A/N—Reminder that I don't own these characters and that all credit goes to the creators of "Big Time Rush."

Another chapter already because I have a day off! I feel bad that the movie date is only one chapter since you all were so excited about it. It's over before you know it. But it's not definitely not boring (at least I hope it's not!), so enjoy. :) Any feedback is appreciated.

Lunch began in a civilized manner. Logan had brought meals for all three of them, and after he escaped to heat up the food, Kendall was content to let his phone occupy him rather than try to make conversation with James; he knew how that would end up.

James smiled as he replied to a simple good morning email from Rush. That was new, they'd never done that before. He sent back a hello and a naughty thought just because he could, the words from Rush helping boost his confidence and remind him that he could do this.

"Did I miss something?"

Both James and Kendall looked up at Logan, who was setting down plates of steaming food. "What?" they asked in unison.

"You're both smiling so big right now. It's nice, I'm glad you guys are getting along."

James met Kendall's gaze, both of them blushing. In silent agreement they went along with it. "I'm not always a complete asshole," James pointed out.

Kendall nodded. "Yeah, sometimes he's just sort of an asshole."

James' lips twitched as he fought a grin.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm happy to see it. Here James, I know you like ketchup with that."

"Thanks, bud. You always know just what I need."

Phones were set aside, and James lost himself in the mac and cheese with steak they'd prepared together the night before. Kendall and Logan began discussing their day. James thought this might work, he could just focus on his food and not look at Kendall and hey, maybe that strategy would work tonight at the movies, too.

"Hey, guys! Is this an empty seat? Mind if I grab it?" Without waiting for an answer, Lucy set down a collapsible cooler on the table between Kendall and James before pulling out the chair. "Thanks!"

Three pairs of eyes stared back at her in shock. It was Kendall who found his voice first. "I thought you refused to come in here with us fuddy-duddies."

"Kendall, don't be so hard on yourself. There's still some cool left in you." She unzipped the bag and pulled out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "I'm sure you agree, right Logan?" After tipping him a wink, she stood again. "I left my water in the car. Kendall, can you spot me a few bucks?"

"I..." Resigning himself, Kendall reached for his wallet and passed over a bill. "I expect the change from that," he called out as she walked away.

James shook himself out of his stupor. "Unbelievable. You know how I feel about her and you still invited her in here."

"No, James, I swear, I had no idea she was coming!"

"How could you do this?"

"I didn't!"

"I can't even trust you to—"

Logan jumped in. "James, he didn't know. I saw his face, he was just as surprised as we were."

"Oh, of course you take his side."

"I'm not taking anyone's side, I just—"

"Save it." James stood up as Lucy returned to the table. Not even bothering to grab his food, he spun on his heel and headed out of the room.

"Dammit, James," Logan muttered. He started to stand but Lucy stopped him.

"I got this. It's my fault. Let me fix it."

"I don't know that you can. He really hates you."

"I'm going to change that. Don't eat my sandwich!"

They watched her jog out of the lounge. Kendall pinched the bridge of his nose. "Logan, I swear, I didn't—"

"I know. None of this is your fault."

"If I'd known, I would have asked her to stay away. I mean, I told her no about the movie when you guys said no."

"It's okay." Logan reached out under the table to squeeze Kendall's knee. "James will either be back or he won't. If he doesn't come back, I'll take him his food after lunch."

Kendall nodded. "It's really good."

"Thanks. My recipe, but James helped."

"So you really have no idea why he hates her so much?"

"She said something to him the day they met that really pissed him off. He never told me what."

"Well, she definitely knows how to push buttons."

"And James has a lot of buttons to push."

"True," Kendall laughed. "Ketchup, though? Really?"

"Sometimes he eats like a kid," Logan smirked. "He's so adorable."

"If I didn't agree with you, I might be a little jealous over comments like that."

Logan grinned. "You see it, though, right? How precious he is and why I was drawn to him?"

"Yeah. You saw the big teddy bear in him. The sad puppy. And you needed to hug it."

"That's...sort of accurate. But it's more than that. He really has been a great friend to me for the past year. The best friend I've ever had."

"Logan, you don't have to justify him to me. I get it. I'm glad you two have each other. He's—" Kendall stopped himself in mid-sentence, gaze following the subject of their discussion as he re-entered the lounge. "He's coming back."

Lucy followed in his wake, waiting until James had taken his seat to rejoin them. "Kendall, I told you not to eat my sandwich!"

"It's right there under the napkin!"

"Oh." A bright smile lit up her face. "Then we're good."

Once she'd taken a bite from her sandwich, apparently happy again, James braced himself and said, "Lucy's going to the movie with us tonight."

The only sound after that was Lucy eating. Kendall and Logan exchanged a bewildered glance.

