Trust me

Out of harm's way, Scott watched Jean promenading through the small park which was attached to the mansion. Despite her being blindfolded she did not even stumble one time.

"This morning I managed to block the main part of her telepathy,"

Scott had not heard the professor enter his room.

"But she still does not believe it. She is afraid of opening her eyes."

"Why do you tell me?"

"Because you are going to be the one to help her."

"I am... what?"

Scott turned but the room was empty.

"It's driving me crazy that he always knows what I am thinking," he started cursing. But after a few minutes he smiled to himself and set out for the park.

"It's you again."

She must have sensed him coming. However, she didn't stop him from approaching her this time.

"Why are you following me?"

"I just wanted to say hi."

His shyness seemed to amuse her, she smiled.

"Hi".

Then she turned and continued her walk.

Scott felt alienated, still he didn't give up. He caught up with her and they were walking side by side, in silence. He examined her. She was tall, almost of his height. She was slender, but not too skinny. He gazed at her bust size and felt himself blushing. "Stop it stupid guy" he told himself and stared at the trees beneath them.

"So you are Scott, hm?"

His heart was in his mouth when he answered.

"The professor must have told you."

"Yes indeed."

What a daft conversation, he scolded himself, Scott, say something intelligent!

But he couldn't do anything but looking at her sleek hair and her elegant way of walking. He imagined how her eyes behind the blindfold would look like and how wonderful her smile would be.

"You aren't very talkative, aren't you?"

Her voice waked him from his dreams. He blushed again but then decided to go for the straightforward way.

"I was just wondering why you still wear this blindfold, you know? The professor told me that he had blocked your telepathic skills successfully."

Bamm. That had a visible effect on her. She pressed her lips together and kept silent for the rest of their walk.

"Damn! Stupid idiot!"

Scott kept insulting himself while letting the beams smash the branch of a tree to pieces. Sometimes he had to let out the energy which accumulated in his head, especially on sunny days. And he preferred crashing a tree rather than the ceiling of his room at night. The thing he was most afraid of was loosing his goggles at night and then blasting half of the building without even noticing it. Although he had special shades with straps for sleeping, he sometimes woke up in a cold sweat because he had dreamt about them slipping or shifting in just the right way to free the deadly beams.

Smashing some tree branches was just a preventive measure, but today it was kind of a relief. He could project his anger onto this tree and by destroying it, he felt better.

"I should have been more diplomatic, damn!"

Another branch shattered.

Jean didn't join them for dinner even though the professor had asked her several times.

Scott and Ororo were sitting in the kitchen, Scott brooding about his attitude towards Jean.

Ororo sighed.

"You have a crush on her, don't try to hide it, boy."

He didn't pay attention to her.

"Let's see if you are still in love when I tell you that your 'girl' is a 27 year old woman."

Finally, he looked at her.

"Are you trying to pick on me?"

"No, I know it from the professor. Did you know that Jean Grey is a medicine student?"

"Why the hell is he telling this to you?"

Scott stood up and started pacing around.

"Ro, I don't know how to address her, ok? She is...she is so difficult. Everything I say seems to be wrong or offend her."

Sighing he let himself fall back on his chair.

"Why don't you stop impressing her and start thinking about what she really likes?"

He stared at her as if she were an alien.

"You know, don't rush, give her time to get familiar with the situation here. And then, you will see, she will come on her own and talk to you. You are always impatient, but this time, you won't get immediately what you want, Scott."

"You mean, at the end, I will get it though?"

His bold smile was back again. Ororo sighed and shook her head scholarly. But she smiled, too.

Am I too young?

She is 27 years old. The number re-echoed in his head, danced before his eyes, laughed at him. He couldn't determine her age because of the blindfold. Her facial features did not give away the secret of her age. But did he care after all? No he didn't. He was not even surprised by this awareness. Jean was on his mind, day and night. He dreamt of kissing her tender lips, touching her silky hair whose luscious scent made him almost dizzy. But above all he wanted her to trust him and trust herself.

I don't know what she is thinking when she finds out that I am 19 years old – 8 years younger...oh my god, the anxiety came back. Probably, she already knew. Without much doubt. Scott took off his shades and rubbed his eyes. Was she also already aware of this?

