Rogue’s fingers were going numb as the frigid wind bore down on her bare hands. She pressed her fingers against Logan’s warm clothes and she rested her cheek on his back. The buildings flew by as they drove. Rogue tried to keep from shivering. Despite Logan’s warm body and his jacket, the rushing wind chilled her. Another fifteen minutes and Logan pulled into a parking spot in front of a small diner.
Logan turned off the bike and sat there. He raised an eyebrow when Rogue didn’t move. “Uh, kid. Are you going to let go of me or do you plan on having me walk in there with you hanging off of me,” Logan asked. She could hear the smile in his voice.
Rogue blushed a little as she let go saying, “Sorry. You’re warm.” She stood up, pulling the leather coat tighter around herself. Logan swung off the bike and looked at Rogue who was shaking the stiffness out of her legs. He chuckled, shaking his head. Rogue looked at him and stuck her tongue out. Logan just shook his head, saying, “That’s mature.” He turned and walked into the diner, Rogue quickly catching up with him. The warmth of the interior of the diner hit her like a ton of bricks. She took a deep breath and the scents of burgers and other foods entered her nose.
Logan immediately moved to a booth that looked out a window. Rogue followed, eyeing the other customers and waitresses. The redheaded waitress had a huge grin on her face. She had a walk with a little hop in it, which made her red, wavy hair bounce on her shoulders. The waitress looked at Logan and Rogue. She had a slightly tan complexion. Her skin looked young, pulled tight over high cheekbones. Her green eyes looked gentle and sincere. She reminded Rogue of Jean.
That tore at her heart a little. Rogue missed Jean, the Professor, and even Scott. After absorbing Logan, Rogue had a serious dislike for the man, but as Logan’s traits faded a little, Rogue had come to respect the leader of the team. He was funny… sometimes and he never let anything break his spirits. Until Jean died that is. It was like the man she had come to see as a brother was gone. No smiles, no cracking jokes… nothing. He was a mess and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Logan sat down at the booth and Rogue followed suit, sitting across from him. She hoped to God that the redhead wasn’t their waitress. Low and behold, the woman came to their table, a smile spreading across her face. Logan glanced at her, then quickly looked away. “My name’s Genelle. I’ll be your server today. What can I get for you to drink,” the waitress asked.
Rogue looked up at her and said, “I’ll have a sweet tea.”
Genelle scratched that down on her pad of paper with her pen then looked at Logan, “For you, sir?”
“Beer,” Logan replied, not looking up at her, but keeping his eyes on the table. The waitress scribbled that down.
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and the way her hair bounced made it seem like she had hopped in order to do so. “Do you two need a few minutes to look over the menus, or are you ready to order your food,” Genelle asked.
Logan looked at Rogue, questioningly. Rogue glanced from him, then up at the waitress. “I need a couple of minutes,” she said.
Genelle nodded, replying, “I’ll come back to get your order.” She bounced away to another table that a three woman had just sat down at. Rogue looked through her menu, occasionally glancing at Logan. She found something she wanted, then closed her menu and set it aside.
Logan looked up at her and saw her watching the redhead. “I’m not crazy, am I Marie?”
Rogue looked at him, frowning. She shook her head, replying, “No Logan. Why on earth would you think that?”
“Because I stuck around,” Logan said.
Rogue’s shoulders dropped and she frowned sadly at him. “No,” she said, “Logan, you’re a better man for it. I like having you around. So do a lot of the others, they just don’t know how to let you know that.”
Logan sighed, looking out the window again. Genelle came back to the table with their drinks and set them down. “Ready to order,” she asked. Rogue nodded. They both ordered, Logan still avoiding looking at their waitress. Once she was gone, Logan sighed, his broad shoulders heaving a little as he did.
“Kid, did it ever bother you… me going after Jean I mean,” Logan asked, his voice low.
Rogue’s eyes widened slightly. /Yes it bothered me. First off, you were chasing some other man’s girl. Secondly, I wanted you to look at me like you looked at her./ “No,” Rogue replied, her voice level.
Logan looked at her. It felt like he looked right through that lie. Rogue knew he had. He could smell it on her. She moved her eyes away from his face to study the water droplets dropping down the side of the glass in front of her. Logan continued to watch her for a few more moments before picking up his beer and taking a drink from it. He put it back on the table and turned his head slightly to look outside again. She took this time to study him. His mutton chops were still the same, if not a little thicker than normal. There was no gray in his hair anywhere. /I wonder how long he’ll look like this. He looks around his late thirties or early fourties./ The expression on his face was unreadable, as usual. She wished at times that she could read the emotions there, but he kept them so well guarded. That was probably safer this day and age. You can’t show emotion. It was a weakness now. His eyes were a rich, dark brown color. They had always seemed haunted, but now that Rogue looked, it seemed they were more haunted looking than usual.
“Why’re you staring at me,” Logan asked. Logan hadn’t even turned his head to look at her. He sounded amused, but that could have been her ears playing tricks on her. Rogue quickly averted her eyes elsewhere and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, biting her lower lip. She glanced back at him to find a lopsided smile on his face. His eyes were brighter when he smiled and Rogue liked seeing him like that. She smiled back at him.
Over dinner, they talked. Mostly, they talked about casual things. Logan asked Rogue about her and Bobby. He was a little pissed to hear that Rogue felt like Bobby was going to end the relationship because she was still uncomfortable with the whole touch situation. Rogue just shrugged and told him that she was feeling like she wasn’t as interested in him anymore. “He just seems… less mature than what I’m interested in anymore.” Rogue was silent for a moment, then she looked up at Logan. “What happened on the island?”
“Didn’t Kitty and Bobby tell you everything,” Logan asked, suddenly putting his emotion shields back up.
Rogue bit her lip, then continued, “Only what they saw.”
Logan frowned, taking another long drink of his beer. He drained it and set the bottle back onto the table. He remained silent. Rogue should have guessed he wouldn’t want to talk about it. She mentally kicked herself for even asking. /Stupid! That was so damn stupid! Why did I even bother asking?/
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business,” Rogue mumbled.
“Don’t apologize Marie. I’ll talk about it, but just not right now,” Logan said, glancing around at the other customers. Rogue nodded, understanding that he wanted a more private setting to talk about something that had hurt him so badly. She continued eating her food. Their conversation became less serious once again and they exchanged banter. Rogue even got Logan to laugh a few times, which made her beam at him. If Logan wanted to wait to talk about what happened, Rogue could wait.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry this one took so freaking long. I've been really busy and my computer wigged out and went all stupid on me. It deleted the second chapter so I had to rewrite it. Anyway, enjoy! =D
Chapter End Notes:
So, leave a comment if you'd like. I'll be working on chapter 3 soon. *crosses fingers* Let's hope the computer doesn't die again!