All Rogue could hear from behind her was a low growl that seemed to enclose the room and wrap itself around her. She watched Bobby pull away from Kitty down in the moonlit grounds and smile at her, but all she felt was that growl that seemed to make her bones vibrate. She knew Bobby had feelings for Kitty, had for longer than he’d been aware of it. Still she knew it should hurt, he was supposed to be her boyfriend; it was supposed to be her down there being kissed while the moon hung large and yellow in the sky. She didn’t feel anything, not from herself. She could feel the anger rolling off Logan, filling the deepest notes of his sound. She could feel his need to protect, to go and kill and make all her pain fade; the feeling wrapped around her, keeping her limbs warm even though her blood didn’t seem to be moving around her limbs.

Rogue didn’t hear him move. All she noticed was a heavy hand settle on her shoulder, turning her away from the window and the two people who were once again kissing under the perfect moon. She looked up at him. Saw him, saw the feelings she already knew he had and then she felt it. The steady, sharp stab of betrayal, the hate, the self-loathing; why hadn’t she known? It wasn’t his fault not really, he needed human contact, everyone did. And she couldn’t give that too him. She was as closed off physically as he was scared of her skin. Logan pulled her towards him, encased her with his body even as his feelings were still holding her tight. Just as he head settled against his chest he body crumbled, and her dam broke. This was all she would ever know. No man could be with a woman he could never touch, never hold.

Marie didn’t want to be alone. But she knew that she would never be with someone if should couldn’t let herself be touched by them. And as she rested in Logan’s arms she knew she would never feel completely safe in anyone’s embrace.

The Very Short End.