In the Claws of an Angel

The pumpkin orange sun had almost sank completely below the crystal water's horizon as Logan and I made our way through the Sawgrass and onto the beach, taking a left and leaving the campsite behind for a while.

My mind was still racing a mile a minute, blowing through everything that Logan could possibly want to talk to me about. No matter how hard I tried to focus on one idea, though, my thoughts scattered and scrambled up, making it impossible to think of anything rational.

So instead I concentrated on the feeling of my bare feet brushing through the velvety soft sand, and the sound of the waves gently lapping at the shore. It helped to calm my bundle of nerves a little bit, but not much.

"Nice night, huh?" Logan spoke up softly from next to me, hooking his thumbs into his front pockets.

I did my best to push my frantically anxious thoughts aside and smile up at him, nodding my head.

"Mhm, it is." I agreed as I reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

Silence fell over Logan and I again as we walked along the beach, and I swear I could feel a cloud of tension brewing around us like some sort of forcefield. A cool breeze flowed inland from the water, brushing my hair from my shoulders and rippling through the long strands.

"So, um..." Logan hesitantly piped up again, sounding just a little unsure, which was unusual for him, "Ana, I-"

Suddenly, a loud, crackling sound filled the air, followed by a colorful flash across the beach. I instantly felt my heart jump and my eyes widen as I gazed up at the sky, just in time to catch my first firework of this 4th of July.

It was a gorgeous burst of shimmering blues and purples, topped off with a golden fizzle at the end. A few more popped off after that, filling the clear sky with contrasting greens and reds, before dying out for the moment.

I didn't realize how wide my smile was until I turned to Logan, only to catch him gazing at me already. I felt my cheeks warm to a rosey pink, and I was thankful for the darkness that was hiding it.

"I love fireworks," I told Logan softly, watching as a smirk tugged his lips upward slightly, "4th of July's always been my favorite holiday."

"Yea," Logan agreed as just a few more small fireworks popped off above us, but he never took his eyes off me, "I've always liked it too, even though I'm pretty sure I'm Canadian."

I let out a giggle, causing Logan's smirk to grow into that smile that I had come to be so attracted to. Inside my ribcage, my heart was pounding furiously, and my stomach felt like it was doing jumping jacks right below it.

As quick as his smile grew, though, it disappeared.

"... Ana..." Logan spoke up again, his tone totally changed. I swear I could hear nervousness in voice, which was so unlike him. "About what I wanted to talk to you about... Y'know, the whole reason I brought you out here for this walk... I just have to get something off my chest."

Oh, God. Here we go... I was about to find out where this walk on the beach was leading to. I swear, my stomach stopped doing jumping jacks and instantly dropped to my knees.

"... What is it...?" My voice was so small and meek, I could have kicked myself.

Logan paused for a moment, staring out at the water and running a hand through his thick, wavy hair before turning back to look at me. "... Ready for my personal question of the day?"

My head tilted to the side in slight confusion, and I narrowed my eyes.

"Personal question of the day?" I repeated, the anticipation starting to get to me now, "We haven't done that in a while."

"Well, this one's a pretty big one..." Logan muttered as we walked along, staring down at the sand and looking troubled.

I glanced over at him, flashing my eyes over his darkened face. His eyes looked troubled and glassy, and his eyebrows knitted together like he was deep in thought.

"Logan, is everything okay?" I asked him seriously, "You're starting to freak me out a little bit."

The man who had grown to be my best friend chuckled lightly as he gently kicked the sand, taking a moment to stare up at a few more fireworks that had popped off above us.

"Trust me, you're not the only one freaking out..." He muttered, which honestly only made my internal panic worse.

"Hey, what the hell's-" I started to demand, my voice growing concerned and urgent, but Logan cut me off by suddenly side stepping in front of me, and gently grasping my shoulders to stop me in my tracks.

He stared down at me for a long moment, and I didn't quite know what to do except to stare back, wide eyed and blinking. Logan took a deep breath, and exhaled before starting to talk again, his voice calm and even.

