I'm a Bit More Refined in My Recent Years Parts 1 & 2

[jellytea]

Title: I’m a Bit More Refined in My Recent Years
Fandom: show verse Big Time Rush
Pairings: James/Logan, side Logan/Dak, Kendall/Carlos, and Guitar Dude/Mercedes. Katie, Lucy, Jo, Camille, Jennifer Knight, and Arthur Griffin all make appearances.
Disclaimer: I own neither Big Time Rush nor Friends, even though I want both Carlos and Chandler. Title is from Drake Bell’s “It’s Only Time.”
Summary: BTR Friends!AU. The shenanigans of James, Kendall, Logan, and Carlos the day after Logan moves in with Kendall and Camille and reappears into James’ life. Pure PG-13 schmoop.
Author’s Notes: Thanks so so SO much to my amazing beta Angie (nditsjustmyself) and my fantastic artist Sonja (deadpetsparky). They had to put up with my flakiness and writer’s blockage and general ridiculousness. I LOVE YOU BOTH. Gold stars for the both of you! And, ohmigod, this crossover-ish-thing has taken over my brain, and seriously, my love for James/Carlos has been eclipsed by the intriguing pair that is Kendall/Carlos. And, erm, this turned out to be more ensemble fic than pure James/Logan.

Also, this can be found on AO3, in one convenient location.






“You know, baking and wearing an apron probably says more about you and your sexuality than you’d think,” James commented, as he watched Kendall arrange a platter of toffee brownies in the bakery display.

Kendall grunted and glared at him. James poking fun at Kendall’s once, albeit drunken, confession that he thought Carlos was supremely attractive, was practically a daily morning ritual. “If you want to taste test my oatmeal cookies, then be nicer.”

James immediately plastered on a toothy smile. “And this is why you’re my best friend.”

“I’m not your best friend,” Kendall snorted. “Carlos is - he won you fair and square.” Not that he was bitter or anything; he just wished he’d properly thought through the taking sides against Carlos’ immense collection of purple clothing during the Closet Cleaning of 2012. But, to be fair, once James had gotten involved in what turned out to be the clothes equivalent of a food fight, Kendall knew that he was toast.

“I feel like I should be more offended about that than I am,” James shrugged. “Ah, well. You were always stingy with the clothes sharing.” Kendall waved an apple tart enticingly in front of the brunette.

“Like I said, be nice,” he frowned. James just laughed and pried the tart from the tongs, biting into half of it before Kendall could grab it back. “It’ll take you an hour to work off those calories,” he snipped. James made a gleeful face and smacked his lips together. Appreciating Kendall’s baking always did wonders at soothing his ego.

“Oh, right, I forgot to mention. My old high school friend is moving into my apartment sometime this week,” Kendall said, moving on to the next display of muffins. “’Los is helping him move in his boxes. You too.”

“Sure, Kendall, no problem, let me just move around my entire work schedule for your benefit,”

James rolled his eyes. “I thought Camille was your roommate - is she moving out? Moving in with Jo?”

Kendall scowled. The topic of his ex-girlfriend (who’d previously disclosed that she wasn’t the long relationship type, and with whom he’d had an on-again, off-again thing for a year and a half) finding romantic bliss with fledging actress-slash-provider of blueberry muffins Camille Baker (monogamy bliss that had lasted for two years now) was a sore one. “No, she isn’t moving out. She is going through an audition rut right now and it wouldn’t hurt to have some help in making the rent every month, so I figured a third roommate would do the trick.”

“And this would have nothing to do with the fact that having a third roommate would make things less considerably awkward for when Jo comes over to snuggle with Camille during movie marathons?”

“Don’t you have a client meeting in like thirty minutes?” Kendall asked, ignoring the question like the mature man he was. “I hear traffic is a bitch in the mornings.”

“Which is why I have my bike,” James shrugged.

“Lucy’s has the morning shift today,” Kendall grinned.

James made a panicked face and hopped off the stool. “Yeah, I should get going. Um, and when you could, try and casually tell Lucy that I really wasn’t hitting on her on her first day of work, and that I’m really more interested in boys than in girls.”

“I refuse to be a part of your devious schemes,” Kendall said loftily. “Besides, I like it that you’re scared shitless of a tiny woman like Lucy. And you’re a liar - you’ve never been one to limit yourself to one gender. What was it you said? You’re an equal opportunist?”

“Leaving!” James threw over his shoulder as he basically ran out of the shop’s door. Kendall grinned and finished arranging the display of baked goods. That story would never get old.

“Go away,” Kendall said the minute Mercedes waltzed up to the register. Her mouth dropped open in shock.

“Excuse me? Is this how you address customers?” she asked. “Hold on, babe, I’ll call you back, I just met the king of all asshole baristas.” She snapped the case of her phone shut over the screen and leveled Kendall with a glare.

He refused to back down. “Last time you came here, you ordered a venti half-cap, triple-foam, skinny latte with two pumps of sugar-free vanilla and a shot of espresso, extra hot. If you want that kind of crap, I suggest you head down to the Starbucks across the street. Here, we have drip coffees, lattes, au laits, and the occasional green tea latte.”

