23| Care and Confidence
Dedicated to:thickpink950
Thanks a tonne for so many comments and numerous votes! I'll always be grateful of your support :):):)
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"It's okay to feel unsure, it's fine to not know. Keep in mind that uncertainty doesn't last forever. Clarity always show up for us"
~Alex Elle
Logan's POV
"I love you" she muttered.
My eyes snapped open as I felt the floor shift from beneath my feet. I stared into emptiness, blankly, coaxing my mind to understand if I comprehended her words correctly.
Suddenly, her body went limp and she fell on me. It caused me to trip backward before I was successful in regaining my balance. I locked my hands around her waist so she doesn't fall and shook her gently.
"Claire?" I whispered. I couldn't recognize my own voice. It sounded hasty and scared.
"Hey? Claire?" I called out again, a little clearer this time, lifting her head so I could look at her face.
She had passed out. Already.
But that wasn't the problem anymore. The problem was what she told me and fell unconscious without explaining it.
Did she just say it jokingly? Or did she really mean it? I didn't know. And I believed I wasn't ready to know it just yet. She wouldn't have meant it, right? Because she kept blabbering about how bad people throw away their half-eaten pizza, how could she be serious about this?
My desperate mind was just overthinking stuff.
I needed to get her home and fast. I threw a glance at unconscious Dylan and snarled at him before straining my mind as to what could be done next.
Meticulously, trying not to hurt her, I placed her head on my shoulder. I wrapped one arm around her waist and the other, I locked below her knees and lifted her up.
It was crazy how I never imagined there would come a day when I'll be carrying Claire Annesley this way, but it made me feel protective of her and I knew she was safe with me.
I walked out of the party with unhurried movements. Startlingly, I hadn't attracted much attention from anyone since they were all busy drinking or dancing or making out.
I carried her all the way to the empty parking lot, all the while shooting glances at her. Under the bright orange street lights, her face lit up and she was looking as beautiful as ever.
Ignoring my heart that was knocking violently at my ribcage, I removed my hands from below her knees. Carefully holding her with one arm, I opened the car door with another. I placed her on the passenger seat, cautiously secured her with the seatbelt and hopped into the driver's seat.
I turned on the air conditioner and merely watched her for a few minutes, staring at every elegant curve of her face. Flaws? I couldn't find any. She was perfect to me. Her blonde hair strands slipped from her underneath her headband – courtesy of Dylan really. Leaning forward, I tucked her hair behind her ears, away from her face.
Inhaling and exhaling deeply, I started the car.
Getting her inside the house was another arduous task at hand.
I parked the car in my garage, opened the door to my house, ran back to my car and carried her inside the house.
I shot glances here and there, making sure mom hadn't spotted me and made my way upstairs where I gently laid her on my bed. Then I ran back downstairs, locked my car and the door of my house.
I came back upstairs and huffed as I leaned my head on the door. I was exhausted to the core but at least I brought her far, far away from Dylan.
My eyes landed on her sleeping face and I was glued, I couldn't look away.
"I love you"
I tried to shake away whatever she had said and decided to focus on the more important things.
I pushed her hair away from her face and covered her in a blanket. Next, I called her mom to tell her that Claire was staying over tonight. I told her we had studying to do instead of saying that her daughter had drunk a thousand gallons of beer and had passed out on my bed.
Taking my shirt off, I switched the air conditioner on. Allowing the ice cold air caress my face and let my worries fade away, calming down my racing heart, confused mind and raging body.
I looked at Claire for the hundredth time that night. Completely ignoring the messages that were blowing up on my phone, I sat down on the floor, leaning on the bedside where Claire was lying.
Involuntarily, my hand shot up to caress her face. I leisurely touched her jaw with the back of my hand.
She meant so much to me.
"I love you"
Immediately, I pulled my hand away from her face as if it burned me. She shouldn't have said that to me. She really shouldn't have.
I squeezed my eyes tightly to let the pain vanish and covered my face with my hands, rubbing as if it would kill all my anxiety. But it wasn't helping.
"Logan!" I heard my mom's faint voice calling me from downstairs.
I put my shirt back on, made sure Claire was comfortable enough and jogged down. When I reached, my mom was grinning naughtily at me.
