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RedPhoenix1821
Chapter 2
Beep...beep...beep...beep...beep...beep...
Jean opened one bleary eye and looked at her alarm clock, it read 3:30 PM. "Shit!" Jean cursed at herself as she threw herself off her futon. She must have fallen asleep. She removed her clothes as she made her way to her bathroom and pulled the shower curtain closed behind her. She took the quickset shower she ever had, dried off, and threw on fresh clothes. She grabbed her nametag for her second job and her purse, her keys, and ran out the door.
Normally Jean could walk to the bookstore where she had her second job, but she didn't have time, so she quickly drove herself four blocks away. She parked right outside, jumped out and locked her car.
"Right on time." Michelle, her boss, said as Jean walked in. "You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just had an unexpected blast from the past earlier."
"I hate those, you want to start with shelving, we just got a new shipment of books in. You sure you're ok?"
"Yes, I'm fine, and that'll be fine, thank you." Jean offered her boss a lopsided smile then made her way to the back, punched in then got to work placing the new books on their respective shelves. She worked all the way until nine without a break. Michelle finally found her and told her to go home.
"Jean, you need a break, I can see it. I want you to take tomorrow and Thursday off."
"But-"
"No buts, Jean, you've worked diligently for me for three years now, you've never taken a sick day or a vacation. Take the next two days off, I won't take it out of your vacation book. Now go home before you pass out."
Jean just smiled then. "Fine, thank you."
"Don't mention it."
Jean let out a sigh as she exited the store and pulled her keys from her purse to unlock her car. Just as she was about to, she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"Jean?"
Jean turned to see another blast from the past, minus the varsity jacket. "Duncan?" Jean felt an unexpected smile form on her lips. "What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for a book for one of my classes, why didn't I see you in there?" Duncan asked as he walked closer to her.
"I was in the back, I work here."
"Oh." Duncan walked right up to her, took her hand. "I want to apologize to you, Jean."
"For what, Duncan. I should be apologizing to you." Jean tried to keep the tired tone out of her voice, but she knew she was failing miserably.
"Jean, you didn't do anything, I was just trying to hold you back, I wouldn't let you spread your wings."
"Well, I did, but they've been clipped."
"You sound like you need a break." Duncan said picking up on the tone of her voice finally.
Jean smirked at him. "I do."
"Good." Duncan smiled down at her then leaned in. Jean met him halfway, her hand slipping around to the back of his neck. She felt the familiar rush of feelings wash over her as Duncan's arms slipped around her body.
"Duncan," Jean whispered parting from him. "Can we continue this at my place, I need to get home."
"You have a bed there?"
"Futon, is that ok?"
"Perfect."
The morning couldn't come slow enough for Jean. She awoke when she felt Duncan press up behind her. She sighed and let herself fall back against him, just like she had so many times in the past. She had to admit that she actually missed it, but she couldn't let it continue. Opening her eyes, Jean rolled over to face him.
"Duncan, hey, wake up." Jean said shaking him gently.
"What's wrong, baby?" Duncan grumbled sleepily. He rolled over so he could look at her. "You're so beautiful in the morning."
Jean smiled as he stroked her cheek. She turned her face so she could kiss his fingers. "Duncan, you know we can't do this anymore, right."
"Yeah, I knew this would be short lived, but, there's nothing wrong with one last time for old time's sake, right?"
"Right."
"Jean?"
"Yeah?" Jean's voice had gone thick with tears.
"Sweetheart, don't cry, we can still see each other, just not like this." Duncan's voice was calm and gentle with a tone of sympathy. He reached out and wiped away her tears.
"Duncan, I haven't thought about us since I left, and now...that you're here, and I'm with you, and we're like this..." Jean pressed herself close to him and wrapped her arms tight around him. "I don't want you to go. I realize now how much I've missed you."
Duncan wrapped his arms around her in return and kissed the top of her head, holding her close the whole time until she stopped crying. "I've missed you, too, Jean, but you have to get real here, we can't go back to what we had, that's over, and you know it."
Jean nodded against his chest, she felt her tears hit his skin. "I know, but I don't want to know it, Duncan, I want us to be together again."
Duncan lifted Jean's head to meet his and kissed her. "I do, too, honey, but come on, remember our pillow talk? We've got two jobs, college, rent to pay... Jean, I love you, and I always will love you, but we just can't go back to what we had."
"All right, I understand, but can I ask you one thing?" Jean lifted her eyes to his and stared into them.
"Anything." Duncan said keeping the tone of his voice down.
Jean bit her lip thoughtfully for a moment, thinking on her words before she actually spoke them. "Will you make love with me one last time."
Duncan smiled at her and kissed her forehead. "Yes." Then he slowly and gently rolled Jean onto her back, placed himself above her, lifted her knee to his hip... Jean threw her head back against her pillows a moment later and let her body fall into gratifying oblivion.
Scott sat on the edge of his bed staring off at the wall. He'd been like that for the past fifteen minutes, according to Taryn, who was waiting rather impatiently out in the living room.
"How long are you going to be staring at that spot, we need to go. I want to get over to the store before the sale ends." he heard her call.
"What?" Scott asked looking up. "Oh, yeah, right. Ok, uh, let's go." Scott stood and grabbed his jacket. "Tell me again why we're going to a bookstore." he asked as he met her at the door.
"They're having a sale on old books, and you know I love all sales."
"Yeah, I know." Scott said, internally saying it acerbically to himself. "Let's go." He said grabbing his keys. Taryn stopped him at the door and leaned up to kiss him.
"I love you, Scott, I'm so glad you and I are still together."
"Me too," Scott whispered to her. "Me too,"
"I hate sales." Erica, one of Jean's friends at the bookstore, said. "They're always so slow." She leaned down on the checkout counter supporting her head in her hands.
