Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.
The chill of the night had finally gotten the best of her after a time, heading off to bed with Logan bidding her to 'Sleep tight Kid' as he always did. Her room was empty when she came back, wondering just where her friend had gotten off too. Looking out the window, she knew at least she wouldn't be out there tonight having given up sleeping in the tree house. That the photograph sat on the nightstand spoke that she couldn't be far. Lighting a few candles on her desk, Marie settled down on her bed with the box of albums picking through wondering just what she might play next.
"Huh, what's a B side?" Marie asked, noticing a listing there that was filled with titles of more songs.
The player sat on a chair, the speakers hastily hooked up and sitting on her desk with the candles atop. Turning the volume low, she gently picked up the record that she and Jono had listened to, flipping it over to see the very same listing held in the centre. Setting it back down just as he had shown her, gently placing the needle just where it need be, she started the record anew and turned the volume up just a notch.
Guitars started playing, the reverb of the bass joined by the drums calling a beat. Curling up on her bed Marie waited in anticipation, Alison suddenly joining with the rest to sing her heart out. Fighting against the urge to crank it up a notch, Marie fell against her bed with her chin in her hands and her feet kicked up behind her to just close her eyes and listen. She could almost imagine being there in the crowd, Dazzler up on stage and thinking even of Jono playing the guitar as she had seen him done once only to have him promise to do again for her.
Singing along to the chorus as she learned it, the songs played in a heady march into the early hours of the morning. With the dying of the last note of the final chord, Marie found herself lost to a landscape of music and poetry as she lay on her bed. The hiss of the record as it rolled around was the only sound aside from her own breath. Sighing, she rolled off her bed to snuff the candles, reaching for the switch of the player when the first new note sprang forth.
It was nothing like any of the songs she had listened to, just a guitar playing alone filled with longing and something else. Falling on the edge of her bed she listened to it in the darkness with the smoky aroma of the snuffed candles filling the room. Thinking it sad at first, as it played on it became uplifting and melodic, loving she thought. Looking to the album cover in the dim light she counted back the songs but couldn't find any that harkened to this piece.
The record had been littered with hidden gems, just as Tommy had said, played between songs. Sometimes out takes while other times just snippets of Alison joking with her band mates, but of all those gems this was a diamond. Listening raptly she let the music fill her, touch her and toy with her emotions. A tear accompanied the end, knowing then just what she had listened to, a love song.
Clicking the player off, she gingerly took the vinyl up, carefully slipping it back in its cover. Looking for a place it deserved, the tattered box would be an insult and her tiny desk was full. Spying a place finally, promising to set a certain person down to listen to it too, she rested it next to a picture frame knowing it was in good company with the smiling faces that greeted her.
"Where every a got off to, sleep tight Jubilee." Marie whispered, ready for a nights rest and hoping to have it filled with dreams inspired by the day.
Jogging down the hall, Marie had already been to Alison's room only to find the door open a crack and it's lady away. She had checked the few places she thought she might find her, even having popped in to ask Ororo. In the end she knew only one place she might be, likely visiting Jonothon. Turning a corner she nearly ran straight into a towering figure, ducking at the last second and tumbling to the floor.
"Oof!" Marie cried, her butt tender and her palms stinging.
"I'm sorry Marie." Pete said, offering her a hand up.
Helped to her feet, she looked to see him holding a box under one arm filled with all sorts of brushes and paints. He looked almost bashful, as if he'd been caught in some deed he shouldn't have been, or that perhaps wasn't meant to be known. The hunt for Alison was put on hold as her curiosity got the better of her.
"What brings you down ta this neck o' the school Pete?" Marie asked as she walked along side him.
"A bit of unfinished business." Pete replied enigmatically.
She was about to press him for details when he surprised her, stopping at the very door she had been heading to. Knocking softly, they could hear the sound of hushed conversation inside, the lock unbolted and the door opened. Jono met them there with a finger raised in askance for quiet, the room dark behind him. Stepping in, they could see the television was on and at a volume so quiet they couldn't hear it for the tread of their feet. Upon the sofa, Alison sat curled up in a blanket waving to them, Jono settling back off in his recliner.
"I thought I'd find ya here." Marie whispered.
"If this is a bad time, I could come back." Pete said quietly, Jono just shaking his head.
'If you need the light you just might have to wake her up mate.' Jono voiced, a hint of amusement laced within.
