A/N: I know that this chapter is pretty short and I am sorry but it had to be done this way. I do promise though that the next chapter will be up soon. And I must warn you some very big twist and turns are up ahead. I also know that the last to chapters were very sad but I would also like to say that the next couple are going to get better for long though is unknown. I would also like to thank everyone who is reviewing I love it and it keeps me writing thank you so much all of you for you kind words and encouragement.

Never Forgotten – Chapter Nine

It was already midnight, Jean had been back for a little over three weeks now, and she knew. She knew how long she was really gone, about how they come across Hank the new doctor, about the newest X-men. About his relationship with Marie, and even thought she didn't know the details of it she knew it had existed, which was enough to bring a hurt and worry to her eyes that Scott had never wanted to be the cause of. She had moved backed into Scott's room without a second thought, and although Scott loved having her back the he was finding it harder and harder to walk into their room and see Jean standing in the bathroom brushing her hair instead of Marie sitting at his desk with nothing but one of his button up shirts and a smile, with her hairpulled up messily in one of those clip things while she grading her students paper. He fingered the her ring that now hung form a chain around his neck, it was the only real proof that he had left that he and Marie had ever shared the amazing love they had. Other wise it was as if they had never existed, hell it was almost as if Marie had never existed. She didn't come to the mansion anymore, at least not that he knew of. He had seen her only twice since that night Jean had returned home, once was for a mere few seconds as he past her while she was cleaning out her things from her classroom so that Jean could resume teaching the class now that she was back. And the second had been today when bumped into her as she was walking out of the medical lab, he had been lookingat some papers he was suppose to be giving to Hank and had walked right in to her causing them to stumble. He grabbed for her to keep them for falling not really noticing who it was he had so carelessly just tried to plow over. "I'm sorry I…" he looked up at his victim that was now in his arms, and let go of her immediately. It was her, the one person he had been trying not to think about for weeks now. Their eyes meet, then hearing Hank saying hello from the other end of the room, not knowing what to say he had simply turned his back to her and walked away. Now more than ever he wished he had said something, anything. He wanted so badly to talk to her now, to just be able to look at her for awhile and make sure she was ok. But he couldn't he knew it would hurt Jean too much to know that he was with her, not to mention Logan was never more than two feet away from her, not that he was scared of Logan, no just scared of killing him. Knowing that Logan had been staying with Marie in the small one bedroom cabin on the other side of the lake for the past three weeks had sent his feeling for the man to a level of hate Scott didn't think was possible for anyone, much less someone who was always as in control as he was. God he missed her. Scott looked at the lake in the distances, disputing wither or not he should just give in and go to her. He needed to talk to her, that much he knew, he just didn't know where he would begin, or if she would even listen to him. How do you tell someone that you're sorry for not being able to love only them, for leaving like everyone else in their life has, and even if she did come back, how would they deal with Jean and now Logan in their life's. How could they be together, when it would still come down to breaking either her or Jeans heart. Sure he loved her more than his own life, but once again life was proving to him that love wasn't enough, he felt he owed Jean more some how because he had loved her first, longer, and he knew if she had never "died" he would have never even thought of Marie, much less love her. Yet to think of a life without her now…without Marie… his eyes started to sting from the tears that now filled them. He looked at the ring he still held in his fingers again, as memories flashed through his mind, the way she smiled when brushed her face with his finger, the light that shined through her eyes when she laughed, how her hair would fall around her shoulder when she took it down, and then today when he had ran into her. She had looked gorgeous, but the smile, the laugher, the light were all gone, and he had been the one to make it disappear. He finally stood and decided it was better not to hurt her any more than he already had, with that him walked back in the mansion. It was near one in the morning Scott walked in the room hoping that Jean was already asleep; he set down at his desk, him mind being flooded once again by Marie today, she had still looked lovely. Her hair had been pulled back in a loose up do with strands falling around her face, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a white tank top. He stood again trying to shake the thoughts of Marie away, he took off his shirt, opened the closet to put it in the laundry basket, and he could smell her. Her favorite denim jacket she had worn that winter was still hanging there. He pulled it off the hanger and breathed the scent of her in, his filling with tears, pain, and anger. Flashes of that night replayed in his mind and he threw the jacket in the closet floor and slammed the door shut forgetting Jean sleeping in the bed. He heard her sit up and rolled his eyes not really wanting to do anything but block out his memories, but he sensed her in his thoughts and knew the talk he had been avoiding with Jean about him and Marie was finally going to happen.

