Disclaimer: I have never nor will ever own any of the characters. They belong to Rob Thomas. If I did own them, I would never have done what he did.

Chapter Three

Once we are inside, I still can't bring myself to actually let him put me down. My legs are shaking from the muscle fatigue that is a result of me clinging to him so hard, but I don't care. I fear that if I let go then it will all be over. He will disappear and I will wake up from this beautiful dream and be shattered again.

I know he can sense this, so he just continues to hold me. It isn't until Pony starts to whine because she wants her leash off that he makes a move to try and release himself from my grasp. He removes his hand that is cradling my neck and gently tries to put me down. I whimper and pull myself even closer. My head resting on his shoulder while my nose nuzzles his neck.

Pony whines again, as she has now completely tangled herself in her leash and can't seem to get it unwrapped from her own legs. Logan places both hands gently on my hips and urges me to pull away just far enough so if I were to lift my head, I could look in his eyes. I slowly lift my head enough that he can soothingly talk right by my ear and he somehow convinces me that I don't have to let go, he just needs me to put my feet on the ground so he can help Pony.

Reluctantly I unwrap my legs and feel my shoes hit the floor. I still haven't let go, but he manages to gently move me to his side, the whole time allowing me to keep my arms wrapped around him. He helps Pony to correct the awkward position she has herself in with her leash and then wraps his arms back around me again.

My brain finally starts to clear from the daze that was induced as soon as I heard him say my name and that's when I start to question again how this is possible. This can't be real. If he was alive this whole time, then why didn't he contact me. A year! He has had a year to let me know that he is alive, and I have been so miserable thinking he was gone.

I start to panic as feelings that this is just a dream, or a hallucination start to resurface. My mind is going crazy thinking that I can't go through this again. It will be like the day the bomb went off and I will have to relive all that pain again. Maybe this is what my life will be from now on. Just a continuous cycle of heartbreak as I delude myself into thinking he is alive, just for him to be yanked away from me again.

As the panic inside me increases, I know I just need to get it over with because the longer I prolong it the worse it is going to be. With this thought in mind, I finally push away. The instant I no longer feel his touch I feel that hole that has been there for the last year return.

I wrap my arms around my waist, holding myself and look up fully expecting him to be gone, but he is still there. I see the look of hurt in his eyes as he doesn't understand why I suddenly shoved myself away from him. We continue to stand there and stare at each other, neither of us knowing what to do now.

I have convinced myself that this isn't real, so as he lifts his hand to touch me again, I move away. It is during this time that we hear someone placing their key in the door.

Neither of us move, eyes still locked on each other. I hear my dad start to speak before I see him. When I finally look at him, he is looking down and focused on the papers he has in his hand that he obviously brought to discuss with me.

It isn't until he doesn't get a response from me that he finally looks up. When his eyes see me for the first time, he knows that something isn't right. He starts to ask me what is wrong when his attention is caught by something else in the room. He swings his eyes around and focuses on the other occupant of the room. I know the second that he realizes who it is because everything that he is holding in his hands falls to the floor. His mouth hangs open and the only word that is uttered is "Logan?" And you can hear the utter disbelief in his voice.

Before Logan can respond I say, "You can see him too?" and my father looks at me like I have just spoken a foreign language. He continues to look back and forth between the two of us when he says "Of course I can see him too! He's standing right there! Someone needs to explain what is going on!"

I look at my father with fresh tears welling in my eyes and say, "Daddy please tell me that this is real and I'm not dreaming!" With the love and compassion in my father's eyes that I am so used to seeing he says, "If you are then I am too, and we are both crazy!"