My teeth are actually chattering! I have to peel my clothes off; they are so wet and completely stuck to my skin. Yuk, this feels horrible and it makes such a disgusting sucking sound when I pull my jeans off.
We had a water fight, well, once he got the hose it was kinda one sided, I couldn’t get it back off the big ox. And God is he big.
Then he kissed me. He kissed me.
I stand still in my little bathroom as that statement sinks in. He actually kissed me. My head is swimming a little and I bite my lip as my smile grows. I just can’t seem to accept it, the fact that someone like him, i.e. absolutely gorgeous and capable of having any women in the world, kissed me. Little boring me.
He took the hose right out of my hand and gave me a pretty good soaking, next thing I know his hand is in my hair and his lips are on mine. I remember going a bit wide-eyed and stiff at first, then… just, kinda, leaned into it.
It was nice. Scratch that it was more than nice, it was amazing. Much better than my first kiss. Though I’m sure filing my nails with a chainsaw would be more enjoyable than my first kiss.
He kissed me. I kissed him. No one was comatose. Mutation, nil; Marie, one!
Giggling, I jump in my shower and let the hot spray warm me up. We rode back to town in silence, I was too embarrassed to talk and thankfully he didn’t press for a conversation. When I dropped him at his motel, he asked if we could meet up for a drink or something. It was quite sweet actually; he started scratching the back of his head and looking at his boots. So cute. Although I’m not sure cute is the right word for him, not sure he’d like that. Maybe I can call him that later and see what kind of a look I get. The eyebrow, I expect. I like that one, along with the smirk. Oh, and I especially like the I’m-looking-at-you-with-my-head-down look. That one’s sexy and it makes my stomach flip a little, he looks a little dangerous like that actually, it’s almost unnerving. Though the cowboy-leaning-against-my-truck look was also nice earlier. Wonder how he will look later?
So, we’re meeting at Tony’s for a drink. Just a drink. It’s not like it’s a date or anything. I mean it’s like a date, because that’s what you do on a date, but it’s not a date. At least I don’t think it is. I mean it could be. I wonder if that’s what he thinks it is? God, what if he thinks it’s a date and I don’t and I turn up...? Calm, calm down. It’s not a date. It’s just a drink.
Taking a deep breath I reach for my fruit shampoo and stop, thinking about it, if Logan can smell everything he won’t want to be sniffing strawberries all night. Or for as long as the evening lasts. I use the other one I have, its herb, smells a little softer, I hope.
As I sit on the end of my bed and dry my hair my mind drifts back to our kiss. I leaned against him, right against him. His shirt was all wet and stuck to his chest, all his muscles were… “Ow!” Hot, hot, hairdryer is hot when you keep it still.
Okay, I really need to concentrate, this is just getting silly. Getting dressed is easy, I don’t own anything really, really, nice, just average nice. So tight blue jeans, long grey fitted sweater with a belt and my Ugg’s. Gina reckons that I could get away with this sweater as a mini dress, but I’m not that brave, not tonight.
Checking my face I put on eye make-up and little bit of flesh coloured lip-gloss. Then look again and get rid of the gloss for something a little less shiny. I’m not the shiny type.
Okay, I’m ready. I think. Now I just have to get to the bar and act natural. Maybe a glass of water first, I open my cupboard and get a glass, maybe some vodka instead. But that will have to wait since someone is knocking on my door.
I can’t hide my surprise to find Logan standing there. Shit, he really does think it’s a date. “Er, hey. Were we meeting here?”
“No, darlin’. Can I come in?”
I take a couple of steps back to give him room. “Sure.” He looks so handsome, he’s had a shave and he smells nice, but he doesn’t look too happy. “Logan, is everything okay?”
“I have to leave.”
Frowning, I try and force a smile, I’m a little confused. “But you only just got here.”
“No, Marie, I mean town. I got a call from home…” he sighs and rubs his hand over his face, pacing back and forth a little. He looks so tired, so stressed, so…desperate. “The shit’s hit the fan, so to speak and I have to leave, tonight. Now.”
