Finding The Way Home
Sundry II
by ThePQ4
Chapter One
Logan's POV
After Joanna left the moor that night, I tried my best to find her. I never expected she could get so far away in such a short amount of time. By the time we had reached the manor, even with the jet, we found that her room had been ransacked for the bare essential, all of her money that she kept in a jar in her night stand, gone. It wasn't Joanna that I was worried about though, it was Rogue. She seemed like a little lost puppy who'd lost it's master. For the first week or so, she moped around the Institute, she made silly mistakes in the Danger Room, and just seemed like a sad little girl. Remy tried his best to get her to laugh a few times, but even he gave up once in awhile, deciding he'd just have to be content to sit next to her on the porch swing, and silently pray that Joanna would come back.
I also never expected to find her where I did, and how I did. It was the voice that struck me first, sitting in my favorite bar trying to ignore my good friend Kevin Morgan, as he prattled on about a motorcycling accident he had been in. Then I smelled her. I turned slowly. It wasn't Joanna I saw...it was Rogue. Or someone who looked very much like Rogue. The face was exactly the same, the hair however was powder blue with streaks of white pulled through it. She had it pulled back into a ponytail.
"Kevin, whose that waitress?" I asked, nodding towards her, where she was laughing with a group of older gentlemen.
"Oh, that's Jinx. She's worked here for about...a year or so now." Kevin pondered for a second, "Funny you've never seen her before, you're up here all the time..."
"Yea...funny." I whispered, "You happen to know when her shift ends?"
Kevin looked up at the clock. "Oh...'bout another hour or so... Say, what's goin' on, eh?"
"Nothin' Kev... I think I'm gonna head back to my room. I'll talk to you later."
"Alright, see ya later Logan." He tipped his head at me, before downing the rest of his beer.
Rather, however, then going to my motel room, I waited around the backdoor of the bar for Joanna's shift to end.
"Jinx, huh?" I asked, leaning in the shadows, all that was exposed to her was my boots as she exited the back door.
She took a second to recognize the voice, "Logan?" she asked. The voice was the same, now that she had dropped the fake accent.
"What the hell are you doing here?" We both asked at the same time.
"I'm working." She said, at the same time I said, "Looking for answers."
"No, seriously...what are you doing here?" She asked, crossing her arms.
"You've got a lot of nerve, Kid." I told her, "We all were worried you were dead or something."
"You should all know better then that." She told me, "I needed to get away from that madness."
"We miss you."
"Logan..." She sighed, and I stepped out into the light. I couldn't resist pulling her up into my arms, and she melted back into the Joanna I knew and loved.
"What are you doin'?" I whispered, brushing her now long black hair out of her eyes, "Why didn't you...wait for me at least?"
"Logan, I couldn't. You just would have tried to talk me out of leaving."
"I would have helped, Jo."
"Everyone's probably forgotten about me by now..." She shook her head.
"Never." I shook my head, "God I missed you." I pulled her into a tight hug, "I've spent almost the entire last year looking for you over the entire continent. The Professor could never pinpoint your location on Cerebro."
"I wouldn't let him." She pulled away, "Logan...please, don't give me away?"
"What are you talkin' about?"
"Don't...don't tell them where I am. Just...leave me here for awhile longer."
"Joanna, you've been fucking MIA for a year now! Your parents are worried sick, Rogue has turned into this little shell of a girl, everyone is completely lost with you there to boss us around."
"What about you, Logan?" She asked. Her eyes looked sad.
"I'm fucking lost, Jo. I don't know what the hell I did before you came along, and I sure as hell don't know what the fuck I'm doing now."
"Getting drunk by the look of it." She smiled, a small laugh emerging from her mouth.
"Please, Jo?" I begged, "Please, come with me?"
"I can't, Logan. I just, I can't go back to that chaos, the fighting... It's all so pointless."
"Will you stay here?" I asked.
"Where am I going to go, Logan?" She asked, "I've been here for over year now...I'm not going anywhere else. I'm settled."
"Promise me, you will not move." I told her.
"I promise, Logan. Can I go now? Jinx has to sleep before her next shift you know."
I pulled her back into my arms, and then kissed her. I could tell by the way she savored it for an extra moment that she had missed me too, and that made me feel better about leaving her.
