Marie woke up the following morning to the sound of a knock on her door. She groaned, upset that someone was bothering her this early in the morning. It was her first day of spring break and she deserved to sleep in.
“Just a minute,” she said as she forced herself out of bed. She could have just stayed in bed and told whoever it was to come in, but she figured it was someone important. There was no way Jubes or any of the other kids would be up bothering her this early on the first day of break.
She opened her door to see a clean-shaven Logan leaning against her door frame. She raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Why, why mister. This is the second time in the last week you have showed up on my doorstep before the sun is up.”
He cocked a grin. “Sorry, kid. I just figured maybe you wanted to work on the bike some more?”
She rolled her eyes but smiled. “Sure, just gimme a few minutes.”
She turned around and went to her closet, where she picked out an outfit for the day. She was about to walk into her private bathroom when she sensed that Logan was still standing outside her room. Turning around she said, “You can come in, you know.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, silly. I’m not gunna make you wait in the hall. Besides, I don’t want you waking any of the other kids. It is our first day of break,” she informed him.
He shuffled into the room and closed the door quietly behind him. “Aw, shit, kid. I didn’t realize it. Are you sure your fine with helpin’ me out? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
Marie stared at him and noticed, even though he appeared to just be nonchalantly looking over her room, that he was testing her. He was trying to figure out if she genuinely wanted to spend time with him or if she felt she was obligated to. Marie approached him and took his hand in hers.
“Logan, I want to do this. I want to make our friendship work,” she assured him, producing a genuine smile. “And I want to finish that damn bike. I like finishing what I started,” she teased him.
Relaxing, Logan returned her smile. “Thanks kid.”
She relished the sensation of their hands entwined for a few more moments before reluctantly letting go. “I’m gunna get ready. You can make yourself at home out here.”
Closing her bathroom door behind her, Marie took a deep breath and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She thought about Logan and what he meant to her exactly. She had always assumed they were just friends, really, really close friends. Family, maybe. But ever since they had rekindled their friendship, she couldn’t help but feel like she wanted more. Every time he touched her, ever so lightly, she found herself struggling to breathe. Could Logan mean something more to her? Something more than…friends?
Shaking her head she realized now was not the best time to evaluate these emotions, especially since the center of those said emotions was probably seven feet away from her, sitting on her bed.
The thought of Logan on her bed did not help matters. She mouthed, “Focus, Marie” to herself in the mirror and took another deep breath. It took her fifteen minutes to get dressed, brush her teeth and hair, and apply some blush to her pale cheeks. Taking one last deep breath, she opened the door to the bathroom.
Logan was indeed sitting on her bed with his head leaning against the headrest. His eyes were closed and Marie didn’t know if he had fallen asleep or not, but she figured it was best to not try and wake him. She remembered what had happened the last time she woke him up and decided it was best not to risk three more holes in her body.
Marie walked around to her closet and picked out some socks and sneakers to wear, since they would be working in the garage. She sat down on her desk chair so she could put her socks and shoes on. She was halfway through tying her second shoe when she sensed she was being watched. She peeked up to see Logan, eyes open, clearly watching her.
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were awake.”
He just nodded at her but remained with his eyes fixed intensely on her. She began to feel uncomfortable and shifted in her seat.
“You really are amazing, kid,” said Logan suddenly.
Marie was taken aback by his sudden compliment. She blushed a deep red and muttered, “Thanks, I guess.” His compliment didn’t help her whole conflicted emotions situation.
He continued to stare at her for a little before rising from her bed. She got up kind of awkwardly from her chair. “You ready, then?” She asked a little nervously. He was acting kind of strange.
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
Marie watched as he walked straight out of her room as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Rolling her eyes, she brushed off his weird behavior as something utterly Loganish. She would never understand that man.
******************************************
Three hours later and Marie was sweatin’ up a storm. They had been working intensely over the past few hours and Marie was more than exhausted. At this rate, she’d be dead before eleven.
She was also starving. She hadn’t eaten since dinner last night, which had been a pretty good meal nonetheless. Thinking about her little game of “ask and answer” she had shared with Logan she glanced in his direction. Logan was sweating as well, though not nearly as much as her. Thanks to his healing factor, no doubt.
Marie had to restrain herself from watching a bead of sweat roll sweetly down his face and neck and then across his bare chest. He had insisted on taking his shirt off because it was “too damn hot, kid” and she hadn’t had a problem with it at first. However, concentrating on manual labor was extremely hard to do when the sexiest man alive was sweating without a shirt only two feet away from her.
“Somethin’ I can help you with, kid? Or are you gunna get back to workin’ on that throttle.”
The sound of his voice snapped her out of her daze. She blushed as she realized she had been staring at him quite intensely while letting her mind wander and she quickly busied herself with some more work.
After another half hour had passed she told him, “Logan, if I work anymore this morning in this heat, I’m going to die of a heat stroke, sugar.” The first day of spring break was proving to be a hot one.
“It’s alright, kid. I think we’ve done enough for today,” he said, wiping his dirty hands on a towel.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Marie stood up and looked over everything they had accomplished. “It’s looking pretty good. How much longer do ya think it will take ‘till it’s ready to ride?”
He looked it over. “Probably just a few more hours. Maybe we could meet again sometime while you’re on break?” He asked, hopeful. His eyes were all scrunched up and his lips were in a little pout. Marie had to resist the urge to laugh. Logan, of all people, giving her the puppy dog eyes.
“Sure thing, sugar. Although next time, could we try not to make it so early? I do need my beauty rest, after all,” she said hopefully.
“Well, in that case, take all the time you need.”
She shoved him playfully and he tickled her in return. “Damn you, Logan! I hate that I’m so ticklish. Why aren’t you?” She tried tickling him under his arm but he just stood there with a smug grin on his face.
