Why Do You Care?
"Why do you care?" Jubilee followed the retort with a pithy phrase that made Logan's eyes pop.
"Watch yer mouth!" he roared at her, now thoroughly angry with her. "I care 'cause I've had this planned for weeks an' now yer gonna go off an' spend the evenin' with some little puppy—"
"Well, if you'd told me you wanted to take me out to the movies with you ahead of time I wouldn't have promised Peter I'd go with him to the Teacher-Of-The-Year award party! So don't get mad at me, you only have yourself to blame!" Jubilee turned away from Logan, cheeks flushed with anger, and continued applying her lipstick. "And stop being jealous, it's not becoming. I can go out with who I want to, when I want to."
Logan's eyes popped, and he almost sputtered with rage. "I am NOT jealous!"
She turned to him, her eyebrow arching sardonically. "Sure could have fooled me," she said acidly. "From where I'm standing, you sure sound jealous." She brought her hand up, sending a stream of plasmoids to pop against his chest. Not hard enough to hurt, but the controlled force of the explosions propelled him backward out the door and into the hall. Then another stream of plasmoids blew the door closed in his face. Seconds later, he heard the lock click.
He stared at the door for a while, fuming angrily, briefly considering breaking the lock and confronting her again…but he decided against it when he saw Emma staring at him around the doorframe to hers and Scott's room. Her expression said clearly, Don't try it…so he didn't. Turning on his heel, he growled his way to the library, where it would hopefully be quiet.
Kurt was sitting on the end of the couch, flipping through the TV channels to see what was on. He smiled when he saw Logan come in and handed the remote to Logan. "Here, mein freund. You decide what we watch."
Logan sat down on the end of the couch, stared straight ahead at the TV, and ignored his friend. Kurt frowned. "Something wrong, Logan?"
"I am not jealous," Logan growled. "She said I was jealous. I am not jealous."
Kurt thought about that for a moment. It came from out of the blue…but he did remember Logan saying something about taking Jubilee out for one of their just-you-and-me evenings a few days ago…and then that afternoon he'd heard her talking with Ororo about what she would wear out on her date with Peter Parker. "Ah. This would be about the surprise plans you had for Jubilee tonight, ja?"
"Yeah. I got upset with her 'cause she'd already made other plans, an' then she went an' told me I was jealous! I am not jealous. I jus' had stuff I wanted ta do with her, an' she went and ruined my plans."
"But you didn't tell her you had plans, so she didn't know to cancel anything else she had planned. And it's not really a big thing, Logan; you can always take her out tomorrow night."
"That ain't the point." Logan crossed his arms, settled further into the sofa, and sulked. Kurt sighed, shrugged, and turned his attention to the TV. They sat in silence for an hour, Logan glowering at the TV blackly, Kurt doing his best to ignore his companion's silence.
The show he was watching ended, and Kurt turned off the TV with a sigh of relief. "All yours, mein freund," he said, dropping the remote into Logan's lap. "Enjoy." Logan continued to stare straight ahead and pout. He heard the sound of footsteps and voices in the hall when Kurt opened it, and Jubilee's distinctive scent floated into the room. He turned, almost reflexively, and saw her walking by, dressed in a beautiful red dress with thin spaghetti straps that left her shoulders all but bare. Her hair was piled stylishly on top of her head, and red rhinestone hairpins nestled in the dark locks. She had borrowed a ruby necklace from one of the other women, and a pair of matching earrings glittered in her earlobes. She was gorgeous. And for some reason, that irritated him more.
He got up off the couch, stomped to the door, and slammed it shut, ignoring the startled looks he got from Rogue and Charles, who were escorting Jubilee to the front door. Logan took a quick detour to the window as he headed for the couch, and saw Peter Parker's car waiting at the foot of the mansion's front steps. He yanked the curtains closed, but he couldn't quite block out the sound of Jubilee's voice as she thanked Peter for the flowers he'd bought her, and then the sound of her high heels going down those front steps and to his car. Logan heard the sound of the car starting up, and then it trailed off into the distance.
He sat on the couch just staring into space for a while, sulking. As if sensing his mood, everyone avoided the library. Which suited Logan just fine; he wanted solitude. He was going nuts imagining what Jubilee was doing with Parker right now.
