Hi guys! I come bearing a new chapter and i'm sorry it took so long. i had some serious writer's block about it and I kept moving stuff around and re-working it because it's an important chapter for the rest of the story.

DIsclaimer: I own nothing.

oh and I've included a kind of important note at the end of the chapter, please read it!!

Chapter 12: The Fight.

"Your chances of getting hit by lightning go up if you stand under a tree, shake your fist at the sky, and say 'Storms suck!'"~ Johnny Carson.

Time, I discovered in the month and a half after Emma left, was a funny thing. Sometimes, especially when I had a long day in which nothing went right, time couldn't move fast enough, and others when I was with Logan, time always was on fast forward.

But Sunday mornings were the best. We neither of us had anywhere to go or a real reason to get out of bed and some Sundays we didn't. We'd slip out to make coffee, read the paper and go through the mail, which I always put off until the last minute. I never found bills particularly fun to deal with.

One Sunday about two months after Emma left, Logan and I decided to spend what was possibly the last nice Sunday outside before it snowed. Logan was reading the paper and had pulled my legs into his lap, while I sorted the mail into three piles: stuff for Emma, junk and bills. I'd just thrown the water bill into its pile when the throbbing, which I'd been ignoring for the past two day, suddenly spiked and made my knee jerk. I bit back a swear and hissed instead. Logan glanced over at me, curious

"Weather's gonna change…." I snarled through my clenched teeth.

"Again?" He asked incredulously, getting up to get my medicine.

"Sorry, Babe!" I called as I picked up a small blue envelope with my name written in scrawling silver script. I closed my eyes briefly before I tossed it into the trash pile. That, too, was something that I didn't want to deal with.

"What's that?" Logan grabbed it before I could stop him.

"Nothing." I took the bottle, pried the lid off and threw down three pills.

He frowned as he read it. "It's from a Serena Taylor…?" He held it out to me.

"I don't want to read it. It goes in the trash pile." I insisted as I took a long sip of coffee to wash down the medicine.

"Who is it?"

I set down the cup and glared. "If you must know, Serena Tyler is my grandmother. My mother's mother."

Logan sat down and pulled my legs into his lap again, running his fingers up and down my bad calf. "You have different last names." He commented lightly.

"I took my dad's name and my mom married Christopher and took the last name: Frost."

"You're not going to read it, then?" He held it out.

"Nope. Trash pile." I indicated the place on the table.

"Aren't you curious?"

I sighed and rubbed my eyes in frustration. "I really don't want to hear what she has to say. She spent the past twenty years ignoring us, she didn't want anything to do with me or my mother until my mother died," I swallowed the old hurts. "There is nothing that woman can say that will make it right."

"You'll never know until you read it." Logan offered.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Since when are you so forgiving?"

"All I'm saying," he patted my knee. "Is that this woman is your family. The ball's in your court."

I started at the letter in his hand for a moment.

"So, will you read it?" Logan smiled.

I took the letter and turned it over a few times. "Babe, I can't…." I set it down on the table. "Not right now at least….maybe one day." I promised.

Logan frowned. "I understand." And then he placed it in the trash pile.

"Thank you." I leaned over and kissed him once then pressed my forehead against his. "I'm glad you understand, and that you're here. I like having you in my world, too." I assured him. "It makes things…interesting."

"Interesting?" He traced my jaw line and brushed his thumb over my lower lip. "Is that the word you really want to use?"

"Shut up." I kissed him again.

Moments like that made me wish I had the courage to tell him the truth, but I didn't. I liked this too much. And I hated that this didn't feel like living a lie. I wish everything flowed too well, it all fit. And I wasn't about to stop it or think too hard about it because it would only drive me crazy. It felt good to wake up with someone, to look forward to someone coming home, to laugh again. I shouldn't have wanted this as much as I did, he deserved better. He deserved someone who didn't have an axe hanging over her head. And it was everything I couldn't give him.

He pulled back first, gave me a smile and ran a hand over my hair and went back to the paper. But he kept twisting a few strands between his fingers. I could feel the tears starting in my eyes but I brushed them away and shivered as the sun disappeared behind the growing cloud blanket.

"You okay there, Weather Meter?" He wondered.

"Yeah…I think it's going to snow, though." I replied, burying my dangerous thoughts behind a veneer of a smile.

