We reached home early Sunday morning; Mia and Chase stayed over at my place, we got a call from Noah telling us that everyone was going to be fine and that we should take care of ourselves too but I still didn't catch a wink of sleep when I tried to rest.

I was too afraid of the nightmares that could possibly come back.

But when exhaustion finally overcame me, sure enough on Sunday night when Mia and Chase had gone back to their own homes the nightmares plagued my sleep.

I woke up in the middle of the night sweating, my chest burned and my cheeks were dampened with tears, I struggled to catch my breath as I felt a weight press against my chest,

This time there was no one next to me to comfort me.

I gripped my chest tightly while searching in the dark for my phone on my nightstand, I immediately called the first person I knew made me feel safe in his arms.

After a few rings Logan's groggy voice came through the other end of the phone, "Hello?"

When I didn't answer his voice got increasingly more worried, "Alexandra?"

"I-I" I tried to form a coherent sentence but I couldn't form the words, they got stuck in my throat,

"Alex" and I heard ruffling on the other end,

Sobs wracked my body but I covered my mouth with my hand to silence them, Logan must've realized because he stopped whatever he was doing, "Alex it's okay to cry" he reassured.

I was being so freaking stupid.

It was just one damn nightmare, I shouldn't be this worked up about it, I shouldn't ruin Logan's night because he's burdened by my baggage.

But I was and I am.

I let out a cry of frustration, digging my nails into my palms.

"Alexandra!" he called to me through the phone and I tried focusing on his voice, which seemed to calm me down a little.

"I want you to do something for me? Okay?" and I nodded even though he couldn't see me,

"Walk over to your window, right now and look up at the sky okay?" I obeyed with my wobbly legs I looked out the window and towards the night.

"Remember what I told you? The night I asked you to be my girlfriend? On Evergreen Bridge? I told you that I saw stars in your eyes, I saw the galaxies in your heart and I told you that you gave me hope that in the darkness I saw the light" His words made my heart flutter all over again, the heart wrenching sobs that once wracked my body had stopped as I listened to Logan's voice.

"You've made it so far Alexandra. I know you're hurting, I know it hurts. But I'm so proud of you. It's okay to cry and let it all out. I know you're heart is heavy and you feel weighed down but everything is going to be okay, don't you dare give up Alexandra. God, do you know how cheesy I sound right now Alex? All for you" I let out a small laugh at that, sniffling slightly.

My heart swelled at my feelings for this boy, this boy who also gave me a light in the darkest of hours.

***

I should be sleeping right now but I'm not,

And I blame the person who was incessantly ringing that irritating doorbell at noon on a Monday.

I know I should be at school but Mia, Chase and I decided we could take a day off to just relax and so they were coming over tonight for a swim in the pool.

I passed my mirror on the way out of my room and I realized I looked like shit,

I had a large bandage wrapped around my upper arm which wasn't covered because of the white singlet top and black shorts I wore. I had dark circles under my eyes from the lack of sleep and my overall appearance didn't look all that appealing.

But right now I didn't really care.

I unlocked the door and it immediately came flying open,

Logan barged in, crashing his lips onto mine and my bad mood had vanished when I nearly melted in his arms from his touch.

It took me a few seconds to process what was happening before I kissed him back, his lips was soft but the kiss was rough and I could tell he needed this as much as I did, I could feel his worry for me melt away as did the anxiety that built up in my chest.

"Kasey! Logan's trying to eat Lexie's face off!" Beth's voice yelled from behind Logan and we immediately pulled apart,

"Get a room!" Valentino called from behind us and Logan flipped him off as I buried my head into the crook of Logan's neck, my cheeks were hot with embarrassment.

Beth came charging in with Gracie in her arms and as soon as Gracie saw me she left out of Beth's hands and ran to my feet and purring as he walked around my ankles lovingly.

"Are you okay?" Logan whispered into my ear, sending shivers run down my spine,

"Now that you're here," I replied.

Kasey, Will, Valentino, Grayson and Ethan came piling into the living room and plopping down onto he couches while Beth ran around the kitchen chasing Gracie who didn't look too happy about it.

Logan ran his thumb around the dark circles under my eyes and frowned, his other hand held my upper arm, and the same place that was bandaged up and I winced.

He noticed this and looked down at my arm, finally noticing it, then he checked all over my body for anymore visible damage and I could feel his temper rise.

"What the fuck happened?" he asked me impatiently, "Why didn't you tell me about this"

"I didn't want you to worry" I replied quietly,

Now I had caught everyone's attention as they took in my appearance,

"It's really not that bad, you should see the other guys" I tried to brush it off, laughing awkwardly,

"What happened?" Logan asked sternly and his tone told me he wasn't messing around anymore.

"We went to that place I told you about and we broke in but we were ambushed and-"

"Is everyone okay?" Will asked worriedly,

"Everyone's okay, just a few injuries but we'll live"

"Where is everyone?" Kasey asked,

"Chase, Mia and I went home, the rest of them left to the nearest hospital",

Silence overcame the room like a thick blanket,

"But you're okay?" Logan asked again and I nodded in response.

Hand in hand, Logan and I sat on a couch next to everyone else,

"So where'd you go?" Ethan asked,

"This warehouse place where we traced a call too" I told him, pulling out my phone and showing them a picture of the location.

When I did I surveyed their expressions and they all remained blank except Logan's who looked dumbfounded.

"What's wrong?" I asked him and his grip on my hand tightened,

"I've seen that place before, but I can't remember where".

