Warnings: Violence, past character death
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Notes: Kinda short. Can't wait until the next few chapters, it'll start going in depth with the whole storyline (including a lot of Kames angst which I'm excited to write) Let me know what you guys think. PS: totally got my muse from an amazing drawing by vanillaspiders, so props!
Over the past month Carlos had been noticing quite a few things. This wasn't completely unusual, seeing as his job called for excellent observational skills. These particular skills alerted him of these changes in his life, or rather the changes in everyone's life around first and foremost was the amount of time James was spending with Kendall in their close-knit group.
Sure, they had dozens of followers on their side, ranging in all statuses of loyalty, those willing to do their dirty work, those just willing to kiss ass. Point being, they had dozens of people working years to get where James got in one month. James had to be pretty damn special to earn this spot in their group; and he didn't even know the half of it.
The second thing he noticed was how cool James was. He was a funny, down to earth guy who was really into hockey and singing. Granted, he was unusually concerned with his looks but that seemed to lessen directly correlating to the amount of time he spent with Kendall. (Carlos assumed it was because of how often Kendall told him he was beautiful. He'd walked in on quite a few of those times; Kendall cupping his cheeks, kissing him, softly proclaiming "God you're so fucking beautiful.")
The third and perhaps Carlos' favorite observation was how the brunette had Kendall totally and completely whipped. The blond leader gave orders, he did not take them and he didn't take well to those who tried to order him around (tried being the keyword). Things were different with James though; he could make Kendall do things and live to tell the tale. He could make the leader do anything and that was a first concerning the blond.
The last thing he noticed was that James and Kendall really liked each other, if the frequent kisses and hand holding were any indication. And even if he was a little jealous and kind of lonely, he was happy for them, that they found each other and made each other happier than ever before.
In his first month of being there Logan started to realize a lot of things. His personal favorite was how, despite the low-level "advanced" classes and the school full of delinquents (who still looked like they could/wanted to kill him, Minnesota was growing on him. Sure, it was still unbelievably cold compared to what he was used to back home and he still wasn't impressed (and still slightly afraid) of the school but all the little things were starting to add up to something bigger.
And Logan, being totally enamored with anything revolving around math, loved the equation his life was shaping up to be. It was like in chemistry, balancing both sides of an equation. And that's what he had to do now, balance out his life since moving. He was off to a good start, so far. Though in this school it wasn't even challenging, he was maintaining straight A's and earning enthusiastic, slightly surprised praise from all his teachers.
Amongst the variables balancing out his equation was Carlos, the boy who had stuck to him like glue since his very first day. If he had to define their relationship, he supposed it'd technically be considered friendship. Carlos was around far too often to be a mere acquaintance and Logan would be lying if he said he didn't contemplate possible feelings towards the boy. He couldn't put a finger on it but there was just something about him.
Different wouldn't even begin to cover it. He was a series of opposites, tough but sweet, funny but serious, dangerous but safe. Since arriving at the school, he'd never felt safer than by Carlos' side but at the same time, he couldn't ignore all the almost fearful looks casted towards him and Kendall. He was more than a little curious and more than a little afraid to ask.
Yet another month had passed and the majority of things had stayed the same. Not much at all had changed in the past eleven months. His life had become a tale of routine consisting of loneliness, anger and sorrow. it wasn't completely fair to declare that he was alone because he still had Carlos who was like a brother to him but most times, it just wasn't the same. And now, Carlos was hanging out with the new kid and Kendall wanted to warn him but he didn't have the heart when Carlos looked so happy.
He tried his damn hardest to ignore every flash before his eyes and every blissful memory that occurred whenever he observed Carlos and Logan interacting. It was so vaguely reminiscent of the first month he and James spent together. The shy smiles, getting to know one another, blushing more than usual. They both fit the situation so well, both played the parts exactly. Kendall just prayed for his best friend's sake, that they didn't have the same ending, that when Carlos thought about the potential love of his life, he was let with more than just memories.
Kendall felt extremely guilty but sometimes with his specific job description, it couldn't be helped. He kissed his cheek apologetically and stepped into the kitchen, answering his phone. As Carlos spoke on the other line about a potential issue, he couldn't help but glance back into the living room, a fond smile tugging at his lips.
"Just tell him to get in line before I do it for him," Kendall ordered, flipping his phone shut and returning to the living room. He leaned against the doorway, watching fondly as James sat crosslegged on the couch, a bowl of popcorn situated in his lap.
"What?" James questioned innocently when he noticed Kendall's stare. He popped a few pieces of popcorn into his mouth, eyes staring questioningly at the other boy.
Kendall grinned and walked over to the couch, cupping James' soft cheeks. He swiped his thumb over James' pouty bottom lip, swiping away the little bit of salt that lingered there. "You're just so cute," he murmured, leaning down to press their lips together in a sweet kiss. He sighed as he pulled away, thinking that he could really get used to this.
