[Logan, Marie] I know from your pretty little smile

[x-rogue.livejournal.com]

After Scott drops by Logan's room to check on Marie - and doesn't find her there - Logan goes looking for her in her suite and finds her himself to catch up on what went wrong today. All's well that ends well.


Just after Scott walked out, Logan slammed the door behind himself, stalking down the stairs. Dammit. /Dammit/. She was upset and Scott wouldn't say why. Privacy, his ass. He knocked sharply on the door to Marie's suite, still frowning.

Manny had only just walked out and Marie wondered briefly if he'd forgotten something. She couldn't get up easily, her body had decided it liked sitting on the couch under the quilt and her legs weren't talking to her anyway. "Come on in," she called.

Logan pushed open the door and let it fall closed behind him. His frown softened as soon as he saw her. She looked...exhausted. "Baby, what happened?"

"Like I said to Scott and Manny, I think I blew a maturity fuse or something." She sighed and pushed herself up a little. "I didn't deal well with something and went out for a run that ended up being a little longer than I'd expected."

He came to sit beside her on the couch, angled to face her. "Can I ask what y'didn't deal with?" She hadn't said outright, so he wasn't sure if she wanted to say, or not.

Marie winced. "It was something Doug said. It had to do with his interpretation of my opinion about the whole Paige thing. And... it was my problem, not him." She shook her head. "I didn't deal with it."

Logan had a hard time believing that it was really her problem and not Doug's, but he didn't say it. He didn't need to make anything worse. Obviously, she didn't want to tell him what Doug had said, though, and that made him wonder. "And so y'ran?" His tone wasn't accusing, wasn't assuming.

"I went for a run." She pointed to the sneakers and sodden running gear by the door where she'd dropped it all. "It just... wasn't a normal one. That's all. And. I'm still upset about it all. He seemed to take my opinion that it doesn't matter how many people are in a relationship as long as they love each other and are honest about it as some kind of indication that I was still available on some level. And I'm not. And it wouldn't matter, except that he said something to Angie about it as well."

Something dark rolled through Logan. It wasn't jealousy, but it was close, and he pushed it down, focusing on Marie's words. "He's datin' 'er now, ain't 'e?"

"Yes. And I like her." Marie put her head in her hands. "She's nice and she said she wanted me to come out with them more, to be a normal teenager for a while. And I'm so mad at him for being so thoughtless about her." She tried to get up to pace and failed, slumping back on the couch in a heap. "And I feel guilty, too."

"He's gotta be the stup--" No, that title was taken. Nevermind. "You feel guilty?"

"Yes," she said quietly. "For something. For... I don't know. I told him I couldn't talk to him anymore, not for a while at least. I should have done that a long time ago, but I thought we could still be friends. I was wrong." She made a more reasonable attempt to get up and succeeded. Her feet hurt terribly but she figured she could walk it off. She collected two empty water bottles and a juice glass from the table and took them to the kitchen.

Logan turned to watch her walk away. "I'm sorry." It felt strange, saying that he was sorry she wouldn't be talking to someone that he actively avoided thinking about, but he was sorry. Sorry that it made her sad, sorry that she'd lost a friend.

"It happens. I was being naive," she admitted. "Anyway, I managed to get myself lost and Scott had to come get me."

Which explained why Scott had been the one to come to his room, looking for her. "It's not naive t'spect people t'value yer friendship," he pointed out, letting a trace of his anger at Doug seep through.

"It's naive to expect people to change how they feel," she said, leaning on the kitchen counter and eyeing the walk back to the couch with a little trepidation.

He saw the expression on her face and stood up, walking over to stand beside her. He leaned down, his lips hovering over hers. "'m glad y'know that," he whispered, and brushed his lips over hers, feather-light. "C'mon, lemme help y'back t'the sofa."

"I'm a big girl," she protested, even as she slid her arms around him and kissed him back.

Logan wrapped his arms around her and lifted, shuffling back toward the sofa. He let her kiss him and when it seemed like she might lift her head, he let her break contact for only a second before nibbling lightly on her lower lip. When they reached the sofa, he set her down gently, and sat beside her. "Yeah, but I like helpin'."

Marie nestled up to him, feeling warm and safe. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

He tucked the quilt up around her. "What for, baby?"

"For not calling you. Or talking. And for the fact that if I'd not thrown all my stuff away, I wouldn't have gone running at all," she confessed.

"I wish you'd called an' talked t'me," he said honestly, "but, baby... Y'ain't gotta apologise t'me about thinkin' about cuttin' yerself. I... 's not that I think it's wrong, 's that I hate seein' y'hurtin' yerself an' I was hopin' that if y'tried talkin' t'me first, it'd help some an' maybe y'wouldn't hafta do it so much." He didn't want to take away her control. Just give her another option.

"I don't do it anymore, not like that. I guess running was another way to get away. I was going to come back only when I stopped, I didn't know where I was." She reached out and brushed the back of one of his hands with her fingers, soothing herself with the contact.

Logan nodded, accepting her decision. "Okay, baby. Runnin's prob'ly healthier, anyhow." He smiled with a tinge of sadness and kissed her hair. "Maybe we'll get ya a map t'keep with yer runnin' gear?"

Marie laughed a little and pressed closer to him. "Might not be a bad idea. Or I could just have one of those collars that gives a shock when I go outside the electric fence," she said dryly. "Or at least the state line..."

Logan smiled and pulled her into his lap. "Did I ever tell ya 'bout that email?" he asked, chuckling.

"You mentioned it," she said, nuzzling up under his chin. "But it was a short walk from Nate's room to yours and you got all distracted."

He grinned, tucking her into the quilt again. "Marko emailed me, a while back, an' said I was treatin' ya like a prize coon hound."

Marie giggled at that. "I'm from the South and I can tell you, there's worse things to be treated like than that. Just don't go trying to breed me with anyone and we'll be fine."

Logan snorted. "Y'ain't gotta worry 'bout that. I'm fine keepin' y'all t'myself, thanks."

"Isn't that handy, how that all works out." The aches were fading and Marie realized that much of the pain and tension was from being terribly cold and not being able to get warm again. "I'm fine with being kept all to yourself."

Logan felt a tiny bit of relief, hearing that, as he always did. He believed her, every time, but it was always nice to hear it again. Especially after hearing that Doug had thought her available. "Good. 'm more'n a little possessive, y'know," he said very seriously, as though he were telling her something new.

"I like that about you." She nipped lightly at his throat for emphasis. "I've been stolen a couple times and didn't like it a bit, for one thing. It's good to know you'll come steal me right back, and make sure people know it was a Bad Choice. And, besides, it's very cute when you're growly at people about me."

Logan purred quietly and the purr ended in a snort. "'m not /cute/."

"Oh, not this again." Marie sighed heavily and batted at his shoulder lightly, then kissed him. "Let's just skip the arguing and go to bed. I'm tired and you /are/ cute."