“I did wonder why I’d paid so much for a horrible cup of coffee,” Mercedes frowned.

“That wasn’t coffee!” Kendall shouted, scandalized. “That was dessert in a cup! Go away! I am the head barista of this establishment and I can turn away customers!”

Lucy turned around from where she was wiping down the milk steamer and gave him a pitying gaze. “Oh, sweetie,” she rolled her eyes. “Where exactly did you put your balls? Man up and remember you’re the owner of this place. Also, she’s dating that guitarist that performs here on Thursdays.”

Kendall’s jaw dropped open. Mercedes merely put her hands on her hips and waited for him to finish panting. “Skim latte in the largest size you have.” She wiggled her credit card in his face. “Chop chop.”

Kendall glared at her, dropped his gaze to the card, looked back up, saw her smirking, stuck out his tongue, and yanked a Styrofoam cup from the dispenser. He angrily scrawled latte for minion across the side and grumbled, “That’ll be three dollars.”

She smiled serenely and slid open her phone case. “That’s a good boy. And I’ll let Casper know you say hi.”

He remained grumpy the rest of the day.

Sometimes, James really hated New Yorkers. They were an entirely different breed of people than Minnesotans: impatient, judgmental, and they took leering to a whole new level. And they also, on too often occasion, were prone to spilling things on James.

Carlos was used to James’ desperate calls for help. Literally; he’d looked at his watch when James had called, his voice squeaking, and it was one-twenty-five on the dot.

“Just switch out your morning routine of picking up a McMuffin and you’ll be sure to lose five pounds after the first two weeks, I said. Resist snacking at night and swap out chips for flavored tea and you’ll lose five pounds after a month, I said. Is that hard to understand?” James griped over the phone. He turned his wrist over to look at his watch and groaned. “God, it’s only eleven-thirty. Sometimes, you know, I really hate my job.”

“You always say that,” Carlos laughed, and James could practically picture his roommate sprawled across their living room couch, either playing video games or munching on a giant bag of potato chips. “You have a long lunch break today, right? I think Kendall’s new roommate is moving in, and he promised me pizza and beer if I helped his friend move in. Help me,” he wheedled. “I’m so little, I can’t possibly move all those boxes by myself.”

“Boxes?”

“Yeah, movers have been coming by for the past hour, dropping off giant boxes and squeezing in a huge mattress that’s bigger than me. I’m supposed to be manning Kendall’s door, ‘cause he’s finishing his morning shift.”

“Good to know my skills of tallness and organization are in dire need,” James said dryly. “I’m about a block away from the apartment. Meet you at Kendall’s?”

“The door’s open,” Carlos said airily before hanging up. James laughed and slipped his phone into the pocket of his workout shorts. He quickened his pace, nearly jogging, his mouth practically drooling at the thought of pizza. And since it was Kendall who was picking up the pizza, it was for sure going to be some rendition of chewy and veggie-laden - just what would be the thing to perk up his lousy mood.

He made sure to pick up the mail before taking the stairs two at a time, and so had his head down and hands occupied when he swung around the corner. Which meant of course that he would slam into someone.

“Oof!” James stumbled back, dropping envelopes and magazines on the ground. He shook his hair out of his eyes and looked up. “Sorry, I wasn’t-” His mouth dropped open, and his unfinished apology hung in the air. “Logan?”

“Yeah?” the guy grunted, dusting at the seat of his pants. He looked up and squinted at James, making that hold-on-why-do-I-recognize-you face.

“James, you are a stellar human being,” Carlos grinned, poking his head out from Kendall’s doorway.

James was not the awkward fat kid that he used to be in high school. He had a perfectly good job as a personal trainer and he was sexy, dammit, he just went on a date last week, with groping and everything. There was no real reason for him to be standing in front of Logan, gobsmacked and silent, who apparently decided to move in across the hall on one of the worst days of James’ life. Because of course.

“So, uh, you gonna help me move Logan’s boxes?” Carlos asked, his voice sounding both frown-y and muffled as he wrestled with one of the larger boxes unfortunately labeled books, as the pause lengthened from apologetic to awkwardly long. “Or am I going to need to interrupt Kendall while he’s roasting his specialty coffee beans and have him big-speech you into being helpful?”

“Oh, right!” James said loudly, moving forwards to intercept Carlos from throwing out his back or something equally awful. He hadn't counted on Logan moving forwards as well, his eyes lighting up and a pleased “You’re James!” cry of recognition.

The two boys ended up pressed against each other, Logan’s hand caught in between their bodies, casually resting against James’ crotch. The smaller boy let out a yelp and took a giant step back, blushing to the roots of his hair.

“God, I’m sorry,” he started blabbering. “I didn’t mean to molest you. Not that I molested you, really, it was just, my hand, your crotch, high school, I remembered and stepped towards you -”
James started laughing. In all the scenarios he’d imagined meeting his high school crush, he’d never imagined it would’ve been Logan who was awkward and stumbling over his words and generally wishing the floor would open up and swallow him whole. It was strangely soothing. “Don’t worry about it; Carlos has done a lot worse.”

