two
Wade was going to lose his fucking mind.
He had searched the entire athletics zone of the school and couldn’t find Logan anywhere. The gym was spotless and had no sign of recent activity. When he crept his way into the main athletics office some secretary told him to beat it. He even politely knocked once he got to Logan’s office, then impolitely, before opening the door anyway; the room was empty.
He loitered around the bathrooms as a last result, hoping Logan would walk out. Unfortunately, all he did was freak out a freshman.
Wade was beginning to think Laura was just being an ass. But, if it was a joke, why the hell would he have these pictures?
Huffing in frustration he spun himself around outside the main gym doors.
“If I were a miserable, sweaty old man, where would I be?”. He asked aloud and tapped his chin, “Hmm..” His eyes fell on the locker room. “Bingo,”
Hesitantly, he pushed open the door and stepped into a small hallway. There was little to no noise inside and his hope was dwindling. Moving one foot in front of the other, he got himself to turn the corner. The sight before him made a deity seem plausible.
Standing there, drying his hair with a towel, standing clad in nothing but a perfect pair of wash denim jeans was Logan Howlett.
Wade’s jaw hung open and his eyes stood firmly glued to watching residual water drops trickle down Logan’s chest. They went into each rigid indent of his abs, glistening. He looked like a greek god and if Wade’s pants were getting a little tighter, well, no one could blame him.
Logan’s eyes met his from the mirror and he turned his head towards Wade, confused, “Mr. Wilson,” He looked like he had been unwantedly caught, “…can I help you?” His eyebrows scrunched.
Wade swiftly closed his mouth and adjusted from his right foot to the left. No words came out, which was a rarity for him. He just kept staring, trying with all his might to keep his eyes from traveling down Logan’s body. This had to be terribly fucking unprofessional.
“Is Laura okay?” Logan tried breaking the odd silence with concern.
Wade cleared his throat and corrected his eyes, “Yes, yes, sorry. You. I’m here for you, Macho Man,” Logan’s face contorted in a beautiful blend of irritation and confusion, “Laura told me you might be able to help us out,”
“Us?”
“Yeah, me, Laura, the drama department, blahblahblah,” Wade was met with a stare, “She said you have a history in my field,” he smiled a bit, trying to ease into the topic.
“She told you- What did she tell you?” Easing into this was not excelling.
“Well,” Wade couldn’t help the smirk that grew across his lips, “She told me about your position in Grease. Which is the show we are putting on, by the way, so, you would totes be of help,”
“No,” Logan looked away as he began to fold his towel on the sink.
“Wha- Logan come on, please, man, your department took my budget, ‘Least you could do is help me out,” Wade pouted.
“Wasn’t my decision. Go away,” He walked over to his gym bag and pulled out some sort of protein shake. Wade could taste the graininess by looking at it.
“Alright, I didn’t wanna pull this card, but you leave me no choice,” Wade pulled his phone out, and Logan raised an eyebrow at him with an uninterested hum.
Wade hid a tiny smirk as he pulled the picture up and twisted his phone screen into the other man’s view, “Okay, Peanut, don’t you think this young man would want you to help?”
Logan’s eyes blew wide as he looked at the picture shown before him. He hadn’t seen it in ages, but he couldn’t forget his first big role in a show. Sitting on that man’s lap surrounded by an eager, enthusiastic audience, people all around him as he vulnerably mouthed lude words from the big screen. The photo had too much exposed and Logan was going to rip Laura a new one for sharing it.
He let out a huff that borderlined a growl before reaching for Wade’s phone which was quickly moved away from reach, “Ta-ta, Logan, this is sacred documentation that I swore to protect with my life, but…” Logan’s eyes met Wade’s with a warning, “It would be a shame if I were to.. accidentally release them,” They were empty threats, but Logan didn’t need to know.
“Shut up and delete that,” Logan blew the air from his nose harshly, “I don’t even know where she got that shit,”
“But, think about the fun you had performing Rocky and how much fun you could have directing the kids,”
“Directing and acting are two separate fields,”
“But you don’t deny it was fun—“
“Shut up,”
“—to walk around in heels and with a thong while sitting on other men's laps. My, my, Logan, you nasty cat,”
“Shut the fuck up,” Logan growled. Wade felt that in a lot of places.
