The Golden Hour

Chapter 17

Maggie sighed and took a sip of her fourth cup of coffee for the day. She tried concentrating on the task at hand. She was currently sorting through photos to find the best ones for the articles she shot for, but she was having trouble keeping her eyes open.

For the past two weeks, she had been having trouble sleeping. She tried to convince herself that it was because of stress, but deep down she knew she was bluffing herself. There was only one real reason for her lack of slumber. Logan. She hadn't seen him in two weeks and had barely spoken to him. This was, of course, entirely her own fault. She had followed through with her avoidance plan.

The first week she had gotten lucky and was sent to a neighboring city to take photos for some week-long festival. She could simply tell him that she was out of town. But after that, she really had to get creative with the excuses. Work. Wedding planning. A colleague's birthday party. She even used the very unoriginal excuse that she had to wash her hair. She could hear he was starting to get more and more suspicious of her excuses. He hadn't even called her in the past two days. Maybe he had figured out she was avoiding him? But she had to do it. She had to put distance between them. She had to rid herself of these 'feelings'. She could not risk losing his friendship.

But it had been difficult. She wanted to call him. She wanted to see him. Every time something good happened she wanted him to be the first person to know. When she was sad, she wanted to confide only in him. It felt like she was going crazy. Like there was a hole in her life, in her heart.

She sighed and took another sip of coffee. How long would she be able to stay away?

#

She was halfway home when Ben called. "Hey, what's up?"

"Hey, Maggie. Could you check in on Logan when you get home?" he asked, the worry clear in his voice.

Maggie's breath caught. "Why? What's going on?"

She heard Ben sigh. "Nothing serious, I guess. Apparently, he's sick. The idiot didn't bother to tell anyone though. Thought he could work through it. His boss finally convinced him to go home. But when I called earlier he didn't sound too good. So could you just go and see if he's ok? Both Lisa and I are stuck at work, or we would do it ourselves."

Maggie's stomach dropped. She was between a rock and a hard place. She was trying to avoid him, but she also couldn't just leave him to fend for himself. "Yeah, I'll go and check on him." she finally conceded.

Ben let out of sigh of relief. "Thanks, Maggie. I owe you one. Tell that idiot I'm going to kill him when I see him again."

She chuckled and then ended the call and sighed before asking the taxi driver to stop at the nearest pharmacy.

#

Knock... Knock... Knock...

She waited, but once again, there was no answer. She felt the worry creeping in. She quickly walked towards his garage and lifted the flowerpots that stood next to the door. She picked up the spare key and then went to open the front door. When she walked into the apartment was eerily quiet. She turned on the lights as she walked, placing the bags she had brought with her on the kitchen counter.

"Logan?" she called, making her way to his bedroom.

She found him on the bed, asleep. She walked over and placed her hand on his head. Her eyes grew wide. He was burning up and he was breathing heavily.

"Logan." she said, softly moving the hair out of his face.

His eyes slowly opened. He looked at her, but it was like he didn't really register her being there.

"Logan. It's me, Maggie. I need you to come with me, ok?" With this, she slowly started to pull him up.

She half carried, half dragged him to the bathroom, and then placed him in the shower, before turning on the cold water. She sat next to him, and held his hand, rubbing small circles on the back. After a while, it seemed that he had cooled down a bit and his breathing had returned to normal.

With a strength she didn't know she possessed she pulled him up and sat him on the toilet. She hurried to his room and a few minutes later she was back with fresh clothes. She painstakingly dressed him and then took him half walked, half dragged him back to bed. Then she fetched the medicine she had bought and gave him something to help with the fever. She dragged a chair next to the bed and for a while she sat next to his bed, watching him intently, until he had fallen asleep.

#

"Maggie?"

Maggie woke with a start and fast as lightning she sat up and looked around. She was still sitting next to Logan's bed. It seemed she had fallen asleep. She looked over to him and saw him looking at her, brows furrowed. She smiled, relieved. "You're awake." She stood and gently placed her hand on his head. "Good. Your fever seems to be mostly gone."

He pushed her hand away, his eyes brooding. "What are you doing here, Maggie?"

She stared at him, wide eyed. He did not look happy to see her. "Ben asked me to check up on you. He said you were sick." she explained softly.

At this, he rolled his eyes. "Of course you're here because of Ben. Can't dare to disappoint him." He shot her a pointed look. "Well, you've done your duty. So feel free to leave and get back to avoiding me."

"Logan, I..." she started, but didn't know how to finish. She thought he might be upset with her, but not to this extent.

He turned his back on her. "Just leave."

Her heart clenched at his words. She stared at his turned back. She hadn't meant to hurt him. She wanted to reach out and touch him. But she knew it would be a bad idea. Instead, she left the room, softly closing the door behind her.

#

Logan woke up feeling groggy. For a moment he just lied there, eyes closed. He had a splitting headache, and his throat was killing him. Then he noticed soft snoring to his right. Slowly he opened his eyes and they landed on a mop of blonde hair.

Maggie was sitting in the chair next to his bed, her upper body on the bed, sleeping on her arms. He looked at her sleeping face. She looked so peaceful. He noticed that there was a cold compress on his head. On the nightstand was a glass of water and some medicine. He looked at the alarm clock. It was two in the morning.

He stared at the women sleeping next to him. He had no idea when she had returned. Or why. Didn't he tell her to leave? He sighed. He had no idea why she had been avoiding him. Every time he tried to make plans with her, she had an excuse. He racked his brain trying to figure out if he had done something to upset her, but the last time they had hung out, everything was fine. It was more than fine. It was great. His thoughts raced. Maybe he was being too pushy? He knew he was hugging her more, touching her more. Did he make her feel uncomfortable?

He reached out and gently touched her hair. He hadn't realized just how much he had missed her until this moment. Earlier he reacted out of shock, then the anger and confusion had set in, and then he lashed out. He groaned. He hadn't meant to push her away.

He listened to her rhythmic breathing and sighed. He was an idiot. She was here, wasn't she? When he needed her. But why did she have to make everything so damn difficult?