The door opened some time later, and Logan's nose identified his visitor. "I really ain't in the mood fer one o' yer lectures, Chuck," he said shortly.
There was the distinctive sound of Xavier's hoverchair's antigrav jets propelling him into the room, and the door closed. "Whatever would give you the idea that I wished to 'lecture' you about anything, Logan?" Xavier said mildly. "I was simply wondering where you had gone. Jubilee looked for you at the door; she was disappointed that you hadn't come to see her off."
"Didn't seem like she was gonna miss me all that much," he said sourly, glaring at the silent TV. "After all, she went an' blew me off fer her date, so she obviously don't want me around as much as she says she does."
"Ah." Xavier said. "But, Logan, she had no idea you had any plans for tonight. Considering that you hadn't told her to free her evening, it shouldn't come as a surprise that she already had plans with Peter."
"I've been around before Spiderboy showed up, so she oughta have checked with me first ta see if I had plans before she went an' made plans with him," Logan grumbled. "An before ya go an' say I'm jealous, save yer breath. She already accused me o' bein' jealous. An' I told her I'm not."
Xavier's steady gaze focused on the back of Logan's head. "Of course you're not jealous. It's just going to take you some time to 'adjust' to the fact that you aren't the only man in her life anymore." His gentle sarcasm was obvious.
Logan got up off the couch and went to the window, looking out toward the city. "I'm not jealous, Chuck," he insisted, sounding to Xavier like a man trying to convince himself that the quicksand under his feet was actually solid ground. "Really. Spiderboy ain't the first guy she's gone out with."
"Then why do you care that she chose to spend time with him tonight rather than with you?" Xavier's voice was gentle but firm. "Let go of your anger for a moment and answer that question honestly."
Logan reluctantly turned away from the window and faced Charles, thinking hard. "I dunno, Chuck. Really. I mean, I look at her now, an' she ain't the spunky little kid who needed me so bad back when we first met. Yeah, she helped me out back there in Australia, but she was running away from some horrible foster homes, an' she needed me same's I needed her then. But now she's all grown, an' she don't need me so much anymore. She's strong, independent, got her own mind, she can take care o' herself. I feel like she's sorta driftin' away from me, Chuck. An' I guess…I ain't so comfortable 'bout that. I mean, we did split up, those years when she was at the Massachusetts Academy, an' it took a long time ta get back ta where we were before she left. And now…I realize how much I missed that, Chuck.
"Way back there, when we first met, she saved me. She hid me and helped me when I needed it most. All these years, whenever I needed her, she's been there. She's saved my sorry ass more times than I care ta remember. When Magneto ripped my adamantium outta me, I lost it. The only thing that kept me from goin' completely nuts, the only person, was Jubilee. She sat with me, read ta me, told me stories, gave me her voice, her presence, ta hang on to while I tried ta get myself back together. In fact," his voice dropped audibly, "What gave me the will to keep fightin' fer my sanity was the knowledge that she needed me. She would try ta be so brave, sittin' there talkin' ta me, but I could see that seein' me like that was killin' her inside. She would beg me ta come back to her, for her. An' I could hear her tryin' not ta cry. She needed me to come back. So I did.
"An' then later, when Apocalypse turned me inta Death, she got me out of it by remindin' me of my responsibility ta her. If it hadn't been for her I'd'a become Death completely. I've come over the years to realizin' that I need her as much as she needs me. Maybe more. No matter what I do, what horrible things I've done, who I've killed, she's always there ta fergive me, even when I can't forgive myself. When I put up walls ta shut everyone out, even myself, she breaks 'em down, shows me over and over again that I don't need the walls, not around her. She trusts me so totally, so completely that she ain't even afraid of me when I'm at my worst. She's given me her shoulder to lean on over the years, an' I can't place a value on that.
