The Towers

“I kissed him!” Those were the first words, full of anguish, Nick heard as he entered the apartment. He sighed and dropped his bags. His arms were suddenly full of shaking, half-sobbing Logan. Logan squeezed him tightly, obviously mortified.



“What happened,” Nick asked mildly. He knew something like this was going to happen eventually. Something like this always happened with Logan. He was a good kid but a bit rash sometimes.



“I kissed him… and he kissed back Nick, I know he did and then.. I got freaked. I tried to run away but Morgan stopped me and… he said it was okay and he hugged me but Nick… I ruined everything!” He squeezed Nick tightly again and Nick rubbed his back soothingly. “He’s straight Nick.” And Nick sighed because yeah, that was the problem.



“Have you seen him since,” Nick asked and Logan shook his head against Nick’s chest. “You want me to talk to him?” Logan shook his head again. Nick sighed. God this sucked.



~*~



About a week before Christmas, Dakota came down into Infra-Black while Isaac was working. He puttered about for a moment before Isaac come out from behind the counter and walked over to him. Both Scott brothers watched him, interested.



“Dakota,” Isaac said softly. They had been walking on eggshells lately, ever since Dakota got really withdrawn after Thanksgiving. Isaac hated it. Dakota turned to him questing. “I love you Kody,” Isaac said. Dakota looked at him strange.



“I love you too Isaac,” he said, unsure and hesitating. Isaac let out a frustrated growl.



“No Dakota… I mean… you’re my best friend and I don’t want to fuck anything up but, seriously I’m going crazy and Kody, you’re amazing and, God I took you to hang with my family and, Kody.” He stopped suddenly and just put his hands on Dakota’s shoulders, tugged the other man toward him and kissed Dakota full on the mouth.



It was a soft, chaste kiss and lasted for maybe a few seconds. There were catcalls supplied by the Scott brothers. Isaac pulled back and flushed bright red. “Okay,” Isaac said, scared and soft and not looking Dakota in the eye.



Dakota sighed but he sounded relieved. He reached out and titled Isaac’s face up. He leaned down and pressed a second kiss to Isaac’s lips. “Okay,” he said, soft and sure against Isaac’s lips. Isaac grinned widely and hugged Dakota so tight the man squealed.



Yeah, that was pretty much perfect.



~*~



After the kiss Morgan didn’t see a lot of Logan. The young man didn’t come by the apartment anymore and though they waved and said hello when they passed each other by it was weird and awkward. Morgan hated it but at the same time he liked having the space. It gave him time to figure things out, wonder about himself and about Logan.



He had always labeled himself straight because he just didn’t have any reason to think he wasn’t straight. He had never been interested in guys before, not romantically, and he still wasn’t. It was just Logan really. Logan was the only guy he thought about in a kissing and romantic kind of way. He wondered if it was just that he didn’t have a girlfriend and liked being best friends with someone again, and hadn’t had sex in a while. Maybe he was just after the companionship.



But maybe he really was falling for Logan.



After a couple weeks Morgan was really fed up with the tangential thoughts that got him nowhere. He was fed up with being lonely in his apartment and not talking to Logan and having only Beckett to confer with.



So he walked the short (but oh so long) distance across the hall and knocked on Logan’s apartment door. The man who opened the apartment was not Logan. It was an older guy, kind of scruffy looking with a slightly dangerous look in his eyes. Maybe that was Morgan just being paranoid though.



“Uh… is Logan there?”



This scruffy dude looked him up and down and nodded slowly. “Logan,” he called in a deep voice. Then Logan materialized behind this guy, Nick, Morgan knew it had to be Nick. He looked a little thinner than normal and kind of nervous.



“Hey Logan… can you… want to come over to my apartment… to.. . like, talk?” Morgan had no idea why he was being so shy and awkward. Logan was his best friend, right? They cuddled on his couch and laughed and had fun. But of course everything had changed.



Logan looked for a moment like he was going to decline but he moved past Nick and in moment they were in Morgan’s apartment. “What?” Logan sounded guarded. He had his arms crossed over his chest and Morgan didn’t know what to do. Mostly he just wanted his best friend back.



