Flying feathers

Karolia's POV:

The chilly night breeze rushed past me, thus letting my loose brown hair fly in all directions. Goosebumps erupted on my skin as I shivered slightly. I now regret not wearing an extra sweater on top of my turtleneck dress before I stepped out to decorate Logan's balcony at midnight. Yeah, I kept on procrastinating before my lazy ass finally decided to embellish the balcony tonight itself. Standing on the tallest stool I could find in this mansion, I tried to fix a flickering ceiling light that's honestly been irking me a lot. You know how annoyed we get when we are trying to make a place look beautiful but something defiant will ruin the entire vibe, yeah that's this light now.

When I looked up from the ground earlier, my dumb self thought I could reach the balcony roof with a stool, but that wasn't the case. My height wasn't cooperating well with me as even on my tiptoes, I couldn't reach the light. I contemplated whether to call someone but decided against it as I'm too lazy to get down from this stool and walk to the room, pick my phone, and then call someone to help me. And also I don't want anyone to see my work until I finish it, especially Logan.

'Just a few more inch' I encouraged myself and stretched my arm above my head, trying to reach the stupid light cover.

"What the hell are you doing?" Logan's sudden perplexed voice made me jump up in fear. With a squeal, I swayed slightly, almost losing my balance on the stool, but I tried to stay put by horizontally balancing my arms. I sighed in relief when I succeeded by not falling and breaking my neck. Right away, I felt hands on my waist before I was pulled down from the stool. Logan had a pissed look as he glared down at me.

"Are you trying to kill yourself, Lia?" He scolds me. I grin at him sheepishly and shake my head NO. But my sheepish grin was soon replaced by a frown.

"Didn't I tell you not to come here until I say so?" I narrow my eyes at him, glowering at him. Logan rolled his eyes.

"You were taking a lot of time. And if I didn't come, you would've probably broken your limbs by now," he mutters angrily. I scoffed. I was fine until he frightened me by his unexpected entry.

"I was just trying to fix light as it kept on flickering," I say to him, pointing upwards to the balcony roof. Logan looked up momentarily before his pissed gaze returned to mine.

"You should've called me, Lia. I was only a few doors away." Logan again chides me and I pout sadly.

"I didn't want to ruin the surprise for you. Now there is no use in talking anyways. It's ruined since someone couldn't hold their horses." I rolled my eyes and glared at him again. Logan smirks at me, his hand bringing my waist closer to his body.

"It's not my fault I was pretty excited to see how my girlfriend will decorate our balcony." he smirks again and I melt then and there. How does he have this effect on me?

Yesterday night, while we were overlooking the balcony, I suggested to Logan on how he could decorate this small space as it was empty without anything to sit on earlier. He surprised me by asking me to do whatever I wish as he said this place now belongs to both of us. So today morning, I went out and did a little shopping at the furniture shop, of course with two guards following me as per Logan's strict order. And after pushing Logan out of here just a few hours ago, I decorated the balcony space. I could've done this earlier at the noon or in the evening, but I was pretty tired after the shopping, and also after the intense workout Logan made me practice.

"So, how's it?" I asked him, referring to my work. Logan looked around for a few seconds before his proud gaze returned to me.

"I love it. It looks great. You brought a homey feeling in here." he compliments, nodding his head appreciatively.

"I know right," I jump in excitement as well. The vacant balcony earlier is now furnished with a small round black table and two chairs with soft cushions at the center and on either side, I decorated with beautiful plants to give a fresh ambiance.

"I will fix the light," Logan said and got onto the stool before effortlessly fixing it, as of course, his 6'2 feet height is perfect for these kinds of things. After Logan got down, I switched on the light and again jumped up in excitement about how the yellow glow of the ceiling light gives a whole another look to this balcony. Logan chuckled at my enthusiasm.

"I guess I made a mistake in choosing my major." I said. Logan looked at me a bit confusedly.

"Huh?" He asked.

"I should have taken interior designing. I'm good at this stuff. What do you say?" I said dramatically flicking my hair. Logan's lip curled up in a genuine smile.