"Then the whole Bastion thing went down. Chuck…that madman had her out there in the desert for a whole month. She had no one but herself ta rely on, we didn't even know she was missin'. I didn't even know she was missin'. My girl, my Jubes, tormented by that madman. An' I never knew, I never even thought she might be there. Do you know how much guilt I carry around? All the times she'd been there fer me, an' the one time she needed me, I wasn't there. But she survived it. She survived the stuff he did ta her, the mental an' emotional an' physical torture he inflicted on her, an' she survived. Hell, she saved us, openin' the door for us, and then she got herself out. If that Sentinel hadn't spotted her, she woulda made it outta there an' found some way ta come back ta us on her own, I'm sure of it. And later, when the Church of Humanity caught her…" he shuddered, actually shuddered, in horror and loathing. His voice went soft. "Chuck…bein' crucified is the worst, most painful death I could imagine fer anyone. When Paige and Jono said 'that looks like Jubilee' an' Iceboy confirmed it, the bottom dropped outta my world. I never wanted her ta know how that hurt, how that felt. It's agony like you wouldn't believe, Chuck. And she died from it. Even if Wings's healing factor brought her back, she's still got the memory of that in her head. But she didn't let it crush her spirit, she didn't let it ruin her or scar her. She picked up the pieces and went on, an' now, all this time later, she's working through her fear o' men and goin' out with guys, gettin' on with her life. An' I realize that she's growin' up, that she can handle herself now, an' she don't need me so much anymore. An' I'm worried that if she decides she don't need me anymore, she'll leave permanently an' I won't see her again."
"Why does that frighten you?" Xavier asked quietly. "You've lived a long time, Logan, and you've probably forgotten more women than she's met people in her life. Why does losing her mean so much to you?"
Logan sighed and sat down. "Because she ain't just another woman, Chuck. Not ta me. There's somethin' between us, somethin' I can't describe. It's gonna hurt bad if she leaves and I lose her. Part o' the reason it took us so long ta get back together after her stay at the Academy was 'cause I didn't wanna get close ta her an' find that what we had was gone. I didn't really feel that any o' her other boyfriends was serious, so they didn't bug me…much. But Peter…he's different. I know him, Chuck. I know what he's like inside. He makes her happy. She smiles when she hears his name or sees him like I never seen her smile fer any other man. I can tell he's serious about her too. I like Peter. But losin' Jubilee to him will still hurt. I need her so much, Chuck. She's my lifeline. I love her so much it's hard to let her go."
Xavier smiled gently. "What makes you think you'll lose her, Logan? Even if she does end up getting married someday, moving away from us to her own life with someone she loves, do you really think she'll let you go? The only reason she came here to live with us was because of you. If you didn't live here too she wouldn't have come. When she came back from the Academy, she wanted things between the two of you to go back to where they were before she left. But you weren't acting like you wanted to get close to her again…so she didn't try. And the distance between you two was hurting her so much we all could see it."
Logan stared at Xavier in disbelief. "Ya mean, all that time, she was stayin' away from me 'cause she thought I didn't want her around anymore?"
Xavier nodded. "You and Jubilee have something special, Logan. I saw it when you brought her to the mansion to live with us, which is why I never protested at the amount of time she spent hanging around you. She loves you. She's not going to let you go unless that's what you want. So don't worry about her leaving you, because it's not going to happen. She might move away physically, but you'll stay close emotionally and mentally. You won't lose her, Logan. Don't feel bad if she chooses to spend time with others, because she's always going to come back to you. You said she's your lifeline. You're her lifeline, her soulmate, the only person in the world she knows she can go to and find that unconditional love. She knows it's a rare thing, and something most of us never find in our lifetimes. She won't let that go."
Logan swore quietly. "I was tryin' ta keep her away cause I didn't think she wanted ta hang around me anymore and because I wanted ta protect her. Now I find she was stayin' away 'cause she thought the same thing 'bout me." He shook his head. "Damn. She said once that if I didn't open up I'd become a bitter old man with no friends. I think I've already gotten there." He ran a hand through his hair.
Xavier shook his head. "No you haven't. Jubilee knows that. As long as you have her, Logan, you'll never be alone. She'll never let you isolate yourself like that." He turned his chair around. "Now if you're feeling better, come on down to the Rec Room. Scott is playing pool with Remy, and the game is becoming quite interesting, since they're playing pool with powers only. No cues. The table will have to be replaced by the time they're done."
Logan grinned, his anger gone. "Oh, this I gotta see." He followed Xavier out of the library.
