five
Logan pushed the key into his office door and twisted it, shoving the metal to his palm, he turned the knob. When it hit a holt, Logan stared down in irritation. He roughly shoved the key back in its hole, and twisted the door open.
Stepping into the room, he kicked the entrance shut behind him. He lifted his focus from the floor and met eyes with Wade who was planted in Logan’s desk chair, wearing the reading glasses which were left on the desk earlier that morning.
“Nice of you to finally arrive, Mr. Howlett,” Wade deepened his voice, faking sternness, “Do you know why I’ve called you in here today,”
“Not a single second of peace, can’t even let me have that, huh, Bub,”
“Tsk, tsk, there it is again, that attitude,” Wade shook his head, “Don’t you think it’s disrespectful to talk to your guest like that,”
“Wouldn’t I be the guest in your scenario,” Logan asked with little interest as he pulled his jacket off.
Wade smiled, losing the deep voice, “You got me, Peanut,” His smile widened into a grin when Logan stared at him unamused, “You gotta admit, I look sexy in your old man reading glasses, though. Right?”
“Get the fuck outta my chair, asshole,” Logan walked up behind his desk and set his bag beside it. He stared down at Wade.
“You wanna sit in my lap so fucking ba- Hey!” Wade pouted when Logan pulled the glasses from his face.
“Yes, it is so sexy when you pout like a goddamn dog, how will I keep my pants on,” Logan sarcastically deadpanned, “Now get the hell outta my chair,”
Wade kept his pout but obliged, “I’ll let your attitude pass today since you’re having a hard time,”
Logan rolled his eyes and sat in his chair, shuffling through a few papers on his desk. Wade peeked over his shoulder and watched him silently.
“How long do you have until the meeting?” Wade asked.
“Half an hour, but the math halls are on the opposite side of campus so I have to leave my office in twenty,” Logan picked his glasses up, and set them on his face. They were still warm from Wade; he tried to ignore it.
The younger man stepped around the desk and dropped himself into one of the leather chairs Logan kept for parent conferences (or scolding for his players). He watched Logan carefully as the other man flipped through papers and read them over. He was hiding it well, but Wade could still see the tension buzzing through his body.
“I can walk with you,” He prompted, Logan looked up at him from the papers, “Since it’s on the way to the auditorium, y’know?”
They shared eye contact; mutually, they both knew that the auditorium was at the very least a five minute walk from Scott’s hall, it was definitely not on the way. Neither of them voiced it, though. Logan looked unsure, but all Wade did was give him an affirming nod.
“That…yeah, please,” Logan hesitated, looking at Wade who simply nodded at him again and smiled. Logan let himself do the same.
“Sooo,” Wade sat up in his chair, “Whatcha been up to today?”
“You can’t handle ten minutes of quiet can ya?” Logan kept his eyes on the paper he was highlighting over.
Wade hummed, “Nope,” He grinned proudly, “It’s been two weeks, you should know that already,”
“I’ve known for longer than that, Bub,” He looked up from his paper, “You could never shut up during teacher meetings either,”
Wade pretended to pout, but he couldn’t knock the flutter in his stomach that Logan had paid any attention to him, “I have never interrupted a meeting,”
The older man scoffed a laugh and set his pen down. They continued bantering and bickering as the twenty minutes passed with ease.
Logan let out a little shaky breath as he stood up from his chair, “We should head out now,”
Wade set down the pad of paper he had been doodling on and stood up. He glanced at the door before looking at Logan, “How you feelin’?”
There was no response, just a silent shake of the head. They both exited the room, stopping for just a moment to lock up the office. Logan walked ahead of Wade, not stopping to see if he was actually following or not. He had a stone cold expression that the younger man was trying to decipher.
He didn’t know much pertaining to this story; he didn’t know what had really happened between Scott and Logan. All he knew was that they both loved the same girl and maybe even loved each other, but that had ended. Bad blood was still flowing between them and Wade really wished Logan didn’t have to do this.
