Okay everyone, chapter six.
I'm sorry for it being a day late, I found this chapter extremely difficult to write, I struggle with cutesy stuff, I much prefer writing anxiety ridden horror but hey, I made a promise :)
I hate to have to say this but this will be the last chapter I'm posting for about two weeks, exams are on at the moment so I need to kinda focus on that so I can pass... But to make up for it chapter seven will be fluff overload!
Chapter Six
Logan wasn't ready for this; he couldn't do this. The bell indicating the end of the school day had rung only two minutes earlier, but in a fevered rush Logan had made it to his locker in record time, stuffing the books he'd study with over the weekend into his bag. For the past minute the brunette had been standing by his locker, bag in hand; expecting his heart to give out at any moment.
He was going to be spending a whole afternoon with Carlos Garcia.
He was going to spend a whole afternoon with Carlos Garcia alone.
Logan began to feel faint.
Scenarios, both good and bad flashed before Logan's eyes. What if he said something wrong, what if Carlos didn't show up, what if Carlos admitted that he'd loved Logan from the first day he'd laid eyes on him?
Logan admitted to himself that the last idea was just wishful thinking, but he couldn't help himself from hoping; he'd gotten this far hadn't he?
"Hey Logan."
The brunette wasn't completely sure, but he thought he felt the ghost of a hand brush his back as the Latino appeared before his eyes, cheerful and smiling.
He couldn't do this.
Words began to tumble from Logan's mouth before he could stop them; "Hi Carlos, you're looking nice."
Logan wanted to ram his head into the nearby locker, you're looking nice? Seriously? Logan knew he'd seen the Latino only an hour earlier. Carlos smiled despite the awkward comment, cheeks turning a light rosy pink.
"Well, do you want to get going? I usually drive home from school."
Logan nodded silently, he didn't trust himself to speak anymore.
Logan's promise to himself lasted until Carlos found his car, which required more of his attention than Logan thought was needed. This was the third car they'd come to, Carlos having mistaken the previous two for his own. Luckily this vehicle did in fact belong to the Latino but what worried Logan even more was that all the cars Carlos had mistaken for his own all have looked dramatically different. One particular car being a cherry red, while the one that stood before them was a dull grey.
"Sorry about that," said Carlos, with a sheepish smile as they climbed into the car, "I guess I'm a bit distracted."
Logan didn't know exactly what Carlos had meant by the statement but he couldn't help but blush, he just hoped Carlos would be able to devote enough attention to drive without crashing.
"Its okay," Logan muttered, he was surprised he hadn't stuttered, the words had come with more ease, which Logan was thankful for.
"So, any plans for the assignment yet?" Asked Carlos as he turned the ignition, engine purring into life.
"No" answered Logan admittedly, "I didn't really have a chance to think it over much."
"Well I had an idea, if you'd like to hear it?"
Logan turned his head to stare at the Latino who had his eyes firmly planted on the road ahead; he'd sounded so unsure of himself, as if Logan would find his ideas inferior.
"Of course I'd like to hear it" Logan tried to sound reassuring but his voice faltered slightly, the sun overhead illuminated Carlos' olive skin in a beautiful yellow wash that Logan couldn't help but be mesmerised by.
Carlos continued to stare at the road ahead as he relayed his idea to Logan.
"Well I was thinking that the message we conveyed could be something like secrets; you know, because we all have them…"
The Latino trailed off, allowing the pair to fall into silence. Logan tried to give an answer but found he couldn't speak, Carlos' words had thrown him back to that Wednesday, when Logan had been foolish enough to let the Latino catch a glance of his scars. Then something hit him, something that knocked the breath of out the brunette.
What if Carlos was only doing this out of pity, because he only felt sorry for him? What if Carlos was only being nice because he felt he had to? Logan screwed his eyes shut; no, that couldn't be true, he wouldn't let it be. Somehow he felt that if that was the case it would hurt him more than Carlos hating him.
It was at times like these Carlos wished he wasn't so tactless. Logan looked like he was going to be sick, was it because of what he'd said? Carlos wished he'd just kept it to himself; this was too fast, Logan wasn't going to let him in just because they were working on a project together. The mistake he'd made upset the Latino more than he thought was necessary but he couldn't tolerate the thought of causing Logan pain; if hurt him more than he could understand.
