*tw: not sure if this warning is necessary, but /implied/ you-know-what*

A cap and gown on June 4th.

Logan's valedictorian speech.

Roman's 18th birthday and final show choir performance.

Caps were thrown in the air as the seniors all found their freedom after saying goodbye to all their teachers and friends who wouldn't be going to the same colleges, or any college at all.

Grasping his diploma, he inhaled deeply.

This is it.

~~~

Logan and Roman both worked at a theatre camp over the summer. Roman was an acting and dance coach and Logan was the stage manager. There was a performance at the end of every summer.

This year, they actually got along (for the most part) and the kids who were there for more than one summer wondered where the Logan-Roman beef went.

"I want you to go bigger!" Roman exclaimed. "You might think you look stupid, but the dumber you look, the better you're doing, I promise you. Greek theatre is meant to be big!"

Some of the new kids were being too shy. A couple had never even played Zip Zap Zop. Roman was going to change that.

Later, they went around the circle to describe briefly their theatre experience and how long they had been at the camp.

"I'm Roman Walsh, as you already know. I've been dancing since kindergarten and doing theatre since the first grade. I started going here in middle school and started working here when I was 16 after sophomore year. My biggest roles have been Link in Hairspray, Peter in Peter Pan, Prince Charming in Into the Woods, and in my last year of high school I got to play Emmett in Legally Blonde!"

He'd never thought about it before, but theatre for him was escapism. When Remus upset him, he would remember that he still had rehearsal and all these kids that loved him.

The treehouse was Logan's way out.

The stage was Roman's.

Shortly after everyone had introduced themselves, the door to the acting room opened and Logan stood in the doorway. "The techies accidentally ordered too much pizza so we're stopping by all four classes to see if anyone wants any even though you guys have already had lunch. Does anyone want a slice? We haven't been to the dance or music studio yet since they can only eat when their lesson is over, so it's only one slice per person for now."

Most of the kids cheered and ran to grab a piece. The others were lactose intolerant.

Before all the kids got a slice of pizza, Logan grabbed Roman and pulled him into a corner.

"Woah, what?" Roman said.

"I was just wondering, since Massachusetts and New York aren't too far from each other, do you want to occasionally visit each other even though we're going to different colleges?" Logan asked timidly.

Roman smirked. "It's nice that you like being around me now."

"Shut the fuck up, Ro," the older one chuckled.

"But yes, I'd love to visit you during college. But I'm also going to be visiting home, too, so we should go down to Florida together!"

"Sounds good. Oh, I think it's time for you to go back." He hugged Roman quick. "Bye. See you."

Logan was not a fun enemy to have, but they were close to being best friends by some strange act of the universe.

And he made Roman melt.

~~~

The workers had a group dinner at a restaurant near their theater. The ones who were of legal age had a bit to drink, but the rest got water or soda.

"It's okay that she's a non-dancer," Roman said as they discussed a couple struggling students individually. "I can work with her alone with anyone else who's having a hard time. She's still an incredible singer. Maybe we can give her a vocal solo and take her out of the-"

"Roman?"

Roman perked up at the sound of the familiar voice, but Logan shriveled up inside.

"Abi! It's so great to see you again. Why didn't you say you were coming back to Florida?" he asked and hugged her tight.

It was as if Roman had forgotten about what she did. Logan scowled.

"I was going to surprise you! Aww, you're going to college soon. You're such a baby," Abigail cooed. "You're 18 now, right?"

Roman nodded, and she squealed and kissed him. He froze but ended up kissing back. That was the sign that they were to get back together.

Logan legitimately gagged.

"Wait. Logan? I didn't expect to see you here," Abigail said as she finally noticed her brother.

"Yeah. I'm here," Logan replied with no emotion evident.

If only she knew what happened in the treehouse.

"Oh, Roman, we didn't know you had a girlfriend!" the director, Holly, said.

"We broke up when she went off to college since she's a year older than me, but we're back together now," Roman explained.

"There are so many girls in the world yet he chose my sister," Logan said. He played it off as a joke because he didn't want to seem too salty with his co-workers in a non-joking way.

"Oh! Logan, how's your boyfriend?" Abigail asked. "...Oh, right. My bad!"

Roman's eyes widened and Logan's narrowed as he clenched his fists until there were nail marks in his palms.

"Abi... That's so fucked up. It's really not something to joke about, okay? It's serious! You can just dislike Logan but don't say that shit," Roman told her.

"So you're taking his side instead of your girlfriend's?" she demanded.

The rest of their co-workers sat in silence awkwardly watching it unfold. They didn't know what happened to Declan. They didn't know why Logan hated Abigail so much.

Logan wasn't out to his co-workers.

She'd outed him again, and he wasn't going to let her keep fucking him over.

He stood up and looked her right in the eye. "Abigail. Leave right now or I will have security force you out. And I'm telling Mom and Dad about your hideous new tattoo. Bad choice."

She laughed and got up with her friends to go eat somewhere else. "The fag still hasn't lost his anger issues."

He sat back down and looked up at the ceiling.

