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Tyler had known of his crush on Logan Fields for a few months.
During those months, Tyler had gotten to hang out with Logan more often. Well, with an extra seven hours added on to their- and the rest of the group’s- day, it wasn’t too hard to spend more time with his crush.
And during those months, he had no idea what to do about it.
He’d never liked a guy the way he liked Logan before. Come to think of it, he’d never really like a girl the way he liked Logan.
Yeah, he’d told girls that he liked them back, but it was because he knew it’d make Taylor happy. And back then, to Tyler, Taylor’s happiness was worth more than the world could offer. But recently, he learned that somebody else’s happiness was worth just the same, if not more.
And that person just happened to be a boy.
So what was Tyler supposed to do? Confessing how he felt to Logan would be the most simple thing to do, but the words “I love you” seemed too little to give to the Logan Fields.
Tyler lay on his back, looking up at the wood that held up Taylor’s mattress. His bed felt unusually stiff. It was past midnight- after the group had been transported to the phantom realm and back. Taylor was trying to fall back asleep, per usual. Tyler wanted to let her sleep, but what he needed to do about his crush was a more pressing matter.
“Taylor,” he said, “How long have you liked Ben?”
Clearly, Taylor wasn’t expecting the midnight relationship status check-in.
“Um- I dunno.” She replied, only a little surprised. “I guess for a while? Definitely a couple months. Maybe a little more than a couple. You don’t plan on fighting him, right? ‘Cause I think you’d lose.” Taylor laughed softly.
Tyler held back a laugh. She was right, he would lose a fight to Ben. But Ben was a good person, so there was no need to even start a fight. “No, I just-” he hesitated. He’d never told Taylor he’d liked someone before. Then again, that was mainly because he’d never like liked someone before.
“You just? You don’t stutter, Tyler. As your older sister-”
“By a minute.”
“-by a minute and 17 seconds, I can tell there’s something going on. Tell me!”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. “I think I like someone.”
Taylor gasped so loudly, Tyler was scared that she would wake up their mother. “Who’s the girl? Do I know her? Wait- is it one of my friends?! You know, Liana really likes you,” she laughed.
“He’s not a girl, Taylor,” Tyler responded, and his words were more harsh than he’d wanted them to be.
Taylor didn’t say anything for a moment. Tyler opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by the sound of laughter.
“It’s Logan, isn’t it?” She said between giggles, “Tell me I’m right- I know I’m right!”
The thought of Logan made Tyler’s face warm. “How’d you find out?”
“Have you seen the way you look at him?” she snorted, “It’s so funny!”
“The way you look at Ben is worse!” Tyler shot back, but he wasn’t too sure if he believed his own words.
“Sure it is!” Taylor said, her tone airy. “I know you didn’t start this conversation to argue with me. What do you want, Ty?”
Tyler hesitated, but only for a moment, before he said: “I don’t know how to tell Logan I like him, I think.” He was surprised by how vulnerable he sounded. “How’d you tell Ben?”
Taylor hummed. “I guess I didn’t really tell him. I mean, we kinda just looked at each other and knew. We haven’t put a label on anything, though!”
“So helpful.”
“I’m doing the best I can! If it helps, I took him out somewhere that I knew he’d like.”
Take him out somewhere he likes, Tyler noted. “...Right,” he said aloud, “Thanks, then.”
“Will you let me go to bed now?”
“Yeah. But don’t tell anyone about what I said.”
“...I’m pretty sure everyone already knows, Tyler.”
Tyler rolled to the very edge of his bed and threw a small pillow up at Taylor. He hoped he hit her face. And, from the grunt he heard and the pillow being thrown right back, he was sure he did.
Taylor fell asleep before him. Tyler was awake for at least an hour longer, he was sure. He couldn’t get his mind off of Logan.
---
The next day, Tyler was in his last class. He had the displeasure of sitting in front of Aiden. Well, at least practice was cancelled due to the mud on the track being a danger hazard.
