They walked quietly, hand in hand, through the garden. After the kiss, she had been flushed, and, when he had quietly asked if she wanted some air, she could only nod in agreement. The butterflies were still fluttering in her stomach, but it was the most magical feeling in the world.

“I had a wonderful time, tonight,” she whispered, breaking the silence. Neither had wanted to say anything, not wanting to ruin the moment with needless chatter. But she knew that it was time to push forward. Hopefully, they would be pushing in the same direction, now. “You look wonderful in a tux. You should try it a little more often.”

They came to a stone bench, and he gently nudged her to sit on it. For a second, she was afraid that he was going to tell her it was a mistake, that he shouldn’t have kissed her.

“I love you, Marie.” Her muscles relaxed with relief even as her heartbeat sped faster. He was sitting on the bench with her now, caressing her hand softly, and keeping eye contact. “I want you in my life. Do you know what that means?”

“Forever,” she whispered back, holding her head up with dignity. She had known what it would mean when she kissed him back, knew what a relationship with him would cost her. And she had jumped in head first with no restraints.

“Are you willing to give that to me?” He whispered as he kissed her slightly parted lips. He needed to be sure that she knew exactly what he was asking of her, what she would be giving up. “Will you give me everything you have, every moment of your life?”

“Yes,” she whispered passionately as she felt him nip at her bottom lip. She grabbed his jacket with one hand, meeting his lips. This moment was everything as they explored each other’s souls under the stars. Nothing could have been more perfect, more exciting and new and so right. Nothing could ruin the moment they were sharing. Nothing….

“Rogue, why you kissin Logan?” Nothing except a tin man who can’t hold his liquor. For a moment, she wanted to pretend that she didn’t hear Pitor sloshing around in the background as she kissed Logan back. And, but the way his hand snaked through her hair, crushing their lips together, it seemed that Logan felt the same way.

“You wanna come up for some air, Rogue?” The words were spoken right into her ear in the thick Russian accent. She could feel Logan growling, controlling himself for her sake.

She pulled away, knowing that this nightmare wasn’t going to end any time soon. Logan sat up indignantly and irritated, but quietly. Surprisingly, it seemed that he was going to let her handle this.

“Pitor, what’s the matter? How much have you had to drink?”

“What drink?” Pitor shrugged, feigning innocence. “I have nothing to dink. Nothin. It’s all gone.”

“That’s because you drank it all, Tincan.” Rogue couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Logan’s gruff response. She wasn’t sure what to do in this situation. She didn’t want to leave Logan right now, but she couldn’t turn her back on a friend that that so obvious needed some help. “Listen, Rogue. Why don’t you take Pete into the kitchen and get him some coffee or something. I think he needs a friend right now.”

Rogue smiled, realizing that Logan was making the difficult decision for her. She kissed him again, softly and full of gratitude this time. Pulling away, she realized there were tears in her eyes as his face suddenly became a little blurred. “Thank you, Logan.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

He stood to leave, realizing that he needed a cold shower as much as Pitor needed some caffeine. He hadn’t heard what he had wanted to hear, but what she had said was enough for now. She knew what getting involved with him meant, and, in the end, he was a little happy that Pitor had come when he had. Other wise, Logan wasn’t sure he would have been able to stop, and he didn’t think that Marie was ready for that just yet.

“Logan,” she called out to him and he turned to see that she had hiked up her skirt so that she could run to catch him. She stopped in front of him, looking into his eyes. He wanted to touch her badly, but didn’t trust himself to leave it at that.

“I just wanted to say… I love you, too, Logan.” She kissed him then. The first time that she had initiated the kiss, and he felt himself melting into her arms.

And then she broke it, turning and running back to her friend, who was currently emptying his stomach into a rose bush.

Logan only smiled as he went on his way.
Chapter End Notes:
This was only a little set up for the next chapter.
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