Chapter 1

Marie was once again tossing and turning in her bed trying to fall asleep. She had a hard time sleeping ever since Logan left. It wasn't the first time he's left so why is she having a problem with it now. After five more minutes of attempting to sleep she finally decided to get you and go to the kitchen to get a midnight snack. She grabbed her robe and put on her slippers. She unconsciously put her gloves on even though she didn't really need to. She walked to the kitchen silently hoping not to wake anybody. When she entered the kitchen she was expecting it to be empty but to her surprise there was somebody sitting at the counter eating ice cream out of the carton. What surprised her most was that it was Mr. Summers, her English teacher that was sitting at the counter. As soon as she walked in he jerked his head up to see her stop dead in her tracks.

"Rogue? What are you doing up so late?"

"I couldn't sleep. I was thinking that a little snack might help me sleep. What are you doing up late?" She walked over towards the refrigerator.

"Same." He watched her search the refrigerator and then the freezer before turning around and looking sheepishly at his ice cream.

"Do you mind sharing?" He recognized her hungry eyes.

"Sure. Grab a spoon." She quickly grabbed a spoon from a nearby drawer and then sat down next to him and scooped up some ice cream. Scott watched intently as she ate the ice cream and a smile graced her face as she savored the taste.

"So, why can't you sleep Mr. Summers?" She asked after swallowing her ice cream.

"You can call me Scott, Rogue. We're not in class and I won't be your teacher in a few days anyway."

"That's right I almost forgot. So why can't you sleep…Scott?"

"Jean and I had a fight and she kicked me out for tonight. The bed in my office is uncomfortable and I don't have the guts to go and apologize. She's the one who started it."

"I don't mean to pry but what did you fight about?"

"Logan. She brought up the topic and I lost my anger."

"Oh."

"So why can't you sleep, Rogue?"

"Marie."

"Huh?"

"My name, my real name is Marie."

"O.k. Marie why can't you sleep?"

"Logan."

"Ahhh."

"It's not like that it's just that something happened. Something big and I just wish he was here so I can tell him."

"What happened?"

"Well today during my lesson with Professor X I was finally able to control my powers. I've finally learned how to turn it off and on."

"That's great Marie. Why haven't you've told anybody?"

"I didn't want to tell anybody because I don't think I can handle the change. I really wanted to be able to tell Logan first but he's not here and he hasn't called. I wanted him to be the first one to know but I guess he's not now."

"I'm sure he'll be back soon and then you can tell him."

"Yeah." She sighed and kept eating.

There was a silence between them for a little while until Scott noticed her gloves.

"Marie?"

"Hmm?"

"If you can control your powers than why are you wearing your gloves?"

She looked down and finally realized that she was wearing her gloves.

"Oh I didn't even realize I put them on. I guess I'm so use to wearing them where ever I go." She nervously took them off and put them in her robe pocket. She resumed her eating but Scott noticed how nervous she was not to have her gloves as protection.

"How long has it been since you've had skin to skin contact for a long amount of time without worrying about your mutation?"

She simply replied, "Too long."

He felt bad for her. She was 18 years old and never the joy of touching someone without worrying she might kill them. He wanted her to feel skin and not be afraid of hurting the other person. He slowly slid his left hand towards her right as it rested on her knee. He took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. She turned to him and gave him a small smile.

"You know guys are going to be lining up to go out with you now. You're going to have to beat them off with a stick."

"I wish. Nobody would want to date me."

"Why not?"

"Come on, look at me. I'm not pretty. I'm not like Kitty or Jubes."

"Thank god for that!" That made her laugh, which made him happy. "Look Marie, if a guy only wants to go out with you to get sex from you than he's not worth it. You should find someone that's interested in a nice steady relationship. You need someone who can take care of you and who can romance you."

"You know how hard it is to find a guy like that. Most of them are taken or not interested."

"Well maybe if you have a more enthusiasm than maybe you'll get lucky."

"Maybe."

They both continued eating the ice cream for a couple of minutes before Scott finally decided that they both needed to go to bed. He walked her to her room and said goodnight. Instead of going to his room he went to his office and slept on the cot in the corner of the room.

In Marie's room she laid on the thinking about what Scott did earlier. He touched her without being afraid. She hasn't had skin to skin contact since Logan left. His skin felt so warm too. She even noticed how he complemented her and joked with her. She was glad that for just one night she was able to see the real Scott and not Mr. Summers.