It was well after midnight when they returned, and it was safe to assume that the majority of the mansion was already down for the night, with the few sporadic exceptions suffering from insomniac. Still, she knew that Logan was prone to be one of those exceptions, and so she quickly made her way to her room, hoping to avoid him. She wasn’t ready to see him yet, not now. Not until she had a few answers about why he hadn’t bothered to come home after she and the other’s disappeared. She had asked Charles about it once, during one of their therapy sessions. He had told her that they had tried to reach him, but with no success. And that they hadn’t seen hide or hair of him. She already knew that couldn’t be true, though. She had learned from experience that, unless their minds were intentionally being blocked like hers and the others were, Xavier could find any mutant on the face of the earth using Cerebro. No. There was more to it than that.
She wasn’t ready for the confrontation yet. She had to make sure she kept a cool head through it.
She opened the door to her room swiftly, trying to be as quiet as possible. She was hoping that no one saw her come in with Scott so late, but, she also knew that everyone had seen them leave together. For all she knew, the rumor mill had already started to run.
She only had the door part way open when she realized someone was there. She hadn’t left the door unlocked, knowing that some of the students might grow a temporary tumor in their brains and come snooping around. She pushed the door open slowly, ready to pounce on who ever thought they could invade her room, her sanctuary. And, instead of finding the room empty and a few things misplaced, Rogue came face to face with Logan for the first time in six years.
“Where the hell have you been?” Logan roared as he stomped across the room from where he was standing by the window. His nose twitched quickly, and she knew that he had caught any scent she had dragged in with her.
“Out. Where the hell have you been?” She asked, throwing his words back at him. She was striving hard to keep her temper low, to stay composed, but everything inside of her wanted to scream at him, to punch and hit him, and to fall then and ask ‘why?’. Why wasn’t he there for her when she needed him? Why didn’t he take care of her like he promised? Why would it have been so hard to put his past away for a moment and find her? She stalked to her dresser, opening up the first drawer harshly and breaking the face off. She cursed silently as she grabbed a pair of panties before gently pulling another drawer open and grabbing a night shirt.
“Where are you going?” Logan asked angrily, crossing his heavily muscled arms across his chest as he watched her walk past him to the bathroom.
“I’ve been swimming. I’m going to go and take a shower.” She pushed open the door, sighing angrily when the handle came off. This was why she had to control herself better. If she didn’t she was liable to break even more.
“I’m not done talking,” Logan growled as he proceeded to follow her into the bathroom.
“Well, I’m not listening. I’m going to take a shower. If you want to talk to someone so bad, there's a mirror on the other side of the closet door. Feel free to bullshit all you want.”
“Rogue!” He bellowed as he followed her into the bathroom. “We need to talk.”
“Then talk, Logan, but I’m going to take a damn shower.” She said sharply as she began to undress.
Logan was taken aback as he realized she was intending to strip in front of him, but he refused to budge. This was important. But when she unbuttoned her jeans and discarded them and her panties in one fluid motion, and he felt himself grow hard at the sight of her well toned ass with the dimples above each cheek, he knew it was a little too much and retreated back to the bedroom, preparing to wait it out.
~*~*~*~*~*~
A half an hour later, Rogue emerged from the bathroom, feeling a little better, although tired, hoping that Logan had left, knowing that he would wait as long as it took. She had wrapped her hair in a towel, deciding to wait to blow dry the long locks after she had gotten Logan to leave.
And sure enough, he was still there, although noticeably a lot calmer, sitting on the chair by her desk.
“What do you want?” She asked quietly, taking a seat on her bed.
“What happened to you?” His question was filled with warmth and genuine concern. It made her blood boil. “You’re not the same girl I left behind.”
“It’s been six years, Logan,” she spat back, her voice full of venom and anger. “Did you expect me to stay eighteen forever? Not all of us are so lucky to age so slowly.”
“I didn’t expect you to stay the same,” he replied, his voice becoming harsher. “But I didn’t think you would become such a brazen bitch, either.”
“Yeah, well, four years in hell will do that to a girl. You should know that.” She couldn’t deny the surprise that clouded his eyes, or the way he flinched at her words. Was it possible that he really didn’t know? That he was completely in the dark when it came to her ordeal? Was it worth leaving me to rot in purgatory?”
“What the hell are you talking about? Was it that bad here?” So he didn’t know. How long had he been back? Didn’t anyone tell him?
“Do you know anything about what’s happened to me in the past few years?” She inquired. “No, but then, you wouldn’t care, would you? It’s not that important.”
He narrowed his eyes, realizing that she wasn’t going to give him any information easily. That was fine, he would be able to get it from somewhere else.
“Where have you been?” He asked again, this time with more patience.
“Out,” she said stubbornly, unwilling to give him anymore than that.
“I could smell him on you when you came in, Marie,” he said quickly, letting her know what she already figured. She wondered if he would be this upset if it had been anyone else. Bobby, perhaps, or even the Cajun.
“Don’t call me that, Logan. You have no right to call me that, anymore. You lost that when you abandoned me here.” Her tone was even, but there was no mistaking the anger in her eyes. “Get out, Wolverine. Go to bed. Get rested so that you can be at your best when you walk away again.”
“I’m not leaving this time, Rogue,” he replied coldly as he emphasized her name.
“I guess only time will tell, won’t it?” She replied, her lips twisting into a sardonic smile.
“Screwing around with a practically married man,” Logan said as he stood from the chair, making his way to the door. She opened her mouth to correct him, but he cut her off before she could give any excuses. “I’m disappointed in you.”
She snapped her mouth shut proudly, allowing him to continue to believe what he wanted. He would find out the truth soon, anyway. Instead, she said something that she knew would hit a sore spot. “Feeling’s mutual.”
“At least think about what you’re doing,” He said as he opened the door, turning to look at her one more time.
“I learned from the best.” Her eyes became cold, unreadable. “And you are the best, aren’t you, Logan?”
He slammed the door hard enough to make the walls shutter. She stared at the spot he had just stood in for a second, and then she felt the sick laugh bubble up from her gut. Part of her was a little afraid of what that laugh could mean, but she had to admit to herself that it was either that or cry. And she would not shed a tear for that man. Not again.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Special thanks to calemzoe for the suggestions!
“Well, I’m not listening. I’m going to take a shower. If you want to talk to someone so bad, there's a mirror on the other side of the closet door. Feel free to bullshit all you want.”
“Well, I’m not listening. I’m going to take a shower. If you want to talk to someone so bad, there's a mirror on the other side of the closet door. Feel free to bullshit all you want.”
Chapter End Notes:
What did you think? Usually, I have them makeing up right away, but I decided to take calemzoe's advice and try to draw it out.