“I am a passionate Latino!” Carlos called from the depths of Kendall’s - and now Logan’s, he realized - apartment. James lifted an eyebrow pointedly and was gratified to see Logan crack a smile.

“And, yes, direct me to whatever room all this should go into,” James said, leaning down to gather the rest of the spilled mail before piling it all on top of a box and hauling it towards the kitchen table. Logan nodded and shuffled in after James, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“I almost didn’t recognize you,” Logan admitted. “Your hair is...different. But I recognized the bandana.”

James’ hand flew up to his hair and belatedly he remembered that he’d tied a garishly orange bandanna around his hair, which probably meant that he had some sort of attractive rattail going on. Good one, James, good one.

“Heh, yeah,” he said awkwardly. “Anyway. Room?”

“The first one to the right. Camille and Kendall had been using it for storage, but now it’s all mine,” Logan grinned. And yup, there was that smile, the one that James had daydreamed about for ridiculous lengths of time all throughout high school.

Someone cleared his throat behind James. “You dropped this, man.”

James looked over his shoulder to mumble a quiet “thanks” - until he realized that Logan Mitchell was the one standing behind him, holding up a worn notebook with a friendly smile on his face.

“T-thanks,” he stuttered, snatching the notebook from the beautiful boy and cradling it against his chest.

“No problem. James, right? You came over with your mom when she brought over that volcanic face wash thing for my mom,” Logan said cheerfully.

James nodded, biting his lip, to keep himself from blurting out something embarrassing like, “I love you.” His heart was beating so loud, though, that he was surprised Logan couldn’t pick up on it. Thankfully, even though his cheeks felt hot, he hadn’t started sweating yet.

“You wrote a good paper, by the way,” Logan said. James blushed. They’d been in the same editing group in English class, but it’d been a group of four, and Kendall was part of it, so James s surprised Logan had paid him any attention. “Well, I’d better go. I’ve got a tutoring session in about ten minutes.”

“Bye,” James whispered after Logan’s retreating back. He clutched his notebook even tighter. This had been the longest conversation he’d had with him since the sixth grade when Logan had complimented him on his dinosaur themed lunchbox.

Logan had the greatest smile in the world. Those dimples and the crooked curve of his mouth… James shook his head, and firmly told himself to get a grip. Logan was best friends with Kendall Knight, the school’s all star hockey player, and the hockey team at Minnesota High was practically royalty.

Royalty definitely didn’t hang out with overweight and socially awkward rejects like James Diamond. Not even when his mom was the richest businesswoman in Rochester and they had the biggest house in town.

“Ow! Did you just poke me?” James demanded, rubbing at his arm.

Carlos smiled innocently. “You were zoning out, man. I was worried that you’d fall and hurt yourself.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because you almost ran into the couch,” Carlos grinned and pointed.

James scowled and edged away from the massive couch that took up more than a quarter of the living room. “I have to a box to put away,” he said primly. “You’re in the way.”

Three hours later, Logan, Carlos, and James had finally finished unpacking all of Logan’s boxes and setting up his room. (James had gotten a call from the manager of his gym that his only afternoon appointment was rescheduled for next week, and Carlos had wheedled him into helping the two of them finish the moving in process. Carlos owed him a month of cleaning the bathroom.)

Conveniently, right as they flopped down onto the couch in exhaustion, Kendall and Camille walked, whistling, into the apartment.

“Oh, thanks so much, you’re right on time,” Logan said sarcastically.

“Camille brought muffins,” Kendall announced. “You’re all very welcome.”

Camille rolled her eyes and pushed her way past Kendall to wrap Carlos into a hug. “I made blueberry and lemon. You boys have been doing such hard work I decided a sugar rush was exactly what you needed.”

James paused mid-reach for a muffin and asked suspiciously, “Why, exactly?”

She just smiled widely. Her smile got even bigger when Logan stuck out his hand to shake hers before grabbing a muffin.

“I’m Logan,” he introduced himself. “Thanks for letting me stay here.”

“Oh, no problem!” she waved him away. “Do you have any plans for tonight? We should have hangout as new roommates.”

“She’s a tank,” Kendall cautioned. “I almost died the first time we drank together,” he said, almost reverently.

“You were insane that night,” James laughed, remembering how Kendall had started picking fights with trees - and then proceeded to apologize to them for ripping out the little bowls of flowers that hung from them.

“Oh, belligerent drunken Kendall,” Logan said, shaking his head. “You’re exactly the same as you were in high school.”

Kendall grinned cheesily and Logan leaned over to pet him.

“You got sugar on my cheek!” Kendall yelped.

“Whoops,” Logan said. He made a face. “I’m not normally a messy eater. Hold up, let me wash my hands.” He pushed his chair out and headed over to the bathroom.

“Now give me the dirt on the new boy. He’s a cutie,” she commented as soon as the bathroom door closed.