"The choice isn't bad. You could quit now and start fresh again if you're interested." He nodded his head and said seriously. I beam at him happily. I was just voicing out my thoughts and he just genuinely supported my idea. I stepped forward and standing on my tiptoes, I placed a chaste kiss on his cheeks.

"Aren't I lucky to have a supportive boyfriend like you?" I said to him fondly. Logan smirks at the statement.

"Of course, love." He said and winked his left eye. I rolled my eyes at his self-conceit before getting inside as the cold breeze was getting unbearable for me.

I kept on gushing how well the decoration went and how I had to almost fight with another customer at the furniture shop as he wanted the same table as mine which unfortunately was also the last piece. But my rambling was cut off as Logan turned me around before smashing his lips onto mine. I groaned slightly as the butterflies erupted in my belly.

"You have no idea how much you have brightened up everything around me, including my own life, love," Logan mumbled against my lips. A smile formed on the face.

"I'm glad I have an effect" I retorted with a teasing grin.

"Ohh, you do." Logan chuckles before tugging my bottom lip with his teeth.

"But the feeling is mutual" I whisper to him. Logan smiles as he keeps on peppering my face with sweet kisses.

"Shall we call it a day now?" Logan then asks and I hum in response, my eyes still closed. Logan chuckles and pecks my lips once more time before pulling back.

"I'll take a shower then," Logan says and I look at him incredulously.

"How many showers will you take in a day?" I asked him. Before he went to work today morning, he took one. And another when he came back home and one more after the training. Logan winks at me, a smirk on his lips.

"At least one should stay clean among us right?" I gasped loudly and immediately searched around the place to throw something at him but he ran to the washroom and locked the door, laughing loudly.

"Asshole," I mumbled under my breath, a smile grazing my lips.

*******

I felt a soft gentle touch trailing from my temple to my cheeks and then to my collarbone before that touch gently pressed down on my nose. My eyes fluttered open to see electric blue eyes gazing down at me with so much love.

Logan had a smile grazing on his lips as he hovered over me, his one hand supporting his head and the other now on my stomach. He was shirtless as always.

"Good morning, love." he rasped out sexily. His morning voice sounded deeper than the ocean.

"Good morning." I mumble out tiredly. I lift my head to peck his lips.

"What time is it?" I asked, winding my arm around his neck. Logan snuggled his face into my neck and I giggled as his hair tickled my soft skin.

"Around nine," he mumbled and I hummed in response.

"You sleep like a baby, so carelessly... I love watching you sleep." Logan raised his head and smirked at me. My eyes widened and I gasped dramatically. Logan looked taken aback at my sudden change in expression.

"Are you Edward Cullen's descendant?" I asked him. "Or wait, Are you Edward Cullen disguised as Logan Watson?" Logan had a confused expression.

"Who's Edward Cullen?" I gasped loudly, with my hands on my chest.

"You don't know him? He's my favorite person in this world. I love him so much." I say. Logan's confused expression soon morphed into a pissed, jealousy one. Before I knew it, I was pinned down to the bed with both wrists locked above my head and my angry boyfriend was scowling down at me.

"Who the f*** is he? I want all the details, NOW." I grimace slightly at his demanding tone. Logan's grip tightened on my wrist.

"Jeez, someone is jealous" I mutter. Logan glowered and he was about to open his mouth, probably to demand me to speak up, but I cut him off.

"Edward Cullen is a vampire from Twilight Series you idiot." I gave him a 'duh' look. Logan's eyebrows raised and he had a dumbfounded expression.

"It's a fictional character?" he asked me incredulously. I nod my head, grinning at him. Logan let out a sigh of relief and sat up straight.

"Oh, Lia. I was this close to storm out and find details about this guy." he shakes his head.

"Why am I not surprised?" I roll my head. Logan smirks at me before his eyes zeroed to my wrist. He immediately took my hand in his and examined the redness on my skin where he held me tightly earlier.

"I'm sorry, baby. I didn't intend to do this." his regretful eyes look at me sadly. I chuckled.

