Graduation might have been on Logan’s radar if he wasn’t so obsessed with Dakota. Besides being distracted, he’d been trying to find some sort of middle ground with his home life. He knew mending things with his dad wasn’t ever going to work out. And he didn’t see a point to it. He didn’t care if his dad died in the future anyway. 

Kylie, on the other hand, was different. Logan knew she was unapproachable. He did his best to build a bridge, but it was like each time he did, something out of his control would happen. His dad’s outbursts were part of it. So, he stayed out of his sight as much as he could. Standing up to his dad had always been something he wished he did and now that he’d done it, he didn’t see or feel a difference. 

But now, graduation was looming. Not because he cared about it. He’d skipped the whole ceremony aspect and he would have been fine doing it the second time around too. However, Dakota had pressed him about it. He thought it was a missed experience if he didn’t. 

The thought lingered as most things Dakota said. Logan thought it through class, when he and Dakota sparred, and while he laid in bed. He was thinking about it now as he stared up at the basement ceiling. He turned over, uncomfortable, and his mind busy with the idea of what the ceremony would be like. He looked out the tiny basement window that used to creep him out. When he was younger, he would imagine someone peering through it and looking right at him.

His eyes started to drift close when his phone buzzed on the crate acting as his nightstand. 

[Dakota] Can I come over?

Logan sat up upright. He rubbed his eyes as he started to type.

r u ok?

He sent it before he realized he hadn't given a true answer. He was about to send a text about meeting Dakota at the shed. It would be safer. He couldn't guarantee something would happen if Dakota came here.

[Dakota] No.

Logan's heart sank. He didn't want to put Dakota in danger by letting him come here, but if he needed him...he couldn't say no. He sent his address and climbed out of bed. He was as quiet as he could be as he got dressed and crept upstairs.

The night felt even darker. The pitch black of the kitchen and the living room as he passed by made his heart race. His pulse spiked when he heard a creak from upstairs. He held his breath for a second, waited, and when there wasn't another sound, he continued on.

Outside was nicer than being stuck in the basement. Though it was still hot from the lingering summer day, he didn't feel so alone or cramped when he was in the basement. He crossed his arms as he stood on the porch, watching the road for a figure.

It was twenty minutes later when Logan saw him. His footsteps were swift, but he didn't look like he was enjoying the night as much as Logan was. His dark hair was pulled back from his face with more hair clips. Though Logan couldn't see his face from how dark it was, he could tell something was wrong.

Logan met Dakota halfway across the yard. He’d told himself before hand to keep his distance. He didn’t want to upset Dakota anymore than he already was. But he couldn’t help it when all he wanted to do was hold Dakota. It made him so happy that he was the person Dakota came to when he wasn’t okay. 

He reached out to Dakota, grabbing him gently by the arms like he was going to pull him into an embrace. He had some self control. He kept a healthy distance, one that wouldn’t make him crave more than what he’d already taken. He knew he had to expect for the worst. Even his delusions wouldn’t let him believe Dakota had come to him in the middle of the night just because. There had to be a bad reason for it.

And the reason was on Dakota’s face. His left eyes was swollen and bruised. 

Logan didn’t need to ask who’d done it. “Why?”

Was there a need for a reason? When Dakota’s dad had hit him before there hadn’t been a reason except for being awake. Did it matter?

Dakota lifted his head. His eyes, even the one almost swollen shut, twinkled. “I told him he’s not allowed to hit me anymore. When he tried to, I did what you taught me and hit him back.”

The pure elation on Dakota’s face and in his voice had butterflies erupting in Logan’s stomach. He couldn’t contain his own smile. He threw his arm around Dakota’s shoulder and pulled him in, forgetting his own rules. 

“You little shit.” He pressed his face against Dakota’s. “I’m proud of you. But that hurts like hell, right?”

His hand came up to Dakota’s face and grazed the boy’s cheek. Though it was a gentle touch, Dakota hissed.

“That stings.”

The butterflies in Logan’s stomach didn’t disappear. He was proud of Dakota. In just a short while, he’d changed. It was subtle. He didn’t know if it was enough to change Dakota’s mind later on in life—he couldn’t peer into the boy’s mind to know what he was thinking or going through. 