“Eyes on one girl at a time,” Kendall reminded her. “And you are way too much of a spitfire for Logan. And even if you weren’t dating Jo, he’s one of those date-his-exact-replica kind of guys.”

“Spitfire? Really? Are we in the fifties?” she giggled. And then her eyebrows furrowed. “So he just dates other doctor-to-bes?”

James frowned and busied himself by pouring a glass of milk.

“Not exactly,” Kendall said. “Just, you know, super smart, super motivated, super anal.”

James downed the glass in one gulp.

“Anal,” she giggled.

He just sighed. “But now that I think about it, I don’t think he’s been in a serious relationship since he graduated college.”

“Hmm,” she nodded. “So no exes that are lingering in his mind?”

“No,” Kendall shook his head. Then he turned around and stared at her incredulously. “What are you thinking? Is something bad going to happen? Will I be doomed to be sexiled until I gather enough money to live on my own?” By the end of his speech, he’d dropped his head on the kitchen table and was pounding against its surface.

James and Camille just looked at each other.

“And I thought Carlos was the dramatic one,” she mused after a long beat of silence.

Almost a month later and Logan was feeling good about New York. There’d been the occasional terrifying incidents where he’d gotten on the wrong subway and had nearly went to Brooklyn, but other than being accosted by hobos every morning and making sure not to drink all of Kendall’s soy milk, he was finally feeling like New York was home.

But then again, there were days like these that made him want to throw his little residency badge into the air and run back to Chicago. At least there he didn’t have to deal with prima donna movie stars who refused to listen and kept making innuendos at him when they were supposed to be compiling research for their upcoming hospital drama.

“Mr. Mitchell,” Dak said charmingly, flashing him a patented Dak Zevon smile, one of five that was sure to send any fan girl (or fan boy) into a squealing tizzy.

Logan looked up from his clipboard and groaned. “Dak, I’m running on about forty minutes of sleep here and, honestly, I do not have time to deal with your diva bullshit. What do you want?”

Dak pouted. “You’re being crap at the whole mentor thing, you know.”

“Yes, well, talk to me tomorrow,” Logan said briskly. “Now, since you’re playing a nurse in your new movie, first what you have to do is get yourself acquainted with the layout of the hospital.”

“I’d love to get acquainted with the layout of this room, doctor,” Dak drawled, leaning back against one of bunk beds.

Logan blinked. “This is the resident’s room. Anytime someone has a break and wants to catch up on some shut-eye, we come here.”

“You’re a little oblivious, aren’t you?” Dak grinned. When Logan gave him a are you shitting me? look, he reached over to yank the brunette close. “You’re cute, Mr. Mitchell.”

Logan looked down at the hand fisted in the front of his scrubs, brow furrowing. “Is this some sort of can-I-deal-with-a-movie-star test?”

“Nope,” Dak shook his head. “This is more of a I’m-gonna-kiss-you thing.”

“Oh,” Logan squeaked. His mind was a little bit blown; this was definitely the last thing he expected when he’d been assigned the job to placate the spoiled actor for the next five weeks. “Okay.” The said movie star laughed, tugged Logan a little closer, and kissed him.

Needless to say, that was probably one of the best kisses Logan had had in a while.

Carlos was whistling as he rummaged through his duffel for his apartment keys. Once he wrestled the door open - one of these days, they were going to have the handyman finally fix their door - he yelled out, “Let’s make margaritas tonight!”

“What’s the occasion?” James asked from his sprawl across the couch, his voice muffled because he was currently face down in a large pile of cushions. Carlos walked over and tentatively poked his roommate in the shoulder.

“You okay, man?”

“I’ve reverted back to my loser high school days,” James groaned. “So I would prefer if we could hold the margaritas and just bring on the tequila.”

Carlos nodded seriously and grabbed two large tumblers, along with the bottle of Patron that had been gathering dust on top of the fridge and a few bottles of Merlot that he’d been gifted with. “Let’s start with the wine.”

And an hour and half, a third of a bottle of Patron, and two bottles of wine later…

James was splayed across the floor, clutching his glass, and staring up at the ceiling. Carlos was draped across the arm of the couch, one leg hooked around the back. He’d given up on holding his cup, because it being fussy and falling out of his hand.

“Kendall’s so pretty,” Carlos piped up.

“It’s his eyebrows,” James offered. “My mom told me the first time I met him, I poked them. Those mystical things.”

“Logan’s pretty too,” Carlos said. When James let out a groan, Carlos lifted his head up and added, “You’re prettier. So much more prettier. And you know what you should do?”

“You’re so great,” James smiled blearily. “You come up with really good plans.”

“You should just grab Logan and make out with his face,” Carlos suggested. “He looks like he likes aggressive-y stuff.”

“I can’t!” James wailed. “I love that face. I can’t just make out with it!”

“I totally would,” Carlos blustered.

“No, no, no,” James shook his head. “You belong to Kendall. I know he likes you. He gave you an extra piece of pie yesterday.”

“He always gives me an extra piece of pie.”

“Exactly! Because he loves you,” James said, satisfied. He lifted his head and looked at his glass. That was weird. “I’m all empty. Did you drink this?”