“Oh.” I turn away a little. Shit, why does this hurt so much? “I guess if you gotta go, you gotta go.” He grabs my arm and turns me, then uses his finger to gently raise my chin. His eyes hold mine, and there’s... there’s fear in them. And then his pacing, his desperation, it hits me. “I’m never gonna see you again am I?”
“Marie…” His lips quickly take mine, and this time the kiss is a little more intense, it holds urgency and something else I can’t put my finger on. His hands cup my face and mine find his hair. When his hands change and find my back, I feel my feet lift off the floor a little. Before I know what I’m doing, I start to push his jacket off his shoulders, he lets go of me so it can hit the floor, next I find the buttons on his shirt, but his hands stop me. “Stop. Not… not like this.”
I try to catch my breath. “Please…” I try to kiss him again, but he holds my face and rests his head against my forehead. “Logan I don’t want you to go.”
He pulls away and rubs his hands through his hair, then suddenly his hands are back on my face and he’s kissing me again, then he pulls back a little and runs his thumb over my lips. “Come with me. Pack a bag, right now and come with me.”
I step back and try and take in what’s he’s asking. “Logan, that’s crazy, how can I just…”
“Please. Okay, your right, I am gonna leave, tonight, now and I wanna come back, I just don’t know when. I don’t want to leave you here Marie, I don’t think its safe anymore. Please just come with me.”
“Logan you can’t just ask me to leave, I need to know why, you need to explain…”
“I will, I will I promise, just now, I need to go. I got transport coming and I gotta go. Just trust me, please.”
I look around my little trailer, my home. The only place that I’ve been even slightly happy, because I made it that way. Then I look at him. I don’t know much about him, I don’t know what this is about or what I’m being led into, but somehow I know staying here without him, isn’t really an option I’m willing to consider. “Okay. Let me grab a bag. How long do we have?”
“We gotta go now; it will take us a few hours to get to the pick up point.” He quickly kisses me and turns to pick up his jacket. “Hurry up.”
Pulling my dad’s duffle bag out from under my bed and stuffing it full of clothes bring back a few memories of when I ran away. Guess I'm running again, except this time I don’t know from what. I look at my hands, they’re shaking. What am I doing? To be honest I don’t know, but it feels right.
I’ve never been the impulsive type, before when I ran away it was planned, it was pre-meditated. This is proper flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda stuff. But I can do it, where’s the harm in being a little bit impulsive, a little spontaneous. All I can think is how can I let him go? How can I let him walk away and never know what would have happened between us, because there is ‘something’ between us. I want to know what it is, how it works, who we can be to each other. So…I’m going.
Grabbing some photos off of my night stand I spot my make-up bag which is next to go in the bag along with my hair brush, tooth brush, my favourite book and a green alligator teddy Gina gave me for Christmas. I'm ready to go.
I grab my denim jacket off the hook by my bedroom door. “Ready.”
He turns to look at me and smiles. “That was fast.” He smirks. “You done this before?”
I smile and shrug. “Once or twice.” I scribble a little note on the counter for Gina…‘Back in a week, love you.’ …and follow him out the door.
It took us three hours on the back of Logan’s bike to get to the ‘pick up’ place, so now, we are standing in the middle of an empty field and we’ve been here for hours. He is standing behind me with his arms keeping me warm. “Sorry it’s so cold darlin’.”
“The weather’s not your fault.” I feel him bury his nose in my hair. “What’s going on Logan?”
“You remember I told you about my friend, I helped her out?”
“When you ended up at the school?”
“Yeah. She got hurt today, torn up pretty bad. Lucky to be alive apparently. Trouble is I know the guy who did it; he wouldn’t leave anyone alive, not without a good reason. She’s just a messenger.”
The wind bites at me as he pulls away and looks towards the sky. “A message for you?”
“Yeah. It’s an old score, one I thought got settled a long time ago. Guess I should know better.”
I pull my coat tighter. “Who is, ‘he’?”
Logan turns towards me and strokes my cheek. “Someone you don’t need to worry about.”