"What?" I raised my eyebrows.
"There's a girl here to see you, she's at the door"
I literally rolled my eyes so hard that my head started to hurt.
"Go on" she urged "She's waiting"
I groaned and made my way towards the door. Of course, it was Natalie Tenner, here to flirt with me again.
I tried my utmost not to make any disgustful expression that would offend her since she was proud of the way she had dressed. She loved wearing shorts and crop tops to expose more than ninety percent of her body.
"What's up Bad boy?" she grinned, leaning seductively on my door. On my door "What have you been up to?"
Let's see – my best friend was dating the most popular jerk of our highschool and she went with him to party where he almost got in her pants but thank fuck I had followed them so I saved her and beat the shit out of Dylan's ass and now he's lying unconscious in someone's house and she's lying unconscious up in my bedroom.
"Nothing much" I replied casually.
"Of course, naughty boy, I read the chapter that you updated a few days ago. And damn that kiss was steamy, where did you learn all this stuff?"
I watch porn.
"Research" I said the truth.
She pursed her lips as if preventing herself from laughing "So...you never made out with anyone?"
I squinted at her suspiciously, trying to calculate where this was going "You know what? It's getting late, why were you here anyways? Do you need help with something?"
"Actually" her gaze fell on me from head to toe "I did need something, something only you can give me" and she started to walk over to me.
"Uhhh..." I uttered awkwardly and started to back away from.
My mom could be watching us right now, bawling her eyes out.
There were so many popular jerks out there with whom she could flirt with and they would easily be tempted by her, but it had to be me she laid her eyes on. Why God, why?
"Wow okay, hold on" I lifted my hands up as if to shield myself before she came any closer "What do you think you're doing?"
"I don't know" she shrugged casually "Trying...to–"
"Seduce me?" I crossed my arms gravely.
"What? No!"
"Listen Natalie, I don't wanna be offensive but I'm not your type" I exclaimed "I'm not one of those guys you can be free around and I know what you're trying to do and don't do it. I want you to stop"
There was awkward silence for a while and we plainly stared at each other "Good night, Logan" she smiled and nonchalantly strolled out of the door.
Did I just-
I freaking just shooed away Natalie Tenner.
For a few minutes, I stood at the door, staring into the darkness, my jaw dropped open and literally hanging till the floor.
Well, that was awkward.
I had no idea how I got the guts to do that but a burning guilt inside me was telling me that I shouldn't let Natalie cross her limits.
The only thing I wanted in my life was to care about Claire and to make sure that she doesn't get hurt anymore, just like I was. I knew what it was like to be hurt - to live in pain is to feel as if some kind of load just keeps pressing you down and no matter how much you try to break through, there just seems to be no end to it.
Everything that happens with you just starts to feel painful. It feels like everyone is against you. And I didn't want Claire to feel like this - I wanted her to know I was there and I'll always be there and I would never be against her; unless it was something that was dangerous for her.
I scoffed once and gave a one-sided smile to the air that surrounded me. That wasn't so bad. I stood up for myself and opened up. That was something I rarely did.
Since I was a kid I had a habit of concealing my thoughts and feelings in and let them eat me away. I was broken as a child, I never had the past I would thank for and those feelings impacted on my personality and social life even after I got over my state of depression.
That was when I met Claire.
When I met her, it was like she had painted the dark and white of my life and splashed it with colors of different hues.
In the beginning, I had a crush on her but eventually, I learned to grow out of it since she considered me as her best friend and nothing more. I was certain that we would never end up like I dreamed.
But now, after what she said, my certainty had been distorted and I didn't even know what I didn't know.
I might just have to wait until she wakes up and causes hell to break, then she'll explain everything to me.
She was drunk and had no idea what she was saying.
"I love you"
It kept on replaying over and over and over again until I was left screaming with frustration.
She wouldn't have meant it, right?
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Okay well, nothing much happening here, just Logan shooing Natalie away. The next chapter will be delightful, I promise! XO
Do tell me what you think will happen next!
I swear thinking about titles for chapters takes longer than actually thinking of a plot xD
Please support me by voting and commenting! Thank you for reading ;)
Love, K
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