He looked up confused as I gathered the mail and newspapers up. "Are you sure?"

"Baby?" I began. "Who won our little bet last year?"

"You." He pointed.

"And who's once broken leg has been hurting for two days straight?"

"Yours." He sighed and grabbed the coffee cups and followed me inside.

Once, we washed them out and finished sorting through the mail, we glanced outside and sure enough a few little flakes were trailing down the window. Logan glimpsed down at me. "How do you do it?"

"I told you." I poked him in the arm and chest a few times. "I'm psychic."

When he got sick of me jabbing at him, Logan grabbed my hands and pulled me close. "So, you're a psychic…" he kissed my neck once. "And a school teacher…" and again. "And a sister…" And another. "And a human weather radar?"

"You are a lucky lucky man," I murmured and I leaned back into the kitchen counter.

"That, I know." He pressed against me, his fingertips rested on the elastic band of my sweatpants "So, what now, Smarty Pants?"

"I think we should go back to bed."

"Sounds like a good idea."

"So?" Emma asked when I called her a week later. I'd be leaving early the next morning to see her for Parent's Weekend and then stay for the week after for a teacher's convention. "Is he living there now?"

"No, Em." I laughed as I popped a dumpling into my mouth. "He's not."

"He's not what?" Logan asked as he came into the kitchen. "Who is that?"

"It's Emma. Say hi!" I held out the receiver toward him.

"Hi Emma!" he called.

I could have heard her from five miles away: "HI LOGAN!"

Logan laughed and shook his head. "She's crazy," he commented.

"Yes, " I sighed. "She is both the meaning and bane of my existence."

"Hey! I heard that!" Emma growled.

"Yeah, and?" I asked her.

She sighed. "You sound happy."

I frowned a little. "I am happy, hon."

"I'm glad…. I am." She was trying awfully hard to convince me, so much so, I wondered if she was trying to convince herself.

"What about you? Are you happy?"

" 'Course I am. I get to spend my days taking people's pictures and painting. What more could you ask for?"

"You meet anybody cute? You haven't mentioned anything in that department lately." I wondered.

Logan glared at me. "Don't ask her that!"

"Why not?"

"Why not what?" Emma asked.

"Because I'm in the room!" he complained.

"Oh be quiet."

"Me?" Emma wondered.

"No!"

"Who?" Emma and Logan chorused.

"Emma, I will see you tomorrow, okay? And we can talk about this when you pick me up from the airport? When Logan isn't around…" I glared at him as I asked that. He only shrugged.

"Ah, he's not used to girl talk, is he?"

"Nope."

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow at three?"

"Yep. See you soon! Love you."

"Love you to! Say bye to Logan for me!"

"I will. Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up the phone and sat back on my hands as Logan came to stand in front of me, a box of lo mein noodles in his hand. "So, how's Em?"

"She's good. She says bye, by the way." I glanced at the lo mein box but didn't steal any the way I normally did. Suddenly, I wasn't very hungry.

"You look upset," he noted, setting down the box.

"It's nothing." I didn't look at him.

He flicked me in the knee. "Liar."

I hated when he did that. "…before she got on the train, Emma asked me not to forget her." I shrugged. "She's about worried how everything is changing."

"So, she's jealous of me?"

"It's nothing to be proud of." I insisted, crossing my arms over my chest. "It isn't. God," I ran my fingers through my hair. "Emma should know that nothing could come between us. I even kept her from our grandmother."

Logan stepped back. "You did what?"

"After Mom died, our grandmother came to funeral," I admitted. "And I was furious. She came and did her duty, paid her respects. But afterward she offered to take Emma off my hands. She'd put her in all the right schools, give her everything that I couldn't, the life my mother could have had." I spat the last bit out with the sour taste of contempt.

"What did you say?"

"I told her that she'd go to hell before she got her hands on my sister. I told her to go away and stay away. That we didn't want anything from her."

"Wait, so you never told Emma about the offer?" Logan's hand encircled my wrist, as if he were taking my pulse.

"No," I shook my head. "I never told her. I couldn't. She was so young and sad and she needed stability."

"She doesn't know? Even now?" Logan asked as I jumped down from the counter.

"How many languages can you understand 'no' in?" I wondered, getting a little frustrated.

"Don't you think she deserves to know?"

