A/N: Wow, it certainly has been a long time since I've updated this. I'm so terribly sorry. My last year as an undergrad was quite hectic. But I graduated almost three weeks ago and while I'm still celebrating that fact, I also found the time to start writing again. There's more information about the status of any of my stories or any writing I may do on my profile.

I know in my last beginning author's note for this story I mentioned adding brief historical information to the start of every chapter (since teaching history is soon going to be my career), but I'm going to skip that this time because it is summer and everyone deserves at least a small break.

Quick Re-Cap: Once Logan got a kiss in his dream (chapter two) he was over-eager in his following dreams. His actions in his dreams, though the motivations were unknown to dream him, reflected his real life desire to have a good dream (i.e. with a kiss). But, with a cryptic question to Chase and a helpful answer, Logan realized the dream him had to behave better if he wanted a better ending. To see where all of this is going: read on, and read the note at the bottom.

Warning: This chapter begins already in a dream.

Chapter 4: When You're Gone

"You know, me saying that I had things to do wasn't an invitation for you to follow me," Dana informed Logan who suddenly appeared beside her.

"First of all, I'm not following, I'm accompanying, there's a difference. Plus, we both know that you always want me around, everyone does, I'm irresistible," Logan replied with a smirk and wondering exactly where he was following Dana to. It was the end of the year, where could she possibly need to go on the last day of school? Oh, crap, he forgot, he actually needed to go to Sushi Rox; he forgot about the half day he worked that he still hadn't picked up a paycheck for.

"Yeah, irresistible, repulsive, no difference at all," Dana commented sarcastically.

Logan was going to retort, but he noticed where they were headed and asked, "Why are you going to the English building? Classes are over; everything's over it's the last day."

"No crap Einstein, that's why I spent all that time packing today," Dana responded, resorting to sarcasm this time to avoid giving an actual answer.

They reached the door to the media room that was Mr. Bender's class and Dana came to a stop. She turned around to come face to face with Logan and said with an appropriately menacing voice, "If you follow me into that room I promise you that the next thing you know you'll be waking up in the hospital."

Logan didn't like to admit ever being intimidated, but when Dana went through the door to the classroom he made absolutely no move to follow. As he waited though, he realized that Dana didn't say that he couldn't continue to follow her once she came out of the classroom, she just said he couldn't go in.

Four minutes after she entered, Dana came out of Mr. Bender's class looking not at all surprised to find Logan still there. It was as if she knew Logan would wait for her, she didn't know why though and it was starting to bug her.

After Logan followed Dana to the guidance counseling office where she stopped to pick up an extra copy of her transcripts and to the gym where she stopped to say goodbye to her now former basketball coach she couldn't take not knowing why he was still there. She was determinedly marching towards Sushi Rox, her last stop, when her curiosity got the best of her and she was unable to ignore the issue and Logan any longer. She whirled around to him since he was following her and demanded, "Why are you still here?"

Logan simply shrugged and replied, "Don't have anything else to do."

Dana shook her head in frustration; Logan's response didn't seem like a real explanation. She looked up to find his eyes on her. He just stood a couple of steps away from her and looked in her eyes for about a minute. And then the thought passed through her mind that maybe he was with her because he just wanted to be with her. Surprising herself, she didn't hate that idea as much she thought she would.

Dana sighed and glanced toward her destination and said, "Come on, I need to go talk to Kazu." She turned back around to start walking, but before she took a step in the right direction she turned back around to Logan and added, "And when I'm done with Kazu, I need to tell you something."

Logan nodded. He had no idea what she would need to tell him, but she seemed pretty serious and that wasn't normal for them so he responded, "I already know what you're gonna say. You want to make out with me before we head our separate ways for summer. I knew you couldn't resist."

Dana turned around, opened the door to Sushi Rox, and entered as she replied, "If you manage to wait out here why I go find Kazu and say goodbye then sure, Logan, maybe I won't be able to resist doing something you'll enjoy." She didn't mean it, but she wanted Logan to stay put out in the restaurant while she looked for and said goodbye to Kazu in the back. She figured promising reward was the only way to get Logan to do anything.

Logan didn't manage to verbalize a response by the time Dana left the room, heading into the kitchen as he stood immobile just steps into the front entrance. Summer only lasted about two and half months-a fact that majorly sucked- and Dana wasn't the mushy-feely type, she wouldn't be doing these big goodbyes over such a small amount of time.

And then it hit him. In a very serious tone, something that was foreign to everything they ever were, she said she had something to tell him and he had followed her all day as she had apparently been saying goodbye to people. She wouldn't be doing any of that over a two and a half month break; she wasn't coming back in the fall and maybe she wouldn't be coming back ever.

He was anxious and just a bit terrified by the time she came back three minutes later. All thoughts of his paycheck had long left his mind. He had only known her since September, for nine months, and they weren't close, they weren't even really friends. Yet, he didn't like the idea of her not coming back. He couldn't swallow and there was a dull ache in his chest and…damnit, she was going to leave him.

