Rogue walked outside in the heat of a midsummer day. She looked down at her hands; they were sweating inside her gloves. She frowned at the sight. Hank had told her the day would come, but she didn’t think it would be *today.* It was too soon. The distinct sound of a girl squealing in delight caused her to look toward the lake. Oh yeah, everyone had decided to go swimming *today.*
She crossed her arms against her chest and watched her feet as she walked toward the lake. She could hear Bobby shouting and Kitty laughing. She didn’t dare look up. Jubilee called out her name as she neared the lake. She looked their way just in time to see Bobby grab Kitty and jump off the pier into the water. The sight gave Rogue an itch, one that needed to be scratched badly. An itch to run.
She turned to leave and noticed Logan sitting next to a tree smoking a cigar. She walked over to him and sat down Indian style. She looked sideways at him to see if he would tell her to leave. He kept his eyes on the junior X-Men in the water. She turned her attention back to them as well, more splashing, more touching. She rolled her eyes in disgust.
She looked back at Logan wondering if she could talk to him. Maybe confide in him again. She hadn’t really talked to him since that night on the veranda, with exception of casual comments here and there.
“Do you ever feel like running again?” she asked.
Rogue watched as he pulled the cigar from his mouth and rolled it between his fingers. He held his smoke in for a few seconds and then released it in one long breath. She watched him stare at the cigar, as if he was studying how much use he could get out of it. Nervously waiting for him to answer, she tugged at blade at grass. It slipped through her fingers as tried to pull it up. Damn gloves.
“Storm needs me here,” he replied.
“I know, but you used to come and go as you pleased,” she told him. “I’m not asking if you are going to leave, just if you ever *feel* like leaving. There’s a difference.”
“Do you feel like runnin’?” he asked turning to look at her.
Rogue averted his gaze and looked back at the lake. Bobby was now swimming after Kitty while she laughed with excitement. She shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know, maybe.”
“For what reason?” he asked.
Rogue snapped her attention back to him as his tone turned harsh. “Just because I want too. Do I need to have a reason?”
“Yeah you do.”
“Did you ever have a reason for running before?” Rogue said as her temper began to rise.
Logan stood up and threw his cigar to the ground. She stood up as well and tried match his height. Impossible. “I always have my reasons,” he growled at her.
Rogue hesitated wondering where this conversation went wrong. “Look, I’m sorry to bother you. I just wanted your advice about leaving.”
“No you didn’t,” Logan said a little more controlled, “What you really want to talk about is why your *boyfriend* is out there swimming with a twelve-year old and not sitting inside holding your *gloved* hand. I don’t do boyfriend talk Rogue, you can talk to Storm about that.”
“That’s harsh,” she whispered fighting back tears.
“Yeah? Well, everybody needs someone to be harsh every once in a while,” Logan said. “It builds character.”
Rogue looked at him with disdain in her eyes. This was not something she wanted to talk about with Logan. But maybe she did? Sighing in disgust, more at herself than him, she turned to leave. She felt Logan’s hand grab her wrist to stop her.
“If you run because of some boy,” Logan whispered softly, “you’ll be leaving something behind. That’s the key to running, never leave attachments. You’ll always go back if you do.”
Rogue briefly looked into his eyes. She wondered how he can change his attitude so quickly. She thought about the first time he left, when he gave her his tags. He had said he would come back for them. An attachment to bring him back, she thought. Then suddenly it clicked. There was nothing more for him to come back to if he left again.
“You *are* leaving again,” she concluded.
“Tomorrow at noon,” he confirmed, letting go of her wrist.
Rogue turned to look at her boyfriend still in the water. More splashing and *still* more touching. “Will you ever be back?”
Logan crossed his arms and shrugged, “It depends.”
“On what?” she asked.
“Attachments,” he said softly. Then he walked away leaving her staring at the lake. It took her a second to realize what he meant. Smiling to herself, she began to follow his footsteps back to the mansion. She was definitely going to run also. Maybe not tomorrow at noon, but soon she would hit the road. On her own. She heard Kitty shout Bobby’s name from behind her. She had to get rid of a few attachments first.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
This unbeta'd and feedback is much loved.