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rensahannouTitle: Staying the Course
Disclaimer: Not my boys, although I kind of love them like they were.
Pairings/Characters: Logan/Ozzy
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~4,400
Warnings: none
Summary: Logan and Ozzy go to a Halloween party. One of them is decidedly happier to be there.
Author's Notes: Written for the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
palmwoods Harvestfest. Also, because apparently Jagan owns my brain, I wrote a little side-story featuring jealous!James. There's a link to that at the bottom of this fic.
Prompt: (#10) "Logan/Ozzy - After being partners in Green Time Rush, Ozzy and Logan became good friends and eventual boyfriends. Based on Ozzy's reputation, Logan is a bit wary of letting the boys know about their relationship.... Anyways, Ozzy and Logan go to the Palmwoods' Halloween party with matching outfits. Logan is a mad scientist and Ozzy is Frankenstein's monster. The two eventually go off to be alone and make out/sexy time (whatever you feel like writing) Logan meets up with the boys later and has to explain the green paint smudges on his face. Bonus points if at some point you have Logan explain that it's "Frankenstein's monster" and not "Frankenstein" because that is a personal nerdy pet peeve of mine and I feel Logan would feel that way also."
----
"If you don't hold still this is going to be all smudged."
"It's not like it matters. You won't even be able to tell."
"It totally matters," Logan said, glancing back down at the instructions that came with the makeup kit. "There's an art to this, you know."
Ozzy huffed out a short, grumpy laugh. "You sound like the makeup ladies on set."
Logan smiled out of the corner of his mouth while he continued dabbing green paint on Ozzy's face. "Do you give them this much trouble?"
"They don't take this long."
"Well excuse me for not being a professional," Logan shot back good-naturedly. "Now hold still or we'll never be done."
"You're the one who picked the stupid costume," Ozzy grumbled. "I didn't even want to go to the stupid party and you're making me dress up as Frankenstein."
"Frankenstein's monster," Logan corrected automatically, dipping the little sponge back in the paint. "Frankenstein was the scientist. And I'm not making you do anything."
"Whatever, know-it-all," Ozzy replied in a tone Logan had come to recognize as reticent affection. "Normal people don't know crap like that."
"They should. It's classic literature."
"And most of us have better things to do than read old books a hundred times."
"Actually I've never read it," Logan admitted, a slightly sheepish smile playing across his lips. "But I did see that episode of Wishbone."
Ozzy raised an eyebrow. "You mean that show with the dog?"
"Hey, that show was cool," Logan replied defensively. "Did you ever even watch it?"
It was a few seconds before Ozzy answered. "My brother thought it was stupid."
Logan recognized that tone, too, and knew he had to proceed with caution. "Did you?" he asked as casually as he could, moving the sponge closer to Ozzy's mouth.
He could feel Ozzy watching him before finally responding. "I dunno. I guess it wasn't too bad."
Logan smiled, but didn't say anything else as he put the finishing touches on Ozzy's makeup. "There! All done," he said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms.
"How's it look?"
"Go see for yourself."
Ozzy did, and Logan waited, proud of himself, for his boyfriend to return. "Well?" he asked when Ozzy walked back into the room.
"I guess it'll work," Ozzy said with a shrug.
"You don't like it?" Logan tried not to sound disappointed.
Another shrug. "I'm green."
Logan chuckled and stood up. "You're supposed to be. It's Halloween. And your costume is awesome, okay?"
"If you say so."
"Trust me, it is," Logan told him, stepping closer. "And everyone at the party will think so, too." He smiled, and waited for Ozzy to give him a tentative half-smile back before continuing. "Okay, so my costume won't take very long; do you want me to meet you back here before we head over?"
Ozzy glanced away. "We, uh, can just meet up there, right? At the party?"
"…Right," Logan said, feeling stupid for even mentioning it. Of course they should arrive separately. It was common knowledge at this point that the two of them were friends, but this 'more-than-friends' thing was still so new and so fragile. What would the guys say? They still didn't fully approve of Logan being friends with Ozzy; he couldn't imagine how they'd react to this information. Kendall might accuse him of having Stockholm syndrome or something.
It was just easier if no one knew. Logan didn't really want anyone to know, and Ozzy didn't really want anyone to know, and…yeah, it just made more sense for them to not show up at the party together.
"Okay, well, I'll see you there, then," Logan went on. He hesitated, eyes flicking up to Ozzy's face, then started to lean up on his toes.
"You'll smudge the makeup," Ozzy said, voice low, stopping Logan before he could make contact.
"Right," Logan repeated. He backed away. "Well, I'm just gonna…go, then. Bye."
"Later," Ozzy replied. "Oh," he said a moment later, and Logan's hand was on the doorknob but he turned back at the word. "Thanks for, uh, helping, with this."
Logan smiled. "No problem. I'll see you at the party, okay?"
"Okay," Ozzy agreed with a nod. With a short wave, Logan slipped out the door.
——
Logan headed to his own apartment to put on his 'generic mad scientist' costume, on the way reflecting on his current situation, its overall awkwardness, how it came to be…and where it was going from here.
It had happened gradually. So gradually, in fact, that Logan couldn't really remember when exactly things started to change. After being project partners back in the spring Ozzy and Logan had stayed friendly, Logan discovering once he got past his fear that he found the guy sort of fascinating. Ozzy usually seemed reluctant to talk about himself; other than insulting his own intelligence he doled out information in small doses, and Logan had to do a lot of reading between the lines. When he learned new things outright Logan always felt like he'd earned some sort of prize.
For months that's all it was; conversations that increased in length and frequency until the two of them were hanging out on a regular basis. Eventually Logan had seen every movie or TV show Ozzy had had a role in and Ozzy had listened to—and critiqued—BTR's entire first album, as well as given some surprisingly insightful opinions on the songs Logan could get a hold of from their upcoming second album. By mid-summer they had an established friendship that the other kids at the Palm Woods kept a respectful distance from, even if they didn't really 'get' it.