"Hey Kurt, I need to talk to Professor Xavier." I sat on the edge of my lumpy mattress in my motel. It just figured that he would have to answer the phone.
"What's the matter, Logan? You sound worried?"
"Just get the Professor, Kurt, alright?" I growled, and then heard him scamper off to get the Professor to the phone.
"What's the matter, Logan?" Charles's voice was a relief to hear.
"I found her, Charles." I told him.
"Found who, Logan?"
"Joanna!" I said.
"What? Where?"
"Working in the bar up here in my old haunt. She steadfast about staying, but at least we know where she is, right?"
"Right, of course... Logan, I can't believe you... Where is she now, exactly?"
"I'm not sure where she's staying. I just know she's in town working at the Lions Den." I shrugged, "I didn't get a lot of time to talk to her. She's goin' by the name of Jinx, disguised as Rogue's twin or something."
"Interesting... Look, Logan, I want you to stay there, watch after her for a while. When the time is right, you can try and persuade her to come back to the institute."
"Charles, I don't want to do this to her... I love her, and I want her back as much as you do, but... She seems happy."
"One step at a time, Logan. One step at a time."
Joanna's POV
I could hardly believe it when Logan stepped out of the shadows after my shift at the bar was over the night. When I got back to my apartment above the bar, which the owner had gladly rented to me in exchange for working shifts at the bar, as well as his brother's grocery store across the street (for an actual paycheck, which went towards board), I just lay on my bed for a long time. It was a total shock to see Logan again. All of those feelings for him that I thought I had suppressed the moment that I had left that moor on Christmas, over a year before. It was now mid January, and my third Christmas since that fateful night in the car with my mother and Daniel had passed. The last one had been the saddest, all by myself in my apartment, the only gifts from my bosses and their wives, as well as some extra tips from the bar regulars.
And the way that Logan had kissed me. I had missed that the most. Not late night talks, not the sex, but the kissing. The way his mouth felt against mine, the way his arms would pull me up against his body, fitting together as if we were made for each other. I sighed.
I missed him. I missed him a lot. And I missed everyone else. Maybe it was time to go back.
As I kicked off my shoes, I picked up the phone, and dialed a number I never expected to use ever again. The line was busy. Maybe it was a sign. Or maybe it was just Kitty hogging the phone, like she usually did.
I put the phone back on it's cradle, and lay back in bed, my skin, hair and clothes melting away into my Jinx persona.
It was nearly two o'clock in the morning, my shift at the Grocery store across he street was scheduled to start in less then six hours, and I hadn't slept a wink. I couldn't exactly pinpoint why, but as I began to except the fact that my ex-boyfriend (who I never really formally broke up with, and still had many, many feelings for him) was in a town where I thought I could hide. I wanted to be with him again, which was probably very selfish of me. I couldn't help my feelings for Logan though. We had spent a wonderful year together, with many fabulous nights. He had been my first, and my only.
Finally, I got sick of laying in bed, sleepless. I pulled on a haphazard outfit, and my jacket, shoving my feet into a pair of boots. The bar would just be closing, and if I was lucky, Kevin would just be leaving (as he often was), so I could pull him aside and ask him if he knew where Logan was staying.
By my own extreme luck, Kevin was just stumbling from the door under the arm of his brother, John Morgan.
"Hey Jinx." John struggled to get his brother into his truck, "What's doin'?"
"Um, I was wondering if you knew where I could find your friend Logan." I crossed my arms over my chest in the cold, "He...er...left his wallet on the bar, and Joe asked me to get it back to him."
"Well, he's staying over at the motel, room six, but if you want I can give it to him when I see him tomorrow."
"No, no that's alright. I'd like to return it personally." I watched John clip his brother into his seatbelt, before slamming the door on him, which jolted him awake, "You go take care of your drunk brother."
"Yea...stupid idiot." He shook his head, "See you later, Jinx." He tipped his hat at me, and walked around to the other side of his truck.
The motel wasn't far from the bar, and besides all of the drunks from the bar making their way home, the streets were quiet. I couldn't believe I hadn't seen the Jeep around town before, but there it was, parked in front of the strip. The television was casting an eerie green and blue glow across the room, and through the gauze thin curtains, I could see Logan sitting up in bed, flipping through the channels.
