time

(tyme)

noun

nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Has anyone ever told you how stupid you are?”

“I believe you did yesterday,” Logan rolled his eyes. “And the day before that. And the day before that. Do you get what I'm saying or would you like me to continue?”

“I mean, seriously? 'Thank you?' You fuckin' said 'thank you?' How fuckin' dumb can you get?”

“What was I supposed to say? I don't think 'I'm not in love with you' would have gone over so well.”

“It's better than a fuckin' thank you, that's for damn sure,” Dalton dropped the box he was carrying onto Logan's bedroom floor. “You could have at least told Crys that you didn't love her yet. Because let's face it, you're almost there.”

“Almost where?” Logan asked, sitting on his bed.

The boys had just moved into their new apartment in North Haven and were busy unpacking a bunch of boxes and getting their new place to start looking like home. It had been a week since Crystal told Logan that she loved him, actually that she was in love with him, and it caught him off guard. He wasn't expecting it, especially from her, and he had no idea how to react to that. Girls used the 'I love you' line on him countless times, but Logan knew they only used it so he wouldn't move on. Logan always moved on anyway, so it never worked.

But with Crystal it was different. He couldn't explain how it was different, but he just knew that it was. She meant it. Logan couldn't explain how he knew she did, but he could feel it. He noticed that she was nervous, but he brushed it off because he didn't think it had anything to do with him. And after she said it, he just sat there and stared at her. The best thing he could come up with was a simple 'thank you.' Definitely the wrong thing to say at the time, but it was the first thing that popped into his head.

Dalton smacked his forehead. “You're almost in love with her, stupid.”

“You know, Doc, I'm getting really tired of you calling me that.”

“Maybe if you used the head on your shoulders instead of the one in your pants, I wouldn't be callin' you that!”

“Don't tell me you guys are still arguing about how stupid Logan is,” Davis entered the room, dropping a box on the floor.

“Davis, if a girl told you that she was in love with you, what would you say to her?” Dalton asked the boy who just entered the room.

“I sure as hell wouldn't say 'thank you,'” he grinned, eyes lighting up with laughter. “That's just dumb,” he finished.

Logan frowned. “Fuck you, man.”

Dalton gave Davis an amused look and then looked at Logan with a smirk on his face. “See what I mean? We all think you're a dumb ass for not tellin' Crys that you're in love with her.”

“I'm not in love with her.”

“Not yet,” Davis muttered.

Logan glared at his friends. “I think I would know if I was in love with the girl or not,” he was starting to get annoyed.

Sure, Crystal meant a lot more to him than she had in the beginning, but that was because they formed a friendship. And maybe he did feel a pang of jealousy every time a random guy tried to hit on her. But that was normal, right? It just meant that he was being protective. That wasn't love. He didn't know what love was. He didn't know how to associate the feeling with actions or gestures. Logan was good at lust, not love. Love was messy. Complicated.

“Why are we just talking about me? What about you and Cali, Davis?” Logan attempted to change the subject, hoping Davis would take the bait.

“We're great. She's--”

“Don't try to change the subject!” Dalton interrupted. “We're not talking about Cali and don't even try to bring up Charity right now. We're talking about Crystal. Nice try, Masterson.”

“Logan, everyone knows you have a soft spot for Crys. Hell, I knew you had one the first day I met you. You gave me this fucking death look,” Davis laughed.

“You're either blind or just really fuckin' stupid if you can't realize that you really care about her,” Dalton shook his head. “Have you even talked to her since then?”

“I've tried,” Logan told him. “She won't call me back. She won't return my texts. I'm about ready to just give up. Clearly she doesn't want to talk to me or have anything to do with me anymore, so why the fuck am I even going to bother?”

Logan wasn't going to put in all the effort to talk to Crystal. Relationships—not saying that he was ready for one—took initiative from both parties. If she wasn't going to talk to him, then why should he try to talk to her? He'd be wasting his time.

