PRT 3

Two hours later we were floating and still swimming around. Logan was talking about… ANYTHING! He had a lot to say. About his mom, Lilly, Duncan, me… His emotions were what struck me.

"You know how people just hide there emotions, drink all there problems away?" he asked, looking up at the sky, when we were on the beach (in our clothes you perverts!). I laid back on the sand and smiled. Yippee, a profound Logan!

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to be like that. Not anymore." I stared at him blankly. Now, I know this doesn't seem like much, but remember guys! This is the guy who likes to get drunk daily and drowns in liquor!

I laughed at my own thought. He stroked my neck and kissed it lightly. This is what it was coming to. I didn't stop him; his lips traveled slightly higher up my neck. I bit my bottom lip, and kinda writhered beneath him.

Logan wasn't ugly. Not at all. He was quite handsome; his eyes were seductive, his voice smooth and cool, his body was strong and warm… I can't help but be attracted to him. His lips trailed my jaw line, then softly grazed over my lips. The silence was annoying.

So, just as he was about to kiss me I said, "What was with the dress?" He stopped, mouth open, and eyes searching for an answer. He sat beside me and laughed faintly while shaking his head.

"If you must know… It was my moms." My eyes widened. I looked at the neatly folded gown. Logan was looking at it with sad eyes. "I… could always imagine you in it. Even when you weren't there. All I had to do was look at it and I could see you twirling and smile in it." My eyes trembled. Logan had an imagination?

My stomach growled hungrily. I touched the towel over my stomach. Logan cocked an eyebrow. "Well, we drank all the wine, we kinda… Got the food wet, heh. So, um, call a cab and go hang at my house?"

I waggled my eyebrows. "You gonna cook me something sweeeeeet?" I said in a hick voice. Logan kissed my lips quickly then stroked my cheek.

"Hells yeah!" he joked back, in a sort of slurry voice. He grabbed my hand and we walked to the road to wait for the limo to come take us away.

That boy can cook. Seriously. Okay, guess I should recap. We got back to his house at about ten. We ran inside, I slipped into some of his loose fitting clothes and plopped down on the couch. He was already busy heating up the stove and chopping up veggies.

"So, what'cha feel like?" he asked, throwing them into the pot and stirring them. I shrugged.

"Since we were at the beach, would fish be out of the question?" I said, cocking an eyebrow. He winked at me quickly and opened the fridge. He took out two fish and cut them up. "See, I could have asked for shellfish. But! I remembered that you're allergic."

He dropped the knife and clapped sarcastically. "BRAVO! Camera close in on out heroines face! WATCH as her brilliance LIGHTS up the mans world!" he'd resumed his cooking. I glared. I did that hair flip thing and gave him the finger.

"Tease." I said, smiling like a coyote. Logan shrugged and threw the fish on the grill-like stove. They sizzled, and he washed off his hands and walked over by me. He sat down on the arm of the couch. I scooted away.

As much as I liked, okay LIKE, Logan… It just- Something doesn't feel right about being in his house alone. On a couch. Semi-wet, like after you've been out of the shower for an hour wet. He smiled condescendingly. I wrinkled my nose and pouted.

"Ronnie, I don't understand you sometimes."

"Meaning..?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"At the beach, you got NAKED and swam with me. You let me kiss your neck; you're letting ME cook YOU dinner… And yet when I sit close to you, you get antsy. Like you think I'm going to rape you. I'm not that drunk, as to where I would do that…"

I blushed slightly. The thought of Logan and me together, naked, bodies touching it… Sent shivers up my back. I don't think that it could be anything more than lust. He's lost his mother recently, I've lost Duncan (the only guy I have EVER loved). We both lost something we loved. We seemed to be looking for a way to forget about that.

It would never be more than lust.

End of story.

"Not gonna happen." I said. He cocked an eyebrow, that smug smirk slowly appearing on his face.

"What?"

"Us. You know that right? We don't feel anything for each other. I surely don't feel anything for you. And you, well, Logan… you're you. You go through women like women go through money." I said, hoping he got my point. I'd been soft, but the only way to make things clear for people is to be brutal, harsh and overall truthful.

Logan's brow furrowed. He clenched his knuckles till they turned white. I gulped; "Veronica, I wasn't asking to sleep with you." he stood up and walked off. I almost ran after him; instead, I choked back a soft sob, and took my notebook, which was on the counter.

Then, I walked out of Logan's house… And I felt a feeling in my gut, like something bad was going to happen. Or maybe I was just hungry…

I wish I could tell you that I went home, and an hour later I was sitting by the phone debating whether or not to call Logan and apologize. Even give my heart to him. But, in fact, what happened was the complete opposite.

At three o'clock that night, I turned on the television. I hadn't slept much, too many bad images running around. The news was on. "I cannot believe what I am seeing! The fire has reached a great height! You can actually FEEL the flames from behind the gate." I rubbed my eyes and looked harder. The camera closed in. I screamed.

The Echolls mansion was on fire! It was enveloped in massive tri colored flames. I covered my mouth and shook my head. A cry was caught in my throat, tears slowly dripped down my cheeks.

The woman continued, "We have just received word, that Logan Echolls is inside the house! The firemen are trying their best to put it out, but it seems futile. Could this be the end of Logan Echolls? More on this story later!" I grabbed a pillow and yelled into it. He couldn't die! NO NO NO!

I grabbed the phone and dialed his cell phone number. "Hello," the mechanical voice said, "The number you have dialed cannot be reached-" I slammed the phone down. Not Logan… Please, I prayed, not Logan!

Tears kept streaming down my face; I cried myself to sleep.

School the next day was hard. Everyone was quiet… The 09ers were silent as well… I glanced at Duncan. His eyes were red and puffy. He'd been crying too huh? How were Aaron and Trina going to take it?

