It's nearing eleven when Logan's office phone rings.
Instinctively, he presses the receiver to his ear, only coming to his senses when he hears a heavy sigh on the other end. He should have realized it was Carlos, since Carlos is the only one who ever calls his office phone past seven. And he only ever calls to tell Logan he shouldn't still be at the office.
"Logan," Carlos says in that tired, almost condescending way, "Tell me you aren't still at the office." Logan rolls his eyes, because obviously he's still at the office. Of course Carlos knows he's still at the office, because the only reason Carlos ever calls the office phone is so he can confirm that Logan is still at the office and then bitch at him. Carlos is the main contributor to Logan's stress levels, and will most likely be the reason Logan dies of a stress induced heart attack in his early fifties.
He's also Logan's best friend, although that fact is being reconsidered more and more often lately.
"I answered the office phone," Logan says in response, "Clearly I'm still at the office." He doesn't try to hide the fact that he's annoyed, because he's told Carlos a million times not to call him when he's working. Carlos always argues that he never stops working, which only goes to show how lazy Carlos is and how un-lazy Logan is. If Carlos worked half as hard as Logan, he wouldn't have the time to check up on Logan in the first place.
"Logan," Carlos begins, "You should-"
"Save it." Logan cuts him off, "I'm not in the mood." He taps his pen against his desk, something he does when he's agitated, nervous, or both, and waits for Carlos to change the subject. If he's lucky, Carlos will mention his weekend plans, or something equally as mind numbing, and he can work without having to listen. If he's not lucky, which he generally never is, Carlos will mention the-
"How did the meeting go?"
Dammit.
"As expected." Logan says curtly and the pen stops, mid-bounce, as he sighs, "You know, a bunch of addicts talking about addiction. There was a sex addict there." He adds as an afterthought and can practically feel Carlos' curiosity. He's nothing if not easily distracted.
"You can be addicted to sex?" Carlos sounds incredulous.
"You can be addicted to anything, Carlos." Logan reminds him, "Addiction is a state of mind." At least, he thinks you can be addicted to anything. It's not like he's spent his life trying to understand addiction. Sure, he knows the basics, but he doesn't know much more than that. And he doesn't plan to.
"Like work?" Carlos says pointedly.
"Yes," Logan agrees tiredly, "Like work."
"Did you meet anyone nice?" Only Carlos would be concerned about making friends. Logan considers, briefly, how Carlos would do in an addict's meeting. More than likely, he would have all the people laughing and feeling better about themselves in no time. It's just something Carlos can do. Logan has never envied him that talent, mainly because he's not a big people person himself. He's always been somewhat of a loner, except for Carlos.
Although, he found himself drawn to the cutter.
Kendall.
There's no doubt in his mind that Kendall was attractive. Attractive and, better yet, he didn't seem to be judging anyone. When he had looked at Logan, there had been a slight bit of curiosity, but mostly there had just been good nature. Kendall had seemed nice, genuinely nice, and that had struck Logan as something both odd and extremely valuable. If he were planning on going to the next meeting, it would have been because of Kendall.
"Logan?" Carlos sounds concerned, "You're not ignoring me, are you?"
"What?" Logan pulls his mind away from Kendall and focuses back on Carlos, "No, sorry. I was thinking." Carlos is probably pursing his lips, assuming that Logan was thinking about work, "About someone I met at the meeting." Logan explains hurriedly, defensively, and winces.
"Was she nice?"
"He seemed nice."
There's a long pause.
"Logan, are you gay?" Carlos asks suddenly, "You haven't dated anyone, so I don't know, but you can still be gay without ever dating anyone."
"I've dated people!" Logan ignores the question, "Camille!"
"That was in the sixth grade!" Carlos reminds him, "And she doesn't count, because you only dated her to get people to shut up about how you should date her."
"Well, what about you?" Logan demands, "You haven't dated anyone either!"
"Not because I haven't tried." Carlos says, "Have you tried to date anyone in the past few years?" The answer to that is a big, fat no, because Logan doesn't have the time or the patience to date. What's the point? He's never liked the idea of marrying someone just to watch them grow old and die.
"You know my stance on marriage."
"Yeah, on marriage." Carlos says exasperatedly, "You don't have to marry someone to date them."
"I don't have time."
"Using work to avoid relationships is a symptom of work addiction." Carlos rattles off and Logan feels his cheeks heat up at the accusation, because there's no way he's using work to avoid dating. That's ridiculous! And the fact that Carlos is the one telling him this just makes it worse. Carlos is supposed to be his goddamn friend.
