The Archer - Part 1
Currently Playing: Invisible
Summary: Being best friends with Jules, you’ve always been a part of Logan’s life. But what he hasn’t realized is that you are violently in love with him. While he grows closer to Hannah, he loses you. Will he come to his senses fast enough or will you be the only archer left standing?
Word Count: 1.5k
Content Included: John Logan x f!reader, figure skater reader, angst, happy ending(?), swearing, drinking, maybe a bit of smut (MDNI) later, ruthless yearning
Author’s Note: Amateur writer so please excuse my writing! Just tryna share some John Logan love and hope u enjoy <3
ps. I know absolutely nothing about figure skating or hockey so excuse me if I get stuff wrong lols
ps x2. I stayed up to write this and did not proof read it so if things are wrong my bad 😍🥲
The rink shook as the crowd yelled and jumped to their feet for Logan—you, of course, included. Come on, he'd scored the winning shot of the game after all. That was the reason you cupped your hands and cheered louder than all the puck bunnies combined, totally not because you were madly in love with him.
A fluttering feeling erupted in your stomach as Logan turned straight to you and posed as the archer, your guys' very own secret signal.
~~~~~ Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake, Opus 20, Act 1: No. 5 ~~~~~
Your hands and feet stung as you pushed yourself off the ice again, flakes of ice sticking to your leggings and sleeves.
One more try.
With a tap on your earbud and a deep inhale, your set restarted—leaving you and the ice.
Your skates glided as you moved with each hit of the intro, dancing across the ice with large turns and small, graceful spins.
As the music continued to build, your routine grew increasingly more intense, ultimately building to the climax where you'd perform your most difficult axel jump.
As the music swelled and the peak approached, you gained speed and prayed that you would succeed.
Please let this be the time I nail it.
When you leapt into the air, it was almost like gravity had released you from its grasp. It was almost like you could fly and spin forever.
Almost.
In less than two seconds, you were crumpled on the ice yet again. Your hands stung and your body ached.
Tears began to well up in your eyes at having failed again. Hours and hours of work, yet you couldn't nail the move—the move you needed to even have a chance in the competition at all. And if you couldn't perform, well there went your spot at Briar. Scholarship money be damned.
The rink now seemed far too bright and the ice too cold. You were going to lose everything you'd worked for because you just weren't good enough.
Suddenly, warm hands cupped your face, lifting your head from its dropped position towards the ice.
"Hey, hey, hey, you're okay. You're alright, killer."
As you blinked away your tears and sniffed softly, you were able to see him clearly in front of you—Logan.
"It's okay, I'm here. I'm here. What's wrong, killer?"
You took in his warm eyes and unlaced skates—the way he was kneeling on the ice just to be eye to eye with you despite being in his casual attire.
You hiccuped softly, a single thought entering your head:
Johnny was here.
You leaned into him, crying into his hoodie as he gently pat your head.
"Shh, it's okay. It's okay. You wanna tell me what's wrong, killer?"
His voice was so soft, had you not been panicking over losing your scholarship and therefore the only support you had to stay at Briar, you might've met those familiar butterflies again instead.
"Johnny, I'm gonna lose my scholarship." You hiccuped out, small sobs still escaping you.
"I'm not as skilled as Kendall or as talented as the other skaters. I-I can't even get this move down." You exhaled sharply. "Maybe I'm just not good enough for this…"
Though you weren't typically a very insecure person, your whole future resided on your ability to skate. And right now, that ability didn't seem to agree with you.
"Hey now," Logan's tone was rougher, carrying this unusual tinge of upset in it that compelled you to look up at him.
His brows were furrowed and his hand moved from your head to grasp your shoulder firmly.
"Killer, I know you. And I know that out of everyone else, if there's anyone that can do this, it's you."
His face scrunched up uncomfortably for a second, confusion and maybe even hurt(?) passing over his face before he turned to you again.
"Listen killer, you and I are the archers. Okay?"
He paused momentarily, proceeding once you gave a small nod alongside a quiet sniffle.
"That means that even though we don't have the innate talent that others do and people underestimate us,"
He moved closer, his nose nearly brushing yours as his eyes locked onto yours.
