Dinner went surprisingly well. Emma had been seated next to Abby, across from Logan. She wasn't quite sure how that happened, but she strongly suspected Abby had arranged it that way.

When the plates were empty and it was time to pay the bill, Logan held Emma back for a minute. Abby noticed and subtly guided Jackson out of the restaurant to give the two of them time to chat. Emma couldn't tell if she appreciated the gesture or not.

"So why do you hate me so much anyways?" Logan asked, once their friends were out of earshot.

"I don't hate you." Emma insisted. At least, she didn't hate him enough to actually admit it to him. It wasn't that she was a coward or anything – she just wasn't used to admitting her feelings out loud like that. It was true when it was a stranger, like Logan basically was. It was even more true when her opinions on the person were negative. What if she hurt his feelings? She might not like him, but that was no reason to be unnecessarily rude. Besides, he'd been growing on her lately, for some inexplicable reason.

"Sure you do." Logan said, glancing over at her. When she didn't say anything, he scoffed. "Oh, come on. It's really obvious you do."

Emma could feel her cheeks start to burn as she struggled for something to say. Logan, however, didn't seem to notice.

"Look, it's not like I'm going to be mad or anything – I just want to know. So what is it?"

He looked strangely earnest, and Emma felt her walls crumbling just a little. Looking at him now, especially considering what she knew about him, it was getting hard to remember just why she'd hated him so much in the first place.

Still, it was hard to actually admit something like that out loud. Though if it was so obvious that even he'd picked up on it, then maybe she should tell him. And he'd already asked her about it – twice. Maybe not telling him was even more rude than whatever she might say. Didn't he at least deserve to know the truth? She realized that if someone had been that mad at her, she might want a chance to fix it. So why deprive him of that?

"Well..." she started slowly.

"Yes?" Logan prompted when she didn't continue.

"I'm getting there!" Emma insisted. Just because she'd decided to tell him didn't mean it was easy; she needed to work her way up to it. She took a deep breath. Then in a rush, she asked, "Do you remember eighth grade?"

"Yeah, I think so." Logan furrowed his brows slightly, like that wasn't what he'd been expecting to hear. "Why?"

"Do you remember picture day?"

"Honestly? Not really." Logan admitted, giving the kind of laugh that said 'who would?' Emma was not amused.

"Well, I don't either." she told him. She saw the confusion on his face deepen, and he opened his mouth to say something. She hurried on before he could interrupt her.

"Because I wasn't there. The day before picture day, I got hit in the face with a soccer ball." she told him. Her ears burned slightly, and she could feel her heart speed up. It had happened so long ago, but she could still remember falling to the ground, and the shouts from some of the students around her. It had easily been one of the most humiliating moments of her life.

"Really?" Logan asked. He seemed surprised. "That really sucks... But I still don't get why you'd hate me so—" He stopped suddenly, as if something were slowly dawning on him. Emma didn't bother to wait for his epiphany.

"You broke my nose." she told him.

She still remembered the blood all over her second-favorite shirt. She never had been able to get the stains out. But none of that had been what really started her down the path of hating him. The broken nose had been a pretty big deal. And losing the shirt hadn't exactly helped either. But there was something else that had bothered her even more than either of those things.

"You didn't even apologize." she said quietly. She didn't think he'd actually done it on purpose, but he hadn't seemed all that bothered by the fact that it had happened.

"I... I'm really sorry..." he told her, shaking his head slowly. "I can't imagine why I didn't say anything to you."

"Maybe you didn't realize..."

She was almost positive he had known, even if he clearly didn't remember it now. But who could say for sure? After all this time, she supposed it was possible that he really didn't know. Maybe she'd twisted his role, made him out to be more malicious as the years went by. At this point, she wasn't sure if it mattered anymore anyway. He was obviously sorry now, so what was the point in holding on to that grudge? Clearly, brooding over it was punishing her more than him anyway.

"It's ok." Emma said. "It was a long time ago."

"Still... I am sorry..." Logan trailed off.

He leaned forward slightly, studying her as he did. Emma's breath caught in her throat, and she could feel her cheeks burning all over again. Although, this time, it was for a slightly different reason. Emma's stomach filled with butterflies.

What was he doing? More importantly, what was she doing? Why didn't she scoot back, tell him to stop? But she didn't do or say anything. Instead, she just watched him, her heart hammering as she regretted the onions she'd had on her burger. Would he notice? Would he say something about it? This would be a great time for a mint – if only she was the kind of girl who came prepared like that.

Logan continued to look at her with that peculiar expression of his, and Emma – not knowing what else to do – stared back. She saw the freckles that lightly dotted his nose, and the fact that the inner rings of his eyes were a few shades lighter than the outer edges. She'd never noticed that before. Then again, she'd never been anywhere near this close to him before either.

Emma found herself leaning forward a bit herself, caught up in the moment. They were less than two feet away from each other. Logan's lips parted in a slow smile, his eyes crinkling at the same time.

He's really cute, isn't he? The thought flitted through Emma's mind, but she quickly squashed it. No.

"It's fine." Logan said softly.

"It's... what?" Emma asked. What did that mean?

"Your nose – it's fine." Logan said, louder this time. "You can't even tell it was ever broken or anything."

"Thanks." Emma rolled her eyes. Was that really what he'd been doing? Checking out her nose?

While it was nice to have the confirmation that it had healed straight, it wasn't exactly news to her. She'd stared at her nose in the mirror almost every day for the better part of six months after the incident, obsessively checking on the progress.

"Glad to help." Logan said flippantly, giving her a wide grin. Still, he did seem glad to realize that there hadn't been any lasting damage caused by his careless eighth-grade self.

Emma scoffed, then grinned in spite of herself as Logan settled back into his seat.

What had she been thinking? Did she really manage to convince herself that Logan Harris was about to kiss her? Why would she even want that – especially from him? Hadn't she been practically screaming from the rooftops that she didn't want a boyfriend? And if she had to have one, she certainly wouldn't be picking Logan for that honor. He might have been growing on her lately, but that did not mean she was ready to make him a significant part of her life, especially not romantically.

No, she'd just gotten caught up in the moment of maybe having her first kiss. But that didn't change anything between the two of them, she assured herself as she left the restaurant to meet back up with Abby.