"Hey are you okay Logan?"
Logan didn't reply for several seconds, only nodding his head after opening his eyes again, "yes, I'm fine, just a little motion sickness is all."
Carlos wasn't a high academic achiever, he was happy to admit that, but the lie was frail and the Latino could see right through it, he knew what he'd said had upset Logan.
"You know if you don't like the idea that's okay, we can always come up with another one."
"No, no, your idea is great…"
Logan fell into a brooding silence as Carlos turned into his driveway, pulling the car into park.
"Come on" he said to Logan before getting out, "we don't want to be wasting time."
"Carlos, is that you? You're home early."
Sylvia's voice rang out from the kitchen, accompanied by the aromatic scent of cooking. Carlos led Logan towards the room that was situated at the back of the house. Upon entering they saw Mrs Garcia facing the stove, throwing an assortment or ingredients into a pan.
"Carlos- oh, who's this?" Sylvia's face creased with a momentary confusion, but she quickly recovered, a smile gracing her features once again.
"Mum, this is Logan, he's ah, he's working on a project with me."
"Oh how lovely, nice to meet you Logan, are you boys hungry?"
Carlos looked to Logan in question but Logan only shook his head with a smile.
"No, we're good mum, thanks anyway."
"Okay," replied Sylvia, turning back to the stove, "I'll be here if you need anything okay?"
"Okay, we'll be upstairs."
Before Logan could thank Mrs Garcia for the offer Carlos dragged him off in the direction of the stairs, the Latino's hand clasped with his own. Logan couldn't help the flaring heat that rushed up his neck as Carlos lead him through a hall lined with photo's of Carlos through the years and other relatives. The stairs creaked underfoot as the two boys went up to the second storey, Logan's hand still locked in Carlos'. The brunette relished in the warmth the Latino's hand carried and tried desperately to beat down the crimson that insisted on remaining present in his cheeks.
"And this is my room." Said Carlos as he and Logan arrived at a closed door. He pushed open the door with a proud smile, hand still locked with Logan's as he led the brunette inside. Logan couldn't say he was overly surprised, the room looked exactly as he had imagined it, a chaotic mess of colour and shade. A desk was pushed up against the wall to the right, a bed against the opposite one. In between was a no man's land filled with clothes, books and an assortment of other objects that Logan couldn't identify.
"This is definitely, definitely homey…" Logan couldn't think of anything better to say, mind completely distracted by Carlos' firm hand that still securely held his own.
"Sorry for the mess, I didn't really give it much thought. " He dropped Logan's hand and collected up some stray articles of clothing, throwing them into a closet that stood by the desk. Logan stared down at his hand in slight shock, the absence of the Latino's hand bringing the fact that Carlos' hand had been locked with his own to reality. He'd been holding Carlos Garcia's hand, Carlos Garcia had been holding his hand!
For the first time Logan registered how fast his heart was thumping against his chest.
"Just make yourself at home."
Logan nodded silently to Carlos and picked his way through to his bed, taking a seat next to the stocky, shorter boy.
"So I was thinking," started Carlos, turning to face Logan, "we could go to the park, for inspiration or something."
"Yeah sure, I'd like that."
"Cool." Carlos grinned and leapt up, pulling a helmet from the anarchic disorder on the floor, pulling it down onto his head. A second later he held a skateboard and camera in each hand.
"Okay, lets go!"
Logan was left no choice but to follow as Carlos bounded from the room, confused as to how he could find anything in the disarray he called a bedroom.
"So how far away is the park?" Logan asked, standing next to Carlos, the two stood on the Garcia's front lawn, a slight breeze wafting through the air.
"Not far, a couple of blocks down, and it's all downhill so it doesn't take long."
Carlos set his skateboard on the road, planting his foot on it to hold it in place.
"Now, come over here, I want to try something out."
Logan raised his eyebrow, unsure of whether to obey the Latino's request. When Carlos noticed Logan hadn't moved from his place on the grass he smirked, holding out a hand, "come on, it'll be fun, trust me."
