three
Logan should have known that his first mistake was agreeing to be Wade Wilson’s codirecter. His second mistake was staying late in his office with a student who felt that she wasn’t putting her all into her softball team. He let her talk it out with him and gave her the best advice he could. He was patiently aware of each minute that passed, as it teetered over three-twenty he knew he was going to get shit on for being late to drama. But, this was his job, Wade couldn’t get pissed at him for doing his job.
When he stepped into the auditorium thirty minutes past practice’s start he determined his third mistake was worrying about Wade and not Laura. The second after he set his bag down beside Wade’s she was standing there beside him with a scowl.
“Laura?—“ Logan attempted to talk before his wrist was grabbed and she was pulling him away from the stage, “Laura, what the hell are you doing?” He wiggled his arm out of her grip and stopped the both of them from moving.
“Your late,” She glared up at him.
“I'm here now aren’t I?”
“You promised, you promised to be here and help, that means being here on time,”
“I had my own job to deal with, I already told you and Mr. Wilson that I didn’t have time for this—“
“Excusas de mierde, papá, you promised us—“
“Language,” Logan scolded, huffing in frustration, “I had a student, Laura, I can’t ignore that, I’m here now—,”
“Apologize,”
“What?”
“You’re going to apologize-“
“I don’t have to apologize to you for doing my job-“ His arm was grabbed again, and she began pulling him back towards the stage.
“No a mí, a Mr. Wilson,” She tightened her grip on his arm, limiting any movement.
“Damn it, Laura, déjame ir,”
Laura stopped them both right behind Wade, “Mr. Wilson, my dad is here,” she looked expectantly at Logan, “and he has something to say to you,”
“No I don’t,” He grumbled.
Wade turned around just as Laura shoved Logan towards him. She kept a firm hand on her father’s back so he couldn’t go anywhere.
Logan looked at him, frustrated, “Mr. Wilson, I am very sorry that my daughter,” he glared behind himself at her, “has no fucking boundaries,”
Laura kicked his shin, “Discúlpate, gilipollas,”
Logan growled and looked back at Wade, gritting his teeth, defeated, “I am… very sorry for being late,” Wade’s confusion was quickly growing into an amused smirk.
“no volverá a suceder,” Laura implied for him to echo.
“I’m not—“ another kick to his shin, he huffed looking up at Wade, “it won’t happen again,”
“Now you don’t sound very honest there, Logan,” Wade smiled tauntingly, “How do I know I can trust your word?”
“Bite me,” Logan hissed as Laura kicked him again, “Maldita sea, Laura, deja eso,”
Laura smiled, amused at herself, and let go of his back, “Good, papá, play nice,” she looked at Wade, “He’s all yours,”
Wade nodded at her as she walked back on stage, “So,” He faced Logan, “You speak spanish, Cariño?”
“Do not call me that,”
“Oh, come on, Peanut, lighten up,” Wade turned to face towards the stage, “We didn’t do much before you arrived, mainly just running lines for the first act. Ben has gotten a bit better on timing, I think your work with him yesterday helped,” Wade didn’t miss the small smile that landed on Logan’s lips.
They watched together as the kids performed Summer Nights. A few minutes passed before Logan leaned over to tell Wade that the kids still weren’t well-timed or sharp enough in their choreography.
Wade agreed and called out for the kids to stop, trotting himself up to center stage, “You guys sound good, on tune, loud, all things nice, but you all need to work on your movements. Mr. Howlett and I agree that the timing is off and your positioning is limp. You need to be exact or it will look too messy.”
Logan stepped up closer to the stage, “Most of you aren’t keeping your arms straight, we need your arms to have a line not a curve, keeping your wrist aligned with your forearms will make everything cleaner,”
Wade nodded, “Exactly,” He smiled at Logan for a moment before glancing around at the students, “Would a demonstration help? Yeah, okay, Bella play the track back, please,”
Logan stayed off the stage as he intently watched Wade move to the beat. He hadn’t seen him in action before, only heard stories of his past performances. He was perfect, quick and sleek movements with sharp and elegant positioning. Logan couldn’t look away. Wade caught eye contact with him and winked with that stupidly charming smile, and Logan grimaced, adjusting from one foot to the other, attempting to move his focus from Wade’s performance.
Wade stopped when one of the students asked a question, Logan missed who said it or what the question even was. Next thing he knew was that Wade was beckoning him up to join the stage.
“Mr. Howlett will come up and I can show you with him,” Wade looked at Logan expectantly.