They both walked out of the athletic department heading down the path that led to the main building. Wade trotted ahead of Logan and opened the door for him with a goofy grin and a slight bow, “Ladies first,”
All the older man did was hum in response.
“C’mon, Peanut,” Wade frowned as he followed Logan into the building, “Am I not even worth a growl anymore,”
“Wade,” Logan huffed in irritation, “When I agreed for you to come with me, I didn’t plan on babysitting you,”
“You are ever so mean to me,”
They fell into this rhythm of arguing every few halls, and Logan would never tell Wade— lest his ego grow —that it was helping. He didn’t have to think so much about what this meeting would entail, he didn’t have time to with Wade running his damn mouth.
When they rounded the corner of Scott’s hall Logan stopped walking, causing Wade to bump into him.
“Kitty?” Wade stepped to the side of him and put a hand on his shoulder, “Hey, you got this,”
Logan shook his head. He stared at Scott’s door, “I hate our fucking advisors,”
Wade laughed a little, “Yeah,” He looked at the door with Logan, “Maybe this won’t even last long? It’s about Matthew Spence, right? All you guys have to do is set up a tutoring plan or something,”
“Scott has never made shit that easy,” Logan stepped forward towards the room and Wade trailed behind him. With a deep breath in and out, he raised a hand up to knock on Scott’s door.
“Come in,” Came a muffled voice from the other side of the door. Logan glanced at Wade, earning a small nod, before he opened the door.
“Thank you, Wade,” He mumbled to him before stepping into the classroom. He missed whatever reply he got when he shut the door.
Scott looked up from the papers he was grading, “Pull up a desk, I have to finish this paper before we talk,” he went back to whatever he was doing.
Logan tried not to be awkward as he walked over to lift one of the student desks. He waddled it up to the front of Scott’s, setting it down with an unreasonably loud thud in the quiet of the room. He cringed a little, and sat down fiddling with his thumbs as he waited. He felt like a student in trouble.
Scott set his red pen down, adjusting his glasses as he lifted his face to meet Logan’s gaze, “What did Shurley tell you?”
Logan blinked once, then twice, “He told me that Matt is slipping in class and it could affect his position on the team next year, and I can’t let that happen, he’s a starter,”
Scott nodded, “His mom refuses tutoring, they don’t think he should devote any extra time to this ‘academic nonsense’ if he is gonna be a professional,”
Logan scoffed, “That kid is not gonna be a professional,” He sighed, “I can call her, try to talk her into once or twice a week tutoring,”
“Are you actually gonna call?”
“Yes, Scott, it’s my job,” Logan gave him a halfhearted glare.
Scott shrugged, “If she agrees, I will only be able to do it Wednesday,”
“But he has baseball practice,”
“And?”
Logan sighed, frustrated, “Can’t you set him up another time? or with another student?”
“We don’t do that here,”
“We could,”
Scott shook his head, “We don’t,”
Logan gritt his teeth, “Scott, lose the damn attitude, we can be civil,”
Scott hummed, but he didn’t acknowledge what the other man had said, “I can try switching up my other students, I can make something work if you can get his mother to comply,”
“Okay,” Logan nodded, “And, if she doesn’t?”
The younger man paused for a minute, “I could move his class? He wouldn’t be happy about it, but an easier class could help,”
“He can suck it up,”
Scott nodded, and took a sticky note from his stack. He handed it to Logan, “Here,” The other man took it and tilted his head a bit, Scott sighed, “it’s Mrs. Spence’s number, so you don’t have to look it up,”
Logan nodded, “Thanks,” He pocketed the note, “I’ll call her tomorrow,”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I wanted to make it to the drama practice, it’s not even half over so I-“
“You’re gonna set this aside?” Scott looked unimpressed.
“Not doing that, Scott, I have a responsibility to take care of first,” Logan always hated Scott”s professional attitude. He left no room for movement, everything was rigid. It had to be done immediately.
