Jubes calls it The Beef Jerky o' Love. Kitty giggles, Bobby looks forlorn and St. John smirks. Rogue just smiles, the blush rising on her cheeks while she fiddles with the seams of her gloves.

Everyone knows about her crush on Logan. Crushes are supposed to be secret; when an entire school knows and when the object of said crush resides in one's head it ceases to be "just a crush" and quickly moves on to torture.

If Rogue's mind weren't already filled with Cody, Erik and Logan, the thought that her non-existent love life started with a Slim-Jim would make her head swim. But that's where it all began -- not when he sat beside her at the bar in Laughlin City and not when he pulled back the tarp and discovered his stowaway. No, she fell for him when her feet started to tingle from the newfound heat of Logan's truck -- the way his eyes softened when he looked down at her. *That's* when it happened.

Scott talks about infinite permutations in class. Rogue wonders what would've happened if Scott and 'Ro hadn't shown up, if she hadn't been part of Magneto's master plan -- how many different permutations split off from that stick of beef jerky?

Instead she and Logan had been brought to Xavier's. There she'd almost killed Logan; he had taken to Jean and any chance of Rogue being more than the little sister had been shot to hell. It was there that they had both finally found some sort of home - a real one with people that cared about them and would fight tooth and nail for their well being. When Rogue really thinks about it, maybe the fact that she now has a home outweighs the reality that she'll never touch another human being without killing them.

Infinite permutations and beef jerky -- not exactly the stuff that fairy tales are made of -- then again, did Sleeping Beauty ever drain the life out of Prince Charming? Not so much, no. So Rogue smiles when Logan is mentioned and the chain feels heavy around her neck. It's a much more definite and lingering reminder of her personal fairy tale than a few sticks of beef jerky.