James didn't sleep very well that night, since he had crazy butterflies in his stomach knowing that Logan would go outside with him the next day! He never would have expected him to make such incredible progress so quickly, but he did, and it was amazing. The agency would be thrilled once they found out. James might even get a raise. But did it matter? He didn't want to work with Logan for money.
At any rate, the day finally came and James made it to the apartment earlier than usual. As he opened the door, the sound of music poured in from the bedroom. He stepped in real carefully and listened and Logan began to sing to himself.
Late at night when all the world is sleeping
I stay up and think of you
And I wish on a star that somewhere you are
Thinking of me, too
James walked down the hallway and looked through the threshold of Logan's bedroom. He was sitting on his bed with a CD player, listening to one of his sister's albums. He must have heard James walking, because he suddenly startled and flipped the stereo off.
"James?" he called out nervously.
"Hey, sorry," James said. "Didn't mean to scare you.
"Ohh. It's okay. I just…haha…"
"What?"
Logan shrugged and looked cute. "The music is silly. It reminds me of her, so you know."
"It's not silly. I think it's pretty good. I didn't know you could sing like that."
"Ehh," the blind boy blushed and smiled coyly. "I dunno."
"Sounds nice," James said. "But we have better things to do than hang out in your room, right?"
"Right. Okay. Um. So, going outside…" Logan got to his feet and scrambled towards James. "I have a jacket by the door. And a pair of shoes. Anywhere in particular we're going?"
"Nope. Just as far as you can handle I guess." James took Logan's hand to his arm and directed him to the front door of the apartment. They found the jacket and shoes, got Logan dressed, and began their journey.
"I'm a little nervous," Logan confessed as they left the apartment and headed to the elevators.
"I know. You'll be alright. I'm here, remember?" James smiled as he spoke, and he felt Logan's grip on his arm tighten just a smidgen.
They called the elevator up and took it down to the lobby. Logan's breathing was steady yet heavy. James leaned over to his ear and whispered, "It'll be alright."
The doors opened and both of the boys stepped through. Their shoes clacked and shuffled across the ceramic tile floor as they made their way to the entrance of the building.
"Okay, this is the front door," James announced. "Think you're ready to go through? It's nice outside today. Not a lot of foot traffic. The sun is out."
"I'm ready," Logan said quietly. "Let's go."
"I'll go out first and then lead you in."
James put his back to the door and pushed it open. He took both of Logan's hands and, walking in reverse, stepped the two of them out onto the sidewalk. Logan held onto James's hands tightly, but his face looked serene. He stopped and let the world tell him what it had to offer. People were talking. All kinds of people. Someone was walking a dog, it sounded like. A woman was on her phone near the front of the building, yelling at someone way too loud. The bannister advertisements for his apartment building flapped overhead in the wind.
"Here!" James said. He bent his knees down and now pushed his back against Logan's chest. "Climb onto my back."
"Are you sure?" Nervous Logan asked.
"Yeah sure, I wouldn't do something I wasn't sure of. Just climb on."
Logan nodded to himself and jumped onto James's back. He put his legs around the aid's thin waist and his arms around his shoulders. James rose to his regular height and secured the blind boy with his arms.
"Try to keep your head on level with mine, so I can watch clearance and stuff."
"Ok." Logan pressed his cheek against James's temple. "Sure you can walk around with me here?"
"I'm strong as shit. I can do it. Just hang on tight, okay? I'm gonna start walking now."
Logan made a few peeps of fear as James began to stroll down the sidewalk, but it was such an invigorating experience, he quickly got over all elements of horror. The wind gently whipped at his face as smells and sounds soared by his senses. He heard a couple arguing, and a child asking many questions to its parent. Someone was baking bread, a large truck was idling its engine, and, oh, a fish market.
"What do you think?" James asked.
"I wish I could see," Logan whispered into his ear. "I'm sure I'm missing tons of details."
"Well," James began. He picked up the pace. "There's an old church up ahead. It's covered with pigeons. Probably the same birds every day. An old man comes out in the morning to feed them, but he's not here now. I see him a lot. Right now, the birds are watching a group of teenagers play hacky-sack.
"Okay, now we're passing the church. There's a playground but it's pretty vacant. One mother has a baby with a stroller. Oh, and now someone is walking a dog. Okay there are a lot of people on the sidewalk now. I think there's a food cart up ahead. Yeah, a big long line to get hotdogs and pizza, it looks like."
Logan giggled and smiled as James described the world around them. He held on tight.
"Thank you," the blind guy said quietly.
"Hmm?"
"Thank you for being here."
"No problem. I want to make things better. Isn't this better?"
"Yeah."
"Ready to go back?"
"Yeah."
So James turned around and took Logan back to his apartment. They had spent a good 20 minutes going up and down the sidewalk, and that was definitely a major success in James's book.
"I have a lot to write about today," Logan said as they returning to his apartment. "I'm excited!"
"I'm glad you're happy. It really was fun, huh? We should go out more."
"Yeah," Logan agreed. He took a seat at the kitchen counter and sipped on a glass of water that James drew for him.
"Just eggs gonna be okay?"
"Sure."
James started to cook their dinner with a chipper smile on his face. He had done a lot of good in his life, especially with that job, but nothing had been so rewarding as helping Logan. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever done. Seeing that lonely young boy flourish and grow, all because of his helping hand, almost sent chills down his spine.
"Smells good," Logan said. James put a plate of scrambled eggs down in front of him and sat down as well.
"Not a big deal," he said.
"Yeah but still. I'm soooo hungry!" Logan grinned and picked up his fork.
He ate relatively quickly and cleaned up the plate on his own. He was also a lot more tired than he had realized.
"I think I'll go to bed early tonight," he announced.
James finished wiping down the kitchen and flipped off the light. They meandered towards the front door. "Good," he said. "You'll need your sleep. I'll think of something fun for tomorrow, too."
"Hehe not too much," Logan said. "I don't want to overdo it."
" 'Course not. I'll figured something out."
"Mmmh…"
The shorter boy stood in the hallway before the door somewhat awkwardly. His brow furrowed.
"Well anyway," James began. "I'd better head home. I have some homework still."
"I…" Logan spat out.
"Huh?"
"I…" now he stepped closer to James. "I like you a lot."
"I like you a lot, too," James answered, getting red in the face. Logan walked even closer so that they were only a few inches apart.
"I appreciate what you do for me," he said with a cute, shy smile. "I really do."
"I'm glad," James said. "I'm really, really glad."
Logan reached out his hand and touched James's chest. He smoothed over the fabric and bit down on his lower lip. What was he doing? James swallowed hard.
"Th-thank you," Logan whispered.
"You thank me too much."
"Maybe, but I mean it. Not sure if you know how much you've done for me."
"I have an idea."
Logan suddenly jumped forward and flung his arms around James's waist. He embraced him real tight and pressed his face against his pecs. James blushed more, but he also put his arms around the smaller guy. They held onto each other in silence.
"You're my best friend," Logan whispered.
"You're…" James swallowed tight once more. He almost felt like he was about to cry. "You're my best friend too."
Just as awkwardly as Logan had started his goodbye, he let go of James and walked backwards very fast.
"Well, see you tomorrow," he said shortly.
"Um. Heheh. Yeah. See ya." James watched Logan smiling as he walked out.