Peter brought the glass of champagne back to Jubilee, nodding slightly as yet another man saw him coming and beat a hasty retreat. "Was it something I said?" he asked her good-naturedly, looking at the other man's retreating back as he sat down in the now-vacant chair beside her.
Jubilee laughed gently, but it sounded slightly forced, and her smile didn't touch her eyes. "No. He was making passes at me and I told him that if he didn't leave me alone, I'd call you over and have you break his arm for him. And then you did come over, and he decided that discretion was the better part of valor. For him, at least." She took the glass of champagne from him and took a sip.
Peter sighed and leaned over. "Jubilee, can you tell me what's wrong?"
She looked at him with badly-feigned astonishment. "Nothing's wrong. What makes you think there's anything wrong?"
Peter leaned back in his chair. "Because you haven't been yourself this evening. You've been really quiet, not at all like your usual self, and I'm not seeing that smile in your eyes that I've come to look for. So spit it out. Tell me what's going on."
Jubilee stared into her glass. "It's nothing."
Peter slid a finger under her chin and raised her face to his. "It's not 'nothing', Jubilee," he said. "If it affects the woman I care about then it's a big something. So tell me."
Jubilee sighed and fiddled with the stem of her wineglass. "Logan and I had an argument this evening."
"About me?" Peter raised his eyebrows.
"No. Well, not exactly. Sort of." Jubilee sighed again. "Apparently he'd made plans for us to go do something together tonight, as friends, I mean. And he was a little upset that I'd already made plans to go out with you and he got huffy so I accused him of being jealous of you and he tried to deny it but it showed all over his face and I got mad at him for getting jealous of you and paffed him out of my room and he went off to pout and I didn't see him before we left." She took another sip, and said irritably, "I don't know why he's suddenly getting all jealous on me."
Peter leaned back and laughed silently to himself, shoulders shaking. Jubilee watched him with growing irritation for a moment, then said, "What's so funny?"
Peter took a deep breath and got himself together. "You and Logan. You two sure are a pair. I've never seen anything like the two of you."
"What do you mean?" Jubilee frowned.
Peter sobered, looking at her. "It's hard to believe you two could even tolerate each other. I mean, you're the exact opposite of him. He's everything you're not, you're everything he's not. Yin and yang, so to speak. And yet, somehow it works. I'll never understand it. Why do you care that he's jealous? Whether of me or of anyone else you've ever gone out with, why do you care if he's jealous? Most girls your age would be flattered that they could get an older man jealous over them. A lot of my students would love to be in your position."
Jubilee stared out into the crowd, who was leaving them alone for the moment, and tried to gather her thoughts. "I care because…well, because I do. I can't explain it. I can't explain why I feel the way I do, just like I can't really explain why I reached out to help him all those years ago. I was a street kid, and I'd already learned that to survive, you have to care only about yourself. No one else. Then I saw the Reavers crucify him. I didn't know he had a healing factor. But he was in such agony, I couldn't bring myself to leave him, even though I knew the Reavers might come back and they'd kill me if they found me. But then he pulled himself off, and asked me for help in his way, and I couldn't turn my back. If it had been anyone else I might have, but not him. It's just something, something I can't explain, that holds us together. I care because I don't want to see him unhappy about me, about something I've done. I love him too much to be able to ignore it when he's unhappy about something."
"You love him?" Peter's face wore an inscrutable mask.
"Yes," Jubilee said softly, looking at the champagne in her glass. "Yes, I do. But not in a man-and-woman kind of thing, although I did have a major crush on him when I was younger. The thing was, I realized that that we have is deeper than that, deeper than anything sexual. Kind of a soulbond. Whenever he needs me, I'm there for him. He tries to be there for me, but he can't always be. Peter…when Bastion kidnapped me, back in the middle of that Operation: Zero Tolerance mess, Logan didn't even know I was gone until he smelled me way out there in the desert. He ran five miles across the desert at night to save me from a Sentinel who was about to kill me. And then blamed himself even more when the Church Of Humanity captured me and crucified me. He got very overprotective for a while, until I told him point blank that he couldn't be there for me all the time, and I didn't expect him to. So he started teaching me to fight, to defend myself, to use my powers to defend myself and if necessary take the offensive.