I sigh. “Logan, come on. If I don’t need to worry then why am I doing this? Why am I running? What am I running from? I'm scared Logan. I’ve known you properly for all of two days and I…”
“He’s dangerous. I thought he was dead, but I was wrong. He’s coming for me, Jubilee is hurt because of me and I don’t want him to come here, I don’t want him to find you.”
I’m about to protest and get more information when I hear a weird noise. “What’s that?”
“Our ride.” He pulls me in and shields me from the force of the wind, I can’t see where it’s coming from.
There’s a wining noise and a puff of hydraulics, then a loud voice I don’t recognise. “Someone call a cab?”
Logan walks away from me towards a tall dark haired man, he looks sort of Native American, they shake hands and then I suddenly notice the huge black jet plane parked behind them.
“Fuck!” Both men turn to look at me. Logan chuckles, as his friend gives me the once over. “Sorry, that’s, I mean, I don’t normally swear like that.” I gesture towards the plane. “But, you know.”
“Logan you never said you were bringing company.” His voice is deep and thick, he sounds kind.
“Last minute change of plan.”
“Logan, Scott’s not gonna like…”
“Forge, I don’t give a damn what Scott thinks, I ain’t leaving anything I care about out here for that bastard to get his hands on. Now let’s go.”
“You’re the boss. I’ll wheel your bike.” Forge turns to the bike, but Logan stops him.
“How’s yella?”
The other man shrugs. “Better I think. She was asking for you last night, asking why you weren’t there. Hank’s had to dose her up pretty hard, she’s gonna take a while to get back on her feet.” Logan’s puts his hand on his hips and sighs; he must care for this girl a lot. “Man it’s not your fault.”
“Yes it is, it all is. I should have ended this on Liberty Island three years ago, but instead I took it for granted that he was dead. It’s my fault she’s hurt.”
“Then…maybe bringing someone else into this isn’t such a good idea.”
“What other option do I have? My scent is all over that girl, in her house, her truck. If he came here it would take him less than an hour to find her and…” Logan leaned into the other man and said something under his breath. The other man nods and Logan walks back to me picking up my bag. “Come on.”
I pull on his arm. “Logan wait, I, um, this is silly I know, but, I’ve never been on a plane before, let alone something like…that!”
“Darlin’ it’s perfectly safe. Should only take an hour or so.”
I pull on his arm again. “Are you sure?” I follow him into the jet and he buckles me into the seat behind his.
Forge looks round from the front of the jet. “Depends on who’s driving.”
Logan gives a small chuckle as he moves next to Forge and straps himself him. “Are you saying that there is something wrong with my flying?”
I smile at the easiness between the two men in front of me, as Forge tries not to laugh at Logan. “Oh well let me see, who was it that crashed the jet into the west gate house?”
“I was momentarily distracted.”
“Momentarily distracted, dude what happened, Jean bend over?”
Logan gave a huge belly laugh and slapped Forge on the back. “Nice, I’ll have to try that one on Scott.”
“Doesn’t he suffer enough?”
“No, not nearly enough.”
“Who’s Scott and why does he need to suffer?” Curiosity about Logan’s life is getting the better of me. I would especially like to hear about this girl he’s so protective of.
Forge takes off with ease and all of a sudden the landscape turns to white cloud mixing in with the purple and orange of the sunrise. “Scott is our fearless leader in the face of adversity!” He laughs and glances at Logan. “And him and Logan don’t see eye to eye.”
“He’s an asshole.”
I laugh again. “So you don’t like him?”
“I never said I didn’t like him, gotta a lot of respect for the guy, but it doesn’t change the fact the he’s an asshole and wrapped tighter than airport sandwich. ”
I’m laughing before I know it and instantly at ease for my first time on a plane. First time on anything that flies actually. I’m still not sure why I'm doing this, why I trust him. I just know that I do and that somehow it will all be okay.
He was right about the flight, it only took just over an hour and as we sank low over massive grounds of a mansion Logan turned and pointed to the huge house. “Welcome to the Charles Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.”
*********
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Author's Chapter Notes:
9. Lost & Lonely – Marie
beta by Gidget!!!
beta by Gidget!!!