"We talked," James added. "We're okay now."

Not ready to accept that so easily, Logan reminded him, "You don't have to go along with this, James. Whatever she threatened you with, you can—"

"I did no such thing," Lucy interrupted with a roll of her eyes. "We cleared the air. We understand each other now."

Still not convinced, Logan laid a hand on James' forearm. "Are you sure?"

James was sincere when he met Logan's gaze and nodded. "It's okay. I want her to come."

The shocking thing was that James meant it. Logan looked over at Kendall, who shrugged, before sharing, "Okay. Lucy, we're meeting at the theater at 7:30. Movie starts at 8."

"I'll get the info from Kendall. Hey, I was thinking of going to the hockey game tomorrow to cheer on the team. You know, give Kendall some extra support from the stands. You guys with me?"

James surprised them both by stating, "I have missed the school hockey games. We went to a few last year and no offense, dude, but the team sucked so bad that we never went back. I expect a different outcome this time."

"Well...we're a work in progress. I'm a little nervous, actually. They seem to be doing better as a team, but I can't fix all the problems in a week."

"Anything is better than what they were under Teague."

Lucy nodded, speaking through a bite of sandwich. "As much as I love that man, I have to agree. So what do you think? Logan? Want to come cheer on your man with us?"

Looking as if he was somewhere in the Twilight Zone, Logan opened his mouth a few times and finally said, "Sure, if James wants to. I think it would be fun."

"It's a date then!" Lucy grinned. "We're not seeing some sappy romance movie tonight, are we?"

"No," Kendall answered. "Logan wanted horror."

"Logan does love his horror movies," James tossed out. "Which always seemed weird to me since they scare you so badly."

"They don't scare me. You're the one always having to hide your face. I just sit there and roll my eyes. Which you would know if you weren't so busy crying into my sleeve."

"I do not cry," James argued indignantly.

Logan teased, "Sorry, maybe whimper was a better term."

"Shut up!" James laughed, shoving Logan lightly.

"It's okay, James," Lucy smiled. "You can cry on my sleeve tonight."

They exchanged a look that baffled Logan and Kendall, then James nodded. "I might take you up on that."

Definitely in the Twilight Zone.

"Logan, come on, you look great!" James called toward the bathroom. "Stop messing with your hair, I styled it perfectly."

"Yet I'm the gay one," Logan muttered under his breath, fingers carding through the volume James had given him.

"I heard that! Seriously, we're gonna be late and miss the previews because we're stuck in line for snacks!"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming." Logan flipped off the bathroom light and stepped out in time to hear the response.

"That's what he said."

All he could manage was a shake of his head. "Where's my phone?"

"Right there on the table. You ready?"

"I guess. You sure I look okay?"

"Dude, it's just Kendall. You don't have to impress him."

"I know, I just...you know. It's basically our second date. With friends, but...you know?"

"I know," James grinned, dragging Logan in for a hug. "And I promise, he's going to eat you up." He nibbled at Logan's ear and whispered, "I know I would if I was your date."

Logan inhaled sharply before shoving James away. "That's not funny. Just because you're straight doesn't mean you get to tease me."

"I'm sorry. You really do look extremely fuckable, though."

Logan's gaze narrowed as he picked up his keys and turned back to look at James. "What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"We're about to go meet up with your mortal enemy, which I had to practically coerce you into, but you're in a fantastic mood and saying...weird things. Are you on drugs?"

"Oh my god," James groaned with a roll of his eyes. "No, I am not on drugs. Am I not allowed to be in a good mood? Why is it every time I am, you think something's wrong with me?"

"Because it's not like you. What did Lucy say to you today?"

"When?"

"You know when." James averted his eyes, and Logan pounced on that. "She did say something."

"Obviously, if I changed my mind about her coming."

"So what was it? What could she possibly say that made you suddenly want to be her friend?"

James' good mood was rapidly dissipating. "She just...I misunderstood what she said to me last year. She explained to me today what she meant and I felt bad for jumping to conclusions. Turns out she's not such a horrible person." He headed for the front door, but Logan blocked his path.

"So what did she say last year that upset you so badly?"

"It's not important."

"I think it is."

"Logan, it's nothing. I just blew it all up into something. You know I do that."

"I do, but..." Logan studied James more closely. "The fact that you won't tell me what she said makes me feel like you're hiding things from me."

"Dude, can we not do this right now? We're already running late."

"Are you interested in her?"

"What?!"

"In Lucy? Is that why you're in such a hurry to get there?"

"Are you aware that she's gay?"

"I was about to ask you the same question."

"Well, the answer is yes. I do know. I admit I didn't know that before today, but now I do and she's..."

"She's what?"

"Nothing. Can't we just go?"