“That’s not your department, Logan,”
“Yes, but I agreed to help Wade with it,”
“You call him Wade?”
Logan paused, “Yeah?” The younger man hummed, but wouldn’t elaborate, “Why is that a big deal,”
Scott avoided eye contact by busying himself with adjusting test papers on his desk, “You didn’t call Jean by her name so quickly,”
“What,” Logan stared at him, hard.
They met eyes again, “You always called her Dr. Grey during work hours, even when students weren’t around, you didn’t call her Jean for a long time,” It felt like Scott was staring into a deeper part of him, “It was always Doctor or some filler name, never her’s,”
“This isn’t the same thing, Scott,” The other man looked unconvinced, “It’s not,” Logan’s teeth grit.
Scott set his hands on his desk, “You’re helping with his department, calling him by name, making an effort, putting his work before your own work— all things you did with her,” He leaned back in his chair, “I hope he isn’t dating anyone, would hate for you to swoop in like that again,”
“Dammit, Scott, that’s not what happened,” Logan growled as the younger man scoffed, “You can see it however you want, but Jean didn’t leave you for me— it doesn’t fucking matter anyway,”
“You really think it doesn’t matter, Logan,”
“Yeah, because in the end she chose us both, asshole,”
“She chose you,” Scott. insisted.
“No she fucking didn’t, Scott, it was us both, not just me,” Logan could feel his nails dig into his palms, “She wanted you to move in with us, and if you guys hadn’t had that dumb fight-“
“Do not try to blame what happened on me, I wasn’t the one driving,”
Logan went quiet. He glared at Scott.
“You were the one who was backing out of something so important to her, you were the one driving, you were the one who got to be there with her, I had to find out what happened through your damn phone call,” Scott glared right back at him.
Logan stood up form his desk, not bothering to move it back to it’s original place. He had to get out of there, he didn’t want to here this shit again. He wanted to be anywhere but here right now. He hated talking about that night. He hated remembering that night. He couldn’t stand thinking about how everything could’ve gone differently.
“There you go, Logan, walking out again,”
Logan slammed the door before Scott could get another word in.
—-
Wade spun around when the creak of the auditorium doors sounded through the room. He was delighted to see Logan stepping through and making his way down the aisle.
“Peanut, you came,” He smiled wide and happy as he trotted over to meet the other man, “I thought you weren’t supposed to be here at all?”
Logan looked past him towards the stage where the kids were practicing a second act song. His eyes fell back to Wade’s.
“Ended early,” He didn’t mean to sound so dismissive, but he wasn't feeling very chatty. Maybe he should’ve skipped practice altogether.
“How’d it go,” Wade didn’t let the older man’s tone affect his own
Logan hesitated, “We decided I was gonna call his parents and negotiate tutoring with them,” It was the truth, just not the whole picture.
“They don’t want him to have a tutor?”
“They said it’s a waste of time,”
“Silly,” Wade snorted, “How was it… with Sco-“
“How are they doing with their acts?” Logan cut him off, changing the subject to the students.
Wade looked at him, skeptical, “I think they are improving,” He turned around, “C’mon, I wanna hear what you have to say about Laura and Ben,” He began walking back down to the stage. A smaller grin spread on his lips when Logan fell into step close behind him. Their hands brushed once, then twice before the older man stepped further away.
They stopped in front of the stage, and Wade continued to talk, “They have been doing this scene over and over, I just feel like something is missing, like some… pizazz,”
Logan looked at him, brows quirked in slight amusement, “Pizazz?”
“Yeah!” Wade smiled at him, and turned his head to face the scene, “It needs to pop,” He threw his hands around in emphasis.
The older man shook his head and crossed his arms. He looked at the stage to see what ‘pizazz’ Wade was going on about.
Laura and Ben were midsong, performing a back and forth dance. Each step forward was a step backward for the other person, and he hated to admit it, but Wade was right. Something was missing from their act, the passion wasn’t there.
