Disclaimer: hey, don't own any of this.

Authors Note : I don't really know exactly where I'm going with this yet.. but I'm going. I wanna thank Kaye, and Wendy for being so, supportive. You guys are great.

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~~~~~~ " I hate being seventeen." Marie said with a sigh.

" why is that?" Logan asked gruffly.

" I don't know, I just do." she replied.

Logan gazed up at her from his branch, which was just below hers. She was gazing up at the clouds from the massive, strong willow tree that they had discovered just off the campus of Xaviers school. Her long Auburn hair blew wildly in the wind, and the light from the sunset added a soft glow that outlined her face. she looked so innocent, wise, and completely beautiful.

" I wouldn't worry. You won't be seventeen forever." he said reassuringly. The thought hit him. He couldn't imagine her being not seventeen. He didn't want her to every be anything other than what she was now, sweet, young, naive, seventeen.

She smiled down at him with admiration. That's how he would always remember her. ~~~~~~~~~~~


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Three Years Later


It was summer. Logan loved the summer. He loved the scent of summer, and the fact that every summer night, just before sunset, he would meet Marie in thier tree, and they would spend time together. He secretly looked forward to it every day, just talking to her, made him feel more complete. The way she never judged him, never pushed him, never expected to much from him. She simply understood him.

Logan climbed up to his branch, lit up a cigarette, and waited for her to get there. He worrried about her. Last night, she had never showed up. He had an uneasy feeling in his chest, She couldn't have forgotten to meet him. He thought of all the possibilities, maybe she was sick, maybe she was too busy, too tired, upset.
No, not her. she was never sick, never too busy or too tired for him. If she were upset, she would tell him. He was sure of it.

Marie stopped at the bottom of the towering willow tree, and looked up at Logan. She remebered the first time they had met in the tree. She remebered how she would get nervous every time she was around him, and how she would blush everytime he caught her staring at him. It was obvious to everyone, that she had had a crush on him. after a few months, that crush had grown into an intense longing, which had led to being absolutely in love with him, which had developed into a complex, deep, understanding friendship. She noticed that Logan had become much easier to talk to over the past three years, and she felt that she knew him more than anyone.

" Hey there sugar. sorry I'm late." she shouted up at him.

" why were you gone last night?" he asked.


" I was busy." she answered flatly.

Logan studied her curiously. She was lying he could tell. She had a clear expression of guilt on her face, that she tried to cover by being nonchalant. but there was something else. He could smell it, she looked different. It was the was she stood, the way she walked.

" you're lying. what's wrong." he demanded. " you look different."

Marie looked away from him sullenly.

" Look Logan, I'm tired. I need to go." she said.

Logan watched her walk away in confusion.