The Girl in the Tutu ✔️

24

LOGAN

I was already half a down my third bottle of beer. It didn't do much, but it stopped me from thinking about Rylee.

"Get out of my fucking head" I grumble as I press the cold glass to my temple.

The images plagued me, all I saw was her. If it wasn't the night she fell asleep on me, it was the time she almost burned down the house making breakfast.

My chest ached as my thoughts haunted me.

A soft knock at the door and pulls me out of my head, for which I'm grateful.

"Go away!" I shout from my place on the couch.

Silence answers me, and just as I'm getting up to get another beer, the knock sounds again.

I grumble under my breath and stomp towards the door before swinging it open and pasting a frown on my face.

"I said go away!" I shout at the person before I can stop myself.

Rylee crosses her arms over her chest and raises an eyebrow at me.

"Rylee, um what are you doing here?" I stutter as my anger disappears from my body.

"You said you wanted to talk, and I didn't give you a fair chance earlier today. So I'm here to listen to you"

"Really?" I ask, trying not to sound too hopeful.

She lifts her head and stares into my eyes. I could see her brain working, all the questions she had.

I open the door and motion for her to come in, to which she obliged.

Silence surrounds us as she sits on the chair and I place myself across from her on the couch. My palms began to sweat the longer we sat without talking.

"I don't know how to go about this so I'm just going to jump in" she finally says as she sits up and straightens her spine.

"Why did you come tonight?"

Do I lie?

"Honestly?"

She rolls her eyes "No Logan lie to me"

"Wilson and Sarah said that Joel was sending you threats and they showed me the texts he sent you"

Rylee's face pales and her attention drops to her fidgety fingers, in her lap.

"I wanted to make sure you would be safe, I've seen what Joel can do to you and I didn't want anything to happen to you" I admit.

"I don't understand why you care Logan. You told me in the locker room you didn't want me around, so why do you care if something happens? It's not like I need you to protect me."

"I-"

I want to tell her, but I'm not sure how.

"I care about you Rylee, and if something happened to you. I-I don't know if I'd be able to live with myself knowing there was something I could've done"

She drags her eyes back up to mine and for a second I can see hers walls crumble down. She studies me for a few agonizing seconds before she looks away again.

"Wilson told me some interesting things after the show." She states

My breath hitches as a lump forms in my throat.

He wouldn't have told her.

Would he?

I glance up at her to see her watching me again. Her eyes were so intense and I knew that if this conversation kept going, one of us would walk out hurt.

"He told me about how you went to Joel's dorm and punched him, how you broke his nose" she says with a small smile curving up her lips.

"Prick deserved it" I grumble.

A laugh bubbles out of her full lips and I watch mesmerized.

After about a minute her laughter subsides and she glances at me briefly, before turning her attention back to her chipping nail polish.

"I've missed you Logan" she says just barely audible.

I catch myself smiling at her admission.

"I-I've missed you too"

She offers me a small smile and moves from the chair to sit beside me on the couch.

She opens her mouth to say something and I cut her off before she can.

"Before this goes any further I need to get something off my chest"

She nods and I take a deep shuddering breath.

"I want to apologize for what I said to you. You didn't deserve it and I-I, well frankly I was an ass."

"Just a little bit" Rylee jokes with a small giggle.

"I regret it and I wish I could take it back. I wish I could take that whole night back, I wish I had reacted differently when you kissed me and I wish that I treated you the way you deserve. I'm so sorry Rylee"

She grabs my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

"It's okay Logan, I know I didn't go about things the best way either and I'm sorry for putting you in that situation."

I shake my head at her. "You didn't do anything wrong, I was the one that pushed you away and ruined our friendship"

It still hurts to say after all this time

"Let me ask you something Logan, and I want you to be completely honest with me, because your response is going to control what happens next"

My stomach dropped to the floor when the question left her lips. I didn't know how to respond.

"How long have you been in love with me?"