Well, most of the kids kept a distance. There was some highly vocal confusion about the whole thing from Logan's three best friends, but once they figured out that Logan really wasn't afraid of Ozzy anymore they left it alone. Except when one of them whined that Logan would rather hang out with someone else. It occurred to Logan sometimes that he could probably invite one of them along when he spent time with Ozzy, but…he kind of liked having this sort of unexplainable friendship that was totally separate from the guys.
It was late summer when Logan first noticed the differences. Logan had been—very, very silently—questioning his own sexuality for years, so when he realized that the times it was just the two of them, Ozzy would sit a little closer than necessary, and sometimes would act a little nervous or fidgety or blush for no reason…Logan thought it was sort of exciting. Nerve-wracking, but exciting nonetheless. He was used to guys invading his personal space, but with Kendall, James and Carlos it wasn't anything he noticed anymore. It was familiar, comfortable; nothing that caused tingles down his spine. Whatever this was with Ozzy was something altogether new, and Logan wanted to find out what that something was.
By that point Logan knew better than to ask personal questions outright. So instead he put a plan into motion that consisted of them watching, over a period of a couple weeks, a succession of movies and TV shows with a carefully calculated increase in homosexual content in each one. Logan figured—or hoped, at least—if Ozzy was ever uncomfortable or unhappy with the movie choices he would say something before they got to a point of irreversible awkwardness in their friendship.
But Logan wasn't a genius for nothing, and they weren't even halfway through his list of media before his plan succeeded. They were in Ozzy's apartment—so much less chance of being barged in on at any moment there—sitting close together on the couch, with the credits rolling on the movie they'd just watched.
"Are you…trying to tell me something?" Ozzy had asked.
"What do you mean?" Logan's voice was a tad squeaky. He hadn't expected to have to talk about it. He just wanted something to happen.
"All these movies you've been wanting to watch," Ozzy said, sounding gruff and nervous and Logan didn't know if that was a good sign or a bad one, "with these…guys…together…"
"I'm not trying to tell you anything you don't want me to be trying to tell you," Logan said, choosing his words skillfully as he glanced sidelong at Ozzy.
After an incredibly awkward silence, Ozzy replied with "Did someone put you up to this?"
"Did someone—no, Ozzy." Logan shook his head, turning a little—just a little, because they were sitting like, right next to each other—to face him. "Come on, how long have we been friends now? I just…thought…but you know, what do I know? Nothing, that's what, so let's just forget all about this and you can pick the movie next time. Okay?"
Logan gave a nervous laugh and waited. He liked having Ozzy as a friend, and if he had screwed everything up—
"I…liked that movie."
"What?" Logan asked, blinking in surprise. "You…did?"
Ozzy glared back at him. "You got a problem with that?"
"No, not at all!" Logan assured him, eyes wide. "That, um…that's…great," he finished with a smile, self-conscious but happy.
"Are we…gonna watch another one?"
"Um." Logan took out his cell phone. "Yeah, I've got time, so we can if you want?"
"Cool," Ozzy said, nodding at nothing in particular.
Logan grinned a little and got up to switch out the DVDs. When he sat back down and hit play on the menu screen, he felt an arm settle along the couch behind him. With a smug smirk that belied how stupidly fast his heart was beating, Logan tried to relax—casually, of course—against Ozzy's side. The arm tightened, ever-so-slightly, around his shoulders.
——
Since then things had been progressing almost painfully slowly. This was all uncharted territory for Logan, whose only previous relationship had basically consisted of Camille throwing herself at him—sometimes literally—whenever she felt like it. Being the one who usually had to initiate physical contact was new, and fun, and awkward.
They'd barely even kissed yet, and Logan really liked kissing so that just wasn't cool at all.
But Logan knew it was best not to rush things. Ozzy seemed even more unsure about everything than Logan was, so they needed to go slow. And that was fine, except Logan had the unsettling feeling that at this rate they were headed towards some sort of discussion that neither one of them really wanted to have or would be any good at having, and Logan didn't know how to steer them in a different direction.
But that wasn't a problem for tonight. Tonight was just the Halloween party, and having fun, and hanging out, and trying not to draw suspicion. Which shouldn't be difficult, since the only time they ever did anything remotely couple-y was when they were completely alone in Ozzy's apartment. And even that was mostly middle-school couple stuff.
Stop thinking like that, Logan, he told himself. You'll get there. Just be patient.
He could be patient.
——
Once he had his costume on Logan headed to the party with James, Kendall, and Carlos and surreptitiously looked around for Ozzy. There were no hugely tall guys covered in green face paint anywhere in sight, so Logan tried not to be concerned while he hung with his friends to wait.
Well, more like friend. James had taken off to mingle as soon as they got there, and Carlos had headed straight for the table with the candy. So that left Kendall, but even he seemed to be distracted—or maybe that was just because Logan was distracted himself. He was about to send Ozzy a (very casual) text asking if he was on his way when he finally spotted him walking into the room—and a second later spotted a very costumed Camille heading in his and Kendall's direction.
Logan had absolutely no idea if Camille was coming over to monopolize his attention or not, but it wasn't a risk he was willing to take.
"Hey guys!" she said with a smile as she got closer.
"Hey Camille!" Logan replied, and without giving her a chance to say anything else he grabbed Kendall's arm and continued: "You know what, Kendall here was just saying how much he'd love to dance with you, and now here you are, isn't that funny?"
"What?" Kendall said, looking back and forth from Logan to Camille in confusion.
"Oh, don't be shy, Kendall," Logan went on, shoving him towards Camille, "you're a great dancer. You kids have fun now!"
