Chapter Text
Logan is in the middle of a fishing trip when he feels his phone buzz. He'd usually ignore it, focus on the water, but he hasn't had the best luck today. Checking his phone for a second likely won't be the difference in whether he catches something or not.
He pulls his phone out and almost drops it the second he turns it on to read the notification. The name on his screen is not what he'd been expecting at all.
It's not until he's back on shore that he finally lets himself read the message.
He stares at the screen wide-eyed, unblinking just in case the text will disappear the second he looks away. Alex is asking if he'd like to come visit.
Logan is torn.
He'd love nothing more than to get on the next flight out to Alex's apartment, bask in the comfort that he'd always felt around his teammate. Well, his former teammate.
But there's a small part of him that worries it hasn't been long enough. That the pain is still too fresh. Even if it's been long enough that Alex has already had a new teammate and will be getting another at the start of the season.
Logan decides he'll just sleep on it. He's positive Alex will be understanding no matter his answer.
He can barely sleep at all. The same dreams keep him awake as always. It's the same routine every time he wakes up from one of them. He has to find a way to ground himself, focus on the cool air of his room rather than the flames in his mind.
It's almost three in the morning when he makes up his mind. He sends Alex a quick text before trying to go back to sleep.
The decision was much easier to understand when he was half asleep fighting against his own brain. Now, with a slightly clearer mind he's rethinking the choice.
Maybe seeing Alex will just make him feel worse, send him spiraling. What if they're too different now. What if everything is different. Or worse, what if it feels just as perfect as it used to. Another thing Logan will be chasing after just to never catch.
Logan's fate is sealed when Alex finally responds to say he can't wait.
ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ
The plane ride unfortunately gives him too much time to think. Which ultimately means time to pick over just how much he's been avoiding the exact thing that's happening now.
He's kept his distance from Alex on purpose. Surface level conversations that usually ended in Logan saying he was busy. Too busy to talk, too busy to hangout, too busy to do anything besides running away. And Alex had graciously pretended not to mind each time. Just asking for them to talk whenever he had the time.
So, heading straight to him on a flight means they'll likely have to have an awkward conversation about it. Logan's stomach turns at the thought.
This won't be anything like when they text or even the few times they'd talked on the phone. He won't be able to lie, Alex has always seen straight through him.
He sighs and leans his head against the plane window. The glass is cold enough against his cheek to distract him from his thoughts for a moment. He doesn't lift his head, not even when his body heat has warmed the glass.
Logan blinks awake slowly. His neck hurts from where he'd ended up slumped against the window. He's grateful to have at least slept pretty soundly through the flight. No crashes or fires in his dreams. He feels better than usual, besides his neck.
His peace gets interrupted by an announcement. They're landing soon. He'll have to see Alex, no more hiding from him.
Their reunion comes a lot sooner than Logan thought it would. He's walking through the airport, looking for a seat so he can text Alex that he's landed when someone taps him on the arm. He turns and sees one of the most familiar smiles ever.
Alex looks unbearably happy to see him.
“You're already here,” Logan says, confusion evident in his voice.
“Didn't want you to be waiting around for too long, come on let's get out of here.” Alex doesn't wait for him to respond, just sets off in a direction expecting Logan to follow.
Logan does in fact follow. It feels like second nature to him to just gravitate towards wherever Alex goes. He doesn't know how he's fought against the pull for so long.
The first portion of their car ride is pretty quiet. Not as uncomfortable as Logan had imagined it might be, just quiet.
He's wracking his brain for something, anything at all to say when he hears Alex chuckle.
“Don't think we've ever been this quiet, they used to have to keep us on topic for the podcast.”
Logan laughs as the memories flood his mind. All the times they'd ended up on random tangents while the media team tried to wrangle their conversations.
They fall into a pretty easy rhythm after that. Taking turns talking about what they've been up to and letting any tangents go on as long as they feel like. There is one topic neither of them decide to bring up. Logan is positive Alex is avoiding mentioning anything racing related on purpose and he's glad to not have to worry about it for once.
Alex's apartment is almost the exact same as Logan had remembered. He puts his stuff in the guest bedroom while Alex hovers in the doorway.
“Should we order food or something,” Alex says from behind him.
Logan turns his head too quickly to answer and the twinge he gets in his neck must be the punishment for it. His hand shoots up to try and soothe the pain before he can let out a strained reply to Alex's question.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, just slept wrong on the plane.”
Alex hums in response before looking back down at his phone, “Maybe a hot shower might make it feel better, and I'll take care of getting us food.”
The shower does make his neck feel marginally better. Enough that he can at least turn his head without wincing. It also washes the stuffy after-flight smell off of him. He gets dressed and walks out to discover the food has already been delivered.
Alex puts on a random movie for them to watch while they eat but they end up mostly talking over it.
They spend the rest of the day in Alex's apartment still catching up before a wave of tiredness hits Logan. Alex practically herds him to bed saying he must still be tired from the flight.
ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ
Logan wakes up feeling pretty well rested. He'd only woken up once in the middle of the night.
Outside of the door he can hear Alex moving around. A quick glance at his phone lets him know it's still early morning, so he hasn't slept through the day or something. He listens harder and can hear the sound of muffled sizzling. Alex must be making them breakfast.
His suspicions are confirmed when he peels himself from the bed and out the door. The smell of bacon filling his nose.
