Title: Head Case2
Name: Joy
Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com
Rating: PG 13
Max had been all over Logan's apartment by one a.m. He had been shadowing her to answer any questions she had about where things were or where people now lived and worked. Primarily, she was amazed at the amount of objects had changed in the apartment to incorporate things that she liked. Where Logan used to have his workbench from his pep talk and reps days, now was filled with tools for her motorcycle and bike. The formerly classical filled music collection, now had more hip-hop in it as well as blues.
Logan began to seriously yawn, apparently having been up very late the night before. They readied themselves for bed; Max did this only because she thought a wife should sleep in the same bed as her husband. She wasn't really tired but then again she was. If she was pregnant she knew it was best if she slept, so she intended to try if nothing else.
"I'll sleep on the couch or the floor if you like?" Logan offered.
"Don't be silly. I'm your wife. I've seen the pictures to prove it," Max said, deciding it might be cool to sleep next to him.
"Are you sure? I love having you near me, but I don't want to make things worse."
"Things can only be worse if I don't remember, so GET IN BED!" she stated, as he obediently complied. "Can…Will you…never mind."
"What?"
"Uh, how did we get together?" she asked.
"Why do I get the feeling that was not what you really wanted to as me?" Max made a frustrated face at him, so he got into bed on his side and she on the other. She crept closer to him then he expected so lifted his arms to her. She looked at him cocked eyed then used his shoulder as a pillow, while he wrapped his out stretched arms around her.
Logan answered the question the best he could, "Well, it was after I started getting feeling back in my legs. I still didn't have the guts to do anything serious; I just knew I loved being with you. I definitely had my moments wanting to kiss those lovely lips and hold you close, but I was always afraid you would run away. I nearly kissed you the morning you found me down at the shore. Do you remember that day?"
"The day I brought you the fresh chicken?"
"That's the day- I was a moron that day. If that hover drone hadn't come by I would have kissed you. I talked myself out of it later when Bling was pressing about dinner. I actually cut myself cooking because I was so flustered. We just sat there, sipping wine and not talking."
"Yeah that was pretty uncomfortable… Then Zach called to shake things up. I recall you were wearing the same clothes when I got back with him the next day," Max commented never having the courage to mention it before.
"Hey, I was scared… You went running off to save your brother, that definitely didn't want to be your brother, and all I could do was wait. I pissed off Manticore royally that night, but I got a little bit closer to your heart, even if moments later I ran from you hard core," he commented.
"So you admit you went hiding?" she asked.
"The major block between us was my disability in my mind," Logan said looking into the deep brown pools of her eyes. He touched her cheek, lightly framing her face with his finger. "I needed to know if you had to run I could go with you and not be a hindrance. I refused to be the thing that got you caught. I would have rather died then risked your life."
Max's eyes fluttered and the dropped from the intensity of the moment, "You haven't told me how we got together though."
"Ah…right… You scared me to death… That's how. You pulled a Manticore underwater dive in my bathtub and fell asleep. It was some weird allergic reaction you had. You had no idea you could be allergic to anything, so it was news to you when I finally got you out. I had to pull you from the tub, give you mouth to mouth, and perform CPR. You spit up water all over my face and then started seizing. I wrapped you in a towel and brought you to the bed. I got your meds for you to take, then curled up with you on the bed. The whole time I told you over and over that you weren't allowed to leave me that way," he paused to look at his precious wife.
"I washed all your clothes so when you did finally really wake up I wouldn't be yelled at about you being naked in my bed. I wrapped you up in a that robe you wore tonight. I had gotten it for myself, but it became yours that night. I cuddled you and kissed your forehead a lot, praying that you'd be OK. When your eyes fluttered open and you recognized me, I decided that was the perfect time to quit worrying about the potential problems and just tell you how I felt. I leaned down and kissed you saying, 'You mean to much to me for me to let you drown in my bathtub.' You laughed at me just like you are now and you let me keep holding you. I explained to you what had happened," Logan paused again. "Then you put me through hell for almost three months."
"Why'd I do that?" Max asked, wide-eyed.