Logan could see that James was feeling cornered, and it piqued his curiosity but also reminded him of what Kendall had said earlier about James lashing out like a wounded animal when cornered. "I'm not trying to cause a fight," Logan said softly, pressing a hand against James' chest. "But I've been completely upfront with you from day one. Even with the Kendall thing, which I knew was going to upset you, I was an open book. I expect the same thing from my best friend."

James looked as if he was about to cry. "I'm working on it."

"On what?"

"On...things. Facing things about myself that I've tried to run from."

"I'm here, okay? If you feel the need to run, head in this direction. I'm always here for you."

James nodded slowly. "We should go."

Before allowing James to pass, Logan stood on tiptoe to kiss James' cheek. "Thank you."

"For what?" James asked quietly.

"For tonight. For putting up with him because you love me."

There was something in James' eyes when their gazes clashed, something Logan had never seen before. It caused his heartbeat to falter and his breath to catch. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but it was powerful.

"We should go," James whispered, and this time when he tried to pass, Logan allowed it.

They all met up near the snack bar, Lucy having driven Kendall after buying him dinner. When Logan started to move toward the line, Lucy placed a hand on his shoulder. "James and I can handle this, you two just go find seats. I'm assuming he knows what you want?"

When James didn't argue with her plan, Logan nodded. "He knows."

"Kendall?"

Silently thanking her with his eyes, as he knew this was part of Lucy's strategy to give him time alone with Logan, Kendall rattled off his order. "Here, let me—"

"It's cool, James is buying."

Again James said nothing to disagree, and Kendall shrugged. "Okay. Thanks, James."

"Just find us seats at least halfway back. I can't sit too close to the screen."

"I'll take care of it," Logan promised. He reached out for Kendall's hand as they headed toward the theaters.

Kendall spoke first. "James is...surprisingly agreeable to everything tonight."

"Yeah, he's definitely not himself. I'm a little concerned."

"Did he tell you what they talked about during lunch?"

"Nope. Just said something about how he misunderstood her last year and now he understands."

"Lucy won't tell me, either. She said it falls under the confidentiality thing. If she wasn't gay, I'd think she was into him."

"I know!" Logan exclaimed, pulling Kendall around a corner and into the theater. "I thought the same thing! But James swears it's not like that and he knows she's not straight. So...what the hell happened? I've never seen James be so..."

"Nice?"

"Not so much nice as trusting. It's like they're suddenly best friends and I don't know how to react."

"Oh, right there. Five seats in the middle. That okay?"

"Yeah, it's perfect."

Kendall waited until they were settled to say, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Are you jealous? Is that why this is so weird to you?"

Logan thought that over. "I don't think so? I admit it's weird to see James getting along so well with somebody else. I've never had to share him before."

"He said the same thing about you," Kendall pointed out. "And we know he's jealous."

"Yeah, but it's different. It's like he's not himself. And I think he's hiding something from me."

"Like what?" Kendall frowned.

"I don't know. He acted strange right before he left, said something about how he's working on facing himself. I don't know what to think. This whole day has just been strange."

"Try this whole week."

"Yeah." Logan laid his head on Kendall's shoulder, enjoying the freedom to do that. When Kendall's face tilted down toward his, though, he pulled away.

"Oh. Am I not allowed to kiss you here?"

"I thought we agreed not in public."

"I thought we agreed not with an audience. Which I assumed meant James."

"James will be here any second." When Kendall said nothing and instead looked away, Logan added, "It's not that I'm never going to kiss you in front of him."

"Are you sure? Because that's how it feels. I have a lot of patience, Logan, but if you can't even kiss me in front of your friends, that's something we need to talk about."

"It's complicated," Logan sighed.

"I don't think it is."

"I'm just not comfortable with kissing in public. It isn't about James."

"I see." Not sure how to feel about that, Kendall faced forward again.

Logan cuddled up to his arm. "Please don't be angry. We can talk about this later if you want."

Kendall let out a breath. "I'm not mad. I just...this is all new to me, you know? I don't know the rules of dating. In my mind, kissing in front of someone else isn't a bad thing. As long as you don't get too carried away."

"I don't know how to explain it."

Seeing James and Lucy enter the theater laden down with food and drinks, Kendall shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He waved their friends over.

"Did I just ruin this?"

After laying a hand over one of Logan's, which were still wrapped around his arm, Kendall kissed Logan's forehead. "You didn't ruin anything. I still can't wait to actually be alone with you."

"I can't either," Logan smiled. "Oh, I promised James he wouldn't have to sit next to you. Let's move over."

The other two took their seats so it was Kendall and Lucy on the ends, with Logan and James in the middle. It still confounded Logan that James would rather Lucy sit next to him than on Kendall's other side, but he had too much on his mind to worry about James at the moment.

