Logan became to used to being by Dakota’s side that when he wasn’t he felt very out of place. Currently, he waited in the commons area, waiting for Dakota’s text that he was out of class. His gym class was doing their end of the year physical and Dakota wasn’t exactly known to be athletic. Logan was sympathetic. It wasn’t until after high school that he’d put more muscles on and could run without getting winded the second after he started.

He stared at the school mascot, wondering again why the school though yellow was a good color. Minutes passed and he checked his phone again. It was becoming repetitive, second nature. When he wasn’t with Dakota, he was always thinking about the next time he would see him. Checking his phone over and over, he felt dumb doing it, but he couldn’t stop.

His phone buzzed in his hand. He smiled at the new text. Every time he thought about how he shouldn’t obsess over the littlest thing, something like this would reward the bad habit.

“Sorry,” Dakota apologized as he came out of the locker room, still wiping sweat from his face.

Logan swallowed thickly. “It’s okay. You want to shower or something?”

Dakota paused. “Oh. Is that okay?”

Logan snorted. “I’d rather wait than have to smell your stink.”

Dakota flushed. “Sorry.”

Logan rolled his eyes. He reached up and ruffled Dakota’s hair. “It was a joke. Now go.”

Dakota darted back into the locker room. Logan stood there at the entrance, then thought about if Dakota wanted him to wait here. Usually, Dakota didn’t like it when he loitered outside, but there was no one here. Dakota always waited until there was no one left in the class before he texted Logan the all clear.

Figuring it was okay, he sat on the bench outside the locker room. The gym was completely empty. The school was probably empty by now too. A quiet settled over the bleachers and the laminate flooring. His knee started to bounce. The smell of paint ghosting by. He could already feel the way it felt to hold a brush and to swipe color onto the canvas.

Was this the feeling Dakota always had? Was he always dying to get a brush into his hand like it was his air? Logan never thought he would enjoy something so much. It was like he was falling in love.

“I’m done.” Dakota announced as he emerged from the locker room again, his hair still wet and smelling of soap. 

Logan stood and sniffed the air. He got closer, smelling Dakota by the neck. “You smell good.”

Dakota’s mouth parted. “I sprayed some cologne. You said I stink.”

“It was a joke,” Logan laughed. “But thank you. I get to smell you all this evening.”

He leaned in, still joking, but Dakota’s hand on his chest, near his shoulder, stopped him. He peered up with questioning eyes. “Huh?”

It was true that Dakota spoke with his eyes. But what he was saying now didn’t make sense. Logan stared, waiting.

Dakota gave him a little push, but not enough to make Logan back off. “You’re always saying confusing things.”

“Oh.” Logan backed away with a step. “It was just a joke. Really.”

Dakota frowned. “That’s not what I mean. Nevermind.”

He shook his head in frustration and started to walk off. 

“Hey. Wait.” Logan chased after him, wondering just what he’d done wrong. “I’ve been meaning to ask if I could come over.”

Dakota kept his eyes straight ahead, pushing the gym doors open. “You come over everyday.”

“Not to the shed. To your house.”

Dakota almost stumbled. “No.”

Logan’s smile dropped even further. Dakota kept walking and he would have left Logan behind if he didn’t run to catch up. “What do you mean ‘no’?”

“It means no.”

Annoyed, Logan grabbed the bottom of Dakota’s shirt and pulled. “Why can’t I? Am I not good enough?”

Dakota snatched the wrist of the hand holding him back and glared at Logan. He whirled around, a more pissed off look than Logan had ever seen, even when he’d been actually shoving Dakota around. “Don’t say some random shit. It’s not like that.”

Bottled rage started seeping out of Logan. He’d been good at keeping his anger in check, but he’d forgotten that he wasn’t the same Logan as before. He was reverting to old habits. 

“Then what’s it like? Poor little me gonna ruin your nice image.”

Dakota scoffed. “What are you talking about? Did you fucking forget what you used to do to me? Think for a second. Could that be why I don’t want you around?”

Of course it made too much sense. Logan was an asshole, a bully, and here he was again, trying to bully Dakota into letting him come over to his house. He was doing everything that he said that he wouldn’t do this time around. 

Dakota turned, but he thought twice about before grabbing Logan’s hand. He pulled Logan through the back doors though he didn’t have to after that. Logan kept pace with Dakota who slowed down the stomping of his feet. Logan’s heart was beating so fast he could hard breathe. He clenched Dakota’s hand, begging that the other boy wouldn’t let go. Not even for a second.

Today should have been like all the others. He should have seen Dakota off after their lesson, watching from afar as the boy disappeared into his neighborhood. That’s where he should have turned around and gone home. 

