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Logan was in love with Tyler. Like, seriously in love with Tyler. And he’d known that for a while now.
But it wasn’t even in a cute, lovey-dovey way. He wanted to spend every moment with Tyler. Every second, every time he had the chance to hang out with his friends, he’d always want to choose Tyler. Actually, that did sound pretty lovey-dovey.
It’s just- Logan didn’t know if Tyler would choose him. And, he could admit, he was scared of Tyler not wanting to choose him at all.
The sound of a bat hitting a baseball brought him back to his senses. Right. He was sitting next to Ashlyn and Taylor, watching one of Tyler’s games. See, Logan didn’t actually know too much about baseball. But before the group met up, he decided to search up how the point system works, so he could see if Tyler’s team was winning or not without looking at the scoreboard. It’s a good thing he took the extra measure to learn, though, because the scoreboard was too far away for him to see. His glasses were... slightly expired, to say the least. But from what he could see? Tyler’s team was winning.
Logan shifted so that he was at the very edge of his seat. His elbow was sitting on his leg, and his cheek was cupped in his hand. The only person he was paying attention to was Tyler. Well, who else was there to pay attention to? He didn’t really know anyone else on Tyler’s team, and he didn’t really care to get to know them.
He watched as Tyler’s hair progressively got even more matted throughout the game with sweat. Surprisingly, it made him look really- nice? No, that was an understatement. Pretty? Handsome? Something along those lines. Logan wasn’t usually at a loss for words, but when it came to just how beautiful Tyler looked? Yeah, that was an exception.
---
After the game had ended, the group regathered in the parking lot. Ashlyn, Aiden, Ben, and Logan were talking with each other when the twins and their mom finally arrived. As soon as they did, Logan looked for Tyler first. He was chugging water from his water bottle. If he drank it too fast, he’d start-
Yeah. Tyler started up a coughing fit, bent at the waist with one hand on his thigh, the other holding his bottle while covering his mouth. Aiden started laughing, and Taylor was also trying to hold back her giggles. Logan was worried just as much as Taylor was, but he didn’t laugh as much as she did. His lips curved into a smile- he knew that this would happen- as he stepped toward Tyler.
“Are you okay?” he asked, taking Tyler’s water bottle. He twisted the cap closed while the other straightened his posture.
Tyler’s cheeks reddened, which was probably due to the fact that he was most definitely overheating from the game and the sun behind him. He really wished that he was the one that caused it, though.
Tyler cleared his throat before answering. “Yeah, good, fine,” he said quickly before snatching back his water bottle and taking another drink, but slower this time.
“You guys are still coming to mine tonight, right?” Aiden asked, one hand in the pocket of his smiley-face patterned hoodie and the other holding a slushie he got in the middle of the game. It was a bright blue, halfway finished. Ben stood behind him. He was, unfortunately, wearing a plain grey t-shirt. Was that his entire closet? Yes, Logan mainly wore sweaters, but at least he owned sweaters in different colors...
Taylor shot Aiden a smile, “Yeah!”
Ashlyn nodded, “I think you’d drag me along if I said no, anyway.”
Logan, however, needed to help his grandparents out at the shop. He'd asked the twins’ mom if she could drive him back to his grandparent’s house, and she’d agreed. She even offered to take him to Aiden’s house. Maybe that’s where Tyler got his kindness from. His kindness was, however, only to be found once he took down the wall he’d built up, blocking most of his emotions.
“We’ll be there!” Taylor shouted with a smile, throwing an arm around Tyler’s shoulder. He acted like he was used to it, but his mouth opening to yell something at her and then closing when he realized who it was gave it away that he was just a little surprised. The detail made Logan smile.
Logan pushed his glasses up, “I’ll be there after I help my grandparents at the shop.”
He heard a sigh- one that belonged to Taylor. “I wish you didn’t have to help so much. I mean, we could be doing so many more things together!”
An obnoxiously loud sip from Aiden. “Yeah, what she said! But, like, I don’t blame you. Get money early, Logan!” he wrapped an arm over Logan’s shoulder, grinning widely. Logan grinned back, but his eyes couldn’t help but flash over to Tyler.
Tyler was glaring daggers into Aiden’s skull. The sight was nearly frightening- dark brown eyes filled with power that could challenge a thunderstorm. But Logan found that the sight, rather than challenging a storm, challenged an ancient tapestry weaved by hand. It was something he’d pay to see; something he considered himself lucky to see. Logan found himself wishing Tyler was looking at him instead, even if that meant he’d be getting the worst glare known to man.