"She is my responsibility," I pointed at myself. "I decide what she needs to know and what isn't important."

He was incredulous now. "You never let her choose for herself?!"

"She's too young to make that kind of decision!"

He ran his hand over his eyes. "For God's Sake, Kayla! She's not ten anymore! She's all grown up! You can't protect her forever!"

I swallowed hard, hoping that he would remember this. "She is all I have left! And I will do whatever it takes to make sure she's safe! What else could I do?!"

"Deal with it," Logan backed away a little. "She's not a little girl anymore." He reasoned. "She doesn't need you the same way…."

I stared at him for a moment before I retorted: "Don't lecture me on how to take care of my sister when you can't even deal with your brother!"

"Don't bring Victor into this," he threatened, eyes hardening. "You have no idea what it was like!"

"I guess not, since I'm not the one having nightmares every night about it!" I was sorry the moment the words left my mouth. It was a low blow and I knew it as soon as I saw his face fall.

Logan held out his hands in surrender. "You know what?" he grabbed his keys from the counter. "I'm going to go. Before I say something I regret."

I nodded and bit my lip. "Yeah, maybe it's best."

"Do you need me to drive you to the airport tomorrow?" he asked, not looking at me.

"No, Dee said she'd drive me."

"I'll see you in a week, then." He turned and left without another word.

"Have you talked to him since the kitchen debacle?" Emma asked the next afternoon. As soon as I'd landed, she knew something was up. And on the way over to her dorm, I found myself spilling the fact that Logan and I had our first fight. She didn't say another word until she led me in to the nearest coffee shop and set me down for a huge cup (really, vat) of coffee.

"I called and told him I'd gotten here okay. We didn't say much more." I sighed and leaned my chin on my hand.

"What did you guys fight about?"

I waved it off. "Nothing important."

Emma nodded wisely. "Yeah, well, it was about time for your first fight. And most of those tend to be over stupid things."

"So, what do I do now?"

Emma shook her head. "I don't know. I think that's something you need to figure out for yourself," She bit her lip, as if she wanted to say something else.

"What?" I asked her. "What's wrong?"

"He didn't…"

"Didn't what?"

She looked down at her hands, almost afraid to speak anymore, but she kept going. "…hit you or…anything? I mean I know you would-"

"Emma," I placed my hand over hers. "I know how it can seem to everyone else, but Logan would never ever lay a hand on me. Never."

Emma's blue eyes locked on mine."You're sure?"

"Very." I grinned.

"Well, do you love him?" Emma came back to the question she'd asked five months ago. "Come on, you have to have an inkling by now."

"…I might…" I admitted.

"We can do a little test," Emma took a sip of her coffee. "To tell for sure."

"It's that foolproof?"

Emma glared at me. "Will you just trust me?"

"Fine. Go ahead."

"Okay…" Emma cleared her throat. "Do you look forward to seeing him?'

"Yes." I nodded, thinking of how impatient I was for work to be over so I could see Logan.

"Do you enjoy spending time with him?"

I smiled thinking of how the house had filled up with laughter since he'd come into my life. "Very much."

"When you're upset, who do you turn to?"

"Logan." I replied quietly.

"When do you feel most like yourself?"

I pressed my hand to my forehead. "With Logan." It was true. When I was with Logan, everything else just faded away and I never felt like I had to worry about what my hair looked like or what I was wearing. He never cared about silly things like that.

"Would you do anything to make him happy?"

That was a tough one, all I ever wanted to see was him smiling, laughing. I always wished I could wipe the nightmares out of his head, but I couldn't. I could only be there to tell him that everything was all right. And at the same time….Stryker… "…yeah, I would…." I replied resolutely.

Emma held out her hands. "I don't know what to say…"

"What do you mean?"

"Face it, hon, you're in love with him." Emma leaned her chin on her hands, a knowing smile on her face. "Or at least that's the way it's headed."

I shook my head. "It's…."

"Don't argue with me, Makayla Rose!" Emma snapped. "Don't you know how lucky you are?!"

"In case you hadn't realized," I retorted. "He hasn't said that he loved me."

"Please! Like he doesn't know that now!"

"And how would you know?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Because you're blind. That's why."