"I'm not hurt, Log. You know how sensitive my skin is right. Don't worry, that will fade in a few minutes." I assure him. But Logan still had a regretful look. He brought my wrist to his lips before kissing my skin gently. My toes curled at the tingling feeling.

"Are you happy now?" I asked once he finished inspecting and treating my skin with his gentle massage and kisses.

"Actually, no. I'll be happy once I get my daily serotonin." He said with an evil smile and it immediately squared me up.

"What is it?"I asked him suspiciously.

"Your laugh." He winks at me before starting to tickle my sides with his fingers. I again fell back on the bed, laughing loudly.

"L-Log, stop." I cried, still laughing.

"What's the magic word?" Logan chuckles, still tickling me. My stomach started to clench at how hard I was laughing.

"P-Please."

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch you. What did you say?" If I wasn't laughing so hard, I would have surely punched his face.

"PLEASE. STOP IT. PLEASE" I pleaded. Logan had a triumph look before he retreated his fingers away. I let out a sigh of relief and took deep breaths to calm down my breathing rate. Logan was lying on his back with his hand under his head, watching me in amusement. I sit on my knees on the bed and narrow my eyes at him.

"You're such an ass." I chided him and grabbed a pillow and started to smack him on his face. Logan quickly covered his face with his hands as I kept on hitting him.

"Lia, stop it," he yelled at me, protectively holding his head.

"NO. This is what you get for tickling me." I yelled back and smacked him harder with the pillow.

"Oh, Lord. Stop it, love." He whined loudly. I didn't stop.

"Come on. Stop being a child," he said and that made me smack him harder on his face. But that resulted in the feather pillow to tear on one side which resulted in the spilling of all the feather quills on the bed. He quickly caught the pillow and threw it aside which made me eye for the next pillow on the bed. I glared at him as he soon caught my movement to reach it and tugged at the pillow. His grip was very strong which made me glare at him harder.

"Let go." I hiss at him.

"NO, Stop it, Karolia." He growled back. Logan's hair was messy and a few locks were hanging down onto his forehead. With a strong pull, he snatched the pillow away from me and quickly stood up on the bed. I also stood up, still glowering at him.

"Give it back," I shouted at him. I tried to reach for the pillow but he held it above his head and smirked. I put my hands on my hip and blew a piece of hair from my face.

"Take it if you can," he smirks, still holding the pillow above his head. I grit my teeth angrily, very tempted to punch his nose. But I decided against it and bent down to take another pillow. As soon as I stood up, he smacked me on my head with the pillow. I staggered back in shock and gasped loudly.

"How dare you!" I screeched loudly and smacked him on his ribs. Logan's smirk intensified.

"If your idea was to hurt me, then sorry to break it to you, love. You hit worse than a 7-year-old kid. Maybe I should train you harder." Logan teases. I gasped again.

"You, You….Oww" I cried out as Logan hit me hard on my arm. "It hurts, Asshole." I screeched at him and again tried to smack his head. But our height difference was a problem here and instead I smacked his face. Soon we started to have a pillow fight and feathers were flying all around the room.

"You're cute when you're angry." he teased and at the same time hitting me. I took a threatening step towards him, but unfortunately, my feet got tangled among the sheets. I lost my balance and with a loud squeal, I fell towards Logan, making both of us fall on the bed with a loud thump. I was on top of Logan, my hair all sprawled out. Logan's one hand was on my waist while his other on the back of my head.

We looked into each other's eyes for a second, me completing getting lost in his mesmerizing ocean blue gaze. Logan started chuckling and soon enough, we both were laughing at our childishness. A hard blush was coating my cheeks.

"You should clean this mess," Logan chuckled. "You started it"

"But it was because of you. So you gotta help me." I gave him a sly grin. Logan scoffed before pushing me off and stood up, running a hand through his hair, removing all the feathers from his hair.

"Sorry babe. I gotta get ready for work." he reasoned and walked to the washroom.