All he got in response was a loud snore.




Lucy turned around from the cappuccino machine to find the corner nook of armchairs completely overtaken by Carlos, Kendall, Logan, James, and Casper. They weren’t talking to each other, per say, just volleying back and forth random blurts. The only surprising thing about this collective gathering was that it was the end of a work day.

“Before Casper, I thought that those four were this tightly ingrained group of boys,” Jo commented from her seat at the bar. “Kendall talked about Logan a lot when we used to date,” she explained. Lucy nodded and motioned for her to continue. “But I think they just have that personality, where they make immediate, long lasting friends with anyone they meet.”

“You’ve got the long lasting bit right,” Lucy said wryly. “I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of them.” Jo giggled in agreement.

At that moment, the bell over the front doors jingled. Lucy looked up to see a ridiculously pretty girl drop her multiple canvas bags onto the ground and strike a pose. She mouthed “who is that?” to Jo, only to get a wink and a “you’ll see.”

“At least you decided against the swirly slide, big brother. But, you know, the Palmwoods makes this sound more like a spa than a coffee shop.”

Kendall whipped around and broke out into a giant grin. “Katie!” he shouted and then leapt up from his seat and bounded over to her, wrapping her up into a giant hug.

“You’re a goon. Put me down,” she laughed, smacking him in the arm. He did, but only to drag her over to the couches he’d just jumped up from.

“Guys, this is my baby sister, Katie,” he beamed. “She’s a genius.”

“Well,” she preened. “It’s true.”

“She just graduated from Columbia with honors. And she’s a working girl, and friends with, like, half of New York City,” Kendall said excitedly. “She got all the smart genes in the Knight family.”

Carlos shoved the blond aside to hug Katie. “There’s my favorite girl!” He gently pushed her down into his chair. “I’m gonna get you some cakes and tea. And you’ve got to meet Lucy.”

“Hi, I’m Lucy,” Lucy waved, helping Carlos stack slices of green apple pie onto a giant plate.

“She’s exactly like you,” Kendall nodded. “Evil and manipulative.”

“Hey!” Katie swatted his arm. “So, introduce me to your friends, Kendall. It’s just like the first day of school, all over again.”

“That’s Casper, with the long hair. He plays guitar and the coolest guy I know. An interesting fact is that his girlfriend is quite possibly Satan reincarnated,” he reported.

“Dude,” Casper rolled his eyes. He nodded at Katie. “She’s really not. She just made Kendall cry once and he’s never forgiven him for that.”

Kendall aggressively cleared his throat. “And this is James. Do you remember James Diamond? He went to school with us.”

Katie’s eyes brightened in recognition. “Oh, hey!” She turned to Jo, who had set up a chair next to her. “He was king of the school senior year. He lost all of his baby fat and turned into this ridiculously good-looking hunk.”

James blushed. “That’s not quite how I remember it, Katie.” He reddened even more when he caught Logan looking at him appraisingly, as if trying to remember the last year of high school.

“Anyway,” Kendall interrupted. “How long are you staying, Katie?”

“So, when were you going to tell me about you and Carlos?” Katie teased. She had finished stowing her duffel bags under Kendall’s bed and was now curled up on the couch, makeup scrubbed off and hair tied up in a messy bun. Kendall was taken aback at just how young she looked, and felt a wave of nostalgia; up until he left for New York, the two of them had spent almost every night, either in person or via Skype, chatting about inane things and singing old nineties pop songs before falling asleep.

He looked oddly at her. “What are you talking about, me and Carlos?”

“Oh, come on! I’m sure both of you are very tactile people, but at one point, you actually ran your hand up Carlos’ leg. And you practically have stars in your eyes whenever you look anywhere in his direction,” she said.

He just gaped at her. “That - what - that never happened!”

“Ooh, are we talking about Kendall’s giant crush on one Carlos Garcia?” Camille asked excitedly. She skipped over to the couch and flopped down in between Katie and Kendall. “Hi, gorgeous. Jo told me she saw your grand entrance. I’ve missed you,” she said, leaning over to kiss Katie on the cheek.

“I do not have a crush on him!” Kendall whined. “He’s just so small and cute, and he helped out a lot with getting the Palmwoods off the ground.”

“Cute, ey?” Camille asked evilly. She and Katie giggled. “James told us about your drunken confession. It’s just a shame he didn’t manage to get it on video, because, really, Kendall you shouldn’t be bottling up your feelings like this.”

“I need to get drunk to continue with this conversation,” Kendall moaned. He craned his neck to see what the closest alcohol was and practically cackled when the nearest bottle was a bottle of wine.

By the next morning, Kendall had an entire notebook filled with advice from Katie and Camille, ideas and ways of wooing Carlos and convincing him that Kendall was the only man for him. And by advice, what he meant was a bunch of scribbles that vaguely resembled words with some very aggressive punctation. He desperately flipped through the notebook, squinting at the pages, trying to see if there was at least one nugget of advice that he could decipher and attempt to use.