"Even if he's not with me physically, he's been there for me mentally, emotionally, and I've never felt, not for a second, that he didn't care about me and didn't want me safe." She wiped her suddenly tearing eyes, ignoring the mascara dislodged by her hand. "Even back at the Hulkbuster base, with Bastion keeping me hungry and cold and hurting, I never felt him 'leave' me. A part of him was still with me, and that was what kept me going when I wanted to give up."
"Bastion had you?" Peter's voice was soft. He wasn't a mutant, but he, along with the rest of the superhero population of New York, had been aware of Bastion's anti-mutant vendetta. He'd known the X-Men were deeply involved; but Jubilee… "You were only…what, fourteen or fifteen?"
Jubilee nodded slowly. "He didn't care, Peter. My age made no difference in how he treated me. To him, my age and gender were vulnerabilities he thought he could exploit in pursuit of information I had and he wanted. I refused to give in to him, refused to tell him where to find the X-Men, and he used my weaknesses to try get me to talk." She swallowed hard. "All of my weaknesses."
Peter almost shuddered at the thought of what that meant. "My God," he whispered softly. "And you survived."
"Logan saved me," Jubilee said, her voice slightly unsteady. "Out in the desert. The Sentinels had orders to kill me when they caught me. Logan saved me. He smelled me in the air and ran five miles across the desert to find me. If he hadn't, I would have died. Either the Sentinel would have caught and killed me, or the heat when the sun came up would have. And then, later, he helped me work through the bitter memories of what Bastion had done to me.
"It wasn't just Bastion, though; it was everything in my life. I was running away from yet another horrible foster home when I met him, and he repaid me for saving his life by saving mine; he invited me to join the X-Men, to come live at the mansion with him and the others. He gave me a home I didn't have, a home that included him. While everything around me changes, and people come and go, he's always been there. Magneto ripped his adamantium out of him and left him a wreck. Oh, God, I almost lost it when I saw the shell that had once been my Wolvie. He'd gone mad, almost feral, almost animalistic. Seeing him like that hurt me more than he's ever going to know. He'd always been the strong stable figure in my life, the rock I clung to, and suddenly that was gone. I spent time with him, talking to him about anything and everything, and I tried so hard not to let it show just how much I hated seeing him like that. But he pulled out of it, he came back to me, and I had him back. And then later when Apocalypse turned him into Death, I was so afraid I'd lost him forever that I got a rescue team together and went after him. Back there..Kurt was hurt, and I was the only one left…I gave up, Peter. I took off my helmet and let him see who it was he was fighting, and tried to talk him out of it. I didn't think I was going to succeed; but everything else I'd tried hadn't worked, we'd all tried, and I just started talking to him in desperation. I knew he could kill me, but I'd have rather died than live a life without him. And he came back.
"Later, after the Bastion thing…I need to talk, to exorcise the demons in my head, all the terror and the pain and the uncertainty and despair, but no one wanted to listen, and I even flirted around with the concept of suicide, because I couldn't handle keeping all that stuff bottled up inside me. I don't know if Logan knew about the razorblade I kept in my drawer. I never used it, but it was there…and just when I thought I couldn't bear it anymore, he took me away from the mansion, away from everyone, and got me to let it all out. I could tell it hurt him to know what I'd gone through, but he would rather hurt for me than let me hurt myself with everything I was keeping inside. He cares about me, he loves me, and whenever I need it, he's offered me his strength when I had none of my own left. I owe him everything, Peter. That's why I care.
"He told me he had plans for tonight, but I'd already made plans with you. I told him that. And he looked so disappointed. I got angry with him because I was angry with myself for not being available when he wanted me to hang out with him. After all he's done for me, the least I could do was give him my time when he asks for it, especially since he doesn't ask often. And I think that's part of the reason why I accused him of being jealous."
Peter heard the unsteadiness in her voice, and realized that his question had brought up memories she probably didn't want to think about. So he redirected the topic into a safer channel. "He probably is jealous."
Jubilee looked up, startled out of her own thoughts. "What?"