He walked quickly away before they could protest or ask questions, threading through the crowd as he made his way over to Ozzy. "Hey," he said, smiling, when he got there. "You're here."
"Said I would be," Ozzy replied, glancing around the room. "So what do you do at Halloween parties, anyway?"
"That's…a good question. Whatever you want, I guess. Most people dance?"
Ozzy scowled. "I don't dance."
Logan chuckled softly. "You could socialize? Talk to people, look at their costumes?"
"I don't talk to people, either."
"You talk to me," Logan pointed out.
"You're…" Ozzy looked down at Logan, meeting his eyes. "Different."
A crooked grin spread across Logan's face. He couldn't stop it, and he didn't want to. "Well, if you gave other people a chance they might surprise you. And it's Halloween, you know? Time to loosen up, be a little adventurous."
"Are you calling me a coward?"
"No, Ozzy," Logan said, shaking his head. "I am not calling you a coward, why would you even think that? I'm just saying…it's a good night to try things you normally wouldn't."
Ozzy regarded him silently for a moment before saying "Who do you want me to talk to?"
Logan smiled as he thought about it. "Hmm…hey, I know, let's go find Carlos. He'll love your costume."
——
"Frankenstein!"
Logan huffed and rolled his eyes. "Frankenstein's monster, Carlos."
"No, I was talking to you, dude," Carlos said, shoving candy in his mouth. "Although 'Frankenstein' sounds way more like a kick-ass monster name than some crazy scientist guy. Hey, Ozzy, you're looking very green this evening. Did you do all that yourself?"
"Yeah right," Ozzy muttered.
"I did," Logan told him.
"Hey, you did Ozzy's makeup but you wouldn't do mine? Not cool, man," Carlos pouted. It looked strange on his zombie-fied face.
"Carlos," Logan began in exasperation, "I offered to do your makeup! You wanted to do it yourself, remember?"
Carlos grinned. "Oh right! It was fun, too. But hey, you guys look awesome with your matching costumes. I wanna have a matching costume with someone…Are you gonna enter any of the contests? I am. The prizes are candy!"
"Carlos…" Logan said slowly, blinking. "How much candy have you already had?"
"Um…" Carlos tilted his head in thought. "A lot. You guys want some?" He held up a handful of colorfully wrapped candies.
"I'm good," Logan told him, already imagining what things were going to be like that night when Carlos was whining about a stomachache.
"Ozzy?" Carlos offered, moving his hand up a little higher.
Ozzy looked at Logan and Logan gave him a sort of nod-smile-shrug combo in encouragement. It seemed to work, because Ozzy looked back down at Carlos's hand and then took a piece of candy off of it. "Thanks."
"Sure!" Carlos replied brightly. "Hey, there's more over here, I'll show you!" He grabbed Ozzy's arm and started tugging him towards one of the tables.
Logan returned the surprised look Ozzy gave him with one of his own, along with a baffled shrug. Carlos was hyped up on a sugar-and-party high and there was no predicting or controlling him, so they might as well go along with it. To Logan's surprise and delight Ozzy let Carlos drag him away, and Logan followed along.
——
"Your friend is crazy," Ozzy informed Logan sometime later, after they'd broken away from Carlos and his over-exuberance.
"Little bit, yeah. But hey, you talked to someone, right? Well, Carlos did most of the talking, but you know what I mean. And it wasn't so bad, was it?"
Ozzy shrugged. "I guess not."
Logan bit his lip, weighing options in his mind before making a quick decision. "Hey, you want to take a break from the party for a bit?"
"A break?" Ozzy asked, glancing at Logan with something like relief on his face. It was hard to tell with all the paint. "…That means we have to come back, though, doesn't it?"
"That is the idea, yes," Logan answered with a smile. "But it's negotiable. Come on, the pool should be pretty empty, we can just sit and chill for a while."
Logan grabbed some punch for both of them from a nearby table, and then led the way outside. The pool area was completely deserted, and they settled on one of the benches around the fire pit.
They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, side by side, sipping at their cups of punch, before Logan spoke. "So, thanks for coming to this tonight. I know parties aren't really your thing."
"It's cool," Ozzy said, voice quieter than usual. "You've been having fun, right?"
"Yeah." Logan nodded and looked up at Ozzy with a half-smile. "But I was kind of hoping you were, too?"
"Yeah, I guess," Ozzy answered, returning Logan's gaze.
After a few seconds of staring at each other Logan decided just to go for it. Maybe he'd learned that from Camille? He took hold of Ozzy's shoulder with his free hand and reached up to touch their lips together, the contact sending tingles all across his skin.
There was some major hesitation on the receiving end of the kiss, but after a bit of determined coaxing it was like the wall of uncertainty was finally broken through and Logan got the proper make-out session he'd been wanting for so long.
The cup, with punch still in it, fell from Logan's hand as he lifted it to Ozzy's neck, scooting even closer on the bench and deepening the kiss. He wanted to try using tongue but he knew better, knew that this was a huge step already and pushing it further would be way too risky. But this was good enough: simple kissing that lasted longer than four seconds; that involved closed eyes and half-open mouths.
It was better than good enough, really. It was fun, it was nice, and it was progress. So Logan really needed to stop thinking about how he'd enjoy this whole thing more if Ozzy would so something with those hands of his; if he would touch Logan's face or neck or leg or anything, really, he just wanted more.
Logan heard a distant buzzing sound as he was fighting these thoughts but he ignored it. At least he did until Ozzy broke the kiss, moving away and immediately scanning the pool area. Then Logan realized the sound was coming from his cell phone, and he nearly jumped off the bench in his embarrassed haste to pull it out of his pocket.
