Logan was so excited to have Kendall over at the house for the whole day, but it felt awkward introducing him to the other people there.
Instantly, Jennifer refused to speak to Kendall, a first for her not to speak, so she simply looked away while Logan pleaded with her to say something, anything to the blonde.
Fender seemed to like Kendall and gave him a hug before getting back to his guitar and trying a new tune out that the blonde seemed to like.
Lucy didn't mind Kendall, but she was too anti-social to really talk to him in the first place, so it didn't matter.
Craig liked him immediately, trying to get him to go outside and play football with him, but Kendall politely declined.
Jason had made his mind with Jennifer to not like him, so he would leave the room every time Kendall came in, which for some reason the blonde thought was amusing.
Sam was too aloof to even notice a new person in the house at the moment, but the brief exchange they had went well; he didn't care if there was a new person.
And Stefanie thought Kendall was good-looking, so instantly she started to flirt with him to the best of her ability, but the blonde couldn't seem to take his eyes off of the nervous brunette.
Obviously it meant a lot to Logan that the others in the house liked Kendall instantly, so a few being opposed obviously hurt his feelings. He didn't realize in the real world, someone not liking someone else is normal, not everyone agrees, but being sheltered to the extent Logan was could cause confusion like that. After about an hour and a half of introductions, person by person, the brunette finally took Kendall up to his room to rest.
"Kendall," the petite teen started, turning onto his back on the bed, "Thank You for not leaving yesterday, even when I woke you up. It was, sweet."
"Why would I leave when you started screaming," Kendall said, quirking his eyebrow, "you're not the first person to ever have a nightmare Kisses, and you won't be the last."
"Yeah," Logan giggled a little which meant the charm was working, "But it wasn't just a onetime thing; that kind of happens to me every night."
"Well, every night I'll wake you up when it starts. Just scream for me."
"Not funny"
"I thought it was."
"Ha. Now that was funny."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kendall asked, scratching his head like he was actually clueless even if he could tell Logan was just in a nervous, catty mood. It was sexy in a weird way when he was in that mood.
"Wait," Logan shouted, jumping off the bed a little, "does that mean you are staying over every night," Logan interjected, his face starting to gleam when Kendall remembered the outside world.
The world outside the tiny cluster of houses filled with a few people and a Nurse's station. A world where he had a girlfriend and was the Pastor's son and he was a straight, christian boy.
And it was very hard for him to realize that he couldn't stay with the smaller teen every moment for the rest of time because he didn't technically exist to him. Logan looked distressed when Kendall's phone started to ring in his jean pocket.
"Kendall, Kendall, you're phone, it's going off, you have to get that out of here Kendall, please get it out. Please, no more noise," the brunette was gripping his hair fiercely when Kendall woke from his haze of realizations. But the phone wasn't what concerned him, it was the balled up boy next to him.
"What's wrong Kisses," the phone still buzzing in his jean pocket.
"Please. Stop the noise. I can't hear myself think. Or I can. I don't-," he started to sob, "Please. Stop the sound. I can hear the voices. They're trying to surface again." He was clenching his throbbing head when Kendall rushed to turn the phone off, not wanting to hurt the smaller boy. He threw the phone towards the door, desperately trying to get it as far away as possible so it couldn't hurt Logan again. He bent down into the brunette and tried to get him to calm down.
"It's okay," he whispered, rocking the boy under him, "It's all okay, don't be afraid, I'm here for you, I'll keep the voices from ever hurting you again." And Kendall liked the sound of that, the idea of protecting Logan in general sounded good to him, but protecting him from himself was something almost precious. If Logan let him do this, it meant the brunette and him were one step closer to being something real. "Can I ask something though; why did that of all things set you off."
"There are no cell phones allowed in the house for the same reason there are no computers or no cable television," Logan started, still composing himself and staring at Kendall like it was absolutely obvious, "we all have certain ticks and so on that set off the emotional reaction for the brain to trigger a response that could call for hallucinogens. It's why certain things have to be specifically avoided and sterilized while we try to recover. It is a very time consuming process, but it's necessary to ensure that we can cage the voices ourselves or we will never truly be able to live in the outside world."
"But if a simple ring tone can set you off, what makes you think you could ever really recover," Kendall immediately got how his words could be taken wrong and he looked at Logan to see how it had affected him. He was sitting up finally and for some reason, smirking back at the blonde.