"Anabelle..." He began, letting my name leave his lips painfully slow, "How do you see me...?"

At this point, I was a little dumbfounded.

"How do I see you...?" I asked him, trying not to sound completely confused... But i was, so it was pretty hard to hide. "What do you mean?"

"I mean..." Logan seemed to struggle for his words as he released my shoulders and paced away from me a little, lifting his hand up to his face to squeeze the bridge of his nose. "Do you... Do you see me as a friend, or... Something more...?"

In that moment, I really thought my heart had clawed it's way into my throat, and not even the biggest, most nervous gulp in the world could push it back down into my ribcage.

"I-I..." I stammered, searching for the right words, but I couldn't seem to find them. I didn't exactly know the answer he wanted. "I... Uh..."

"Wait, don't answer yet." Logan stopped me, holding his hands up, "Let me go first..." He paused to take another deep breath, giving me a second to deal with the goosebumps rising at the sound of his hushed, husky voice, "Anabelle... I... These past few weeks..."

He suddenly let out a frustrated sigh, and I was starting to get really concerned... What the hell was he trying to tell me?

"Okay, there's no way for me to get this off my chest but to just... Say it." Logan said softly as he stared down at the sand, more to himself than to me. But then, he turned his eyes back up to mine.

"Anabelle, I... I guess you could say I've got a crush on you. I know, before you tell me how lame that sounds... I know. I just really don't know how else to put it. I care about you, more than I should, probably, for the amount of time we've known each other, but... I can't help it. I was planning on just keeping it a secret, but I can't do it anymore. And... I just need to know how you feel about me before I go completely insane."

As soon as the last words left Logan's mouth, my whole world stopped. It was like I was frozen in place, wide eyed and red faced. My heart beat was absent, my mind was blank... I was just trying to process this information, that I still wasn't exactly sure I heard right.

"Ana...?" Logan said softly, lowering his eyes to mine and snapping me back to reality, "Are you okay...?" When I didn't answer for a few moments, he slapped his palm to his forehead and closed his eyes, "God dammit, I knew I should have just kept my mouth shut. Logan, you stupid jackass... I'm sorry, Ana, I didn't mean-"

"I... I do too..." My soft voice broke the air, cutting Logan's words short, and snapping his eyes open.

"What?" He asked, staring at me intently. Fireworks were exploding over us in a frenzy now, and as I glanced out onto the water I noticed they were coming from a group of boats floating near the horizon.

"I care about you, too..." I clarified, my voice so soft that it seemed to be carried away by the breeze. I honestly couldn't believe it was really me that was saying this, and that it was real life, not some crazy dream.

Logan's shoulders slowly released the tension they were holding as he stared at me in slight disbelief. Our eyes locked for a brief moment, neither of us seeming to believe what the other was saying.

"You do...?" Logan asked me quietly, taking a tentative step closer to me.

I nodded, swallowing hard and trying to calm my racing heart and pounding adrenaline. "I always thought it was so obvious... I mean, most of the time I can barely look at you because... Well... You know..." I traced a circle in the sand with my foot, feeling bashful as ever. "You're very attractive..."

Holy shit, did I really just say that?! Who are you, and where's the real Ana?

When I stole a glance back up at Logan, he was grinning from ear to ear, with an eyebrow cocked upwards, one of his signature looks that made my knees weak.

"Wow..." He muttered, shaking his head, "Well, y'know, I can say the same thing about you, pretty girl... Except I have no problems lookin' at ya."

Now it was me smiling, but it was a nervous, slightly giddy smile. I just couldn't believe this was happening right now... It was so sudden. It sort of scared me, but at the same time, a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I didn't have to hide anything anymore.

"You think I'm pretty...?" I asked him, tilting my head to the side. I could feel my small smile growing by the second, despite how nervous I was.

"Of course I do." Logan replied without missing a beat, "Ana, I think you're gorgeous."