Logan was dead. They'd announced that they'd found no trace of a body. That it had most likely been brunt to a crisp. I sniffled, I couldn't cry here. I couldn't be here today. So I did what any grieving girl would do.

I skipped school and drove to Logan's.

I parked my car, got out and stared with wide eyes. It was gone. Where Logan's house had once stood tall, it was now all black and fallen. I walked up to the tarnished looking gate and traced it with my fingers.

Rust came off and onto my fingers. I looked around. The street was empty, so I popped the gate and ran up to the burnt mansion. The pillars were the only thing standing, but they were blackened at the bottom. I ran around back to see what remained of Logan's pool house.

It was burned too. I fell down on my knees before it. Almost crying I told myself something I never expected to… Logan Echolls wasn't coming back. Just like Lilly… They were gone… They weren't coming back.

Dad was on a trip. Trying to find some missing girl in New Mexico. I took a shower, put on some pajamas and did what an girl who just lost someone close to her would do.

Put on some depressing songs and cried.

Yeah, I know. I should be trying to figure out what started the fire, but… I just wasn't in the mood. I fell asleep listening to Scars, and awoke to a knock at the door. I groggily got up, wiped off my cheeks and opened the door.

"Listen, whoever you are, I'm not in the-" I looked up. Logan Echolls looked down at me with his mischievous smile. My whole body began to shake. "L-logan?" I asked, backing up as he stepped forward.

His clothes were cindered, his hair was too. His cheeks were blackened, his left leg and left hand were covered in dried blood. He limped in, winced as if he were in pain, and gripped the wall for support. "Yup…" he said, his voice slurring.

I bit my bottom lip, and then embraced him. He tensed up and cried out a little. "Logan!" I sobbed, not caring that he could see my crying. I kept my arms tightly wrapped around him, he tried to wrap his arms around my waist, but he stumbled and had to grip the wall to stay standing. "I thought you were dead!" I spat pulling away from him.

I stared angrily at him. How could he have let me, all of school, to believe he was dead! Logan glared back, a pang of hurt in his eyes. "Well," he said, throwing his hands in the air and catching his balance best he could, he turned. "I'll just go down a bottle of antacid! Goodbye Ronnie!" I grabbed his arm and pulled him down onto the couch beside me.

Logan smirked, his lips cracked from dryness. "I thought you were dead. I missed you…" the words were just spilling out. Logan's grin grew wider. He touched my waist, and pulled me closer. He touched his lips to mine and then all the feelings that I'd told myself wasn't true, came out.

He pushed me into the couch, hovered above me, boxing me in. His kiss wasn't at all like any other guy I'd kissed. Duncan had been really soft as if he was unsure, Troy was well, a little rougher but not by much. Logan's kiss was full of passion, need, lust, sorrow and anger. All his emotions mixed with mine to create one beautiful, wonderful moment.

Logan pulled away, and I pouted. He laughed and tucked a tuff of hair behind my ear. "How did you survive? More importantly, how did it start?" Logan smiled and laid on his back; he pulled me on top of him. I lay on his chest, listening to his heart. Logan was alive, and I was so happy.

He took a breath and said, "After you left, I went to a room into a room upstairs. I stole some liquor from my dad's cabinet, drunk myself into a stupor and passed out. When I woke up I smelt smoke, I stumbled downstairs and the whole lower half was enveloped in flames.

"I didn't have time to think, and being drunk as I was, I did the stupid thing and ran out the back door by the kitchen. When I'd gotten mad at you, I had forgotten to shut off the stove… It caught fire. I ended up passed out, burned badly, in some brush beside the pool house.

"I was unconscious for a while… I saw you when you stopped by the house today. I waited until night to come see you. Ronnie, I'm so sorry. I messed up, I made you worry, my dads gonna kill me when he finds out I'm alive." I laughed at this, and wiped away my tears.

Logan smiled down at me, he kissed my forehead and I kissed his lips. "I'm so glad you're alive. And here. With me. This is how it should be right?" I asked, softly, his hands wrapped around my waist.

He nodded, another grin spreading on his lips. I bit my bottom lip, and looked over his features. What was wrong with me? I was happy Logan was here, I was happy he was alive, hovering over me… Looking like a burnt piece of toast but hot as hell.

So why was there this hole in my heart? It was like…. When the memory of possibly losing Logan had hit, it mixed with the sadness of Lilly's death, creating a huge hole. "What?" Logan asked, breaking my train of thought.

"Nothing," I lied, "Just, you know, wondering of ways to get our 'helpful' fire department fired." Logan's grin grew wider, he bent in and kissed my cheek lightly. In a quick moment I was hugging Logan. Pulling him down into me, my arms around his feeble body. He cried out in pain, I held on tighter.

Logan laughed lightly, "God damn Veronica! Feisty!" I don't think he was aware I was crying. He touched his forehead to mine and then frowned. "Oh c'mon now! Please don't cry…" he touched my cheek lightly, stroking it with his thumb.

I couldn't help it… I felt so weak to cry in front of Logan. He could hold it above my head; he wouldn't though. Logan brought his face closer and kissed me.

My tears copied onto his cheeks, and our bodies moved together in rhythm. I hated to admit it…

And, I really do. You know that but…

I'm in love with Logan Echolls…

Who cares about tomorrow? Who cares about school, the 09ers, my dad? I'm just thinking about now and these emotions I'm feeling while I'm here with Logan. Best I've felt all my life.

END

GAH! SORRY UPDATED SO LATE! Please review! I hope you like it, I think it's pretty good… But that's me and I'm weird. Oo Well! Thanks for all your lovely reviews and support! Maybe I'll have another one up sometime in the near future!

Thanks again!

Blood Moon Nights