Aiden slipped his arm off of Logan after he felt Tyler’s glare. He gave Tyler a look- one that Logan couldn’t decipher. Knowingness? No, Aiden didn’t know very many things other than danger and activities he deemed fun. Tyler’s eyes widened in response. That surely wasn’t a good sign, but there wasn’t very much Logan could do about it.
“Come on,” a soft voice said. It belonged to the twins’ mother. She gestured to Logan and the twins, then her car.
Ashlyn took that as a sign to go to her parent’s jeep. The cousins followed along; Aiden trailing behind her like a fox, and Ben trailing behind Aiden like he had nothing better to do.
“I call shotgun!” Taylor yelled, running to the passenger seat. That meant he and Tyler would have to share the backseat.
Tyler crossed his arms. Logan hoped it wasn’t because he didn’t want to sit next to him.
Logan knew that Tyler didn’t hate him. If he did, he wouldn’t have helped him defend himself against Barron. But he was a little afraid- maybe more than a little- that if Tyler found out that Logan liked him, he’d stop being friends with him. That was the last thing Logan wanted. He’d never tell Tyler how he felt if it meant that Tyler would stay his friend, even if it wasn’t permanent.
Tyler walked to the seat behind the passenger seat, meaning Logan would be diagonal of Taylor. He didn’t mind. Logan walked quickly, trying to keep up with the twins and their mother.
---
The car ride was nothing special. Taylor and Tyler joked, while Logan added some of his own commentary. Logan did, however, occasionally catch Tyler staring at him. He couldn’t tell if it was a look of adoration or frustration. He hoped it was adoration. Everytime Logan caught him, Tyler acted as if he was looking out the window behind Logan instead. The thing is, for the entire car ride, all the scenery Logan got was a dense forest. There was nothing else for Tyler to look at except him.
It was either Tyler didn’t like Logan so much he couldn’t stop looking at him to point out flaws, or that Tyler actually liked looking at Logan. Logan knew the first one wasn’t true, but the second option couldn’t have been true, either. Tyler didn’t like guys the way Logan liked him.
But with the way Tyler was constantly looking at him? Logan wasn’t so sure if Tyler didn’t like guys. Is he, Logan thought carefully- reluctantly, leading me on?
---
Logan spent most of his shift thinking about school work, the phantoms, and maybe Tyler. No, not maybe. Definitely Tyler.
There was just so much to think about. He didn’t know where to start. Maybe he could start with his personality. Not the walls and barriers of arrogance and bluntness he showed at first glance, but his real personality. His flaws- that Logan only thought made him even better- and his real traits. Like his odd way of showing that he cares. Or maybe the kindness that both he and Taylor share, but he was much less open about it. Maybe he saw it as a weakness. Logan didn’t see it as such. He saw it as something to cherish- not many people have kindness like him.
Logan sighed as he patted the soil of a newly installed potted plant. It was lavender. Good for making rooms smell nice, but not many people liked the flower for other reasons. He didn’t know why. Lavender was beautiful. He could almost say it compared to how Tyler looked in his eyes. But, alas, Logan was painfully aware that he was looking at Tyler through rose-tinted glasses. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t take those glasses off. They were painful to look through, but if it meant he got to keep looking at Tyler, he didn’t mind dealing with the pain.
---
Mariana Hernandez was nice in a way that neither Taylor or Tyler was. Her voice always seemed distant, her eyes never quite looking directly at something. But she was kind in a quiet way.
When Logan and the twins arrived at the Clark’s mansion, Mariana waved goodbye with a faint smile. Taylor yelled out a goodbye as she was driving away, and Tyler waved back. Logan swore he heard Tyler say bye, too. But he wasn’t one to jump to conclusions.
He walked to the oddly grand entrance, and just as he was about to ring the oddly grand doorbell, he was met face-to-face with bleached blonde curls and piercing red eyes. There was a bandaid on Aiden’s face with a badly drawn-on smiley face in red ink.
Aiden’s eyes flashed behind Logan, obviously looking for the twins. When he saw the twins behind him, Aiden gestured for Logan to follow him, and quickly. Logan was skeptical. Knowing Aiden’s life? That gesture could mean anything. He lived like he was playing a game of Twister, except he was blindfolded and had Ashlyn’s earplugs in.