It was near the end of the class, so the teacher let the students have some time to study. Tyler didn’t have any. His grades have always been kept up to standard so he could stay on the student baseball team. He wasn’t too sure about Aiden, though. Every time he looked at the guy, he was doodling on his desk or dozing off.
Tyler was tapping his eraser against his desk, but it was quiet enough to only make a faint sound. Aiden, however, had repeatedly dropped and picked his pencil up from his desk, which made up 90% of the noise in the classroom.
Then, his tapping stopped. Tyler didn’t know why, and he didn’t really want to know why. Aiden could’ve stopped tapping because of a number of reasons. Those reasons go from a scale of one: there was an earthquake, two: the teacher told him started their lecture, and three: it started raining. Tyler knew all three of those things didn’t happen.
With the absence of Aiden’s pencil, Tyler was able to think about other things. Like Logan. No, Logan wasn’t a thing. He wasn’t some object. He was the only person that stayed in Tyler’s head 24/7. When he woke up in the morning, the first people he thought of were his mom, Taylor, and Logan. In that order. When he was getting ready for bed, he thought of Logan. He thought of the sleepovers the group have had, how Tyler stopped brushing his teeth with Taylor and started to do his night routine with Logan, instead.
His thoughts were interrupted by a crumpled piece of paper hitting his shoulder. Tyler turned his head to look at Aiden, giving him a glare that he hoped was at least a little intimidating. Truthfully, he had no clue.
He picked up the paper, unfurling it. The note read: Talk to me :) in a messy font. Aiden’s handwriting was legible, but there was room for some... improvement.
Tyler wrote, I have nothing to say. Leave me alone, crumpled the paper, and threw it over his shoulder. He heard the paper tap onto Aiden’s desk, so at least he didn’t miss.
And then there was silence, for a moment. The clock on the wall ticked- ten minutes left of class. Students had started to move around the room, getting louder as they talked to their friends. The teacher didn’t seem to care. Aiden took that as an invitation.
Tyler was still staring at his desk. He tapped his pencil against it as he was before when Aiden sat down on said desk. Tyler looked up at the other in annoyance.
“I have a question,” Aiden said before Tyler could insult him.
Tyler insulted him anyway. “What is it, idiot?”
“Tell me about the thing you have going on with Logan!”
“Don’t say that so loudly!” Tyler hushed him. He stood up to cover Aiden’s mouth, or slap him, or something, but Aiden slid off of Tyler’s desk before he could.
Aiden’s grin only grew wider. “So you do have something going on with him! Is it a crush, or are you two secretly dating?” his tone was teasing, but Tyler could almost feel his actual curiosity.
“We aren’t secretly dating,” Tyler mocked, “Taylor would’ve told everyone.”
“So it’s a crush,” Aiden concluded as he stretched the hem of his t-shirt.
He didn’t respond. He didn’t know how to respond. So Aiden kept talking.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of! I mean, I’m pretty sure Ben is head over heels for Taylor.”
“Like how you’re head over heels for Ashlyn?”
“Let’s not speak of that now.”
Tyler scoffed. So Aiden could talk about his crush on Logan, but he couldn’t say anything about Aiden’s pining for Ashlyn? Sure. Whatever.
“I don’t know what to do about it,” Tyler said. He avoided Aiden’s gaze, going back to tap his pencil on his desk.
Aiden hummed. “I heard through the grapevine that there’s a new museum opening up soon.”
“Yeah? Everyone here heard about it.”
“But did everyone here also know that there’s a planetarium there?”
Tyler’s head shot up. A planetarium. The space observation things. Tyler had never actually been to a planetarium, but he knew that they had to do with astronomy. And Logan liked astronomy.
Then, he narrowed his eyes at Aiden. “You aren’t messing with me, right?”
Aiden laughed, shoving some papers onto Tyler’s desk. “No, I’m being for real! And apparently, they’re doing some constellation event for their grand opening.”
Tyler took the papers- which was actually a booklet- and skimmed through them. Aiden continued talking. “It’s kinda sad. Like, when I grabbed one of these, there were still so many in the box left.”
“No surprise there,” Tyler commented.