He waited for them to finish before simply stating, “Again,” to which he earned a daring glare from Laura.
“We just performed this four times, can we get a break?” Her attitude was thick.
Logan cocked a brow at her, “Again,” He restated his request.
She rolled her eyes, “You haven’t even been here, Mr. Wilson has seen us do it, we’re done,”
Wade looked at her, “One more time couldn’t hurt,”
She grumbled something about them being assholes before getting back into first position.They began the scene again, and Logan huffed as soon as they did. Wade leaned over to him, “You got something you wanna say, Angel Baby,”
Logan growled at the pet name, “Quit with the names, Wilson,” He watched for a moment more then huffed again, “It’s not right,”
“What’s not right?”
The older man stepped forward, “Stop,” He called out to the stage, Laura immediately looked at him, irritated, ”How many times have I told you two to be sharp, why aren’t either of you putting the effort in.” He sighed, “You’re not implementing passion into this performance, I need you to look eager, you need to like each other,”
Laura looked away. What he was saying was true, but he was being an ass about it.
“Run it again, Ben, be faster, act like you're in her debt, Laura, act like he is wrapped around your finger,” He stepped back beside Wade again.
“I love when you take control like that, Peanut,”
“Shut the fuck up,”
Wade pouted, “You never appreciates my affection,”
Logan rolled his eyes and watched as Ben began the scene. To be fair, it really did seem like the kid was trying to do better, and he honestly did fix some of his hesitation. But, Logan was on edge and irritated already, Wade wasn’t helping with his annoying quips either.
It took one error from the boy for Logan to growl under his breath and reach over to Wade’s wrist, wrapping his fingers tightly around. Without any explanation he began dragging the younger man beside him as he stomped his way onto the stage.
“Stop,” He huffed, “Stop, stop, stop— You aren’t doing it right,”
Laura glared at him, “You could at least have the manners to let us finish,”
Logan met her glare, “I don’t need manners if what your performing is already a mess,”
“Logan-“ Wade tried to intervene, but Logan merely hardened his grip on the man’s wrist.
“Step out of the way, Mr. Wilson and I are going to show you how we want this scene performed, and you will pay attention,” He looked to Ben, “and you will improve your act immediately,”
Wade felt a shiver run down his spine that, if the kids weren’t around, he would have definitely voiced.
Logan dragged him to left side of the stage, “Stay,” He spoke low, stepping closer than before, “You’re gonna be Sandy, you know how to play her, right,”
“Yeah, I- Wha-“
“Good, okay, you’re Sandy, I’m Danny,”
Before Wade could really grasp what was going on the warmth from the other man was gone. Logan was making his way to the stage’s right side.
“You three, do what you would normally do if I were Ben,” He addressed the students on the sidelines.
He turned his attention back to Wade and nodded at him. One nod in return was all he needed before he began the scene. He was relying on old sore bones and shit memories from college to get him through this.
He stepped up in front of Wade, morphing his expression into one of desire, “You're something else, Sandy,”
Wade smirked, rasping his voice, almost seductively, “So, you noticed,” He placed his open palm on Logan’s pecs, “Tell me about it, Stud,” He lightly shoved the older man away.
Wade was for sure going to dream about this tonight.
Logan stepped back as the boys behind him faked excitement, cheering him on. A slick smile crept onto his as his hands gripped the edges of his flannel. He sent a jolt through his legs as he held eye contact with Wade.
“I got chills, they’re multiplying,” He wasn’t singing, not completely at least, but he wasn’t merely speaking the lyrics either, “And, I’m losing control,” He slid the shirt down his arms, tugging extra hard to get the fabric to glide off his biceps, as he slightly threw his hips from side to side. He balled the shirt up in his hands and tossed it nonchalantly to the group of boys behind him. The chilled air in the auditorium hit his arms and a shiver ran up his bones.