He sighed, “Listen, Logan, if you come in tomorrow and watch them practice, just for a little, I will leave you alone,”
“Get the hell out, right now,”
“Only if you promise to come tomorrow,” Wade countered.
“If you get the fuck out right now, I will think about it,”
“Yes, Sir, you will not regret it,” Wade smiled bright and wide before taking one last glance at Logan’s chest. The shorter man grunts in frustration.
With a wink Wade swivels around and ushers himself out of the locker room door.
—
Logan’s eyes traced the window of the auditorium doors as he loitered outside. He couldn’t believe himself for showing up. The night before, he had been so adamant that he wouldn’t let himself get involved.
He huffed and reached out to the door knob, hesitantly pulling the door open with a loud creak. He winced as he saw heads turn towards his entrance. Damn door.
Wade was down by the stage helping some girl with a prop, thankfully he was too invested to turn around and see Logan. He stepped in, dropping the door behind himself and sat midway from the stage and exit. The closer he got, the harder it would be to untangle himself from this mess.
His eyes followed the kids in the center stage, they were practicing the choreography for the show’s first song, and Logan, despite himself, couldn’t help but smile at them. He remembers being in their position back in his senior year. It is a special thrill in those first few practices to know that soon enough you will memorize and perform something so hard in the moment. It used to give him a buzz that he won’t admit to missing.
Logan’s attention was stolen by Wade as the man spoke from the front of the stage, “Okay, from the sound of it, your practice is going great, but I missed most of it because the props were crumbling. Run it through for me from the top,” He clapped his hands together as the kids brought themselves to first positions. There was a beat of preparation before they began.
Logan kept a steady back and forth rhythm of watching students perform and Wade’s reactions. He could almost feel the other man’s tension.
Logan huffed a disgruntled sigh and stood up. He slowly and silently made his way towards Wade; he still couldn’t believe the little shit talked him into this.
Once he arrived beside Wade, he leaned in a bit and spoke softly as to not disturb the performance, “You need to tell them to project more efficiently, I couldn’t understand all of their lines from the audience,” He leaned back away from Wade when he finished.
From his peripheral, Logan could see Wade’s head flicker to face him, but he refused to make eye contact. The man got him in here, he couldn’t give him anymore satisfaction or else Wade’s ego might implode.
Wade nodded and turned back to the students, letting them finish out the scene before grabbing their attention, “Guys, for the most part, that was good. Ben, for the love of all deities alike, please learn your timing ques,” Ben pouted, Wade continued, “It was also brought to my attention by our dear co-director here—“
“Not your co-director,”
“—definitely our co-director, don’t listen to him,” Wade smiled cheekily, slinging an arm around Logan’s shoulders, “He informed me that you guys weren’t projecting well enough; he couldn’t hear you from the seats,”
Logan blew a small sigh from his nose and shrugged Wade’s arm off his shoulders, “You need to use your stomach, lungs, and throat at full strength. Don’t let one out-power the other. They work together to get you to project the furthest.”
“Won’t we have mics?” One kid countered.
Logan turned to Wade, unsure. Wade smiled, and answered for him, “Yes, some of you will have mics, but you still need to project and pronunciate. We have limited supply, you need to be able to reach the audience regardless of your add-one,”
Logan nodded, “Things can go wrong on stage and you need to be prepared to handle them, if you can’t project then you are going to be in a shit position when your microphone breaks,”
Wade gasped, putting a hand over his mouth dramatically, “Logan, you can’t use that language in front of the fucking kids,”
Logan narrowed his eyes at Wade, “Do you ever shut up?” He turned back to the students, “Run the scene back, this time project,” He looked at Wade, “You, sit up here with me and see how they do,”
He and Wade walked halfway up the audience seats and sat, side-by-side.
“This is nice,” Wade said dreamily.
“Would you shut the fuck up for five minutes? Listen to the damn kids,”
“So mean to me,” Wade frowned, “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
Logan scoffed a laugh, but didn’t humor Wade a proper response.
As soon as the kid’s started up, Logan watched as Wade’s attention fell solely on them. His fist nervously met his lips and his eyes glued to the stage. Logan was impressed how he could fall into such a professional manner so quickly. This guy was really something.
Once the students finished the scene, he and Wade made their way back down the stage where the actors waited patiently.
