Paradise

Chapter 15 - Ocean Breeze

Logan and I must of stayed at that rest stop bench for more than four hours just talking and letting everything out yet again so we can finally relax and enjoy each other. What little ray of sun was left beamed into the clouds leaving behind a twilight, night sky as we sat there enjoying each other's presence. He had gotten me my sour gummy worms and water after all. As for himself, he snacked on some Cheetos and a cupcake. While we were eating, I told him about the conversation I had with my father and surprisingly, he didn't mock me nor did he say I proved his point. He merely listened in silence as ideas on what to say started to form in his head.

"They're all a bunch of idiots... No offense." He added with much offense intended.

"Yeah, you were right. I should've known. If I had believed you instead of being so hard headed then maybe we wouldn't have exploded on each other last night. I'm sorry, really, I am." I said reaching over to touch his hand.

"You had every right to slap me last night. Why you chose not to is beyond me. If I were in your shoes I wouldn't have hesitated, and bam, one quick one to the cheek." He said smiling, a smile I missed seeing so much.

I laughed whole heartedly, finally having a sense of happiness back after the last 24 hours. "You are too much!" I joked.

"Well, it's true," he said adding on to my laughs, "I love seeing you laugh."

His drop dead gorgeous smile reached my heart causing me to blush entirely. I couldn't look at anything else except his loving, half asleep face. The look in his eyes was that same, familiar expression I've grown to obsess over. The exhaustion still rimmed around his eyes causing him to appear much more nostalgically dreamy. "I'm just glad to see you smile again." I said fighting the urge to blush even more.

"Listen, Avery," he said, his voice dropping and his smile inflating, "I can't tell you enough how sorry I am for everything. Seems like ever since you met me your life has gone downhill and I truly am sorry. Maybe-"

"No, don't say that, okay? I was mad when I said that, I didn't really mean that. Logan-"

"Let me finish, please," he said calmly, he waited until I met his eye contact before continuing, "Maybe it was uncalled for me to feel as though I was supposed to be your hero. Maybe I didn't have a right to get into your business. Maybe it wasn't my place to take you away from your life so demandingly, so forcefully. In doing all of this, maybe I just screwed up your life even more; I mean God knows what will happen to us when we do end up seeing our families again. But I do know one thing, I wouldn't want to be sitting here on a rest stop bench in the middle of Southern California, in December might I add, lacking a permanent plan with anyone else. Our situation might look completely insane to most but I wouldn't want to change a single thing about it. Yeah, I might have thought irrationally and without much time but I love this. I love the madness, the insanity, the spontaneity, the uncertainty of it all. And it might be too early to say this but I couldn't care less because I mean it beyond belief, I love you, Avery. You probably see me as a conceded, immature guy with a big ass ego who doesn't know what he's talking about but still, I thought I'd let you know. I love you and I'm positive I won't feel the same way for anyone else for the rest of my existence. That's a huge statement to make but I stand behind it 100%, without a doubt."

It was when he told me he loved when I realized I had been crying. I had on the biggest smile through the tears and by then my cheeks were glowing red. I was speechless. I couldn't find the right words to say that would come even remotely close to matching what he had just proclaimed. Even what had happened the last 24 hours, I still felt the same way I felt about him. More so now after he made his feelings clear. It's the greatest feeling in the world to have someone feel the same way about you as you do to towards them. Logan made me fall in love with him without him realizing it. I needed this trip more than anything and I believe everything that has led up to this moment happened for a reason. We were supposed to find each other. Here I was in a rest stop with my peculiar neighbor I had only just met without a care in the world, driving to an unknown destination... A situation I wouldn't have imagined myself in a hundred years. Logan reminded me that I have a voice and I have my own mind and I should use them both to the fullest extent because this is my life, I should do what's best for me and only me.