“‘Cause the power you're supplying,” He dropped into a lunge facing Wade, who was slowly turning his back. Logan slid to his knees behind him, “It’s electrifying,”
Wade walked around him, and Logan took the pause in lyrics to direct, “See my movement are stiff even when I’m sliding, you need to be a rock,”
Wade rounded to face him, “You better shape up,” He bent his knees and pointed at Logan, “‘Cause I need a man,” He was singing more so than the older man, but neither of them were putting real effort into their voices.
Wade stepped up to Logan who was still on his knees before him, “And my heart is set on you,” He put two fingers under the man’s chin, and guided him to his feet. They never broke eye contact.
Logan followed Wade around the stage, stopping at the stage’s left side as the younger man placed a hand back onto his chest, “You better shape up, you better understand,” Wade put his back to Logan and slid down the man’s side, “To my heart, I must be true,”
They turned in sync and faced each other, “Nothing left- Nothing left for me to do,”
”You’re the one that I want,” They went back and forth across the stage, Logan trailing Wade with a show of want and yearning that came almost too easy to him. Wade looked at him with eyes full of control and confidence, like the younger man owned him. Wade played Sandy too well, Logan didn’t like how it made him feel.
Wade took his hand and gently led him to the stage‘s right, stopping close to each other. He reached his hand into Logan’s hair and gripped it tight with a small tug that was definitely not necessary for a stage presence. Logan growled, soft and low, at a volume that only the two of them could hear. Wade’s shit eating smirk made something in the older man’s stomach burn.
Wade lifted the thigh to Logan’s hip, pulling him in closer as his hand dropped to the younger man’s thigh. They kept that position for only a beat, but it was long enough for their hot breath to mingle together. They disconnected when Wade’s leg dropped down, and he stepped past the other man.
He turned on his heel to face Logan once more, placing his hand on the older man’s chest again, “If you’re filled with affection, you're too shy to convey,” Wade’s hand slid from his chest to his abs, before falling away.
He stepped across the stage, “Mediate in my direction,” He ran his hands down his own chest towards his thighs, “Feel your way,”
Logan stepped up to him, “I better shape up, cause you need a man,” He set his hand on Wade’s chest, an unscripted movement that caught the younger’s breath in his throat, “Who can keep you satisfied,”
The hand disconnected from Wade’s chest and took up his hand instead, “I better shape up, if I’m gonna prove,” He leaned in to kiss his hand.
“You better prove,” Wade snatched it away, stopping Logan’s action.
Logan mumbled under his breath, “Stop singing, keep acting,” They fell into step back and forth across the stage, Wade kept his pretty lips shut.
Setting his hands onto Wade’s hips as the younger man’s arms wrapped around his shoulders, he addressed the students, “This is how comfortable you two have to be together, you have to sell that you really want each other,”
Laura scoffed, “Parece fácil para ti,” It was under her breath, but not nearly quiet enough.
Logan stopped his actions and faced her, “It comes easy to us because we have acted for years, Laura,” Her implications were making it harder to ignore Scott’s voice in the back of his head saying things were becoming all too familiar.
“Am I supposed to touch her chest?” Ben asked, he looked like he was going to sweat balls any second now.
“No, why the hell would you-“ Logan got cut off by Laura.
“Because you touched Mr. Wilson’s,” She deadpanned.
Logan flushed, “That— that’s because actors sometimes add impromptu movements, it doesn’t mean— you don’t have to—“
“What the blubbering badger is trying to say is, no, Ben, you don’t have to do anything you're uncomfortable with,” Wade stepped up beside Logan.
Logan nodded, pulling himself together, “The knee lift is another thing you two don’t need to do, it’s the motions I learned in college, so Mr. Wilson and I did it by default, but Laura‘s Sandy will not be doing that,” He said, “Acting is, sometimes, up for interpretation,”
Ben deflated, relieved. He held a thumbs up out to them, “Okay, cool,”
Wade clapped, “Alright, let’s have you all run it through again, I better see improvement,” He patted Logan’s shoulder, “If I don’t, I think some of you might get an angry peanut on your case,”
The rest of practice was great. The kids did improve and both teachers made sure the students knew how well they were doing. It was things like this that really made Wade love the job. Watching his students grow into a role is unbeatable.
