Absence does not make the heart grow fonder, but it sure heats up the blood. Elizabeth Ashley

"Do you want me to wait here?" Scott asked, as he pressed the button to open the back of the plane.
I shook my head. "No, I'll drive back. You're probably one of the last people he wants to see right now."
"True. Be careful out there." He gently squeezed my arm. "If I get word that Creed is on his way to the house, I'll come get you out."
I walked out of the plane, pulling my backpack on. I'd organised to have a motorbike brought there, and I climbed onto it, pulling the helmet over my head. For a moment I hesitated, wondering if I was doing the right thing. Logan clearly didn't want to be found, because he'd gone somewhere he knew they wouldn't look. And I doubt he expected the Professor to come and get me. Even if I couldn't convince him to come back, I wanted to talk to him.
I sped off, heading away from the field we'd landed on and towards the lake. I'd never actually been to the house before, but Logan had showed it to me, so I knew what I was looking for.
As I rode through the streets, I tried to decide how I was going to approach this. No ideas seemed to appear, so I figured I was just going to have to make it up on the spot.
It felt like hours before I got to the house, but in reality it was less than an hour. Turning off the bike, I climbed off and looked around. The big house was a little ways out of town, about a hundred metres from the lake, surrounded by forest. It was quiet, just the sounds of the breeze and some birds.
I dropped my bag, then walked to the front door. Before I could knock, I was grabbed and thrown against the wall. Logan wrapped his hand around my throat, lifting me slightly off the ground.
"Logan…" I tried to stay calm, but it was hard to breathe. "Logan, it's me!"
A look of recognition crossed his face, and I saw him struggle against his feral mind. His grip on my throat kept changing as he fought against himself, and I pulled a breath in whenever I could.
"Logan, look at me." I touched his chest, trying to get through to him. "Please…"
He threw me aside, onto the grass. I picked myself up, brushing dirt off my clothes. He was standing with his hands against the wall, looking down at his feet. There was no way I was going to get within touching distance of him, but I did need to talk, so I walked to the edge of the verandah.
"Why are you here?" He asked, taking a deep breath. He didn't look at me, and I wasn't convinced he was fully back yet.
I leaned against the wall, looking out at the trees. "Because you won't talk to anyone else and you're hiding."
"I don't need anyone else." He snapped, slamming his hand against the wall. "Especially not you."
"You told me that six years ago, but look at you. You're still running and hiding from your past." I took a step towards him, hesitating when he turned to look at me. "But you can't hide here forever, Logan. Victor will work it out and search for you here eventually." I began to cry, out of frustration and upset that he was hurting like that. "Let me help you, please."
He didn't reply, watching me. I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling a little vulnerable. I didn't like the way he looked at me when he was out of control. It always seemed like he was just waiting for the opportunity to pounce on me. I didn't know if Logan would be able to get control again, so I went for a long shot.
"Do you remember when you found me in that alley?" I wiped my cheeks. "I was barely 18, and I'd been attacked by those men. I was bleeding, and terrified, but you promised me… you promised me that you would watch out for me, and that you would never hurt me."
When he didn't say anything, I continued. "And you kept your promise, for nearly five years. You told me that you cared about me, and then you hurt me in a way that's left more scars than that beating did. You betrayed me, so the least you could is make it up to me by getting yourself together."
His eyes flashed, and he took an angry step forward, before hesitating. He sank to his knees, and I saw his shoulders relax as he finally got himself under control. I walked over, standing in front of him and softly touching his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around my waist, leaning his head against my stomach.
"I'm sorry, Annie." He said, not letting me go. "I tried to stay in control, but I could smell you for the first time in so long, and I lost it."
I shakily ran my fingers through his shaggy hair, holding him close. Even after everything, after the fighting, the anger, all of it, I'd never hated him. I'd managed to convince myself that I did, but now that I was near him, I couldn't keep pretending.
"I never hated you." I blinked the tears out of my eyes. "I wasn't even angry. But you basically told me that everything I'd done for you was worthless, and that hurt. More than when my parents kicked me out, more than when everyone in my hometown called me a freak and a witch."
He let go, standing up. He hugged me, tangling his fingers in my hair. I held him so tight, scared that if I let go, I'd lose him again.
"You were never worthless." He whispered, his frosty blue eyes on mine. "I just didn't realise what you really meant to me until you were gone."
