บท 106: The pebbles in my shoes (end)

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[Katelyn's POV]

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It took me a while to make my way through all those idiots, and yes, I couldn't see how I was supposed to call the soldiers I had to push to pass otherwise since they apparently weren't able to understand when I told them to get out of my way.

Anyway, all that mattered now was that I was finally in front of him, 'Logan...' We could count this as our second reunion and yet my heart was beating even faster than the first time...

Unpredictable and stronger than reason; the feelings I had for him were like that and had always been since I first laid eyes on him.

In high school I would have noticed him sooner or later, one way or another, and yet everything about this encounter made it special, like it was fate...

It was during one of those days between summer and fall when rainy weather were unpredictable; one more time the weather forecast had been wrong in announcing a clear sky with a big sun and many students had been taken by surprise including Logan.

Like many, he was soaked from head to toe, but unlike them, he didn't even seem to consider it an inconvenience. He went straight to his locker, ignoring the water beading from his hair to his face.

I know, it's not something that should be considered noteworthy but there was like a force telling me that this boy was special and the more I was staring at him, the more I was telling myself that it was the case.

Physically, he was quite short, but not shorter than me so it was okay, and anyway everything else about him was just perfect; no acne on his face, the prominent abs I could see through his t-shirt were solid evidence that he was working out a lot, his nails were meticulously trimmed, which was telling me he must have a very good hygiene as well, his face was a 10 out of 10, his short dark hair styled in a low-fade haircut fit him sublimely and his eyes...

They were what I loved the most about him, not only because I had a weak spot for green eyes but also because I saw a glow in them that I had never seen anywhere else before...

Since that day and still now the thing that obsesses me the most about Logan hasn't changed; his gaze.

Its representation was always fresh in my mind and yet even today I still couldn't interpret it, what kind of things could someone have gone through to have a gaze as sad and lifeless as his? I didn't know and for some reason I couldn't explain to myself, I wanted more than anything to discover what his burden was and share it with him in the hope that with my help his gaze would regain some life...

For this purpose I first asked my friends about him because my shyness prevented me from going to see him directly, but apparently nobody knew anything very conclusive about him.

Faced with this first failure I didn't get disheartened, on the contrary, I gathered my courage and went directly to Logan to try to initiate a first contact.

Once again it was a failure and on top of that he seemed to have difficulties to communicate...

But this second setback wasn't a valid reason for me to give up, the more difficult it became and the more I wanted to get closer to him paradoxically.

This little game went on and on until the end of high school, no progress was made and yet my interest in him kept growing after each failure as if my heart was telling me to keep going and that when I would finally get there, I would see that all my efforts were worth it.

Love is a feeling that is constantly tested and the love I had for Logan was no exception. In my case my biggest challenge was Logan's departure for the Navy...

He hadn't told me beforehand what he had planned to do after highschool so as not to hurt me, to find out I had to resort to unscrupulous means although I hated it when he forced me to do this, and not surprisingly, when I learned that he was going to leave me like this I was inconsolable, which made his precaution useless in the end.

What made me go beyond this separation was the prospect of our reunion, it was the only thing that kept me going during the 3 years I couldn't see his face, hear his voice, smell his scent...

And here we are, today was the day, I was seeing him again and frankly it was worth the wait.

He had changed radically and overall for the better; I who was afraid that his growth was over, he was at least 10 centimeters taller than the last time I had seen him. His musculature was also more harmonious and although I thought it was impossible his face was even more magnificent than before...

On a negative note though, his haircut (and it couldn't really be called like that) was horrible and I couldn't wait for his hair to grow back.

The fact that he was even more pleasing to the eye wasn't the only thing which catch my attention, I didn't fail to check if something had changed in those eyes that I loved so much, and it was the case...

The sadness I was seeing in them was even more profound than usual, which made me want to hug him to console him, and that was what I was going to do since starting from today I was no longer going to try to contain the feelings I had for... "Urgh..."

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[Lazar's POV]

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For the second time Katelyn tried to throw herself into my arms and for the second time I rewarded her attempt with a blow of my sheath in her head which made her faint.

Hopefully she will have figured out the pattern 'trying to hug me=fainting' by the time she wakes up and it will deter her from doing it again, but frankly I doubted it and anyway it's not like I'm going to give her the opportunity to approach me again...

"He didn't miss her, that's for sure."

"I bet 50 bucks that she has a concussion."

"Sleep suits her so well."

I could deduct from the whispers and the expressions of the soldiers around me that many were surprised by the fact that I hit Katelyn that violently, but none seemed to see it very badly, or at least nobody was verbalizing it. I couldn't say that I was surprised by their reaction, when she got into it she had the ability to make everyone hate her and anyway I was quite happy to be able to exploit that hatred.

I spun around to get the attention of the soldiers, "I take full responsibility for everything that has happened to her and everything that will happen to her as long as you keep her away."

The soldiers and Major Sullyvan seemed taken aback by what I had just said so I elaborated, "Drug her, knock her out each time she wakes up, hold her in place on a bed with ten of you sitting on her if you are into that, I don't care as long as I don't see her face anymore. Put the blame on me if you need to, one more time, I don't fucking care, I can face the consequences, but in return... Get. Her. Out. Of. Here."