“Yeah,” Aiden sighed, “I was gonna give that booklet to Logan, but now, I think you need it more. The address is there.”
Tyler nodded.
I’ll ask Logan to hang out there with me, then, he thought. He couldn’t prevent how he felt his face heat up. He also couldn’t prevent Aiden from making fun of him for having a crush on Logan until the bell rang.
---
Tyler’s thumb hovered over the send button.
The text read: Hey do you wanna go to that new museum opening with me?
There was no reason for Tyler to be so nervous. No reason whatsoever. So why, at 6pm on a Friday, was he sitting on the edge of his bed and bouncing his leg? He was scared to send a simple, twelve word message, that was why.
“Send it!” Taylor shouted at him, making him jump. He nearly sent the message because of her.
Tyler looked up to where she was: leaning at the edge of her bunk, staring down at both him and his phone screen. He wanted to glare at her, but all he could do was look at her sadly. He knew he should’ve sent the message a long while ago. You know, thirty minutes ago, when he typed it.
He sighed, “I don’t know what he’ll say.”
A pause. Then, he heard Taylor climb down the steps to the top bunk. She held out her palm, “Give it to me. I’ll send it.”
“What? No way!”
“Give it!”
“No! I’ll send it!” Tyler said, tapping the send button as he did so.
He regretted it immediately.
He threw his phone onto his pillow face-down.
Taylor snicked. “I can’t believe I just peer pressured you into asking your crush out. And I didn’t even try!"
“Not funny, Tay! What if he says he can’t go?”
“Yeah, but he won’t say that.” Taylor said. She spoke as if she knew more than she was letting on.
There was a ding from Tyler’s phone.
As Tyler snatched his phone, Taylor said, with an eyebrow raised: “You have your notifications on for Logan’s messages?”
“And yours.”
“Wow, I feel so honored,” she deadpanned, but there was a smile on her face.
Tyler focused his attention on the message Logan sent, which read: It’s the one that opens on Sunday right? I’ve heard of it! What about the others?
Taylor stared at the message with just as much of a blank expression as Tyler did. Well, Tyler had a little more fear in his eyes than Taylor did.
“Yeah,” Tyler said quietly, “what about the others?”
“You gotta save this somehow. Give me your phone, I’ll type it for you!”
“No! He’ll know it’s not me!”
“Wait,” Taylor muffled a giggle with her hand, “he can tell whether it's you or not just by how you text?”
Tyler paused before he responded. “Yeah, well, I would be able to tell if it wasn’t him by text, too.”
Taylor exploded in a fit of laughter. She clutched her sides, and Tyler could see the tears forming in her eyes.
Tyler waved her off with one hand, typing out a response with the other. “Shh, I got this!”
“Su~re,” Taylor said sarcastically between laughs.
She looked over his shoulder once she was done laugh-crying. “You said ‘I was hoping it’d just be us’? Seriously?”
“Shut up! It’s better than whatever you would’ve said!” Tyler replied defensively. He was wrong. Taylor would’ve said something ten times better and he knew it.
Ding. Logan replied. Taylor decided it was a great idea to read his message out loud. “Oh good, with two exclamation marks, I was hoping for that too lol. I think you just got yourself a date, Ty!” She rested a hand on Tyler’s shoulder as he stared in the message in shock.
Logan sent another message. Taylor didn’t read that one out loud. It read: Let’s go right as it opens so we can see everything. 7pm, right? It’s actually really close to my house haha!!
Tyler read the message over and over again. He could feel a blush creep up his neck.
Unfortunately, that meant he’d let his guard down. Taylor snatched his phone straight out of his hands, typing a response out for him.
“Hey, give it back!” he yelled. Taylor climbed up the ladder with one hand, shifting so that she would be up against the wall on her bed. Tyler followed her, but he didn’t go onto her bed. It was too late.
She showed Tyler his phone screen. She-
She told Logan that Tyler would walk him there himself?!
...It was a really good idea. Tyler wasn’t even that mad. He was still mad, of course.