“Oh, for the love of--” Dalton threw his hands in the air. “How the fuck are girls always on your cock? They must like you for the way you look, because if I was a girl, I definitely wouldn't like the way your brain works.”

“Ignoring her isn't going to solve anything,” Davis said. “She wants you to make the effort to see her.”

“I have made an effort!” Logan defended. “I told you, she won't call or text me back.”

“Girls don't want a phone call!” Dalton shook his head. “Girls want you to make the effort to apologize to them in person or something.”

“What?! What do I have to apologize for?” Logan asked, incredulous. “I didn't do anything wrong!”

“Well, you did bruise her ego a bit,” Davis interjected. “And besides, the poor girl was probably a nervous wreck trying to tell you how she felt. Not that I can really blame her. She was telling her fuck buddy that she was in love with him and friends with benefits aren't supposed to turn out like that.”

“Fuck it,” Dalton said. “I'm not goin' to try and get you to figure it out for yourself cause you're just not gettin' it,” he took a breath. “Do you like Crystal?” he asked slowly.

“Yeah,” Logan replied easily. “I think she's great. Always has a smile on her face. Holds her alcohol with the best of us. She's a great listener. Knows the right thing to say,” he felt a smile forming on his face. “There's a lot of things I like about her. She's just so down to Earth and--”

“Are you even listenin' to half of things you're sayin' right now?” Dalton asked. “You want her. As more than a friend, and especially more than a fuck buddy.”

“So maybe I do,” Logan shrugged. “But that still doesn't meant that I'm in love with her.”

“Whatever,” Dalton waved it off. “If you want to talk to her, then just make her talk to you. And if she doesn't talk, then make her listen. Didn't you once tell me that if someone in your family wanted something bad enough, they'd go out and get it?”

“Yeah...”

“Crys is just playin' hard to get,” Dalton grinned. “You like challenges, don't you?”

Logan nodded, understanding where Dalton was going with the conversation. “I have been waiting for a good one to come along,” he grinned. “Besides, I never could resist a challenge.”

“God, Charity, what the hell is in this box? Bricks?” Crystal struggled carrying the box into Charity's room, so she just decided to push it with her foot, even though that didn't make the situation any better.

“Nope, shoes,” the blonde laughed. “Why didn't you ask me or Calista to help you?” she laughed again when Crystal sat on top of the box, trying to catch her breath.

“Didn't think it would be that heavy,” she smiled. “Shit, do you have like a pair of shoes for every day or what?” she chuckled a bit. “This thing weighs a ton.”

“I'm addicted,” she shrugged. “Are you done unpacking already?”

“For the most part,” Crystal replied. “I just have one box left, but it's just a few articles of Logan's clothing. I'll probably call Dalton and have him come get it.”

“Crys...”

“I don't want to hear it, Charity,” Crystal interrupted the blonde before she could go any further. “Not today.”

All week, Charity and Calista had pestered her about Logan. Why don't you call him back, he really wants to talk to you, you shouldn't be ignoring him. Blah, blah, blah. It was all just a bunch of bullshit anyway. Why couldn't her friends just understand that she was on a mission to get over him? He didn't love her back. He wasn't in love with her. There was no point in holding onto some kind of hope that a guy like Logan Masterson could ever be in love with someone. Scratch that. There was no point in holding onto some kind of hope that Logan Masterson could ever be in love with her.

“Where's Cali?” Crystal asked, hoping to change the subject.

“She's going over to the boys' place...” Charity trailed off.

“Damn. I wish she would have told me. She could have brought Logan his stuff.”

“You should go over there and look at the place. They've actually made it look pretty nice. Dalton's room is such a mess and they've only been there for a few days.”

“How are you lovebirds?” Crystal grinned. “Things seem to be progressing very well with you two. Fuck him yet?”

“Crystal!” Charity's jaw dropped.

“Honey, you should keep your mouth open for Dalton, not me,” she winked.

“You sound like one of the boys,” the blonde shook her head with a smile. “If you must know, the answer is no. Dalton and I haven't gotten that far with each other.”