The text was a mostly incomprehensible jumble of letters and words from Carlos. All Logan could really make out was that he was needed inside. "Dammit," he muttered at his phone, then he glanced back up at Ozzy. Who seemed to be looking anywhere but at Logan. "That's Carlos. I have no idea what's going on in there but just in case it's some sort of emergency I'm gonna go check. Wanna come with?"
"I, uh…" Ozzy's voice was weirdly pitched, and he coughed to clear his throat. Logan grinned. "I think I'll just stay out here. If uh, that's cool with you."
"Sure, that's fine." Logan picked up his dropped cup and stood up from the bench. Then, on impulse, he leaned down and gave Ozzy a quick peck on the lips. "I'll be back," he said with a smile before heading in the building.
——
"Okay Carlos, what did you need me for?"
"Oh hey Logan!" Carlos beamed at him. "I was just—woah, dude, what happened to your face?"
Logan gave him a confused look. "What?"
"That," Carlos said, and pushed a finger against the corner of Logan's mouth. Logan's eyes widened in horror as he realized what Carlos must be talking about.
"That, my dear Carlos," Kendall said, appearing out of nowhere to lean on Carlos's shoulder, "would be face paint. Looks like our little Logie hasn't been keeping his mouth to himself tonight."
Carlos laughed while Logan tried not to completely flip out. He couldn't come up with a single rebuttal before Carlos, seeiming very excited, said: "Oh! Does that mean you and Camille are back together now? Or did she just attack you with her mouth?"
Okay now Logan was confused again. "What?"
"Oh come on Logan." Carlos shoved him lightly. "I saw her earlier, dude! She's dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West? Face covered in green paint?"
"Actually," Kendall cut in, "she's dressed as Elphaba from the musical Wicked. If you want to be specific."
Logan and Carlos both turned to blink at him.
"What? She told me while we were dancing," he said with a defensive shrug. "And apparently, she somehow talked Lucy into dressing up as another character. Hey, don't look at me like that, okay? I listen when girls talk!"
"You were dancing with Camille?" Carlos asked him, sounding impressed.
Kendall shrugged again. "Logan told me to."
Carlos got a curious look on his face at that, and Logan decided it was time to change the subject. "Whatever, obviously there's no emergency here so I'm gonna just go and get this crap off my—"
"Here."
Logan had turned around to walk away and nearly collided with James in the process. Now James was holding something out to him, which after a few blinks to reorient himself Logan realized was the bandana he'd been wearing as part of his pirate costume.
"What's this for?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow at James.
"To get the crap off your face. That's what you were going to do, right? And here." He pulled a mirror out of apparently thin air and shoved that at Logan too.
Logan glanced at the items in James's hands, then back up at his face. "I can just go find a bathroom…"
An arm was slung around Logan's shoulders. "No, you have to stay!" Carlos insisted. "They're gonna announce the costume contest winners!"
"That's why you texted me?" Logan asked in disbelief, but he took the things James was offering him anyway. "I thought it was something important."
"Winning contests is always important, Logan," Carlos said, voice serious, as Logan wet a corner of the bandana with his tongue and tried to wipe away the green smudges around his mouth. Really, he was an idiot to not have realized those were there sooner. He could only hope Carlos's theory about Camille would stick and they wouldn't press him for any further explanations.
"Hey," Carlos went on, arm still draped around Logan, "where's Ozzy? He should be here for this, since I entered you guys in the contest."
"You did what?" Logan asked, spinning to look at Carlos, and he could've sworn he heard James's voice join his own.
"Yeah," Carlos said with a grin. "There was a category for matching costumes, so I entered you guys. Although if Camille and Lucy are in the running they'll probably win, sorry."
"Carlos why would you—whatever," Logan said with a sigh. Ozzy would have no interest in winning a costume contest, Logan knew. "So when are they announcing the winners, then? It doesn't seem like they're doing it right now."
"Oh, it's in another hour, I just asked," James said, holding out his hand for his mirror as Logan finished cleaning himself off.
"An hour? Carlos, why did you text me so early?!" He glowered at Carlos for interrupting his making-out, then tried to hand the bandana back to James. But James just gave him a weird look and pulled another bandana out—once again, seemingly from the air itself—and tied it around his head. Logan didn't even try to figure out why James didn't just let him use the spare to begin with.
"Well," Carlos said, eyebrows furrowed, "I thought—"
"Who cares?" James asked, checking his mirror. Probably to make sure the bandana and every single strand of hair it covered was in place. "It's a party, Logan, and you are here with the Hollywood Super Party Kings of Hollywood, so it'll be an hour well spent."
"Exactly," Carlos agreed, moving to throw an arm around James's shoulders.
"Oookay," Kendall said, pushing his black-framed glasses back up his nose. Logan still had no idea what he was supposed to be. He looked completely normal except for the glasses. "Well, I'm gonna go…dance, or…get some food, or…yeah. Bye."
Logan knew if he didn't make his exit right then too he might not get away at all. "Yeah, uh…what Kendall said. See you guys."
He turned and dashed away, ignoring James calling his name behind him.
——
Ozzy wasn't at the pool when Logan returned.
At first he was a little upset, but then he decided there was no point in that until he'd at least talked to Ozzy. There could have been any number of reasons he wasn't there, right? Maybe he went to look for Logan or something.
So he sent a short text: 'I came back, but you're not here.'
Then he leaned against the wall to wait for a reply. It didn't take long.
'dont like parties. upstairs. sorry'
"Hmm," Logan mused out loud. Carlos would be okay if he missed the announcement of the winners, wouldn't he? Logan didn't know what excuse he would give later, but he was a genius. He'd figure something out.
A few minutes later Logan was knocking on the door of Ozzy's apartment. Ozzy looked surprised when he opened it, but Logan just gave him a crooked grin.
"Hey," Logan said, ignoring his nerves, determined to see this through. Trying to act casual. "Need any help getting the rest of the paint off your face?"
