I'll Protect You (Re-Edit #2, 2016)

Always have a Sparrow to do the impromptu risk taking

"You're lucky everyone's gone, I could hear you from two levels down," she said, her voice hushed. Logan took a second to exhale deeply, his fingers tangled in the strands of his hair as he attempted to calm himself. 

"Sorry, I was just explaining a really simple concept to James,"  Logan stated coldly, his eyes narrowed at his friend. 

"Like the concept that you really miss your princess?" Sophia guessed. 

"'Your princess?'" James mocked. 

"I don't know what to call her in public! What if I say the wrong name and people figure everything out and she can't come back ever again! This way, people will just think that Logan liked to call his 'ex-girlfriend' princess."

"Which he probably did," James shrugged, and Sophia nodded to his words. 

"Can we not talk about her for once?" Logan snapped. "I'm kind of done with her." He moved to walk past Sophia but she placed a hand on his chest and shoved him back. 

"Did you ever stop to think about why she left you here?" Sophia asked. Logan refused to answer and Sophia let out a frustrated sigh before digging something out of her bag. It was a magazine and she scanned through it quickly before displaying the pages to Logan. 

He felt something twist in his chest as he looked at Park and Vincent, sitting in front of a bistro  under the cover of a patio, coffee cups in their hand, avoiding the falling snow. They were captured in the moment, forever exchanging an adoring look. 

"I didn't even know they were dating," Sophia said. "Suddenly, there are thousands of interviews of them declaring a secret relationship and how they're so in love, and I realized--Park's being pushed into this. Both of them are. Because after watching them interact here and then on camera, I knew something had to be up."

"Is there a point to this conversation, Sophia, because if there isn't, I want to leave," Logan requested. 

"Did you ever think that she left you because she didn't want you to face this every day?" Sophia asked, tucking the magazine away. "Logan, you would've had to stand by her side and watch her fake affection for another boy. Do you know how much it hurts to be off on the sidelines and watch the person you like look at someone else like they're their whole world?"

Logan was taken aback at the emotion surging in her voice and realized that Sophia was talking about herself. 

"Soph--"

"I watched you fall for her every day, and she watched as I kissed you." Sophia let out a strangled laugh. "It's heartbreaking. I can understand why she pushed you away. You never had to go through that kind of pain and she probably never wanted you to experience it."

All three of them stood quiet for the next few moments. James watched Sophia with an impressed glint in his eyes while Sophia continued to glare at Logan, her arms crossed as she tapped her loafers against the floor. 

"I just don't understand why she took away my choices," Logan said. "I wanted to say goodbye on my terms and she ups and vanishes like it's no big deal to her. I didn't...I didn't know she'd be gone the next day and so my last words to one of my closest friends is to lock her doors and 'goodnight.' I didn't get to say what I wanted to say before we parted ways."

"Then go say goodbye," James urged. "You always want the last word, Cross, so go and have it."

It's time for me to say goodbye, his mind recalled and anger flashed through him. "What I want is to go home and not think about her anymore," Logan said.

Sophia and James stood aside as Logan made his way down the stairs of the academy. He walked briskly, lost in thought and slightly unaware of his surroundings. All he could concentrate on were the sound of his shoes on the steps and the echoes they made in the building.