Hi I'm not dead. This is sadly a shorter update because I want to set up the scene for the next chapter!
Kames will actually be introduced tomorrow. :D And now I'll shut up.

James glanced down at the fancy gold-plated watch strapped onto his wrist, and then back at the closed door. He repeated this several times before sighing and flicking his eyes back to his employees who were all situated around the long table. All the big leather chairs were filled—all except Carlos'.

"Looks like Carlos isn't going to make it," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "You guys can go back to your jobs—"

At that moment, the door bursted open and a frantic Carlos rushed to his seat, papers flying all around.

"Sorry I'm late, Boss." He fixed his suit buttons and smoothed out his wrinkled satin tie. He took a quick sip from his Starbucks coffee cup and laid his folders in front of him. "Ready."

All fifteen men stared at the Latino for a few moments before taking their suitcases and leaving the meeting room. Carlos' shoulders fell and he let out a groan, banging his head on the wooden table.

"Damn it, I missed the entire meeting?"

James laughed and approached his friend, placing a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, relax buddy. What's going on?"

"I'm sorry, this is very unprofessional. Why did you even hire me in the first place? This record company is better off without me," Carlos cried.

"Are you kidding me? You're great at what you do!" James insisted, pulling up a chair beside him. "And who else is going to save this company from getting lawsuits? I screw up every other day, and you and Kendall always save my ass."

Carlos chuckled lightly. It was true.

"So what's really going on? You know I don't care if you miss a meeting once in a while."

Carlos sat uneasily in his chair. "I bumped into Logan yesterday. Literally."

James' eyebrows shot up in surprise. He knew about Carlos' plan of cutting Logan out of his life; he was madly in love with his married friend. Although he can't say that this plan was working because Carlos was still hung up over Logan. He had tried setting up blind dates for Carlos, but to his single friend, none of them even compared to Logan.

"Wow. How did that go?"

"I know. It went pretty well, I think. It was pretty tense at the beginning but the tension kind of melted away after a while, thankfully. We ate at that pizzeria we always ate at, which was good, and kind of talked."

"See? You're strong enough to handle Logan in your life," James told him.

"No, I'm not." He was trembling and his eyes displayed pain. "It only reminded me that I can't have him. And Camille is a grade-A bitch."

"Carlos…"

"Don't Carlos me," he snapped. "He has a fucking child. A gorgeous baby girl named Hailey who aspires to be a princess. I can't do this. I invited him over for dinner tonight."

"Uh, why would you do that if it hurt so badly to see him yesterday?"

"I don't know!" he wailed, dropping his forehead to the table.

"Okay, calm down, Carlos," James coaxed, lifting Carlos' abused forehead from the table. "You can do this. Hey, want me and Kendall to come?"

"So you all can remind me of how great being in a relationship is? Yeah, okay, why don't we just run me over with a truck?"

"Fine, forget I suggested it."

Carlos met James' eyes and reluctantly said, "No, that's actually a pretty good idea. Can you please come over?"

"I'll see what I can do," James smirked. "Wow, I haven't seen Logan in so long. I mean, I text him sometimes, and call him sometimes, but not see him face-to-face. I'll call Kendall."

Carlos smiled weakly.

"Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Yeah, I know, I'm great," James bragged in a joking manner. "Go back to your office and take it easy, alright? Don't want anyone getting aneurysms here. We'll leave at 5."

"Sounds good," Carlos confirmed and got out of his seat. "See you later."

"See you."

"We didn't get to finish the entire lecture on Michaelis-Menten kinetics, but we can wrap it up on Wednesday. Remember, lab tomorrow so wear appropriate clothing please. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Logan called out into the room full of bustling college kids, packing to catch their next class.

When the last student left the vicinity of the room, he fell back into his chair and caught his breath. These two-hour lectures were going to result in a slow painful death. He loved biology and he loved teaching, but damn, that's a lot of words and topics to cover!

