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Aiden: You guys still up for the plans tmr? Ben is
Ashlyn: 👍
Logan: My grandparents are okay with it as long as Ash’s dad is there
Aiden: K cool!!
Ashlyn’s dad would be there, and Tyler couldn’t have been more grateful. For one, parental supervision of a group of six teenagers ice skating was a smart idea, considering one of said teenagers was Aiden. Secondly, Tyler was glad that Logan would be there. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was getting so worked up about Logan being at the hangout, but he definitely had an answer that he didn’t fully understand.
Maybe, just maybe, hypothetically, Tyler was in love with Logan. Just a possibility.
But, the off chance that Tyler might be in love with Logan would imply that Tyler liked guys. He didn’t know how to feel about that fact. Not that he didn’t like people who liked people of the same gender, he wasn’t one of those weirdos. But he’d never felt this way about a guy before. Sure, he’s had a few crushes on girls, but never a guy. So it was odd. He wanted to welcome the feeling, but he’d just have to get used to it first. Which might take a while. Before Tyler could rethink what he just told himself, his phone vibrated next to his pillow. He held it up above his face, his other hand acting as a cushion for his head while he lay on his bed.
Tay: YEP!!! Actually idk if Tyler’s going he hasn’t said anything yet
Me: I’m going
Tay: Nvm guys he’s going!
He sighed, turning his phone off and plugging the charger in, letting it sit on the headboard of his bottom bunk. He stared up at the wood that held up Taylor’s mattress. Taylor, of course, wasn’t in her bed. She was at some mechanics club event, while Tyler’s baseball practice had been canceled. He’d finished all his homework and did most of the chores already, minus making dinner. But dinner wouldn’t be until a few hours. It was only, what, four in the afternoon? And Taylor wouldn’t be home until six. So that meant he had some freetime on his hands.
Tyler sat up, his bed creaking as he did so. He unplugged his phone, which barely got a sliver of charge, and was greeted with his lockscreen: a picture of Taylor and Mom, smiling at each other. Neither of them knew Tyler took the photo. He originally intended to keep it that way, but a man can’t stop Taylor from snooping, even if that man is her brother.
So, Tyler spent the rest of his day mindlessly scrolling on Twitter, occasionally replying to texts, until he was needed around the house.
—
Me and Taylor can’t ice skate, was the only thought running through Tyler’s head while Ashlyn’s dad was renting ice skates for the group. Taylor might’ve had half a mind to mention it to the others, but Tyler certainly didn’t. He was more focused on making sure his seatbelt stayed on during the car ride, then he got too caught up into an argument with Aiden, and then he kept stealing glances at Logan right before where he currently was: sitting on a bench with Taylor on his right and Aiden on his left. Ashlyn, Logan, and Ben were on the bench across from them. Ashlyn and Logan were clearly whispering about something that Tyler couldn’t catch, and Ben was nodding and giving them several thumbs-ups. The three were facing away from the others, so Taylor and Aiden took it upon themselves to start their own conversation. Tyler wasn’t listening, being uncharacteristically quiet. He was looking at how Logan’s fringe fell over the rims of his glasses. Surely that would’ve made it hard to see, right? Tyler wished he could be right there, able to move Logan’s hair away from his eyes.
“-yler?” Oh. Was that Taylor’s voice?
“Tyler!” That was definitely Aiden. He could tell, due to the jab he got in the ribs from Aiden’s elbow. It wasn’t enough to hurt, but it was enough to make Tyler huff and elbow the boy right back.
“What?” He asked Aiden, the question coming out slightly harsher than he intended.
“Your skates,” Aiden held a pair of ice skates above Tyler’s lap, his smile growing. His tone was airy, as if he knew something Tyler didn’t.
Tyler eyed Aiden suspiciously, snatching the skates from his hands. He didn’t look at Taylor, but he could only assume she and Aiden were exchanging grins with how the two sounded like they were muffling their giggles while he leaned down to tie his skates.
By then, Logan, Ben, and Ashlyn were facing the three on the other bench. The three were also tying the laces of their skates, but were clearly ahead of Tyler, as he was… distracted. Dammit, Logan. Him and his stupid hair. The hair that nobody really knows the color of, the hair that looks soft to touch, the hair that-
“You good, man?” Aiden interrupted Tyler’s thought process. He looked to his left, being met with blonde curls and very disturbing red eyes. Those couldn’t have been natural. Did Aiden wear those contacts for the fun of it, or did he actually have a prescription?
“Fine. Is there something wrong?” He replied, going back to tying the laces of his skates.
“No~thing! You’ve just been looking at someone for a while,” he whispered.
Now Aiden knew about his possible crush on Logan. Damnit.
Tyler only rolled his eyes, not giving Aiden the satisfaction of a response. Unfortunately, his reaction gave Aiden the same amount of amusement as a verbal response would have.
Aiden hummed as Tyler sat up. Taylor looked at him, a look that Tyler returned. We’re screwed, Tyler assumed the look meant.