Logan hesitated, but Wade looked him directly in the eye and he couldn’t bring himself to say no. He walked up onto the stage and stopped directly in front of Wade. He was feeling anxious and jittery, something he hadn’t felt since his first performance. It had been a long time since he was on a proper stage.
“Okay, so,” Wade stepped up to him, closer than Logan expected, “When you’re performing—“ Wade cut himself off and leaned into the other man even more, voice low, he asked, “Can I touch you?”
Logan gulped with a silent nod; he didn’t trust himself to speak.
“Okay,” Wade’s voice returned to a projection as he grabbed a hold of Logan’s wrists from behind. His grip was firm but not harsh as he brought the older man’s hands up in front of his chest, “Make your hands into fists,” He mumbled into Logan’s ear.
Logan complied and Wade looked around at the students, “See how his hands are tight, he isn’t just mimicking a fist, he is properly holding up for a fight,” Wade began to slowly push and pull Logan’s wrists into a punching motions, “Tell me more, tell me more, did she put up a fight,” Wade spoke the lyrics, emphasizing each word with a movement, “This is the timing you all need to understand, count in your head if it’s easier, practice at home, or memorize which motion is on which word like I’m demonstrating here,” He relaxed Logan’s arms down, but didn’t let go.
Logan stayed quiet, letting Wade take the lead in teaching the kids. He could only pay attention to the warmth of the other man’s fingers wrapped protectively around his wrist. He glanced back at Wade for a moment and then down at the stage floor. The fluttering in his stomach needs to fucking quit.
“Right, Mr. Howlett?” He heard Wade ask, but he had not heard anything before that.
Logan nodded, trying to hide his lack of attention. Wade let go of his hands, gently, “Okay,” He stepped beside Logan, “You all try the performance again, Logan and I will watch,” He stepped off the stage with the older man trailing behind him.
As the kids started up Wade leaned over to him, “You okay? You were really quiet up there,”
“Yeah, ‘M fine,” Logan kept his eyes steadily on the students.
“Did I take your breath away, Angel Baby?”
“Fuck off with that name,” Logan huffed.
Wade smiled, “You're not denying it,”
Logan rolled his eyes, “Cállate, Bub,”
“Ooo, what does that mean? Does it mean you think I’m pretty or—“
“It means shut the fuck up,”
Wade pouted, “So mean,”
Logan and him remained silent as the kids were coming to a close on the scene. Wade was in the middle of one of his ramblings when the students finished. Logan elbowed his side before standing up to address the actors.
Wade followed him up to the stage front, and began to congratulate the students on doing better. He went up on the stage and high fived Ben for finally being on time. Logan stayed on the floor and smiled up at him. He was an annoying prick, but when it counted, he was good at what he pursued.
Logan’s bliss was cut short by the auditorium door slamming open causing everyone, including himself, to look up at the intrusion. His stomach sank as his eyes landed on Scott Summers standing in the doorway.
He turned to Wade and signaled for him to continue before making his way up to the entrance.
Wade watched in confusion as Logan and Scott talked hushed and agitated. He told the kids to run some lines before walking up to Laura to see if she knew what the hell was going on. She swiftly ignored him and found a group to focus on.
Wade looked back at the two men by the door. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, just that Logan’s hand motions were frustrated as he spoke. It took a few minutes before Logan waved Scott out and shut the auditorium door. He began his way back to the front, and Wade tried stopping him to ask what was wrong. Logan simply shoved past him and motioned for Laura to come over.
Wade followed the older man, concerned, “Logan, what was that? Why was Scott so upset?”
“Wade, just leave it alone, please,” There was a hint of desperation in Logan’s voice that Wade chose to ignore.
“Logan, come on—“ Wade stopped as Logan turned around to face him. He didn’t say anything, but he silenced Wade in his tracks.
Laura walked up to the two of them, Logan’s attention immediately went to her, “¿Puedes llevarte a casa?”
Laura nodded, “¿Estás bien?, ¿se trataba de mamá?”
“Sí, sólo— solo consigue que te lleven a casa, por favor” Logan sighed, “Be home by nine, stay safe,”
She nodded again. Logan turned to Wade, he looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he walked past him.
Wade turned to Laura, “Stay,” He looked from her to Logan. He had grabbed his bag and was heading towards the exit. Wade looked back at her, “What the hell was that,”
Laura shook her head, “It’s not for me to tell,”
He sighed, but nodded, “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be okay, thank you, Mr. Wilson,” She gave him a small smile before regrouping with Ben.