Behold: there wasn’t. What the heck had he written? Did he write down “albatross”?

“Hey-o!” Carlos called as he walked into the shop. He pulled his messenger bag over his head and grabbed his apron off the wall hook. “I’ve got a stunt job at one, so I’m only here for a half day, boss.”

“Heh, heh,” Kendall laughed haltingly. He could be cool and nonchalant. This was Carlos, who he worked with for the past six years, who he’d had a raging crush on for the past five years and seven months. This was no problem.

“Want to try my newest creation?” Kendall asked awkwardly, tearing his eyes away from Carlos’ biceps. “It’s cinnamon sugar donuts.”

Carlos beamed and bounded over to him. “Ahh,” he said, opening his mouth, gesturing for Kendall to pop a donut into it.

Kendall let out another nervous “heh” and tore off a piece of donut and held it out to Carlos. Carlos just rolled his eyes and grabbed at the proffered treat. Kendall thought his heart might beat right out of his chest because Carlos was still holding onto his wrist.

“Nice. They kind of taste like apple fritters,” he nodded. He started patting at his mouth. “What? Why are you looking at me? Do I have something on my face?”

“You, um, have some sugar on your lip,” Kendall said, pointing.

“Yeah?” Carlos’ tongue darted out to catch at the tip of his mouth and all of sudden, Kendall couldn’t resist the energetic, gorgeous man any longer. He ducked his head and pressed his lips against Carlos’ - and then froze.

“Um,” he began, jerking away from Carlos. “I, uh, wanted to get the sugar off in a, erm, helpful manner.”

Carlos shook his head and smiled fondly at the blond. “Oh, shush, you big goober.” He curled his hand around the back of Kendall’s neck and tugged him forwards. “I was wondering when you’d get around to making your move.”

“My move?” Kendall asked blankly. “You knew that I liked you?”

Carlos shook his head, grinning. “No, but I’d hoped. And Katie told me to get my chapstick ready the next time I saw you, so I was really hoping that that was why.”

Kendall laughed and wrapped his arms even more securely around Carlos’ waist. “This is good.” He kissed him again. “Let’s get dinner tomorrow night. Like a date type of dinner.”

“Okay!” Carlos nodded enthusiastically. He nuzzled Kendall’s neck, right at the crook between neck and shoulder. “How much time do we have until we officially open the shop for business?”

Before Kendall could respond, Mercedes waltzed into the Palmwoods, talking loudly on her phone. He groaned and pressed a kiss to the top of Carlos’ head. “I guess now’s the time to deal with the caffeine-hungry people.”

“So, I’m leaving for Vancouver,” Dak said breathlessly.

Logan looked up at him from his position at Dak’s hip and pouted. “What exactly is it that I doing reminding you of Canada?” He unfurled himself and lifted himself up onto his knees, bending down to press openmouthed kisses over exposed skin as he made his way from Dak’s hip to neck, before greedily slanting his mouth over the other boy’s.

“I’m just saying,” Dak said once they broke apart for air.

“Yeah, yeah. You’ll soon be off to dreary Canada, and I’ll still be in New York, and we can’t possibly keep up this whatever we have, because I don’t do phone sex,” Logan nodded. “Now, shush, I’m doing my best moves here.”

“Camille Baker, how can I help?” Camille chirped into her Bluetooth.

“I don’t know what to wear!” Kendall wailed into her ear.

“Kendall, sweetie, I need context. And come home, I’m trying out new sweet potato cake recipes.”

A moment later, he burst into the apartment. “I was already climbing up the stairs when I called,” he admitted sheepishly. His expression, however, quickly turned from a sheepish grin into one of wide-eyed freaking out. “I have a date with Carlos tonight and I don’t know what to wear!”

“You have a date with Carlos? I’m so happy for you!” she rubbed her flour-coated hands on her apron before enveloping him into a big hug. “But why are you so nervous? He already knows you dress like a hipster straight from the movies.”

“That is not helpful,” he frowned. “I made reservations at Remy’s because I know they make Carlos’ favorite crème brulee, but that’s fancy dress, and I think all of my nice shirts and pants are in the laundry.”

“Wasn’t the plan to make a really romantic homemade dinner? So you could seduce him with your chocolate cake?” she asked.

“I literally am meeting Carlos in three hours. Do we really have time for you to tell me everything I’ve already done prior to the date?”

“You’re pissy when you’re anxious,” Camille commented. She started washing her hands with soap. “Okay, let me just clean up so that I can rifle through your closet. Hey! Call James and see if he’s at home, so if you don’t have anything you can borrow something from him. You two are the same size, right?”

“But he wears leather pants,” Kendall protested. “I am definitely not wearing leather pants. They make me all sweaty and pasty looking.”

He knocked on Carlos’ door, fussing with his collar and rocking back and forth on his heels as he waited for the door to open. It’d taken him and Camille about an hour to find something in his and Logan’s closets that they agreed looked good on him. So now he was wearing a black button up with gray suspenders and a jarringly bright pair of green trousers. (Camille had vetoed any and all of his own jeans, his one pair of nice dress pants had wine spilled on one leg, and Logan, for some unknown reason, actually had pants that were long enough to fit Kendall.)