I paused for a moment before knocking on the door, pulling my jacket more closely around myself, the bitter January cold biting through the thick fabric.
"Who is it?" I heard the tell-tale sound of his claws being unleashed.
"It's me...Joanna." I looked around before letting my real appearance melt into place.
"Oh jeez." He retracted his claws, and begin to unlock the door, whipping it open, "What the hell are you doin', darlin'?"
"I wanted to see you." I shrugged, "Can I come in?"
"Well of course." He stepped out of the way, behind the door, "What's the matter?"
I shrugged, "My apartment was lonely. I kept thinking about you. What's your excuse?" I asked, nodding towards the television.
Logan shrugged, "Same."
"Thinking about yourself?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face.
"You've always been insufferable."
I sat down in the wobbly chair beside a small table, "Sorry."
"Don't be...it's a quality in you I've always loved, along with your indecisiveness." He sat on the edge of his bed, "So, what really brings you here?"
I sighed, "I was just thinking, after I got to my room... maybe it's time... to go back, I mean. Before I left, Rogue told me that I was to easy to forgive people...and when I left, I finally understood what she meant. I did forgive everyone for everything that they did way to easily... My Mother, Lance Hang, Lance Alvers, Remy, Jubilee, Rogue...even you. When we were on that moor, after Magneto left... I saw what you were all really fighting for. Yourselves. Not for the good of human kind. You went with your old grudges. You and Sabertooth, Rogue and Jean against Mystique, Storm and Cyclops against Toad, Avalanche and Scarlet Witch, whatever that was about. None of you even noticed, on either side, when Magneto disappeared..." I shook my head.
"Old habits die hard, sweetheart." Logan shrugged, "Sabertooth and I have been fighting since before I remember...hell, I might have grown up with the guy, fighting him off. He always seems to know a little more then I do."
"I want to come back, but I don't want to fight anymore." I shook my head.
"Okay." Logan nodded.
"Do you think that the Professor can except that? I know he's not one for violence in the first place, but the fact that I don't want to do it at all..."
"No, I'm sure he'll think of something for you to do so that you're at least active. Training maybe."
"Thanks Logan. You always know how to make me feel better." I moved to sit on the end of the bed next to him, wrapping my arms around him. It took him a moment before he wrapped his arm around my waist, and kissed my forehead.
"So, you gonna stay with me tonight, or what?"
It was a week before I left with Logan to go back to the Institute. I'd talked to Professor Xavier a few times, and told him my concerns. My powers, save for my transformer power, were all a little rusty having laid pretty much dormant for a year. It was going to be different...very different.
It was early afternoon when Logan and I reached the school. It was the same as I remembered, and yet it was different. I had missed it so much, it seemed larger, and even more welcoming than it had the first time I had seen it. Logan saw my soft smile, and put a hand on my knee.
"You okay, kid?" He asked.
"Yea, I'm fine." I looked over at him as he punched in a code for the garage, "I just...I'm surprised everything's the same."
"We don't change much." Logan shrugged, "C'mon, I know there's a lot of people who want to see you." He pocketed the keys for the jeep, and reached into the back for his bag, while I grabbed mine, slinging it over my shoulder as I got out of the jeep. My blue Mazda caught my eye.
"Oh my god...my car." I walked over, touching the hood, "I never realized how much I would miss this car until I didn't have it."
"I kept it tuned up for you. I'd run it a couple times every month or so, and I think Rogue might have actually driven it when we were hard for cars."
"That's alright." I shrugged, "I'm surprised my parents didn't claim it, and pawn it off."
"No...your parents were actually understanding about the whole thing...worried, but understanding. Your Mom didn't even try to feel me up." Logan smirked.
"C'mon... Lets go inside." I put an arm around Logan's waist, and together we walked into the school.
Everyone was scattered around the school, noise bursting forth like never before.
"I think we've added quite a few students, haven't we?" I asked.
"You could say that." Logan nodded, "Everyone important, however, is in the rec room." He steered me through the familiar halls, new faces peering at me from different places, and then I found the familiar ones.
