Plunking her butt down on the cab seat, Rogue wondered how the hell she’d managed to waste four months of her life on the ocean. While her emotional side had gotten worked out, she had no physical items that said ‘Yes, I did something constructive’. She didn’t count the piles of gifts, of trinkets – they weren’t hers – and the clothes she’d purchased meant nothing until she had Logan’s reaction to them. She’d spent more money than she’d ever believed herself capable of, bought things that no one in their right mind would have ever paid for … somehow she felt happier, lighter than even she’d hoped for.
Gone were the stresses of having to deal with people who didn’t understand the pain of being imprisoned within your own skin. Gone were the days when she was worried about touching someone, worried about hurting them, she’d come to terms with all that and more through having control.
Her skin had become nothing more than a thought, a whisper in the back of her mind and she wanted Logan to know it. Wanted him to understand that she wouldn’t let it come between her and what she really, truly wanted in life.
She’d come to understand herself a lot more. Come to realize that she was only as good as her word, as her heart, and her heart longed for another. She would do whatever she had to in order to keep Logan close, to make him hers.
Of course she had butterflies in her stomach as she thought of what Logan might have to say about her little plan. But those butterflies weren’t enough to stop her from wanting him, needing him. His calls, though infrequent, had been a highlight of her day when they’d come, and she’d missed him like crazy. Mix that with her own jumble of emotions and if given half an inch she’d turn into a raving lunatic.
Smiling to herself, she watched the landscape fly by; soon she would talk to Logan again. Soon she’d see him face to face, she could explain things to him and hopefully, he’d see she was right. She could picture it now; she’d corner him in some run down hotel room and lay it all out for him… once he saw she wasn’t some little girl with a crush he’d know. He’d see what she was offering, and he’d take it and never look back.
Now half a mile from the Mansion and utterly exhausted, she smirked. She was so close. All she wanted was eight hours of uninterrupted sleep before she got started on tracking down Logan and making him see what she’d figured out!
Getting back home, she quickly unloaded her bags from the cab, and started inside only to be intercepted by none other than the most well-meaning, of course, but still annoying friend she had.
“So how was it? Did you shag anyone?” Jubilee giggled at Rogue’s dark look.
“No, I did not shag anyone,” Rogue replied tiredly and shrugged. “I’m tired, I’m hungry, and all I want is a nice hot bath. Please tell me that I still have a bed to crash into.”
Jubilee cracked her gum, “Sure, but you’ve got like a thousand packages stacked on it. They started showing up just after you called from St. Thomas Island.”
“What? I haven’t sent anything home since Greece and that package won’t be here until tomorrow or the next day.”
“Got your name on them and that’s it.”
Stalking up the stairs, Rogue nearly slammed the door into the wall as she entered her room, only to come to a dead halt as her eyes fell on the stack of boxes, bags, and other packages on her bed.
Moving forward she picked up the single envelope in the stack and opened it.
“A wise woman once told me that love is a fairytale. I don’t know, seems to me that love can save you from your demons if you let it. I miss you,” the familiar looking scrawl read.
Frowning at the page, she turned to glance at Jubilee who stood behind her, “What is this? I don’t have a secret admirer. Hell, I don’t have an admirer at all. Bobby’s relationship with Kitty has taken care of that, and even when I was the object of his affection, he never made gestures like this for me.”
She refused to consider, to even hope, that it might be Logan that he would reveal himself as her admirer, her potential lover. She refused to believe that things might be that easy, that she could have it all without having to beat it into his head.
Jubilee shrugged and pulled out a long, thin, exquisitely wrapped package from her pocket, “This arrived this morning. I haven’t been upstairs since it arrived to put it with the rest.”
Taking it with shaking fingers, Rogue tore off the paper and opened the thin gold box to stare in shocked horror at what lay inside. A simple necklace made of shells and a shiny metal lay on a bed of white satin. Set in the largest shell was a small, red stone and on either side were two initials.
“L and M,” Jubilee whistled. “Wonder who that is.”
Rogue swallowed and shook her head, “He said it was for her. He said…”
“Who said what?” Jubilee demanded at her friend’s shocked whisper.
Catching sight of the small, folded card lying under the end of the necklace Rogue moved away from Jubilee and sank onto the edge of the bed to unfold the card and read it. Something told her that she’d been played, that she’d been made into a fool, and she would kill whoever did this.
~Dear Marie; you aren’t a fool, and you haven’t been played. I needed to show you what you meant to me, without the geeks interfering. If you want to chew me out, which I’m sure you will, you’ll find a truck parked in the garage with your name on it. It’s black, and the key is under the front driver’s side fender. L.~
Closing her eyes, Rogue stood and tucked the note and necklace into her pocket.
“I’ve got to go,” she said and hurried out to the garage.
“Go where?” Jubilee demanded as she saw the confused expression of the cab driver who stood holding a large black garment bag, a suitcase, and a camera case.
“I don’t know yet,” Rogue hollered back.
Stepping into the garage she froze, sitting parked in a spot usually occupied by Logan’s bike was a shiny black four-wheel drive pickup. The license read ROGUE1, and a white streak had been airbrushed along the side of it.
Marching over to the fender she pulled out the key wrapped in a slim, well-worn piece of paper. Opening it, she stared at an address ten miles away for a moment before unlocking the door and getting in the cab.
The roar of the engine had Jubilee peaking out of Rogue’s bedroom window before turning to the young man standing impatiently, his face a mask of confusion.
“Where do you want this stuff?”
“Here, I’ll take ‘em.” Jubilee volunteered quickly and hung them up as the driver scurried back out to his cab.
A few minutes later she sat on the bed, her head tilted to one side as she pondered her curiosity. To peak or not to. Mentally shrugging her better nature aside, Jubilee stood and paced over to start opening the garment bags.
“OH MY GOD!” She nearly choked on her gum, and her raised voice had Kitty, Ororo, and Jean rushing into the room.
“What? What’s wrong?” Kitty panted.
Jubilee whimpered and pointed to the gown she’d uncovered before looking around the room in confusion. “What in the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know, but I’d kill to have a ring side seat,” Jean drawled staring at the expensive gown hanging within the bag. She’d seen one like it in town and it had cost more than she’d wanted to pay.
“Where is Rogue?”
“Took off in that new black truck that showed up two days ago.”
“Logan’s gonna get his ass kicked,” Kitty giggled.
Jean glanced at Ororo who merely smiled slightly and shrugged, “Something tells me he’s looking forward to it!”
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