Kendall came out of this memory the way he always did: a familiar, deep ache residing in his chest, longing so desperately to have those times back, to have James back. But he knew that would never happen and that was, perhaps, what always hurt the most. He peered across the table to see Carlos shooting him a sympathetic smile while Logan appeared slightly puzzled. He certainly wouldn't be the person to clue him in; it hurt enough to just think about James being gone, but to actually say it aloud. That would kill him, more so than had already been done.
He thanked whatever higher power existed that Carlos didn't ask if he was okay. Because frankly, he didn't have the energy anymore to lie and say he was okay, when he, so clearly, was not okay. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, he wanted James back and nothing in the whole world would ever make that, make him, okay again.
Logan could see the pain in the blonde's eyes; it was there almost all the time. He was curious to say the least but he knew it wasn't really something you just brought up out of the blue. He hypothesized that it had something to do with the beautiful boy in the picture on his dashboard. Maybe a recent break up that he had yet to get over. The smart boy shrugged it off, knowing that it was truly none of his business.
Carlos watched his new friend observed his old friend with a curiosity that few had the balls to possess. No one questioned Kendall Knight. No one messed with him. They were all too scared; he'd developed quite the rep in the past year.
But Logan was different; he was just genuinely curious while others wanted to seek out Kendall's weakness and use it against him, some were just shocked to hear the infamous Kendall Knight had a weakness. Carlos briefly wondered if he should tell Logan, just to fill him in. But after a second's thought, he decided against it, deciding that it wasn't exactly his place to tell. Kendall would tell Logan if he wanted Logan to know and he was going to respect that; it was the least he could do for his friend.
Logan was extremely grateful that Kendall was in his gym class. Being the bad boy type himself and being a friend of Carlos', Logan felt pretty safe around the blond boy. No one seemed to want to mess with him. So Logan planned to stick by him because everyone looked like they wanted to mess with him. Part of him suspected that Carlos told Kendall to look after him because Kendall is never too far from him and Logan loved that.
After pulling his gym clothes out of his gym locker, he scurried off to one of the vacant shower stalls, changing behind the curtain. He reappeared a few minutes later, shoving his regular clothes in his locker before heading out to the main gym. He cringed when he noticed a big bag of rubber balls in the middle of the gym. Dodgeball.
Turned out, his prediction was right. They were in for a rousing game of dodgeball, one of Logan's least favorite games in existence. He couldn't throw. He couldn't catch. And he certainly couldn't dodge. He was not made for this game. He tried his best to remain invisible during this game but it wasn't seeming to work. On numerous occasions, Kendall had stepped in to catch a ball flying straight at him or hit someone aiming to throw one at him. Kendall was very into the game, dodging and throwing like a pro.
He lasted a considerably long time in the game, all thanks going to Kendall of course. There were only a few players left on each team and it was becoming a fierce competition. Everyone was playing like there was actually something at stake; this kind of determination scared Logan a little.
Kendall was focused on striking another player out, arm drawn back, ready to launch the ball. In those three seconds, one of the guys from the opposing side took the very opportunity to throw a ball at Logan. Said ball hit Logan at an alarming force right in the head. It was so powerful that it literally knocked the smart boy off his feet, falling backwards onto the cold gym floor.
Kendall was over to his side in an instant, checking to make sure he was okay before standing back up, marching straight over to the other side, a frightening rage in his eyes. Logan sat up just in time to see his attack, so to speak, cowering away from the blond boy. He thought it was strange that this guy, who was almost a foot taller than Kendall, was shying fearfully away from him. There had to be something behind that but with the way his head was spinning, he didn't care enough to think it through. That was the last thing he remembered before his vision went blurred and all he saw was black.
The next thing he knew he was in the nurse's office, lying on one of the cots. His head pounded slightly as it all started coming back to him. He groaned aloud; this was the reason he hated gym class.
"You okay Logan?" a worried voice asked beside him.
He turned his head to see Carlos sitting in a chair beside his bed, looking distraught and worried. The thought made Logan's stomach flutter with butterflies for a brief second before his rational side wondered what he was doing out of class.
"Shouldn't you be in class?" he questioned, instead of answering the previously stated question.
The Latino just shrugged dismissively, "I was just on my way to detention."
"Again?" he exclaimed, because this was already the third time he'd been to detention this week and it was only Tuesday.
"What?" Carlos said defensively, "He pointed to me with his ruler and said there was an idiot at the end of it. I asked him which end he was referring to. Not my fault he's a complete dipshit."
Logan rolled his eyes at his friend's typical behavior and stifled a soft sigh as Carlos' fingers grazed along his forehead.
"But seriously Logie," Carlos insisted solemnly, "Are you okay?"
A soft smile tugged at Logan's lips and even though his head was still throbbing in pain, he couldn't help but nod, because for the moment, with Carlos' worried gaze and gentle touches, he was okay. Maybe this school wasn't so bad after all.