James opened the door and he stopped mid-munch on an apple when he saw Kendall standing there.

“You do realize you live maybe five steps away from here?” James smirked. “And nice pants, by the way. I almost didn’t see you there.”

“You do realize you have a bit of apple on your chin?” Kendall frowned. He felt mollified when James blushed and rubbed the back of his hand against his mouth.

“Carlos! Kendall came to pick you up for dinner!” James shouted.

Carlos leaned out from the bathroom and waved. “I’m almost done with my hair, I’ll be out super quick!” Kendall nodded and stuck his hands in his pant pockets, chewing at the inside of his mouth.

James smirked and continued to stand there, eating his apple.

“You planning on being there the whole night?” Kendall asked mildly.

“I’ve got plans, but this is far more enjoyable,” James smiled.

“Oh, go away, you big bully,” Carlos snorted.

“Hi,” Kendall said shyly once James had gone into his room. “I figured since this was an official date and all, I’d pick you up in front of your door.” He’d been feeling like a giant dork ever since James had opened the door, but he was mollified because of how happy Carlos was looking.

“So, where are we going?”

“Remy’s.”

“Great! I’ve been wanting their lemon chicken for weeks now.”

“Good, good,” Kendall nodded. “You look nice.”

“You, too. Looks like we both got on colorful pants for tonight.” Both of them looked down at the other’s pants and burst out laughing when they realized they did it simultaneously.

“Um, well,” Carlos cleared his throat. “Shall we go?”

Kendall nodded, but didn’t make any effort in moving his feet. Carlos was the first to move, actually, swaying towards Kendall, taking advantage of the other boy’s lidded staring at Carlos’ mouth. He stood up on his toes, pressed a hand against Kendall’s chest, and pressed his lips against the blond’s. Kendall smiled against Carlos’ lips - this was what he had been looking forward to all day. There was some tongue slippage and definitely a hand sliding into back pockets, and Kendall was seriously considering asking Carlos whether he’d be okay with canceling dinner plans.

Until they heard a loud cough. He lifted his head up and turned around to see who he should be glaring at.

Camille was waving herself. “Whew, I knew you two would be hot, but man, that was quite a show.”

“Why are you here?” he asked petulantly.

“You forgot your jacket,” she said, holding out a woolen pea coat. “You’re so welcome.”

Judging by the noises that had come from Carlos’ room last night, he and Kendall definitely had a good time at dinner.

Thankfully, they’d settled down around two in the morning, which gave him just enough time for some shut eye before waking up for a workout. James zipped up his track jacket and stepped out into the hallway - only for his mouth to drop open at the sight in front of him.

Logan, looking all rumpled, was attempting to sneak back into his apartment at five in the morning. He froze when he heard James close his door.

“I wasn’t aware you had a late shift tonight,” he said pointedly. “And I assume today was Casual Tuesday at the hospital?

Logan turned around and gave an awkward smile. “You’re up super early. Going for a run?”

James stalked towards the shorter man and he poked at Logan’s cowlick. “You’re doing a walk of shame, aren’t you? My, my, have the tables turned.”

“Oh, be quiet,” Logan said, annoyed. “Was it - oh yeah, it was totally two nights ago when I saw you and your GQ model date manhandle each other into your apartment.”

James made a face. “Touché.”

Logan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “What are you doing up so early anyway?” He unlocked the door and motioned James to follow him into the kitchen.

“I was heading out for an early morning run. My entire day is jam packed with sessions, so I won’t have time for it like I usually do,” James explained. He held his hand up and caught the water bottle Logan hefted to him. “Thanks.”

Logan opened one for himself and took a swig out of it as he sat down at the table.

James jiggled his knee, debating whether he wanted to open this particular can of worms. “So, what happened last night? Did you have fun?”

“I can’t be his confidante anymore, I just can’t,” James said, anxiously rubbing his hands up and down his thighs. He ignored the snort that came from Lucy. She’d been passing by to collect the used plates and mugs from the tables around James and Camille, and her interest had been piqued when James started wailing. So after she dropped off the dirty dishes in the back, she came back and settled herself comfortably in an empty armchair.

“You’ve gone and friend-zoned yourself,” Lucy said solemnly.

James glared at her. “Are you going to offer me any advice about this? Or just make fun of me?”

Camille made a soothing noise. “I don’t know what to say. What do mean by “confidante”?”

“He tells me of his sex-capades with that stupid actor guy - and now he’s sleeping with this other guy. How is he meeting all of them? And then he hugs me and he smells so good and I end up going to work in this haze of Logan lust,” James said morosely. “I’m doomed to be the on-the-side guy forever.”

“At least he trusts you,” Lucy said sagely. “You said that you two weren’t close in high school, and went to two different colleges. This is a major step, regardless of you not being able to get into his pants.”

“But I want to get into his pants,” he said sadly. “He has a fantastic butt.”

“You should just tell him how you feel,” Camille said firmly.