Peter smiled. "He probably is jealous. Look at it from his point of view. He's told me all about you; how strong you are, how much he cares about you, how much he admires your courage. And even though he'd probably never admit it even to himself, he loves you too. Deeply. Every time he says your name, every time he thinks of you, I can see the hard shell around him crumbling. You are his weakness, and his strength. He leans on your strength just as much as you lean on his, because you both have strengths the other one lacks. You're the center of his universe. Which is why it hurts to see you with another man. It's sort of a bittersweet thing; you've spent so much time hanging out with him that he's come to expect seeing you around. When he made plans when you were younger, you were naturally going to be 'available' for those plans because you didn't have any other claims on your time. Now, all of a sudden, you're older, you're grown up, you have dates and other men in your life, and it seems to him to have happened very, very suddenly, because you spent a lot of time away from him while you were doing the most growing; up in Massachusetts. He's not the center of your universe anymore. And that's not an easy thing for Logan to accept; a man's ego is much more fragile than you girls think.
"And it doesn't help that Logan's enemies seem obsessed with picking off the people who are close to him; he's got to be constantly afraid that that will happen to you, given how close you two are. There's only two ways to keep that from happening; one, he can stop caring about you completely, stop caring what happens to you or what becomes of you; or two, he can keep you close to him and never let you go. Since neither one is an option, all he can do is stand there and watch you leave, not knowing if you're going to come back, hoping he's taught you enough of his own fighting skills and survival instincts to keep you alive to come back to him."
"Even on a simple date?" Jubilee looked incredulous.
Peter nodded. "Even on a date. Maybe more so then than if you're going out with the girls. Logan's seen the worst sides of humanity, Jubilee. He knows what a man can do to a woman, even if she's prepared. He knows how easily things can go south. And with what you told me about Bastion, he knows anything can happen even when you think you're safe. Add to that…he knows how many enemies he has, which ones are still alive, which ones hold a grudge, and which ones could potentially be a threat to you on their way to him. All of that must run through his mind every time he sees you leave. And with his protective instinct as strong as it is, that must kill him. The world isn't a safe place; he knows that. You know that. I know that. Anything can happen; there is no such thing as impossibility."
"Even with you, who he knows?"
Peter nodded soberly. "Yes. Even with me. Maybe especially with me. I have enemies too, Jubilee, and many of them wouldn't hesitate to capture someone I care about to use against me. They wouldn't hesitate to kidnap even you. So when you go off with me, he's not only thinking about the enemies he has, he's also thinking about the enemies I have and wondering if any of them will strike while you're with me. And when you drop a date with me out of thin air on him, it makes him feel even worse, because he's had no time to check and see which bad guy might be in the area where we're going, and he doesn't have time to 'plow the road'." He saw her look. "You didn't know that, did you? He listens when you tell him the details of a planned date, then makes it a point to go out sometime that same day and check it over to make sure no baddies are around. I do too, so don't get your back up. It's his way of trying to keep you safe without getting overprotective and smothering you."
"I never thought of it like that," Jubilee murmured. "And I yelled at him, got mad at him, and accused him of being jealous. And then I threw him out of my room." She sighed. "I guess I should apologize to him when I see him tomorrow morning."
Peter got up, flipping his jacket cuff back to check his watch, then took her champagne glass out of her hand and placed it on a nearby table. "Come on." He shrugged into his coat, and held her so she could slide it on.
"Where are we going?" Jubilee looked confused. "The party's in full swing…"
"They'll never notice I'm gone. Trust me," Peter said dryly. "They never do. A lot of these people are here just to schmooze, or to look like they care about what goes on in the school system. And the party's winding down. Look. People are already leaving." A couple was just going out the door. Peter took her arm, walked her over to the door, and held it open as she walked through. "I shouldn't be out this late anyway, it's a school day tomorrow. So I'm going to go home and catch up on my sleep, and you," he opened the passenger side door for her, "Are going to go home and spend some time with Logan."
Jubilee froze in the act of sliding into the seat. "Peter!" she exclaimed. "Really, if you want to stay, I—we—we don't have to go—"
Peter silenced her with a finger on her lips. "I want to go. I don't like these parties any more than Logan does. And I really do have school tomorrow. It's only ten, there's still time to go on a crawl with Logan if that's what you want to do." He bent and kissed her as he grabbed the trailing skirt of her dress and scooped it into the car. "Don't argue with me. You know I'll win anyway."
