SITTING BESIDE LOGAN again doesn’t feel real. Maybe it’s the surge of adrenaline from being chased through the woods, but everything feels hyper-saturated. Could Logan just be an apparition I’ve conjured? I want to reach over and touch him to make sure he’s really here, but I’m not sure I’m allowed to anymore. I turn myself toward him instead. The act causes a rush of comfort so overwhelming, I almost cry out with relief.

Logan is back.

Suddenly Charvan, still hurtling through the sunset, feels a little bit more like home. There aren’t any cars behind us so far, so hopefully Rosa wasn’t fast enough to follow. Which means we can focus on this unexpected return.

“Logan, what are you doing here?” Amelia blurts out, still heaving breaths from our sprint. “I mean, how did you find us?”

I know I should be the one asking these questions, but words have been failing me lately.

“I’ve been texting with Cleo all day,” Logan answers. “So much for my phone box rule.”

I turn back to Cleo, wondering how I missed this—until I remind myself how preoccupied I’ve been. Besides, I quickly see that Cleo appears… Actually, it’s hard to place my finger on their exact expression. Cleo and Amelia seemed to be having a pretty heavy conversation before we entered the Repentant shack, so maybe it has something to do with that? Not to mention, none of us have had a spare second yet to mend the wounds collected from Rosa’s reads.

“Obviously, she told me where to find you all, at least until an hour ago,” Logan continues.

“Actually, I’m using they now instead of she,” Cleo replies. “I’ll fill you in later, but I’m stepping into using nonbinary pronouns.”

“Oh, that’s awesome,” Logan answers, turning for a second to flash Cleo that devastating smile of his. “Well, I bused and ride-shared to the pin Cleo dropped, and when I saw Charvan, I figured you’d all be back soon. From the way you were running, I assume things didn’t go well with this Rosa woman?”

Well, Cleo really has been keeping Logan in the loop. I don’t know if I should feel betrayed by this, but really it just makes me feel like Logan never really left us. Could this maybe mean the same for our relationship? I hope so, but right now it feels dangerous to hope.

“Why are you back?”

It takes me a few seconds to register that I’m the one who asked this question. It’s like my lips speak the words on my behalf.

“A few reasons, actually,” Logan answers, his eyes still on the road. “I realized that, no matter what, I needed to see this trip through. It was good I took a little break, but I could never let you all end this chapter without me.”