Merry christmas everyone!
I'd just like to say thank you so much to all my reviewers, you guys never fail to put a smile on my face, and you are all so patient, this fast update is to make up for my two week absence. A few of you have said you'd like longer chapters, so hopefully after this one I'll begin to raise the word count to three thousand, maybe even four.
Yeah, that's how much I love you guys.
Anyways, have fun reading and I hope to be updating again very soon!

Chapter Ten

"Carlos, I'm not sure about this…"

"Don't be silly Logie, it's not like they're going to eat you."

"Logie?" The brunette gave Carlos an indignant look.

Carlos chuckled as he pulled into the school's car park, "well it's just easier to say is all."

"Well if that's how it's going to be," Logan paused, thinking for a moment, "I guess I'll just have to call you Car then."

"Was that really the best you could come up with?"

Logan gave the Latino a meek look, shrugging his shoulders, "I don't work that well when I'm put on the spot; it's a work in progress."

Carlos chuckled again and climbed out of the car, joining Logan by the passenger door. The shorter boy caught sight of James and Camille by the school's entrance, the two looking to be in deep conversation. Carlos was about to beacon to them but Logan put a hand on his arm, saying, rather haltingly,

"As I said, I don't think this is a great idea…"

"What could possibly go wrong Logan? There's no harm in making more friends, and it's not like you've never met any of them before, I just thought maybe it was time you were inducted into our friendship circle, I'm sure they'll all be happy to have you."

Logan looked at Carlos pleadingly as he began to head over to them, "what if they don't like me?"

Carlos rolled his eyes, "why wouldn't they like you?"

He continued on walking, giving Logan no choice but to follow.

"Oh hey Carlos, Logan." Camille smiled at the two of them, James ceasing to speak when they came into earshot.

"What were you guys talking about?" Carlos asked, Logan standing next to him, doing his best to go unnoticed.

"Nothing in particular," answered Camille, "James was just-"

"We weren't saying anything," cut in James, who sounded as blunt as ever, "but if you'll excuse me I have an English essay that needs writing."

He didn't so much as acknowledge Carlos, giving Logan a forced smiled before turning away sharply and disappearing into the school building.

"Maybe you should go and talk to him," said Camille, looking worriedly in the direction James had gone. When Carlos glanced at Logan, who looked rather helpless and confused, Camille, a little eagerly said, "don't worry, I'll keep Logan company."

Carlos smiled gratefully before speeding off after James, leaving Logan to fend for himself.

"So Logan," began Camille, "this is the first time I've caught you alone, ever since you and Carlos started talking I haven't really seen you with anybody else."

"Carlos is a good friend, actually, he's my only friend."

Camille took a step forward and slung an arm around the brunette's shoulders, ignoring the minute flinch he gave.

"Well Logan, look's to me that now you have two friends, and by lunchtime you'll have four more."

"You want me to join you guys?" Asked Logan, surprised.

"Of course!" Said Camille, sounding shocked, "it's about time that you did, you'll fit right in, we're a mismatched bunch but that's what so great about us, I guess sitting with us last week was like a bit of a test run, but now you're in for the real thing!" She laughed to herself, grabbing Logan's wrist as she led him into the school building,

"come on, I think you should have some one-on-one time with us girls, where could Lucy and Jo be?"

"Hey James, wait up!"

The Latino had caught sight of his friend disappearing around a corner, and he broke into a run in order to catch up with him.

"James, what's up? You've been acting really strange recently."

Carlos reached out to grab his friend's shoulder but James spun around to face the Latino, his face a stony mask of anger.

"Leave me alone Carlos."

"James…"

"Carlos, I said leave!"

The Latino took a step back, shocked from the real fury he heard in James' voice, something he didn't think his friend was capable of.

"James, what's wrong with you?"

"You want to know what's wrong?" He took a rapid step forward, glaring spitefully at the Latino.

"You. You Carlos, are what's wrong, I don't think I can suffer another second around you."

"James, what are you saying?" Carlos could feel his throat tightening. People had begun to cease their activities and watch the dispute between the two boys.