“It’s a guy thing.”
“Hmph,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.
He ruffled her hair, making her feel more and more like a child. She wondered if that was all Logan saw her as. A child. Then again, he was the one who had told her that he was her friend, not her father.
Best not to dwell on this now. “Come on. I’m starving. We probably missed breakfast, but we can get an early start on lunch.”
“Lead the way, darlin’.”
The two of them entered the kitchen to find a glum looking Jubilee slumped on the counter. She was engrossed in a text message. Hearing them enter, she spoke without looking around.
“Peter, if you try to sneak up on me one more time, I will jab a fork through that thick metal of yours.”
“No Pete, yellow, just us,” Logan said with a roll of his eyes. “But that is a great way to make friends. You’re gunna have all the kids running with that greeting.”
Jubes turned around at the sound of Logan’s voice. “Oh! Hey Wolvie,” she said, flipping her phone shut and hopping down from the counter. She noticed Rogue and she grinned knowingly. “Glad to see you two spending some time together.” She took in their appearances and a look of disgust crossed her face. “Although, I am a bit curious as to why you both look like shit.”
“Like I said, not a good way to make friends.”
“Ignore her, Logan,” Marie said with an eye roll. “Hey, Jubes. We were just getting something to eat after working all morning on Logan’s motorcycle.”
“Our motorcycle,” he corrected her. “It’s yours just as much as it is mine.”
She looked taken aback. “Really? But I don’t ride motorcycles.”
“Well, there’s no time to learn like the present.”
“Well…,” she trailed off, unsure of what to say. She hadn’t realized that he had planned on actually getting her on one of those things. She had half a mind to tell him there was no way in a million years she would ever ride one of those things. She didn’t want to upset him though. “We’ll see,” she said.
Jubes looked between the two of them before smiling mischievously. “We can just add that to one of the wild adventures that we’re gunna do over spring break. Speaking of which, we never figured out when we are going out on the town,” she reminded them.
Marie hesitated. Was she doing the right thing by including Logan in her teenage fun? After all, she didn’t want him to get bored with her and her childish ways. And the last thing she needed was another reason for Logan to think of her as a child. Logan’s words, however, cleared all her doubts.
“I’m game whenever. That actually sounds like a little bit of fun, and I think we all deserve to be a little carefree, dontcha Marie?”
Marie nodded “yes” at the same time Jubes said “who’s Marie?”
“It’s my real name,” she answered earnestly. She suddenly realized she had never told anyone at the mansion, not even Bobby. Logan was the only one who knew. Well, until now.
Jubes put her hands on her hips. “And you never bothered to tell your best friend this…why?”
Marie looked at her hands before answering her. “I don’t know…it just never came up.”
Jubilee was about to spit out a retort to Marie’s lousy excuse when the door suddenly opened and in walked ‘Ro, followed by the Professor. Marie wasn’t sure if she could get used to referring to him as the Professor, since he appeared to be someone completely different.
“Ah, Logan, Rogue, I missed you this morning at breakfast. The children all took the news quite well, might I add,” came the voice of the fake Professor. But he wasn’t fake, technically. Just…new? The new professor.
“Sorry, Chuck. We were out in the garage. But that’s good news,” said Logan earnestly.
The new Professor nodded his head, smiling. Things got a little awkward from there, and eventually Jubilee excused herself from the room, shooting Marie a glare that clearly said “we’ll finish this discussion later.”
Marie sighed before turning towards the fridge. She was starving, after all. She had gotten out some bread, ham, cheese, and mustard, and was making her sandwich quietly while the other three in the room remained silently watching her. She could feel the tension in the room and it was driving her nuts.
When she had successfully made her and Logan’s sandwiches, she decided it was time for some forced conversation. “So, how have you been, Professor?”
“Good, thank you Rogue. I feel that I’ve been adjusting well. I must say, it feels quite nice to back in my own bed.”
That made Marie remember something she had wanted to ask him yesterday. “What ever happened to you during that month? I mean Jea—the Pheonix, um,” she said, struggling for the right words.”Well, it happened over a month ago. Where have you been?”
The professor smiled kindly at her, and she was briefly reminded of the way the old professor used to smile at her. “I was under the care of Moira Mactaggert. She was the doctor who was tending to the man in the video. It took me a few weeks to properly adjust to my new form.”
Marie nodded in understanding. Of course, after not walking for years, it was going to take a little bit of time to adjust to some workable legs. The silence returned and Marie shifted uncomfortably in her stool. She wished that the Professor and ‘Ro would just leave so she could go back to enjoying her morning with Logan.
**That can be arranged, my darling**, said a voice in her head. She jumped slightly at the sound of the Professor’s voice. Storm and Logan looked at her funnily, but the Professor remained with his eyes fixed to hers and a genuine expression on his face.
**I’m sorry, professor. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just…it’s going to take some time, you know**? She hoped he understood.
**I understand, dear. Feel free to take as long as you wish**, came the reply. He nodded to her once more before addressing the other people in the room. “Storm, you wanted to show me the new Danger Room installments?”
“Ah, yes, Charles,” said ‘Ro, speaking for the first time. “Right this way.” And they were gone.
Marie watched the door swing shut behind them. She was sure that over time she could accept this. Turning around to Logan, she knew that right now it was time to focus on another friendship, one that meant more to her than anything in the world. She wondered if Logan knew that, knew how much he meant to her.
**He does. He feels the same way**. Marie smiled to herself at the Professor’s assuring words. Yeah, she could definitely get used to the Professor back in their lives.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
So, so sorry this took so long to update. I promise there will be a lot more updates over summer! Enjoy and review!
**thoughts**
**thoughts**