“Now you sound like Carlos,” James frowned. “And I think I would rather pine for him for the next nine years than have him look at me and gently let me down.”

Lucy sighed. “James Diamond. You are an extremely good looking man, and you hide your neuroses really well.” She punched his shoulder when he attempted to wave away the compliment. “I think Logan is just a little confused right now. His relationship with Dak was this wildly exciting thing, and now that he’s gone, I think Logan’s just wants to keep up the pattern of regular sex that he’d been having.”

“You don’t think he’s pining after Dak?” he asked.

Camille shook her head and placed a hand on his knee. “What you do need to stop doing is drinking yourself into oblivion and then making misplaced drunken calls.”

James gave her a shifty look. “I haven’t done that for months.”

“James.”

“I need a date,” James announced. Mercedes and Casper, who had been sitting on one of the love chairs in the Palmwoods, both give him a weird look.

“Are you talking to us?” she asked.

“Yes! Who else would I be talking to?”

“But, I don’t know who you are,” she said slowly.

Casper laughed. “Sadie, this is Kendall’s neighbor, James. You’ve met him a couple times before. He’s a personal trainer,” he added when she continued to draw a blank.

“Ooh, a personal trainer, huh? I can work with that.”

James muted the TV, thinking he heard a knock at the front door. He padded over to the door when he heard a faint “it’s Logan!” and unlocked it to see Logan smiling tiredly up at James from his slump against their doorframe. “I forgot my key and I think Kendall’s out with Carlos. I’m completely wiped. Can I crash on your couch for the night?”

James nodded wordlessly and silently cursed himself for thinking it’d be a good idea to bust out the rubber ducky patterned pajama pants. Logan clasped James’ shoulder in thanks and trudged over to the couch.

“Do you want something to eat?” James asked. Usually when Logan had finished a shift, he was starving and constantly burrowing into people’s pantries to find something to munch on.

“Nah,” Logan yawned. “I don’t have to go into the hospital until two tomorrow. Let’s watch something until I pass out.” He let out a grateful noise when James tugged the knit throw from the back of the couch over their shoulders.

“I’ve got some Happy Endings DVRed,” James suggested. The other man nodded and dropped his head onto James’ shoulder, snuggling in close. He looked down at Logan’s face and had to physically restrain himself from trailing a finger across those amazing cheekbones. Tomorrow, he promised himself. He’d tell Logan tomorrow.

Logan yawned and stretched when he woke up the next morning. He scratched at his throat as he looked around James’ apartment. His gaze stuttered to a stop when he saw James slumped over the kitchen counter, a pad of paper tucked under his arm.

“Good morning, princess,” he called, wiggling out from the way too comfortable sofa. “Let’s grab breakfast.”

James lifted his head up from the counter and squinted at Logan, an action that shouldn’t have been as cute as it was. “I need to talk to you about something,” he said, his voice still gravely with sleep.

“Yeah?” Logan walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. “Shoot.”

“Well, okay.” James exhaled loudly. “I’m just going to do it.”

“Do what? Come on, tell me.” Logan smiled encouragingly.

“I had a date last night. Mercedes set me up with this entrepreneur she knew and he was cute. Super cute. He had a turned up nose and - never mind him. And he was this awesome, awesome guy: nice, funny, great arms, and he knew the difference between a Riesling and a Vinho Verde. He was basically perfect. But do you know why I was at home, alone, when you came over?”

Logan shook his head. “I don’t.”

“Logan. I have the biggest crush on you,” James announced. Logan’s eyes widened. “I have since, ever since we were kids in high school. I think back then, it was because you were this adorable guy who was really nice to me. But now, now that we’re spending all this time together, I realize, I really like you.”

“What - where is this coming from? Are you serious?” Logan asked. He was absolutely flabbergasted.

James looked hurt. “It’s not like I expect anything -”

“You’re ridiculous. You are one of the most intimating people I have ever known,” Logan laughed. “Your arms are the size of my face. You make bandanas look fashionable. You are the sweetest man I know and you like me? I’m this complete wreck of anxiety and paranoia. I have these scheduled breaks on my phone that remind me to relax and think of happy things so I don’t freak out and have a panic attack.”

Both of their phones buzzed, shaking them out of whatever self-deprecating spell they’d been under.

Kendall texted me to text you both that he can hear every word you’re saying and that you’re idiots who deserve each other so just kiss and makeup before he comes out of Carlos’ room stark naked and shoves you out of the apartment. - Camille

“Did you get Camille’s text?” James asked, lips quirking into a reluctant smile. Logan nodded. “So, you do like me.”

“Of course I do!”

“What about Dak and Jett? By the way, we need to make you stop dating guys with weirdly unisex names,” James said.

“They’re in the past. So in the past,” Logan reassured him. He scooted around the counter until he was standing right next to James. “I like you. I want to know how far a relationship with you can go.”

James broke out into a giant smile and gathered Logan into the tightest hug. “Okay,” he whispered. “Let’s do it.”

Click here for parts 3, 4, and the epilogue