“That was better than the first time,” Logan started, “Laura, you need to enunciate your words’ beginnings, it gets lost in your line and the words run together,”
“Calling out your own daughter, how cruel,” Wade taunted. Logan side-stepped his foot on top of Wade’s as a warning. Wade groaned, and Logan smiled, small and amused.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but,” Ben spoke up hesitantly, “What exactly qualifies Mr. Howlett to direct us?”
Wade smirked and opened his mouth, but Logan beat him to it, “I did some years of theater back in college, I know my way around a stage,”
“He sure does, Logan, here, had some very interesting rolls, including—” Wade glanced at Logan and was met with an irritated glare, “—Danny,”
Ben lit up, “Really? Do you think you can give me some pointers, Mr. Howlett?”
Logan looked surprised and glanced at Wade for a moment before nodding up to Ben, “Sure, Kid,”
Wade smiled, “Alright split off and run a few more scenes before practice ends, I need to speak with Mr. Logan now,”
“You do?” Logan raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, Sir, c’mon,” He grabbed Logan's sleeve and dragged him to a back room behind the stage.
Logan shook his sleeve free from Wade’s insistent grip. Leading the other to roll his eyes, “So, you're in?” Wade asked expectantly.
“In?”
“You are gonna help with my shit show?”
Logan contemplated, if he affirmed this then he wouldn’t have an escape route. If he doesn’t confirm his participation then he is going to get an ear full from Laura. He huffed.
“Look, Mr. Wilson, I have responsibilities here in my own department, I can’t promise you or Laura that I can be here for this,”
“What responsibilities do you even have right now? Other than taking showers and sexily drying your hair—,”
“Excuse me?” Logan flushed ever so slightly, and Wade, honestly, couldn’t tell if it was from irritation or something else.
“I don’t see you doing much after school. You aren’t coaching right now. I know you don’t have meetings any days other than the first Monday of the month. So, what keeps you so busy?”
“Do you mind your own fucking business? Ever?”
“Nope,” Wade smiled proudly.
Logan grunted in frustration, “I have shit to do and plan,”
“Sounds like an excuse,” He ignored Logan’s huff and continued, “Laura said you leave at seven, our practice ends at 5:30, that leaves you with over an hour to ‘plan your shit’,”
“You are a persistent pain in the ass,”
“Guilty,”
Wade smiled. Logan scowled.
“Let me take you out to coffee after practice, we can hash out the details and you can growl at me all you’d like, Angel Baby,,”
Logan contemplated the offer, “Fine,”
“Ha!” Wade pointed a finger at him.
“What now?”
“I knew you didn’t have shit to do,” Wade’s eyes sparkled in victory, and Logan would be damned if he admitted how it made him feel.
“You're paying,” he huffed.
“Anything for my overworked princess,” Wade winked.
“Fuck off,” Logan turned and headed towards the door. Wade skipped out after him.
—
As soon as Logan finished his goodbyes to Laura, Wade popped up beside him, “So, whose car are we taking?”
Without skipping a beat Logan responded, “We’re walking,”
“What,” Absolutely no fucking way was that the only option, “It’s ass outside, I’m not walking,”
“I’m not driving,”
“Then I’ll drive us,” Wade insisted.
“No,”
Wade rolled his eyes, “Why the hell not?”
Logan stayed quiet as he slung his bag over his shoulder, “Grab your shit, and meet me outside, we’re walking,” He stepped out.
Wade stared out the door, watching Logan walk away, “Asshole,” He turned around to collect his own stuff, “‘Oh, no, Mr. Wilson, we must not drive, we have to walk and stay in shape’ blahblahblah,” Wade huffed like a child and picked his bag up, “No fucking way am I walking in this shit heat,” When he turned around he was face-to-face with Logan leaning on the doorframe.
“You done bitching?” He cocked a brow.
Wade smirked, “Not even close,”
Logan shook his head with a hint of a smile as they walked out.Wade complained the entire fifteen minute walk to the coffee house.
When they arrived he quickly grasped the door handle and trotted inside, panting like a dog. Logan walked in behind him, annoyed.
“Oh, sweet, dear air conditioning, how I’ve missed you,” Wade whined.
“You’re pathetic,” Logan walked past him up to the counter.
The young barista greeted him with a bright smile, “What can I get you two,” She looked amused by Wade’s antics. Logan could hardly relate.