“Logan,” he started and then stopped. He took a few deep breaths and then started again. Logan just waited patiently. “Look, I’ve been thinking a lot and… I’m sorry for avoiding you and stuff. I just want us to be okay again, like we used to. But.” he paused and Logan looked at him curiously. “Okay I don’t know if I’m… gay or bi or whatever. I’m not sure and I don’t want to use you like… like an experiment. But Logan there’s no one else… no other guy I… no one like you. And I really think I… like you… like that, you know? And I really want to kiss you again and…” God this was so difficult but Logan was smiling a bit now and that gave Morgan courage to continue to fumble over his words. “I just… I really want you Logan, like to have as my own, you know.” He sighed he didn’t know what else to say.



There was a long silence and then Logan was there, in his space, holding him and smiling. Then Logan was kissing him.



God Morgan missed this. He hadn’t realized exactly how much. Logan was so absurdly real in his arms and Morgan gripped the other man tighter as if Logan might vanish or something. They kissed long and deep and Morgan never wanted it to end. It did end though, with them both parting, breathing a little heavy.



“Do you really want this,” Logan asked and Morgan dreaded that question. Because it would be so simple to just say yes but he was terrified that it would be a lie. Morgan was silent for a long moment keeping Logan close.



“Yeah,” he said softly and Logan smiled. “Yeah but… I’m scared.”



Logan nodded and gave him another short kiss. “I’ll take that,” he said and hugged Morgan tightly. Morgan was worried, but this was so nice and safe and comfortable that he pushed the worry aside and just let himself exist.



~*~



Paul and Charlie had gone out on their coffee date a few days after Thanksgiving and had since enjoyed a long string of subsequent dates. Paul really liked Charlie. He was a good guy, laughed a lot, joked around and didn’t see put off by Paul’s shyness. If anything Charlie seemed to find it adorable. They had their first kiss on their second date and hadn’t really progressed far past that. Charlie picked up on Paul’s obvious discomfort and didn’t press the other man at all, which Paul appreciated.



“He’s afraid you’re going to fuck him and leave him,” Scott said bluntly to Charlie the Tuesday before Christmas when Charlie came down to the shop. Paul was in the back and wasn’t yet aware of Charlie’s presence.



“What,” Charlie said, a bit hurt because he thought he had come off as a better person than that. Scott waved his hand dismissively.



“It’s not you,” Scott said with a shake of his head. “Look Paul’s had some really fucked up relationships, okay. Ultimately they all used him for sex then just dumped him or cheated on him or…” He stopped himself. Charlie wondered what he was about to say but Scott just shook his head and continued. “Anyway he hasn’t been in a relationship in years and he’s just nervous okay. He really likes you and he just wants it to stay… good.” Scott shrugged and Charlie understood. Who wouldn’t want that?



Paul came out from the back room and Charlie smiled bright at him. They chatted for a bit and agreed to meet up later that night and Charlie walked home with butterflies in his stomach and a grin on his face.



~*~



All in all, dating Logan wasn’t that much different from dating a girl. Not that Logan acted in any way like a girl, it just wasn’t all that different. The dynamic that Logan and Morgan had was different from any dynamic Morgan had had with any girl but he was sure that was just a Logan thing, not a guy thing. They did the things couple do, gay or straight. The smiled and spent time around each other and went out on dates. All in all it was actually very similar to what they did before they started dating.



Except for the kissing thing. They didn’t do before. And Morgan really, really liked kissing Logan. He was so full of energy when he kissed, intense and bright and forceful. He would nip at Morgan’s lips or tug at Morgan’s hair or otherwise make it known what he wanted. Morgan appreciated the assertion and just adored clinging to Logan as they kissed.



They hadn’t progressed past kissing really, except for Logan maybe grinding his hip a bit into Morgan’s leg when they made out but no one had lost any article of clothing yet and hands stayed away from groins. There had been erections on both their parts but that was really it. They were still new at the relationship thing.



They spent Christmas together with Nick in Logan and Nick’s apartment. It was fun and cheerful and festive. Nick kept giving Morgan looks that he couldn’t decipher, especially when Logan would grab Morgan’s hand or Morgan would kiss Logan under the mistletoe. But there was wine so after a few glasses Morgan was able to ignore the strange looks Nick sent him.



Nick was a good guy, older than Morgan and confident and assured but he laughed at Logan’s imitations’ of various Christmas characters and butcherings of Christmas songs, so really he was a great guy. Logan adored him too, snuggled up next to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek under the mistletoe. Morgan wondered if he should be jealous but he realized he wasn’t.



And anyway late Christmas night Logan followed Morgan back to his apartment and they made out for a long time on Morgan’s couch, eventually making it to Morgan’s bed. They were both sleepy and drunk and just feel asleep tangled in each other, fully clothed, on top of the covers.



