He led her around the car to the passenger seat and opened the door for her. She offered a small smile, though a genuine one, as she stepped into the car. He shut the door behind her and went around to the driver's side. When he got in the car and started the engine, the two sat there speechless for a moment. He hadn't even taken off towards his house. There were a lot of questions floating around in his mind. But the most prominent one was eating away at him and he couldn't stop himself from asking it. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly at the mention of a certain seventeen year old boy. "What were you doing out on the streets by yourself? I thought you were staying with your boyfriend tonight."
Logan blamed Dieter for not being there for Louise. He was the one who was there to help her, not him. If he really cared about her like he was claiming, he would have been the one to rescue her from those men.
Louise sniffled and tried to sound as uncaring as she could. "He took me to his house and then his parents said I couldn't stay because I'm a minor and I didn't have a guardian's permission."
Once again, Logan was outraged.
He already didn't like Dieter, and hearing this wasn't making him dislike him any less. Though he did agree that her staying with Dieter wasn't the best idea, he also didn't like the fact that they had essentially thrown her out on the street. If they were responsible adults, they would have asked her to call him so that he could pick her up from their house instead of letting her leave by herself. But of course, he only knew half of the story. He didn't know that Louise, with her pride, had snuck out of the house before anyone could see her and she went into town all alone.
Now he was glad that he had gone out to look for her. He wasn't going to, but something told him that Louise wouldn't last the night at Dieter's house, and he was right. He thought that it would be something regarding her pride that wouldn't let her spend the night with him. But this was even better, he thought to himself. Perhaps now she had become disappointed in him and would not want to see him again.
He had been lost in his thoughts, stewing in his own anger at Dieter and his family, when Louise's voice broke through the silence in the car. "Also, he's not my boyfriend. We literally just met this weekend." She pointed out, just now understanding the way Logan had worded his statement. Louise was oblivious to the fact that he seemed to be deeply bothered by the fact that she seemed to be so close with Dieter after two days, than with him who she had known for years.
The twenty five year old science teacher groaned. Of all the things that happened, that was the one thing she was focusing on. "I think that's the least of our problems now, Louise." Turning in his seat to look at her, he now showered her with a series of questions. Though he had sounded like it was of no importance, her clarification that her and Dieter were not official gave him some form of comfort. Reaching to push a stray strand of hair behind her ear, his thumb lingered on her cheek and he could feel her skin was damp from having cried earlier. "How are you feeling though? Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Did they touch you?" His other hand, which was still resting on the steering wheel, seemed to tighten in anger at the thought. He didn't even want to think it--that someone might have touched her in any way.
She shook her head slowly, looking down at her own entwined hands that rested on her lap. "I'm fine. You can stop being all mushy now. Its making me a little uncomfortable." She said in a small voice. Louise wasn't sure if uncomfortable was exactly the word she was looking for, but she felt some kind of way. She couldn't exactly explain what she was feeling.
It was strange, not fighting with Logan all the time like they used to when she was nine. It was what she was used to by now. Even after he had started teaching at her school, they had spent most of their time together arguing. Now that he was being nice to her, it made her stomach churn in a weird way. Almost the same way Dieter made her feel, but slightly different.
Noticing only then that his hand was lingering on her skin, he pulled his hand away from her and settled back in his seat with a sigh. He then put the car into drive and they were on their way back home. The ride back was a bit awkward, since neither of them said anything. Logan spent it keeping his eyes on the road, while Louise spent the car ride looking down at her hands. She was grateful to Logan for saving her, but a thought in the back of her mind wondered where Dieter was. And she also wondering if he had even noticed that she was gone. Was he looking for her too? There was a feeling in the air, like both of them wanted to say something to the other, but neither of them would gather the courage to do it.
They pulled into the driveway of his house and once again remained sitting in the car for a moment longer after he shut off the engine. This time, it was Louise who broke the silence and spoke first.
"How come you said I was your girlfriend?" She asked him, and there were no hints of teasing in her words. Now she bit down on her lip nervously. She turned her head only slightly and she was just barely able to see his features in the moonlight that came into the car.
She really wanted to know why he did it when it was clear that he didn't like her. She was more than likely a burden on his life. But the Louise that he knew would probably tease him mercilessly about it. This seemed to be someone different sitting there with him. Or maybe it was the fact that she was still grateful that he had saved her and was willing to behave, at least for the night. It could have also been the fact that she was still shaken after what happened.
He replied a bit nervously to her question. He wasn't sure why a seventeen year old girl was making him so nervous. He was twenty five, already a fully grown adult. He was the teacher, and she was the student. Yet here she was, making him trip over his own thoughts, and he couldn't understand why. "It was the first thing that came to my mind in that moment. And I think we can both agree that strategy worked."
She finally smiled at him. It was more like a smirk, that signature knowing smirk Louise had when she was about to say something to poke fun at him. He already expected a smart ass comment from her, but instead was mistaken. "Did you really bring a gun with you? Can I see it?" Her eyes shone with curiosity. Though she hadn't come up with a teasing comment to poke fun at his expense, this was still a typical Louise thing to say. Now that they were out of danger, she wanted to see the weapon he had brought to defend her from her attackers.
Logan heaved a sigh. It was time to admit the truth. It wasn't like it mattered too much anyway. "I lied about that too to scare them off." He didn't regret it though. In the moment he would have said anything if it meant that he could save her from any harm.
"Wow." She said sarcastically. "You're so cool Logan."
He quickly pointed an index finger to her cheek and feeling slightly offended, reminding her. "Hey! I saved your life and this is how you thank me."
-
i wrote another update for you all.
i hope you like it. do you think we're starting to see some romance brewing between our two main characters? maybe. maybe not. louise seems to be into dieter a lot, and logan has a girlfriend. so a lot of things would need to happen in order for them to finally be together.
but please stay tuned. i will try to post another update as soon as possible. please let me know what you thought of the chapter.
have a wonderful night.
-clary
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