As promised, here is Chapter five :D
Admittedly I rushed the editing with this one, so please don't go all grammar nazi on me.
Chapter six shall be up very soon and that means fluff!
Am I more excited than you guys are? I guess I just lonely :P
Anyways I hope you all enjoy and if you don't feel free to send hate mail, because I don't get any kind of mail...
Chapter Five
Logan wouldn't open the door.
He couldn't open the door.
"Let me in you insolent shit!"
Logan could feel the wooden frame shake under the force of his father's blows. Silent tears fell down the young brunette's face as he leant back against the door, not daring to move, nor speak.
"I'll kill you, I swear it!" The rattling continued, more intense now. His father's screams of fury echoing throughout the house; Logan let out a shuddering breath, trying to compose himself.
He'd stop soon wouldn't he?
He'd have to give up sometime right?
The thoughts didn't give Logan any solace; he felt more alone now than he ever had. From Logan's place at the door he was staring directly at his bedroom window; it was large and paned and Logan would usually open it on those warmer summer nights. But right now he wasn't thinking about the cool air it provided on those nights; his mind was filled with only one thought.
He wondered if he'd survive the fall.
Directly below the window lay the concrete driveway but Logan didn't know if the fall would be high enough for it to be fatal, he might only break a few bones. Abruptly he was pulled out of his thoughts by the sudden absence of his father's jolting pummels against the door.
He'd stopped.
He'd given up.
Carefully and silently Logan picked himself up from the floor, legs shaking uncontrollably as he headed over towards the window. Tears continued to trace their way down the brunette's cheeks as he pulled the window open, welcoming the cool night air. Looking down to the ground below Logan thought that maybe he'd die if he went head first, his skull dashing against the paving in a stroke of crimson red.
He leant out into the night, closing his eyes against the darkness and cold, hands gripping the edges tightly. Logan wanted nothing more than to let go but something stopped him.
Please Logan, don't do it, not now, not when things have a chance of looking up.
Opening his eyes Logan looked around, looking for the source of the small voice but he knew it'd come from him, his mind; and not for the first time, his mind was right. Logan couldn't do it, not when everything was starting to get better, despite the business with Kendall. Carlos Garcia was finally in his life and he couldn't just let that go; he had a chance now; a chance to be happy.
With numb legs Logan stumbled back from the open window, emotions hitting him in a wave that knocked him to the ground. Choked sobs rose from Logan's throat again, that ache coming back to throttle his heart. Maybe now he had a reason to live and Logan vowed to himself that he'd hold onto that with all his heart; least he'd walk into the arms of death to be loved for the first time.
"He'll save me," Logan whispered to himself in the hush of his bedroom.
"My prince will save me."
Carlos Garcia lay on his bed in the darkness, watching the luminescent glow of the numbers of his alarm clock change in a slow progression.
Logan
Since the Latino had flicked off the light the brunette wouldn't leave his thoughts. Carlos couldn't help but visualise the rare flash of his cute smile; the one that left Carlos in a euphoric daze, or his flawless eyes that shone with that golden hue when the sun caught them, even his slim and lithe figure that he kept hidden beneath all those cardigans and sweaters.
Logan
Carlos sighed to himself in frustration; he hadn't any idea what was going on. Surely it wasn't normal to feel this way about someone he'd barely spoken to? Carlos didn't have an answer to the question he'd posed to himself but he couldn't bring himself to care. Ever since that incident in the hall his feelings for Logan had been steadily growing, now to the point where it kept him awake at night.
Logan
Even the name sounded beautiful; Carlos couldn't find a single thing about Logan he didn't like, not the paleness of his skin or the scars that plagued his arms. He thought Logan was perfect and Carlos was still adamant to help him in any way imaginable. Tomorrow he'd talk to Mrs Martin about tutoring and he'd finally be able to get into Logan's life; to live up to the promise he'd made to himself. Carlos would pick up the broken boy and put him back on his feet, hold him when he hurt and smile when he did.