"Jo!" Rogue was just getting out of her chair as I entered the room. She looked good. Her hair had gotten a curl to it, her white streak parted on either side of her face. She was wearing a bright purple t-shirt, a pair of black jeans, and the fishnet hoodie I had gotten her for Christmas two years ago with a pair of sporting gloves. Everyone in the room turned. Warren, Kurt, Kitty, Bobby. Remy and Jubilee, however, were absent for an unexplained reason. The room exploded into action and noise, everyone moving from their seats to welcome me back. Rogue hugged me, murmuring nonsense, everyone else talking and waiting for their turn for a hug. Logan got pushed back by the rush.
"Welcome back, Sundry", I turned to see Professor Xavier leaning on the arm of his wheelchair.
"Nice to be back, Professor." I told him, trying to take in what everyone was saying to me in the meantime.
Rogue tore herself away from me long enough to let everyone else have a go at a hug, everyone talking at once to fill me in on the goings on.
"Now, now... One at time, before you wear the poor girl out." The Professor spoke aloud to everyone, "Let her relax... there will be plenty of time to catch up." He got the group to disperse, except for Rogue who attached herself to my hip. She really was like a lost puppy. I never realized before how much she had depended on me.
"Rogue, I need to talk to Logan and Joanna alone for a few moments, if you don't mind." The Professor spoke gently. She shrugged back, shoving her hands into her pockets.
"Alright, sorry." She moved back to her chair, and back to the television show the group had been watching before leaving.
"Perhaps we could go talk in my office, hm?" The Professor steered himself out of the room and down the hall, "I've got a few propositions to make."
It was soon decided that I would be traveling with Logan as he searched for clues to his past once the spring thaw had set in. While we waited, I would help out with training sessions, and even help Storm with the class she taught, teaching some of the new kids how to control their powers with different methods of concentration.
After our meeting, I met up with the old crew again in the rec room, sitting on the couch next to Rogue, suddenly also unwilling to part with her again. Besides Logan, I had missed Rogue the most. She had always been there for me, monitoring my test-runs of different powers, listening to my complaints, and just being a good friend.
"Hey, don't the rest of us get a turn?" Warren asked, leaning over the back of the couch where Rogue and I were leaned against each other, talking among ourselves, ignoring the television.
"Hi Warren." I smiled, and he leaned down and kissed my cheek. It was as if nothing had changed...which was both relieving and annoying, "How are you?"
"I'm fine." He nodded, "But I really think I should be asking you that. Where the hell have you been?"
"Canada." I told him.
"Canada? The Ultimate Run Away destination, huh?"
"I did not run away, Warren. I left." I informed him, "And besides, it wasn't like I was hiding... You just couldn't find me."
"You were hiding." He nodded.
"Don't fight when she's only been back for five minutes, Warren." Rogue spoke up.
"My, my...I thought you had gone mute."
"Shut up." Rogue glared at him.
"You want a plasma blast?" I asked Rogue, letting a green wisp circle around a fist.
"No... The Professor has already had to fix this Rec room once already since you've been gone."
"Really? I didn't notice." I looked around, and sure enough...the color was different, as well as the furniture being a slightly different shade.
"Yea, Lance got a little to close to the house, and...well, it wasn't pretty." She shrugged.
"Ah." I nodded, "Where is he anyway?"
Warren and Rogue looked at each other.
"Avalanche decided that being on the good side wasn't what he wanted anymore. He went back to the Brotherhood...except they didn't really want him anymore."
"He's dead?" I asked.
"No...he's just...missing." Warren shrugged.
"He's dead." I told him.
"We don't know what for sure." Rogue shook her head, "I mean, he could be anywhere..."
"I know for sure. He's dead." I turned to the television, "How about Hang? What's he doing?"
"He's away at college, actually. California, living with his brother. He did tell his parents, you know." Warren shrugged.
"Oh god... I missed everything. I can't believe I ditched my senior year of high school." I covered my face with my hands, "I was such an idiot."
"No, you weren't." Rogue put a hand on my shoulder, "You needed time off, and you took it."
"I still didn't graduate." I sighed.
"You can always go for you GED." Rogue shrugged.
I groaned. Catching up was going to be hard.
I lay on my old bed in the room I now, once again, shared with Rogue.
"So, what have you been doing?" Rogue asked. It was late, and it was the only question she hadn't asked yet, which was ironic since it was probably the one itching her mind the most.
