"SORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRY!" Carlos shrieks and slams the door. He stays with his back against it, outside of the bathroom. "I'm SO sorry, guys," he says.
Logan has retracted into his side of the tub, arms folded, and James is just lying backward staring at the ceiling.
"You could…knock…next time…" James says.
"I heard you both in there, so I thought you wouldn't be doing anything like that."
"I'm getting out," Logan says very quickly. He climbs out of the bathtub and grabs a towel.
"Logie, you can stay, come on," James gripes, but Logan looks back at him and presses his lips together. "A little awkward," he says, toweling off. Then he puts his clothes back on and pops his head out of the door. Carlos is gone.
"Logan," James sighs. "Can't you come back? I don't feel well."
"Not while Carlos is here. What's he thinking now?" Logan shakes his head and leaves James alone in the bathroom. He sneaks down the hallway, looking for their Latino friend and trying to come up with an excuse for the bath. Carlos is sitting in the living room, looking at his phone.
"Uhhh, hey uhhh, Carlos," Logan says sheepishly. Without taking his eyes off of his phone Carlos says, "Hey."
"Did you have a good time with your friend? Or whatever?"
"Uh huh."
"You ummm, okay?" Logan steps over to the back of the sofa very slowly, arms folded. Carlos is texting someone. "Mmmhmmm," he hums and then he looks back at Logan. He has the usual Carlos grin on his face. "You and Jaammmeees…"
"Yes?" Logan stands awkwardly on his heels.
"You and James were doin' it."
"No we weren't."
"Then what were you doing?"
"Just snuggling."
"Interesting," Carlos says, trying to look smarter than he really is. "That's not what I thought snuggling was."
"What do you know about snuggling?"
"Probably a lot," the Latino rebuts. "I mean, a lot. 'Cause I've been doing it."
Logan throws his hands up into the air suddenly and starts bitching in a Kendall-like tone. "You've been out with someone and you get shitty with me and James?!"
"I wasn't being shitty," Carlos sneers with a flick of his tongue. "I was just sayin'."
"Well don't tell Kendall, okay?"
"I won't…why not?"
"Because I don't want him to know."
"Whhhy?" Carlos teases. He puts his phone on one of the sofa cushions and turns around, elbows propped up on the neck rest and shakes his butt in a mocking manner. "You liiiiike him?"
"No I don't," Logan insists. "If you must know, I like James, but this is obvious by now I guess. Then again, someone like you might not even pick up on that."
"Yuh huh, I did. I get it. You were doin' it."
Logan groans loudly. "We were not doing it!"
"Yeah but you were at some point, right?" Carlos continues to make teasing faces at Logan. "Taking care of James while he's sick, huh? Huuuuh?"
"Shut up," Logan barks. He folds his arms and turns back to go down the hallway, trying his best to ignore Carlos and whatever the hell he's up to, but the Latino is relentless. "You can't hide what's inside!" he yells out. "Or something! That wasn't supposed to sound dirty! Sorry! But I guess maybe it's true!"
Hurrying away now, Logan turns back into the bathroom. James is just toweling off and the water in the tub is almost gone down the drain. He looks over his shoulder at Logan but stays quiet.
"Carlitos is just being a dick," Logan says in a huff.
"Okay," James quietly utters. He hangs up the towel and starts to get dressed.
"What's wrong?" Logan asks.
"You're supposed to be taking care of me, and then you flip out and run off like that."
"But Carlos came in on us. That's no small thing."
The taller boy pulls his shirt over his sparkly body and makes a pouty face at Logan. "But I'm siiiick," he whines. "I need you to take caaare of me."
Logan can't resist the Diamond pout. His brains knows that it's stupid and just James being a pain the ass, but seeing his lower lip jut out and those beautiful eyes glisten desperately makes Logan want to do just about anything for him.
"Okay," Logan sighs. "What do you need? What hurts?"
James takes a few slow steps up towards where Logan is standing. He puts both of his hands onto the shorter boy's shoulders, delicately tickling the sides of his neck and lets his voice fall into a deep whisper. "My heart," James says.
"Your heart? Your heart shouldn't be hurting. Is it indigestion? I can't imagine anything you ate gave you-"
"Yeah, my heart," James interrupts. He stifles a small cough and gets close enough to Logan that their chests meet. "My heart hurts."
"Why does it hurt, do you know?" Logan asks, obviously foiled by his own ignorance and lack of romanticism, as he starts to get worried. "What can I do?"
"My heart hurts 'cause you aren't in it," James whispers. He runs his hands up to Logan's cheeks and pulls him in for a kiss. Their lips meet and begin to wrestle like well-seasoned lovers. After a few moments of smacking around, Logan pulls away and whispers, "I've been in it."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
James presses his forehead against Logan's and closes his eyes, sighing in relief. "I've been thinking," he continues. Logan finds this statement hard to believe but gives him the benefit of the doubt regardless. "Been thinking about us. It's stupid to not date, right?"
"Yeah, that's what I've been saying."
"'Cause well," the tall guy opens his eyes once more and stares into Logan's gaze. He smiles nervously, just for a second.
"Hmm?" Logan asks.
"'Cause I love you."
"I love you, too," Logan sighs. He starts to laugh as he gives James a hug. "I love how you fuck me, and I love how you're a good friend."
"I love how I fuck you and how you take care of me. You make the Diamond shine, Logan; you make the Diamond shine."
"That's silly," Logan mumbles.
"You're silly!" James insists, but Logan just sticks out his tongue and lets go of him. He opens the bathroom door and, bouncing on his heels, tells James to follow. They leave the room together and tiptoe down the hallway, carefully watching where Carlos is and trying not to bother him with whatever he's up to. Logan leads them down to his own bedroom, where he slides the door open and slips through. Once they're securely inside, James takes Logan up in his arms once more in a big swoop and holds his face close.
"Umm!" Logan whines. He blushes and stares up at James with a shy expression.
"What!?" James spits out. He's a little annoyed that Logan can't just go along with the romanticism he has inside of him that's finally shining through.
"What are we gonna do about Carlos?"
"Yeah, that's a good question. I dunno. You're the smart one. You think of something."
"Okay, so Carlos knows we're romantically involved," Logan explains. He wriggles his way out of James's embrace and begins to pace across the bedroom floor, holding one hand up to his chin in a thinking pose. "It doesn't make him mad or grossed out, but I can't guarantee he won't tell Kendall, and I have no idea how Kendall will feel."
"Does it matter?" James asks. He flops down on the bed and watches Logan pace. "Like, Kendall is our friend, and he said he would be there for us no matter what we did. So he should be cool with this, right?"
"I guess so…"
James curls up underneath the sheets. "I'm cold," he complains.
"You are? Does anything hurt? Actually hurt, I mean."
"Nah, I'm feeling pretty alright, I'm just cold."
Logan comes to the bedside and kneels down to James's level. He feels his forehead and looks his face over a little bit. "I'm glad you're getting better so quickly."
"I have a good doctor," James giggles.
"Heheh, well," Logan chuckles to himself and runs his fingers through James's soft hair. "I do my best."
"And you do great. But I think I need some more snuggle therapy."
"Oh?"
"Mhm."
Logan gets off of his feet and slides into bed next to James. They spoon together.
"Your bed is super comfy," James says.
"Yeah."
"Your body is super comfy, too."
"Well…"
"Can we take a lil nap?"
"Yeah. You probably need it."
"Mmmm…" James sighs real loud and pulls Logan's back even closer to his chest, holding him quite firmly. He nuzzles his face into the crook of Logan's neck and drifts off into yet another pha