Hi reader!
I guess there isn't much else to say here other than I seriously doubted Quinn wouldn't have had anything to say to Logan after doing Michael so dirty in Roller Coaster. So, as per usual, I made it happen.
This is a Quogan-centric continuation onto Roller Coaster, Season 4 Episode 11 of Zoey 101.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Zoey 101 or any of the show's characters.
Quinn stomped into Logan's dorm room and planted herself just inside of the doorway, arms crossed in annoyance, glaring down at him as he fixated on the T.V., absorbed in his videogame.
She cleared her throat in an attempt to make her presence known before pushing the door closed and locking it. He looked up for no longer than half a second.
"Hey babe." He said nonchalantly as he jerked his body around in random fragmented motions, aggressively pressing the buttons on his controller.
"Don't hey babe me. What is the matter with you?!" she scolded.
"What do you mean?" He asked innocently, eyes still glued to the screen.
"You know exactly what I mean!" She accused.
"Uh, no I don't" he persisted. His attention had begun to split two ways now between the game and his girlfriend, and his poor ability to multitask resulted in a fatal blow to the chest of his avatar.
"Aw maaan! I died!" He whined.
"How tragic" she said sarcastically, reaching down and ripping the controller from his hands.
"What was that for?!" He complained, pulling himself up off his beanbag to grab for it. She yanked her arm just out of his reach. He looked at her perplexedly.
"How could you do that to Michael?!"
He rolled his eyes and turned away dramatically. "Oh, here we go. Look don't worry, Michael already got his payback, I don't need you to hang me upside down and shoot spitballs at me too."
"I wish I could" she sassed.
"Quinn, come on, it's not that big a deal! All I did was tell a few people that Michael has the same fear as a three-year-old little girl." He said, laughing at his own comment.
"Logan, I swear, sometimes I wonder if there's some sort of stupidity quota that you're required to meet each month."
"Hey! That's not very nice!"
She cut her eyes at him, questioning how he couldn't see the irony in that.
"Oh yeah? Well youdidn't do a very nice thing!"
"Hey! If it wasn't for me telling everyone, he never would have tried to face his fear in the first place. And then he'd still be a sixteen-year-old dude who's afraid of roller coasters."
She groaned exasperatedly.
"Oh please, don't act like you were doing something helpful, you know you only did it just so everyone would make fun of him."
"Okay, okay, jeez I get it!"
"No. You don't." She said firmly.
"Whatever." Struggling to take the conversation seriously, he shook his head in indifference and dropped onto the couch.
She tossed aside his controller and stood in front of him judgingly with her hands placed on her hips.
"Michael is your best friend! Are you seriously telling me that you didn't think for one second that going around making fun of his fear to everyone was wrong?"
"Pfff, it's not like I gave away anything important, it was a meaningless fear."
She sat down beside him and turned herself to face his direction.
"Well maybe it was meaningless to you, but it meant something to him. Everyone is afraid of something, Logan."
"Yeah, but some people's fears are dumb."
She scoffed. Oh and you don't have any "dumb" fears? What if I went around campus telling everyone that you're afraid of ghosts. You're saying that wouldn't bother you?"
"I'm not afraid of ghosts" he countered.
"Oh reeeally? Charles Galloway?" She reminded him with a sneer.
He pointed his finger at her defensively. "Hey, that was scary and you know it!"
She pushed his finger away. "My point is, it's not up to you to decide when it's okay for someone to be afraid, let alone when it's okay to go off and tell the entire school what it is they're afraid of."
He rolled his eyes once more at her, but his stubborn ears were beginning to hear what she was saying.
"Okay, okay…I get it." He repeated, but his voice was softer now. It was the tone he often used when she'd finally gotten through to him.
"Good." She said, smacking him on the shoulder as if to reprimand him one last time.
He seemed to think for a minute before a sly smile appeared on his face. He looked at her, leaning back on the couch "So."
She wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement but either way it sounded like he was waiting for her to say something in response.
"So, what?"
"So, what are your fears?" He prodded, seeming entertained.
"Oh God. Why? Are you planning on finding out so you can go tell everyone that they're dumb?"
He scowled at her. "Come on, I'm curious."
