Logan watched from the shadows as Rogue pulled the shawl tighter around herself. The moonlight had turned her white streaks luminescent, and her pale skin shimmered. It also highlighted the twin trail of tears running down her cheeks. Her shoulders shook as she continued to cry, unaware of her audience.

He heaved a deep sigh, knowing that he was intruding on such a personal moment doing nothing to stop him from watching. He hated to see her cry; hated to see her hurting so deeply. But he wasn’t sorry the no good Cajun was out of her life.

As her sobs began to slow down, he stepped out of the shadow of the tree line, a quiet clearing of his throat the only verbal announcement of his presence he gave. She looked up, shock crossing her delicate features before they crumpled again, the tears flowing with renewed frequency.

Logan hesitated before walking up to her, crouching on the grass as he enveloped her in his strong arms. Her cheek rest against his covered shoulder as she let him hold her. He tried to think of something comforting to say, but he couldn’t. He wanted to tell her that she’d done the right thing, that she deserved someone better.

But he knew it wasn’t what she needed to hear. Not now.

“Did I do the right thing?”

His eyebrows went up. Maybe it was what she needed to hear. He stayed silent for a long moment, trying to decide if he wanted to say ‘yes’ because he truly believed it, or because he had an ulterior motive. His hand caressed her back through the fine silk. In the end, he decided it was a combination of both.

“Yes.”

She shifted in his hold, green eyes looking at him. Her bottom lip still quivered, but she had stopped crying. “Really?”

He sighed, breaking eye contact. How was he supposed to answer that? He took a breath, still not looking at her. “Yeah.”

She lay her head back down on his shoulder, her arms hooking around his neck. “Then why does it hurt so bad?”

He couldn’t help holding her that little bit closer, nuzzling her hair and breathing her scent. “It’s always gonna hurt when it’s someone you love, darlin’.”

She took in a shaky breath, turning her head so that her lips nearly touched his neck. She didn’t notice the way he tensed, or the way his caresses had paused for a second. Logan closed his eyes, fighting against the urge to kiss away her tears and pain. He settled for using his thumb to brush them away, his touches light enough to keep her mutation from triggering.

“Is it always gonna hurt this bad?”

He couldn’t help the smile that curved his lips, but it didn’t carry to his eyes. “It’ll seem like it. Then it’ll just start to fade. And one day, it won’t hurt as much.”

“Really?”

The smile disappeared. He didn’t want to lie to her, not if he was going to use himself as an example. And he wanted her to get over it. Because then… Then he might finally be able to—

He cut off the line of thinking before it went too far. It was thoughts like these that got him in trouble. He tangled a hand in her hair, pulling her head up so he could look at her. He brushed the hair out of her face, the backs of his fingers lingering just a little too long on her face. He felt the pull of her mutation start, and was tempted to let her drain some of him, but he pulled his hand away.

“I don’t know what to tell you, darlin’.”

Her glove hand pressed against his chest, and she felt his heartbeat under her palm. “You don’t have to tell me anything, sugar.” She smiled for the first time all night. “Thanks for… Thank you.”

He reluctantly released her as she started to stand. She hugged herself tightly, turning towards the mansion.

“You comin’, Wolvie?”

He fell into step with her, a short internal battle waging in his mind as to whether he dared to put an arm around her. He slipped his arm around her waist, the corner of his mouth curling when she laid her head on his shoulder as they walked slowly.