He glanced back at the twins, mainly Tyler, as they got closer. Logan followed Aiden into the house.
Aiden seemed to notice that. “You’ve been looking at someone for a whi~le now,” he said, dragging out the last word. He didn’t look at Logan when he spoke, but his voice was quiet enough so that only Logan could hear him.
Logan felt his face heat up. He knew that Aiden was talking about Tyler. Aiden definitely knew about his crush on Tyler, and he had a feeling that he’d never be able to live it down until something happened about it.
But there was nothing to be done about it. Tyler didn’t like guys.
His train of thought abruptly ended when the twins walked in, Taylor immediately rushing to Ashlyn’s side. Ashlyn was sitting on the sofa, and Ben was looking for shows to watch, the sound of the remote clicking accompanying Taylor’s excited rambling. She had a lot to tell Ashlyn about some girls at school, and Logan was definitely going to need to be filled in later, but he was more focused on Tyler.
His eyebrows were furrowed- like they usually were- but when he looked at Taylor, his gaze seemed to soften. Taylor was having fun. Logan couldn’t make any assumptions, but he figured that Tyler was glad to see Taylor enjoying herself. He wished that Tyler’s eyes softened when he looked at him, too.
“Logan?” Tyler said. Logan blinked. He seemed to have gotten lost in his own thoughts, and ended up staring at Tyler in the process. Dammit.
Tyler had one hand on his hip, directly in front of Logan. He tilted his head, gesturing to where the others were sitting on the sofa. Well, Ashlyn had moved to the floor and Aiden was next to her.
“We’re watching We Bare Bears!” Taylor shouted, grinning ear to ear.
Logan nodded. He headed to sit at the very edge of the sofa, but Tyler beat him to it. He sat on the armrest, which didn’t necessarily mean that Logan couldn’t sit right next to him, but he just wasn’t sure that he could sit next to Tyler for an extended amount of time and not explode.
Tyler seemed to notice that. “If you wanna sit here, you can.” he said, the words stumbling out of his mouth.
He shook his head, moving to sit next to Tyler. Surely he wouldn’t explode. He believed in himself. “It’s fine.”
“...If you say so,” Tyler replied, but it was barely a whisper. Plus, the fact that his voice was covered by the sound of the intro of the show starting, Logan wasn’t sure if he imagined the words.
After that, the group watched We Bare Bears until it hit 7 PM. They started watching at 2 PM. Sure, there were some... inconveniences mid-way, which mainly consisted of Aiden causing problems, but they enjoyed the show.
Logan in particular enjoyed sitting next to Tyler. When Ben decided he was going to get ready for the night and the others did too, the absence of Tyler’s warmth next to him was difficult to get used to.
---
Logan jolted awake. He reached for his phone. It read 12:01 AM. The others were awake too. The phantom dimension had done a number on them- they were exhausted. Not like they weren’t tired every other night, but that night, it was worse. Which was- odd, to say the least. They hadn’t done anything out of their usual routine.
He looked to his left. Right next to him was Taylor, then the rest of the group. Excluding Tyler. Tyler was on his right. Strangely, Taylor didn’t want to be next to Tyler when they collectively decided to sleep on the living room floor. Aiden was next to Taylor, and he was already sparking up a quiet conversation with Ashlyn. Logan wasn’t able to decipher their nearly silent whispers. Ben shifted in the mess of blankets and pillows so he could get closer to Taylor.
That left Logan to speak with Tyler. But Logan wasn’t very sure if he even had the energy to speak. When he turned his head, he found Tyler propped up against the sofa, already staring at him.
Logan wasn’t sure if he imagined Tyler’s cheeks reddening. Maybe it was simply a trick of the light. They had turned off all of the lights and closed the blinds, after all.
“You did good, with that gun.” Tyler spoke softly. Logan had never heard him speak like that with anyone other than Taylor before.
“The carbine? I use that one, like, every night.” He replied with a quiet chuckle. His voice came out weaker than he had hoped. He was just- horribly, horribly out of it.
Tyler shook his head. “No- with the, the handgun. The- uh, what’s it called?”
“Oh! The revolver.” Logan smiled. He used it only once or twice, and it was the first time he’d handled a gun that size. He lowered his gaze, looking down toward the blanket that covered Tyler’s legs. He hoped that the blush that rose to his cheeks wasn’t visible. “Thanks.”