Ben stood up, Aiden following soon after. Apparently, the two were professionals and decided not to tell anyone. Which wasn’t true. Ben and Aiden could ice skate, but they weren’t amazing at it. Logan stood up as well. The way he hesitated made it seem like he didn’t know how to skate either. At least the twins didn’t have to share the embarrassment with only each other. But when Logan easily figured out how to walk without twisting his ankle, Tyler immediately took back his last thought. There was something nice, different, about the way Logan moved. His movements were more effortless than Ben and Aiden’s. It made Tyler feel something that he wasn’t used to. He didn’t know how to feel, but he figured it was good.
Taylor was staring at Ashlyn. Ashlyn was staring at her feet. Oh, good, Tyler thought, Ashlyn can’t skate either.
That thought was whisked away when Aiden offered to teach her how to skate.
That seemed to spark an idea in Taylor’s head. “Ben!” she yelled, “You should help me, too. We can’t have Aiden being the responsible one.”
Ben nodded, walking back to help Taylor get up. Hopefully, she won't get injured. Tyler would have to start a fight if she did. So, he sat on the bench, staring down at the space between his own skates. Maybe he’d just try and get up by himself. It couldn’t be too hard, surely.
A pale hand reached out, blocking Tyler’s vision. “I can help you, too.” Logan said. To Tyler, his voice might as well have been the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.
He looked up at Logan. His eyes were a deep blue, something he’d known and memorized for a while. Tyler took the other’s hand, nodding, as he didn’t really trust himself not to blurt out something he didn’t want to admit.
Ben and Taylor were the first two to enter the, surprisingly empty, rink. For some reason, ice skating rinks just weren’t very popular on Tuesday afternoons. Then it was Ashlyn and Aiden. To say that Ashlyn was leaning on Aiden would be an understatement. It looked like she was weighing him down with how hard her grip on his shoulder was.
Tyler slipped the guards off of his skates. He was no better than Ashlyn. He may as well have been cutting off the blood circulation in Logan’s wrist with how tightly he was holding it. His knuckles were turning pale. Logan didn’t say anything, though. Maybe that was a good thing.
He stepped onto the rink, motioning for Tyler to follow. Tyler looked at the others. Aiden and Ashlyn were by the boards of the rink. Ashlyn was using one hand to keep her steady, the other one still on Aiden’s shoulder. Ben and Taylor, however, were skating a little further away from the boards. Taylor was a fast learner; she always was. Tyler just didn’t expect her to understand ice skating that fast.
Tyler, very slowly, got into the rink. He was athletic. He could run fast, he could play baseball. But he didn’t know the first thing about ice skating. Logan smiled, chuckling when he saw Tyler’s hesitance. He took it back; Logan’s laugh was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.
“You won’t fall, just keep holding onto me. But maybe not this tightly,” Logan looked down at Tyler’s hand clasped around his wrist.
“Right. My bad,” Tyler said, letting go and holding both of his palms up as a reflex. Bad idea. He nearly fell, scrambling to get a hold of the nearest board.
Logan laughed again, and God, did he have any idea what he was doing to Tyler, and held his hand out for Tyler to hold onto. “Don’t let go of me, and you’ll get used to skating soon.”
Tyler was, only the slightest bit, ashamed to say that he immediately clutched Logan’s hand like it was his life source.
He didn’t dare let go of Logan’s hand as the two skated around the borders of the rink. He hoped that the heat he felt rise onto his cheeks wasn’t visible the more he became hyper-aware that his and Logan’s fingers were intertwined and oh my God they were holding hands and-
Logan stopped, causing Tyler to not so gracefully skid to a stop. “This is more like I’m walking you,” Logan said.
“Well, I don’t know how to actually skate.”
Logan paused for a second, visibly deep in thought. He was facing Tyler now, but his gaze was directed toward the ice that Tyler was trying his best not to slip on.
He looked around the rink. Ashlyn looked like she was getting the hang of skating, but she was still using Aiden like one of those walkers. Tyler wasn’t sure if it was just the lighting, but he swore he saw a blush over Aiden’s face. Aiden couldn’t say a thing about Tyler’s potential crush on Logan if he liked Ashlyn.
Taylor and Ben looked like they belonged in a romcom. Hand-in-hand, smiling at each other… Tyler would be lying if he said he didn’t want him and Logan to do the same thing. God, the thought was so cheesy. The scene was nearly sickly sweet.
“Penguins!” Logan said excitedly. Then, a dusty pink blush rose over his cheeks. Tyler wanted to think that he was the one who caused that blush and not the fact Logan spoke way too quickly for Tyler to understand what he just said.
“What?”
“Ice skating is like- like waddling. Like a penguin.” Logan stammered slightly, trying to recover from his embarrassment. “Hold onto the railings and try not to fall, I’ll show you.”
Tyler did as he was told. He held onto the boards with one hand, the other one in the pocket of his jacket. Logan moved away, giving Tyler an example of what he was talking about. His eyes were set looking at the ground, his arms slightly outstretched to keep his balance. The bright fluorescent lights of the ice skating rink highlighted Logan’s hair, a light brown with a pink-ish hue- so that’s what color his hair was. The thin smile on his face made Tyler wish he actually did know how to ice skate, so that he could go up to Logan and kiss him.