He couldn't take a step in her direction the entire time she crossed the room to come back to the exact same spot she had left him in. His eyes never left hers as she made her way to him and what was unnerving was that they didn't hold a hint of the pompous jerk she had come to barely tolerate. He was supposed to immediately make some crack about them making out since he had done exactly as she asked. But he wasn't doing that; he was quiet and serious and he was making her nervous about saying goodbye. She didn't expect it to be this difficult to say goodbye to a guy that she spent the year mostly hating.

After about a minute of silence passed between them, due to the fact that neither could find the right words, Logan finally said, "You're not coming back next year."

It was a statement rather than a question. She was relieved he had figured it out. She had said it so many times today and with him not being completely horrible she was finding it difficult to say those words yet again, she was finding it difficult to say them to him. She nodded and explained, "My parents signed me up for the abroad program in Paris." She continued and let something slip to him that she hadn't told anyone, "They think if I'm far enough away from them I won't know how much they fight due to the fact that my dad can't manage to be faithful for more than a week." Her confession surprised her, as well as his look of concern so she babbled on, "I don't know why I said that. Ignore it. It's fine. I mean they're screwed up so I get to go to Paris, lucky me."

The fact that she was actually babbling had him genuinely worried and desperate to make her better so he could feel better. Without thinking he blurted out, "I'm going to miss you."

Her eyes widened in surprise, eyebrows shot up to her hairline, and her shock immediately compelled her to ask, "Really?"

As Logan mentally cursed his stupidity he responded honestly, "Yeah. And believe me, that surprises me as much as it does you, but it's true. I mean, we haven't even made out yet. You may have said never, but I know you'd give in eventually. I guess there won't be an eventually now."

"Again, lucky me. I won't have to suffer the inevitable self-loathing if that situation had ever occurred," she said, carrying on with the light-hearted nature he had supplied as an escape from the seriousness of the entire situation.

"Yeah, I'm not going to miss your snarky comments as you turn me down, but like I said, you'd give in eventually. Sure you've managed to resist my charm a lot longer than any other girl, but you would have succumbed," Logan restated with a smirk as he finally managed to move his feet and take a step toward Dana, eliminating some of the two feet of distance between them.

Dana realized that she was probably just messed up enough to actually miss his unrelenting ego. She smiled as she responded, "Well, I'm leaving so I guess I can let you hang on to that delusion."

He nodded. He didn't know what to say-again. This was weird, he had never thought about having to say goodbye to her and now he was. He scraped for something to say and came up with another comment to lighten the mood, "I guess I'll have to call you once in a while so I can see if you ever really change your mind."

"You can ask, but I'm not sure you'd like the outcome," Dana responded, keeping up with what was expected. She added, "But you know, it probably wouldn't suck if you called sometimes."

"Yeah, I'll do that," he promised.

Silence settled over them again. It was an awkward silence that resulted in Logan staring at his shoes and Dana realizing she probably needed to get going. A glance to her watch confirmed her suspicion because actually she was late.

She didn't have time to hesitate so she announced, his eyes meeting hers again as soon as she spoke, "I'm supposed to be gone already so…um, I should go."

"Already?" the question slipped before he could sensor himself.

"Yeah, my taxi should have been here about five minutes ago, my flight leaves in a little while, and I still have to go grab the rest of my stuff from my room," she explained.

He nodded, glancing to the ground again, looking more forlorn at her departure than she would have ever expected.

She took a couple of steps toward the door, but stopped. This was quite possibly the last time she would ever see him, and yeah, he had been nearly intolerable all year, but he had also been pretty great that day. She returned to him quickly, grabbed him by the shirt and kissed him before she could change her mind.

Despite his shock Logan managed to respond after a couple of seconds. He wrapped his arms around her holding on tight as if he was never going to let her go.

But he did. About a minute after the kiss was deepened, she pulled away because she still had to leave.

Before another awkward silence could settle over them Logan couldn't resist saying, "I told you you'd give in."

She nodded and responded with a smile, "Yep, and now the self-loathing can commence."

They were both smiling, clearly not very serious about what they were saying, but doing so because they were ignoring what happened; the kiss, its randomness, and the heat and spark of it.

Dana headed for the door again. This time she actually made it there. She pulled it open, turned around, and said, "Bye Logan."

She was lit up by the bright light of the early evening, late spring sun like she had been in upon her departure in most of his dreams. He managed to get his farewell out while she was still there this time though, but he stared at the spot she was once in for a long while after she left just like he always did.

Logan awoke to the harsh sound of his alarm clock. After swatting it off he laid back in his bed. It had been a week since he had taken Chase's advice and tried to be a better guy to her in the dreams so he could have a better outcome. He had gotten some smiles, hugs, and pecks on the cheek, but that kiss in his last dream was the first kiss he got since the kiss in the second changed dream he had. He didn't like to keep track of the dreams too much though, because if he did he would realize that it was the twentieth consecutive dream he had had of her.

One thing had been plaguing at Logan though and it occupied his thoughts again this day, even throughout Saturday football practice. There was a song playing faintly over the speakers while they were at Sushi Rox. He could hear it as he waited for her and whenever silences settled between them. It had happened two other times in the last week when they were there in the dream and he was pretty sure it was always the same song. He could hear it clearly in the dream, but when he woke up and tried to remember it he could only barely hear it in his head. He knew it was being sung be a woman, he knew he didn't like it, but he couldn't figure out what it was or why it was suddenly in the dreams with them. He fumbled two passes trying to recall the lyrics reasoning that they probably had some significance.