Alex turns at the sound of the door opening, “Up already, figured you'd wanna sleep in mate.”
“Nah, up and at ‘em you know?”
Alex laughs like it's the funniest thing he's heard in a while, before giving Logan a little mocking salute, “Of course Sarge.”
Logan, begrudgingly, must admit that he loves whenever Alex calls him some random nickname. It's almost always done to tease him sure, but he still enjoys it either way. They range anywhere from ridiculous things like Logie bear to fake serious ones like Sarge.
Breakfast ends up being quite a bit more food than Logan was expecting; Alex claiming him visiting was a special occasion.
Alex brings up all the random things he thinks they should do with their day while they finish their food. Logan is happy to just nod along, ready to do whatever Alex wants them to. He's almost positive just being around him is enough no matter what they do.
That sentiment lasts for exactly one activity.
It's nothing to do with Alex or what he's chosen for them to do. Logan just feels off. It's hard to really even describe when Alex asks what's going on.
He doesn't feel sick or tired even just off kilter. The best way he can describe it is how you feel the day before your symptoms really kick in. Like he'll wake up tomorrow morning with a clogged nose and a scratchy throat.
Alex takes it all in stride. Drives them to the nearest pharmacy to pick up a few things just in case and then back to his apartment.
Logan apologizes no less than a hundred times about ruining their plans.
“Loges really it's alright, we can just hang out here,” Alex reassures him after his last apology. He sounds genuine enough that it gives Logan some comfort.
He really does feel bad though. Essentially forcing Alex to alter his whole day and just because he feels like he might be sick.
It's when they're partially into Alex showing him some series he'd been watching that Logan starts to feel something different. He wants to be closer to Alex. The urge starts off small just enough to make him scoot an inch closer. But somehow without him noticing it grows and grows until he gives in.
Alex doesn't say anything when Logan finally settles a hair away from being pressed against his side. He does flinch slightly when Logan closes the miniscule gap between them so their arms are touching.
“Still feeling alright,” Alex asks. Logan nods, avoiding turning to look at him. He doesn't want to see the look on his face. Surely, Alex is weirded out right now. They've never shied away from each other's personal space in the past but this is different. They're not as close as they used to be now despite being closer than ever physically.
Or maybe he's overreacting just a tad. Alex obviously doesn't care, still filling Logan in on what's going on in the show.
At some point, Alex brings his arm up to rest on the back of the couch and Logan slides farther into his space. Embarrassingly curling in towards him. He'd have another crisis about it but Alex doesn't give him a chance to.
“I can probably cook something for us soon,” Alex glances back towards the kitchen, “You should eat something, might make you feel better.”
Logan is starving now that he thinks about it. But, the thought of Alex getting up is the worst thing he can imagine right now. He doesn't know how to communicate that without sounding insane.
“Don't feel like getting up.”
“You don't have to mate, I can cook without help,” Alex laughs. Logan has to muster the courage to say what he actually means.
“I don't want you to get up either,” Logan whispers from his spot at Alex's side.
Alex doesn't call him a freak like he was expecting or laugh like it's some terrible joke. He just says alright and settles back against the couch. After a beat, he pulls out his phone to order them food.
Logan jumps when someone, the delivery driver, knocks at the door. He hadn't been asleep just laying against Alex's side with his eyes closed. Relaxed while he took in the gentle tone of Alex's voice and the warmth radiating off of him. He hasn't felt so comfortable in months.
It feels like it all gets ripped away when Alex stands to walk to the door. A chill shooting down his spine immediately. Logan has to bite back a childish whine. He's not sure where it comes from but he just feels so sad about Alex moving away. Which is obviously dumb since he knows he's just getting their food, can even hear him say “cheers” to the delivery driver.
Alex makes up for the betrayal of leaving him on the couch by offering him a bowl of pho. He says it should help Logan feel a little better.
They end up eating at the same side of the table since Logan apparently can't bear for them to be apart. He does feel marginally better after eating but whatever is going on in his head that's pulling him towards Alex doesn't disappear.
It only gets worse as the night goes on. Alex gets up to go to the bathroom and the second he's out of Logan's sight he gets hit by a wave of anxiety. He quickly tries to clear his head of the feeling at all, this is getting ridiculous. He's acting like a baby. Logan decides that he'll have to straighten up before Alex gets fed up with him.
Alex says they should watch one more episode before they go to bed. Logan sits considerably farther away from him on the couch this time. His resolve crumbles when Alex turns to him with a playful grin, “What not time to cuddle anymore Sarge?”
Logan hasn't paid attention to a single part of the show they're watching. His focus is solely on listening to the rhythm of Alex's breathing.
He must get lost in it because before long Alex is turning the tv off and helping him off the couch.
Logan almost follows Alex into his room like an idiot before turning towards the guest bedroom. Whatever is going on with him needs to be over by tomorrow morning.
A full hour later and he's still awake. He's tossed and turned into a thousand different positions. Somewhere in the back of his mind he thinks he could fall asleep easier if Alex were here. Logan shuts that thought down immediately. He's already made a fool of himself; he won't give in to this. There's no way he can walk over to Alex's room and beg to sleep with him like some kid who's afraid there's a monster under the bed.
His body gives up fighting it after another half hour and he falls asleep. The last thought that crosses his mind is how comfortable he'd felt basically letting Alex hold him.