“Well? Where’s the ‘Thank you so much for getting me a date with the person I have a really bad crush on, Taylor’?” his sister said, making her voice drop an octave when she did her impression of Tyler.
“Thank you so much for helping me ask Logan to hangout.” Tyler replied, his voice monotone.
Taylor shrugged, “Close enough.”
He sighed. Tyler took his phone back, going down the ladder to lay down on his bed. He had a date in two days- a date with Logan.
He smiled at the thought of it.
---
Tyler was on the verge of breaking down.
Not the breakdown people usually imagine; sobbing, isolation, and some more sobbing. Well, he occasionally cried because of a breakdown. But most of the time, Tyler’s breakdowns were more aggressive. Behind a painting in his living room, there was a hole in his wall which came from one of his breakdowns. His mom didn’t know about it.
There in Tyler’s room, three hours before he had to walk Logan to the museum’s grand opening, he was struggling.
He had so many questions.
What could he wear? A t-shirt and jeans with his baseball jacket, like his day-to-day outfit? No way. That was too basic. But... he was just as guilty as Ben- he didn’t have much else in his closet.
There was also another question: should he get something for Logan? He’d asked Taylor earlier, and she told him to get Logan flowers. But, Logan was surrounded by flowers all the time, so surely he’d be sick of them, right? He had no idea. For all the time Tyler spent looking at Logan, he didn’t spend nearly as much time sparking up small talk with him.
Taylor was at a mechanics event, so she couldn’t help him. Even if she were there, Tyler was pretty sure she would’ve spent more time making jokes than helping.
...No, that wasn’t true. Taylor would help him. Dammit, was he getting all his thoughts backward?! Was that what love did to someone? If that was the case, then he’d get himself in a bad situation at some point. But, an unusually hopeful voice in his head said, that trouble could be shared together with Logan.
Yeah, he’d much rather be in trouble with Logan next to him. Tyler continued to shuffle through his clothes.
---
Tyler recounted what happened in the past two hours and fifty-three minutes.
Shortly after he’d collected himself, Taylor had come home with a plastic bag. Tyler had recognized it as a bag from the local convenience store. It was small, and obviously had a few things in it.
She’d pulled Tyler away from his panic for a moment and showed him what she’d bought. It was a small astronaut keychain, a black box lined black velvet inside patterned with glitter so it looked like stars, and a sugar cookie- the kind Logan liked.
“How did you know he likes these cookies?” Tyler had asked, inspected the items.
Taylor had merely shrugged. “You talk about him so much, I actually remembered a few things. Also because I’m a good friend.”
After that, Tyler had settled on jeans and a t-shirt, but he didn’t wear his usual baseball jacket. He didn’t wear a jacket at all. He knew he would regret it later in the day, but his mind was set on Logan.
As he walked to Logan’s house, he held the box that Taylor had bought, which held the astronaut keychain. The cookie was on top of it, inside of a ziplock bag. Sure, the ziplock bag wasn’t as nice as the box, but he couldn’t find anything better.
The closer he got to Logan’s house, the more scared he got. He never went to Logan’s house very often. In fact, there wasn’t a single time where he’d been there without the rest of the group. So, that was a problem.
But that didn’t matter, he figured, as he stepped in front of Logan’s front door. With his free hand, he rang the doorbell, and waited anxiously. He hoped that his nervousness didn’t show.
After a few seconds, the door nearly flung open. Tyler was met with Logan, who looked really excited. Actually, maybe excited was an understatement. Logan was wearing a simple white shirt with a grey-blue sweater vest layered on top of it. See, Tyler knew it was a good idea to not dress so fancy. Take that, Taylor.
“Are those for me?” Logan asked, a smile on his face. He pointed to himself with his index finger as he did so.
Tyler nodded. “Yeah. Taylor said you’d like them,” he said, giving the box and cookie to Logan. As Logan took them, Tyler swore he saw a hint of hurt flash over his eyes.
Logan stepped fully outside, closing the door behind him to open the box. Tyler got a better look at him in the sunlight. Logan looked good, but he looked the best under the sun.