“Yet,” Crystal sighed. “You're lucky, Chare. You and Cali actually. Both of you have boys who are obviously head over heels for you. I knew I should have stuck with the boy next door types.”

“But the bad ones make life interesting. Besides, I think the bad boy was always your type to begin with. You just never realized it.”

Crystal shrugged. Maybe in some part of her subconscious, she'd always had a thing for the bad boys. Maybe she'd always had feelings for Logan. She just never embraced them. Look what good that did her anyway. She let herself love him and he didn't even feel the same way. It was a bit anticlimactic now that she thought about it. She let everything build up only to be let down in the end.

“Well, I think I should go finish unpacking the kitchen. Let me know when you're ready for dinner. We should get take out or something. Have a much needed girls' night.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Charity nodded. “Let me finish unpacking my stuff and I'll call Calista to get back over here.”

As soon as Crystal was out of the room, Charity fished for the iPhone in her purse. Scrolling though her contacts, she quickly hit the talk button, and anxiously waited for Calista to answer her phone. “Hey, Lis, I have an idea...”

“Fuck, your death grip just gets worse every day,” Logan rubbed his bicep, frowning at Calista.

Logan still couldn't understand why they all had to go to the girls' apartment so he could talk to Crystal. He wasn't even there willingly. Dalton pretty much pushed him out the fucking door. He had been calm at first, but the closer and closer they got to the girls' apartment, the more nervous he got. He didn't know what he was going to say to her. He didn't know if she would talk to him. And he definitely didn't know how their conversation was going to turn out.

“You're a pretty big baby for being so big and muscle-y,” the girl joked. “Now, Crys doesn't know you're going to be here, so don't mess this up.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Logan rolled his eyes, walking into the apartment.

“And this time, don't say thank you!” Dalton whispered furiously.

“Why are you whispering?” Davis asked.

“It's like Mission Impossible, dude. You have to be all stealth like and shit. Like a ninja.”

“How the fuck did you get from Mission Impossible to ninjas?”

Before Dalton answered, Charity greeted them, raising herself on her tiptoes to kiss Dalton softly on the cheek, “You're hopeless, you know that?” she shook her head and looked at Logan. “So I told Crys we were getting dinner, I just left out that you and her weren't coming with us.”

“Hey, Chare, I'm ready to go,” Crystal walked out of her bedroom in jeans and a long sleeve. “Just let me know... when...” her brown eyed widened when she noticed everyone standing in front of the door. “... Cali gets here.”

“Hey, Crys,” Calista gave her a small wave with an equally small smile. “Okay... well... see you later! Let's go, Davis,” she grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door with a wink.

“Later, Crys!” Davis called back to her. “Don't fuck up, Logan!”

Crystal looked from Logan to her roommate. What the fuck was he doing in the apartment? “Charity...” she said slowly, trying to calm her anger. She didn't want to talk or look at Logan. Why couldn't anyone understand that? “What's going on? I thought we were going to dinner.”

“We are. We being Davis, Calista, Dalton, and I,” she smiled nervously. “You and Logan are going to talk,” Crystal frowned and Charity continued. “Or he can talk and you can just listen.”

Crystal glanced at Logan again and he gave her a small smile. Trying to ignore the way her heart jumped, she said, “What if I don't want to listen?”

“Tough shit,” Dalton said before Charity could answer. “You're gonna listen to what my idiot of a best friend has to say.”

“Dalton--”

“Don't try to reprimand me, Chare,” Dalton looked between Logan and Crystal, amused at how awkward they were acting around each other. “Can you just feel the sexual tension between the two of them?” he smirked. “It's through the roof! They both haven't gotten laid in about a week, so I'm pretty sure if they yell at each other a couple times then they can have some angry make-up sex.”

Charity smacked herself in the forehead. “Oh my God. You are not saying all of this right now.”