"You were scared. Up till that point we had always been very much two steps forward one step back. At that point I dropped all pretense of not caring or us just being friends. I wanted more. It freaked you out that I didn't go hiding at times. You were always taking the step back from then on. Then you went on a rampage, trying to get me to let you go. You did everything except let go of me. I think the two most painful things were letting me think you slept with someone during one of your heat cycles and leaving Seattle for a month…"
"You didn't actually sleep with the guy you just didn't lock yourself up so you were hitting on everything in sight in front of me. When I called you on it, you left with a guy that you ditched on the street. I knew that because I came after you and watched. You slunk into my place to gloat about your conquest that hadn't happened later the same night. I let you gloat for a while till you were taunting me, trying to get me to hit you or something. I walked up to you and rubbed your cheek with my hand, then kissed you lightly. You broke down in tears, confessing all the lies. I asked why you felt that you had to pull that with me. You said you were too dangerous and I deserved better then some genetic mutation of an ally cat. I got mad at you for saying that about yourself. We talked it all through, but within the week you got really freaked. I told you I loved you and you left Seattle…
"My worst fear had been realized: I admitted the truth about my feeling and you ran away. Bling ended up coming over every day to check on me at that point. For the first week I didn't eat or sleep, I just waited. The next week was spent doing a mad search to find you, until I realized I might be putting you in danger somehow, so I stopped. Eventually, Bling convinced me to try to live a little bit and be patient. He felt sure that since you had come back to me when I was in the hospital with tons of danger buzzing around, you would return again. A month went by and you did return through my skylight. I let you watch me 'sleep' for a long while. You were sure I was asleep so you started apologizing for running out on me…"
Logan looked at Max full in the face, "You whispered that you loved me too and you were just so scared by it that you left. You said you knew that I'd never forgive you so you were going to leave me for good… I opened my eyes, scaring you to death, and told you that you didn't get off that easy. You sprinted for the door, but by some miracle I got there first and shut the door. I came towards you slowly and said over and over, I loved you and I not only forgave you but also understood. It was scary to love someone so much that your heart hurts. I cautiously leaned in to your lips and asked you to say it again."
"Did I?" Max, honestly wondered. Everything sounded exactly the way she would have predicted herself acting, but she couldn't imagine that moment. She couldn't conceive of herself being able to say the words, but she also couldn't imagine denying this man anything.
He raised a finger to her cheek and traced it down, saying, "A signal tear descend this cheek and you said you loved me. I wrapped my arms round you and swore I would never let you go. It was a long while before we made love, because I was so afraid it would send you running again. Once we had and I woke up with you in my arms the next morning, I had that ring made," pointing at the engagement ring on her finger. "I wasn't going to give you the option of leaving me again."
"I like this story… How'd ya do it?" she asked with a yawn, looking at the ring that now meant so much more.
"Well while you went into to Normal to beg for your job, I went to the jewelry store. I had covered for you, so he just wanted to make sure you weren't contagious before sending you back out on runs. The diamond was my mother's engagement ring. I had them copy her ring almost exactly, only in platinum. My father had called my mother Love, so on the inside of her ring that's all it said. I had them engrave in yours My Love - Logan. It was going to take a month for them to have it ready, so I tried planning every which way to Thursday how to propose. Finally, Bling said it was effecting my blood pressure and I needed to get a grip. I then figured if I was modeling the ring after my parents why not the engagement itself…"
"I got a bunch of light purple roses and one slender white rose. On the white rose I slipped the ring up the stem and over two leaves letting it rest there. I took you, blindfolded, to the cabin that you stayed at when you were heading for Canada. I had a picnic dinner prepared and the roses ready. We ate outside the cabin and then came in sipping wine by the fire. You made some comment about it being a lot nicer then the last time you stayed there. I nearly lost it when you told me about Zach and the wine in the cabin. I decided that it was better to go ahead and propose, then to through a fit about your pseudo brother coming on to you in my cabin. I drank the rest of my wine to calm my nerves and told you to close your eyes. I got the flowers and sat on my knees in front of you. When you opened your eyes, you were all teary eyed and thanked me. I told you to look at the white rose carefully. You plucked it from the center of the bouquet and then immediately noticed the ring shining in the firelight. You started to cry as I pulled the ring off of the stem and put it on your finger. I was on the one knee as tradition dictates and I said, 'Max will you marry me? Will you let me run with you, if you have to run?' I wanted you to understand that I knew very well what I was getting into. You kissed me and said yes. I carried you upstairs, where we made love all night. I had the good mind not to tell you how frustrated I was about Zach until the next morning, where upon you hit me with a pillow. You informed me that the morning after the wine and fire with Zach, you tackled him to get back to me. I felt better," he chuckled.
"That was a great story…" Max said sleepily barely able to keep her eyes open. Logan kissed her forehead and turned out the light. He held his love in his arms and settled down to sleep.
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