The sun made his blue eyes look brighter. They weren’t blue in the bright, obnoxious way, but they also weren’t blue in a way that Tyler could make up some cheesy metaphor for them. They were blue in a way that made him never want to look away.
Logan gasped. Tyler was afraid it was because Logan didn’t like the gift, but the thought was quickly erased when he saw the smile that painted Logan’s lips. His lips looked so soft. God, that sounded like a line from a book that Taylor owned. He would know, as he once read one, but he would never admit to that.
“How’d you know that I don’t have this one yet?” Logan asked, looking up at Tyler.
Tyler cocked his head to the side. “You have multiple?”
“Yeah!” Logan chuckled, “There are a lot of astronauts to collect, and I only have a few. I needed this one, though.”
Huh. So Taylor bought a keychain that was part of a collecting series. He wasn’t sure if Taylor did that on purpose or not.
“Oh. Didn’t know that,” Tyler hummed, he turned around. He looked over his shoulder, “Let’s go. What time is it?”
Logan shoved the box into the tote bag he brought as he checked his watch. His eyes widened, then he started running, shoving the cookie in his mouth.
“What?!” Tyler yelled after him, trying to catch up. Yes, Tyler was an athlete, but Logan was shorter and a little thinner than him, which made him more agile. “What time is it?!”
“Six fifty-eight! We’ll make it on time if we run!”
Tyler nodded even though he knew Logan couldn’t see him. His running wasn’t paced very well even though he knew better than that. He was only focused on following Logan to the museum. In fact, Tyler was pretty sure he’d follow Logan anywhere.
He caught up to Logan with ease. Because he didn’t pace himself, he knew that he’d be gasping for air just as Logan would be. But it was all right, because they’d be struggling together.
“Seven- seven PM, sharp,” Logan said between heavy breaths, his side leaning against the wall of the museum. Tyler wanted to lean on Logan, but he settled for putting his back against the wall.
He looked around the place. “There’s... not a lot of people here.” He didn’t actually count, but there were 18 people there at most, excluding themselves. He looked back at Logan, expecting him to be sad, but he was surprisingly excited. “You’re smiling?”
Tyler hoped he didn’t imagine the blush on Logan’s face as he replied. “Yeah, I mean- crowds are a little overwhelming. And I have you! So it’s better than going alone.”
Tyler suddenly had a blush that matched Logan’s. He played it off as the heat, fanning himself with his hand. He didn’t do a very good job, but Logan didn’t say anything. “Let’s go inside. We’ll be here ‘till ten, right?” He shoved his hands in his pockets, walking toward the entrance. He was purposely being slow so that Logan would hopefully walk next to him.
And just as Tyler had hoped, Logan popped up on Tyler’s left. “Yeah! The stargazing event starts at nine.”
“Stargazing event?” Tyler turned his head to look at Logan as they walked through the double doors of the museum.
Logan nodded. “Didn’t you read the booklet? It...” he trailed off, eyes set on something on Tyler’s right.
Tyler looked to where Logan was staring. He had a right to stare, because it was an impressive sight. A massive, slowly spinning globe in the middle of a small fountain. There were two people tossing pennies into the water, presumably making wishes.
Logan held out a palm with a penny in it to Tyler. Tyler looked at it, then at Logan. “You believe in this kind of stuff?”
He only laughed in return, walking toward the fountain. His laugh made Tyler nearly explode. “Nah, not really. I mean, science disproves a lot of things about wishes and superstitions, but it’s fun- right?”
Tyler smiled, trailing behind Logan. “Yeah,” he said, but he was only looking at Logan.
He heard the splash of a coin hitting the water and the soft clap of Logan pressing his palms together. His eyes were closed. Wow, he had really long eyelashes. Longer than Taylor’s, that was for sure.
Tyler tossed the penny Logan gave him into the fountain, one hand still in his pocket. He didn’t put his hands together like Logan did, but he did close his eyes.
He didn’t actually know what to wish for, but there was a thought that was always floating around his head. He figured it was a good enough wish.
I wish that I'll be able to spend more time with Logan soon.
