Scott kicked a pile of multi-colored leaves damp with the autumn morning's dew across the sidewalk. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his head was sulking. In all truth, he should have been elated — he felt so close to Jean last night. But when she was sleeping—
Goddammit! Scott thought viciously as he kicked a second pile of fallen leaves harder, And to think I was actually considering asking her to... to... Scott stopped in his tracks and looked up at all of the now bare trees around him. Suddenly, a deep chuckle escaped from inside of him. It grew and grew, louder and more fierce with each moment. Before he could contain himself, Scott was roaring with laughter.
Scott always dwelled on the little things. Because in the long run, he knew that it was those things that mattered.
All of his laughter stopped instantly with one thought, But, why...? Why did she call for Duncan in her sleep?
"Boo," a southern voice said monotonously. Scott whipped around to see Rogue leaning against a thick tree, her arms crossed. He tried desperately to look innocent and free of tension. By the way she was looking at him, he could tell he was not successful in this.
"Can I help you?" Scott asked convincingly.
"What was that scowl on yer face for this morning?"
"I, uh, I had a hard time falling asleep last night," he said, half lying, half telling the truth. He did have a hard time sleeping at first — seeing Jean next to him made him ecstatic. Until of course, she mumbled "Duncan" a few times. His face turned sour at the thought.
"Nah see, that's it again," Rogue said triumphantly. Scott blinked a few times to remove the face.
"Ah know Jean and you slept in your room last night," Rogue added as she began to take long, lingering strides toward Scott. He gulped.
"You're not going to tell Professor Xavier, are you?" He asked nervously. Rogue laughed and shook her head.
"Ah really have no interest in that," she said reassuringly. Scott let out a deep sigh of relief, "Ah'm just wonderin' why yuh looked so pissed ahff this mornin'."
"I've just got a lot on my mind," he said defensively. Rogue threw her hands up in frustration and turned on her heels to go back inside.
"Yer impossible."
"Yeah," he said soft enough for her not to hear, "Yeah, I know."
Jean covered her mouth politely as she yawned loudly, causing Kitty to giggle. The two girls were sitting, both cross-legged, on Kitty's bed.
"So, like, are you and Scott a couple?" Kitty questioned, her eyes wide open with anxiousness. Her childish expression caused Jean to chuckle.
"What? No! Of course not!" Jean said almost automatically. The thought of Scott and her as a "couple" however, lingered within her thoughts. Of course not she said softly again. Or was her mind just trying to cover up her hidden desire? Kitty looked around hesitantly and scooted closer to Jean. Everyone knew that Scott had been enamored with Jean since the beginning. Well, maybe Jean didn't know — but was that even possible?
"You do know that Scott's been, like, crushing over you for the past year or so... right?" Kitty finally blurted out, unable to contain herself anymore. It was hard to fathom that Jean had no idea about his infatuation. Jean's eyes grew wide with disbelief.
"Kitty... now's not the right time to get into this. Besides, Scott and I are... are just friends. Best friends, of course. Just best friends," Jean answered quickly. She swallowed hard to calm herself and her raging nerves. Why am I being so defensive...?
"Well, like, um... Jean... Be nice to him then," Kitty said in a hushed voice. Jean tilted her head, curious to where Kitty was going with this undesired conversation.
"What I mean is that, like, don't lead him on. You can't do things like last night or something. And especially since you like, broke up with Duncan... he's gonna look at this as like his opportunity window or something," Kitty admitted finally. Jean just stared right back at her, partly infuriated that Kitty — of all people — was telling her this, and partly in shock over the truth about Scott and her that she had failed to notice. Jean immediately got up from the bed, her fists clenched tight, her body stiff.
"You're wrong," Jean said knowingly. Kitty just shook her head. Jean didn't want to deal with the conversation anymore. With one more "you're wrong," she turned and immediately walked out of Kitty's room. She swung the door open and heard a loud thud. She gasped and peered around the door to see Rogue lying on the floor, one gloved hand pressed against her forehead.
"I'm.. I'm sorry, Rogue," Jean exclaimed as she extended her hand down to her. Rogue blew it off and walked into her and Kitty's room, slamming the door behind her. Jean sighed and looked down at her watch.
4:00. Great. Party's in a few hours. Jean rolled her eyes and walked to her room, one down from the other girls'. And I so feel like partying right now.
Jean stood in front of her full length mirror and checked her outfit one last time. It was a simple, tight white dress with black Mary Janes. Ugh, it works she said to herself, frustrated that she was putting so much thought into what she was wearing.
"Come on, Jean! We're gone be late!" Kurt called from the landing down the hall. Jean finished putting on her blush, grabbed her jean jacket from the bed and came rushing out the door.
"I know, I know. Sorry." Kurt laughed and gave her a quick, reassuring smile.
"It's fine, Jean. Besides, what's wrong with being fashionably late, eh?" Jean smiled weakly back, grateful that Kurt was there to calm her nerves.
The two walked hurriedly out of the door to see Scott's car parked in front of them. Evan and Kitty were already in the back. Kurt bamfed in between the two and stretched his arms up lazily before wrapping his arm around Kitty.
