Logan watched her go, and, although she was trying hard to hide it, he caught the smell of pain in her scent. He would have to go to her, clear things up. But first, there were a few things he had to straighten out here.
He looked back at Jean, not missing the fear building up in her. She knew what he was going to ask her, knew that Rogue’s presence made it all the worse.
“Why didn’t you call me, Jeanie? You had my number. You could have gotten a hold of me easily. You knew damn well that I could have helped,” Logan growled at her.
Jean stammered for a moment, trying to get a hold of the situation. She could practically feel the danger coming off of him. “I was going to. But… I thought we would find them no sweat. I thought that it would be a week at the most, and then we would have them back safely. I didn’t want to pull you away from what you were doing.”
“But you should, have, Jean.” The fact that he didn’t use any nickname didn’t go unnoticed. “Why didn’t you call after a few weeks went by?”
“The trail was cold, Logan. We didn’t think we’d ever find them. Everyone but Xavier and Scott had given up after the first year. We assumed they were dead.” Jean pressed herself firmly against the shelf now, trying to inch herself as far away from him as possible.
He could smell the lie coming off of her. That and the scent of an unknown man.
“Don’t lie to me, Jean. I ain’t one to swallow your bullshit.” Logan made a point of taking a long, hard sniff of her neck. “I think I know what happened. You were just too damn wrapped up in your own pile of shit to give a fuck about anyone else, weren’t you?”
She opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off with a growl.
“Get the fuck out, Jean. You got two weeks to get your shit and go. If you don’t, I will personally make sure you will never leave one of these kids to the vultures again.” He pushed away from her, storming away in search of the girl he should have been here to take care of.
~*~*~*~*~*~
She was sitting in her room, trying hard not to cry when there came a swift knock at the door. She stilled, listening carefully, hoping that it wasn’t the one person in the world she did not want to see, not yet anyway. She couldn’t bare the sight of him right now. She would probably break down in tears at the sight of him so soon.
“Rogue? I know you’re in there. I saw you hurry up the stairs. Will you open the door?” She sighed reluctantly, recognizing the muffled voice right away. She reluctantly left her bed, making her way to the door. Scott was standing on the other side, his mouth frowning in concern. “You want to talk about it?”
“Not really, but I will,” she said softly as she opened the door wider, letting him enter. “Either I tell you now or you’ll just trick me into it later.”
Scott smirked at her logic, understanding that it was her own twisted attempt at a joke. He took a seat at the desk, and Rogue found herself remembering that it was the same one that Logan sat in the night before. “Did he hurt you?”
“No. Not the way you think,” Rogue replied bitterly. She sat on the bed, trying to avoid looking at her friend, least he saw what she was really feeling. She pushed back the anger she felt about the entire incident, not wanting to take it out on the one person she was able to truly count on. “I just… I don’t know. I guess that I expected a little more from him. When he said those things last night, it hurt a lot more than before. And when he assumed that we were together, I just kind of lost it.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Scott sighed, watching the way she fiddled with the edge of the blanket. “You never did tell me what happened last night.”
“He was here when I walked in,” she said softly, delving into the events from the previous night head first. Scott listened silently as she explained what happened, as she got off track, cursing the brute and describing the anger she had a hard time controlling. When she finished, he sat back silently, one question popping into his mind. He had a feeling that he already knew the answer, but he couldn’t help but wonder if she was willing to admit it.
“Why didn’t you tell him that we weren’t together?” Scott asked, a little sadly. Although he agreed with her, admitting to himself that there was something missing from the kiss they shared, he still couldn’t deny the affection he felt for her, or that maybe they could grow to love one another.
“Because it’s none of his damn business,” she replied angrily, her mouth twisting as if she had just tasted something bitter. “He just assumed, so let him think what he wants. He’ll find out sooner or later.”
“Not with all the rumors flying around, he won’t,” Scott pointed out swiftly. They had grown so used to the rumors the students had a tendency to spread; none of it seemed to faze them anymore. Just this morning, he had heard someone mention that they had seen Rogue come out of his room.
“I know,” She sighed, laying back on the bed. She stared up at the ceiling for a moment, not sure how she could say this without giving too much away. “I just don’t want him to think that I need him, still. I don’t want him to keep thinking of me as sweet, pitiful little Marie who needs her hand held to cross the street. Poor little Marie, who can’t even get a real boyfriend in six damn years.”
“You know, they could have at least taught you how to lie better,” Scott said with a sly smile. “Why do you really not want him to know your single?”
“Because I’m angry at him,” she said softly. “I’m mad at him for thinking that he can still come back after six years and have some input in how I run my life. Annoyed that, have so long, he still has the audacity to still actually care. Angry at myself for letting him get to me this way, and for letting myself feel the way I do about him.”
“And how do you feel?”
She thought for a moment, and he felt his heart go out to her when she turned her face to look at him. She wore a small, sweet but sad smile, and her eyes were brimming with fresh tears. He watched her inhale once, as the first tear dropped from her left eye. It crawled over the bridge of her nose, landing softly on the bed. “I think I still love him.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
“Because I’m angry at him,” she said softly. “I’m mad at him for thinking that he can still come back after six years and have some input in how I run my life. Annoyed that, have so long, he still has the audacity to still actually care. Angry at myself for letting him get to me this way, and for letting myself feel the way I do about him.”
Chapter End Notes:
I wanted to show a softer side of Rogue. What do you think? Feed back, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!