***

"I'm going to make you drown in your own pathetic tears, Ryder!" I yelled at Logan after he threw me into the pool.

That jerk.

"You're such an asshole!" he stood at the edge of the pool, cackling like an idiot.

Suddenly he came toppling into the pool right on top of me, we resurfaced together spluttering and coughing.

"Classy" I muttered and Logan splashed me with a wave of pool water, it turns out that Valentino had pushed him in.

Grayson and Ethan soon joined us by grabbing Valentino's arms and cannonballing into he pool with him kicking and yelling,

Valentino's arms flailed in the water and Ethan grabbed him by his arm and pulled him back to the surface, when he came up for air Valentino took a few deep breaths before shooting a glare at the boys and walking off.

"What was that about?" I asked Logan as Valentino went over and leaned over the table full of chips and drinks.

"It's a long story" he replied and I nodded,

A few feet away from the pool and out of ear shot Mia was having a heated discussion with Chase, I barely caught a few sentences but I was sure it was about Chase not wanting to irritate Noah further by hanging out with Logan. After a few more minutes it looked as if Mia had won, she looked triumphant in getting Chase to stay while Chase had a hesitant look on his face. When he looked over at me I offered him a small smile which he returned, then joined Kasey, Will and Mia in conversation.

I sighed loudly, if Chase was so hard to convince I can't help but imagine how hard Noah would take it.

"He'll come around," Logan whispered to me, he grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I nodded, I knew it was wrong of me to force a relationship between them but I don't see how it could be so terrible if we were all friends.

We had put Beth to sleep upstairs while Will, Mia, and Chase joined Logan, Kasey, Grayson, Ethan and myself were in the pool soon after, even Vicky joined us later in the night.

"So how's Kyle?" Vicky asked me as she stood next to me, watching as everyone got into a water fight.

"Huh?"

"How's Kyle?" she repeated with an eye roll,

"Uh- fine?"

"Is that a question?"

I'm going to be honest; Vicky was extremely intimidating.

"Kyle is okay I guess, why?"

"He and I dated briefly last year before I realized what a dick he was" she muttered and I furrowed my eyebrows,

"He slept with another girl when we weren't really official but when I found out, we were dating. He apologized and everything even though he didn't really have to since we weren't an item then, but he still regretted it but now I'm over it",

I nodded, slowly as I tried to take everything in.

"I'll be stealing her," Logan said, holding my hand and pulling me further into the pool,

Vicky just hummed in agreement.

I watched everyone around me and they looked like they were having fun.

Except Valentino.

He stood next to the table packed with food, staring at his feet.

"I'll be back," I told Logan, getting out of the pool, he tugged my hand and gave me the puppy dog look,

"Don't," I warned him and he pulled me towards him, "Logan".

He wrapped his arms around my waist, sending sparks up my spine at his touch.

"I like what you're wearing" Logan whispered in my ear, I was wearing a simple black bikini that had a really cute lace pattern and hugged my curves,

I was distracted by his voice was all raspy and sexy and I hated how we were out here having fun while Valentino wasn't.

I splashed a wave of cold water over Logan and he let go of me shooting me a look to which I responded with an innocent smile,

I got out of the pool just as everyone started a water fight and I chuckled, walking over to Valentino I noticed he had a far away look on his face.

"Hi" I said to him,

"Hey" he responded, his usual cheerfulness was long gone.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing"

"Valentino" I said sternly,

"Alex" he replied equally as sternly.

He looked down at his feet and I frowned,

"Val, if something's bothering you, you can talk to me".

"I-I..."

I waited for him to continue but he just hung his head low, I understood; he didn't feel in the sharing mood right now and I wasn't going to force him into telling me,

"Last year my sister, Lily... She passed away".

My felt my heart clench tightly in my chest at this new information,

"We were out going out on a holiday together because I rarely got to see her because she goes overseas for her job a lot and that week there was some fucking gang shit going on" I heard a snap and I turned to face the noise.

"At the time- I didn't realise it was Elliot" 

I clenched my teeth in anger,

Everything led back to Elliot.

"We stopped at a nearby lake to look at the view and that was when we realized that there was a car following close behind us, I told her to get in the car but being the stubborn person she was she obviously didn't... She got shot but it wasn't the wound that killed her, she fell into the lake and I-I was too busy fight off the people who attacked us to notice. By the time I jumped into the lake to find her body... She was already dead".

A single tear rolled down Valentino's cheek and he hastily wiped it away,

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry" I told him embracing him into a hug.

It was an awkward position since I was much shorter than him but I could tell he appreciated it anyway by how tight he was holding on to me.

"I just don't feel comfortable in the water just yet...Sorry you had to listen to my sob story and thanks" he said rubbing the back of his neck when we pulled apart.

He was so strong.

The rest of the night was fun; we played Marco Polo in the pool and had water fights even Valentino joined in later by dipping his legs in but still not fully immersing himself.

"What were we saying about improvement?" Logan smirked slyly at me when I gave him a quick peck on the cheek,

I rolled my eyes and pressed my lips against his,

I hope I never get tired of this feeling.

***

How'd you guys like the chapter?!1?!11?!!

Valentino's story was kinda random but I wanted to put it in there because I didn't want the story to be entirely about Noah, Alex and Logan so you'll also be hearing Megan and Mia's story a little later.

Anyways,

Please vote, comment and share especially if you liked this chapter

Sincerely, Sia x