stay

Chapter 96

My phone begins to vibrate lighting up the floor where it had fallen. I reach forward while Logan leaves a hand placed on my back. I grab my phone and see that Alyssa was calling me. "Oh no. I forgot to tell her I wasn't coming tonight. One second." I answer the phone as I lean back into Logan who wraps his arms around me once again. "Hello."

"Theresa. Where are you?"

"Sorry. I was going to come, but something came up."

"Are you ok?"

"Oh yeah. I'm fine."

"Ok, I just wanted to make sure you weren't dead somewhere. What are you doing?"

"Um... I had to deal with something. It is no big deal, but it was something that couldn't wait any longer."

"Alright, well I will talk to you later."

"Bye." I hang up the phone and see that it is was close to one in the morning.

Logan must see the time too. "Maybe we should get you home before it gets too late."

"Ok." I didn't want him to drop me off and leave again. I wanted to stay at the top of this overlook and never let him let go of me again. He turns on the engine and turns on his headlights. On a stand was a large square canvas. "But first, I have something for you..." He opens the door and jumps out. We walk over to the canvas and he pulls the brown towel off the canvas.

In front of me sits a canvas with one side picturing the overlook of heaven and the second side with a picture of the overlook from the mountain in Virginia. My two favorite places mashed together only to complement each other.

The busy of the city morphed into the quiet rolling of the country. "Logan... This is amazing!" I smile and give him a hug. He pulls me in close and kisses the top of my head.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to see you right when I got back. I wanted to see you. I even drove to your campus to see you. I knew you were always in the science building, but when I was walking up I saw you with... someone." I looked at him confused and waited for him to continue. "You were hugging some guy and it took everything I had not to walk over to him and punch him. I had just assumed you didn't want to wait. I was just not going to see you, but I knew I couldn't live with that thought eating me alive. I came to your house and was going to tell you that you shouldn't worry about me being any trouble, but when I saw you..."

I only smiled up at him and shook my head. "That was only Cory, a study partner from last semester. When you didn't come to see me I just assumed you had changed your mind."

He smiled and pulled me into a hug. I could stay like this forever.

I sat on the passenger side as he places the canvas into the back of his truck. He climbs in and starts to drive down the dirt road.

"I didn't say you could leave." He smiles as he reaches over and puts his hand back onto my thigh. He tightly tugs as I move back over to the middle seat where I could put my hand on his thigh to repay the feeling. "Babe, don't touch me like that." He says as he moves his hand to be on top of mine.

"Why?" I question confused and slightly embarrassed.

"I have a mission to get you home safely and if you are touching me like that I will crash this truck."

"Oh, I am sure you can manage just a little drive." I say slowly as I slightly squeeze his leg in my hand. I use my other hand to move his hand back to my thigh. He takes a deep breath before closing his eyes and opening them back up only slightly to see the road. I lean closer to his ear and whisper, "See you're doing just fine." He swerves the car slightly and shakes his head.

"Don't think I won't pull this car into the next parking lot. I swear." He says with a low raspy voice. I laugh and wrap both my hands around his arm that is holding me. It isn't long until he pulls the truck up into my driveway. He jumps out and walks over to open my door. We silently walk up the brick steps to the front door. I turn around to face him. "Theresa. I like you a lot. I don't want to ruin anything."

"You aren't?" I question.

"I am going to give you a kiss good night and I will call you tomorrow." He smiles down at me as he pulls his hands from his sweatshirt. He reaches down and pulls me close to him again before leaving a kiss on my lips. I want to continue his embrace, but he steps away and walks down the stairs slowly.

He has been gone for too long. He left for over two months and asked me to wait for him. I waited. I am here and he is walking away after a night filled with everything I could have ever dreamed of. I had questions I wanted answered.

I had more to say, but time was flooding away with every step he took.

I had never loved someone this much before. It hurt with every distance and crashed with every touch. If his distance was growing, I was slowly and painfully falling apart. I loved this man. A man that always had a hidden mind on his shoulders. A man that loved with all the strength he had. I fell for the one I avoided, the one that I hid. I can't imagine an existence without him.

I couldn't find any strength not covered in worry, but as I watched him step down from the last step the only word I could manage to say out loud was, "Stay."