Chapter 11

As it turned out, almost everyone in the Institute had somewhere to go for the holidays. Rogue had even been persuaded to spend the time with Kitty's family. By Christmas Eve the Institute had been pretty much deserted; only Scott, Jean, Professor Xavier and Dr. McCoy remained. Jean appointed herself holiday cheer-maker, and recruited Scott to help her make sugar cookies. Christmas carols were playing loudly on the stereo, and the kitchen looked like a war zone.

"You really aren't a very good cook, are you?" Scott teased as Jean poured over a cookbook, trying to determine why her cookie dough was roughly the consistency of pancake batter.

She flipped him off without looking up. Scott laughed.

"You know, Jean, you don't have to excel at everything. It's ok if you suck at baking."

"I do not suck at baking," she said crisply. "I just misread the recipe, that's all. It was an honest mistake, and I'm sure I'll be able to fix it."

Scott leaned against the counter and crossed his arms, watching her with amusement. "A person secure in her lack of culinary skills would know when to admit defeat," he grinned.

"Do you really want to wear this batter, Scott? 'Cause just keep it up," she warned, pointing at him with the wooden spoon she'd been using to mix the ingredients, before turning her attention back to the recipe. He just smiled at her, thoroughly enjoying seeing her so flustered. Jean had never been one to accept defeat gracefully - if she wasn't good at something on the first try, she pushed herself until she could do it expertly. Fortunately, it seemed there was very little she couldn't perfect; otherwise Scott feared she might kill herself trying. However, it appeared that baking just might be one of the few things that was beyond her ability.

"Dammit," she muttered. "I just don't understand what I did."

"Just throw it out and start again," Scott suggested.

Jean sighed. "I guess I don't have much choice."

Scott helped her re-measure the ingredients and mix them, this time with success. The result was three dozen delicious Santas, snowmen, snowflakes and bells.

"Told you I don't suck at baking," Jean said smugly to Scott, smiling as she nibbled the hat of a Santa. "They're perfect."

"If the two of you have finished destroying the kitchen for the time being, I would very much like to begin dinner preparations," Hank said as he entered the kitchen and popped one of the cookies into his mouth before ushering the teenagers from the room.



Dinner that night was a quiet but lovely affair. After dinner the four of them convened to the common room for eggnog and cookies, and ended the evening by watching A Christmas Carol.

At the urging of Jean and Scott, the Professor and Dr. McCoy retired near midnight, leaving the teenagers to clean up. Jean stood by the kitchen sink washing glasses when she glanced out the window.

"Oh, Scott, look! Christmas snow!" she said in a voice filled with child-like awe.

Scott joined her at the sink and peered outside. Sure enough, snow was falling – heavily.

"You don't actually want to go out in that, do you? It's coming down pretty hard."

"It's not that bad," Jean implored. "Come on, please? We can get all bundled up, get a thermos of hot chocolate, a blanket to sit on, and go down by the lake. It'll be fun!"

Scott studied her for a moment, huge green eyes pleading, a hopeful smile on her lips. He knew he didn't stand a chance.

"Ok, ok," he relented with a sigh. Jean squealed excitedly and threw her arms around him.



"Isn't this perfect?" Jean asked with a contented sigh. She and Scott were sitting on a blanket spread out on the dock; Jean sat between Scott's long legs, leaning back against his chest. Steam rose from the lake, the water warmer than the cool air, and snow continued to fall. Scott took a sip of his hot chocolate, humming his agreement. "I can't think of a better way to spend Christmas Eve," she continued, craning her head around to kiss him. He kissed her back, and smiled.

"You're not sorry you didn't go home?" he asked, still worried.

"Oh, I'm just devastated," Jean deadpanned. "I would so much rather be at home dealing with family politics and listening to Sara go on and on and on about wedding plans than be with my boyfriend."

"Y'know, I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing you call me that," Scott admitted, ignoring her earlier sarcasm.

Jean grinned and squeezed the arm that he had wrapped around her waist. "Good."

They were silent for a long moment, simply enjoying being together. "Can you believe this is our last year in high school?" Scott finally asked.

Jean shook her head. "It seems kind of surreal."

