Emma’s POV
I thought I’d made it through the day without seeing him.
After enduring whispers, stares, and half-hearted apologies from people who had stood by and watched me fall, I was ready to disappear.
To let the school doors close behind me and pretend none of it had ever happened.
But then—I saw him.
Logan.
Leaning against his car, posture casual, expression unreadable, like he had all the time in the world.
My stomach twisted.
He straightened immediately when our eyes met, his dark gaze locking onto mine with a determination that made my breath catch.
For a split second, I considered walking past him. Pretending I hadn’t heard. Pretending I didn’t care.
But the truth was?
I couldn’t avoid this anymore.
I owed him—no, I owed us—at least a conversation.
So I forced myself forward, slowly, carefully, until I was standing just a few feet away.
“Logan, I… I need to say something.”
He blinked, caught off guard.
“Okay.”
I took a breath. Tried to steady my voice.
“I know you didn’t give her those messages on purpose. Why didn’t you say anything?”
***
Logan’s POV
I should’ve known she’d ask that.
The question had been hanging between us for days, poisoning every look, every silence, every time she refused to meet my eyes in the hallway.
I exhaled sharply, jaw tightening.
“I’ve been trying to explain, but you don’t want to hear it,” I said, frustration bleeding into my voice. “You’re too busy convincing yourself I’m the bad guy. Well, Emma, maybe I am a bad guy and you should stay away from me.”
Her eyes flashed, her arms crossing tight over her chest.
“That’s not fair,” she snapped. The guilt, the anger, the hurt—all of it boiling over. “I’m trying, Logan. Do you think it’s easy for me to just forget everything that happened? That she humiliated me in front of the whole school?”
“And you think it was easy for me to stand there and watch her do that?” I fired back, my voice rising. She didn’t get it.
She didn’t see how much it had killed me to stand there, to watch Vanessa tear her apart, to feel like my hands were fucking tied.
“You think I wasn’t furious?” I demanded. “That I didn’t want to stop her?”
Her fists clenched at her sides. Her breathing was shaky now, but she wasn’t backing down.
“Then why didn’t you?” she shot back, voice breaking. “Why didn’t you do anything?”
***
Emma’s POV
“She blindsided me, okay?” Logan’s voice rose slightly, frustration flickering in his eyes. “She’s been trying to mess with me for weeks, Emma. Trying to—”
He stopped abruptly, his jaw clenching.
Like he was choosing his next words carefully.
“Trying to get me to choose her over you,” he finally admitted, voice rough. “I thought if I made it clear we were serious, she’d back off. I didn’t think she’d go this far.”
My heart twisted painfully.
“Well, she did.”
The words came out colder than I intended.
Logan exhaled sharply, raking a hand through his hair. He looked… tired.
He stepped closer, slowly, like he wasn’t sure if I’d let him.
“Em—”
“No.” I cut him off, my voice shaking now. “You let her humiliate me, Logan. And you didn’t do a damn thing to stop it.”
His expression darkened, his frustration boiling over completely.
“I didn’t know what to do!” he snapped, his voice raw now. “I froze. I screwed up, okay? But I didn’t betray you.”
I stared at him, my breath coming too fast, too uneven.
“That’s exactly what you did when you didn’t stop her from shaming me.”
My voice was quieter now, but the weight of it landed between us like a slap.
Logan flinched. Then his expression hardened again, his chest rising and falling too fast, his hands clenched at his sides.
“Fine. You were never really ready to be with me, Emma. You were always scared. And maybe, just like you, I’m a guy who gets scared too,” he shot back, but his voice was calm and gloomy, as if he’d just surrendered in a fight. “I’ll leave you be.”
The words cut through me, leaving a stinging wound in their wake.
And I hated that he was right. That was the worst part. Because a part of me—a small, ugly part—had been looking for a reason to push him away. And maybe Vanessa had handed it to me.
Or maybe… maybe I just hadn’t been brave enough to fight for this in the first place.
I forced my expression to turn cold. “Maybe we really can’t be together, after all.”
He sighed, “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I don’t deserve you, Emma.”
***
Logan’s POV
I think that was the first time she ever truly hurt me. Not just pissed me off. Not just made me frustrated. But actually hurt me. Her words landed like a gut punch, knocking the wind from my lungs, leaving me standing there, staring at her like I didn’t even recognize her.
My anger drained away, leaving behind something far worse. Something closer to despair. Because I felt light I’m losing something that mattered the world to me.
I swallowed, my throat suddenly tight. “Maybe I don’t deserve you, Emma.” I said it quietly this time, my voice rough.
And maybe that hurt worse than yelling.
Because I could tell it got to her.
Her eyes flickered. Her lips parted slightly, like she wasn’t sure how to respond.
I stepped back.
Shook my head.
“One day,” I murmured, softer now. “You’re going to realize that the thing we had, it was real. Atleast to me it was.””
And then I turned.
And walked away before I could let her see just how much she’d broken me.