Wade looked back, concern bubbling in his stomach as he watched Logan leave.
—
When Wade arrived at the school the next day he immediately set foot towards the athletic department. He wanted—needed—to check on Logan.
He couldn’t get a hold of him or Laura yesterday after practice, so he sat in his apartment trying to play it cool, like he wasn’t worried. Because why would he be worried? Logan is just a coworker, and barely even knew he existed a week ago. That man is constantly telling him to fuck off so why did this matter so much.
Wade shook his head and focused on getting to Logan’s office. When he got there he knocked once, twice, and opened the door. No one was inside.
“Motherfucker,” Wade huffed under his breath.
He went about his day as casually as he could. He attempted talking to Scott, but the man wanted nothing to do with him. So, Wade, defeatedly, waited for the evening. He relaxed at seeing Laura when practice began. At least she was okay.
Practice felt like a blur, Wade mostly let the kids handle themselves, he only gave directions when needed. His mind was occupied trying to find someone who could tell him what was going on. He had asked a handful of people so far and all of them had given him pity looks or told him to go away.
He remembers the barista from the coffee shop Logan forced him to walk to. She knew him on a first name basis, maybe she could be Wade’s insight.
His plan began to form, he would go to the shop as soon as practice ended. He let all the kids out, and grabbed his shit as the last student left. He got in his car, and his next trouble was going to be remembering directions.
Wade had filled the walk they had shared after practice that day complaints the entire way, and now he was reaping the consequences of not paying attention. He drove around for a while in familiar streets before he found the shop.
Rejoicing, he parked and trotted up and into the door. A little part of him hoped to see Logan sitting in one of the booths when he walked in, but all the people there were either college students or secretary types.
Wade walked up to the counter and was greeted by a young man, “Hey, what can I get you?”
He was polite and charming, but that’s not what Wade came for, “Is there a girl working here right now? Um.. white streaks in her hair, name starting with a… uh.. Marie? Is she working right now?” He frowned, he sounded like a creep, and that’s not going to help his case.
“Oh, um,” The guy looked uneasy, but before he could get an excuse out as to why Wade should definitely leave, the girl walked out of the back.
“Aha! You,” He pointed at her, “I need to talk to you,”
She smiled and walked up to him from the counter, “Hey, you came back, did you and Logan hit it off?”
“Obviously, yes, I’m a catch,” He smiled for a short moment before changing his face to a neutral tone as he looked at her, “Actually, I’m here to ask about him?”
Her smile wavered, “Oh? Um,” She sighed and turned to the boy beside her, “Bobby, I’m gonna take a few minutes,” She patted his hand then turned to Wade, “Let’s go sit,” She came around the counter and followed him to a booth, the same one he and Logan were in the night a few days ago.
“How long have you known Logan?” Wade started the conversation with headway, no need for awkward banter. There was plenty of that to come.
“Around… six years? I was his student back in highschool.”
Wade nodded, “Do you.. Do you happen to know what’s been up with him? We co-direct drama together and yesterday another teacher—Scott Summers, I think—came in and it was really… Everything seemed off. Logan left immediately after and didn’t show up today at all?”
Marie looked at him with that same pity that he had been getting all day, “How long have you known him?” She echoed his question back.
“Honestly? like a week. Laura told me to ask him for help with the drama department. But, before that? Before that, we had talked maybe ten times at most. Even though I’ve worked there for three years, we just never seemed to cross paths,” He felt like he was over explaining, but he didn’t care. He just needed to figure out what was going on.
“So you don’t know?”
“Know what?”
Marie sighed, sad, “Today is the five year anniversary of the day his fiancé… passed,”
“Holy shit,” Wade couldn’t help to filter himself, “What— Do you know what happened?”
“I shouldn’t—“
Wade looked at her with big eyes, “Please, no one has told me anything today, I just wanna…” He bit his cheek, “I just want to know how to help him,”
She nodded, slowly, “I don’t know all the details, I was a junior when it happened, but Logan was dating the science teacher, Ms. Grey,” She sighed, “Jean Grey, she and him were really serious and he proposed early in the year. I remember it was a huge deal at the school that semester, but…” She stopped herself.
Wade kept looking at her, hopeful.
She continued, “Something happened between them and all I remember is that one day we had an assembly where they told us that Mr. Howlett and Ms. Grey had gotten into a car accident the night before, and that she didn’t make it into the morning,” She looked out the window for a moment, then at Wade, “Logan blames himself. He had been the one driving, and… he had been drinking. He told me that they had been in some disagreement or argument; she wanted to get out of the house, clear both their minds, and he could never tell her no,”
She looked down at her nails, nervously picking at the polish, “He doesn’t like talking about it, I only learned his side of the story last year when he came in looking for a coffee to bring him off the alcohol he had been drinking,”
Wade couldn’t think of anything to say. The two of them sat quiet for a little, until he spoke up, “What about Scott?”
