Chapter 49
Thad never seen this side of him before. It was like watching a man pull apart the armor he had been wearing for years, piece by
plece.
By the time we left the room, he was no longer the distant, aloof leader I had first met. He was softer. His usual cold demeanor was replaced with something far more approachable, far more human
My surprise for Logan was the appearance of my friend in the meds, who came to get pictures and do a small interview. Logan got a little flustered, almost adorably so, since we had almost finished our volunteering by the time she showed up.
Although I didn’t volunteer for it to be made públic, I lasew it would look good for the image we were trying to convey as a couple.
After a few hours, it was time to go.
“You’re good with them,” I said quietly as we made our way to the lobby.
He turned to me, his jaw tightening slightly, though I could tell he wasn’t uncomfortable anymore.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect. I see why you’re so invested in this place. It’s real.”
I nodded, my heart feeling a little lighter. “Exactly. It’s real.”
We left the orphanage after a while, and I could tell Logan was still processing everything. We didn’t talk much on the way back to the car. Logan was wrapped up somewhere deep in his thoughts, and I didn’t want to interrupt.
When I turned back to Logan, he was standing just a little closer than usual. His eyes met mine for a long moment, and there was a weight to the look he gave me I couldn’t explain. He reached but, almost as if he wasn’t sure what to do with his hands, but then he grabbed mine. His fingers were warm, almost surprisingly so, and he didn’t let go as we walked back to the car.
“I didn’t expect that. I thought we’d grab some food or do something typical for what couples normally do. But this? It’s different.”
“Good different?” I asked, my voice a little softer than I meant it to be. I had such high hopes for this date. I wanted us to be together while we did something that mattered. At least, it mattered to me. I hoped it mattered to him too.
He glanced at me, his expression unreadable. “Yeah. Good different.”
There was something about the way he said it that made my stomach flutter, like maybe he was finally seeing the real me. The me that had been pushing to make the world a better place. The me who had been hiding parts of myself behind walls like his.
It even made all the fighting we did over the previous week seem a little less significant.
“Logan,” I said after a long pause, “there’s more to life than power, you know. More to being alive than surviving. I know you’ve been focused on the pack and everything else, but there’s so much more to fight for.”
He turned his head toward me, his gaze steady “I know. At least, think I’m starting to get it. I hope I’m starting to understand you, Emily.
For the first time, I let myself believe that maybe he was starting to truly understand me. I was more than the parts of me that could be useful to him.
We ended up walking around the area a little longer, meandering without any particular destination. I had no desire to rush, and neither did Logan. There was a soft air to the day that neither of us was ready to break.
As the sun began to set, casting long shadows over the pavement, we found ourselves sitting on a park bench on the beach.
We sat in silence for a few moments, letting the evening settle around us. There were no grand declarations or sweeping gestures. We were two people, in a quiet place, beginning to understand each other a little more.
I didn’t feel the weight of the walls I had built around myself. Maybe Logan was starting to see past them too.
C