Jean ran her fingers through her red hair as she looked at Scott, she didn't know exactly how involved Scott and Rogue had gotten, or why she would even want to know, but it was killing her to see him continue to hurt like this. And to keep ignoring this situation was only going to make things worse for them. They needed to talk about it, he needed to talk about it so that he could finally put Rogue behind him. But then again she really didn't know much about Scott at all these days. After she come back and he had broke up with Rogue, Scott had shut down as he usually did when he was hurting, but this time it was different, because he was shutting her out too, something he had never done before. It was almost as if the Scott she and everyone else knew was non existent, he got up, went to work, then would poor himself in bed around one or two in the morning only to go sleep and to the same thing over again. Hell, he wasn't even talking to Charles, which had been really upsetting him lately. Scott was a big boy and Jean couldn't tell him how to live his life, but that didn't mean she couldn't talk to him about it. "Scott… you know I…" started only to be cut off.

"Jean, look I am really tried, I just want to go to bed. Can we talk about this some other time?" Scott said more in order than a request, as he slipped off his jeans walked over to the bed and lied down, not getting under the covers feeling too restricted already by having to sleep in his boxers. That was something else that Marie had changed about him, he had become unbelievably use to sleeping in the nude, something he would have never done before her.

"No, no Scott, we can't… we are going to talk about this… and we are going to talk about it now. I am sick and tried of waiting for you to come to me to about it… you and Rogue… look I'm not asking for all the dirty little details ok… I just… I need to know…do you… do you…" Jean couldn't bring herself to ask the only question that might possible destroy her future with the man she loved. Because she knew if he told her that he still loved her, if he said that to her out loud, she couldn't continue on this with him, if she felt like he was here out of duty. That's when the glint of the necklace caught her eye, she knew what it was attached to it, the professor had confided that much in her when she went to him upset asking why Scott never took it off. It's was Rogue's, Scott had asked Rogue to marry him the very day Jean herself came back, the same day, only hours later Scott had also left Rogue for her fiancée that had returned from the dead, her. "Scott… if you're wearing that to punish yourself for what happened between you and Rogue, you have to stop... Rogue is a young beautiful girl she will have no problem finding someone else and moving on… and I am sure she wouldn't want you to cause yourself any more grief than you already have." She said trying to will herself to believe the statement she had just made, she wanted to believe that he was worried about the pain he caused her, not that he was wearing it because he didn't want to let her go. Slowly she reached out her hand to touch his shoulder and then ran her finger down his back. She wanted to touch him to hold him the way she used to. To have him touch and hold her the way he used too, but he had been so distant since she had come home that they still haven't made love, but she was about to change that. She thought as she scooted across the bed to meld the front of her body to the back of his, while lying her soft lips on the curve of his neck. " I love you so much… I am tired of seeing you hurting like this." She whispered in his ear in between her light kisses, wanting to ease his pain and make him forget that a woman name Rogue was ever apart of his life.

She was wrong so very wrong, true he was torturing himself but it wasn't with what he had done, it was with what he had lost. Even now feeling Jean against him, he felt as if knew that if he took this step there would be no turning back, Marie would be lost to him forever. He felt himself starting to react to Jean caresses and looked down at the ring that he had put on Marie finger, it was all he had left of her. Then he felt Jeans hands moving along his neck and he tensed as the chain around his neck was undone and lifted from around his neck to the nightstand beside him. He took in deep breathe when he felt Jean then startle him across his hips, and he forced himself to open his eyes and look at her. He tried to make himself feel what he had once felt when he had made love to Jean, he had enjoyed her withering above him, calling his name but he could bring his self to say hers. After he laid there thinking about how many times he had dreamed of this to have her above him looking down at him with nothing but love in her eyes, to make love to her like he had just done. However it didn't feel right, something had been missing. Then it hit him what it was, it was big brown doe eyes, soft velvet white and auburn hair, and a soft southern accent to his name, but it was to late now. He had made his choice, it didn't matter now that he had realized that it was the wrong choice, because to Jean he had just committed himself to her once again and he couldn't leave her now, not after all she had been through. And as much as the knowledge hurt him, she was right about Marie, she would find someone else and move on, never knowing that she still held his heart and all of his love.

He still loved her, she knew that with out a bout now, but for some reason he had just promised him self to her. She should let him go, let him go back to the woman he loves. She should, but she can't. Jean looked up at the face of the man to so dearly loved, she couldn't live without him, and Rogue was young she would be fine, hell she had Logan. But Jean knew to couldn't survive with out Scott, so she couldn't let him go. Sure she had lost his love, but with time, with time and patience, she could win that love back. She could… she would make him love her again… she had too… no matter what it takes…"yes…honey that's right it's to late now… it's to late to tell Marie you love her…" …No matter what it takes.