He got off the bike and took his helmet off before reaching out towards me. I felt his hands reach the bottom of my helmet and I quickly pulled it back down. I didn't need anyone else seeing me cry that night.

"Ok...but you can't keep it on forever you know," he said, leading me to the elevator.

"I know," I said, probably incoherently through the helmet.

It was a silent ride up the eight floors and the inside of the helmet was well and truly soaked with my tears. By the time the elevator dinged, I'd managed to keep my tear ducts under control. I pulled the helmet off my head and gave my eyes a quick wipe while Logan unlocked the door of apartment 86.

I'd never been to Logan's house before, but I had definitely pictured a mansion similar to the ones the others lived in. He switched on a light, illuminating a living room with a huge flat screen on the wall. The opposite walls were huge glass panes that extended from floor to roof. The street lights glimmered from the city below.

"You live alone?" I asked.

"For now. My house is like World War three at the moment." He held out his hand and I gave him the helmet back. "Hot chocolate?" He asked, walking into the kitchen. I nodded, sitting down on one of the bar stools in front of his kitchen bench.

He'd driven me around the city randomly for at least twenty minutes while I sobbed my stupid eyes out. He'd said nothing and asked me nothing the entire time. My phone showed a dozen missed calls from Elaine and at least twenty frantic text messages. It was probably time to reply.

The last of them read:

E: you okay? Someone said Logan picked you up?

D: I'm okay. Thanks for checking up on me, just go to bed don't worry

E: I can come get you. I don't feel good leaving you with Logan

D: I'm fine really

E: Ok...but pls call me if you need

D: of course xo

"Is that Elaine?" Logan asked. "You're smiling at your phone."

"Yeah. She's just making sure I'm okay."

"I feel really bad about the thing with Elaine, after Steph's party. I was really far gone that night. She must really hate me, huh?"

"I don't think so," I lied.

"You're a bad liar," he said, shaking his head slowly. He set down a cup in front of me before sitting on a stool opposite me. It was a hot cup of cocoa with two small marshmallows on top.

"So, you stalking me Logan?" I took a sip from the

"I just happened to be driving by," he grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "And you call me a bad liar," I managed to cough out a laugh.

"Fine. Brace yourself though," he said.

"I think I can handle it," I mumbled.

"I caught a bit of it on someone's livestream," he replied. "So I went to check on you."

I could feel the lump rising in my throat again, this time mixed with the pounding of my heart. I grabbed the cup and sipped on the cocoa.

Logan drove me back home. Surprisingly, I hadn't been hounded by my mum all night.

"Helmet," Logan said with his arms out.

"Thanks Logan, for everything," I said, handing it back to him.

"See you on Monday Sorenson."

"Text me when you get home. It would be...unfortunate if you died."

"I'm touched," he said, a hand over his heart. "Night." As I entered the house, the low rumbling of the engine started to disappear.

My mum had left a note on the fridge for me:

I won't be home until tomorrow. I've left food in the fridge. I'll call you in the morning.

Love, Mum.

--

It didn't surprise me to find Elaine leaning against my locker with her arms crossed on Monday morning. The furrows in her brow eased once she caught sight of me and she hurried towards me. We'd already spent hours on the phone on Saturday, and I'd been surprisingly ok with what had happened on Friday night. No extra tears or anything. Even I was impressed with myself.

"How are you doing?" She asked, giving me a tight hug.

"I'm good. I'm actually good," I grinned.

"Good. Now you've got to spill," she said, hitting me gently on the arm.

"Spill what?"

"Well for starters, please don't tell me you spent the night at Logan's," she said in a hushed whisper.

"No!" I exclaimed. "I did not!"

She let out a sigh of relief. "Since when were you two the best of friends?"

"It's a long story. Very long story. But also, I kind of can't tell you because it's not really my story to tell," I said, a pang of guilt hitting me.

"Mmm, ok," Elaine nodded. "Rich people dirt I'm assuming. I hate his guts, but considering he was there for you, I won't break his nose."

"Told you she hated me," a voice came from behind me.

"It wasn't a secret," Elaine smiled.

"What will it take to earn your forgiveness?" He asked.

"I don't know. What does it take to stop being a dick?" She retorted.

"Ok kids, I'll let you sort this out. I'm going to be late for class," I said, heading off first.