The following week was embellished by the start of summer. Temperature rose up to 30 degrees and the weather was spectacular. Originally, Scott wanted to join Ororo for a trip to a lake near the mansion, but as he caught a glimpse of Jean, sitting on her favourite place, the patio steps, he changed his mind. Ororo didn't even complain.

Jean was wearing a revealing top with small straps and a short denim skirt. Her skin started to tan due to her daily sunbaths. At her mere sight, Scott started to breath heavily.

"Come on, Scott, sit down."

She tapped next to her. Now he was totally puzzled. Why was she so friendly all of a sudden? He screw up his courage and sat down on the warm stone.

"The professor told me anything about you", she smiled. " I apologize for my rudeness lately."

"Don't be sorry," he started, but suddenly she put her finger on his lips.

He gasped, was terribly worried that she would hear his heart beating like hell.

"I am sorry, Scott. But it was because I was so afraid of all the thoughts in my head, the never-ending flow of emotions entering my mind. I couldn't stop it, and running around blindfolded didn't help a lot."

She removed her hand from his lips and ran it through her hair which constantly fell into her face.

"But the professor did a great job and now I can relax for the first time while being with other people. I will stick to that blindfold for a while I think, but it is just awesome to talk to someone again."

She smiled and then turned her face towards the sun. They were sitting next to each other the whole afternoon. Scott couldn't believe that this happened. He was so excited, he even invited her for a tour on his motorbike. Jean declined but this was ok. He was too impatient, he knew this.

"Do you have a photo of yours?"

She sounded a bit shy which captivated him.

"You know, I would like to see you, see your face."

Scott was getting nervous. What if she finally realized that he was a 19 year old boy? Sure, she knew that, but did she also realize it? A picture is worth a thousand words.

"Ahm..", he felt queasy.

"What is it? Don't you wanna show me?"

"No! no, I don't mind if you…" he was lost.

She took his arm, pulled him towards her room.

"Jean? What are you doing?"

"I am going to look at you, Scott, picture or not."

She made him sit down on her couch, placed herself next to him.

"Let me feel how you look like".

Scott held his breath when she stretched out her right hand to touch his face. Slowly, almost shyly, she ran her fingers gently over his chin, up his cheeks. Despite the prudence of her touch, he felt like melting, his skin began to prickle and the heat flew through his veins.

"I already know your mouth."

She smiled and nudged his upper lip with her forefinger. He tried to smile but it wouldn't work, he was so glad that she was blindfolded. Now her fingers approached his nose, his eyes. Before she could stroke the edge of his shades, he quickly snatched her hand and pulled it down.

"It is too dangerous, Jean."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"No, you didn't, not at all, it's just…damn."

She smiled and suddenly, he noticed that he was still holding her hand. Her face was so close, her hair was sweet with perfume …he lost control.

He leaned forward and touched her cheek with his hand, turning her head softly towards his. Jean's lips parted, he could hear her breathing. Then he couldn't resist stroking her lower lip with his mouth, he enjoyed its softness and longed for more. He sealed her mouth with his coveting lips and pressed his tongue through the wet gate. But when their tongues met he could feel her wincing, withdrawing from him.

He opened his eyes, her face was only a few inches away from his, he could feel her breath on his cheeks. He searched her face for any reason of this retreat but as her eyes were covered he couldn't tell her expression.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this, even though I yearned for it", she whispered.

"Why?"

That was all he could say while catching his breath with an effort.

"I want to regain the true me before, you know? Without blindfold, without fearing other people. I just don't want to bother you with all that stuff."

"Why the hell are you telling me that shit?"

All of a sudden, he was getting upset.

"You know exactly, that your powers have been blocked, and that there is absolutely no reason for keeping your isolation!"

With these words he grabbed her blindfold and snatched it off her face. Time seemed to stand still when she stared at him, wide-eyed. Slowly, she looked over his face, the red shades with his burning eyes behind. During this never-ending moment she made a great effort to find the expression in his eyes, but it was all a blurred wave of red beams. Without any word she recaptured her blindfold and left the room.