"I have to go."
"No!" Carlos says quickly, "Come on, Logan, I didn't mean it in a bad way."
"I'm actually doing something at the moment."
"Yeah, work!" Carlos moves quickly from contrition to exasperation, "Look, maybe this guy will talk to you at the next meeting. You could maybe be his friend." The "or more" is implied.
Oh, did I forget to mention- "I'm not going to the next meeting."
"What do you mean?" Carlos actually sounds hurt, "Logan, this is supposed to help you."
Logan's pen is going a million miles per hour as he thinks of what to say. Carlos seems to be muttering to himself on the other end, and it's clear this is just going to turn into another large argument. As angry as Carlos makes him, Logan hates to fight with the other male. Carlos has been there for him since the first grade. Arguing with Carlos makes Logan feel like he's going to lose him, much like he's lost the few friends he had from college.
It's not anybody's fault, they just all stopped talking.
"I don't need any help, 'Litos."
"According to-"
"The internet." Logan supplies.
"Yeah, according to the internet you have a problem." Carlos plows through Logan's skepticism. It's one of the reasons they get along so well, even though it does have it's downsides. If Carlos listened to Logan's skepticism more often they wouldn't get caught up in half the messes they do.
"You have a problem, Carlos, if you believe everything you read on the internet."
"I don't believe everything."
"You believe in aliens."
"Because there's proof that they exist!" Carlos sounds excited, "Trust me, Logan."
"Whatever, not everything you read is true. And besides, studies show that reading about a problem makes you associate that problem with someone in your life. Usually yourself. You read about it and immediately connected it to me, because your mind likes patterns and connections."
"Or because it is you." Carlos says wryly and Logan frowns.
"Maybe if you would go to bed at a reasonable hour you wouldn't be up doing internet searches that lead to arguing and assumptions."
"Maybe if you would go to bed at a reasonable hour I wouldn't be assuming."
"I do go to bed at a reasonable hour." Logan defends himself half-heartedly, busy scrolling down on his computer screen. Maybe Carlos gets this, because he makes a frustrated noise on the other end. Logan can sense something major coming up, although he ignores the feeling. It's not like this hasn't happened before.
"Logan, I think you need to go to the next meeting." The "and the next, and the next, and the next" is implied. Logan continues to scroll down, cradling the phone between his ear and his shoulder so he can continue to tap his pen as well. The gesture has become more about nerves than agitation now. Something wicked this way comes, he thinks, and shakes the thought from his mind.
"No."
"You have a problem!"
"No I don't."
"Yes you do!"
"I do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Carlos, stop! You're acting like a five year old!" Logan erupts, "And I'm tired of it!"
"I'm just trying to help!" Carlos fires back, "But I guess that's not important to you!"
"I appreciate your concern, but it's completely unwarranted and, frankly, a little ignorant!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!" Logan pauses, "Fine what?"
"If you don't want my help, don't take it." Carlos says stiffly, "Don't get help, don't get better, don't do anything you don't want to do." Logan sighs, relieved that Carlos finally understands, but Carlos is quick to continue, "But don't bother considering me a friend until you do."
And then he hangs up.
The silence is unbearable.
Logan pulls the phone from his ear and stares at it, too shocked to fully comprehend what just happened. Sure, Carlos has threatened to unfriend him before, but he's never sounded so serious about it. In fact, he usually apologizes for saying it, because they both know it's completely out of line.
So what now?
He's not going to call Carlos back and beg for forgiveness, because it feels like Carlos is finally off his back. But the problem is that he doesn't want Carlos out of his life completely. He just wants Carlos to quit nagging him all the time about his work habits and the fact that he's successful.
The phone is still warm when he places it back in the cradle, pen tapping on his desk, and stares blankly at his laptop. He honestly feels sick, but he's almost done with a major project. If he finishes it tonight he can get started on an even bigger project tomorrow, and just the thought has Carlos fading from his mind. Worse things have happened between them, he reasons, and it's not like losing another friend is a big deal. He is a loner after all.
The keys feel warm and familiar beneath his fingers, just like always, and he's glad he's doing something.
He's not addicted to work, not in the slightest.
And he's not going to the next meeting.
Not in a million years, not for a million bucks, and apparently not for the sake of his best friend.
Before long, Carlos is out of his mind completely.