It was more of a hope than a wish, but to Tyler, they were pretty similar.
When Tyler opened his eyes and turned to face Logan, he saw Logan already staring at him. He felt his face heat up. Tyler was grateful for having brown skin, because the blush he was certain he had didn’t show as easily. Logan’s ears, on the other hand, had turned red. He couldn’t tell if it was the heat or embarrassment. Tyler figured it was embarrassment, but he really hoped that it was because Logan liked him the same way he did.
“Let’s go to the planet exhibit,” Logan said, pointing in the direction it was in.
“Not the planetarium?” Tyler asked, “Isn’t it the main reason we’re here?”
“I wanna save the best for last!” Logan smiled. “Let’s go,” he said, and left without another word.
Tyler would have stood there all day, thinking about Logan’s smile, but he wanted to spend as much time as possible next to the guy, so he quickly caught up with him.
Today’s gonna be great, Tyler thought as he watched Logan gasp at every other painting and display, occasionally stopping to tell Tyler about its history and origin. Tyler hung onto every word Logan said like it’d be the last time he heard his voice.
---
“It’s nine o’clock,” Logan said to Tyler, who was looking at a map of the museum he found on the floor.
“It’s already been two hours?” Tyler replied, not looking up from the map. He was trying to find the planetarium. It had been the one place where the two hadn't visited yet, and they wanted to see it before the stargazing event.
Logan laughed, “Yeah. Feels like it’s only been, like, twenty minutes.” He looked over Tyler’s shoulder. He pointed to a semi-circle symbol, “That’s the planetarium. It’s on the key.”
Tyler looked to where Logan was pointing, then to the key in the corner. He sighed defeatedly. Logan was right- he usually was, actually. “Then let’s go. How long will it take?”
“The booklet said it’ll go on for about twenty minutes, then there’s a ten minute wait until the stargazing field is set up and people can actually go in there,” Logan replied, looking at said booklet. “We could go to the gift shop during those ten minutes,” he looked up at Tyler, and Tyler looked right back at him.
“I didn’t bring any money,” Tyler admitted. In fact, he didn’t even know there would be a gift shop.
Logan shrugged, already walking in the direction of the planetarium. “That’s fine, I can buy some stuff for you.”
“Ugh, but then I’ll owe you.”
“I think that this hangout is more than enough. If anything, I owe you for this,” Logan chuckled. He pushed his glasses up and Tyler let himself fall into the same pace Logan was walking.
And then Logan’s words really set in. He felt his cheeks heat up. He’d think more about Logan’s words later. He didn’t want to somehow embarrass himself right then.
---
Logan, Tyler, and three other people were the only people in the planetarium, excluding the employee that ran it. It was kind of sad. Considering how high quality the museum was, there was no way it’d stay in business for very long.
Logan had his hand on the armrest. His shoulder hurt from his tote bag, Tyler remembered. He had offered to carry it for him, but Logan insisted to let himself suffer. That wasn’t what he actually said, obviously, but that was what it sounded like to Tyler.
Tyler wasn’t really paying attention to the actual planetarium. He was only looking at Logan. His gaze lowered to Logan’s hand. He wanted to hold it so, so bad.
...It couldn’t hurt, surely.
Tyler slowly lifted his hand. It hovered over Logan’s for a moment. He carefully let his hand rest over Logan’s. He turned his head away instantly, focusing on the planetarium. The employee was talking about Venus, but Tyler didn’t pay attention. He could feel Logan staring at him, but Logan didn’t move his hand, so he didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to risk the possibility of Logan making him let go.
After the planetarium event, Logan didn’t say anything to Tyler. Instead, he shook Tyler’s hand off of his own.
“You good, man?” Tyler asked in an attempt to lighten the mood. The two were the last to walk out of the planetarium.
Logan didn’t respond. He kept his head down.
Tyler stopped in the hall, and Logan did so too. Logan was only a step ahead of Tyler, but he still didn’t say a word.
He lifted his hand. It hovered over Logan’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure if Logan would be okay with the touch. Right before Tyler was about to ask him if he was doing all right, Logan finally spoke.