The conversation I had with Emma on Saturday haunted me all week. I kept replaying it during all the seminars and lectures. Every night, I tossed and turned, thinking about Emma's words and missing someone so much, I felt like I was going to fall apart at any second. I was never supposed to form a bond of any with him, I was supposed to fall in love with him. And yet, here I was doing just that. And there wasn't anything I could do now. The damage was done.

On Thursday, I came home from a lecture on bullying and saw that I had a message. I picked up the phone and checked, there was only silence recorded and I knew instantly who it was.

I set out at eight, the streets already beginning to darken and the streetlamps turning on. The sight once filled me with wonder, re-living the memories of strolling down these very streets with my mother and sister in a time when we were happy. But now, all I saw was the darkness, the threat of what lurked in the shadows; a man called Stryker.

Just as I predicted, he was waiting for me at the base of the CN Tower. "Kayla," He greeted me with a genuine smile. "My goodness, you get prettier every year." He told me like a benevolent grandfather.

"Thank you," I murmured. I kept my tone flat, cold even but he didn't seem to notice.

"So, how are you?" How is everything?"

"Fine, just fine."

"Good to hear. And how is Logan?"

"Fine."

"Told you the whole story?" he chuckled as if it were some hilarious joke. "Everything?"

I nodded. "He did. And I understand why he left."

"Do you, now?" Stryker sounded intrigued.

"You disgust me," I hissed. "You say that we are the dregs of humanity, that what we have are curses…" I thought for a second. "And yet, here you are blackmailing and murdering to get what you want….How is that any better?"

"Oh Kayla," Stryker laughed aloud, the tone sending shivers down my spine. "You're just like Logan. An idealist!"

"Why's that?"

He stopped when we were in the shadow of the tower. "You don't see the big picture, do you?"

"If you're the one putting it together," I whispered. "I don't think I want to."

"Fair enough," he held out his hands the way Logan had done less than a week ago. "But know this: your time is coming. One day, I'll come to visit your little town and you won't have to see me anymore." He walked away, leaving me alone in the shadows of the tower.

The airport was crowded that morning and I couldn't see Dee anywhere. I stood up on my tiptoes a few times as I walked slowly to baggage claim. I hadn't slept well since…well, the night before the fight with Logan. Between Emma's proclamation that I was in love with him, and Stryker's unsettling promise that time was slipping away, all I wanted to do was say I was sorry to Logan and make things right. It was all I could do.

As I approached the carousel, I realized I still hadn't seen Dee. I checked my watch for the fifteenth time. My flight had been right on schedule; no delays or unforeseen weather complications…so, where the hell was she?

And, as I scanned the baggage claim again, I saw a face that stuck out from the rest and I ran toward him.

Logan didn't hesitate and opened his arms to me as I crashed into him. He didn't say anything at first and neither did I. I buried my face in his shirt, memorizing the smell, the way his arms wrapped around my waist. For a brief moment, it felt like nothing and no one could touch us.

"I'm sorry…" We both whispered at the same moment. He set me down to look at me but kept a hand on mine.

"No!" We chorused. "I shouldn't have-" We broke off again before any real words could be said. This time, though, he placed his other hand over my mouth.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled," Logan murmured to me, the guilt as plain on his face as it was on mine. "I shouldn't have said those things about Emma, about you…"

I pulled his hand down and placed it on my waist. "I'm sorry too. It was mean and cruel and I should have never brought it up…"

He smiled and so did I. We'd survived our first fight. And it was the first of many. But we never let it go for a week like we had the first time. Every moment together was too precious because it was another moment closer to losing each other. A moment closer to when fate would wake up and there was nothing I could do now to stop it.

okay, so. Albion North brought up a good point in his/iher last review. He/She was worried about the semi-casual sex scene i included and how I would handle it. Thankfully, he/she thought I thought i handled it well and I'm very glad. I want you to know that I have not and will not ever write an explicit sex scene. I needed to add some sexual content because a.) it was in the movie (well implied but whatever) and b.) it was set in the seventies and that's what people did and i need to stay true to that

I'm going to get up on my soapbox, so if you don't want to hear my opinion, go ahead and review and skip the rest of the note.

Okay, so. I personally believe that young people are having sex WWAAAYYY too young and if you want my advice: wait. Don't do something you'll regret later. Wait and make sure its something you really want to do and be responsible about it.

I'm off my soapbox now! Happy reviewing!!