I'm sorry I took so long to update. I had a gigantic author's block for this story and 'A Mutant's Nightmare'. This chapter was hard to write without making it look stupid or odd. I hope you like it.

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Chapter 15: Cruel Temptation

"I did this to her, its my fault," Logan said sadly, his hands on his temples, sitting on the front steps of the school, the last rays of sunshine fading away quickly after being reflected on the pearly white snow that had finally come back.

"No its not," Rogue said, sitting beside him, passing her hand in his back, her breath coming out in puffs of smoke. "Don't worry about it. She'll be fine."

They both stayed silent for a while until Logan finally looked at Rogue.

"I think I'll go to the gym," he said, getting up.

"Shouldn't you go rest a little?" she asked, concerned. "You haven't slept for a long time now."

". . . Nah, I'll be fine," Wolverine growled. "But . . . thanks Marie."

He walked to the door and disappeared inside, leaving the young woman outside. She smiled, hugging her knees to her chest, watching the gate at the end of the lane.

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It was nighttime, close to eleven at night.

Jean walked out of the med lab, taking off her doctor's vest. She looked furious and pleased at the same time . . . which was kind of odd. Yes, she had saved Shania, but she still wanted Logan for herself. And now, Shania wasn't there to stop her from getting what she sought.

There was no better time.

Jean walked up to her room. Scott had told her that he would keep an eye on Shania while she was gone, and so he was out of the way, just like Shania.

Jean changer into clothes of her liking and walked down to the gym, where she knew she would find Logan.

She was right. Logan was still in the gym, beating the crap out of a punching bag. He didn't turn in her direction, even though she was certain he had heard her come in.

"Hi, Logan," she said, walking forwards.

He didn't say anything, but turned around. Before he knew what was happening, she was in his arms.

"Don't worry about it," she said, looking up to him.

For a second, Logan didn't know what she was talking about and was completely lost.

Why was the woman that had always rejected him finally in his arms? He didn't understand.

Jean let go and took a good look of him.

"Come on, you need some sleep," she said, pulling him away from the punching bag.

"No, no, I'm okay," Logan mumbled, still in a daze.

"As a doctor, I'm going to have to insist," she said, smiling. "Come on."

~Is she just messing with me?~ Logan thought as they walked down the hallway leading to their respective rooms.

~No I'm not, Logan,~ Jean told him in his mind. ~Stay with me tonight.~

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What time was it? Nearly midnight.

Scott was starting to feel hungry and decided to take a bite in the kitchen before going back downstairs to keep an eye on Shania.

He prepared himself a sandwich, ate it, and, wanting to check on Jean, walked up to their room.

But it was already occupied.   

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Shania slowly opened her eyes, but all she could see was darkness. She slowly regained her senses, starting with touch and hearing. She realized that the table she was laid on was cold, that she wouldn't mind an extra blanket and that there was a very annoying sound beeping nearby. She inhaled, and it was at that precise moment she felt an almost unbearable pain in her chest, mostly located in her lungs, not specifically where Logan had given her a wound.

She tried to breathe normally and the pain finally disappeared a few minutes later. She gradually moved her arms and legs and started rubbing her eyes.

~Would someone turn that god damn machine off?~ she thought, finding the beeping sound more and more aggravating.

She opened her eyes again and saw no big difference than the first time.

Feeling particularly irritated for some reason, she swung her legs to the side of her bed and tried to remember what had happened, even though she had a skull-splitting headache. 

She remembered the accident in the hallway, being brought in the med lab and loosing consciousness, but also very vague images she had probably dreamed of.

"I need to speak to Logan," she said out loud, trying to see if her feet could support her.

She finally got to her feet and made her way through the darkness of the med lab. Knowing exactly where the door was, she opened it and was momentarily dazed by the brightness of the hallway compared to the darkness of the room.

She saw that what she was wearing wasn't very covering and so flicked the light switch on inside the med lab and found her old pair of jeans and one of her tank tops ready to be worn. She quickly slipped them on, making sure not to damage the bandage on her side.

"It doesn't hurt much anymore," she muttered. "Maybe even close to complete healing, as a matter of fact."

She walked to the door, through the hallway and up to the elevator with one thing in mind: speaking to Logan.

She reached the first floor and deducted that it was nighttime seeing the obscurity outside. No one was in the common room or even in the kitchen and so she headed to the higher floors.

She was astonished to find that the room she shared with Logan was also empty and though that the last place he could be was probably the gym.

She walked down one of the hallways, passed many closed doors, most of which she knew were leading to dorm rooms.

After a moment, she reached Scott and Jean's room, but was surprised to see that the door was almost, but not completely closed.

She could hear sound coming from the inside and reddened to the thought of what they were doing in there.

~Gee, they can do what they want but they could at least have closed the door,~ she though, walking away. ~I mean, there are kids in the building!~

But then she clearly head Jean's voice moaning *not* her fiancé's name. For a moment, her face lost all its color and she stopped dead in her tracks.

~This is impossible,~ she immediately thought. ~No . . .~

Another familiar voice was heard, confirming what she had heard.

Tears reached her eyes before words reached her mind.

~That fucking bastard . . . he . . . he . . . even after what happened . . . no.~

She felt like her heart was about to explode and started running towards the room she had once shared with who she thought had been the love of her life.

Her vision was completely blurred by tears as she turned on the light and started looking for her things. She pilled up everything she owned in one of her suitcases, bringing with her everything that hadn't had a significant link to Logan.

~I need to go, I need to leave, far away, far away . . .~

Her headache had started again, stronger than ever and she found it hard to stay conscious. Anger slowly mingled with her tears.

She grabbed her trench coat, slipped it on her shoulders, zipped her bag and pulled it out in the hallway as silently as possible.

The pain in her ribs was starting again.

~CAN IT GET EVEN WORST?~ she yelled interiorly.

She reached the main entrance and stopped again, remembering the professor.

~I bet you can hear me professor,~ she thought. ~Please, I need to tell you something.~

~Hello, Shania,~ he said in her mind. ~I see that you are leaving us.~

~Yes, you must already know why. Please, I'd like to be left alone. Don't try to find me. I don't want anything to do with this place anymore.~

~Alright, miss Hales,~ the professor said. ~But remember that you are always welcomed.~

~Good Bye.~

Shania walked to the garage and opened the main door. She shoved her bag in the back, started the engine and drove off.

One hand on the steering wheel, she started massaging her temple, trying to make her headache disappear. Once she passed the gates he turned around and started looking for aspirins in her bag. Having found them, she looked back on the road and saw someone standing in the middle of the road not too far away.

Surprised, she pressed both feet on the brake and stopped not too far away from the person, her tires screeching on the icy pavement. 

The man outside walked to her window that she rolled down a little, just to know what he wanted.

But she immediately recognized the tall man with bond hair that had been watching her since the beginning of her stay at the school.

"NOT YOU!" she yelled.

He smiled.

"I just couldn't help but notice that you seemed to be leaving," he said, eyeing her bag.

Shania stared at him, her eyes throwing daggers.

"You're sure you don't want to come with me?" he said, pointing out his car parked on the side of the road.

"In your dreams," Shan said, rolling her window back up, ready to drive off.

"One minute, Shany," the man said, chuckling. "I hear the headaches are getting worst. Is it true?"

"Fuck off," she said. 

"Well, drive safely," he mocked, smiling widely as she drove away.

*~*~*~*~*

Scott, a beer in hand, was still at the window where he had seen Shania drive off. He hesitated one moment then grabbed his keys and ran towards the garage.

~Two can play this game, Wolverine.~

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^_^ No more author blocks. I'm going to try to promise that.

A review? Please?