Bonus side-story: 'Corrective Measures'
Disclaimer: Not my boys, although I kind of love them like they were.
Pairings/Characters: Logan/Ozzy
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~4,400
Warnings: none
Summary: Logan and Ozzy go to a Halloween party. One of them is decidedly happier to be there.
Author's Notes: Written for the
palmwoods Harvestfest. Also, because apparently Jagan owns my brain, I wrote a little side-story featuring jealous!James. There's a link to that at the bottom of this fic.Prompt: (#10) "Logan/Ozzy - After being partners in Green Time Rush, Ozzy and Logan became good friends and eventual boyfriends. Based on Ozzy's reputation, Logan is a bit wary of letting the boys know about their relationship.... Anyways, Ozzy and Logan go to the Palmwoods' Halloween party with matching outfits. Logan is a mad scientist and Ozzy is Frankenstein's monster. The two eventually go off to be alone and make out/sexy time (whatever you feel like writing) Logan meets up with the boys later and has to explain the green paint smudges on his face. Bonus points if at some point you have Logan explain that it's "Frankenstein's monster" and not "Frankenstein" because that is a personal nerdy pet peeve of mine and I feel Logan would feel that way also."
----
"If you don't hold still this is going to be all smudged."
"It's not like it matters. You won't even be able to tell."
"It totally matters," Logan said, glancing back down at the instructions that came with the makeup kit. "There's an art to this, you know."
Ozzy huffed out a short, grumpy laugh. "You sound like the makeup ladies on set."
Logan smiled out of the corner of his mouth while he continued dabbing green paint on Ozzy's face. "Do you give them this much trouble?"
"They don't take this long."
"Well excuse me for not being a professional," Logan shot back good-naturedly. "Now hold still or we'll never be done."
"You're the one who picked the stupid costume," Ozzy grumbled. "I didn't even want to go to the stupid party and you're making me dress up as Frankenstein."
"Frankenstein's monster," Logan corrected automatically, dipping the little sponge back in the paint. "Frankenstein was the scientist. And I'm not making you do anything."
"Whatever, know-it-all," Ozzy replied in a tone Logan had come to recognize as reticent affection. "Normal people don't know crap like that."
"They should. It's classic literature."
"And most of us have better things to do than read old books a hundred times."
"Actually I've never read it," Logan admitted, a slightly sheepish smile playing across his lips. "But I did see that episode of Wishbone."
Ozzy raised an eyebrow. "You mean that show with the dog?"
"Hey, that show was cool," Logan replied defensively. "Did you ever even watch it?"
It was a few seconds before Ozzy answered. "My brother thought it was stupid."
Logan recognized that tone, too, and knew he had to proceed with caution. "Did you?" he asked as casually as he could, moving the sponge closer to Ozzy's mouth.
He could feel Ozzy watching him before finally responding. "I dunno. I guess it wasn't too bad."
Logan smiled, but didn't say anything else as he put the finishing touches on Ozzy's makeup. "There! All done," he said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms.
"How's it look?"
"Go see for yourself."
Ozzy did, and Logan waited, proud of himself, for his boyfriend to return. "Well?" he asked when Ozzy walked back into the room.
"I guess it'll work," Ozzy said with a shrug.
"You don't like it?" Logan tried not to sound disappointed.
Another shrug. "I'm green."
Logan chuckled and stood up. "You're supposed to be. It's Halloween. And your costume is awesome, okay?"
"If you say so."
"Trust me, it is," Logan told him, stepping closer. "And everyone at the party will think so, too." He smiled, and waited for Ozzy to give him a tentative half-smile back before continuing. "Okay, so my costume won't take very long; do you want me to meet you back here before we head over?"
Ozzy glanced away. "We, uh, can just meet up there, right? At the party?"
"…Right," Logan said, feeling stupid for even mentioning it. Of course they should arrive separately. It was common knowledge at this point that the two of them were friends, but this 'more-than-friends' thing was still so new and so fragile. What would the guys say? They still didn't fully approve of Logan being friends with Ozzy; he couldn't imagine how they'd react to this information. Kendall might accuse him of having Stockholm syndrome or something.
It was just easier if no one knew. Logan didn't really want anyone to know, and Ozzy didn't really want anyone to know, and…yeah, it just made more sense for them to not show up at the party together.
"Okay, well, I'll see you there, then," Logan went on. He hesitated, eyes flicking up to Ozzy's face, then started to lean up on his toes.
"You'll smudge the makeup," Ozzy said, voice low, stopping Logan before he could make contact.
"Right," Logan repeated. He backed away. "Well, I'm just gonna…go, then. Bye."
"Later," Ozzy replied. "Oh," he said a moment later, and Logan's hand was on the doorknob but he turned back at the word. "Thanks for, uh, helping, with this."
Logan smiled. "No problem. I'll see you at the party, okay?"
"Okay," Ozzy agreed with a nod. With a short wave, Logan slipped out the door.
——
Logan headed to his own apartment to put on his 'generic mad scientist' costume, on the way reflecting on his current situation, its overall awkwardness, how it came to be…and where it was going from here.
It had happened gradually. So gradually, in fact, that Logan couldn't really remember when exactly things started to change. After being project partners back in the spring Ozzy and Logan had stayed friendly, Logan discovering once he got past his fear that he found the guy sort of fascinating. Ozzy usually seemed reluctant to talk about himself; other than insulting his own intelligence he doled out information in small doses, and Logan had to do a lot of reading between the lines. When he learned new things outright Logan always felt like he'd earned some sort of prize.
For months that's all it was; conversations that increased in length and frequency until the two of them were hanging out on a regular basis. Eventually Logan had seen every movie or TV show Ozzy had had a role in and Ozzy had listened to—and critiqued—BTR's entire first album, as well as given some surprisingly insightful opinions on the songs Logan could get a hold of from their upcoming second album. By mid-summer they had an established friendship that the other kids at the Palm Woods kept a respectful distance from, even if they didn't really 'get' it.