Logan gave in to the assurance in Carlos' voice, feeling a comforting warmth blossoming inside his chest. Logan felt like he was in some kind of dream, he'd never thought, not in his entire lifetime that he'd spend an entire afternoon with the boy that admittedly, he was in love with. Every smile Carlos flashed his way sent butterflies spiralling up into Logan's stomach, and every touch sent fireworks off in his head and caused hope to rise high in his heart. When he spent time with Carlos all of his troubles were forgotten, his parents, his pain, his struggle, everything was forgotten; only to be replaced with a pure and contended happiness at being able to spend time with the one person he wanted to be around.
Stepping forward Logan took Carlos' hand and allowed Carlos to direct his movement like a puppeteer. The Latino stood Logan on the front end of the skateboard, leaning over to speak in the brunette's ear, which sent shivers down Logan's body.
"Okay, just stand still on the front, and balance yourself so you don't fall." Carlos waited for Logan to right himself until he was comfortable.
"Good, now are you ready?"
Logan's heart was hammering against his ribcage at such a fast rate, he thought it might break out of his chest.
The brunette nodded hesitantly, taking a sharp intake of breath as he felt Carlos' hands settle of his shoulders.
"Okay, go!"
Logan felt Carlos kick off, the skateboard beginning to roll over the tarmac, slowly picking up momentum as the board made its way downhill. In a matter of moments the board was speeding off down the steep decline, Logan catching sight of the park that sat at the end of the sharply declining road. Their speed increased, the wind whipping savagely at Logan's hair, heart hurtling, Carlos shouting from behind him,
"Isn't this great!"
Despite the fear that had built up inside Logan he couldn't help but agree. The rush of the wind against his face, the houses flashing by in a blur, the vibration of the unsealed asphalt below, the park rushing up to meet them…
"Carlos?" shouted Logan, dread picking up in his voice, "how do we stop?"
For a moment Logan thought that maybe Carlos hadn't heard him, his words ripped away by the wind but his reply came soon enough.
"I hadn't really thought about that…"
The green was almost upon them and their speed was only increasing. Logan could only watch helplessly as details about the park began to become more prominent, garden beds bustling with vibrantly coloured flowers dotting the grounds, unoccupied benches sitting beneath towering trees, small flocks of birds settling on the grass... With a jarring halt the skateboard ran into the grass of the park and before Logan had time to react he was thrown into the air, landing on the grass with a thud and roll that took the breath out of him. Lying on his back and looking up at the clear sky Logan heard Carlos hit the ground with a grunt, wheezing as the breath escaped his lungs. After a few heaving breathes Carlos rolled over and nudged Logan, grinning like a maniac.
"That was fun."
Logan nodded in reply, smiling wildly.
"Camera's still good." Said Carlos, holding the object in question up, "I guess we should start getting inspired then."
As Logan raised himself unsteadily to his feet he could feel the earth tilting beneath him and quickly lost him balance, falling forward towards Carlos, who was still lying on the floor. Before Logan could say anything he collapsed onto Carlos' chest, face becoming buried in the crook of the Latino's neck. Carlos wheezed again at the sudden weight that had been added to his chest, laughing despite his lack of breath.
"Logan!"
"Sorry!" said Logan, raising his head to look at Carlos, blushing when he met the Latino's eyes.
"No, its okay, its not like we got hurt."
Logan could feel Carlos' chest rising and falling beneath him, this was a dream come true, the brunette savoured the moment, willing it to never end. But it ended all too quickly, seconds passing by all too fast. Getting to his feet again Logan held out his hand for Carlos, who took it and climbed onto his own feet.
"Thanks," said Carlos with a smile, hand still firmly gripping Logan's.
"No problem" said Logan, smiling uncontrollably.
"After we've done this, did you maybe want to stay for dinner? I could drive you home."
It took Logan a couple of moments to comprehend what Carlos had asked, but the offer had romantic scenarios rushing through Logan's mind. Logan looked down at their hands, which remained entwined with one another, Logan relishing in the feel of it. He looked back up to meet Carlos' eyes, leaning in as he answered.
"I'd love to."
I have real doubts about this chapter; I'm not really liking it.
Please tell me what you guys thought, I love the feedback, I really want to know if this chapter was actually any good.
I shall be seeing all you folks in two weeks, so until then stay amazing :)