Marie looked up at him, “Mr. Summers was a big influence on their relationship. Logan doesn’t go into too much detail when talking about them, but I know that Scott was very special to both Ms. Grey and him. I think…” She stopped herself, “All I know is that after the accident Mr. Summers and Logan fell apart and they lost grip of each other,”
Wade nodded. He looked out the window and thought back to how he pestered Logan about his deal with cars. Regret nipped at his stomach.
“What’s his favorite color?”
Marie blinked at him, “What?”
“His favorite color? What is it?”
“Um.. I think it was yellow? He had a lot of yellow in his office?”
Wade nodded and stood up, “Thanks for this, Marie,” He looked at her, “I was worried,”
She smiled softly at him as she stood up, dusting off her apron, “Take care if him for me, please,”
Wade nodded his head a little before waving her a farewell. He was fast to make his way to his car. He pulled his phone out and dialed Laura’s number. She didn’t answer.
He sighed, and dialed again.
“Hello?” She picked up.
“What’s your address?”
“Excuse me?”
“I need your address,” Wade started his car up.
“Why do you—“
“I need it, Laura,”
She sighed and gave in.
With a quick thanks and plea to her to not tell the school administration about this call, he hung up. Heading out to the nearest florist shop he could find.
—-
Wade stopped his car in Logan’s driveway and took a deep breath. This was unprofessional at best, invasive and creepy at worst, but he couldn’t just leave Logan alone.
He stepped out of his car, collecting his phone and keys into his pocket before lifting a bouquet of flowers into his arms. He grabbed the small gift bag he had stuffed with dark chocolate and a get well soon card that was too tacky not to buy. Logan was gonna hate it, and that’s why it was a must get
With his heel, he kicked the door to his car closed and made his way up the pebble layered path to the steps of the front door. Adjusting the goodies in his hands to one side he lifted a fist up and knocked in a pattern to one of the Grease songs.
He stood outside the door doing obnoxious knocks for at least five minutes before Logan finally opened the door.
“What the fuck do you want, Wade?” Logan said his name before the door was open all the way. The knocks definitely gave him away.
Logan looked like shit, he had a stained sweatshirt on and reeked of whiskey. The bags under his eyes were dark enough to look like stage makeup.
“I come bearing gifts,” Wade smiled and shook the bag and flowers for emphasis.
Logan’s deadpan irritation didn’t shake, “How the hell did you find my house?”
“Magic,”
“Goodbye,” Logan started to shut the door but Wade shoved his foot in the way.
“Nonono, Logan, come on, take the flowers please, I went to a florist and everything.” Wade pleaded, and he didn't miss the slight raise of a brow from the other man.
Logan huffed, and reopened the door. He took the small bag out of Wade’s hand and turned around. Wade took this as an invitation and stepped inside. The house matched Logan’s look.
Blankets were strewn across the couch with a bottle of whiskey, half empty, on the end table. The sink was loaded with dishes and Wade noticed broken glass that was swept into a corner, but not thrown out.
Logan looked at the concern on Wade’s face and sighed, “Laura isn’t home, I wouldn’t let her see this,” He gestured around him.
Wade frowned, “And you?” Logan looked at him, tilting his head, “Logan, you shouldn’t be living in this,”
“It’s only been a day, Wade, ‘m fine,”
“You’re drunk,”
Logan wheezed, an amused, exhausted smile grew on his lips, “I am not drunk, Bub,”
Wade sighed, and set the flowers onto the counter, “Logan, go sit down, I’m getting you a glass of water,”
“Don’t need it, you should leave,”
“Logan sit,” With a bit of struggle, he set Logan into the barstool. He started looking through cabinets for a glass.
“Left,” Logan said quietly, “They’re in the cupboard to your left,”
Wade nodded and moved to open the door, he pulled out a simple glass and set in on the counter. After some more struggle he set the cup of water in front of Logan, “Drink it,”
Logan looked up at him, “Make me,”
Wade huffed a frustrated laugh, “You’re a little shit when you’ve drinken,” Wade pushed the cup towards him and turned away.
He turned the faucet on and began to clean dishes. From behind his back he heard Logan lift the cup and sip its content. They sat in shockingly comfortable silence, the only noises being the tap water falling along with the clinking of dishes.
