Title:
Killing Me Softly (part one)Summary:
Wolverine and Jubilee embark on an on-again, off-again relationship, but Logan's unwillingness to commit is killing Jubes.Disclaimer:
I don't own Wolvie or Jubes, yada yada yadaAuthor's note:
Be a good little reader and please leave a review, It's always nice to see how other people like your stories. And I love feedback. =)"Hold on! Geez I'll just be a minute!" Jubilee called back, exasperated, as she hopped on one foot, trying to steady so she could finish putting on her shoe.
She could hear the roar from the motorcycle out in front of the mansion, as Logan revved it up impatiently. Jubilee hurriedly grabbed her jacket from the closet and sped off in the direction of the motorcycle. She ran out and just managed to fling her leg over the side, before they took off, losing her scarf in the hurry.
"Shit Wolvie, that was my favorite scarf!" Jubilee yelled over the whistling of the wind around them.
Jubilee decided to forgive him, as she could always buy another one. She settled in more comfortably, and snuggled against Wolverine's worn leather jacket. She felt little wet kisses on the back of her eyelids and opened her eyes to see what it was. Snow was beginning to fall and was softly grazing the sensitive nape of her neck where her hair had been tied up.
She gazed up into the sky and marveled at the whirlwind of snowflakes falling all around them. It was almost Christmas, and she was excited, as it was her favorite holiday. She had flown in from her home in Los Angeles so that she could spend it with the X-Men. She had really been looking forward to spending time with Logan as well. She never saw him anymore, what with him being an X-Man, and her living so far away in LA.
She glanced at her watch, and seeing as it had already been like an hour and a half since they had left, she wondered where the hell he was taking her. Almost as if he had read her mind, he turned off onto a small dirt road, already the snow was gathering, and Jubilee looked back behind her at the soft tracks that the bike had left in the snow. Jubilee jumped with surprise as the motorcycle suddenly came to a halt.
Logan turned around with a grin lazily splayed on his face. He hopped off the bike, and then turned to help Jubilee slide off the seat. Jubilee took one look at Logan, and burst out laughing.
"What? What is it?" Logan asked nervously.
"It's your hair" Jubes sputtered out.
And indeed, Logan looked quite funny. The snow had collected in his hair, making it look like he had two little mountains sitting right on top of his head. He lifted a hand to see, and realized what she was laughing at. He shook his lightly, letting the snow fall onto the ground.
He gave her an annoyed glance before he grabbed her hand, and began leading her away from the bike. Jubilee took this opportunity to look around at her surroundings. He had taken them to what seemed to be a small park. Although it was so out of the way, that Jubilee figured not many people came here. She looked in awe at the many trees surrounding them just beginning to collect snow on the many branches. Logan let go of her hand, and motioned for her to follow. He led her through a small trail through the trees, and finally they came to an opening, and the home of a small lake, which had been completely frozen over from the freezing weather.
"I thought it'd be nice to get away from the mansion, and I come here often to gather my thoughts. And it's been awhile since I've gotten to see ya, so I wanted to catch up." Logan said, giving her a warm smile that he didn't give just anyone.
She glanced up at him, and replied. "Yeah, it has been awhile hasn't it? I don't know, ever since I decided to leave GenX and everything, it seems like I've been missing out on everything. Jean didn't even call me when she had gotten pregnant. It's like everyone has suddenly forgotten me." She looked away and let out a deep breath.
"I dunno, maybe you're getting' older and none of us wanna bother you or interrupt your life down in LA. We all know how much you wanted to get away from all of the fighting and all the well all the stuff that we associate with. We didn't want to intrude." Logan looked down at her, realizing just how much older she had gotten. Twenty-five. She was grown up now. She'd let her hair grow out, and it fell in dark cascades around her shoulders. She had long ago discarded her bright yellow jacket, and instead was wearing a cute, white marshmallow jacket to keep out the cold. He remembered the days when she used to follow him around like a little puppy dog, with shockingly short hair and big earrings.
Jubilee wondered what he was thinking about, he had such a thoughtful look on his face. "Well, I just want to forget all that 'stuff' and think about Christmas. You know how much I love Christmas. And I want to spend time with you and all the other X-Men. It's been so long since I've seen you guys. And I wanna have some fun!"