It felt like a million butterflies were trapped inside me as I listened to him, fluttering madly and trying to burst their way out.

"S-so..." I stuttered quietly, reaching up and snatching the ends of my hair and twiddling them in my finger tips, "What do we do... about this, I mean?"

"Well..." Logan replied softly, closing the distance between us slightly and reaching up to gently grab one of my trembling hands, lacing his fingers in mine, "How 'bout we start with this... That good...?"

Even just the feeling of his rough, leathery palm pressed against the soft skin of mine was enough to slightly labor my breathing. I glanced from our hands, then up to Logan's gentle, affectionate smile.

I couldn't help but smile back, despite all the overwhelming emotions I was feeling all at the same time. Happiness, anxiety, fear... But when I let myself get lost in Logan's hazel orbs, all those feelings seemed to melt away, or at least numb down a little.

"C'mon, let's keep walking," Logan suggested, gently tugging me into motion again, and keeping me close by his side. "We've still got some fireworks to watch."

He was right, fireworks were still exploding over our heads, making this all seem like a scene out of a movie. I just couldn't believe this was my life... My real life. But as I felt Logan lightly squeeze my hand, stroking my thumb with his, I knew there was no way I could be dreaming.

We strolled along the beach in content silence, just enjoying the other being there... Or maybe we were just too overwhelmed to talk, and that was fine with me. Every time I opened my mouth, I sounded like a nervous wreck.

Suddenly, though, something caught my eye in the distance. It was a tall cone shaped structure, perched at the edge of the sand. As we drew a little closer, I realized it was an old lighthouse.

"Hey, look," I said, pointing to the abandoned building, "A lighthouse! I've never seen one before, besides in movies and on the Internet."

"Huh. Well, look at that." Logan observed before stealing a downward glance at me, "It's not too far away. You wanna go check it out? Maybe we can climb to the top and get a better view of the fireworks."

My stomach jumped at how exciting that sounded. I had always loved to explore mysterious places, and an old abandoned light house had to be at the top of the list for that.

"Yea, let's go!" I agreed excitedly, rising a chuckle from Logan.

It took us only about two more minutes to reach the old building, and up close it was even more obvious that this lighthouse had been out of commission for a few years now. The stones it was made of were beginning to crackle, and the paint was almost completely faded away from constant exposure to the elements.

Logan led me to the entrance, which I could see used to have some sort of door but lacked one now. Before we stopped foot inside, Logan stopped me.

"Let me go first, and stay close behind me, okay?" He instructed me, "You never know what could be inside a place like this, or if everything's still stable in there."

I nodded to show I understood, and Logan took that as a signal to begin cautiously leading me inside. It was dark, but my eyes adjusted quickly, and the air inside the lighthouse smelled like wet sand. The bottom floor was mostly just empty space full of moss and scattered pebbles, but to the left there was a staircase that wound up and to the left, disappearing around the center cylinder of the building, which was the main foundation.

Logan glanced over his shoulder at me, nodding upward toward the staircase. I kept a tight grip on his hand as we slowly made our way upward. The stairs were made of solid stone, so of course they were sturdy enough to hold our weight. It was a short climb to the top, where everything looked weathered, rusted and gutted out. There was almost nothing left of the control panel, and the large socket for the light looked brittle, as if would shatter if you so much as brushed it.

The glass was missing from the cage around us, long since busted and fallen away, giving Logan and I a completely open view of the water, which I could hear lapping against the bottom of the lighthouse, and got us closer to the beautiful fireworks popping off loudly in the sky around us.

"Wow..." I breathed as I watched the bright colors flash and fizzle out, only to be replaced again with different colors and patterns, "This is amazing, Logan..."

"Yea," Logan agreed softly, "Pretty amazing..."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him staring at me. When I turned my head to the side, he didn't bother looking away. He just buried his eyes in mine, and the sensual emotion he was transmitting to me from them was enough to stop my heart.

