She curled up on the couch, book in hand and blanket covering her. The apartment had been so empty without him since she went back. Her mom's house just not filling the void like it had used to. As much as she tried, knowing Luke and her mom's relationship was gone and then finding out her mom had slept with her dad the same day of the break-up didn't make her want to stay anymore. It had been about a month since she'd gone back, occasionally hanging out with Paris or Lane. But to be honest, she hadn't left the apartment besides those kinds of visits, and even then they usually came to her. Everyday she looked at the rocket, remembered the story behind it and smiled knowing that he'd come home to her.

Writing and reading were the two things that kept her mind busy enough to forget about Logan if only for a few minutes. It was working well enough when her phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered, continuing to read. The other line was quiet, and she could only assume it was Logan. "Hello?" she asked again, the person on the other line still quiet.

"Hey, Ace," he finally replied, voice soft, almost sad. "What're you up to?"

"Just reading. Isn't it like one in the morning over there right now?" She looked up at the clock, knowing she was right. It was nice to hear his voice, to know he was okay so far away.

"Yeah, but it's only nine where I'm at right now," he answered. She furrowed her brow, not quite understanding what he was saying. He was in the US, he was on the East Coast - or the midwest.

"Where are you?" She finally put the book down, and sitting up. He sounded like something was wrong.

"Home." The line went dead and she stood up as the door opened, Logan standing there, bags next to him. She looked at him like a deer in the headlights before she could finally wrap her head around it.

"Logan!" she finally said enthusiastically, practically running over to him and kissing him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "You aren't supposed to be back yet." She pulled away, looking at him. His eyes said it all. She hadn't seen him so sad, so broken. "What's wrong?"

"We need to sit down and talk." He walked in, pulling her with him to the couch. At that point, she didn't know what to think. Was he breaking up with her? Was he telling her he moved on? She sat down while he paced back and forth, hands rubbing his eyes, going through his hair. He was fidgeting like she'd never seen him. He was acting like she'd never seen him.

"Logan, you're scaring me." He looked at her, really looked at her. She could see him scanning her like this was the last time he'd see her.

"I got sick when I was over there, like really sick. Sick enough for Mitchum to let me leave." He then avoided eye contact, going back to his pacing. "You know it started with me just being tired all the time, and we chalked it up to jetlag. Then a couple weeks later, I couldn't eat without vomiting, so we just thought I had a stomach bug."
"Logan," she stood, taking his hands in hers to keep him from moving. "How sick are you now?"

"Ace, I have cancer."