Here's chapter 14. This is the chapter I've been waiting -not so- patiently to upload. You finally get to learn why our dear little Logie has been fighting so hard.

Oh, really quick. I have like, well, honestly about forty or so Kogan stories on my Tumblr. Would anyone be interested in seeing them on here? They're not quite drabbles, but I don't know if most of them would be long enough to be stand alone stories. But I thought, if you guys were interested, I could just make one big story, were each chapter was different one-shot, almost drabble like thing. Some of them have more than one part or are pretty long so I'd make them their own stories but for the rest I thought I'd just put them into one story and just update it whenever I wrote a new fic on Tumblr?

What do you guys think? I won't do it unless I see that enough people are interested, becuase it's going to be very time consuming transferring them all here and I don't mind doing it, but I don't want to do all that work for no reason. So let me if you'd be interested.

Otherwise, enjoy chapter 14! (:

o*o*o*o*o
When you think to take determination
of your fate into your own hands, that is
the moment you can be crushed. Be cautious.
-Frank Herbert
o*o*o*o*o

14 Years Old

Kendall shifts nervously in his seat and eyes the girl next to him. Her name is Beth and she's one of the most popular girls in the ninth grade. The blonde can hardly believe his luck that, when he'd asked her out (egged on by James and Carlos), she'd said yes. They met at the movie theater and he'd been even more excited when she'd agreed to go see the new Spider-Man movie, because he hadn't really wanted to sit through a chick flick. They're not even halfway through the movie and things seem to be going well.

Deciding to be brave, the blonde fakes a yawn and uses the motion to casually drop his arm around his date's shoulders. Beth tenses for minute but doesn't shrug his arm off.

For a first date, things seem to be going pretty well.

Until about ten minutes later when she excuses herself to go use the restroom. Kendall doesn't think twice as she gets up and walks away, they'd split a large soda and that was gone already.

After another ten minutes, however, Kendall is beginning to suspect that she's either very sick or he's been ditched.

The blonde gets up and makes his way towards the bathrooms, half hoping for the former (and feeling very guilty about it, because that would mean something was wrong with Beth). He waits outside the girl's bathroom door for another five minutes and after watching several women walk in and out of the restroom with no sign of his date he sighs.

"Excuse me." He calls to a girl that has just left the restroom. "Was there anyone else in there?"

The girl, a red head who looks like she's much older than him, eyes him strangely. "No…" She answers before quickly walking away, throwing the blonde one last odd glance over her shoulder.

Kendall sighs, trying to ignore the hurt that's seeping through his chest. He slowly makes his way out of the movie theater, sitting on the bench that's just outside it. He blinks back tears because, really, Beth is pretty and popular, but that's about all he knows about her so she certainly isn't worth crying over. Instead he takes out his phone and proceeds to play Angry Birds until his mother comes to pick him up.

That's his game plan at least. It's interrupted before he can even get the second bird out of the slingshot by his phone lighting up and his best friend's name flashing across the screen. He brightens immediately at the sight, flipping open the phone and greeting said best friend enthusiastically.

"Hiya Hor-Logan!" He's still getting used to the mandatory name change that Mrs. Diamond had imposed on the smaller brunette just a few weeks ago.

"Hey Kendall!"

"What's up?"

"I don't know." The blonde can almost hear his friend shaking his head. "I just felt the strangest urge to call you. Which, now that I stop and think about it, was pretty dumb of me to do. I must be ruining your date. I'm sorry."

Kendall laughs at his friend's rambling. "Don't be sorry. I'm pretty sure I ruined it long before you called me."

"What? Why?"

The blonde shrugs, forgetting for a moment that Logan can't see him. "I don't know. She got up to use the bathroom and never came back." He frowns at the memory, but tries his best to not let it get to him.

"Aw Kendall, that sucks. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. She wasn't all that great anyways."

"But she's the most popular girl in ninth grade!" Kendall can hear the disbelief in the slightly older boy's voice.

"Yeah, well that doesn't mean she's a nice person. Which clearly she isn't, otherwise she wouldn't have ditched me."

"Still." The blonde can hear the frown in the shorter boy's voice. "I guess you can just call your mom and she can come get you early."

"Nah," Kendall blushes, "I, uh, don't really want to tell her I got ditched on my first date. She'll just make a big deal out of it and I don't want that."

"So what are you going to do?"

The blonde shrugs again. "Just wait out here until the movie gets out. It's only supposed to be like another hour anyways. I don't mind waiting."

There's silence on the other end for a few moments then: "But weren't you supposed to go out to dinner afterwards?"

The taller boy curses under his breath. With everything that had happened, it had completely slipped his mind that, yes, he and Beth were supposed to get dinner at the Friendly's next to the movie theater. "Uh…well…"

Logan laughs, knowing exactly what had happened. "Just go back in a watch the rest of the movie."

"I, uh, sort of left the movie theater completely. I'm on the bench outside now."

"Wow…Kendall Knight skipped out on a Spider-Man movie? I think I'm in shock."