She sighed. "Well, I don't know, I guess I'm afraid of one day encountering a problem that I can't find an answer to."
For her, it was a valid worry. The downside to being brilliant in her field was that people assumed Quinn could probably solve everything. She remembered back on the occasions when she'd put all she had into a problem and came up with no answer. It made her feel like the reputation she had built herself up on was a lie. She wasn't so presumptuous as to expect that she could be perfect, but that doesn't stop a perfectionist from trying.
"Oh, and nuclear meltdown. Which, if you look at it statistically, is a relatively irrational fear to have. But a lot of fears can be irrational. If our brain detects a reason to register something as a threat, it will respond irrationally before it will allow us to place ourselves in a potentially dangerous situation."
Logan shook his head. "Man, you know what I'm afraid of? For people to find out I have a girlfriend with such nerdy fears."
She huffed at him. "You asked! And I figured you'd be more afraid of going broke and bald one day." She tested, just fishing for a reaction now.
"Ha! Fat chance at that happening."
She exaggerated a sigh but found it hard not to laugh. She knew him well enough to comprehend that nothing about what he was saying to her held any real malice behind it.
"Ha. Ha. You're hilarious." She tried her hardest to seem irritated. But her act was made much less believable when she leaned over and made herself comfortable on his chest. He gladly accepted the physical contact, it meant he was out of the doghouse.
A calm silence filled the room.
"Logan? For real though, what are you afraid of?" Her voice had lowered in pitch and it was clear that her question was intended to be taken more thoughtfully than before.
He let out a long breath as if he were getting prepared to say something he'd really rather not admit.
"A lot." He said contritely. He locked eyes with a point somewhere across the room, and she could see the cracks in the deceivingly protective walls of his personality starting to show.
"Not getting into college. Not really doing anything with my life…Not really being someone." He paused for a long moment. "Losing people..."
He swallowed thickly, blinking himself out of his thoughts and looking down at her. "You, specifically."
She sat up and looked at him almost apologetically. It felt as if he might have been referring not only to her when he said he was afraid of losing people, but she couldn't be sure.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize…"
He stopped her before she could say anything else.
"It's whatever though. Besides, I know you'd never be able to leave me. I'm too awesome." He scrambled to get his bearings back, is was obvious that he was a little thrown, and felt exposed by the direction the conversation had taken.
Quinn suddenly thought about how hard Logan tried to make sure everyone knew he was rich and good-looking. To him, that's all he had going for him to make him seem great. However, the things we try our hardest to convince others of are usually the things we are struggling to believe ourselves. Because really, without money and aesthetics, who would Logan be?
Not that it justified what he did to Michael, but maybe she was starting to understand why Logan thought more trivial fears were dumb. It had to be kind of hard, listening to someone talk about their "life shattering" fear of an amusement park ride when you're harboring fear about who you really are as a person.
It was ironic, because people like Logan were considered to be the lucky ones. With money and looks, who would think to worry about needing to build themselves up?
She wanted to reassure him by saying that she saw more in him than what he so willingly displayed to people, but she couldn't help but feel like her argument would fall short of convincing, considering she had originally been so vocal about her embarrassment to be with him in the first place.
So instead, she kissed him.
It was slow, sweet, and tender and Logan fell softly into it. Kissing her was like being under a spell. He was dazed by the time they separated.
She didn't have to say anything, the kiss spoke for itself.
Something caught her eye now that she was sitting so closely to his face.
"Why is your ear lobe all red?"
"Lola bit it the other day."
She vehemently ignored any amount of jealousy that may have just beckoned itself. "Um, why did Lola bite your ear?"
"I forgot the secret code." He said flatly.
She decided, whatever that meant, it wasn't important.
Quinn got up to leave before the other two boys returned to the room. She unlocked the door in time to hear James and Michael making their way down the hall. After slipping out and around the corner without being noticed, she decided to hang back when she heard Logan pull Michael aside once the door was closed.
Their conversation was muffled, but she was able to piece together Logan's words as he said something about being sorry for telling everyone something that wasn't his place to tell.
She couldn't help but smile to herself.
Logan didn't need to be someone. He was someone.
Thank you all for reading!
Please review, I'd really like thoughts on this one!
See you soon!
~Heather