He heard Tyler hum. Then, he said, and rather harshly: “I’m going to bed. If you guys want some actual sleep,” he said as he roughly pulled up the closest blanket to him up to his mouth, “you should sleep too.”
Aiden snorted, “For once, the halfwit doesn’t have a bad idea.” He fell onto his back, making a small thump sound as he dropped onto the pillows stacked up behind him. He heard Ashlyn sigh, then the swoosh of pillows flattening as she lay down beside him.
Logan assumed Ben followed them in the chain reaction of laying down, but he was too focused on getting himself in a comfortable sleeping position to notice.
---
The first thing Logan noticed after waking up was the sound of a phone camera shutter.
The second thing Logan noticed was just how warm he was. He was certain that Ben had left the AC on when the group fell asleep, so there was no reason for him to be that warm, unless one of the weighted blankets ended up on top of him.
Speaking of weight, there was something on his chest and middle. But he was so tired, he didn’t want to get up. He didn’t want to open his eyes and scold the person who took a picture for taking pictures of somebody without their permission, and let them get away with it anyway. But, alas, he opened one eye and attempted to sit up.
The keyword in that sentence is “attempted.” Logan was instantly shoved back down, which was then followed by a sequence of giggles. He turned his head to his right, and was met with a mess of dark brown hair. Tyler. Tyler’s chin was resting on his collarbone. His arm was thrown over Logan’s waist, his legs intertwined with Logan’s. He couldn’t move. Well, he probably could, but he didn’t want to. Also, Tyler would most likely shove him back down.
Logan slowly lifted the arm that wasn’t covered by Tyler’s torso. He tried to gently pry the other’s arm off of him. It didn’t budge. In fact, his arm only held onto Logan tighter. He sighed, settling to ruffle Tyler’s hair. It wasn’t surprisingly soft as he’d hoped, but it was so- so Tyler. There was something special about how it felt under his fingers. He was going to put more thought into it, but was interrupted by Aiden’s laughter.
Ashlyn had quickly hushed him, but Logan wanted to do it personally. “Stop it, you’ll wake him up!” he said in a hushed voice.
“Wake what up?'' a sleepy voice said, one that sounded suspiciously like Tyler, one that Logan could feel in his chest. Logan felt a blush rising up his neck.
“N- nothing!” he stammered, louder. Then he realized his words were just a horrible, easily disproved lie. “Um, you?” he tried. His face was definitely red by then.
“Seems like you two slept well,” Ashlyn said.
And Ashlyn was right. That very well could have been the best sleep Logan had gotten in ages.
Tyler seemed to realize what he was doing. He quickly pushed Logan away, backing into the sofa behind him. Logan sat up, kicking the blanket covering his feet off. Another sequence of giggles occurred.
When Tyler backed away from him, the impact of the lack of warmth hit him like a truck. It was nothing that he couldn’t get used to, but he’d definitely prefer Tyler next to him.
“I’m so gonna use this as blackmail,” Taylor laughed, her phone in one hand and the other hand on her hip.
“You wouldn’t.” Tyler glared.
“Oh, but dear brother, I would.”
Tyler didn’t reply. Instead, he quickly jumped up to his feet and ran toward Taylor. She screamed, a smile painted her lips as she did so, and ran away just as quickly as her brother chased after her.
As the twins ran upstairs, that left Aiden, Ashlyn, and Ben staring at Logan. Aiden had a knowing expression on his face that somehow made him look a little stupid. Ashlyn shared the same look as Aiden, but it just made her look really smart. Ben looked as if he was about to burst into laughter. Maybe he’d been hanging out with Taylor too much.
“How long have you two been together?” Ashlyn asked, breaking the awkward silence between them. Her arms were crossed, but it seemed to be a genuine question. Then again, he had a little trouble differentiating sincerity and sarcasm.
Logan froze. What? “We- uh, it’s not like that!” His words ended up sounding more like a question than a statement.
“It’s okay,” Aiden snickered, “we support you!” Unlike Ashlyn, his words were obviously joking. Joking, in the sense that he knew Logan and Tyler definitely weren’t together, no matter how much Logan wished so. Not in the sense he wouldn’t support them.
Ben typed something on his phone. It read: “They’re just messing with you. But seriously what was that?”