"I've been in Canada... working in a bar for my room, and in a grocery store for my board." I shrugged, "Oh, and I'm sorry... I kind of borrowed your look for awhile." I winced.
"What do you mean?"
I melted into Jinx and shrugged, "It seemed like a good idea when I did it...and when I started to think that it wasn't, I already had a job, and my apartment... I couldn't just change..."
"It's alright...it's like I have a twin I never knew about." Rogue smiled.
"I'm glad you don't mind." I smiled back, "God, I really missed this place... I just... I just couldn't bring myself to come back though, until Logan found me."
"How did that happen anyway? He goes to that bar all of the time, and he never saw you before!"
"Well, I don't work there all of the time...mostly I picked up shifts when one of the other waitresses was sick, or something... But it is surprising we didn't run into each other sooner... I got to be really good friends with all of the regulars, including his friends Kevin and John." I shrugged, "I think it was sheer dumb luck."
"Well, I'm glad he found you...and I'm glad that you came back of your own free will." Rogue sat down on her bed, "We were all really worried about you."
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright now." Rogue shrugged and I melted back into my own self. I sighed, and stretched out on the bed, closing my eyes.
"So...what are you and Logan now? I mean...are you still, like...together, or..."
"I don't know, Rogue." I sighed, "We both...we both still have those feelings for one another, but... It's to soon to tell."
"Well, have you slept with him since he found you?" Rogue asked.
"Rogue!" I turned to look at her.
"Well? I'm just asking." She shrugged, "And you guys never formally broke up anyway..."
"When one is gone for a year, the relationship is pretty much over, Rogue..." I turned to look at her, "but yes...Logan and I... the night he found me." I turned back to the ceiling.
"Had you...been with anyone else?"
"Rogue, what is with all of these questions?" I sat up on my elbow.
"I'm just trying to help!" She said, putting her hands up in defense.
"No, Rogue. I would never do that... I love Logan." I told her, laying back down, and then turned to face her, "What about him? Do you know if he? ...You know."
"Logan, sleep with another woman? I don't think so." Rogue shook her head, "He'd of course had a lot of women come on to him, but...he loves you too." She shrugged, "Why don't you go talk to him?" She raised her eyebrow.
"This is why you missed me, isn't it?" I smiled, rolling onto my side, hugging my pillow, "You miss the tales of my nights in Logan's room, don't you?"
"I will admit that they made my life more interesting...but they aren't the only reason." she smiled at me, "Seriously, though... go talk to him... Square everything away so it's not so complicated later."
"Maybe I should..." I sighed, and then yawned, "But maybe tomorrow... I'm dead tired... I haven't had a decent nights sleep since I started working at the bar." I stretched back onto my bed , and fell almost promptly asleep.
The next morning, Rogue was already gone when I woke up, and Logan was knocking softly on the door before letting himself in.
"Hey." He knelt down next to her bed, "You awake?"
"I am now." I shrugged, "What's up?"
"Today is your first day as a teacher... You're with Storm in Class C on the second level. You may find that things have changed since you left..."
"Oh?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, and sitting up in bed, letting the covers fall down to my waist, and straightening out my t-shirt that I had fallen asleep in.
"Yes." He nodded, biting his lips for a moment and then rising to press a kiss to my lips, "Rogue said you wanted to talk to me this morning too."
I sighed, "Not right now... Later, when we can be pissed at each other and not have the opportunity to take it out on others."
"I take it this will be a bad talk?" Logan asked.
"It might take a turn..." I shrugged, and pressed another kiss to his lips, "C' mon, let me get dressed and...we can talk later?"
"Over dinner... we can go down to the docks to the Krab Shak." He raised an eyebrow.
"Sure." I nodded, "That would be great."
"I'll meet you out front at seven then?" He asked.
"Okay."
And with a chaste kiss, he was gone.
I joined Storm in her brightly lit class room. There were an array of students in the desks scattered around the classroom.
"Welcome back, Joanna... It's wonderful to see you again. I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you yesterday... The Professor needed me else where." Storm gave me a hug.
"That's alright... I was surrounded by enough people, I'm not sure I could have handled one more." I smiled.
Storm smiled back, and then turned to the class as the last stragglers filed in and then she spoke.