"Have you given anymore thought to where you want to go to college?"

"Yes and no," she said. "They're all great schools, so as long as we go to the same place, I don't really have a preference. "

"Really?" Scott asked, clearly surprised.

"Of course. We've always planned on doing it this way - we agreed to it at the beginning of 10th grade. I know we applied to the same schools, so I just figured we'd make the decision together," she said, then paused. "Unless you don't want to go to college together anymore."

"Of course I want us to go to college together," he told her, hugging her tightly and burying his face in her snow-flecked hair. "Now more than ever."

Jean rolled from between his legs, and twisted her body around. Scott pulled his legs together in preparation to stand, but she surprised him by quickly throwing one leg across him so that she was straddling him, sitting on his thighs. She sat there looking at him for a long moment.

Scott was taken by how beautiful she looked, the glow from the snow illuminating her fair skin, snowflakes swirling around her, hair blowing gently in the breeze.

"What?" he finally asked, growing uncomfortable under her gaze.

She didn't answer, instead leaned forward and covered his lips with hers. Scott responded by matching her kiss for kiss. Without breaking contact, Jean pushed gently against his chest and he leaned backwards until he felt the hardness of the dock beneath him. He clutched at her back through her thick jacket, drawing her closer. He could feel the chill seeping up through the blanket, through his coat, but he ignored it.

On her hands and knees, Jean continued her assault on Scott's mouth. They kissed until their breathing turned ragged. Scott tentatively slid his hands over her hips and caressed her rear end, and was thrilled when Jean startled slightly but then kissed him back even harder. He pushed gently against her knees, urging them backwards so that she would rest fully on top of him. She obliged, and he reveled in the feeling of her weight pressing on top of him. He parted his legs slightly, allowing her to sink between them, her pelvis pressing against his. He felt her sharp intake of air at the contact, and quickly rolled them over onto their sides, knowing that it had been a little bit too much too soon. They continued to kiss for several minutes before they finally pulled apart. They lay there looking into each others eyes, catching their breath. The snowflakes that landed and melted on their overheated skin were refreshing. Scott cupped her jaw and stroked her cheek lightly with his thumb.

"I love you," he told her softly, impulsively.

Jean smiled at him, happiness seeming to radiate from her eyes. "I love you, too," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. They kissed again and it was filled with the sweetness of their declaration.

They stood and gathered the blanket and thermos in silence, and started walking back towards the mansion.

"I told you it would be fun to come out here," Jean finally said, flashing Scott an impish smile. He laughed, stopped walking and wrapped her in his arms. He just held her.

They finally made their way inside, and stood outside of Jean's bedroom door kissing gently. "It's going to be really lonely way across the hall in my room, all by myself," Scott teased.

Jean laughed softly, but then turned serious. "Scott, I'm sorry. I know it sounds clichéd, but I'm just not ready for that yet."

"I know, I'm sorry – I was just teasing," he said hurriedly, feeling guilty that he'd made her feel badly. "I would never push you into anything, I hope you know that."

"Of course I do," she assured him, taking his hand. "And I can tell you, without question, that I won't make you wait forever. No matter what Duncan may say, I'm not a tease."

"Fuck Duncan," Scott said bitterly, shocking Jean with the vehemence behind the words.

"No thanks," Jean quipped, trying to ease the sudden tension. "I wouldn't do it when I was dating him, and I'm sure as hell not going to do it now."

Scott glared at her. "Don't be flip."

"I'm not. I'm trying to make you lighten up. And failing miserably, apparently," she told him.

Scott heaved a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry. I just don't want you to compare me to Matthews."

"I wasn't," she assured him. "I was just trying to tell you that I'm not a tease. I won't lead you on."

Scott finally smiled and kissed her forehead. "I know, and I never thought you would." She tipped her head back invitingly and he dropped a kiss onto her lips. "Now go to sleep or Santa won't visit."

Jean grinned at him one last time and turned to enter her bedroom. She turned back and smiled at him over her shoulder. "I really do love you," she told him, and slipped through the door, shutting it behind her.

Scott walked a couple of doors down and across the hall to his own room, smiling to himself. Merry Christmas to me.

~~

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