Logan shrugged sheepishly, “Dunno. Ask Tyler, maybe?” and even when he said Tyler’s name, he could feel his face warm.
Ashlyn seemed to take the suggestion. “I will, once he comes back down here with Taylor.”
“I can go upstairs and grab him for you!” Aiden smiled. Logan had a feeling that he was being literally when he said he’d grab Tyler.
“Grab who?” Taylor said mid-laugh, running down the stairs with her phone in an outstretched hand. Tyler was right behind her. Tyler could run faster than that, Logan was sure of it. Was he running slower so that Taylor would look like she was faster, or because they were indoors?
“No one. You misheard.” Ashlyn said before Aiden could make a stupid joke.
Taylor ran to the group, specifically Ben. She shoved her phone into Ben’s hands, and like clockwork, he held it up so that Tyler wasn’t able to reach it.
Tyler skidded to a stop in front of Ben, who Taylor was using as a human shield. “Dammit, Taylor! That’s not fair!”
“All is fair in love and war!” She thought for a moment. Then, “I guess it’s just war in this case.”
A voice interrupted what was going to transform into an argument. “Whaddya guys want for breakfast? I’m thinking, like, waffles ‘n ice cream.” Aiden spoke casually, already opening the fridge. His voice was loud so that it’d reach the group in the living room. Logan didn’t remember seeing Aiden slip off into the kitchen.
“That’s a bad idea,” Logan said.
“Yeah, maybe we should just have the waffles without the ice cream,” Ashlyn agreed.
“No, I’m actually down for having the ice cream without the waffles.” Tyler said, his arms crossed.
“None of us have brushed our teeth yet.” A voice, Siri’s voice, like the AI assistant, said. The voice came from Ben’s phone.
Taylor took her phone from Ben’s hand, “I call dibs on the upstairs bathroom!”
Ashlyn was already halfway up the stairs when she said “Me too.”
“Wait- wait, wait! It’s my house! I should get the upstairs bathroom too!” Aiden called, running out of the kitchen. He followed Ashlyn like a baby fox sometimes. It was... certainly a sight to experience. Logan couldn’t prevent the smile that betrayed how unfazed he wanted to look.
Ben was headed toward one of the bathrooms downstairs. There were two downstairs, which were slightly worse in quality than the one guest bathroom upstairs. Aiden and Ben had bathrooms that connected to their rooms, but whenever the group was together, the cousins always used the guest bathrooms. Nobody knew why- it was just something the two had silently agreed on.
Logan picked up his stuff from the coffee table in the living room that the group had pushed aside, then walked toward the second bathroom downstairs. He heard somebody rustling in their bag behind him- probably Tyler. Then he heard the sound of footsteps trailing behind him. Also probably Tyler. Logan didn’t know why Tyler chose to follow him instead of Ben.
Maybe, he thought, there’s a chance he likes me back.
“...Sorry,” Tyler spoke first. His voice was quiet. That was the second time Logan had heard Tyler speak that way.
“For what?”
“For- last night. And this morning. It’s a habit I never got rid of.” he replied, and Logan was definitely sure he didn’t imagine the way Tyler’s cheeks reddened from embarrassment.
Logan chuckled, rinsing his toothbrush. “It’s fine. I think it’s kinda cute, actually.”
Now, Logan felt his own cheeks warm up. Did he just call Tyler cute? Without thinking? Usually, Logan was the kind of person to think before he acts. Clearly his crush on Tyler was messing with his thought process. Was that what love did to you? Make your mind stumble? If so, Logan was going to have to get used to tripping over his own words whenever he was around Tyler.
Tyler didn’t respond. Well, he made a noise that Logan assumed was dismissive, so he didn’t try to continue the conversation.
The two stood in front of the bathroom mirror, brushing their teeth in awkward silence. Logan found comfort in the silence, though. He noticed Tyler’s hair- which was still messed up from when he had ruffled it. There was still a bit of crust next to his left eye, which Logan wasn’t sure he had seen yet. His eyes were still tired, but he looked more... spirited than the night before. Logan still found him beautiful. Was that the right word? Beautiful?
At some point, he’d have to realize that no words could ever describe what he saw when he looked at Tyler.
But right then, in front of the bathroom mirror, in the dim lighting-
Logan found himself still hopelessly in love with Tyler Hernandez.
But there was a horrible, vicious thought that formed after.
What if he’s just leading me on?