I blushed, feeling that nervous, anxious feeling bubbling up in my stomach. I was about to ask him what he was looking at, when a sharp breeze whipped in and tossed my hair into my face. I gasped in slight surprise, shaking my head to clear the strands away. That just made it worse, though.

"Here, let me help you." Logan chuckled, and suddenly both his hands were gingerly roaming my face, effortlessly brushing away my unruly hair. Once all my locks were cleared away, Logan's hands lingered on my face, cupping my cheeks gently. He gazed at my features, seeming to drink in every little freckle, before telling me in a very soft voice, "... Your eyes are so beautiful, Ana..."

The only thing I could do was let out a light, bashful laugh. I was too overwhelmed to respond to anything I was feeling, especially not a compliment from Logan. But he was picking up on my body language.

"Hey, you don't have to be shy anymore. " He whispered to me, gently stroking my left cheek with his thumb, "It's just me..."

Before I could reply, Logan closed the distance between us, sliding his hands to the back of my neck, wrapping his fingers around the base, and finally pressed his lips against mine.

At first, an electric shock jolted up my spine, and my body stiffened up. I was not expecting this at all... But after a second or two, my heart told me this was right. I wanted this, more than anything in the world. I wanted Logan, and he actually wanted me back. It was like a dream I never wanted to wake up from, ever.

So, all the tension fell away from my muscles, and I let myself melt into Logan's chest, closing my eyes and moving my lips gently against his. The scruff around his mouth tickled me a little, but I loved it... It sent shivers up my spine, sending my estrogen levels skyrocketing.

Before long, the kiss became more fervent, our lips crushing and mingling together as our bottled up attraction for each other exploded just like the fireworks in the sky behind us, drawing our bodies together in a heated bundle like a powerful magnet.

When my arms snaked upward, wrapping themselves around Logan's neck and deepening the kiss, he let out a low, animalistic groan, guiding me backwards and pressing my back into the cold stone wall. Goosebumps rose all over my skin from the chilly feeling against my exposed shoulders, but as Logan covered my frame with his, his body heat chased them away.

Suddenly, I felt Logan's tongue brush along my lower lip ever so slightly, politely asking to meet mine. My stomach flipped and flopped in anticipation as my lips listened to my animal instincts, parting just enough to allow him entrance. As our tongues danced and collided together as our lips moved, feeling so satisfying and natural, Logan ran his masculine hands down the sides my body, letting them rest on my hips.

This time it was my turn to let out a soft moan, causing Logan to grip my waist in his strong fingers, leaning into me a little harder and pressing himself against me. I wished we didn't need to breathe, but obviously that wasn't the case... So, when we finally broke for air, I let my eyes flutter open, staring into his.

Pebbles and other small objects were floating around us, as if we were standing in a zero gravity chamber. I blushed as Logan raised an eyebrow, lifting his right hand from my waist to flick one of the floating pebbles away from his head.

"Is this a good thing...?" He chuckled to me, nodding toward all the floating debris.

No matter how hard I tried to speak, I couldn't force the words from my voice box. I was too overwhelmed by that amazing, steamy kiss in this lighthouse, underneath the fireworks. So, I just smiled at Logan and gave him a small nod.

He grinned, replacing his hand on my waist, and leaned his forehead down against mine.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for that." He said to me in a low, husky voice, making me want to dive right back into our hearted make-out.

Instead, I tangled my fingers into the back of his thick hair, leaning up and giving Logan a soft peck on the lips before pulling away again.

"You and me both..."

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To be continued...

AN:: akshutjzkcndhdhhsbdh!!!  Yaaaaay I'm so freakin' happy I just wrote that! Finally, Logan feels!!

Okay guys, please let me know if that was worth the wait! Hopefully I settled all of your cravings for our sexy mutant (; and get ready, because all the action in the story is about to unfold... Huuge plot twists coming in later chapters, people!

Alrighty, until next time, Logan lovers!

❤