Well, most of the kids kept a distance. There was some highly vocal confusion about the whole thing from Logan's three best friends, but once they figured out that Logan really wasn't afraid of Ozzy anymore they left it alone. Except when one of them whined that Logan would rather hang out with someone else. It occurred to Logan sometimes that he could probably invite one of them along when he spent time with Ozzy, but…he kind of liked having this sort of unexplainable friendship that was totally separate from the guys.
It was late summer when Logan first noticed the differences. Logan had been—very, very silently—questioning his own sexuality for years, so when he realized that the times it was just the two of them, Ozzy would sit a little closer than necessary, and sometimes would act a little nervous or fidgety or blush for no reason…Logan thought it was sort of exciting. Nerve-wracking, but exciting nonetheless. He was used to guys invading his personal space, but with Kendall, James and Carlos it wasn't anything he noticed anymore. It was familiar, comfortable; nothing that caused tingles down his spine. Whatever this was with Ozzy was something altogether new, and Logan wanted to find out what that something was.
By that point Logan knew better than to ask personal questions outright. So instead he put a plan into motion that consisted of them watching, over a period of a couple weeks, a succession of movies and TV shows with a carefully calculated increase in homosexual content in each one. Logan figured—or hoped, at least—if Ozzy was ever uncomfortable or unhappy with the movie choices he would say something before they got to a point of irreversible awkwardness in their friendship.
But Logan wasn't a genius for nothing, and they weren't even halfway through his list of media before his plan succeeded. They were in Ozzy's apartment—so much less chance of being barged in on at any moment there—sitting close together on the couch, with the credits rolling on the movie they'd just watched.
"Are you…trying to tell me something?" Ozzy had asked.
"What do you mean?" Logan's voice was a tad squeaky. He hadn't expected to have to talk about it. He just wanted something to happen.
"All these movies you've been wanting to watch," Ozzy said, sounding gruff and nervous and Logan didn't know if that was a good sign or a bad one, "with these…guys…together…"
"I'm not trying to tell you anything you don't want me to be trying to tell you," Logan said, choosing his words skillfully as he glanced sidelong at Ozzy.
After an incredibly awkward silence, Ozzy replied with "Did someone put you up to this?"
"Did someone—no, Ozzy." Logan shook his head, turning a little—just a little, because they were sitting like, right next to each other—to face him. "Come on, how long have we been friends now? I just…thought…but you know, what do I know? Nothing, that's what, so let's just forget all about this and you can pick the movie next time. Okay?"
Logan gave a nervous laugh and waited. He liked having Ozzy as a friend, and if he had screwed everything up—
"I…liked that movie."
"What?" Logan asked, blinking in surprise. "You…did?"
Ozzy glared back at him. "You got a problem with that?"
"No, not at all!" Logan assured him, eyes wide. "That, um…that's…great," he finished with a smile, self-conscious but happy.
"Are we…gonna watch another one?"
"Um." Logan took out his cell phone. "Yeah, I've got time, so we can if you want?"
"Cool," Ozzy said, nodding at nothing in particular.
Logan grinned a little and got up to switch out the DVDs. When he sat back down and hit play on the menu screen, he felt an arm settle along the couch behind him. With a smug smirk that belied how stupidly fast his heart was beating, Logan tried to relax—casually, of course—against Ozzy's side. The arm tightened, ever-so-slightly, around his shoulders.
——
Since then things had been progressing almost painfully slowly. This was all uncharted territory for Logan, whose only previous relationship had basically consisted of Camille throwing herself at him—sometimes literally—whenever she felt like it. Being the one who usually had to initiate physical contact was new, and fun, and awkward.
They'd barely even kissed yet, and Logan really liked kissing so that just wasn't cool at all.
But Logan knew it was best not to rush things. Ozzy seemed even more unsure about everything than Logan was, so they needed to go slow. And that was fine, except Logan had the unsettling feeling that at this rate they were headed towards some sort of discussion that neither one of them really wanted to have or would be any good at having, and Logan didn't know how to steer them in a different direction.
But that wasn't a problem for tonight. Tonight was just the Halloween party, and having fun, and hanging out, and trying not to draw suspicion. Which shouldn't be difficult, since the only time they ever did anything remotely couple-y was when they were completely alone in Ozzy's apartment. And even that was mostly middle-school couple stuff.
Stop thinking like that, Logan, he told himself. You'll get there. Just be patient.
He could be patient.
——
Once he had his costume on Logan headed to the party with James, Kendall, and Carlos and surreptitiously looked around for Ozzy. There were no hugely tall guys covered in green face paint anywhere in sight, so Logan tried not to be concerned while he hung with his friends to wait.
Well, more like friend. James had taken off to mingle as soon as they got there, and Carlos had headed straight for the table with the candy. So that left Kendall, but even he seemed to be distracted—or maybe that was just because Logan was distracted himself. He was about to send Ozzy a (very casual) text asking if he was on his way when he finally spotted him walking into the room—and a second later spotted a very costumed Camille heading in his and Kendall's direction.
Logan had absolutely no idea if Camille was coming over to monopolize his attention or not, but it wasn't a risk he was willing to take.
"Hey guys!" she said with a smile as she got closer.
"Hey Camille!" Logan replied, and without giving her a chance to say anything else he grabbed Kendall's arm and continued: "You know what, Kendall here was just saying how much he'd love to dance with you, and now here you are, isn't that funny?"
"What?" Kendall said, looking back and forth from Logan to Camille in confusion.
"Oh, don't be shy, Kendall," Logan went on, shoving him towards Camille, "you're a great dancer. You kids have fun now!"