"Class, this is Joanna Darius, but you can all call her Sundry. She's going to be helping me out here for a few weeks, and I'm sure you will all find her to be a great help to all of your individual...talents. Today, we are going to continue to work on control..." Storm went to the chalk board, where she began to make notes on the board. Living as a student was very different from the education I had received at the Institute... very different in deed. And all of the different students, with all of the different powers. It was fascinating.
I found my first ever use for Bobby's ice-forming power when Tori Lang, also known as Flame, set the top of her desk on fire.
"I think you would be better to practice your particular technique outdoors, Tori." I put my hand over the flame, letting the moisture in the air to collect, making a sort of rain shower over her desk.
"Perhaps your right, Jo." Storm crossed her arms, "Would you like to work one-on-one outside?" She raised her eyebrow at Tori who nodded and stood up from her desk. We found a secluded spot outside. I had brought a box of the clay discs that Jean often used with Scott when doing target practice.
"This is what we're going to do..." I said, setting up piles of the discs, "I'm going to hold four at a time steady, and I want you to hit them. I don't care wither you break them, just try and hit them."
"You want me to make fireballs?"
"Yes...In a manner of speaking. Would you like a demonstration?" I asked, lifting four of the discs, moving them to a clear area.
"No...No, I think I can do it." She nodded, standing a good six feet away, and raising her hand which was soon engulfed in flame. She closed her fist and then opened it again. A small ball of fire emerged, sailing a few feet before dropping down onto the lawn in a fury of sparks. She sighed, extinguishing the flames around her fist, then stomping on the lit lawn.
I laughed, "Come here for a moment." I told her, "Put your hand up. This won't hurt." I pressed our palms together, the familiar wave of a new power coursing through my arm.
"What did you just do?" Tori asked.
"You ask to many questions, Tori." I shook my head, moving to where she had stood, still holding the discs in the air with one hand, and with the other, I let my hand engulf in the fire, "...Interesting." I pushed my hand forward, the fireball I had been hoping for sailing forward, and breaking the first disc. Another forceful push, and a fireball took care of the second, and another to the third, and then a final one to the fourth.
"How do you do that?" Tori watched me move the broken clay pieces from the ground into the now empty box.
"You're trying to force the energy from your arm, but you have to push it." I demonstrated again, then moved back behind the table, "C'mon now, you give it a go."
Tori sighed, and did as I had done, the fireball this time hitting the plate, but not breaking it the way I had. I let that one drop down to the ground, to be reused. Her second one cracked the plate, and her third broke it.
"Good job." I commended here, lifting four more, "Try it again. Practice makes perfect."
"But you've never practiced." She noted.
I shrugged, "I'm a special case, I guess."
Tori continued to practice until the bell rang signaling class was over. I packed the unbroken discs back into the box along with the broken pieces for Jean to take care of later, and replaced them in the tool shed before returning to Storm's classroom where she again introduced me to another set of students. My day was pretty much the same, working individually with a few students outdoors. I met up with Logan in the control booth of the danger room where he was working to create a new lesson.
"You should make those rifles fire more sporadically." I sat down in the chair next to his.
"Oh, hi." Logan moved away from the computer screen, "I didn't hear you come up."
"I'm very quiet." Especially when I levitate up stairs. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "I never realized how much work goes into teaching. I must have absorbed at least ten new powers today. My arms ache from all that use." I stretched.
"Mm...if it becomes a problem, I'll just have to spoonfeed you, hrm?" Logan asked, nuzzling his nose under my ear, kissing my neck. I laughed, and pushed him back.
"So, what are you working on?" I asked.
"Logan Lesson, number six-hundred and sixty-six. I figure it should be extra unforgiving." He smirked.
"Your evil side is coming out to play, huh?" I asked.
"Yea. You got any ideas?"
I grinned, and took control of the computer.
At dinner that night, Logan and I snagged a both in the far corner where we could talk privately with only the waitress to hear us, who ironically enough turned out to be Saundra, a girl I knew from when I first came to Bayville. She honestly looked like she had seen better days, but I didn't say anything but my order to her at first.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Logan asked, putting a hand on mine.
