Chapter Four

Mac had left the cubicle to get check on when Georgie would be able to go home.

Georgie said to Logan "You can go home now, if you want. My Dad is here and there is a gaurd outside my door...I'm as safe as I am gonna get."

"I've got nowhere to be."

"At 2 in the morning, asleep in bed wouldn't be too bad of a place to start."

"You trying to get rid of me? Let me guess, you just remembered how much you hate my guts."

"I never hated you. I did hate a lot of things you did though. But it was your life, not for me to judge. Though I guess I did, like everyone else. I thought I knew how you should act, feel, think, be...but who I am to say? I'm just glad you showed up tonight when you did. If you hadn't...my life would be over."

"Shh. Don't talk that way."

"It's the truth. I tried so hard to fight that guy but I couldn't. I should have been on the lookout for him but I wasn't. I should have carried pepper spray but I didn't. I should have just told my Dad that I suspected Coop but I thought it would sound crazy without proof. I should have..."

"Georgie, you survived. That is all that matters. You made it through. You're safe now and you will stay safe from now on. Because I plan to be your personal bodygaurd."

She smiled. "Not necessary. I couldn't ask you to do that."

"You didn't ask. I offered. And besides I'm out of work, anyway. I could use the practice. Wouldn't want my skills to get rusty, would ya?"

"I appreciate the offer but I couldn't allow you to do that for free."

"Did I say it was free?" he joked "You can pay me in pie from Kelly's."

"Logan." She chuckled. It felt amazing to be able to laugh, to feel good, to forget for one second how terrified she was.

His face grew serious. He slowly raised one hand and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Let me do this for you. I need to do this...call it my penitence."

"For what?"

" Twenty three years of being an asshole."

"At least five of those years you were too young to even know what that word means."

"You would be surprised at how early I caught on."

"Breaking hearts in kindergarten, that sounds like you."

"You know it:"

Georgie felt her resolve weakening. It would be selfish to take up his time each day by asking him to follow her around and protect her, but it would make her feel a whole lot safer than being alone with some cop she barely knew. The only one, other than her dad, that she even trusted was Lucky Spencer. But he was a Detective and not likely to be assigned to babysitting duties.

She said "Well, maybe for a day or two?"

"For as long as it takes."

"Lets start with a day or two and go from there. You do have a real life to get back to."

Logan couldn't remember any part of his so-called real life that he would miss. Cooper barely spoke to him. Lulu wanted Johnny instead of him. Maxie turned and ran the other way when she saw him coming and if they did talk it was just snarking back and forth. Only Scott seemed to even want to be in the same room with him lately and Logan wasn't sure if he should be happy about that or not. "Fine. You got yourself a deal, Georgie."

He was just starting to finally relax a fraction, secure in the knowledge he wouldn't have to sneak around and spy on her to ensure she was safe, when she went and completely messed up his equilibrium.

Georgie smiled. It started in her eyes, a gentleness coming into them that was mesmerizing to him, and then the corners of her mouth turned up every so slightly, and finally her lips parted to reveal a row of perfect teeth. "Deal."

He heard her say the word but it was drowned out by the feeling that slammed into his chest, and the words that ran through his mind, a conversation he had with Scott a few weeks before:

Aw, don't be so glum, son.

She won't even speak to me. Should I be happy about that?

Lulu wasn't your One. If she was your One, then you'd have cause to slit your wrists but she wasn't.

How the hell would you know that? Maybe she was my One. She could be.

You questioning it? Then she ain't. Cause when you meet your One...everything changes. You change. You know your changed but you can't do a thing about it. She's got you and she's got you good. You would camp out on her doorstep in the pouring rain playing sappy love songs and begging for one more chance. You ain't doing that, are you?

Oh, shut up. You don't even make any sense.

When you meet your girl, your One, then you'll know what I'm talking about.

And in that moment, in that smile, Logan finally did. It was like a click of a switch. He cared about Georgie before, it a abstract kind of way, but now it was personal. He saw her in a different light. She had always been beautiful and brave and too damn smart. But now he felt like she was also...someone he needed in his life. Someone he couldn't walk away from easily.

You are overreacting, he told himself. You lost Lulu and now you want somebody to want you. Don't do that to her. Don't use Georgie.

She saw the concerned look come over his face and asked "If you are sure?"

Before he could stop himself, he said "I'm sure."