Hi! This is the first part of my story for the Daltonverse Big Bang! Each update will vary in length and cracky-ness.

Characters and almost everything else belongs to CP Coulter. Setting technically belongs to Ryan Murphy. (But really CP Coulter.)

Beta'd by the lovely Caitie (enterprisingyoungmind) :D


Julian Larson was pretty sure he'd never felt dumber.

He couldn't help being scared.

His eyes searched the darkness of the room, straining to see anything that could be lurking. He knew it was stupid to not turn on the light in case he drew something's attention because there was nothing there, but he still couldn't bring himself to do it.

He buried himself under his comforter, which he knew had no logic to it, but it made sense as a child so it would work now. Then he heard something.

A creak of a floorboard, which yes was probably outside but he couldn't stop the tears stinging his eyes. His breathing quickened, soon developing into full-blown hyperventilation, and panicked sobs escaped him. Normally he'd have called Derek by now, meaning that heprobably wouldn't have even gotten to this point, but he knew Derek had a date tonight. Since Derek been sacrificing sleep every single night to take care of Julian, he really didn't want to interrupt. As much as he didn't like the alternative option, he couldn't be on his own right now when there could be someone in the dark leaving a trail of bloody roses, he felt like he couldn't breathe.

He sneaked his hand to his phone, trying to move as little as possible because it felt like there was someone there, and quickly brought up his phone book, shining the light around the room briefly to check before making the call. It was answered after a couple of rings.

"Jules?"

"L-Logan, I'm really sorry, I'm really scared and Derek's out and I- can you-" Julian managed between breaths.

"I'm coming." Logan cut in.

There was silence except for Julian's slightly stifled sobs and ragged breathing as Logan made his way down the hall, Julian listening to the sounds until Logan told him quietly "It's me, okay?" and his door opened as a tall figure slipped in, and the call ended.

The light flicked on and Julian could see Logan's worry increase tenfold as his eyes settled on his tear-streaked face. Julian hid his face in his arms, cursing himself for being stupid, this was all stupid because he knew it was just a nightmare. Logan looked on, unsure, before crossing the room and settling next to Julian, holding him close as Julian tried unsuccessfully to stop crying. He threaded his fingers gently through Julian's hair, unable to take his eyes away from his friend's unusual displayofvulnerability. Julian's breathing started to even slightly, and Logan took this as an opening to ask what happened. This just caused more sobbing and high-pitched whines of annoyance from Julianbecause he just couldn't stop crying. "I'm really sorry- I'm really sorry I woke you – It's really stupid, I – I had a nightmare and Derek wasn't here-" he managed to choke out.

Logan made what he hoped were soothing sounds, pulling Julian closer, telling him "It's okay, it's okay. What happened?" but Julian just shook his head and the images of blood blooming over the fabric of the shirt re-entered his mind. For the first time, he was glad Derek made him tell Logan about the stalker. At least he didn't sound quite as childish for calling Logan into his room over a nightmare.

They stayed liked that for what felt to Julian like forever, and he became aware of Logan rocking him gently and singing as the sobs ebbed away and his breathing slowly returned to normal. It was as Julian sniffled quietly that Logan suddenly found himself wondering how long it had been sincehe'd even hugged Julian. Stroking his hair seemed weird, at least when Julian was awake and able to be a diva. He dropped his hand to the other boy'sshoulder as Julian mumbled out another "sorry", pulling himself away from Logan's touch.

"Are they always that bad?" Logan asked, furrowing his brow. He'd thought Derek was being over-protective when he insisted on sleeping in the actor's room.

Julian shrugged. "Usually Derek's here."

"I'm sorry," Logan wanted to say; for not being here all of those other times, for not realizing how much this was affecting Julian, for not realizing the magnitude of the issue, for not really knowing what was going on, for being too busy chasing Hummel to care. But instead he glanced to the clock, and told Julian "You should try to get back to sleep."

Julian nodded, though he knew he'd just be lying awake with the lights on. He was so fucking dependent on Derek now. He couldn't sleep alone anymore.

"I can stay." Logan ventured, opening himself up to the sting of harsh words. He owed it to his friend, he realized, as he finally fully took in the sight of the usually haughty actor, with red eyes and a flushed face, his hair mussed up and looking younger than Logan could ever remember.

But Julian just nodded, lighting up his phone before crossing the room to turn off the light and back before the light from his phone disappeared. "Well, get in." He rolled his eyes at the hesitating blonde. It only occurred to him once they'd both settled on separate sides of the bed that Derek would usually sleep on the couch.


Logan woke up the next day to the koala that was his best friend cuddling against him, making it difficult for him to move at all.

"Julian." He tried. "Julian. Julian."

He rolled his eyes as his friend continued to sleep, and decided not to try to move lest he get scolded for waking the diva. He studied his friend's face, since it was the best view he had, thinking over the previous night. He really should have been more involved. Once Julian convinced him not to kill the bastard he'd disconnected from the problem completely, too wrapped up in his own shit. Stupid shit. He'd become a last resort for when Julian couldn't call Derek. All because he was too busy chasing someone who had made it clear they weren't interested to pay attention to his friends, no matter how much he wanted to deny it. Friends who'd stuck by him for a lot more shit than most people could deal with. He couldn't remember the last time he'd hugged Julian before last night. Sure, he wasn't as huggy as Derek, but they were friends. Shouldn't he be… nice? And Julian was… well, incredible, when he thought about it. He'd endured a 13-hour-flight just to get back in time for Logan's birthday. And Logan was too busy chasing his ex's boyfriend to even help Derek take care of him.

"Sorry," he murmured, dropping a kiss to Julian's hair. Funny how it was easier to talk to him when he was sleeping than when he was awake. Probably because he couldn't be too much of a diva that way.