The bitterness of his happiness made it hard to enjoy the moment. 

“I wish…” He couldn’t finish his thought. It hurt too much. “You can sleep here, but you’ve got to be quiet.”

Dakota nodded emphatically. He was high off the fight, jittery in a good way. He was like a puppy and Logan’s smile was hurting his face again. He took the boy’s hand and lead him down to his room in the basement. They squeezed into the bed, back to back, and suffered through each other’s body heat. 

Static thrummed through Logan the entire night. Though he couldn’t sleep, it was the best night he’d ever had.

The last day of school came quicker than Logan expected. His lazy days following Dakota around had filled his mind, time passing slow as he marinated in everything that was Dakota. Two weeks had all but passed in a blink of an eye—except it didn’t. Logan felt like he spent an entire lifetime with Dakota. These days shared at the shed were some of the most beautiful days on earth he’d ever lived and he didn’t want them to end.

[Dakota] Done.

wait for me. got to get diploma ;P

In the end, Logan decided he didn’t care to walk with the rest of his class. He hadn’t cared the first time he’d missed it and he didn’t care to do it this time around. However, he did decide he would attend, but not as a graduate. He would be in the audience, cheering for Dakota when they called his name.

He fiddled with his phone while he waited for the secretary to get his paper that said he’d officially graduated. It was funny to stand here, waiting for some paper that summarized his entire childhood. Thirteen years. His entire life. Mostly, anyway.

Not that he needed that paper. He’d survived without it last time. But it meant a lot more to him now. It was almost like he earned it. 

The secretary gave him the side-eye when he took his diploma with a cheesy grin. She definitely couldn’t care less about his happiness, but Logan didn’t care. He almost flaunted it at her he was so happy.

He tucked it into his notebook and walked down the hall where Dakota would be waiting for him. It took awhile longer than he’d expected to. He was ready to apologize for making the boy wait when he found the halls empty. He peered into Dakota’s last classroom, but found that it was empty as well.

He pulled out his phone and sent Dakota another text. He walked back and forth in front of the classroom, a gnawing feeling inside his stomach. When Dakota didn’t answer again, he called. It was the first time he’d done it. Somehow though they’d hung out together everyday for almost two weeks, neither of them had never called each other. Surely, Dakota would answer this time. Even if he didn’t pick up, he would text after.

Logan got his hopes up when he heard the phone going to a voicemail. He wasn’t in the mood to leave a funny message. He couldn’t say why though it definitely had to do with bad things happening to Dakota recently.

A few minutes later and he couldn’t wait in the hall any longer. He set out to look for Dakota, looking down every hall and peering into every classroom. There was no one left in the building except for a few kids who stayed behind for afterschool activities. The emptiness in the school spiked Logan’s anxiety. 

It became clear that Dakota wasn’t here.

“Okay,” Logan consoled himself. “He just got tired of waiting for me and went to the shed.”

The idea wasn’t implausible. It just seemed very unlikely of Dakota. Unless he thought he didn’t need Logan to protect him now that he’d learned to fight. If that was the reason why he’d left Logan behind, Logan was going to be so pissed when he saw him.

Logan pursed his lips, anger already swelling inside of him. He was even more annoyed when he couldn’t think of a thing he could do to punish Dakota. He’d gotten over his want to hurt Dakota—years ago if he might add. But now he just felt mad that Dakota had left him behind just because. It was rude and…it was hurtful.

He brushed off his feelings, now annoyed he was even feeling this way. There was no reason why Dakota couldn’t do what he wanted. Logan wasn’t his keeper or anything. They weren’t dating.

The thought had Logan’s face burning. 

Why did I think that? Why would that even cross my mind?

He marched out the backdoors and followed the trail he’d gotten used to taking after school. The overcast sky made it feel cooling than the previous days. The wind picked up and he was just thinking there might be a storm coming when it started to rain.

It started with a light sprinkle before it turned into a heavier downpour. He started running, praying that he got to the shed before he was completely soaked.

He was just thinking that Dakota might have been caught in the rain too when he saw the shed come into sight.

And the three people outside of it.