Falling into Ash

Chapter 2

My heart was pounding in my ears when I finally found the courage to walk into the kitchen. I stopped by the doorway and held my breath. I stood in the doorway and stared at the person that had their back turned to me. It was a broad back. I stood on my toes and looked over the shoulder of the person with the broad back to see an over sized version of Tyler from five years ago. Where was Logan?
Tyler's smiling, blue eyes made their way to me before widening.

"Oh, whoa!" His deep voice was startling.

"What?" The guy whose back was to me tensed. My gaze moved to see Victoria, Alisa and my mom giggling. My face must have been scrunched up in confusion.

The person in front of me spun around and I heard a sharp gasp. I swallowed and slowly brought my gaze up from the expensive sneakers to the dark washed jeans, to the black tshirt, to the face of Logan Ash.

My eyes widened when they met his shocked gaze. Oh. My. Damn. I could feel my jaw slacken.

"Nalla...?" He said my name with so much hesitance that it was as if he couldn't recognize me. I felt like I could barely recognize him.

Gone was the eleven year old boy that I last saw and in his place stood a guy that had a broad chest, stubble, and a boyish, chiseled face.

He just stood there gaping at me like a fish with his wide eyes and open mouth. It looks like his IQ hasn't grown as much as his body.

I recovered from my shock and narrowed my eyes at him. I walked over and stood on my tip toes so my eyes were almost level with his nose. I looked up at him and I did something I should have done a long time ago.

I thumped his forehead, hard.

That seemed to snap him out of his stupor. I heard Vince and Tyler start cracking up. I smiled innocently at him.

"Ouch! What the Hell was that for?!" He rubbed his forehead.

"Stop staring at me like I'm a science experiment, dummy!" I put my hands on my hips and dropped down to my normal height, which resulted in me having to look up at him. I knew id only grown a few inches or so since I was ten, but my 5 foot reality seemed to set in when I was surrounded by giant teenage boys. 

Suddenly, I was basically pounced on and Logan was screaming, "Oh my God, you're here!" He lifted me up and spun me in circles. "I can't believe you're really here!! No one told me you were here!"

"Can't. Breathe. Gonna. Puke." I was wheezing, and felt like my lunch was about to return. Though, I couldn't deny that I missed his hugs. Logan always gave the best hugs. He would wrap his arms completely around my body and smother me into him. He would always mentally count to ten before releasing me. I would end up all warm and smelling like him slightly. I remember him telling me that a hug wasn't really a hug any other way.

"Oops, sorry." I still couldn't process the baritone of his voice. He released his tight hold on me, so I could wrap my arms around him. I buried my face into his shirt and mentally counted to ten with him. We released at the same time. The grin he gave me warmed my heart. I never realized how much I missed him until I actually got to be in his large, bright presence again.

"You look...you look different." I poked his exceptionally large bicep. I tried to ignore the heat in my cheeks at how hard his muscles were. Then I reached up to squish his face together. I wrinkled my nose. His cheeks used to be a lot chubbier. I let go of him, and walked a slow circle around his large form. I tapped a finger against my chin thoughtfully while I assessed the changes in him. The body he has now could qualify as three eleven year old Logans put into one.