Jubilee looked up at him and smiled, and this time her eyes lit up with it, too. "Thank you, Peter."
The mansion was quiet when they pulled up. Jubilee used her code to let them in through the gates, and dug out her keys when she didn't see any lights on in the lower floor of the mansion. Peter walked her up to the door.
"I'm sorry my bad mood spoiled your evening," she said quietly.
Peter shrugged. "Well, you didn't notice, but my evening wasn't going so great either," he said sheepishly. "I don't like fancy parties. I was in just as bad a mood as you were."
"But still," Jubilee insisted. "I shouldn't have been such a party pooper. After all, you did get Teacher of the Year."
Peter chuckled. "Jubilee, it doesn't mean that much," he said. "It means the higher-ups think I'm a good teacher. But they don't matter. What really matters is if my students think I'm a good teacher, and if they learned anything while they were in my class."
She gave him a sidelong, mischievous glance. "And have they?"
Peter gave her a rueful smile. "I wonder sometimes," he said. "They do think I'm a good teacher, but as to whether they're actually learning anything, to judge from the test scores…" he shook his head.
Jubilee burst out laughing. "I'm sure you're a great teacher," she said, leaning forward and dropping a kiss on his lips. "You can teach me anything, anytime. I'll be a most eager student."
Peter captured her lower lip in his teeth. "Really?" he said. "Then how about we test that resolution on, say, Friday? Fancy dinner at Della Notte, so I can teach you how to drink champagne without playing with your glass?"
Jubilee giggled, tugging backward until she got her lip free, then darted forward and caught his own lip in her teeth. "All right, Mr. Parker," she whispered. "And I promise I won't spoil it this time." And with that, she was gone, slipping quietly into the front door and locking it behind her. Peter stood there for a moment, looking thoughtfully at the closed door, then smiled to himself and headed back to his car.
From the way things sounded, everyone was in the Rec Room, and having a great time too. Jubilee paused at the end of the hallway, listening to Logan's gravelly voice saying something she couldn't quite distinguish to Remy, and Remy said something back. There was a burst of laughter, and then the bright red flashes began again under the door. She smiled to herself, took off her high heels and padded into her room, where she quickly shucked her dress, pantyhose, and coat, scrubbed off her makeup, and donned a pair of comfortable, well-worn jeans and a t-shirt, and headed for the Rec Room.
Logan was in the middle of saying something to Remy when he caught a whiff of that distinctive scent. Without a further word to anyone, he stepped out of the room, closing the door…and ran into Jubilee in the hallway. He stared at her for a moment, surprised into brief immobility, and then took her arm, steering her into the stairwell. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
Jubilee smiled at him. "The party finished up early, and Peter was tired. I came back to apologize. I'm sorry I called you jealous. I'm sorry I got mad. Do you still want to go on a crawl? I'm game if you are."
He couldn't say anything for a long moment, then he sighed. "I'm sorry fer gettin' mad at ya," he said. "It was my fault that I didn't tell ya what day I wanted ta surprise ya. An' you were right, I was a little jealous of Parker fer takin' ya away from me. I shouldn't have. An' I'm sorry fer that."
Jubilee flung her arms around him. "No one could ever replace you in my heart," she said, her voice so soft Logan felt a lump rising in his throat. "I need you like I need air and water and light. I'll always be a part of you, I'm never going to go anywhere where you can't go too. Logan…I wanted to tell you I love you. I hate it when we fight. I'm sorry for being so crabby, and I'll try to keep my temper in the future." She released him and distracted him with another question as she wiped her slightly misty eyes. "What's going on?" She gestured to the closed door of the Rec Room.
"Remy and Scott are playin' 'powers only' pool," Logan said with a grin.
"Oh, dear," Jubilee said. "With Remy's aim, the table will need to be replaced by the time they're done."
"That's what Chuck said. Think you can do any better, miss smarty pants?"
Jubilee gave him a wicked, merry grin. "Let's see, shall we?" she said happily, linking her arm with his and pulling him toward the open door of the Rec Room.
END