The entire house was quiet, all the guys off at the party. Logan could hear rustling coming from the other side of the door, along with the occasional bang and some muffled cursing. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on their door.
"Go the fuck away!" Wally yelled from inside, and…yeah. That was pretty fair after what'd just happened.
Logan scowled, jamming his hands heavily into the pockets of his hoodie. He didn't want to be here. Wanted to be anywhere except here. Would be too, if he'd had any other choice.
"Please, Wally?" Logan winced at the odd sound in his voice. "I need to talk to you."
"Too bad!" Wally shouted back. "Because I don't need to talk to you!"
"I, um…I kinda need your help," Logan admitted.
There was a long pause before Wally finally opened the door. He didn't step back so Logan could come in, one eye glaring balefully at Logan from the slim gap.
"What the fuck do you want?" Wally muttered.
"I want in my room," Logan told him. "You forget we share it?"
"Not anymore," Wally replied, before turning, retreating back inside their room.
He'd left the door open, though, and Logan didn't hesitate to slip through it in case Wally changed his mind.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Logan asked as he shut the door behind him.
Wally just huffed a noise somewhere on the wrong side of a laugh. He was shirtless now, his hair still damp from the spilled drink. Logan was surprised to see a duffel bag open on his bed, Wally furiously stuffing it with the shirts and jeans he was grabbing randomly by the handful from his dresser. He was so intent on shoving everything he owned into the bag, he didn't seem to notice the loud click as Logan locked their door.
"Going somewhere?" Logan asked, eyeing the duffle.
He barely got a desultory one-shoulder shrug for his efforts, Wally's hasty movements not slowing down at all.
"Heading home for the weekend?" Logan tried again as he stepped closer, even though he suspected the guess was wrong.
"Dunno," Wally muttered without looking up, his voice rough and the line of his spine and shoulders uncomfortably hard. "But like fuck am I sticking around here, waiting for you and the guys to 'Wet Wally' me in the middle of the night."
Shit
Logan licked his lips, gut roiling with the same feeling he got peering up at the scoreboard in the final quarter; sweaty and aching, knowing the next ten minutes would only be a grueling exercise in futility because they'd already lost.
Did you boys come here hoping for some pansy-assed trophy, or did you come here to play? came the memory of Logan's father when he'd coached Logan's senior traveling team. You go out there and do whatever you have to do, as long as you bring back a win — or I swear I'll make sure none of you ever set foot on my field again.
Whatever I have to.Logan took a deep breath.Alright then
"I need your help," Logan said.
"Why the fuck should I care?" Wally's head shot up, his eyes red-rimmed as he threw a suspicious glare Logan's way. "Wait. What kind of help?"
"Coach just chewed my ass out this afternoon about… about my grades, and about a stupid thing I shouldn't have done. I'm — " Logan swallowed, glancing at the door and lowering his voice. "I'm kinda in some serious trouble right now, and… He can't find out about the 'Wet Wally' game."
"'Game' is a pretty generous term," Wally snapped, turning to yank at the overstuffed duffel's zipper and snarling as it refused to close. "'Game' implies everyone agreed to play, and that all of the participants are having fun. 'Game'isn't the word I'd use when it's just a bully bent on tormenting someone minding their own damn business.Again."
"I swear, it was an accident.Youran intome, remember?"
"What I remember is years of you pulling that same kind of shit, picking on me day after day for no reason!"
Logan scowled. "When was I picking on you?"
Okay, so he remembered a few jokes. And maybe there were a few pranks, too. And sure, there was the Wet Wally thing, but that had only lasted a couple of weeks, right? Logan couldn't think of anything that could account for an expressionthatangry on Wally's face.
"You know, they all called me Oz until you showed up," Wally said to his duffel bag, half turned away from Logan, his voice low. "Now it'sWallyagain. It's like no matter what I do, I can't fucking escape you."