"It's not that they're slow," Jean started, flipping the page in her magazine and popping her gum, "it's that, Michelle holds them on a weekday when nobody is going to show up"
"I'm starving, I want to go to lunch already!" Erica whined.
"Stop it, I'm sure if nobody shows up within the next hour, Michelle will send us on break." Jean said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, right." Sarcasm dripped off Erica's response.
"Yeah, right." Jean said turning to look at her.
"So tell me more about this little 'blast from the past' you had three weeks ago."
"I don't want to talk about it." Jean said evading the subject of Scott. She had just finally gotten him off her mind, and she didn't want him back on it.
"Fine.. Oh, customers! I want em'." Erica said excitedly as two people walked up the street toward the store.
"I'll make a deal, you get one I get the other, and the first person to sell a book gets lunch." Jean said putting her magazine away.
"Deal, I want the guy. God he's sexy in those shades."
"What guy?" Jean looked up and her worst nightmares became a reality. "Erica, I want him."
"Hell no, he's mine."
"Er, he's the 'blast from the past'."
"Oh... Ok, fine... Have fun."
"Thank you." Jean took off from behind the counter as Erica greeted the two that had just walked in. Watching her, Erica quickly drew Taryn away from Scott, it wasn't hard, she was there for the sale, nothing would interfere with her attention. Jean slipped away as Scott started heading up and down the aisles looking at different titles and pulling a few from the shelf that looked interesting. "Hey, you." He heard a soft voice behind him.
Scott turned to see Jean smiling. "Hey," he said softly. "I didn't think I'd see you again. You were very curt."
"I'm sorry, my boss at that job was a jerk. Michelle, my boss here, she's nice, she understands, she wouldn't fire me over something like this."
"You got fired!" Scott exclaimed, obviously shocked. Jean put a finger to his lips to shush him and reminded him of where he was. "Right, sorry." Jean smiled. "I've missed you so much, Jeannie."
"Oh... I didn't think anyone did."
"Come here." Scott opened his arms to her and Jean slipped into them so they could hug. She let her own arms wrap around him as she fell into his hold, she realized, there in his arms, how perfectly she fit into them, and safe and comfortable she felt. "I've missed you so much." She knew he was sincere.
"I've missed you, too, Scott." Jean said, meaning every word of it.
Scott let her go and stepped back so he could look at her. "You look really good in those pants." He said complimenting her khaki pinstripes. "And that shirt..." Scott let a long catcall whistle.
"Stop it, you're making me blush." Jean said covering her cheeks respectfully.
"You look beautiful." Scott said with a smile.
"Thank you." Jean half-mouthed, half whispered.
"So, is this your new job?"
"No, this is, was the second of my two jobs, but for now it's the only one I'm working. And I don't want to hear from you that you think I'm crazy, it paid the rent."
Scott suddenly felt a little confused, but he made the appropriate face as the implication became clear. "Do you have trouble with money, I can help you if you do."
Jean waved her hand as she spoke. "No, no, I don't need any help, I'm fine, but thank you, though."
"Are you sure-"
"Yes," Jean interjected, "I'm sure."
The two were silent for a long minute as they thought of what to say next. Jean looked around and checked for new customers. Scott watched her every movement, her every motion, realizing a feeling within himself for the first time he had never felt for her before. He realized then, that he was feeling a recrudescence of repressed feelings that he had brushed off in his younger years as nothing more than a crush. He now realized, and felt, truly for the first time, that he was in love with Jean Grey.
"Scott, hey, I have to go, there's a line forming in the front. It was really good talking to you again, I've missed you."
"What, oh yeah." Scott hugged Jean again. "Maybe I can come visit you some time..." he started to say, but Jean was already walking off, and didn't hear him.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Scott started to walk around and look for Taryn. He found her in the way back in the sitting area thumbing through an art book. She was taking an art class after all, he thought, why not look for a reference book?
"Hey, there you are, I was beginning to wonder where you had gotten to." Taryn said walking up to him and kissing him gently. "You ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just... got a little lost."
"Yeah, it is a big store. You ready to go?"
"I should be asking you that." Scott said with a smirk. Taryn returned it.
"Yes, let's go." She said taking his hand and lacing their fingers. They walked like that to the front of the store together and toward the checkout line. Jean looked up from giving a customer back their change and saw Scott and Taryn, their hands linked intimately. Her gaze stopped dead on them. She breath caught and she felt tears in her eyes, and her heart begin to ache.
"Er...Erica, can you, can you take this. I'm going to go help people around the store."
"Yeah, you ok?"
"Ye...yes, I'll talk to you about it later."
"Ok." Erica said a little unsurely and moved over to where Jean had previously been standing and watched as she disappeared into the back room, her face in her hands. She turned her attention back to the front as the woman she had been helping and the man she had come in with walked up. "Hello, did you find what you were looking for?"
"Yes, thank you." Taryn responded cheerily. While she paid for her book, Scott looked around for Jean. She had just been there, where did she disappear to? His eyes slowly fell to his and Taryn's clasped hands, and realization broke over him.
"Shit..." he said very quietly to himself. He never told Jean that he and Taryn were still together. She must have seen them walking up holding hands. Now he had probably done something he never, ever wanted to do to her. Break her heart. As Taryn made ready to leave, Scott stayed back saying that he had a question he wanted to ask. "Do you know Jean Grey?"
"Yes, do you have a message for her?" Erica asked.
"No, actually do you know her full address and phone number?"
Erica smiled, knowing at once who he was. She wrote it all down quickly and handed it to him.
Author's note: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! REVIEW PLEASE!!
Thank you!
RedPhoenix1821