James whispering through the previews was nothing new; James whispering to someone else during the previews proved to be annoying. Lucy's quiet giggles set his teeth on edge, and by the time the feature presentation started, Logan wanted to smack James for...well, he wasn't really sure. All he knew was that James was pissing him off.

"Want some of my candy?" Kendall whispered.

Logan didn't really, but he held out his hand anyway. It was usually James who shared candy with him, as Logan never bought it for himself. He glanced to his left just in time to see James pass the box of Sour Patch Kids over to Lucy.

The gesture left him livid.

"It's okay, James. You can cry on my sleeve tonight."

"You okay?" Kendall leaned over to ask, probably sensing Logan's tension. He nodded before snuggling up against his date and trying to brush off whatever was happening inside his head.

You're jealous. You're still in love with him and you're jealous that he's paying attention to someone else.

Suddenly James' irrational fears of losing Logan didn't seem quite so irrational.

What set Logan's mind at ease was the feel of James grabbing onto his sleeve during a highly charged moment of the movie. Whatever was going on between James and Lucy, it was still Logan he reached for in times of fear.

Kendall suddenly clutched at his right arm, causing Logan to smile. James cuddled up to his left, Kendall at his right, and...

Yeah. Life could certainly be worse.

Halfway through the movie and James thought he was doing pretty well. Lucy's presence helped immensely, giving him the distraction he needed so that he wasn't glued to Kendall every second. Or...at all.

Sure, he'd snuck a few furtive glances in because Kendall looked freaking hot tonight and it was impossible not to. James was only human.

The double whammy was watching Kendall snuggle up to Logan, because it was a slap-in-the-face reminder of two things he wanted desperately but would never have.

Whatever. I'm just going to enjoy the movie like I always do. Kendall can just deal with it.

For that reason, James didn't hold back. He hid his face in Logan's shoulder the way he always did during scary movies, relieved when Logan didn't attempt to stop him. Logan didn't even pull his hand away when James clutched it in fear and left their fingers intertwined. That honestly surprised James, as he'd expected that would be something Logan wouldn't allow in front of a date. But if Logan didn't mind it, who was he to complain?

Three minutes into the hand holding, Logan began to caress the back of his hand with a thumb. That was new. Curious to see how far it would go, James flipped his hand over so that it was his palm being circled lightly instead. Amazing how such a simple touch could set his body on fire. It was like he was being teased and it was intoxicating. Was this what James should have been doing all along? Getting Logan out on a date so that he would...

Do what, exactly? Why would Logan wait until he had a date with him to make such a seductive move? Of course, James was exaggerating this. It was a thumb on his palm, not a suggestion of sex.

Except suddenly it was more. James couldn't have explained how such a simple gesture was sexual, but Logan's fingers began to slide through his, back and forth, and then James' index finger was encircled by a tight grip that...

Oh my god. He's pumping my finger like a cock. Jesus fucking Christ, Logan, I can only handle so much.

James bit his lip and looked down at their intertwined hands, freezing when he realized what he should have understood from the start.

Somehow he'd clutched Kendall's hand by mistake. They had both reached down for Logan's hands, which were settled over his kneecaps as he watched the movie with intense concentration; he had no idea what was happening mere inches above his lap.

Kendall's fingers resumed their movement, James feeling like he might explode from the sexual tension, and he watched Kendall glance to his left to gauge Logan's reaction. Kendall realized quickly enough that Logan wasn't reacting at all, and looked down at their joined hands. His gaze moved up James' wrist to his arm and to his face before James could wipe away the desperate longing to be touched.

Oh, fuck me, James thought, in more ways than one. Their gazes clashed in the dark. James had to bite his lip again to keep a moan inside because just like a switch had been flipped, Kendall's face changed to that predatory hunger James had seen once before—the same hunger he always imagined on Rush's face. Kendall's grip tightened painfully, only making James hotter, and he shuddered.

As if on cue, a loud boom sounded in the theater, everyone jumping while half the viewers let out a scream. It was enough to break through their trance, both of them pulling their hands back as if scalded.

James was up and moving in two seconds, pushing his way past Lucy and the others in their row in a hurry to get away. He just needed to get away.

Logan started to rise, concerned, but Lucy held out a hand. "I got it," she whispered. "Stay with Kendall."

He considered it briefly before shaking his head and standing anyway. Fuck Lucy, she didn't know what James needed.

"Let him go," Kendall urged, pulling him back down. "Please. Just...give him a few minutes."

"He's upset."

"He's okay. Let him get himself under control."

Though Logan fretted over the idea that his best friend was hurting, he caved and let Lucy handle it.

After all, she seemed to be taking his place quite nicely.