I'll Protect You (Re-Edit #2, 2016)

ADHD dreams of pirate kings and swashbuckling toads

dedicated to havens for the absolutely sweet banner she made!

definitely try listening to the song 'I Won't Let You Go (Darling)" by Hedley during this chapter
just try

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Logan

There was a sharp brightness glowing from the darkness within Logan's eyelids. Out of irritation, they flickered open. Everything was a complete blur, but it only took a few seconds before Logan's vision focused and he realized he was staring up at the roof. 

He was still in the private music ring. A golden light flooded the room, causing the surfaces of every object in the room to gleam brightly, and Logan's gaze winced from the brilliance of the morning. The sun was halfway up through the sky, and Logan realized he must've slept the night away on the floor, with Sparrow nesting in his arms. 

Park. 

She was curled up beside him, her head resting in the crook of his neck while her willowy fingers gripped his t-shirt. One of his arms were cramping from wrapping securely around her waist, and he guessed he must've held her all night. Her hair spilled out behind her like a pool of dark chocolate, and he remembered running his fingers through her strands. 

I kissed her. 

For a moment, he let last night's memories spill all over him, and he smiled as he remembered their kisses. It sent a feeling of unbelievable bliss as he recalled how perfectly they fit, and the electricity that streamed through his veins every time she would bring her lips to his. 

Gods, he was so stupid. So fucking stupid. He shouldn't have kissed her like that when he knew why she was pushing him. Reckless, stupid, irresponsible, and self-harming wouldn't even begin to cover his actions. He had made it a thousand times more impossible to get over his infuriating feelings. 

And he would do it all over again if he could. 

To be fair, it wasn't all his fault. First off, she shouldn't have asked him to stay--how could he have possibly said no to her?

He did kiss her first, that was over the line, but it wasn't him that initiated the second kiss. Park had been the one to rope him into a second kiss. Logan's eyes flickered to her lips, remembering how they felt against his last night. 

Dammit. She was betrothed. One day, she would be with someone else. He'd never get to hold her like this ever again. As the minutes passed, Logan cursed his actions, the feeling of shame and regret sinking into his chest. Those emotions made it hard to breathe, and he could feel a sense of loss seeping into his bones. 

It was all Sparrow's fault. Why did she have to pull him back for the kiss that he'd never forget? It was all her doing. It was her fault to blame for...for... 

For looking like she could never be his. 

His conscience was screaming at him to get up. Logan needed to start listening to Sparrow's advice and back away before he was too hurt by what she was headed for. His body ached from lying on the floor all night long, but for some reason, he couldn't get up.

Scratch that--he didn't want to. Though a part of him kept on repeating how it would be the right thing to do--to get up and leave it all behind--a darker part of him whispered at the back of his mind to stay, no matter how much it would hurt them in the end. 

Sparrow stirred, but she didn't wake up. Instead. she buried her face deeper into the crook of his neck, and he felt the heat of her breath. Her fingers clutched at his t-shirt, wounding the fabric between the spaces on her hands.