I jumped from my bed and opened it to find him slumped against the wall, one hand gripping the frame of the door. Up close, his bloodshot eyes looked worse than I expected. His tight lips and white-knuckle grip further signs of what I’d done to him.
I needed to fix this. No matter the immediate damage it might incur. In the long run, it was the right thing to do.
I moved away, allowing him to enter my room. As soon as he closed the door, I turned toward him to get the upper hand on the situation.
“Logan—”
“No, Ava, please, there’s something I need to say to you.”
The raspiness of his voice combined with the plea of his words were heartbreaking, and it took me by surprise.
“I think you need to press charges against this guy,” he said. “I went to the police station and got some information about how to do it.”
I was stunned; those were not words I was expecting.
He reached into his back pocket, and the papers shook in his hand as he held them out to me. But I didn’t take them from him. He shook them at me, unsure why I wouldn’t take them.
“Ava.” My name came out more like a command. “Please. You need to do this. What he did to you was so wrong, he shouldn’t have touched you like that. He can’t get away with it.”
Then it clicked.
“Logan, where have you been all day?”
I took the papers, tossed them to floor and grabbed his hands, yet he still wouldn’t look at me.
“Logan.”
His head shifted from side to side, settling on staring up at the ceiling. Reaching up, I grabbed his face, forcing him to look me in the eye.
“Where. Did. You. Go?” Each word its own staccato sentence, my frustration peaking.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled out of my grasp, retreating toward the window. As I slowly walked up behind him, his shoulders tensed as he sensed my approach. My hands went to his back, but he jerked away from my touch.
He spun on his heels and faced me. Taken off guard by the sudden movement, I stepped back.
“I’m a monster, Ava.” The bite in his words sliced through my heart. “You knew that from the start. You were right.”
This couldn’t be happening. I was too late, I’d already destroyed him. All the while, I blamed him for the words he used against me.
But it was my words that were destroying him.
He was a broken soul as he looked at me. The fog roiled around him, thick, dark, ugly, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to break through and reach him.
I stepped closer, my feet slow, concerned he might leave.
“Logan.”
His hands went up in protest. Watching his eyes grow wide as I continued toward him scared me, stopping me in my tracks.
“You are not a monster, Logan. You’re nothing like that guy from last night, nothing at all. You have to know that. I know you know that.”
He shook his head frantically as he backed himself against the wall.
“I touched Lanie against her will, Ava. You pointed that out enough times. She says she’s forgiven me, but she shouldn’t have, no one should have!” He was screaming, agony in everyword. “I should be in jail, she should’ve pressed charges against me!”
He shook from head to toe. He was like a wild animal trying to break out of a cage.
“I have to get out of here.” There was chaos in his eyes as they scanned the room, unable to focus. The profuse sweat dripping from his temples and his trembling hands were further signs that he was struggling with staying grounded.