James only shook his head, his fringe falling over his eyes momentarily before he brushed it back with a hand.

"Carlos you're lucky, lucky and ungrateful and I can't stomach another inch of you."

James went to push past the Latino but Carlos grabbed his arm, looking the taller boy straight in the eyes.

"James, what did I do wrong?"

James let out a barking laugh, one that was heavy with contempt.

"What did you do wrong? It's too late now to be trying to make amends Carlos, the damage has been done."

The taller boy pulled his arm from Carlos' grip and left the Latino alone with a cluster of curious eyes, all of who began to whisper among themselves. Carlos felt tears clawing at his own eyes, but he forced them back. His long time friend seemed to have brewed some kind of deep hatred for him and Carlos couldn't fathom the reasoning behind it; the Latino couldn't think of a single thing he'd done to wrong James. Muttering, Carlos headed off to find Logan and Camille, maybe she'd be able to shed some light on the whole situation.

"Lucy, Camille, there you are!"

Logan heaved a sigh of relief when Camille finally located the two girls, who had been talking amongst themselves by the doors to the school's theatre. Camille had dragged Logan through just about every hall and corridor the school had, and all the while Logan had been trying his best to ignore the hateful looks people had been directing his way that Camille seemed oblivious to. Word about the incident during gym seemed to have circulated; Logan was surprised someone hadn't tried to spit on him yet. Stepping back inside the school had caused all the memories from the previous day to come flooding back, Logan having forgotten them in the wake of the time he'd spent with Carlos. But now that he was back, he knew they'd all come back to haunt him.

"Hey Camille, hey Logan," said Jo by way of greeting, Lucy giving the two a small wave and smile.

"Jo, Lucy," said Camille with a grin on her face, "I think it's time to introduce Logan to our little circle within a circle; the girl's group."

Logan stared at the three with wide eyes, "what? Girl's group?"

"Well, Logan you're gay, it's close enough."

"G-gay?" Logan spluttered, shock taking its toll on the brunette's wits.

"Yes…" Said Camille slowly, as the three looked at him worriedly.

"But, I-I never said anything…"

"Logan," said Jo softly, "there are some things that are just so blindly obvious that they don't need to be said."

Recovering slowly Logan asked, "was it really that obvious?"

Lucy nodded, "there's only so many cardigans a straight male can own…" she gestured to the striped navy coloured one that Logan wore.

"But that's not important," said Camille, "we have a question."

Logan regarded the three girls warily, before saying, "go ahead…"

"Well," begun Jo, "we were just wondering what your feelings towards Carlos were…"

"F-feelings!" Logan almost collapsed. How could they possibly know?

Camille and Lucy smirked, the three beginning to giggle.

"I knew it, I knew it!" Said Jo excitedly, "I just knew it!"

"Now we all know what we need to do, don't we?" Asked Camille.

The two other girls nodded and in a matter of seconds they had all disappeared, galloping down the halls to an unknown destination. Logan didn't bother trying to follow, he just hoped the three of them could keep a secret, and that they hadn't sped off to find Carlos. Logan couldn't help but feel faint; he'd put his trust into three people he barely knew, he prayed they wouldn't break it.

As it turned out Lucy, Jo and Camille had sped off to find Carlos, but the three didn't dare break the trust the timid brunette had endowed them with. The trio cornered the Latino into an empty classroom, forcing him to take a seat at one of the many desks.

"What are you guys doing?" He asked, giving them a guarded look.

"You know," said Camille with a quirk of a smile, "you're lucky everybody likes you so much Carlos, that you're so popular. You're lucky the Jennifers, bless their ignorant hearts, only mentioned that little slip of the tongue to us, otherwise you would be in deep water my friend."

She paused but when he didn't speak Jo began to talk.

"They passed it off as a slip of the tongue anyway," she laughed, "but we're your close friends Carlos, we know better."

The memory began to take shape in the Latino's mind, and when the conversation he'd had with the Jennifers came back into sharp clarity he inwardly cursed his stupidity.

"They told you about that did they?"