"Well I think that can be arranged!" Wolverine answered as he picked up some snow and flung it at her.
It hit her square in the face. She spluttered for a second, confused, but when she realized that it was snow and that he was throwing it at her, she turned beet red. "Oh my god. You are so gonna DIE!" she yelled menacingly at him.
But unfortunately for her, he had already gathered up a stash of well-made snowballs. And they were pelting at her before she could even throw one. She slyly picked one up and hid it behind her. She held up her other hand and cried, "Truce!"
The snowballs stopped. Wolverine stood up, with a triumphant look on his face. But that look quickly faded as it was replaced with cold, wet snow. Jubilee had thrown with perfect accuracy. He muttered under his breath, as he ran over to her, tackling her into the snow. She yelped at the sudden force coming down on her as she fell back into the snow. She felt the snow seeping into her jeans, and looking up at Logan, who was staring down at her, a smoldering look on his face. She gazed back up at him, suddenly realizing how gorgeous he looked with the snow falling gently into his hair and on his shoulders, his hot breath making little puffs in the air. She also realized that he was staring at her.
He took a sharp intake of breath and got up off of her. He wondered if she had caught him staring at her. He had never realized how beautiful she had become. Her hair splayed out in the snow, her cheeks flushed and the tiny bit of snow that had collected on her eyelashes. It all seemed suddenly enticing now. He fought to control himself as she rose up from the snow.
She spoke first. "Now look what you did Wolvie, my jeans are soaked." She spoke in a playful tone, determined to keep the mood light.
He didn't reply, just turned and headed back towards the path leading to the motorcycle. She ran to catch up with him, and they walked the rest of the way in silence, every once in a while silently glancing at the other trying to read each other's expressions.
She climbed on behind him, and clasped her arms loosely around his waist as he turned the key in the ignition. The motorcycle sputtered and then died. He stopped, and then tried again. It did the same thing. He swore under his breath, and tried a third time. The engine wouldn't start up. He sat back in the seat and tried one more time. It didn't even sputter.
"Shit. I can't believe this. It won't start." He shook his head with disbelief. This had never happened to him before. And here they were stuck out in the middle of nowhere in the freezing cold, and it was starting to get dark. And of course, he hadn't been smart enough to tell anyone where the fuck he was going.
Jubilee closed her eyes for a moment and then realizing their situation, let out a deep breath. She hoped that Wolverine still kept his emergency supplies stowed under the seat. She got up off the bike and stood in front of it, leaning her arms on the handlebars.
"So what now Wolvie? What the fuck are we supposed to do now? I'm cold, and I'm hungry and it's getting dark. I just want to go home!" she spoke with sharp tones, her anger apparent.
"I don't know darlin', I don't want to stay out here either. But I think we're gonna have to wait until morning we can't do anything now, it's getting late. You know Xavier. When we don't come home tonight, they'll come find us. But lucky for us I still have that emergency stuff under the seat." He replied trying to use soothing tones so that Jubilee might calm down a bit. He knew what she was like when she was mad, and he didn't want to deal with that right now.
He got up and lifted the seat up. He pulled out a rather large black duffel bag and dropped it in the snow, leaning down to open it up. He pulled out a small, compacted two-man tent, a flashlight, a thermal blanket, a few sealed bags of potato chips, a bottle of water, a first aid kit, some matches and a flare.
Jubilee looked at the contents of the bag, and sighed with relief. Well at least they weren't gonna die out here in the cold. "Well we better go find a place to stay the night, that's away from all the snow."
He looked around them and replied, "I think that by the lake there were some rocks maybe there's a small cave in them or something."
She nodded, and they set off once again in the direction of the lake. This time carrying the duffel bag with them. And indeed there were some rocks by the lake. But of course with their luck there were no caves. There was however a spot where two rocks were set together, and there were a few trees blocking out the snow, which was better than nothing. He took out the tent, and they set it up. When they were finished they both looked at it, and then looked at each other awkwardly. The tent was really small. Well it was compact. It was meant only for emergencies, and in fact was closer to holding only one person. And with Wolverine's size, it would have barely squeezed him in there.
"Um, Wolvie? Isn't that just a little small?" Jubilee squeaked.