"Well, that's the point of living in this house Kendall," he said matter-of-factly, "we have to have things slowly introduced back into our lives before we can go back out. This recovery isn't a few month process for me and everyone else here. It's more like a few year experiment to see if our batch turns out better, like the others before us. Between pills and therapy once a week, we slowly get over some of our problems and are able to get things back slowly. First a laptop with no internet. Then a phone with no internet. Then a phone with internet. Then a restricted internet. Then full internet access and so on to communicate via digital signals. Then we are done here." Kendall thought it was the cutest thing when Logan would get all technical about explaining things and so on. But honestly, he thought Logan was cute all around. There was a moment of silence while Kendall starred into the brunette's eyes with a smile and time seemed to stop. Why was Logan so incredible?
"Ah crap," the blonde shouted when he saw the time on the clock, "its noon already."
"What's wrong, why is it bad to be noon, we're about to have lunch together downstairs."
"I'm so sorry Kisses, but I have to go to something at the church today for my dad; I really can't miss it."
"Okay, but does that mean you are leaving me here."
"You can come if you'd like Logan, but it's a religious event with a picnic. Do you think that it could end up being too much for you to handle."
"Yeah, you're right, I'll stay here," Logan said it defeated, putting a crack in Kendall's heart.
"Look, I'll come right back, I promise, I'll be back by tonight with your surprise."
"You mean our date."
"You'll just have to wait till I get back won't you."
"I guess so,"
"Bye Kisses," Kendall hugged Logan tight before grabbing his coat.
"Have fun Kendall" Logan said, craving to kiss Kendall again like those times, but realizing it would be inappropriate at the time. The brunette watched Kendall rush out the door in a hurry before he walked back up the stairs to Fender's room. It was his usual time to go hear Jennifer and Fender play together right before lunch and Logan was excited today especially. He loved to hear them play, but their best days were always Saturdays because everyone would come to watch like it was a performance. And sometimes Lucy would go up and sing with Jennifer which always seemed like a match made in music heaven.
"Hey Logie," Jennifer said as soon as the petite teen entered, "He's not here with you anymore is he."
"He just left Jay, but he'll be back a little later for our. Date," Logan put his hands up to his heart and fell back onto the bed dramatically.
"Well, I don't like him," Jennifer retorted, discussing the song as best she could with Fender without paying attention to Logan anymore. Whenever Jay didn't get her way she'd always do this so it didn't feel so out of place, just a little rude. Lucy showed up next and then ten minutes later, everyone showed into the cramped bedroom were Fender lived. And the show began.
Kendall hated these church picnics, but he acted like he enjoyed them for the same reason he acted with everything else; because he knew the only way to get what he wanted was to give a little. His dad made the rounds to the older people at each table before finally giving Kendall a quick greeting and going to the pulpit were he always stood. Even outside during the day, he had to stand and make it clear that he was the pastor. It was annoying. But not more annoying than his next guest would be.
"Kendall Austin Knight," Jo shrilled from behind him in her usual wardrobe of short shorts and T-shirts, "were in the heck have you been all day. I tried calling and I think you hung up on me."
"I told you Jo, I've been at the mental institutions administering to the sick there," he said, trying to just get her to disappear.
"Since Yesterday,"
"They need the most help Ms. Taylor, you should know from this summer," she gave him a sharp look and grabbed his hand, pulling him behind a wall were no one could see.
"Look, let's cut the bull-shit and get down to business," Jo said intensely, out of character for her repetitive, Super-Jesus stance to everything.
"Wow, harsh words for a nun in training."
"Zip it Kendall, are you cheating on me."
"You're actually asking if I'm cheating on you with a crazy person," Kendall gave her a bizarre look to show how stupid it was, even if it was the truth.
"I remember camp very clearly this summer and I remember that kiss with the psycho boy, so I'll ask again, are you cheating on me."
"It was a boy Jo,"
"Look, you've been acting differently since it all happened and I need to know. I can't keep, homos, around me. I won't, so, if that's what you choose, then maybe you should go away."
"Jo, don't you think if I was gay, I would have left you at this point."
"I don't know what to think anymore Kendall."
"Okay, think about this," he cut her off with a kiss like he did anytime he just couldn't form thought right, but he felt nothing when he touched her lips, but a longing to see the brunette again. The brunette was his only 'Kisses'; he felt like it was a sin to even touch Jo's lips.