Of course, I had human bio first. I hadn't spoken to Wes since he decided to ditch me. Guess it wasn't hip to be seen with the girl who'd date anything that breathed, even though that was true for half of the guys at the school.

Ok. Be cool. Pretend nothing happened.

Wes was already in his seat, looking pensively at his textbook even though there was probably nothing larger than a walnut in his skull. I set my textbooks down and flipped to the current chapter, wanting nothing more than for a spontaneous seat rearrangement. I'd have rathered sitting alone for the rest of the year than next to Wes.

"Hey Daisy," he whispered.

"Yeah?" I replied, not bothering to look at him.

"I just wanted to say -"

The teacher walked in at that moment, saving me from a discussion I didn't want to have. She kept us busy for the rest of class so I had an excuse to ignore Wes.

As soon as the bell sounded, I grabbed all of my things and pretty much bolted out of the classroom. Of course, I hadn't walked quickly enough. As I continued down the hallway, I overheard a few of the guys on the team talking to Wes.

"So you ditched her Friday night? I told you she was bad news. You should've seen what happened at Clarissa's!"

Did anyone on the football team have an independent thought between them? Weeks before we'd been all good because Holden apparently liked me. Now, it was uncool to be seen with me.

Wes was waiting in front of my locker when I got back at the end of the day. So much for avoiding him. I was about to turn and head back in the opposite direction when he called out my name.

"What's up?" I said monotonously, opening my locker.

"About the other night..."

"Right. When you stood me up because I'd been officially declared uncool? What about it?" I asked nonchalantly, stacking my books back inside.

"Look, I just wanted to – "

All of a sudden, there was a loud clanging as Wes was slammed against the lockers. I turned my head just in time to see Logan's back after he'd stepped in between me and him.

"Walk," Logan said firmly, pointing down the corridor.

"Logan – " Wes began.

"You and your friends mess with her and I'll end you. Got it? Now fucking walk before I punch you." Wes looked back at me one last time and I looked away. He walked off.

"What the hell Logan!?" I exclaimed once Wes had gone.

"As if he didn't deserve that," Logan scoffed.

"We were talking. You didn't need to slam him into the lockers."

"You had my back with all my crap, now I've got yours," he said.

"I would've done much worse." He stuck his hands in his pockets, looking at the ground. "He made you cry, and that's not okay with me," he added softly. "You had my back with all my family crap, now I've got yours."

"Come on," I sighed. "I'll buy you a pizza from Marco's," I said, getting on my tip toes to swing an arm over his shoulder.

"You work there. It's a free pizza," he retorted, turning to look at me, mere centimetres from my face. I quickly let him go and took half a step back.

"Hush before you get no pizza," I laughed. Just as we walked out, Parker and Holden walked past. Just for a second, I met Parker's gaze, and quickly looked away.

Despite his earlier complaints, Logan was quite pleased with the free pizza. I figured I owed him as much for coming to aid me twice on the same day. It was funny the way things worked. I used to hate his guts, and then there I was giving him pizza.

"So, has Elaine decided if she's ever going to forgive you?" I asked.

"You could definitely have helped."

"I'm definitely staying out of this one," I grinned, putting my hands up defensively.

"She decided on this..." he said, pulling something out of his pocket. It was a small stamp-sized booklet with a few pages and a dozen squares on each page. "Once I've filled each of these squares with a stamp, she'll forgive me."

"And what do you need to do to get the squares filled?"

"I don't know. Random things I guess?"

The first three squares were already filled. "What was that one for?" I asked, pointing at the third square.

"She made me buy her a coffee and bring it to her fifth period English class."

I laughed. "Logan the errand boy. I like it. So what were the other two for?"

"For being your knight in shining armour," he grinned. "Although I'm convinced slamming Wes into the lockers was worth another one," he added.

"Look, I think you'll have to discuss that with Elaine. I trust in her fair judgement," I laughed.

"Fine. I'd have done it for no stamps anyway."

With that, he shoved another slice of pizza into his mouth.

---

Again, many apologies for the late update, but surely you guys have come to expect this from me right?

Not a hugely eventful chapter, but I'm hoping to nudge things along soon.

BUT MAINLY, DID Y'ALL SPY THE NEW COVER? THOUGHTS!?!? I've had the photo lying around for ages and I finally managed to slap some words on that looked alright.

Pls continue voting and commenting because I'm a sad and lonely person xoxo