.

"Yeah…" Logan manages weakly. A fake cough erupts from his throat, shifting from the sudden nervousness to a somewhat normal exterior. "What's this constellation's name, anyway?"

Carlos laughs, drops the hold he has on his hand, but keeps the arm around his waist and replies in a cocky tone, "Logan Garcia! I named it myself."

"Obviously. But…Logan Garcia? Really?" Logan snorts, shaking his head a bit.

Carlos huffs, pushing his friend hard enough to make him stumble. "Well, it's better than Carlos Mitchell! That just sounds weird."

"Okay, point taken, but why 'Logan Garcia' and not something else."

"Because," Carlos bites, the word coming out a little harsher than he intended. "I wanted it to be our constellation and…"

"...and you couldn't think of anything else?"

"Maybe…"

Logan stares up at the unofficial constellation that Carlos put together and tilts his head a bit, a small smile gracing his lips. "All right, so why did you 'make' us this constellation anyway?" he asks, using air quotes around "make". "I mean, I'm not complaining because this is really cool! I just wanna know why." There's a tugging at his sleeve and it knocks his attention away from the bundle of stars, making Logan turn his head down to the source.

Carlos kisses him.

But before Logan could have a proper reaction, Carlos is pulling away. "Because I like you a lot," he says softly, his face still inches from Logan's. What he really wants to do is look up, to see the expression on Logan's face, but for some reason, he can't find the courage to. Something inside him is bubbling up, making his tummy feel like it's full of hundreds of creepy, crawly bugs and he's not really sure what exactly that means.

A silence falls between them, neither of the boys really sure of what to say next. The tension around them is steadily growing, and Carlos doesn't like it. At all. He bites his lip and ducks his head down even further as he takes a step back. It suddenly hits him that he's scared of what Logan will do next. He's scared that Logan's going to just walk off, or blow up in his face, or decide that he doesn't want to be friends anymore, or maybe a combination of the three. There's a sharp jab in Carlos' heart the moment he has these thoughts and he clutches the fabric of his sleeve. Rejection hurts.

Carlos feels a hand pressing against his chest and for a split second, panic rushes through his body. He shakes his head and he's even more afraid now. 'Logan's going to push me away,' is his immediate assumption and it's almost enough to make him want to just bury himself into a hole and never come out. Okay, rejection hurts a lot, but the thought of losing his best friend hurts a hell of a lot more. He could learn to live with the rejection and move on to someone else eventually, but losing Logan is something he would never recover from.

But despite what Carlos' expectations, the hand drags upward from the spot on his chest and over his shoulder, finally resting on his neck. Almost immediately, Carlos darts his head back up to question Logan and is caught off guard by the look on his friend's face. It's not angry or disgusted or full of hate; it's relieved and practically glowing under the stars.

"I...I like you a lot too."

Logan initiates the kiss this time.