He walked quickly away before they could protest or ask questions, threading through the crowd as he made his way over to Ozzy. "Hey," he said, smiling, when he got there. "You're here."
"Said I would be," Ozzy replied, glancing around the room. "So what do you do at Halloween parties, anyway?"
"That's…a good question. Whatever you want, I guess. Most people dance?"
Ozzy scowled. "I don't dance."
Logan chuckled softly. "You could socialize? Talk to people, look at their costumes?"
"I don't talk to people, either."
"You talk to me," Logan pointed out.
"You're…" Ozzy looked down at Logan, meeting his eyes. "Different."
A crooked grin spread across Logan's face. He couldn't stop it, and he didn't want to. "Well, if you gave other people a chance they might surprise you. And it's Halloween, you know? Time to loosen up, be a little adventurous."
"Are you calling me a coward?"
"No, Ozzy," Logan said, shaking his head. "I am not calling you a coward, why would you even think that? I'm just saying…it's a good night to try things you normally wouldn't."
Ozzy regarded him silently for a moment before saying "Who do you want me to talk to?"
Logan smiled as he thought about it. "Hmm…hey, I know, let's go find Carlos. He'll love your costume."
——
"Frankenstein!"
Logan huffed and rolled his eyes. "Frankenstein's monster, Carlos."
"No, I was talking to you, dude," Carlos said, shoving candy in his mouth. "Although 'Frankenstein' sounds way more like a kick-ass monster name than some crazy scientist guy. Hey, Ozzy, you're looking very green this evening. Did you do all that yourself?"
"Yeah right," Ozzy muttered.
"I did," Logan told him.
"Hey, you did Ozzy's makeup but you wouldn't do mine? Not cool, man," Carlos pouted. It looked strange on his zombie-fied face.
"Carlos," Logan began in exasperation, "I offered to do your makeup! You wanted to do it yourself, remember?"
Carlos grinned. "Oh right! It was fun, too. But hey, you guys look awesome with your matching costumes. I wanna have a matching costume with someone…Are you gonna enter any of the contests? I am. The prizes are candy!"
"Carlos…" Logan said slowly, blinking. "How much candy have you already had?"
"Um…" Carlos tilted his head in thought. "A lot. You guys want some?" He held up a handful of colorfully wrapped candies.
"I'm good," Logan told him, already imagining what things were going to be like that night when Carlos was whining about a stomachache.
"Ozzy?" Carlos offered, moving his hand up a little higher.
Ozzy looked at Logan and Logan gave him a sort of nod-smile-shrug combo in encouragement. It seemed to work, because Ozzy looked back down at Carlos's hand and then took a piece of candy off of it. "Thanks."
"Sure!" Carlos replied brightly. "Hey, there's more over here, I'll show you!" He grabbed Ozzy's arm and started tugging him towards one of the tables.
Logan returned the surprised look Ozzy gave him with one of his own, along with a baffled shrug. Carlos was hyped up on a sugar-and-party high and there was no predicting or controlling him, so they might as well go along with it. To Logan's surprise and delight Ozzy let Carlos drag him away, and Logan followed along.
——
"Your friend is crazy," Ozzy informed Logan sometime later, after they'd broken away from Carlos and his over-exuberance.
"Little bit, yeah. But hey, you talked to someone, right? Well, Carlos did most of the talking, but you know what I mean. And it wasn't so bad, was it?"
Ozzy shrugged. "I guess not."
Logan bit his lip, weighing options in his mind before making a quick decision. "Hey, you want to take a break from the party for a bit?"
"A break?" Ozzy asked, glancing at Logan with something like relief on his face. It was hard to tell with all the paint. "…That means we have to come back, though, doesn't it?"
"That is the idea, yes," Logan answered with a smile. "But it's negotiable. Come on, the pool should be pretty empty, we can just sit and chill for a while."
Logan grabbed some punch for both of them from a nearby table, and then led the way outside. The pool area was completely deserted, and they settled on one of the benches around the fire pit.
They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, side by side, sipping at their cups of punch, before Logan spoke. "So, thanks for coming to this tonight. I know parties aren't really your thing."
"It's cool," Ozzy said, voice quieter than usual. "You've been having fun, right?"
"Yeah." Logan nodded and looked up at Ozzy with a half-smile. "But I was kind of hoping you were, too?"
"Yeah, I guess," Ozzy answered, returning Logan's gaze.
After a few seconds of staring at each other Logan decided just to go for it. Maybe he'd learned that from Camille? He took hold of Ozzy's shoulder with his free hand and reached up to touch their lips together, the contact sending tingles all across his skin.
There was some major hesitation on the receiving end of the kiss, but after a bit of determined coaxing it was like the wall of uncertainty was finally broken through and Logan got the proper make-out session he'd been wanting for so long.
The cup, with punch still in it, fell from Logan's hand as he lifted it to Ozzy's neck, scooting even closer on the bench and deepening the kiss. He wanted to try using tongue but he knew better, knew that this was a huge step already and pushing it further would be way too risky. But this was good enough: simple kissing that lasted longer than four seconds; that involved closed eyes and half-open mouths.
It was better than good enough, really. It was fun, it was nice, and it was progress. So Logan really needed to stop thinking about how he'd enjoy this whole thing more if Ozzy would so something with those hands of his; if he would touch Logan's face or neck or leg or anything, really, he just wanted more.
Logan heard a distant buzzing sound as he was fighting these thoughts but he ignored it. At least he did until Ozzy broke the kiss, moving away and immediately scanning the pool area. Then Logan realized the sound was coming from his cell phone, and he nearly jumped off the bench in his embarrassed haste to pull it out of his pocket.
The text was a mostly incomprehensible jumble of letters and words from Carlos. All Logan could really make out was that he was needed inside. "Dammit," he muttered at his phone, then he glanced back up at Ozzy. Who seemed to be looking anywhere but at Logan. "That's Carlos. I have no idea what's going on in there but just in case it's some sort of emergency I'm gonna go check. Wanna come with?"