Logan was even spaced out as he had dinner with his friends at Sushi Rox that night. They had noticed Logan had been a bit out of it lately and Michael and Chase had also noticed that he was going to bed about an hour earlier than usual. But as usual he was also cocky, annoying, and slacking on his schoolwork so no one had taken the initiative to be truly concerned since sometimes everything seemed perfectly fine.

Michael was telling him, Lola, Nicole and Quinn some joke about animals while Chase and Zoey were in their own oblivious little world. Logan had actually managed to be listening to the set up, but before Michael made it to the punch line something sucked him away from the present again.

"Hold onto love that is what I do now that I've found you,"

It was the song in Logan's dream and it had suddenly and loudly started playing over the speakers of Sushi Rox, the same place it played in his dreams.

"What is this song?" he asked Zoey, interrupting her conversation with Chase.

It could barely be heard over the loud crowd in the restaurant, but after a second of straining Zoey was able to respond, "It's 'When You're Gone' by The Cranberries. Why?"

"It's familiar, " He answered simply.

"Oh, that's probably because of eighth grade. Dana loved The Cranberries, she'd listen to them all the time. Usually very loudly so that the rest of us would hear even if we didn't want to," Zoey supplied. She was a little surprised that Logan would recognize one of the many songs Dana would listen to frequently, but then again, she only knew the song because of Dana. Which reminded her, Dana had never returned her last message, she'd have to call her again.

Logan had stayed turned toward Zoey and Chase at their end of the table as Zoey's thoughts strayed due to the topic. He wasn't looking at them, he seemed to be thinking rather hard, his brow furrowed in an attempt at concentration in the loud eatery. He wasn't looking at them either. The arbitrary and serious nature of it all had Chase and Zoey growing concerned-the rest of the table obliviously laughing at the joke Michael made.

Logan stood suddenly and rushed out of the restaurant, almost knocking over the chair he was sitting in, in the process.

Chase and Zoey exchanged confused glances before attempting to explain why Logan had stormed out to the questioning expressions of the rest of the group.

Logan raced back to his dorm room, to his computer. He figured that song was supposed to tell him something. Because while nothing about him having dreams of Dana Cruz every night made sense, every change in them meant something in the dreams. So he searched for the song and the lyrics; he pushed play as he read along with the lyrics.

Hold onto love that is what I do now that I've found you.

And from above everything's stinking, they're not around you.

And in the night, I could be helpless,

I could be lonely, sleeping without you.

And in the day, everything's complex,

There's nothing simple, when I'm not around you.

But I'll miss you when you're gone, that is what I do. Hey, baby.

And it's going to carry on, that is what I do. Hey, baby...

Hold onto my hands, I feel I'm sinking, sinking without you.

And to my mind, everything's stinking, stinking without you.

And in the night, I could be helpless,

I could be lonely, sleeping without you.

And in the day, everything's complex,

There's nothing simple, when I'm not around you.

But I'll miss you when you're gone, that is what I do. Hey, baby.

And it's going to carry on, that is what I do. hey, baby...

Logan re-played the song, read the lyrics again, but the answer seemed clear. He was dreaming about a girl every night, he was going to bed earlier to be with her a bit longer, as impossible as it seemed he missed her. And in his dreams she always left and Dream Logan missed her too, but maybe Dream Logan didn't have to. Maybe in his dreams she didn't have to be gone, he just had to ask her to stay. He hoped, prayed, and whished that he was right because he was learning more with each passing night that he had missed out on something potentially great here in reality. But in his dreams maybe she could still be his.

It was the fact that Logan had desperate hopes for a fantasy that didn't simply have a better goodbye than reality, but a better ending than reality, that Chase found his roommate in bed at eight o'clock on a Saturday night, his eyes shut and seemingly asleep. Chase had come in search of him, to check up on him due to everyone's worry over his sudden disappearance. When Chase would tell his friends how he found Logan, they would only worry more.

Yet Logan wasn't asleep as everyone would think, he was only fiercely trying to fall asleep. He wanted to get to that place where he was with the girl he only recently realized he always wanted. Maybe in his dreams he could have what he wanted, if only Dream Logan could figure out a way to make her stay.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I promise that this story is going somewhere, somewhere unexpected actually. At the end of the next chapter everything will change. The length of the chapters, however, should remain about this long-much much shorter than my story Discovering Us and easier to make quick updates.

Oh, and another hint-sort of- the thing that was different about the writing last chapter, is still different this chapter and it is relevant to the surprise that's coming up.

For how frequently I may be updating anything I'm writing please check my profile, which I plan to update regularly. Also, this story is a priority since it's only three (maybe four) chapters from being finished (I think).

PLEASE review as I would love to hear what you thought of the chapter and so that I know if anyone at all is still interested in this story.

And again, I'm sorry for the lack of updates on everything of mine. I promise that I do work on updating whenever I get the opportunity.

-Sarah