“Black coffee for me, and whatever he orders, please for the love of God, make it decaf,” Logan turned back at Wade, who was still panting under the AC vent, “Get up here and order, now,”
“I get all tingly when you take control like that,” Wade walked up and placed his hands on the counter and stared starry eyed up at the menu, “Hmmm,” He could feel Logan growing further irritated beside him, “I’ll get the double fudge swirl frappuccino, extra whip and drizzle, please,”
Logan squinted his eyebrows, “That’s not even coffee,”
“It’s served at a coffee house,”
“Oh my God,” Logan should have never accepted this offer.
The barista smiled again, “You two go sit, I can bring out your drinks when they’re ready,”
Logan dragged Wade away from the counter and sat at a booth in the corner, “How on earth did you manage to get a job teaching?”
“My charm,” Wade shot him a toothy grin.
“I would hardly call it charm,”
They sat in silence for a singular minute— which felt like bliss to Logan.
“So what’s your deal with cars?” Wade leaned his elbows on the table and gave Logan his undivided attention.
“No deal,” Logan avoided his eyes.
“Oh-ho, there is definitely a deal,”
“No deal, drop it,”
Wade pouted, “C’mon it can’t be that bad—“
“Fucking drop it, Wade,”
Wade’s brows went up slightly. Logan hadn’t used his name yet. He nodded apologetically and opened his mouth to lighten the mood, but was interrupted by the barista bringing their drinks.
“Here is your boring cup, Logan,” She set his bitter beverage down, “And, you, sir, here is your fudge frappé, I added a cherry for you, too,” She stood up straight, “Logan never brings anyone in here anymore, try to charm him with that cherry stem trick,” She smiled.
Logan choked on his first sip, flushing, “This is not like that, Marie, beat it,”
Marie smiled, “It could be like that,” She winked before sauntering back to the counter.
When Logan looked back up at Wade he was met with an amused smirk.
“Take no ideas from her, I swear to God you will be directing alone,”
Wade smiled, “So, you are agreeing to co-direct?”
Logan sighed, “Yes,” Before Wade could celebrate, he continued, “But, I’m not doing it on your terms,”
Wade deflated, “What does that mean?”
“You aren’t allowed to talk to the kids about any of my past roles other than Danny, and—“
“Whaaa, you don’t want them to know about your beautiful Frank photos,”
Logan scowled, “No,” He took a sip of his coffee, Wade cringed at the idea of how bitter it was, “And, we have to discuss things before we discuss them with the students, no surprises, Mr. Wilson,”
Wade frowned, “You have no whimsey, Kitty,”
“Do not fucking call me that,”
Wade smiled as he picked the cherry off top of his drink and bit it off the stem, humming.
Logan glanced out the window before looking back as Wade popped the stem into his mouth. They didn’t break eye contact as Wade twisted it around in his mouth. He pulled it out, tightly knotted.
“Gross,” Logan deadpanned, but Wade didn’t miss the hue of flush in his cheeks or how he squirmed a little in his seat. He counted that as a victory.
They finished their drinks over casual conversation, mostly talking about old roles they had played or how stubborn Laura could be. It was surprisingly nice.
Wade got up, collecting their trash, and walked up to the counter to pay. Logan could hear hush conversation and giggling between Wade and Marie, and glanced up to see her looking back at him. She smiled and nodded her head in his direction, making Wade turn his attention to Logan who quickly turned his head to face away from Wade, towards the window.
Wade came back to the booth a minute later, “Let’s go, Honey Badger, I wanna get home,”
The walk back was shockingly quiet until they arrived at the school. Wade walked Logan up to his car and even opened his door once it was unlocked.
“Thank you, for the coffee, Wade,” Logan looked up to face him.
“Anytime, Angel Baby,”
Logan sent him a glare with little malice behind it, “Drive safe, Bub,” He muttered as he sat down into the driver’s seat.
“You too,” Wade smiled at him softly, and lingered a moment. They both just looked at each other until Wade got his senses back and shut Logan’s door. He waved and walked back over to his own vehicle while the other watched.
Logan stayed in the parking lot until Wade was long gone. He couldn’t understand the butterflies in his stomach or the hesitant excitement he felt for tomorrow’s practice.
What the hell was Wade Wilson doing to him.