"Logan" Carlos whispered to himself in the darkness.
"I'll save you Logan, I'll be your prince."
"Carlos, would you please stay behind, I need to speak with you." Carlos strolled up to Mrs Martin's desk slowly, watching as the other students filtered out of the classroom, catching sight of Logan, head downcast. Carlos frowned; he hoped that soon he'd be able to change that. As the last straggling student left the schoolroom Mrs Martin cleared her throat, flicking a strand of stray ebony hair behind her shoulder.
"Now Carlos, last night I marked the test you sat yesterday and I was very shocked to see your results. You did very poorly and I'm concerned, finals being in only a couple of weeks. You may think this is a little drastic but I'm going to suggest tutoring for you Carlos."
Carlos struggled to quell the grin that threatened to highjack his features, heart racing in anticipation; "I understand Mrs Martin, who would you suggest to tutor me, I guess I'll need someone who' really good so I was thinking-"
"Actually Carlos" interrupted Mrs Martin, "I'll be tutoring you, twice a week."
In the space of a sentence the Latino's whole plan had fallen to shattered pieces.
"Pardon?" said Carlos, frozen with shock.
"I said I'll be tutoring you Carlos, will that be a problem?"
"No, no problem" Carlos managed hoarsely.
"Okay good, then I'll see you on Wednesday afternoon."
Carlos nodded soundlessly and shuffled out of the room, at loss for what to do. His plan had failed, he and Camille had both missed the biggest flaw; it'd been completely overlooked. Now what could he do?
Carlos joined Camille and James at their usual lunch table, feeling useless and empty. Carlos vaguely heard Camille mention something about Lucy being sick and Kendall and Jo working on some assignment together but he wasn't altogether listening.
"Are you okay?" James asked the sullen Latino, "It looks like someone killed your puppy."
"The plan failed" muttered Carlos, eyes downcast, "the plan failed."
He continued to mutter the phrase over and over again in succession, thumping his head against the table top.
James only watched in mild amusement, eyebrows raised and arms crossed.
"What do you mean the plan failed, do you mean mission help-Logan-at-all-costs?"
Carlos raised his head to look at Camille, a frown plastered on his face.
"Since when did it have a name?"
"How could it have possibly failed?" asked Camille, horrified, "it was perfect!"
"Mrs Martin insisted on tutoring me herself" groaned Carlos, resuming the thumping of his head against the table, "someone get me a shovel, I'm going to go and dig a hole and die."
James' mouth curled up in a smirk, "I told you not to do it" he said, smugly, "just leave him be Carlos."
Carlos' head shot up to glare at James, but Camille interjected before an argument could breakout.
"So what are you going to do now?" She demanded, "we can't just give up."
"I don't know" said Carlos, shaking his head, "this was your idea to start with."
"It was?" asked Camille, confused.
"Don't worry" answered the Latino, "we just need to come up with another plan, easy enough right?"
"Why?" asked James, "please, can the two of you just leave it, if Logan wants help he can ask for it."
"Don't be like that James, we've already talked about this" said Camille, "he needs help."
"Then surely he can ask for some?" James insisted, refusing to back down.
"Who is he going to ask James, you know he doesn't have any friends," Carlos supplied, trying to sound reasonable, keeping the anger out of his voice.
"Well the two of you seem to be pretty close, why can't he just ask you." The venom in James' tone was unmistakeable and both Carlos and Camille were taken aback by his hostility.
"James…" Camille started, treading carefully.
"You know what, don't even worry about it, you two can do whatever you want, I don't care." James stood, shot both of them acidic scowls and turned sharply on his heel, quickly disappearing into the crowd that frequently massed in the halls of the cafeteria.
"He seems to just be getting more and more worked up about this" muttered Camille, staring in the direction James had stormed off in.
"Yeah" agreed Carlos, "its kinda scary…"
"Maybe one of us should talk to him then" said Camille.