"Ughh" I groaned and threw a pillow at his retreating figure in anger, but unfortunately, it hit the door. I sighed heavily and stared at the ceiling, a smile playing on my lips. It feels good to feel so serene amidst all that's happening in our life right now. Every passing day, the intensity of our situation is weighing hard on our shoulders, and even some days, I wake up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare. Usually, whenever Logan sleeps beside me, I don't experience any nightmares as I know I'm safe and secure in his arms. But nowadays, even Logan's warmth isn't helping me chase these dreams away. These all things are leading me to think that even Logan can't pull me out from my haunting past and something bad is going to hit us, hit me soon. But I haven't shared any of these thoughts of mine to Logan because I don't want him to worry more.

The sound of Logan's ringtone snapped me out of my train of thoughts. At first, I didn't move thinking the call would be disconnected but as it kept on ringing, I took the phone from the nightstand and looked at the caller ID in curiosity. My eyes immediately brightened up as the name read 'Micah Malinov'.

Without thinking further, I quickly answered the call. "Hey, Micah," I greeted him cheerily.

In Worcester, Logan and Micah exchanged their phone numbers since I couldn't because my phone wasn't on service back then and I forgot to give him before we rushed back to New York after hearing Grecia's accident.

"Hey, kiddo." Micah's gravelly voice reached my ears and my grin widened at his endearment. "It's a good thing you picked up. I called to hear from you" he chuckles that made me smile happily. God, I missed him so much.

"Logan is in the washroom, and when I saw it was your call, I picked up." I explained and then asked, "How are you, Micah?"

"Same old. Same old!" Micah chuckles. "Tell me how's it going there, I missed you, kiddo."

"Me too, Micah. I can't believe it's almost a month since we last saw each other." I said in genuine surprise. Micah sighed heavily.

"Time does fly fast," he says and I agree with him. "But happy news, I'm in New York City now. It's for a family business. The first thing that came to my mind as soon as I reached was to call you and hear from you."

"W-What?" I ask in surprise but I suddenly remember the call from Vincent a few days back. He did mention that he came early to arrange some things before Micah arrived. But I guess it's better not to talk about that to avoid certain things.

"That's such happy news. I can't wait to meet you." My eyes widened in excitement at the thought of meeting him. "How about today?" I asked him eagerly.

Micah chuckled at my enthusiasm. "I will come tomorrow. This old man is jet-lagged after traveling for hours. I'm just heading to my hotel room to take some good rest." I nodded my head in understanding but then realized he can't see me, so I told him to take his much-needed rest. He must be really tired.

"We can meet in a restaurant or at your place, whatever is comfortable for you, honey." Micah said. I pondered about the thought. If it's outdoors, it will be awkward with the guards' eyes on us and I'm sure Micah won't be comfortable either. But if it's in the mansion, we can spend time with each other for hours and also I can introduce him to Grecia.

"How about where I'm staying? I will cook your favorite dishes." I say and Micah immediately agreed that made us laugh together.

"I'll ask Logan to send a car to pick you up from your place?" I asked.

"That's not necessary, kiddo. I already arranged transportation for our stay in NYC. Just message me the address." Micah informed me. I became silent at the mention of 'our'. Will Vincent also accompany him tomorrow? I hope not. Should I ask him about it? He would sense that something is wrong if I asked him. Maybe I shouldn't ask. Even if Vincent accompanied, I can just ignore him the entire time.

Micah didn't notice my silence thankfully. "I might need the address of your place. Are you staying with Logan or…?" he trailed off.

"Oh yes, I'm staying with Logan at his mansion." I stated. "Since it's the winter holidays I decided to stay here with him and his mom to celebrate Christmas." I chuckled, hoping he would believe this reason. It's not a complete lie. He wants me to stay in the mansion, but it's mainly for my safety since the mansion is more guarded than my apartment.

"I will text you the address in this number?" I asked him.

"Yes, that's enough," Micah informs. We talked for some more time before we exchanged our goodbye and ended the call as Micah started to sound a bit tired from the lack of rest. My smile still stays on even when Logan came out of the washroom, freshly showered.