Kendall laughs. "Shut up. I was in shock! And…and traumatized." He's grasping at straws and they both know it.

"Well why don't you just go to the mall with me then?"

The blonde nearly drops his phone at the sound of the genius' voice in stereo, coming in from both the phone held to his right ear and from his left. He turns and breaks out in a grin at the sight of Logan standing there, one hand shoved casually into the pocket of his jeans and the other holding his cell phone.

"Logan!" Kendall jumps up and has to stop himself from giving the shorter boy a hug. "How did you get here?"

The brunette rolls his eyes. "My mom. I figured you weren't going to call your mom as soon as you told me you got ditched, so I told her I was meeting James and Carlos at the mall and that I'd catch a ride back with them."

Kendall's smile gets even wider. "You're the best!" He remembers the forty dollars in his wallet, just waiting to take Beth for dinner. "How does dinner and a Jim Dandy sound? My treat!"

Logan grins and begins walking towards the restaurant, Kendall falling into step beside him. "Sounds great."

As the walk, Kendall casually throws an arm over the smaller boy's shoulders, pulling him closer. The brunette immediately relaxes against his side.

"See?" He comments as they head over to the restaurant, "Why can't it be this easy with a girl?"

Logan rolls his eyes. "Because you don't want to kiss me, dummy."

And even as they laugh there's a part of Kendall that can't help but disagree.

-0-

On Monday they're walking down the hall, minding their own business while Logan goes over some equations Kendall will need to know for their math test next period, when a much larger 11th grader barrels through them.

"Fags!" He hisses as the two boys literally jump apart to avoid being trampled by the much larger teen.

They stare in shock after he's retreating figure. "What was that all about?" Kendall wonders, surprised at the slur.

Logan shakes his head. "I don't know. I don't even know who that was. I wonder why he has a problem with us?"

It's clear by the time they get to lunch what has happened. Someone, no one is sure just who, had seen Kendall and Logan on Saturday, either at Friendly's or at the mall and assumed, since Kendall was supposed to be on a date, that his date was with the shorter brunette. It's not clear if most people even believe the rumor, but it's clear that they're all curious and speculating about the nature of the two boy's relationship now. Fortunately, no one else is rude to them like the 11th grader had been.

It probably wouldn't be such a big deal if Kendall hadn't just made captain of the hockey team: the first freshman to do so in years. It had made him relatively well known around the school, in all the grades.

The blonde brushes off the rumors, whispers, and obvious stares. "Don't worry about it, Logie. People are going to talk so let them. Eventually they'll get bored and find something new to gossip about." He's not particular bothered by what they're saying because he and Logan have always been close, ever since they'd met in third grade, and he doesn't particularly feel the need to let other people label what he and his best friend share.

Logan does his best to take his friend's advice, but when they get called into their hockey coach's office later that day he realizes he can't. The coach, a man about Mr. Garcia's age, shuts the door and very solemnly asks them if there's any truth to the rumors that are going around school.

Kendall shrugs and, because he loves to be a smart ass, answers with: "What if there are?"

The genius turns red and immediately begins spouting denials. Their coach seems to sense that the blonde isn't being serious, because he sighs and tells the boys in a solemn voice that they don't realize how serious the situation. That it could not only jeopardize Kendall's position as captain, but their positions on the team. Kendall opens his mouth, obviously angered by this, and ready to tell the coach exactly what he thinks, but Logan beats him too it.

"There's nothing going on coach. Kendall got stood up and I was at the mall getting a book. We ran into each other and decided to hang out and have dinner. That's all."

Their coach visibly relaxes and sends them out of his office, calling after them to remind them that they have practice after school.

Kendall storms down the hallway, moving so quickly that Logan nearly has to run to catch up with him. "Kendall wait!"

The blonde stops, turning on his heel to face the shorter brunette. "Can you believe that?" He seethes, anger practically radiating off of him. "What the hell does it even matter if I love you or not? That doesn't affect my ability to play hockey or to coach the team!"

"Let's just forget it, Kendall. It's over now." He brings his hands up and rubs the taller boy's temples in an attempt to soothe him.

It works and the blonde visibly relaxes under the gentle caress. Then, as if realizing where they are and what conversation they'd just had, Logan lets his hands drop, stuffing them in his pockets. At the loss of contact, Kendall opens his eyes. He can tell just from looking that the smaller boy feels guilty.

"Look." Kendall puts his hand on Logan's shoulder and waits for the brunette to meet his gaze. "It doesn't matter what anyone says or thinks. You're my best friend, Logie. Nothing is going to change."

Then the blonde takes off for history, one of the few class periods the friends don't share. Logan stands in the hallway, watches him go, and knows that his friend his wrong. For whatever reason, this closeness that he and Kendall share isn't looked upon favorably at the school or in the town and he knows that it will only bring Kendall trouble.

And Kendall, who has done nothing but stand up for Logan, protect him, and make him smile since the day he meet him, doesn't deserve any of that unnecessary trouble.

It doesn't matter what the blonde says. Logan knows that things are going to have to change.