“Why are you doing this?” The question was barely audible, as if Logan didn’t want Wade to hear, or he was scared of what Wade would say.
Wade took a second to respond, “So I can live out my fantasies of a gruff man having his way with me, his adorable, witty house maid,”
“Wade,” Logan huffed, almost a warning.
Wade sighed, “Because,” He looked for the right words, “I care about you, Logan,”
The older man scoffed, but he didn’t respond.
“Look, I may not know exactly what you went through… or are still going through, but,” Wade swallowed, he had to be delicate with his delivery, “I have been in this kind of place before, not for the same reasons, but after Vanessa divorced me, I went through a rough period. I know how much it sucks to be in this place alone,”
Logan remained silent for a few minutes. Wade assumed they weren’t going to speak again until he heard a sniffle. He set the dish in his hands down and turned the tap off. He grabbed a towel and turned around to face Logan, hands dry.
Logan was still on the bar stool, water hardly touched, but his head was lowered with the unmistakable sound of tears.
“Logan,” Wade spoke softly and carefully made his way across the counter from him.
“Fuck off,” There was no heat behind those words, if anything they sounded desperate.
Wade lifted his hand to move the glass out of the way; Logan remained tense.
“I’m not going anywhere, Logan,”
Another sniffle sounded through the room, Wade reached out again, this time toward Logan, who flinched back ever so slightly.
“Hey, you’re not scared of me now are you, Honey Badger,” He gently took Logan’s hand and led it to the counter’s surface, “You can’t let me believe I have this hold over you, my ego is big enough already, you don’t wanna add to it,”
Logan squeezed Wade’s hand just enough to be a painful warning. Wade winced, and gained a wet, quiet laugh from the other man in response.
They stayed like that for a while, with Logan calming himself to the steady rhythm of Wade’s thumb soothingly rubbing the back of the hand.
Logan finally peered up to see Wade already looking down at him.
“Hey,” Wade smiled.
“Hey,” Logan was quiet, but he let a small smile of his own slip onto his lips.
He let go of Wade’s hand and reached for the glass of water.
“Told ya,” Wade said proudly, “I knew you would need that water,”
Logan set down the empty glass, “Give that ego a fucking break, Bub,”
“Laura should make you a swear jar, she could make a decent buck off of it,”
Logan shot him an irritated glance as he stood from his stool, stretching. Wade watched him with a look of unmistakable affection that Logan chose to ignore. He couldn’t think of that right now. He was having trouble thinking of anything.
He walked into the living room and folded up the blanket he had thrown, setting it on the back of the couch before grabbing the bottle of whiskey. Wade shot him a warning glance, “You better not drink anymore of that, Angel Baby,”
“Untwist your panties, I’m just putting it away,” Logan walked past him and opened the freezer, shoving the bottle down to the far right. He sighed and stood back up.
“So, what are we to do with a house all by ourselves,” Wade sauntered up to him playfully before getting shoved away, “C’mon, Stubby, I bet we could get a round in before your parents get home,”
“Jesus Christ, Wade, shut the fuck up,”
Wade smiled as he turned the faucet back on to continue the dishes. Logan stepped up beside him with a towel. He began drying and putting away the utensils that had been set aside, finished.
Wade’s stomach flipped at the domesticity of it. The smile that crept onto his face was uncontrolled as he watched Logan set silverware into the drawer.
Without sparing him glance Logan spoke up, “If you break one of my glasses because your staring at me, I’ll cut you with the pieces,”
Wade returned his gaze to the last few plates, “Kinky,” He smirked at the growl he received.
They finished the dishes, and Logan began to look unsteady. Wade recognized that face all too well.
“Let’s watch a movie,” He suggested, it was a silent offer saying ‘I’ll stay’.
Logan turned to him, relief showing subtly over his features as he nodded, leading Wade towards the living room.
They started on opposite ends of the couch, but neither of them were complaining when they ended up side by side.
And when the credits began to roll as the movie came to a close, Wade looked over to see Logan asleep against the armrest of the sofa. He smiled and carefully stood up, taking the recently folded blanket off the couch’s back. He laid the sheet on top of Logan and gently rubbed his hair.
After turning all of Logan’s lights off, and setting the flowers into a vase beside the chocolates and card he removed from the gift bag. He stepped out the front door, quietly shutting it and using the spare key Laura told him about to lock up.
He silently got into his car and stared at the house for a moment more before starting the engine up and rolling out into the road.