“Stop leading me on, Tyler.”
Tyler froze.
He turned to face Tyler, “I know you don’t like guys. I-” Logan choked on his own words. “Just stop, okay?” he said, and Tyler could see Logan’s eyes turn glassy.
How was Tyler supposed to respond? Leading him on? Tyler couldn’t even think about it. The idea was so- so stupid. How could anyone feel anything other than love for Logan?
Tyler didn’t know what to do. Logan didn’t look at him, he was looking at something behind him, likely avoiding looking Tyler directly.
Tyler took a step forward. Logan didn’t move. He took another step forward and wrapped his arms under Logan’s. He heard Logan gasp, and Tyler couldn’t tell if it was a gasp of shock, anger, or sadness. Maybe it was all three.
“Logan,” he said, and he didn’t know where the words came from, “I don’t know if I like guys, but I’ve known I like you. Okay?!” Tyler hugged Logan tighter, afraid he’d let go. He knew it was selfish, and probably rude of him, to want to keep Logan close to him, but just wanted to hug him.
He felt Logan’s tears seep through the sleeve of his shirt. Yeah, he really regretted not bringing a jacket. He had no clue what Logan was thinking, but he hoped it was something good.
Logan pushed him away. Oh, God. Maybe it wasn’t something good.
Obviously, he was mistaken. He realized that when Logan cupped Tyler’s face in his hands and pressed his lips against his own.
Tyler didn’t have time to process what had happened when Logan pulled away. “I- uh, sorry! I just-”
“No, it’s fine!” Tyler interrupted Logan before he could finish his sentence. Frankly, Tyler didn’t want Logan to finish his sentence. He didn’t want to be an added reason to Logan’s lack of doubtfulness. “I-” and Tyler couldn’t think of the words to continue.
So instead, he closed the space between him and Logan, and kissed him.
---
“It was nice.”
“There has to be more than that,” Taylor groaned. “You came back half an hour later than you said you would-”
“Because we decided to get some food on the way!” Tyler protested.
“And,” she continued, “you came home with a gift bag and you looked as red as a tomato. I don’t even know how that’s possible.”
Tyler unconsciously moved his hand to touch the bag he came home with. It was on his pillow, and he was sitting on the edge of his bed. Logan had bought him something from the gift shop, but he refused to let Tyler see it. “Would it make you feel better if I said the hangout was great instead of nice?”
“No!” Taylor paused. She took a small step back, which meant that she was no longer directly in front of him. “Actually, maybe a little bit. But I wanna know what happened!”
“Why don’t you just wait for Logan to tell you about it?!”
“ ‘Cause I wanna hear it from you!”
Tyler stood up, and against Taylor’s protests, he walked out the door of their room. “Well, you won’t!”
“Where are you going?!” Taylor yelled.
“Bathroom!”
Tyler didn’t hear Taylor’s response, but it was a good call to lie and say he was going to the bathroom. He was actually headed to the kitchen to get a drink of water.
When he was getting himself tap water, he could only think of what Logan bought him. He hadn’t checked yet, and he was too busy arguing with Taylor earlier to do so. He hoped Taylor didn’t take any of his words to heart.
It was nearly midnight. Taylor was asleep. She told him to go to bed too, to “get as much sleep before phantom hour,” or whatever. But Tyler couldn’t sleep.
The bag was still unopened. He was scared to open it, to say the least. He had no idea what Logan could’ve bought him.
But, still, it was Logan who bought it. It couldn’t be that bad.
Tyler sat up in his bed, putting the bag in his lap. He dug into it, pulling out a kaleidoscope.
A kaleidoscope. It wasn’t even light outside, so how was Tyler supposed to use it?
Tyler held back laughter as he grabbed his phone to use it as a flashlight for the kaleidoscope. He didn’t know why Logan bought it for him- Tyler wasn’t a child.
He pressed the flashlight button, holding the kaleidoscope up to his eye.
Well, maybe Tyler wasn’t a child, but he could definitely enjoy a kaleidoscope like a child would.