"I, uh…" Ozzy's voice was weirdly pitched, and he coughed to clear his throat. Logan grinned. "I think I'll just stay out here. If uh, that's cool with you."
"Sure, that's fine." Logan picked up his dropped cup and stood up from the bench. Then, on impulse, he leaned down and gave Ozzy a quick peck on the lips. "I'll be back," he said with a smile before heading in the building.
——
"Okay Carlos, what did you need me for?"
"Oh hey Logan!" Carlos beamed at him. "I was just—woah, dude, what happened to your face?"
Logan gave him a confused look. "What?"
"That," Carlos said, and pushed a finger against the corner of Logan's mouth. Logan's eyes widened in horror as he realized what Carlos must be talking about.
"That, my dear Carlos," Kendall said, appearing out of nowhere to lean on Carlos's shoulder, "would be face paint. Looks like our little Logie hasn't been keeping his mouth to himself tonight."
Carlos laughed while Logan tried not to completely flip out. He couldn't come up with a single rebuttal before Carlos, seeiming very excited, said: "Oh! Does that mean you and Camille are back together now? Or did she just attack you with her mouth?"
Okay now Logan was confused again. "What?"
"Oh come on Logan." Carlos shoved him lightly. "I saw her earlier, dude! She's dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West? Face covered in green paint?"
"Actually," Kendall cut in, "she's dressed as Elphaba from the musical Wicked. If you want to be specific."
Logan and Carlos both turned to blink at him.
"What? She told me while we were dancing," he said with a defensive shrug. "And apparently, she somehow talked Lucy into dressing up as another character. Hey, don't look at me like that, okay? I listen when girls talk!"
"You were dancing with Camille?" Carlos asked him, sounding impressed.
Kendall shrugged again. "Logan told me to."
Carlos got a curious look on his face at that, and Logan decided it was time to change the subject. "Whatever, obviously there's no emergency here so I'm gonna just go and get this crap off my—"
"Here."
Logan had turned around to walk away and nearly collided with James in the process. Now James was holding something out to him, which after a few blinks to reorient himself Logan realized was the bandana he'd been wearing as part of his pirate costume.
"What's this for?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow at James.
"To get the crap off your face. That's what you were going to do, right? And here." He pulled a mirror out of apparently thin air and shoved that at Logan too.
Logan glanced at the items in James's hands, then back up at his face. "I can just go find a bathroom…"
An arm was slung around Logan's shoulders. "No, you have to stay!" Carlos insisted. "They're gonna announce the costume contest winners!"
"That's why you texted me?" Logan asked in disbelief, but he took the things James was offering him anyway. "I thought it was something important."
"Winning contests is always important, Logan," Carlos said, voice serious, as Logan wet a corner of the bandana with his tongue and tried to wipe away the green smudges around his mouth. Really, he was an idiot to not have realized those were there sooner. He could only hope Carlos's theory about Camille would stick and they wouldn't press him for any further explanations.
"Hey," Carlos went on, arm still draped around Logan, "where's Ozzy? He should be here for this, since I entered you guys in the contest."
"You did what?" Logan asked, spinning to look at Carlos, and he could've sworn he heard James's voice join his own.
"Yeah," Carlos said with a grin. "There was a category for matching costumes, so I entered you guys. Although if Camille and Lucy are in the running they'll probably win, sorry."
"Carlos why would you—whatever," Logan said with a sigh. Ozzy would have no interest in winning a costume contest, Logan knew. "So when are they announcing the winners, then? It doesn't seem like they're doing it right now."
"Oh, it's in another hour, I just asked," James said, holding out his hand for his mirror as Logan finished cleaning himself off.
"An hour? Carlos, why did you text me so early?!" He glowered at Carlos for interrupting his making-out, then tried to hand the bandana back to James. But James just gave him a weird look and pulled another bandana out—once again, seemingly from the air itself—and tied it around his head. Logan didn't even try to figure out why James didn't just let him use the spare to begin with.
"Well," Carlos said, eyebrows furrowed, "I thought—"
"Who cares?" James asked, checking his mirror. Probably to make sure the bandana and every single strand of hair it covered was in place. "It's a party, Logan, and you are here with the Hollywood Super Party Kings of Hollywood, so it'll be an hour well spent."
"Exactly," Carlos agreed, moving to throw an arm around James's shoulders.
"Oookay," Kendall said, pushing his black-framed glasses back up his nose. Logan still had no idea what he was supposed to be. He looked completely normal except for the glasses. "Well, I'm gonna go…dance, or…get some food, or…yeah. Bye."
Logan knew if he didn't make his exit right then too he might not get away at all. "Yeah, uh…what Kendall said. See you guys."
He turned and dashed away, ignoring James calling his name behind him.
——
Ozzy wasn't at the pool when Logan returned.
At first he was a little upset, but then he decided there was no point in that until he'd at least talked to Ozzy. There could have been any number of reasons he wasn't there, right? Maybe he went to look for Logan or something.
So he sent a short text: 'I came back, but you're not here.'
Then he leaned against the wall to wait for a reply. It didn't take long.
'dont like parties. upstairs. sorry'
"Hmm," Logan mused out loud. Carlos would be okay if he missed the announcement of the winners, wouldn't he? Logan didn't know what excuse he would give later, but he was a genius. He'd figure something out.
A few minutes later Logan was knocking on the door of Ozzy's apartment. Ozzy looked surprised when he opened it, but Logan just gave him a crooked grin.
"Hey," Logan said, ignoring his nerves, determined to see this through. Trying to act casual. "Need any help getting the rest of the paint off your face?"
Bonus side-story: 'Corrective Measures'