With her eyes growing accustomed to the dim light cast by the television, Marie finally noticed the walls and the changes to the room, a hand raised to her lips in awe. Looking to both Jono and then Alison, she could tell they were enjoying themselves with her questioning looks.
"When did...?" Marie asked, the pair just sharing a look.
'Somewhere in between us listening to records and going for a walk luv." Jono voiced, Marie feeling a deep sense of appreciation in him.
"The mastermind is still sleeping." Alison whispered, pointing off to the bed in the corner.
For how dark it was, Marie hadn't even noticed the slight form under the covers, instantly recognizing who it was having shared a room with her for as long as she had. Wanting to just see the room in it's full glory and knowing the girl had to get woken up anyway, Marie walked to the light switch and gave everyone a moment to ready themselves. Flicking it, light flooded the room after a buzzing hum of the florescent lamp springing to life. Mumbled protests sounded from the bed, the covers pulled further up until the very last of her vanished. Hardly believing the transformation to the room in such little time, Marie stepped aside as Pete set down his things before an unfinished section.
"So this was why you weren't in your room?" Marie asked of Alison.
"Had to play chaperone, I got to know your friend a little better last night." Alison said with a fond look to the bed.
"That one is always full of surprises." Marie replied, walking up to the bed and falling heavily onto it.
Letting her sleep for now, Marie turned to Alison and remembered the reason she was looking for her originally. She longed to know about that last song on the album, to know why such a beautiful piece had been hidden and left unnamed.
"I finished listening to the album last night." Marie started, a look to Jono as she found him looking to her.
Alison followed gaze, smiling to Jono who suddenly bore a clouded look, his hand reaching for his guitar if only for something to busy himself. Marie could tell something had been passed between them, wondering if he had said something for Alison alone or if it was something that needed words to express.
"All of it?" Alison asked with a look back to Marie.
"I almost turned it off before it got to that...that beautiful piece." Marie softly said, remembering how moved she had been and longing to listen to it again.
"That was always a favourite of mine, though I still don't think I ever did it justice." Alison said, looking to Jono again.
"It was beautiful, but, but what is it called?" Marie asked.
"You'd have to ask who wrote it, the person who I first heard play it. That was the only cover I ever recorded." Alison replied.
"Then who..." Marie asked, realization striking her as she caught the meaningful looks shared between Alison and Jono.
Jono looked to her, his eyes looking lost to a painful past for a time until, holding his guitar tenderly. Something in his gaze changed, softened as he looked to her, knowing he was smiling deep in her heart. Reaching to his amp, he pulled the cord for the headphones out and turned it on. The sag of his shoulders spoke of a sigh as he looked around his room again. His fingers found the strings of his guitar, the first note setting her heart a flutter recalling the magic of the night past. As he played on, she watched him raptly as he lost himself to the music he played, his eyes closed as he called it forth from the depths of his soul. She could see Pete pause in a stoke of his brush, listening closely.
What she had heard played last night had been beautiful, touching her in a way she had never known music to, but as she listened to Jono play she couldn't deny Alison's doubts of her rendition. The first tear sprang free, nothing sad nor pained in it, falling freely down her cheek. If Jubilee still slept, Marie had no doubts of the dreams that must have been stirred to the song, remembering her own from the twilight eve when sleep had blissfully taken her. The moment she longed to deny came, Jono's fingers stilled on the strings with the notes slowly fading.
Marie walked to him as he sat there with his eyes still closed, resting her gloved hands on his as she knelt before him. Blinking twice, he looked to her with unspent tears still clinging tight, finally falling as he took her hands in his. Words couldn't express what she longed to say, the gratitude to have been in his audience as he played that, feeling he had played for her alone. A wave of emotion mirroring her own washed over her, knowing he'd opened himself up to her as she felt the warmth engulf her.
Rising from her knelt place, she pressed her lips against his bindings, knowing the beauty that he held within lay there, the warmth that filled her and washed over her lips. Somewhere she knew he must have set aside his guitar, his hands wrapping about her in an embrace as he pulled her into his lap. Her fear was gone, knowing he would never hurt her and that he was gentle enough never to let her hurt him. Breathlessly their embrace ended, staring into one anothers eyes with every thought shared between them.
"I think you two just inspired another Artist." Alison whispered.
Looking up from their shared seat in the recliner, upon the wall a new piece was being painted, a moment that must have been etched into his minds eye for he found no need to turn to them again with his gentle strokes. Sitting there with another close, they watched as Pete painted the kiss between them, amazed at the emotion captured.
Author's Note : Sorry this one took so long. Enjoy!