"Like, get OFF of me!" Kitty squealed, shoving Kurt away from her. Everyone in the car started laughing loudly. Jean let a few soft chuckles escape but stayed silent. She paced around the side of the car and sat down neatly into the passenger seat. She crossed her legs nervously and tightened the grip around her jacket. Even though she couldn't see Scott's eyes, she had a weird notion that he was checking her out. Scott shifted the gear and began to accelerate.
"Wait!" a voice called from the entrance to the Institute. Scott braked the car with ease and turned to look, only to find Rogue rushing down the stone steps.
"Whatever happened to the 'better things to do?'" Evan asked mockingly. Kitty and Kurt snickered. Rogue rolled her eyes and stuffed herself between Kitty and the car. If it wasn't packed before, it certainly was now.
"Ah'm not gonna pass up an opportunity to be drinkin' alcohol, stupid," she snapped back. Jean shook her head and groaned.
"Speak for yourself," Jean said sarcastically.
"Like Ah'd speak for you?" Rogue responded instantly. Jean whipped her head around to see everyone in the back holding back fits of laughter. Rogue burst out laughing and waved her hand to calm herself.
"Ah was jokin', Jean."
"Sure," Jean grumbled, as she crossed her arms in the front seat. Scott rested his hand on the shifter and glanced over to Jean.
"Come on — relax, Jean. It's a party."
"Yeah. Can't wait," she replied bitterly.
Scott leaned against the wall of Meredith's mansion. The place was enormous. And somehow, people had managed to fill it up entirely. He didn't like the thought of Jean being in the middle of the masses somewhere. Besides, he was rather bothered that her attitude had vanished once she stepped out of the car. At least he knew the real Jean.
It was hard for Scott to see through his glasses so he had to strain himself to look for familiar faces. He saw Kitty and Lance dancing within the multitudes of other dancers. And they both looked rather "friendly" with each other. Scott could feel a stab of jealousy inside of him. He attempted to shrug it off. Well, at least they get to be with the person they want to be. He couldn't take looking at them anymore and decided to relocate. He walked over into the living room (or what he could make out as the living room — it was now destroyed), only to find Jean downing a shot of something. He just stared at her apprehensively. She then grabbed another one from the coffee table and downed that too; everyone around her cheered. And through all the bodies he could see Duncan, holding two more shots waiting for her, a smirk on his face. Scott hadn't really ever seen Jean seriously drink before. And to top it off, she was with Duncan again. Without delay, Scott stomped out of the room indignantly.
"Get your hands off of me!" Jean shrieked as Duncan began slipping his hands up her dress. He persisted only to be kicked away by her heel. He clutched his stomach momentarily before holding her wrists down to the bed.
Duncan had led her upstairs to an unoccupied room. Jean was too intoxicated to comprehend what was going on until Duncan had taken the upper hand. Jean tried hopelessly to writhe out of his grasp but he was too strong. He leaned down and kissed her neck and then her lips. She bit down causing him to pull away and grasp his lip in pain.
"You bitch!" he shouted, whipping the back of his hand against her face. Her eyes glazed over as tears began to flow from them.
"No! Stop! Duncan... please!" Jean cried out, trying to push him off. He threw his thick, built body against her forcefully, knowing that he was much stronger than she.
"No one says 'no' to me, Jean."
Suddenly, Scott could hear Jean's mind ringing through his ears in a mind link: SCOTT! He whipped around and ran over to a group of her friends that'd he had seen her with earlier.
"Where did Jean go?!" Scott asked intensely, frustrated that some of her friends were too out of it to answer coherently.
"I thinkkk.. that she went upstairs or somethingggg," one blonde girl said, clearly struggling to think and form a sentence.
"What, is the bathroom up there?" he asked hopefully.
"Yeah. YEAH, she did!" another one of the girls called out, giggling all the while, "With Duncan, I think."
Even though the girls had kept talking ("She's watchinggg Duncan peee? Hee hee!" and "No silly, that boy was dumb. She didn't gooo to the bathrooooom"), Scott began racing towards the staircase and up to the second floor. He glanced frantically from side to side, hoping that he'd find her somewhere up here. He ran down the hall to the last door (for some reason, it was his first instinct) on the right. He tried turning the knob but it was locked. Desperately, he shot an optic blast at it, opening the door. He kicked it open and saw Jean crying, Duncan hovering over her. On impulse, Scott dashed into the room and punched Duncan across the face. Duncan rolled off the bed and stumbled backwards — the heavy blow leaving him flabbergasted. Jean looked up at Scott gratefully, her pride defeated and broken. He walked over, without saying anything, and scooped Jean up in his arms. She latched onto him defensively and hid her face into his chest. Without even looking at Duncan, he turned and walked out of the room, holding Jean protectively.
"I'm here, Jean. I'm here."
Yeah so it's been a few days. I'm really sorry. Work has been taking up so much of my time. But hey, at least it's money. Anyhow, I've found some more inspiration and have picked up the story again. Please keep the feedback coming! Oh, and I am very Lancitty. So I just had to throw that reference in — can you blame me? XD;
- Sarah