Carlos shook his head, "you know James, if he'd wanted to say something more he would have, whatever the problem is he obviously isn't ready to share."
Camille nodded slowly, "I just hope he doesn't stay annoyed at us for long."
"It's hard to say with him" said Carlos, "in that sense he's kind of like a girl…"
Camille punched him in the shoulder, "says the boy who wants to crawl in a hole and die."
"Okay everyone, like I mentioned yesterday today I'll be giving out the assignments. You'll be working in pairs." Mr Petersen droned in a monotone as he stood in front of the media class, looking lanky and awkward. Logan watched from his place at the back of the class as the heads of about half the class members swivelled to stare at Carlos, who seemed completely oblivious. Its like they worshipped him; Logan wouldn't be surprised if they made a human sacrifice for him or something like that.
"The pairs you'll be working in will be allocated by me." The atmosphere of excitement that had built up in the room swiftly died with Mr Petersen's words.
"This is a mixed media project, so you can use any type of media to do it; photography, film, radio and so on but you must use this media to convey an important and meaningful message of your choice. Okay, now the groups are as following."
Logan stopped listening as Mr Petersen called out pairings, instead boring holes in the back of Carlos' head with his eyes forlornly. He knew he'd probably be paired with some random and all the work would be left to him, it happened far too often. People shuffled around the classroom to join their assigned partners, some looking ecstatic while others looked completely hapless.
"Logan Mitchell…" Logan perked up at the sound of his name; he swore Mr Petersen did this for some kind of vindictive pleasure, like it was some kind of twisted hobby.
"Logan Mitchell, please come and join Carlos Garcia up the front here, you'll be his partner for this project."
Logan's stomach dropped. Did he hear that right? Did he actually get paired with Carlos for a project? He rose on unsteady legs, trying his best to ignore the venomous looks shot his way; this had to be some kind of dream, some terribly bittersweet dream. Mutely Logan took the vacant seat next to Carlos, not daring to meet his eyes.
Logan was in his media class!? How had Carlos never noticed before? The Latino mentally slapped himself; this fixed everything; the tutoring didn't matter anymore, through this project he could get close to Logan. Everything had worked out. Carlos had to restrain himself from jumping for joy as Logan stood up from his place in the back to take a seat next to him; it was like a god had answered his unspoken prayers. As Mr Petersen read out the last few pairings the class burst out in chatter, people hurriedly constructing plans for the assignment.
"Hi Logan." Carlos said, smiling.
"Hi" replied Logan meekly, ducking his head.
"So, do you have any ideas?" asked Carlos, trying to keep the conversation flowing. Logan shook his head mutely, refusing to meet Carlos' eyes.
"Well how about photography? I'm pretty good with a camera and I bet you are too" Carlos tried to ignore the knots forming in his stomach; this was harder than he thought it would be. But to his relief Logan smiled at the compliment and nodded slowly, "okay, I like photography, that works."
Logan finally raised his head to look up at Carlos and the little dimples that had formed at the corner of his mouth almost caused the Latino to burst out into exultant hysterics. Suddenly an idea hit him and Carlos silently praised himself for his stroke of radical genius.
"Hey Logan?"
"Yeah" replied Logan, eyes widening.
"Um… How would you like to come to mine after school so we could make a start on the project? You know just so you get ahead..." Carlos' heart was beating erratically as he trailed; what if Logan rejected the offer? What was he supposed to do?
"Yeah, okay"
Carlos' eyes widened in surprise, a grin spreading over his face, "really, are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure," answered Logan, smile widening.
"Great" said Carlos, practically bouncing in his seat, "I'll meet you by your locker okay?"
"Okay." Agreed Logan, the brunette's heart and mind racing.
As the two dived back into planning a thought suddenly occurred to Logan, one that made his already elated heart almost burst with anticipation.
How did Carlos instinctively know where his locker was?
Chapter six up in two or three days probably, but until then it is goodbye :)
(Oh, and feel free to post a review or follow or whatever, much appreciated)