But Logan wasn’t listening to his conscience anymore. He’d had a plan to stick to when he set about this. There were rules, silent ones, that he’d set out because this was about helping Dakota. This wasn’t about Logan taking what he wanted again. He knew how that happened last time. He ended up more miserable than before.

He was doing that again. He was shoving all those rules out the window. He was stomping over boundaries and setting his own. Because that’s the kind of person he was. A bully. A loser who couldn’t respect others.

It had ticked him off more than he thought it could possibly when Dakota told him he couldn’t come over. The words that he’d said after had further pissed Logan off. No amount of watching Dakota paint or holding a paint brush could stop the swelling anger that caused him to venture further down the block. His anger had been palpable, so much that it was suffocating him. Dakota never acknowledged it. He’d annoyingly gone about the lesson has if nothing had occurred at all.

Logan had wanted to grab Dakota by the collar and scream. He wanted to demand that he let him in. 

He didn’t know why it bothered him so much. Dakota had explained it perfectly. It was black and white really. 

Dakota wasn’t his friend. There was a clear obligation between them. 

And that made Logan even more mad. So, Dakota was only hanging around him because he didn’t want to piss Logan off. 

Blinded by his emotions, Logan crept down the street. He didn’t know where Dakota lived, but he figured he’d know the house when he saw it. Surprisingly, that’s exactly what happened. He’d been walking down the street, hoping not to be noticed, when he saw the prettiest house he’d ever seen. 

It was a white house nestled between two others that looked similar in structure but lacked the pleasant details. Green vines grew over one section, giving it a cottage feel that didn’t look too out of place in Hopptide. The lawn was bright green and cut to perfection. Details weren’t loss and no matter what Logan looked at, he was surprised again at how much the house was cared for.

But that wasn’t how Logan knew it was Dakota’s house. It was a lot more obvious than that. 

Dakota sat outside his bedroom window on the second story. He was illuminated by the moonlight as if it had come down specifically to touch him. Logan’s jaw slackened at the sight.

He was like a painting.

The image of Dakota was so breathtaking that he forgot to hide and then it became too late when the boy noticed him. 

At first, his surprised expression was funny. He’d never shown such emotion until he was gaping down at Logan. His eyes were so wide that Logan almost laughed out loud.

“What are you doing?” Dakota hissed.

Anger melted away in a second. “I’m coming up.”

“No!” Dakota was downright scandalized when Logan latched onto the tree next to the house and started to climb. 

His strength was only a little outmatched by his determination. He scaled the tree without much of a slip, thankful that he used to do the same with his friends almost every day. The hardest part proved to be to get on the roof and not make a sound as he walked over to Dakota’s open window. 

“Be honest, did you piss your pants when you saw me?” Logan leaned over Dakota, bracing his arm against the house’s siding. 

Dakota’s cheeks were tinted pink. His lips parted, glossy from licking them. “You can’t come in.”

Logan drummed his fingers. He pursed his lips as he looked around. “Who’s going to stop me? You?”

He searched Dakota’s eyes for fear. It would take just a sliver of it to make him turn back around. As much as he wanted to impede on Dakota’s space, to make him let Logan in, he didn’t want to push too far. 

He saw no such thing. All he saw was that same puzzling emotion that he couldn’t decipher. 

“I’m coming in,” he announced, whispering. He slid through the small space left in the window. Dakota moved to press his back against the windowsill and gave Logan more room. 

Logan lowered his feet to the ground carefully. The room was dark except for a glow that was coming from a lamp on a barren desk next to the bedroom door. His gaze was hungry as he looked around, taking in the twin bed pushed against the right wall. The ceiling sloped, making the small room feel even tinier. He compared it to his room and was surprised to realize that it wasn’t much bigger than his.

His idea of what Dakota’s room would look like couldn’t have been further from the truth. The walls weren’t covered in art or posters. They were bare white walls that looked like they should belong to a house listing photo. His twin bed wasn’t made up, the comforter rustled as if Dakota had laid down and then couldn’t sleep so he got up.

On the desk was just the lamp that lit up the room and Dakota’s bag. 

“Why did you come here?”

Logan couldn’t stop looking around the room. He kept looking it over as if he was going to finally see Dakota’s personality—there had to be more. This couldn’t be Dakota’s room. It was…too sad to be his.

Before Logan could answer, a shadow moved outside the door. 

Dakota immediately yanked Logan by his shirt and shoved him outside the window.

“Hide! Don’t make a sound,” the desperation in Dakota’s voice shocked Logan into obeying.

He was shoved out the window and the curtain was drawn just as the door opened.

“Dad, I wasn’t doing anything. I swear—”

Smack!

Logan could feel the hit through sound alone. His hands were shaking as he covered his mouth. He didn’t know if he could scream or if he could move at all. He stared at the roof tiles as he listened in despair as Dakota was hit again by his dad.