"Well darlin', it is only for emergencies. Looks like we're gonna have to squeeze in there." He replied trying to hide the nervousness in his voice. Normally this wouldn't have been a big deal, but with the afternoon's events, they were both a little cautious of each other, both trying to process the feelings that had surfaced.
She looked up at him with an uncertain look, shrugged her shoulders and bent to grab a bag of chips. "Well I guess that's alright then. We need to keep each other warm anyway. Want a bag?" she replied trying to sound nonchalant. She picked up another bag of chips and tossed them over to Logan.
He ripped it open and began to ate, chewing thoughtfully. He wondered what it would be like to have Jubilee lying so close to him, her breath on his shoulder her arms twisted around his chest He shook his head and blinked twice. What was happening to him? He looked over at Jubilee and sighed. She was leaning against a rock eating her chips hurriedly, more than a little hungry. He chuckled to himself and stared admiringly at her, she was really beautiful, with those deep eyes and full lips He snapped his head up. He had done it again. What was coming over him?
Jubilee bent over to grab the flashlight, because they were steadily losing light. As the dark swept over them, she flicked it on, and glanced at her watch. It was 8:30pm. She sighed and set the flashlight on the ground, illuminating their 'camp'. She looked at Wolverine, the light dancing across his chiseled features. She suddenly saw him in a different way. She admired the sharp line of his nose, the twinkle of his eyes, the way his thick, black hair grew up into those little points. She smiled to herself, suddenly realizing that maybe her childhood hero and mentor, maybe meant more to her than she had thought. She was happy though, that she was now old enough to pursue her feelings.
She finished her chips, crunched up the bag into a little ball, and threw it into to open duffel. Logan did the same. They stood in silence for a few minutes when the thermal blanket suddenly began to blow away with the wind, since they had forgotten to put it back into the duffel. Without thinking, Jubilee impulsively jumped to grab it, she did, but in the process slipped on the rocks and fell, whacking her head against the tree. She slid down against the trunk, and saw a blurry image of Wolverine, before she slipped into darkness.
She felt a stinging sensation on her forehead and woke with a start. Logan jumped back a little too. She looked up at him, then to his hand, which was holding a small antiseptic wipe. He had just been cleaning the nasty gash on her forehead. She sighed with relief, then settled back against the tree letting him finish, cleaning her up.
"How long have I been out?" she asked him.
"Only a few minutes." He replied, as he bandaged her head, his face only inches from hers.
She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. He was looking up at her cut, and was focussed on that. She smiled and let out the breath she had been holding. "Wolvie" she whispered gently, her breath tickling his face.
He stopped and rested the bandages back into the first aid kit. He gazed deeply into her eyes and whispered back, almost inaudibly, "What?"
She thought a minute and then decided that the moment was as good as any, and she leaned in a kissed him. He stiffened, but then the warmth of her lips was all he could focus on and he lost himself in her kiss. She pulled back and smiled at him. He smiled back and said, "Dammit Jubes why can't I resist you?"
"Because silly, I'm just so beautiful." She giggled. And he took the opportunity to kiss her again.
A half-hour later, he broke off. Both of them were flushed and more than a little winded. He smiled at her and said, "Well darlin' it's getting' late, so we better hit the hay." He nodded towards the tent.
She nodded, and stood up, sauntering over to the tent, wiggling her hips provocatively. She pulled back the flap, and looked back at him and said," You know on second thought, maybe you should get in first, you big lug, since you're gonna take up most of the space anyway."
He shrugged and got up walking past her and climbed into the tent with the blanket in his fist. He motioned for her to come inside and she squeezed in, barely able to fit inside. She was pretty much sleeping on top of him, but that was the only way that they could fit in. He spread the blanket out over them, and Jubilee cuddled up under his arm and snuggled into his jacket.
She shivered and suddenly realized how cold it was. She quickly warmed up though, what with the blanket, the shelter of the tent, her marshmallow jacket, and the fact that Wolverine emitted a surprising amount of body heat.
She yawned and muttered a sleepy good night to Wolverine, and quickly fell asleep. He listened to her slow, even breaths for awhile thinking about the events of the day, and listening to the rhythmic beating of her heart, fell asleep with Jubilee cradled in his arms.