"What's with the smile?" He asked, rubbing his wet hair with a towel. I grin at him.

"Micah called. He's in NYC and wanted to meet," I say excitedly. Logan nodded his head.

"Why don't you invite him here, so I can also be there to talk with him. I don't want you to go out during this time." Logan suggested casually. My mouth opened a bit, surprised at how well we think alike nowadays.

"I suggested the same Log," I said with a smile. "If we go somewhere else it will also be awkward with the bodyguard around me. I hope you don't mind since I said it without your consent." I asked him a bit tensely.

"Babe, now this place is your home and I consider your relatives like mine too. So don't hesitate. As long as you're happy, I'm happy too." he says and leans down to press a kiss at the corner of my mouth. I smile at him adoringly and ruffles his wet hair that earned a playful glare from him.

"Is his son tagging along?" Logan asked and his face suddenly turned serious.

"I'm not sure," I admitted and saw how his jaw clenched. "Even if he comes, we can just ignore him, Logan. I don't want Micah to know about what happened. It isn't any of his faults. What we have with his son shouldn't ruin our relationship with Micah." I say to Logan. He nodded his head after giving it a thought.

"You're right. But I will have a hard time controlling myself from hitting that boy's face." Logan said with gritted teeth. I heaved a sigh and hugged him by his waist.

"Promise me that you will not create a scene in front of Micah." I asked and he groaned immediately. I look up to him and give my best puppy eyes.

"Fine, promise." Logan huffed childishly and I pecked his lips in gratitude.

He kissed my forehead before he disappeared inside his walk-in closet. I bit my lip, fighting off a smile. Logan's head poked out of his closet with a mischievous smirk on his lips.

"You still need to clean up the room. In case you forgot." he winks before he left to get ready for his work. I sighed heavily and fell back on to the bed, picking the fallen feathers from the bead and blowing it away.

Gosh, I'm too lazy to clean up. How can I coax Logan into cleaning up this mess?

"Log, I think my hand is sprained" I yelled at him.

"Is it like how your leg was swollen yesterday, right before the training was about to start?" he yelled back, still inside the closet. I grit my teeth angrily.

"I'm serious this time"

"Best luck next time, love. Now start cleaning up" he ordered and I scoffed. Why am I listening to him? I'll just call Daniella to help me once he leaves the house. Ha, who does he think I'm!

The sound of the doorbell immediately alerted my ears and I quickly dropped the spatula into the bowl and asked Daniella to take over before I rushed out of the kitchen and to the living room. My eyes immediately zeroed onto my two favorite males as they hugged each other.

"Micah," I shrieked and rushed towards him before winding my arms around his neck and hugged me tightly. Micah's chest vibrated and his arms wrapped around my back.

"I missed you so much." I mumble.

"I missed you too, kiddo" He ruffled my hair gently. We pulled back from the hug and grinned at each other. Micah's eyes ran over me for a moment before it returned to my happy ones.

"Aren't you eating properly, kiddo. You look thinner than the last time I saw you." he said with a concerned face, holding my shoulders.

"Nah, I just started to give more care to my body. I started to work out and all. Can you believe that?" I asked him and he let out a chuckle.

"You are a really good influence on her. I approve of you. It's not an easy task to make Karolia Kingston exercise." Micah exclaimed dramatically to Logan and both started laughing. I rolled my eyes.

"You don't look too bad either for someone who is in their late 40s." I wink at him, changing the subject and he laughs out loud. Micah was wearing a white t-shirt beneath his dark blue long coat and khaki pants, his grey-black hair gelled back.

"Come on, I have a lot to share with you," I said to Micah. Logan cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, Micah. I thought I could stay for long but I have to leave now for a meeting. I can't postpone it." Logan said a bit guiltily.

"That's alright, you don't have to apologize for that. As a businessman, I can understand." Micah pats Logan's back. "We can always meet up later," Micah says. Logan nods his head and they both do a man handshake before Logan turns towards me.

"Enjoy the day," he whispers to me and kisses my forehead. I nodded my head.

