******************************************************************************
I should tell you I’m disaster
I forget how to begin it.
Let’s just make this part go faster
I have yet to be in it.
I should tell you.
I should tell you.
I should tell you.
I should tell...
******************************************************************************
Chapter 4: I Should Tell You
The first half an hour of their outing went smoothly. After pulling into Mazie’s Diner, Rogue and Logan walked in and settled themselves at their usual booth in the back of the room. Not long after their usual server, Mazie herself, came out to take their usual order, Logan’s cell phone went off. Looking down at it, he chuckled lightly.
“It’s One-Eye.” He grinned and Rogue rolled her eyes.
“He’s probably wondering where the hell you took his car.” She smiled back.
The smirk plastered on his face was priceless. It looked like a child planning to stick his hand into the cake before mommy says its okay. “I think I’ll let it ring a few times just to piss him off.”
“For God’s sake, Logan. I’ll never understand why you love pushing his buttons so much.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” The phone stopped ringing and Logan put it in the middle of the table.
“You know he’s gonna keep calling until you pick up, right?” Rogue quirked an eyebrow and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“Yeah, I know,” staring intently at the phone, Logan started counting, “Three, two, one...” *RING* This time he answered it, “What d’ya want?” He said gruffly.
“Logan, have you seen Rogue?” Scott queried on the other end.
“Yeah, I’ve seen her.” Logan glanced at Rogue who simply rolled her eyes again, showing that she was not at all impressed.
“Well she’s not in her room.”
“I know she’s not. She’s with me.”
“God dammit, Logan! Did you take my car again!? Where the hell are you!?”
“Calm your shit, Scooter...” Rogue reached over and snatched the phone out of his hand.
“Scott?” She said in her sweetest voice. Logan’s hearing could make out the sound of Scott’s voice as he started talking to Rogue.
“I’m sorry, sugar, but I made him take the convertible. I just wanted to get out.” There was another pause and Scott said something and she giggled, “Yeah, I was surprised he let me out too.” Logan frowned at this.
“Okay, Scott. Bye.” She hung up and handed the cell phone back to Logan. Noticing the frown on his face, she worried a little, “What’s wrong?”
“You know when I get strict with you, its only because I worry about you.”
“Oh, Logan,” she patted his hand reassuringly, “I know. I was only teasing, but for the record, I already know you’re worried about me without you being so overprotective.”
“How?”
“I can see it in your eyes.” As if tying to prove it she locked his eyes with hers, “I can just see it.”
“Well, I can’t help it,” he grunted, looking away.
“Yeah. I know that too.” Then Maize came back with their food.
“So, are you kids on an actual date this time?” The older woman pushed her glasses back up off the tip of her nose. Logan almost spat out his beer and rogue blushed dark red, “Oh Rogue, honey! What happened?” Maize asked when she finally noticed the crutches tucked under the booth.
“Oh, um...” Rogue hesitated, not exactly willing to tell the older woman she was in a train wreck. Somehow, she knew that Maize wouldn’t believe her anyways, “...um, car accident, Maize. Son of a bitch sideswiped me out on Route 26.”
“Oh, honey. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. I’m healing up good.”
Turning to Logan, the older woman pointed a bony finger at him, “You better take good care of her, Logan.”
“I will, Maize. Thanks.” He winked at her and she walked away. Sipping his beer, Logan turned his attention back to Rogue. He asked about her final days at NYU and she filled him in on the research she and Hank had been doing regarding her mutation. She explained how the theory hadn’t been turned into a practice yet, and the idea was very complicated.
They theorized that by taking fragments of a cat’s DNA and injecting it into her own and coercing it into replication, she could inevitably gain control over her mutation. Of course, no one had ever carried out a procedure like it before and they were still in the primary stages of figuring out how to manipulate the DNA.
“So is this going to help you learn control or get rid of your mutation completely?” Logan questioned before taking a swig of his beer.
Rogue ignored him, “That’s disgusting!”
“What?”
“I still don’t understand how you can drink that stuff this early in the day.” She grimaced as he shrugged and took another swig.
“Are you gonna answer my question or not?”
Rogue sighed pensively, “See that’s our big concern, Logan. Since nobody has ever done anything like this before, we don’t know what will happen or even if anything will happen at all. It’s completely unpredictable.”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of this, Marie. It sounds dangerous.”
“What’s dangerous here is my skin. This could be the chance for me to change that and get back some of what I lost years ago. You of all people should understand that.”
“Yeah,” he sighed, “I guess.”
Then it was there again, the awkward silence, and all of a sudden the booth they were sitting in was too small for the both of them. He was staring at her again too, and she couldn’t read his expression.
“Are you leaving again?” She asked bluntly.
“Leaving?” He quirked an eyebrow.
“Yes! Leaving as in going away, gone, not gonna call for weeks leaving?” He didn’t say anything so she pressed on, “Because if you need to go or get away or something just come out and tell me now instead of...”
“Marie,” he grabbed her hand and she fell silent, “I don’t know where you got these crazy ideas from, but they’re complete bullshit, alright?”
“Are they?” She tilted her chin up and looked him in the eye.
“I’m not going anywhere, darlin’,” his thumb carressed her knuckles and the back of her hand, “Why would you think I was leaving?” His gaze penetrated hers and she squirmed a little in her seat.
“I don’t know. Its just that,” she paused to look down, then looked up again, “well, you’ve been acting funny lately, Logan.” He grunted and she added hesitantly, “towards me, I mean. You’ve been acting funny towards me.”
He would’ve given her an immediate response if he’d had one, but he wasn’t exactly sure how to put words to his feelings. Now that he had the chance to think about it though, things had really changed between them. The fact that Rogue was Logan’s best friend had been overridden by his growing attraction for her.
The truth was, he was starting to appreciate her a lot more and it had nothing to do with friendship, but should he tell her that? She didn’t have anything but friendly, familial feelings for him, but then again, she had been acting strange too. She smiled at him differently, which usually made him do whatever she wanted (as she had demonstrated earlier that day by convincing him to take her out). She was no longer an excessive chatterbox. Instead, she was more reserved and soft spoken around him than ever before.
In her mind, Rogue was thinking much along the same lines as Logan was. When she thought about how clingy he’d been lately, it occurred to her that it wasn’t really overbearing at all. She knew what overbearing, overprotective Logan was like and this was not it. It seemed to her now that he always wanted to be there just to be there with her. She didn’t mind that in the least, especially not with her growing attraction she had for him. Then again, she thought, what female wasn’t attracted to Logan in some shape or form. Somehow though, it was turning into more than that, and it was secretly driving her insane.
She saw him shift uncomfortably and started laughing, “Look we’re both adults her, right?”
“Right,” he nodded in agreement.
“So lets just talk about what’s bothering us, okay?” They were both sick of the tension and now was their chance to resolve it. They were about to initiate into “serious-conversation” mode.
Then the phone rang again.
******************************************************************************
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's chapter 4. I must warn you that chapter 5 might not be up for a while. I write whenever I can, but with a new semester at KU just starting I'm really busy. so forgive me if updates aren't very quick. in the mean time you can show your support by reviewing?