Logan nodded and took De's hand softly. They traced a small 'thank you' into his palm, before going back upstairs. They smiled and sent him a single text, hoping it didn't ruin anything.

'I love you.'

Logan turned their phone off the second they sent the message, too scared to find out what De's response would be. They'd deal with it in the morning. Unless De went to sleep before Logan did, and then Logan could always leave...

They shook their head and curled up under their own blanket. They shouldn't leave, it wouldn't be fair to their friends. But, if they did, they wouldn't have to face the backlash of their impulsiveness.

They pretended to be asleep as De came back upstairs and climbed into his own blankets and waited until they heard the familiar snores of their friend. They sat up and turned their phone back on, not ready to see what the response was, but they didn't know that they could handle talking face to face with him.

'I know you don't like talking to any of us. You don't like talking at all, and that's okay. I just don't know that I can trust a text message when you've gone back to them. Are you sure you do? I mean, I'm me. How am I anything special?'

Logan smiled sadly, understanding everything De had said in his text. Texts weren't exactly personal, anyone could've grabbed their phone and sent that, even if it was true. Then there was the questioning.

Of course they were sure. They'd loved him for too long. And he was so special. He was their best friend and they didn't want to lose that because they liked him romantically. They just wanted to be with him.

'I'm sure. I do love you, De. But I don't want to lose my best friend, even if I've been a bad friend recently.'

In the midst of sending the text, they hadn't noticed De stirring and waking up from the vibrating on his phone.

"Logan?" De sat up and picked up his phone, using the light to look at Logan and sighing softly. "Why are you avoiding me?"

Logan took De's hand and traced three words into his palm.

'I love you.'

De looked at them shocked, pulling them into a tight hug. For once, Logan didn't hate the contact. They relaxed against him and felt a wave of tiredness wash over them.

"I love you too," was whispered into the night.

Logan smiled to themself, finally feeling better about everything. It wasn't perfect, but things were getting better, and that was okay by them.

440 words

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