He pulled out his phone, and noticed a missed call from James. Quickly, he called back.

"Yello?"

"James?"

There was no response, just static from the other side.

"Hello?" Logan repeated. He removed the phone from his ear and checked his signal. Full bars.

He put it back onto his ear and he heard two people arguing. James and Carlos, he chuckled.

"Answer it!"

"You answer it! It's your phone."

"Who is it?"

"Logan."

"Answer the fucking phone then."

"I did, and he's asking for you."

"God damn it, Carlos. Give me that."

"Hey Logan," James said.

"Yo, is everything okay?" the professor asked.

"Just dandy. So anyway, Carlos said that you were coming over for dinner. He invited Kendall and me over, is that okay?"

"Of course," Logan chirped. "I haven't seen you both in ages. Why would I not be okay with that?"

Logan was actually really excited. Ever since he got married, he hasn't seen any of his old friends yet. It's like they all had new lives and they never got around to make time to see each other. Sure, they called and texted, but it wasn't the same.

"Good going, James. Way to make it obvious," he heard from the other end.

"I didn't say anything, Carlos. If I were to tell him you wanted to be alone with—"

"Shut up! Go talk to him dumb poop!"

He quirked an eyebrow and waited for James to respond.

"Sorry, Carlos is being a brat."

Logan laughed. "What's new?"

"Hey! I heard that!"

"Carlos heard that," James notified.

"Tell him, 'good.'"

James chortled. "So actually, we have to go. We'll see you at six, right?"

"I'll be there."

They hung up and he slid the phone back into his drawer. He pulled out two red pens and a huge stack of paper. Now to grade one hundred ten-paged research papers... fun. As he was scanning the first page of a student's paper, he couldn't prevent his mind from wandering. It didn't matter if he was reading about the urea cycle, his thought process would circle back to Carlos. Last night had been one of the best nights he could remember. He had missed his best friend so much, and it was so long since he had one of those guy's night out. Camille was great and Hailey was precious, but it was different being with the boys, with Carlos. His cute laugh, his slightly raspy voice, his dark brown eyes that shone, and that caramel skin…wow. Logan's eyes widened at the last thought. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. It's been a long month. Finals were coming up and his work was draining a lot of his energy. He wasn't thinking straight. Carlos wasn't unattractive in the slightest. Actually any girl would be lucky to date him! But it was weird for Logan to notice how smooth and tan Carlos' skin was, or how defined his abs were. Wow he needed sleep.

He shifted his attention back to the paper in his hand. He scolded himself, telling him to focus on his job. After minutes of staring blankly ahead, he threw the paper down and grabbed his phone. He dialed Carlos' number.

"Pick up pick up pick up," he murmured under his breath.

After the third ring, the line clicks and Carlos' calming voice sounds: "Hello?"

"Carlos, hey," Logan lamely greeted. He mentally kicked himself.

"L-Logan? Why are you calling?" he stuttered.

"Can't a guy call his friend?" Logan laughed. "My brain's numb from grading papers and tests, so I needed a bit of a break."

"O-oh, okay. Well, I have to go soon. I have a meeting with my team."

"That's fine." Logan felt disappointed and slumped into his chair. "I'll see you in the evening anyway."

"Yeah."

"Bye Car," he said, using his nickname for Carlos.

"Bye Logie."

He clicked 'end call' and he sighed happily, grinning. Hearing Carlos using his old pet name sent warm tingles all over his body, from his head to his toes. He hadn't heard that nickname in so long and it was almost comforting. For some reason, just hearing 'Logie' and Carlos' voice produced enough energy and strength to legitimately begin grading the papers. Plucking the red pen from the desk, he began scribbling notes on the essay he had started grading. He wanted the afternoon to speed by because dinnertime just couldn't come soon enough.

No I have no idea what the hell Logan is teaching. Wikipedia is my best friend.
Any of you Bio kids know?

Anyway, what did you guys think?
What do you guys think is going to happen at the dinner? ;)