"I just want to know...what are we? I mean...are we together, where we ever not...where is this going?" I asked, shrugging, "We spent a year away from each other, Logan, which was my fault, but... I guess I didn't expect you to wait for me or anything... I know I didn't sleep with anyone else while we were apart... I guess I just wanted to know if you had. To start with, anyway."
"That's a lot on your mind." Logan said.
"I've had a lot of time to think." I gave him a small smirk.
"First of all, I never slept with anyone else...and I'm glad you didn't either." Logan leaned back his seat, "Secondly, I don't know what we are... Obviously, we still have feelings for one another...but...is that what you want? For us to...pick up where we left off?"
"I don't know, Logan." I shrugged, turning to look up at the moon from the window before turning back to him, "I love you Logan...but we can't get that year back."
"So forget about it." Logan shrugged, "We can patch together what we had when you left."
"I hate how that sounds." I laughed, shaking my head, "This is all my fault."
"It is not your fault." Logan coaxed, "Yea, you left, but...you came back."
I looked into his eyes. Underneath them I could just see that raging beast in him that I loved, as well as the quirky intellectual, and everything else that made Logan, Logan, "So, we're going to make this work?"
"I hope so." Logan nodded, "Otherwise I just spent a whole year celibate for no reason." I smiled, and kicked him under the table, which probably hurt my foot more then it hurt him.
"Hey, no kicking." He tapped me back with the toe of his boot softly.
"Sorry...reflex." I shrugged.
"What did I do without you around?" Logan asked, shaking his head, "I don't even remember... The last year was...dull."
I laughed, "You're just trying to make me feel better. I feel like such a loser."
"Why?" He asked, "You probably kept busier then I did... I moped for at least a month."
"Don't worry...I moped around my fair share too." I said, as Saundra placed our orders in front of us, and asked if she could get us anything else.
"No, thanks. We're good." Logan nodded her away, and Saundra took an extra moment to scrutinize me and then her face lit up, realizing who was sitting in front of her.
"Oh my god! Joanna?"
"Hi...Saundra." I sighed.
"I thought you had, like, died or something! You just...disappeared! Where the hell have you been?" She asked, sticking her order-pad into her apron along with her pencil, and crossing her arms, "Lance just about died when you were just...gone."
I pursed my lips. It would just figure that Saundra would have to bring up Lance.
"And none of your friends seemed that worried. At first they all tried to tell us that you were in New York with your parents on a vacation and that you'd be back by Valentine's Day, and that never happened, so then you were staying with some sick Aunt or something in Nebraska, and wouldn't be back until around Prom...well, that got chucked out the window, but they all swore you'd be back for Graduation, and of course, you never did show... Where the hell were you?" She asked, accusingly.
"Did you miss me or something?" I asked, amused.
"Joanna, you missed the most exciting year of your life..." Saundra shrugged.
"Oh trust me, my year was pretty exciting." I shrugged.
"Well, come on...tell me about it." She nudged Logan down on the bench and sat across from me.
I looked at Logan, who shrugged deciding it was better for him to keep his mouth shut then to take out a girl whom I typically disliked.
"I've been in Canada." I shrugged, "Working."
"Doing what? Porn? C'mon, Jo. What kind of answer is that?"
"I was a barmaid and sales clerk." I shrugged.
"You gave up your senior year for that?" She asked, astonished.
"I didn't give up my senior year for anything, Saundra... Don't you have a job?"
"This piss job? Hell, I'm trying to give them a reason to fire me. I hate this dump. Unfortunately, my Dad is paying off the manager, so he won't...the fuckhead." She glared in the direction of the kitchen.
"Well...um...Logan and I are...trying to have a chat... Do you mind?" I asked.
Saundra suddenly noticed Logan, "Oh, my god. I'm so sorry... You guys probably haven't seen each other in, like, forever! Why didn't you just tell me to fuck off, it never bothered you before." She slapped her forehead, "Anyway, wait until I tell everyone else you're back in town, this is gonna be awesome. I'm gonna go make some phone calls right now." I sighed, watching her move towards the kitchen.
"...Is she on something?" Logan asked.
"Just herself." I shrugged.
"So, where were we before she showed up?" Logan asked.
"...I don't remember. I just remember her asking me if I was doing porn..." I shook my head, "Which is...weird."
Logan laughed, "I don't think I'll comment on that career choice -the evening is going so well."
"You can tell me later."