"Why are you looking up?" Roman asked.

"Trying not to cry," Logan stated.

Everyone at the table turned their heads to Logan in shock. None knew him as long as Roman, but Logan just wasn't that person.

"Can I explain stuff to them?" Roman whispered.

Logan nodded in return and cried silently into Roman's shoulder with his arms around him.

"Abi outed him when he was in eighth grade but her and their parents are extremely homophobic, and he had a boyfriend behind their backs but Abi found out. Last year, um, I was dating her, so Logan hated me. And then his boyfriend broke up with him, saying it was for mental health reasons and that he was moving away after being kicked out by his homophobic parents. That was partially true, but he didn't move away, he killed himself. Oh, and I don't believe he was out of the closet to anyone here except for me yet, so she outed him for the second time in his life."

He rubbed circles into Logan's back to calm him down.

Logan liked circles. He liked to arrange things in circles and draw them perfectly in margins of assignments when his mind would wander.

Holly was the first to speak up. "We don't think of you any less, Logan. In fact, many of us thought you were dating Roman. But it was horrible, everything that your sister has said and done to you. That must have been so daunting. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for things that aren't your fault," Logan said quietly.

Then he felt something.

Under the table, he squeezed Roman's hand three times.

One squeeze meant, "Hold my hand."

Two squeezes meant, "I need a place to calm down and you need to be there with me."

Three squeezes meant, "I need to leave and I want to go home. Now."

"We need to leave. So sorry to cut this short, but thank you for caring so much about Logan. When the bill is split, just text me and we will pay you back, we promise," Roman excused them.

They sat in Roman's car, Logan having a panic attack with them both in the back seat.

With tears streaming down his face, he asked, "Why are you with her? You admit that what she says is wrong and horrible, I completely doubt you're heterosexual, and you're just so much better than her! So why do you love her? Do you even love her? Are you with her to spite me and act as though my feelings are something to play with? You idiot! You know I did want to kiss you in the treehouse that one day but now you're back with her!"

Roman was taken aback. "You wanted to kiss me? Then why did you push me away?"

"Like I said back then, you would regret it and just say you're confused and you're actually straight. I didn't want to put that on you."

"I am straight, Logan! I'm sorry that I fell for your sister, but I can't help it!"

"Did you really fall for her or are you with her because you tell yourself that you should? Because a straight man doesn't kiss a guy in the treehouse and hook up with Virgil!"

Roman almost forgot that Logan had heard his conversation with Virgil. "I-I don't know..."

"And that's okay. I'm fine with you taking your time, I'm just wondering why it's her and not someone who actually deserves you! Because you'd be perfect if you didn't let her take all the action. It's like your whole personality crumbles when you're with her. Is that what you want? You're always the one who's annoying about getting what he wants, right?"

The younger one gulped. "Would you stop me if I kissed you right now?"

Logan took a moment to fully process the question. After what felt like forever, he shook his head.

The feeling of having Logan's lips after craving him for so long drove him wild and he pulled his body even closer, holding him by his hips.

Real straight of you, Roman.

When Roman got a little too into it, Logan smirked and flipped them over so Roman was under him, then continued kissing and teasing him.

"Do you want to take this to my house?" Roman whispered in Logan's ear.

Off they went, flustered the entire way there, until they got into his house and went straight to his bedroom. In a split second, their shirts were off and tossed onto the floor and Logan didn't even complain about the messiness.

"You're so fucking hot," Roman confessed, out of breath. He looked Logan up and down, taking in his subtle beauty.

Logan smiled lightly at the compliment. "How far do you want to take this?"

"As far as you want."

"Do you have protection?"

"Uh, no."

"Another time."

Roman nodded. "There's going to be another time?"

"If you'd like. That doesn't mean we can't do anything right now..."

~~~

"Roman! Do you want to help me make cupcakes?" Mrs. Walsh called.

"Uh, okay! One sec! Can Logan come too?"

"Of course!"

The boys cleaned up and got dressed quickly, both needing to fix their hair. Logan's black button-up shirt wasn't buttoned all the way to the top since he was still very warm.

"Great to finally meet you, Logan." She handed them ingredients and food coloring to make frosting for the piping bag.

"It's great to meet you too," Logan replied politely. "What are the cupcakes for?"

"Roman's father is working at a summer camp and can't seem to tame those kids. They're having a party soon, so I offered to make cupcakes. They're chocolate cupcakes with green frosting which will be piped on to look like leaves."

"That's a really cute idea," Roman said.

"Thank you! Now, before you two get started with the frosting, we need to have a chat."

She suddenly got dead serious.

Logan and Roman each snuck a quick "oh shit" glance at each other.

"Now, I know you're both 18 so have as much consensual fun as you want, but please tell me you used protection."

They both burned up tremendously and removed eye contact from her, intimidated although they were both far taller than her. Roman told her, "It's fine, we didn't go that far, Mom! O-Oh my God!"

Logan's main thought was, The first impression Roman's mother has of me is being the guy that gave her son a blowjob in her own home.

Needless to say, the cupcake process was a little awkward.