"We will still win."
~~~~~ Pain ~~~~~
The can hissed as you flicked the tab open, taking a sip of the cool drink. From the kitchen, you could see Dean downing shots with Tucker while the puck bunnies flirted with Garrett. Beau was dancing rather freely and Logan was… chatting with a girl.
"Hey," A hand snapped inches from your face. "You in there dude?" Jules looked at you quizzically, taking in your—now fading—dazed expression.
Blinking quickly, you took in the slight tilt of her head—she was awaiting your answer. And you had no idea what she was asking because you were, well, you were staring at her brother. Her dreamy, sweet older brother…
Okay, so definitely not the time to be thinking of him.
Stupid brain. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Curse stupid Logan and his fluffy curls and boyish, charming grin. And those eyes, gosh you could swim in them… wait we're trying to stop thinking of Logan.
Right.
No Logan.
Who's Logan?
God you knew who Logan was.
"What? I, uh, yeah. That's exactly what I said." You added quickly, chuckling in a poor attempt to coverup your previous distraction.
"Ookay then," Jules smiled knowingly, giving you a light push. With her red solo cup clad hand, she gestured towards Logan.
"As disgusting as my brother is, you know you might actually have a chance with him if you told him how you feel?" Jules watched you as your gaze caught again on the guy who had single-handedly captured your heart for years on end.
Processing her words, you frowned.
"Oh c'mon Jules, Logan would never like me. Not in a million years." You took another sip of your drink, the alcohol seeming to sting your throat a bit more this time around.
"I'm just like a…" You paused, shaking your head and blinking hard. "Little sister to him. Someone he has to take care of."
Gods, when was this alcohol gonna hit you? You could use that dumb, mind numbing buzz right about now.
Jules scoffed, giving you a look that you knew meant, you can't be serious.
"Please, have you seen yourself? I mean, my brother's an idiot, but he's not blind." Jules glanced at you before continuing. "He feels compelled,"
"Obligated" You interjected quickly.
Jules went on, ignoring your—in her opinion—idiotic interjection.
"To take care of you, and it's definitely not in a sibling sense. Even if he hasn't realized that part himself yet." Jules tapered off, now taking her turn to lighten the load of her cup.
"While, I would love for that to be true, Julesey, it is most definitely not."
You nodded your head towards Logan, grimacing at how in love he looked with whoever that gorgeous brunette girl was. You sighed before turning away, beelining straight to the fridge for another—preferably stronger—drink.
"Boys at school never look at me. And most definitely not boys like Logan of all people. I know that."
You took a longer sip of your drink, fiddling with the empty can.
"I'm just, not completely over him yet." Your voice died down towards the end of your sentence. That was so obviously a lie.
Ever since Logan had crashed into your life, you had never been the same. And honestly, you wouldn't have had it any other way. You were happy to just have him in your life, and you would never put everything at risk just because your heart craved a little more than your current friendship… right?
Safe to say, you would never be over Logan.
You're not sure who the lie was for because there was no way in hell that Jules would ever fall for such an outrageous lie.
To be honest, maybe it was for you.
Because it was much easier to think that you were getting over this crush on Logan, and not staying continually stuck in orbit around anything that was remotely related to John Logan.
Years and years of wanting and being stuck in that odd space of being his little sister's best friend. Like seriously, what kind of zone even was that?
If things were different, you wondered if Logan could love you. Though that thought quickly dissipated at the sound of his laughter melting together with whoever he was currently entertaining.
You looked back one more time.
Logan could never be in love with you because you were nothing like the girls he liked, that much was obvious. Whoever he was with now was bubbly and charming like he was. She was bright and loud in a way that was loveable even just from watching her from afar.
And that? That girl wasn't you.
Jules hummed, her way of saying she was dropping the conversation and moving on. You knew it was for your sake.
"Well, then cheers to the free drinks and hearing loss we'll develop at 25." Jules said with a grin, clinking her solo cup with your new mixed drink.
And as a familiar laugh floated over to you through all the deafening sounds of the party, you promised yourself one thing:
You were going to get shitfaced drunk tonight.