"I love you," I whisper back. Logan's eyes traveled down to my lips for a second, his Adam's apple bobbing before looking back into my eyes.

"Love you more." he says and takes his leave. I turn around to see a teasing smirk on Micah.

"I'm happy for you, kiddo." he smiles at me and wraps his arm around my shoulder. "You deserve all the happiness in this world."

"But I'll become your dad and will not hesitate to punch him if I heard he hurt my daughter," he says. My heart melted as he called me his daughter. My throat felt heavy but I swallowed it down and beamed at him.

The sound of footsteps descending the stairs made us turn around to meet Grecia. Grecia was wearing a knee-length bodycon teal-colored dress and her hair was tied into a bun, her makeup minimal but to perfection. I was wearing a peach-colored floral knee-length dress and my hair was pulled up into a ponytail.

"Hello, Micah. It's nice to meet you. I'm Grecia, Logan's mother."

"Hello, Mrs.Watson. It's finally good to see Logan's mother." Micah greeted politely.

"You can just call me Grecia." She said with a smile that Micah returned immediately. "Karolia had talked a lot about you." Grecia smiled at us. We were now sitting on the living room couch, talking about random things before we started discussing our life in Worcester.

"Oh, I still remember that day when little Karolia pushed a boy of her age from the freestanding slide. She got angry when he fought with her for a toy. She was a naughty kid back then." Micah chuckles and he eyes me in a teasing manner. I hid my embarrassed face by looking down. Ohh no, not my childhood again.

"Oh Micah, please don't tell me you're planning to share my embarrassing childhood stories to her," I whined childishly.

"Oh, I'm looking forward to hearing those. Go on." Grecia encourages and I can see she is biting her lip trying hard not to laugh.

"Don't worry kiddo. I will omit the worst ones." he winks at me. I sulk down in my seat. It's a good thing Logan isn't here now. Or he would never let me live it down.

"Ah, this is a funny one. Once when Karolia visited my house when she was five years old, she stole Lindsey's baby diaper and ran around the house behind Vincent, wearing only that. It was hilarious to watch and I guess I even took a video of that." Both Micah and Grecia started to laugh again and I had to cover my face now with how much embarrassment I was going through. Ohh no…..

Hours passed by and we ate the dinner I made with warm smiles and laughter as Micah and I continued to talk about our memories. Soon after dinner, we dived into the dessert that I had prepared for the night.

"Vincent doesn't know I was coming to meet you. I haven't seen him since yesterday as he went to run some errands. He would've been excited to meet you again. You were like Lindsey to him. I guess he took more care of you than Lindsey considering how he always sides with you while playing games and how he helps you fight against Lindsey. I always had a hard time consoling my younger one whenever she ran to me crying and complaining about these two." Micah said with a warm smile while looking at Grecia. I decided not to comment on anything on it since I didn't know what to say.

Oh, if only he knows. Vincent doesn't see me as his sister and it's as clear as water from the way he looks at me. I'm not that naive not to understand what a guy's intentions are when they look at us. Being with a man who always masks his expression helped me a lot in that area. If I can understand Logan's emotion now, then I can identify other people's.

"There weren't any places where I didn't search for you. As soon as I heard your body wasn't found, I knew you were alive and that encouraged me to search for you. Every single day, I visited their grave and would pray to the Lord to help me find you. I couldn't handle the thought of losing you too. When we didn't hear from you for one year, I kind of lost all my hope. I then just prayed that you were at least still alive and living safely somewhere in the world." he sniffs. My eyes welled up with tears.

"But I'm still hurt you didn't trust me enough to come back to me. But I can understand why you did that and I won't blame you." He said with a sad smile.

"I'm sorry, Micah. I wish I did contact you but unfortunately, my situation wasn't ideal for me to call anyone." I contemplated whether to tell him about Sheriff Wilson, but decided against it as I remembered the promise I gave to not say anything about him and Jamie. I already broke it once for Logan, I won't do it again.

"I understand kiddo. I'm happy for you. From where you stand now, I can tell…" Micah smiled and patted my back.

"You made the best decision by coming to New York."

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