It wasn’t awkward in the morning though Morgan did have a headache. He watched Logan sleep for a bit before extracting himself from the other man to go make coffee. It was weirdly domestic but Morgan liked it, especially when Logan came shuffling in looking half dead and zombie like. Morgan wrapped an arm around Logan’s middle and kissed him warmly. Logan kissed back but muttered “Toothpaste” when they parted and Morgan laughed.



~*~



“Beckett,” Charlie said loudly as he walked into Beckett’s apartment, carrying his usual Tuesday supply of groceries. The apartment was clean which kind of freaked Charlie out because he was so used to Beckett’s apartment being a mess. He thought Beckett was missing for a moment, after he dropped the groceries off and had a look around.



He found Beckett in the hall closet of all place, scrunched up into the corner, looking like he might have been there for days. “Beckett,” Charlie said alarmed, Beckett immediately shushed him. “What are you doing,” Charlie asked, utterly bewildered.



“I’m hiding,” Beckett said in a whisper so that Charlie had to strain to hear him. He crouched down by the other man but there wasn’t really enough room in the closet for both of them.



“From what?” Beckett was weird, Charlie already knew that but seriously he was a full grown man hiding in his own closet like something was going to come to eat his face off. Maybe all his horror stories were finally getting to him.



“Nick,” Beckett said so softly that Charlie was sure he misheard.



“Nick,” he questioned in awe. “Logan’s roommate?” Beckett nodded fearfully and Charlie gave him a look that clearly said ‘what the fuck’ but because Beckett could be socially retarded he didn’t react so Charlie had to voice his feelings. “What the fuck?”



“I think he’s a spy Charlie… or an assassin,” his voice sounded low and even though his eyes were wide and he was hiding in a closet he sounded… almost excited. And he kind of was. Beckett had been thinking about his neighbor being a hired killer of some sort, daring and dangerous and it both terrified and thrilled him. He was three quarters through his new book and it was mostly about Nick. Sure he had given Nick vampiric powers but it was still Nick. And now Beckett was kind of scared to leave his apartment.



Charlie was silent for a long moment, not knowing how to addresses the ridiculousness of that statement. “Nick is not a spy Becks… or an assassin. He just travels for work.”



“He has a gun Charlie… a big gun… I’ve seen it,” and he had, about two days ago. Nick was cleaning it or something in his apartment and the door was open. Beckett had walked by and Nick looked up from his gun and given him a strange look. Beckett bolted back to his apartment and hid in the closet. He hadn’t left except to run swiftly to the bathroom in the middle of the night. He was a bit of a wreck.



“Nick is a good guy,” Charlie said and he was, from what Charlie gathered. Most of it was second hand accounts by Logan but Charlie had spoken to the older man before. Nick was a pretty good dude. Not a killer for hire or anything else Beckett got into his silly little head.



Charlie ended up bringing a couple sandwiches to Beckett in the closest and then leaving shortly thereafter. He intended to stop by Infra-Black before heading home but Paul stopped him before he left the building. He smiled shyly at Charlie who smiled back. Charlie had been going to see Paul anyway so he didn’t object when Paul invited him back to his apartment.



They kissed gently on the couch, Charlie holding the other man gently but firmly in his arms. Paul was shaking a bit and then suddenly, as the kiss deepened, he was shaking a lot. “Paul,” Charlie said pulling back.



“No,” Paul said and he sounded panicked and scared. “No you don’t have to stop… I… I want this.”



“Paul what’s wrong,” Charlie said gently, still holding onto the other man and trying to meet Paul’s eye. Paul sighed.



“I’m… I just… I haven’t been I a relationship in years and… it scares me,” Paul said slowly. Charlie stoked his arms smoothly.



“What are you afraid of,” he asked, scared of what he was going to find out but knowing that he needed to have this information. Paul was silent for a long time, shaking gently under Charlie’s touch.



“Look… my last boyfriend… he was a real shit head okay… he… he was awful,” Paul finished with a shudder and Charlie had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.



Paul braced himself, grit his teeth and asked the question. “What did he do?” Paul met his eyes and he looked so broken, so vulnerable and Charlie just wanted to fix him so Paul would never have to look like that again. It broke his heart.



“He… he hit me Charlie and… and he… he r-raped me,” Paul said and Charlie could literally feel him withdrawing into himself, pulling away. He was shaking so badly now, just full on body shudders. He was biting his lip so hard that Charlie was afraid it would bleed. Charlie meanwhile felt awful. He felt like someone hard carved out his insides and just left him like that, hollow and empty. “And I guess I’m just… used to that,” Paul finished, sounding guilty and sad.