"Definitely not a fag," she said, coming up from the kiss with a big smile, "I'm sorry if I offended you dear, I was just worried about you, but of course I was wrong again."
"Of course," Kendall repeated with a tinge of guilt, because of course he wasn't secretly in love with the beautiful boy who was crazy. Of course.
Logan sat on the couch anxiously awaiting Kendall's arrival, but by eight-thirty, panic started to set in with him. Did Kendall decide he was too insane to stay with and got away when he could? Was he forbidden from leaving and Logan didn't have a phone to hear him from? A million different theories ran through his head when he heard the knock on the door. Practically jumping out of his skin when he heard the disturbance, he ran to the door and unlocked it as fast as he could. And there, gorgeous as ever, was Kendall with a few bags and a big purple bear.
"I knew you wouldn't want to leave, so I decided to pick something up, but I wasn't sure what you wanted," Kendall offered, "so I just went by a fast food place and got you a burger and some fries because I figure everyone likes that." Logan immediately hugged Kendall after he said it, almost forcing him to drop everything, but he caught his balance before anything could happen.
"I missed you so much Kendall," Logan said to the blonde boy who was setting the food out on the small coffee table in the center of the room. Logan usually didn't eat at a dining table, so he didn't mind were ever they were, just as long as Kendall was nearby, "Maybe for a while you could not leave me again."
"Are you asking me to stay with you all the time from now on," Kendall asked, smirking.
"Well, maybe, I mean, yeah, kinda," Logan responded, biting into his bottom lip and starring around the room, avoiding the blonde's stare.
"I have school and work Kisses," he said, planting a kiss on top of Logan's head.
"Oh," Logan whispered, embarrassed at how stupid the question was, "that was dumb wasn't it."
"No sugar," Kendall said, wrapping his arms around Logan's waist, "What would be dump was if I had said no."
"So, is that a yes," Logan questioned, still not able to stare in Kendall's eyes yet for fear of judgment.
"Yeah Kisses," Kendall responded, a huge smirk enveloping his mouth while he started sitting himself and Logan on the couch, "Why would I ever want to be away from you."
"I like you Kendall."
"I like you too Logan, I like you a lot," And finally, they sat down to actually enjoy their mini-date.
"I got this for you at the picnic today Kisses," Kendall said after they almost finished eating, "I thought you'd like it." Logan had a big smile when he grabbed the bear and hugged it tight to his body.
"It's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me Kendall," the brunette said when he kissed Kendall on the cheek. "I lo-, I like this a lot; I want to thank you for all this; this was an amazing first date."
This time it was Kendall left smiling because he could tell that wasn't what Logan meant to say. And honestly, it was the crappiest first date he'd every planned for someone else, but the difference between Logan and all the others was that the brunette was special and so he had to do this as gently as possible. When the brunette started to cuddle into his chest while they were watching the movie on the couch, Kendall realized he'd done just right.
Author's Note: Don't judge me for already breaking schedule but I just can't stick to the times thing; it almost killed me. You can check, I took it out the times from the chapter four author's note. Anyway, so this may seem like weird timing, but I have a football game to go to tonight. I'm totally serious. Not by choice either, so don't worry; I'm not changing too much. Your own little gay teen at his High School football game *bitter smile*. I'm gonna go watch a totally straight game were hot and heavy boys go crash into each other and get all sweaty and touch each other's asses after they win to celebrate. And there's even a position called 'the Tight End'. That doesn't remind me of anything gay at all. It's like the straightest game in the whole wide world. So, I hope this was a good chapter for you because it seemed to take forever to write. Usually my problem is I write the others to fast and they become a drain on myself for like thirty minutes, but this one was like a really slow trickle. Okay, so for anyone who thought that the stone scene was so, 80's typical teen romance cliché, well, I love 80's teen romances. I mean the breakfast club is an absolute classic. Anyway, so I just want to say, if that was super cliché, get ready cause it will get worse. I have an adoration for camp and cliché like any good gay boy would; so, sorry if that's not your forte. But I won't let it ruin the story. Never. Anyway, make me feel like three million bucks and go review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. You have no idea how happy they make me. I just smile like a giant idiot while reading them and then I get inspired. Ergo, you all totally inspire me so much and I super-duper love you. Try to say that five times fast with a lisp. It's impossible. Luv Ya. XoXo