"Yeah," said Lucy, taking a seat next to Carlos, "but we have reason to believe that it wasn't a slip of the tongue at all, even if you hadn't meant to say it."

"What do you mean?" Carlos demanded, trying his best to sound casual.

"Well it wasn't only that that tipped us off," said Camille, "it started when you first asked me about Logan and at first I thought it was only out of genuine concern, but then as I watched it seemed to grow into something more than that. You didn't just want to get close to Logan because you were concerned about him, there was something more wasn't there?"

Carlos struggled to feign ignorance; his heart was hammering loudly in his chest and he could feel his palms begin to grow clammy. He didn't dare speak, he couldn't risk his voice betraying him.

"And that time you went over with James to speak with him at Lunch, and how you failed a math test, just for him," said Lucy.

"Sure I gave you a little nudge in those general directions," admitted Camille with a shrug, "but you were just so eager, so willing to do it."

"And sometimes I've caught you looking at him," said Jo, "and you've just had that look in your eye, that blissful, contented look."

"So what are you saying?" Asked Carlos after a few moments of silence.

"We're saying," said Camille with a smile, "that you like Logan Mitchell."

For Logan the day at school had been relatively okay, for the most part. He'd managed to mostly avoid Kendall, he hadn't received any other mysterious love letters, the worst he'd received from people throughout the day were dirty looks, he'd spent lunch with the people he'd guessed he could now consider friends, with the exception of Kendall, and Carlos and himself had even managed to tunnel through nearly half of their media assignment even if Carlos had been acting a bit odd. As the brunette followed the sidewalk from school and towards his home he tried to concentrate on these thoughts, he was dreading the idea of stepping through the front door to face his father. The double storey house with its black slate roof and white timber walls came into view all too quickly, Logan taking in deep breaths as he tried to calm himself.

The house seemed silent when Logan stepped inside, the door squealing as he closed it behind him. He crept up the stairs and into his room, setting down his schoolbag as he looked around the untouched space.

"You're back."

Logan spun around, his eyes growing wide when he saw his father, who was standing in the doorway.

"W-where's mum?" He stuttered, taking small steps back as he tried to make the distance between his father and himself as large as the room would allow.

"She had to go out, something for work."

He took a few steps into the room, looking around just as Logan had done only moments ago.

"I hoped you'd gone for good," he took another step forward, smiling as Logan flinched, "but you never seem to learn. I guess I'm just going to have to teach you then."

"W-what are you g-going to do?" Logan's back was pressed against the far wall; the brunette watching helplessly as his father continued to close the distance between them.

"I'm going to teach you," he smiled, extracting something from the pocket of his jeans. Logan cried out, cringing when the light caught the glinting metal of the blade.

"Don't think I don't notice those cuts of yours," he said, creeping forward until they were only inches apart.

"I thought maybe I could add some to your collection."

He grabbed Logan's arm and forced up the sleeve of his cardigan, revealing the long, thin scars that littered his milky pale skin.

The brunette struggled and pulled but he couldn't escape from his father grip. Tears began to fall as he felt the cold of the metal against his bare skin.

"D-dad, p-please don't," Logan pleaded as silent sobs forced their way up his throat, "please don't."

His father only grinned, pressing the blade down.

Just as he felt the sting of the knife breaking his skin Logan acted on instinct, everything that happened next passing in a teary blur. With his eyes screwed up tight Logan let out a blind kick, with all his power behind it. The strangled wheeze his father let out as he dropped the knife let Logan know he'd hit the right place. The brunette wrenched away from his father's grip and stumbled out into the hall, throwing himself down the stairs and out the door. Tears streamed down Logan's face as he ran, his arm throbbing from the place his father had cut him. His mind was a cloud of pain and grief so all he did was run. He ran as fast he could, not daring to stop.

He just needed to get away.

:( I feel so terrible for what I essentially did to Logan, but don't worry, it's mostly uphill from here, so don't hate on me, hate Logan's father with a fiery passion!
And here's some virtual presents and hugs for the holidays, you guys are all amazing!