Someplace Tropical
by
Eiluned
Archive: Yes to Rob, WXF, and anyone else I've said yes to in the past. All others please ask first.
Disclaimer: Last time I checked, they still belonged to Marvel. I guess all that wishing was in vain. :P
Notes: Takes place after #12. Dedicated to Fury_Grrl for encouraging me to write more Logan/Jean. Thanks to DevilDoll for the quick beta and comments. This would have sucked without you. A smutty sequel is coming soon. ;)
Feedback will be given hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows.
It was raining outside, a slow, steady downpour that trapped everyone in the mansion.
It was surprisingly quiet for there to be eight people indoors. Maybe it was just the dreary weather outside combined with sheer exhaustion. It had taken them six months to get the mansion back in good condition, and Logan had to admit that it didn't even look like it had been blown up. Chuck must have hired a damn good contractor.
He walked down the halls, restless, from one end of the mansion to the other. Rain pelted the windows, adding a little sound to the silence inside. He wandered past Bobby's room, heard the faint sound of a television. Rustling papers from Scott's room, silence from Peter's and Hank's, soft voices from Ororo's.
Jean's was the only room left. It sat at the far end of the hall, away from everyone else's. He saw that her door was partly open as he walked up. The blinds over the big picture window were raised, revealing the grey sky and the wet grounds. No lights were on, but a candle was lit on her dresser, and the air smelled like something woodsy and warm. He took a deep breath, breathing in the perfume of the candle on top of her scent. It made his head dizzy and his chest ache.
She was lying on her back on top of her comforter, eyes closed, hands behind her head. Her bright hair was a shock against the deep green blanket, and her skin was very pale in the watery light. She looked beautiful, and he wished that he could wrap himself around her, feel her warmth. For about the millionth time, he kicked himself.
"You can come in," she said suddenly, startling him. "You don't have to stand in the doorway."
He looked at her again, and she had her eyes open, head tilted back so she could see him. "How'd you know I was here?" he asked.
She raised an amused eyebrow at him, her mouth curling into a smile. "How do you think?" she teased lightly. "Pull up a chair, sit on the floor."
He stepped into her room, trying not to think about the time they had spent there before all hell broke loose. She didn't have any chairs, so he sat on the corner of her bed, half-facing the window. She snickered, and he glanced back at her. "What are you laughing at?" he said, mock-offended.
"You look uncomfortable," she replied, bouncing one foot on top of the other, idly or nervously, or maybe a little bit of both.
"Okay," he said, and fell back onto the bed beside her.
She bounced with his weight and laughed. "Comfortable now?"
He scooted up to the head of the bed, mimicking her position, hands behind his head, ankles crossed. "Yeah, I think so."
She didn't say anything for a while, just looked out the window at the falling rain. "You know, I still feel bad," she said after a long time.
He looked over at her; she was still staring outside. "About what?" he asked.
She bit her bottom lip, her own little nervous quirk. "About how I acted. How I treated you. It wasn't right."
He sighed. "Jean. Don't worry about it. You already apologized. Hell, you didn't even need to."
She sat up on her elbows and looked at him. "Why not?"
He rubbed his eyes, wishing he hadn't said that, and put his hands back behind his head. It seemed like a safe place. He had no idea how to explain it to her. "Because... because after I thought about it for a while, I understood why you were mad. Hell, if I was you, I'd have been just as pissed."
She stared at him for a long moment, then flopped back onto the bed. "I do not understand you, Logan, not in the least bit," she said.
"Well, I don't understand you much either, so we're even."
He could see her smile out of the corner of his eye. "I'm going to apologize one more time, just to make myself feel better, okay?" she said.
"If it'll make you feel better, go ahead, darlin'."
"I'm sorry."
He grinned. "Apology accepted."
A longer quiet this time, and he realized that he could hear faint music coming from her stereo. Well, it didn't sound as much like music as it did chimes. It blended with the sound of the rain outside so well that he could barely hear it.
"I need a vacation," she sighed, breaking the quiet. "I need to relax for a while."
"Where would you go?"
"Someplace tropical. The Virgin Islands, maybe. I always wanted to go there ever since I was a kid," she answered, rolling onto her side to face him. "I want to go somewhere where everything doesn't remind me that I'm a mutant, that I killed someone, that the world in general hates me. I just want to get away from everything, if only for a little while."
She stared down at the comforter for a moment, then slid up beside him, resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arm around his waist. He was so surprised for a moment that he didn't move. When she curled against him, he put his arms around her, holding her against him, just holding her while the rain fell outside.
After a while, he realized that she had fallen asleep. Carefully, he slid out from under her arm, leaving her to snuggle against her pillows, and crept out into the hall.
~*~*~
It was later in the afternoon and the rain was still falling incessantly. Jean sat in the den downstairs, curled up on a couch, reading. She jumped when an envelope dropped into her lap and looked up to see Logan standing behind her.
"What's this?" she asked, picking up the heavy bond envelope.
"Open it and see," he replied.
Raising a suspicious eyebrow at him, she pulled it open, taking several pages out. "It's an itinerary. For... oh my god!" she exclaimed, and he smiled.
"A flight to Saint Croix! Did you...?"
"Yeah, I did."
"Oh my god! How could you afford -- no nevermind, I don't want to know. Why did you...?"
"Because I wanted to."
She came off of the couch, still staring at the itinerary in disbelief. "But..." she paused, looking up at him. "Where's your ticket?"
"My ticket?"
A smile. "Yes, your ticket."
"I didn't realize I was invited," he replied lightly.
Her smile got a little wider, and she went to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. "Of course you are," she murmured, face pressed against his shirt. "Why do you think I talked to you about it?"
He laughed. "So, that was just a ploy to get a free trip to the Caribbean?"
"Of course not!" she said, kneeing him in the leg, then looked up at his face. "You think you can help me relax?" she whispered.
He smiled faintly, running his fingers down her cheeks. "I think so, darlin'," he said, and kissed her.
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