Logan woke up with his arms wrapped around his girl, enjoying the feeling of his bare skin on hers.
They had been planning to wait until at least after the final game of the season, but when Ashleighe asked if he wanted to go further even earlier, he wasn't in any state to complain.
After all, how could he say no to such an incredible human, with an even more stunning body to match?
Logan knew he should be concerned about so many things - her parents, his parents, and the finals game tonight - but he refused.
He wanted to be in the here, in the now, in love with this amazing woman he had been lucky enough to meet.
He ran his hands through her hair, listening to the air puff out of her nose as she exhaled.
Logan knew at that moment that everything was right in the world.
He began to drift back to sleep, dreaming of lazy days watching netflix together, and vacations to exotic beaches, when he was jolted awake once again.
His phone rang from across the room, waking Ashleighe as well. She groaned as he stumbled out of bed, clearly not ready to face the sunshine just yet.
Logan turned his head to wink at her as he walked past, and Ashleighe's face flushed before she began to giggle.
And then she stopped, noticing his posture change as he saw the caller ID.
His coach would only be calling him at 10am on a Saturday morning if something were terribly, terribly wrong.
~~~~
Kyle woke up to a shrill scream.
He grabbed his pillow to cover his ears, attempting to ignore his mother's cries, when he suddenly felt something stir inside him.
And then he felt fear.
His heart rate spiked, the sound of blood rushing past his eardrums becoming apparent.
He leapt out of bed, threw on the first pair of shorts he saw, and sprinted out of his room.
He skipped steps on his way down, and didn't even close the door to his backyard as he sprinted out to his mother.
"MOM! Are you okay!?"
Kyle saw her gazing at something just around the corner of his home, eyes wide, hands trembling.
It was as if she hadn't heard him at all.
And then he saw it.
The blood.
The knife.
The splayed fingers of a hand grasping desperately for the knife, attached to an arm bent at an unnatural angle.
And then he saw her face.
Becca's face.
No! No, no, no no NO!
Why was she here!? Why was she hurting!?
All the bad memories vanished into thin air.
That was his GIRL! Bleeding out on the pavement!
"BECCA!"
The girl blinked, clearly out of it.
Next thing Kyle knew he was ushing the emergency medical services through his home, helping them load his precious Becca onto the stretcher.
He didn't feel the tears streaming down his face until they landed on the girl laying in front of him.
He sat in the ambulance, holding her bloodied hand in complete ignorance of what she had attempted the night before.
He looked up at the man who seemed to be in charge of the tubes and fluids hooked up to her body, the doctor's expressions obscured by the blue mask covering the lower half of his face.
He asked once again, and then again.
"Is she going to be okay!?"
The sounds of the sirens filled his ears as time became meaningless, both forever and never at once.
His whole body shook violently each time he managed to gulp in some air, his clenching stomach muscles quickly forcing the oxygen back out.
His head grew dizzy as his vision grew dim. The floor shifted, the bench rising towards his face.
And then all was black.
~~~~
Kai watched as Kyle's mind grew the fear he had given it once again.
The experience with Becca had been enlightening, teaching him more about the extent of his powers than he had ever imagined before.
And so he had chosen to grant Kyle back what he had stolen. A small penance for what he had put the boy through, perhaps.
Except this time, Kyle became one with a part of him.
His fear, his sadness, his joy?
All decided upon by Kai, and Kai alone.
Of course, he could choose to let them run rampant, growing out of control until Kyle grew to become as powerless to his fears as Becca had become to her anger.
But he would not. Not yet, and maybe not ever.
Kyle served him well as a vessel, and it would be such a shame to lose that.
Not to mention his connection to the history teacher, and even more importantly…
Sophia.
He had come to like her these past few days. She was different, amusing, like a cat that enjoyed baths.
Something that drew his attention, and could keep it there.
He wasn't ready to leave such a unique source of entertainment behind.
Learning about another human would've been torturously boring, anyways.
~~~~
Ashleighe held Logan's hand as he prepared to enter the professional football stadium.
She knew there was no chance at a win tonight, not without Kyle.
She also knew, however, that she could not let that show.
So she swallowed her doubts, her fears, her anxieties, and squeezed his hand.
"Logan… no matter what happens, no matter whether we win or lose, I will be here, waiting for you, outside this very car when the night is done."
She saw him take a shaky breath as he finally let go, leaving her in the car alone.
MVHS did not win the final game of the season that night.
Logan's last chance, perhaps only good chance, at winning the season crumbled to dust to be swept away by the cold winds of his disappointment.
He slogged through the crowds, wandered through the parking lot, and collapsed into Ashleighe's arms.
She held him there as he cried, consoled him as he shook, and when he had calmed
They sat in silence, watching the sun rise over the city together.