Oh God, Tyler wanted to kiss him.
“See? It’s easy. Just do that,” Logan said, as if he knew nothing of what Tyler had just thought. Which he didn’t. If Logan was a mind reader, Tyler would’ve shut himself into isolation already.
Tyler didn’t move. His hand was still holding onto the boards of the rink. And, right before he was about to move, Logan spoke.
“If it helps, you can hold my- hold onto me,” a blush rose to his cheeks. Tyler felt his cheeks heat up too, but he assumed the reason Logan was blushing was because the cold was getting to him.
Tyler hesitated. He put one hand onto Logan’s, then did the same with his other hand. He avoided looking at the other, instead focusing on his feet. “...You start moving first,” he said, “It’ll give me more room.”
“Right, right- sorry.” Logan responded hastily, moving quickly.
He did his best to imitate what Logan had done. He was right; ice skating was like penguin waddling. Just without lifting your feet off the ground. Which made the waddling part a little harder. Holding onto Logan’s hands helped Tyler balance himself, though. He could feel Logan looking at him expectantly. He really hoped he wasn’t blushing.
But with Logan right in front of him, helping him learn how to skate? It was pretty hard not to blush. How did he even know how to skate? It didn’t matter, Tyler figured, because Logan would look pretty even if he was in Tyler’s place. God, did Tyler just call him pretty? When Taylor finds out about this, she’ll never let him live it down. But Logan was just so, so something. Something good. He didn’t know the words for it. “Great” was an understatement. “Perfect” seemed too cliché. And “marvelous” seemed too… British? He didn’t know. There might not be a word to describe Logan. Other than “nerd,” of course.
“Tyler, keep yourself steady-”
But even the word “nerd” seemed off. Like, Logan was something more than just a nerd. He was- strong? Tyler wasn’t sure if that was the right word. But Logan wasn’t necessarily physically strong. More emotionally strong. Also, his aim was insane. A little while back, he had started to think that Logan already knew how to use a gun. Maybe he did, and he just didn’t tell anyone. Without him, the team would be nothing more than just a group of teenagers. Dead teenagers.
“Tyler!”
Tyler stumbled. He felt his knees falter, so he instinctively put an elbow beneath himself, hoping to soften his fall.
And his fall certainly softened. Probably because of the fact that his palm was holding himself up, and that his wrist was being held by Logan. Dammit, Logan. It was all his fault that Tyler fell. But he couldn’t blame him for it. It was his own fault for getting too caught up in thinking about the guy.
He could hear somebody snicker from across the rink. That snicker belonged to a really annoying, red-eyed blonde.
Then, he heard a giggle. A giggle that belonged to Taylor. All right, that was enough. He wasn’t going to be laughed at by his twin sister who also just learned how to skate. They were in similar boats. Taylor’s boat just happened to have a better crew to handle it. Tyler righted himself. He held onto Logan’s arm to pull himself up. Logan was still holding his other wrist, but he didn’t want to mention it, in case Logan decided to pull away. Tyler didn’t want that to happen.
“Are you okay?” Logan asked, his grip on Tyler’s wrist tightening. He really hoped he wasn’t blushing.
“I’m fine.” His knee actually hurt a little, but Logan didn’t need to know that.
Logan stared at Tyler for a little longer than usual. He didn’t want Logan to stop looking at him. “Okay,” he said, his tone light. It was clear that he was skeptical. “I’m choosing to believe you.”
Logan’s words echoed through his head. He was choosing to believe him. Tyler wished he could choose to stop the burning feeling he got whenever he saw, or even thought of Logan. Is this what love felt like? A sudden relation to all the cheesy rom coms that Taylor’s read before? Tyler wished he could choose to stop thinking about all of these things. Meaning that he wanted to stop thinking about stereotypical lovey-dovey things, not Logan. Tyler didn’t mind constantly thinking about Logan.
“Try again,” Logan said after a little while, “I’ll be next to you this time. Honestly, I think it was partially my fault you fell.” he smiled slightly, the folds of his eyes crinkling. The sight was- Tyler’s definitely going to regret thinking this- really cute.
Logan stayed true to his word. He moved to be on Tyler’s left, so that Tyler could be closer to the boards of the rink in case he wanted to hold onto them for safety. He was still holding onto Logan’s hand, though, so he figured that was all the safety he needed.
—
The group was back in the car. They were on the way back to Ashlyn’s house. Taylor had successfully learned how to ice skate, while Tyler and Ashlyn still had a little more to learn. That was okay with Tyler. Maybe he’d be able to spend just a little more time with Logan to keep learning.
Logan was sitting in the seat diagonal in front of Tyler, Ashlyn next to him. They were whispering about something that Tyler wasn’t listening to. He was more focused on the way Logan’s hair bounced as the jeep went over a bump, the way he used the first joint of his index finger to push up his glasses when they slid too far down his nose, the way his lips curved into a smile, and-
And, and, and- oh.
Tyler was in love with Logan. Like, seriously in love with Logan.