It took about ten minutes for all the students to clear out, an extra five tacked on because Ben kept asking Logan questions. Once they all had left, it was just Laura, Logan, and Wade.
“I have to go get a few papers I left in my office,” Logan picked up his bag and faced Laura, “Are you coming with or do you want to stay here with Wade?”
She looked at Wade then back to her dad, “Staying, the car is parked here, I’m not walking all that way for nothing,”
He nodded, “Portarse bien,”
She rolled her eyes at him as he left the auditorium.
“Is he always grumpy,” Wade asked while he wrapped up some props that were strewn about, “‘Cause it must be exhausting, really, there is no way he is always like that,”
Laura smiled, “He is pretty bitchy, but at home he is usually calmer,”
She stood up from her seat atop a table and began to help him tidy up the stage. Wade handed her a jacket to fold.
“What are your guy’s plans over spring break?” Wade was genuinely curious, Logan seemed too much of a homebody to actually plan a vacation.
“Nothing,” She handed the newly folded jacket back to him, “Dad and I usually watch movies or something. He likes to find new recipes so we can have something fun, I guess, but we don’t plan anything,”
Wade looked at her, “He cooks?”
“And bakes,” She picked up some trash to throw away, candy wrappers and miscellaneous chip bags that were left about, “He says it’s calming, but he always gets more pissed while in the kitchen,”
Wade laughed, “I should make him cook for me sometime,”
Laura nodded, “He’s good,” She set down the plastic grocery bag of trash she had been filling, “You know… he is getting attached to you,”
Wade stopped in his tracks and looked at her, “I-“
“He talks about you at home,” She looked at the doors Logan had walked out of only a few minutes prior, “He doesn’t do that with many people,”
“Oh,” Wade’s voice was quiet.
She turned back to him, “If you aren’t careful with him… “ She didn’t have to give a verbal threat, her stare was enough of one.
Wade’s whole posture softened, “I plan on being very careful with him, Laura, don’t fret,”
“So, there is a plan?”
Wade’s eyes widened, surprised, “You’re slick, getting me to admit that,”
She smiled, proud.
He sighed, “There… might be a plan,” He glanced at the door, “He is hard to budge though, I haven’t gotten him out since that coffee trip, he refuses to do anything—“ He deepened his voice in preparation to mock Logan, “Not academically related, lest us be unprofessional,”
She sighed a small laugh. They both went quiet when the auditorium doors opened and the older man walked back into the room.
“Kitty, your back,” Wade waved at him with a smile. Logan barely paid him a glance, focusing more so on the folder in his hand.
“Quit with that damn name, Bub,”
Laura spoke next, “Dad, Mr. Wilson and I have something to ask you,”
Wade looked at her, “We do?”
She nodded, “About next week?”
Logan made his way over to them and set his things down again, taking up the trash bag from beside Laura. He hummed as encouragement to expand on what she was asking.
“I want to know if you and I could have dinner with Mr. Wilson next week, since my senior year is coming to an end?”
Logan stopped tying up the bag, “Dinner?”
Wade piped up, “Yeah, with me and my roommate— also godmother —Blind Al,”
Logan furrowed his brows and looked at Wade in disbelief, “Blind Al? You call your godmother Blind Al,”
“Yeah, because she’s blind,” He said it like it was the simplest thing in the world.
Logan stared at him. It shocked him that this man really existed sometimes.
“So, can we?” Laura asked.
“I’d need to check our schedule, you know how we—“
“I already checked it, we are free,”
“Oh— well I need to check if it’s a good time—“
Wade smiled, “Wednesday, you guys arrive at one, we can eat at four, gives us some mingling time,”
“So?” Laura and Wade both looked to him expectantly.
Logan couldn’t find a way or a reason to say no, so he had to say, “Yeah, we can go,”