"All I wanted…" I let go of him, pulling away. "All I ever wanted, was to be there for you, the same way you always were for me. But you pushed back, every step of the way. Why? Why did you never trust me enough to open up?"
He rested his hand on my waist, gently pushing me back until I was against the wall. "Because if I told you everything I've done, everything I've dealt with, you would run."
"But you expected me to just stick around while you kept me in the dark about everything that was bothering you? Did you think I never noticed that you were hurting?" I wanted to stop this conversation, but there was six years' worth of emotion behind it, and now that it was coming out, I couldn't stop it. "I saw it all, Logan. When you called my name during a nightmare, I was there. When you took off for a day or two, I waited for you to come back."
"I thought I had everything." He touched my face, wiping away my tears. "I was perfectly fine to pretend that I didn't need anyone. Then Xavier sent me to find you. I fought like hell against it, because I was still certain I didn't want to be part of a team, or a family. But I went anyway, and when I saw you in that alleyway, covered in blood and terrified, I knew that I had to watch out for you."
I hesitated, caught between what I was feeling and needing to convince him to come back to the school. "Do you trust me?"
He nodded, a slightly confused look on his face.
"Then come back, please. You know you're not safe here."
"Are you planning to stay? Or are you going to leave as soon as you drag me back there?"
I looked up at him, my heart pounding in my chest as I pulled him in closer. "Do you really think I would come all the way out here and bare my soul to you if I just planned on leaving when I got you back to the school?"
"I thought I'd fucked up so bad that I was never going to see you again, Red." He whispered, using the nickname he gave me. "But you're here, so I don't know what to think anymore."
I wrapped my arms around him, resting my head on his chest. It was nice to hear him call me Red again. "I'm not going to leave you."
"Then I'll come back. But I…" He hesitated, walking out from under the verandah and looking up at the sky.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I can hear a plane. But they don't fly over here."
I walked over to him. "It's Scott. He said he would only fly here if they heard that Victor was on his way."
"Time to go then."
We stood quietly as the plane landed in the empty space in front of the house. I ran up to the front, leaning on the back of a chair.
"How long have we got?" I asked, trying not to blush as Logan came up behind me, resting his hand on my lower back.
"About five minutes. We need to move now." Scott said, starting the plane rising. He looked back at Logan. "Good to see you, Logan."

Logan and I stood outside Xavier's office, waiting to see him.
"I'm sorry for running." I said quietly, resting my foot against the wall. "I should have stayed and talked to you."
He didn't reply, staring at the wall. I could tell he was holding out on me, but I knew that pushing him would do nothing. After a few moments, the door opened.
"Come in, Logan." Xavier said, allowing him in. "I'll talk to you in a minute, Annabel."
The office was soundproofed, so I couldn't hear anything. But less than a minute later, Logan came storming out. He rushed right past me, clearly angry. I stepped into the office, concerned.
"What's going on?" I asked. "What did you say to him?"
"Once I sent Scott to pick the two of you up, I spent a little longer inside Victor Creed's mind." He sighed. "It's not Logan he wants. It's you. Someone hired him to get you."
I took a step back, feeling the panic rising up in my chest. "No… I… they can't…" I realised something. "Did you just tell Logan that?"
He nodded.
"He's going to run." I whispered. "He'll go after Victor now."
"No. He went upstairs to his room." He wheeled his chair over to his desk. "You're more important to him than stopping his brother."
"I… I need to think." I fled the office, running to Logan's room.
I banged on the door, scared he wouldn't open it. "Logan, it's me."
There was silence, and I hesitated. Maybe he thought I already knew that his brother was after me, and that I'd only come for him because I needed protection.
I rested my forehead on the wood, trying not to cry again. "Please…"
Finally, the door opened. He stood there, with his arms crossed, looking at me.
"Did you know?" He asked, not letting me in yet. "Red, did you know?"
"No, of course not!"
He stepped back, and I walked inside, sitting down on his bed. There were things I wanted to say, but I didn't even know where to start. And I wasn't sure if he even wanted to talk to me.
"I'll be out of your way in a minute." I whispered, taking a deep breath. "I just… I don't really want to be alone right now."
He pulled off his shirt, reaching into his wardrobe for a clean one. "You don't have to leave, Red. You know that."