“Oh Paul,” Charlie said and his voice sounded rough and broken. But that was how he felt so it was fitting. “Paul I would never, never do something like that to you,” he said vehemently. Paul’s eyes snapped up and he gripped Charlie’s sides tightly.



“I know,” he said firmly. “I know you won’t. I’m just… getting used to being in a real relationship again.”



Charlie gave him a smile that was tinged with sadness but spoke of hope. “Take as long as you need. I’ll always be here waiting for you.” And he was surprised with how truly he meant that. Paul looked at him, searching for a lie and finding none hugged him tightly. They stayed like that, squeezing each other tightly for a long time. Eventually Paul pulled back and pressed a soft kiss to Charlie’s mouth.



Yeah he could wait for this man. He absolutely could.



~*~



Morgan didn’t know who’s idea it was to make out on his bed but he didn’t really care because it was that amazing. Logan was a firm, warm weight above him tugging at his scalp and licking into his mouth. Morgan was leaning up into the kiss, trying to chase after Logan’s tongue. It was intense and yet perfectly calm and amazing. Morgan wanted to kiss Logan like this all the time.



Then, suddenly, Logan’s mouth was on his jaw and his neck and Logan was slowly mouthing his was up to Morgan’s ear. Morgan was so lost in the sensation that when Logan spoke he didn’t catch it.



“What,” he asked, his voice way more breathless than he expected.



“If I undo your pants are you going to freak on me,” Logan asked, perfectly calm and with a hint of laughter to his voice.



Morgan was freaking out just thinking about it. He felt his heart hammer in his chest and his breathing sped up quite a bit. He knew something like this was going to come up eventually. It was inevitable but Morgan hadn’t been giving it much thought. He had done a quick porn search on the internet, freaked out and didn’t make a second attempt. But even though he was freaking out quite a bit this was Logan and Morgan would do anything for Logan.



“No,” he said eventually, still amazingly out of breath. “Go ahead.”



Logan gave his this wide, brilliant grin and kissed him again as he undid the button on Morgan’s pants and slid down the zipper. Morgan was hugely grateful for having the kiss as a distraction when Logan cupped his dick because seriously he could not get over the fact that this was a guy. Logan was a guy and Morgan was a guy and this was so gay. And that wasn’t an insult, just a literal description. It was kind of freaking Morgan out.



But then Logan pulled Morgan’s dick out of his pants and God, it was good, it was so, so good. Morgan’s eyes slid shut and just focused on the sensation of Logan’s hand sliding up and down his cock. Logan was chuckling low in his throat and, wow, this was so hot. “You look so hot like this Morgan,” Logan breathed and Morgan shuddered. Shit there was no way he was going to last long like this.



He was still freaking out a little bit because even with his eyes shut it was so obvious that this was a guy jerking him off. Logan’s hand was bigger than any girl’s, rougher, and calloused at the fingertips where Logan chewed on them. He was sure of his movements and when Morgan opened his eyes Logan was looking at him intensely, obviously focused, the pink of his tongue poking out from his lips.



He smiled at Morgan when he caught Morgan looking. Then he squeezed just right, pulled just right and Morgan was done, coming hard and fast with Logan’s name on his lips. When he stopped seeing white he just laid there, eyes shut, breathing heavy. Logan crawled along the bed and pressed his body against Morgan’s. Morgan could tell he was hard. Logan’s erection was pressed into Morgan’s leg.



“Yu want me to… for you,” he asked slowly. Logan chuckled, sounding so happy.



“No that’s okay… that was your, just for you.” He smiled into Morgan’s neck and nipped at the skin there. They lay like that for a long time, cum drying on Morgan’s dick (which was hanging out of his pants still) and Logan’s hand, pressed together and happy.



That was not nearly as traumatic as Morgan thought it was going to be. That was actually very, very nice.



~*~



“I jerked him off Nick,” Logan piped at the top of his lungs as he bounded into the apartment. Nick Fletcher looked up from his book with raised eyebrows.



“Did he freak out?” Nick sounded weary but Logan sounded absolutely thrilled so it must have been okay. Logan shook his head enthusiastically.



“Nope,” he said and he sounded relieved and thrilled. “I think this could actually work, Nick.”



He sounded confident but Nick wasn’t too sure.