Julian finally roused himself sometime later, smiling sleepily at Logan before rolling back over to his side of the bed and closing his eyes again. Derek entered the room not long after, stopping when he registered Logan in Julian's bed too. "Fine, I see you've replaced me. Clearly don't need me anymore. I'll just be going, then." He stated sardonically, turning to leave again.

"Did you get laid?" Julian called out, sitting up to look at the other brunet.

Derek stopped to give him a look like "duh". "Were you okay?" He asked, brows furrowing a little in concern.

Julian raised his head like he'd been about to nod, because jerking his head towards the blond who'd joined him in his sitting position. "I had Logan."

Derek nodded, still looking concerned. "You two coming to get coffee?"

It was his turn to get the "duh" look.


After that, Logan would come to Julian's room whenever Derek had a date. He'd turn up in the evening and they'd hang out for a while, until eventually they'd settle down to bed together. Logan found out that Julian didn't tend to have nightmares as long as there was someone with him, but there was still more than one night when Logan would wake to Julian jerking out of a dream, shaking until he felt the blond's touch. Sometimes Logan would sing to him quietly, other times just his presence was enough for Julian to curl into him and fall back to sleep. Logan would absent-mindedly drop a kiss to his forehead once his face looked peaceful again on the nights when the dreams woke him.

He noticed Derek going on dates more and more, or coming up with excuses of homework and rowing practice, but didn't bother to question it. Everyone knew the athlete had too much on his plate, and even if Logan hadn't wanted to watch over Julian, he felt like he owed it to his friends.

The nights when he'd see Julian so vulnerable made him notice Julian more and more in the day time, too. There were so many things he hadn't noticed. Julian was barely eating again – apparently he hadn't been for most of the time his stalker had been a threat – and he still looked tired and worried most of the time. Even little things, things that must have been there the entire time Logan had known him; Logan felt like he was suddenly noticing everything about his friend – the way his eyes lit up so bright when he smiled, just how often he wore sunglasses that hid his eyes so Logan could never quite tell where he was looking, how his entire facial expression would change when he picked up Sonic (Logan wondered briefly if Julian preferred the hedgehog to his friends).

Logan tried not to notice Julian eating lollipops, though really, who didn't?

He managed to miss how much less attention he'd been paying to Kurt recently, and how often he'd turn to look at Julian and find him already looking. He missed how nervous Julian suddenly became the when that happened, before playing it off and glancing away. He missed the exasperated looks Derek was giving them because they were morons.

After a couple of weeks Logan realized they were sharing a bed nearly every night. He didn't mind it, really. By now, he thought he'd probably miss the warmth of Julian clinging to him each night when he awoke.

One morning, he woke up to the feeling of Julian shifting next to him, and presently became aware of where his limbs were. His right arm was slung over Julian, holding him close, and his forehead rested against the back of the actor's neck. "'Morning." He mumbled sleepily, noting that it was usually Julian who cuddled in his sleep.

He received a quietly amused, "Hi." And he pretended that he hadn't just thought about kissing his friend. He was tired and woke up holding someone. That was all.


Julian, on the other hand, was wondering if he was going crazy. He felt weird about having Logan in his bed at first, considering his feelings, though it wasn't as though he was trying anything and he'd take it over having to sleep alone. He knew waking up cuddling Logan was probably weird, all things considered, but he couldn't help it, he just gravitated towards warm things in his sleep.

He noted all of the soft touches, the gentle affection he'd receive whenever he woke up shaking. It probably mounted up to more than he'd received from Logan since Freshman Year. While it wasn't unwelcome, it was… weird. It was as though Logan was a different person at night, a much more affectionate one.

He hadn't missed all of the looks either. Logan had caught him staring an embarrassing amount of times, causing him to start wearing his Ray-bans even more often than usual, and Julian had initially wondered if Logan was beginning to figure things out. But he was catching Logan looking too, and that was when he started to wonder if there was something else happening.

He went to Derek, of course, and tried to subtly scope out if he'd noticed any odd behaviour from Logan, but the moment he even mentioned the blonde he received the "duh" look again, and Derek went back to whatever he was doing.

Then there was this morning. Julian became vaguely aware of something weighing him down and tried to move away with as little actual moving involved as possible, but then he realized that the weight was in fact an arm around his waist, and he could feel the warmth of Logan pressed up against his back. Was Logan… spooning him? Huh. That was new. The blond mumbled a "'morning." Behind him, not quite awake, and Julian just replied "Hi.", not quite sure of this new situation.

His brain was screaming at him that maybe it was finally happening, trying to fill him with a rush of hope and giddiness because maybe Logan was falling in love with him, but he couldn't let that happen. He'd been passed over three times already. He was just reading too much into things because he had stupid feelings.


About a week after the spooning incident, Logan woke up wondering why he was so warm and what was making breathing considerably harder than usual, until he registered that Julian had somehow wriggled his way around so that his head was on Logan's chest and one arm was flung across Logan's stomach. He smiled at the peaceful expression on his friend's face, lifting his head to leave a kiss against the brunet's hair. The other boy sleepily opened his eyes, and Logan felt irrevocably caught. He brow furrowed in confusion when the brunet moved, wondering what he was doing, when a lazy kiss was pressed against his lips and suddenly the world slotted into place. Julian pulled back suddenly, worry clouding his features because deargodshit what was happening? He wasn't entirely sure if he'd dreamt the kiss against his hair anymore. Logan stared up at his friend, because of course. How long had he been missing this? His mouth curled into a smile as he pulled Julian back down for another slow kiss, Julian breaking it as he broke into a relieved smile.