“I'm serious! Logan told me how his brother and your sister made up. I can't wait for us to get into our first real fight so you and I can--”

“Okay! We're leaving now,” Charity took Dalton's hand and gave the other two and apologetic smile. “Seriously, you both really need to talk to each other...” she trailed off and then started to pull Dalton out of the apartment.

“Logan, use the force! Work those Jedi mind tricks on her! Ow! Save all your aggression for the bedroom, dollface.”

Logan shook his head with a small smile. Leave it to Dalton to make a situation less awkward or even more awkward. “Told you we watched Star Wars,” he tried to joke but was met with a blank stare. Logan scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Look, Crys, we really need to talk about this. About us.”

“There's nothing to talk about,” she said simply, crossing her arms. “There's no 'us' either.”

“Crystal, that's not fair,” he sighed. She was definitely going to make things difficult for him. “You caught me off guard, okay? I never expected you to say anything like that to me. I never expected for you to be in love with me.”

“Great, you've explained yourself,” she turned to go back to her bedroom, “and you can leave now.”

Logan grabbed her elbow and spun her around to face him. “Goddamnit, Crystal. Don't pick now to start being a bitch,” his blue eyes locked with her brown ones. She put up the façade that she was angry, but from the look in her eyes, Logan could tell that more than anything, she was hurt. And it was his fault. “I never want to hurt you, Crystal,” he whispered, trying to pull her to his chest for a hug, but she moved away.

“Don't, Logan. I don't even know why you came here. I know you didn't come here to tell me that you love me, so why waste your time and my time?”

“Because you're important to me, that's why,” he said seriously. “I don't give a fuck about a lot of people. I have sex with girls because they usually just throw themselves at me. I don't do relationships because I'm just going to get bored and move on anyway, so why bother? But you,” he shook his head, an amused smile on his face, “you come along and become a person I actually give a damn about. I have sex with you because I want to. All the time,” he laughed a little and then tried to be serious again. “And I... I'd do everything I could to make a relationship work with you.”

Crystal didn't respond, just stood there and stared at him. Did Logan Masterson just say that he wanted to try a relationship? No, not just a relationship. A relationship with her. He was doing the same thing that she had done the other day. He was laying it all out on the table. In the figurative sense, of course.

Logan rubbed his hands on the front of his jeans. He was so nervous at the moment that his palms were sweating. Damn her for making him feel like he was fourteen and losing his virginity again. He was more nervous now then he was when he cashed in his v-card and he was pretty sure that meant something.

“Logan... I don't know what to say.”

“Just don't say 'thank you,'” Logan joked, which made her smile. “Crystal, I... I don't love you,” he said.

“Oh,” she frowned and averted her gaze from his. She tried to back away, but Logan took a step closer to her.

No! She was taking his words the wrong way! He hesitated for a few seconds, hoping to find the right thing to say. “But I could one day. And I... I'd really like to try.”

She didn't say anything, just stared at him. Shock and surprise written all over her face.

Logan took a deep breath and tried to explain himself. “I know that it'll take me a while and I'll probably be a really shitty boyfriend and I know I'll piss you off every now and then. But all I can do is try, Crystal. I can't promise that we'll end up living happily ever after or whatever other cliché ending exists, but I can promise you that I'll make it work. I'll do whatever it takes. And one day, maybe a few weeks from now, or months from now; I'll be able to tell you that I love you. I'm halfway there, I just need some time.”

Crystal let his words sink in. That was probably—no, most likely—the first time Logan Masterson ever expressed his feelings for a girl. And she wanted to give him that chance. He wanted to try and she was going to let him. It wasn't what she wanted to hear, but it was what she needed to hear.

“It's a start,” she told him and pulled him closer to softly press their lips together. Logan rested his forehead on hers and Crystal smiled. “We'll do whatever it takes,” she repeated his words.

Logan wrapped his arms around her and then pulled back to look at her, a mischievous grin on his face. “So how about we take Dalton's advice and have some angry make-up sex?”

FIN.