Making her way to the front entrance, Hele tried not to think about Logan, or the fact that he admitted to loving her. He was just a stubborn, extremely attractive man that she made a mistake of sleeping with, twice. No big deal; she would put it behind her and go on with Warren, for who knows how long?
Opening the front door, she walked out and found Warren leaning against his car, "Where have you been? I spoke to one of the parents and they said it ended half an hour ago."
"Sorry, I was stuck with a few of my students and couldn't get away," she wasn't lying; she just failed to mention the part where Logan told her he loved her. 'No, don't think about it!'
"Uh, are you okay?" Warren moved closer to her and brushed her blonde hair away from her face. She was completely enamored by the thoughts Logan put into her head.
Coming out of it, she shot her head up, "Fine, let's get out of here."
When Warren opened the car door and helped her in, Helena felt a little disappointed that they weren't flying to dinner instead.
Once they were on their way, she asked him, "So, you like driving this thing?"
"Oh yeah, it's a nice change from flying everywhere. It gets kinda old sometimes. You know?"
"Yeah," she didn't really know.
When they were closer to the city, Warren stopped at a red light and took out a scarf, "I want you to put this on?"
Helena studied the green scarf, "Warren, as much as I appreciate this beautiful item; it really doesn't match my violet dress."
"Stop with the sarcasm; it's for your eyes. I've got a surprise for you."
Helena took it and tied it over her eyes, "Great; you know if any of my father's friends asked me to do this, I know they'd only be trying to give me a not so fortunate surprise than expected!"
Warren smiled and then added, "Don't worry; you know damn well I'm not in the mob and I would never want to hurt you. Besides, don't you have that healing power? You've used it on other people; can't you use it on yourself?"
Remembering that Hele hadn't told Warren that she was nearly fifty, she quickly remarked, "Oh I've tried it once or twice. No big thing!"
Finally, Warren stopped the car and turned it off, "We're here," he told her; she could hear the excitement in his voice.
He came around and helped her out of the car. Hele held onto him as he walked her down a path. She could tell they were still outside, but couldn't imagine where. Then, he stopped her and said, "Wait here."
So, she did. After a few minutes, she called out, "Did you leave and take my purse with you?"
She heard his laugh and he came back to her, "You do realize that if I did do that, you'd get no response, right?"
"Yes, but I also knew you'd never leave me here and that you would start laughing as soon as you heard that. So, are you all ready?"
"I've been ready for quite some time." Warren admitted.
"Oh, so you just stood there watching me look like a fool with this stupid scarf on-"
she stopped. Warren had untied the scarf and revealed where they were.
They were in Central Park where a table with candlelight was set up. Also, a man started playing the violin and another was preparing a meal.
Helena smiled and let Warren take her to her seat. They sat down and the waiter poured some wine.
Raising his glass, Warren said, "To you."
They clinked glasses and took a sip. Curiously, she asked him, "This is great, but why are we here? We're right in the middle of a pathway in the park; that's kind of random if you don't mind me saying so."
He grinned at her, "You always have a remark for everything."
"Its part of the charm I'm afraid," she shrugged.
"To answer your question, this is the spot we had our first kiss."
Helena couldn't believe it. She looked around, noticing the area, and nodded, "So it is. What made you pick this place? It's not our anniversary is it?"
He laughed, "No, it's not. But, it is a special night."
Warren took her hands in his and leaned closely to her, "Helena, I've only known you for a short while, but from that moment we kissed, I knew you were different from other girls."
"Ain't that the truth," she commented.
"And the more I spend time with you, the more I don't want to ever let you go," he stood up, and moved over to Helena's side, bending onto one knee.
He continued, "Helena Bianchi, I love you with all my whole heart-"
"Oh my God!" Helena whispered in shock.
"And I will for the rest of my life," he took her hand in his, "There is no one better than you for me."
Before she knew how to react, she felt him slide something onto her finger, "Helena, marry me."
She paused for a moment, rethinking what he said. Then, she looked down at her hand. It was a silver band with a 3 carat rectangle shaped diamond on it, "Oh my God," she repeated.
Warren looked up at her with his baby blue eyes, waiting intently for an answer. However, Helena felt so wrong about this, she couldn't marry him; she had lied to him from the start.
"Warren, you can't marry me. There are a lot of things that you don't know about me. Things I haven't been honest to you about."
"It doesn't matter what's in the past; I just want you," he stated.
"But that's just the thing, it's about me."
She pulled him up from the ground and stood. Taking a deep breath, she spilled it all. She told him about David, her first husband. Then, she explained her power.
"You see, I'm almost fifty years old. You could be ninety and I'd only look forty five, or younger!"
Warren held her face gently, "I'm glad you told me this; but I still want to marry you."
Helena, feeling very happy he felt that way, knew that she wasn't finished. She didn't want to tell him, but she knew if she didn't, she'd regret it for a very very long time.
Not knowing how to put it, she just blurted it out, "I slept with Logan!"
The waiter dropped one of the trays. The violinist stopped playing. Warren looked at her with the same shock that was on her face when he proposed.
He was about to speak, but she interrupted him again blurting out, "Twice!"
Again, his tongue was caught.
Sighing, Helena said, "You don't deserve that Warren. That was my fault, not yours. You deserve someone that you can actually grow old with. I can't do that; literally."
Trying so hard not to become enraged or to cry, he could barely make out, "Do you love me? I mean, do you despite what happened?"
Staring him down with her turquoise eyes, she shook her head.
Feeling a great pain, he asked her again, "Do you love him?"
Quietly, she replied, "I don't know,"
All was silent. The waiter and the violinist looked at each other awkwardly, unsure of what to do.
Then, Warren felt Helena hold his hand, and leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, "I'm so sorry for the pain I caused you Warren. I never meant to do this to you. I mean it when I say you deserve better."
Warren watched her back away from him, and noticed a tear on her cheek. She turned and walked away from him. It was a tear on her face, it was a rain drop, and more began to fall. Warren looked down at his hand and found his engagement ring there. He closed his eyes and clenched the fist. His white wings hung low.
It rained the entire night. At around four in the morning, Helena was in her room packing. She scratched the side of her head, her hair now a turquoise blue that she had done not long before. She zipped the last of her things and took them to her car. Her hair was blue only so she would not be recognized by anyone.
Stepping out of the rain and into her mustang, she looked at herself in her rear-view mirror. Sighing, she admitted aloud, "What the Hell am I doing?" and then, she drove off.
The next morning, Logan woke up sluggishly. He hadn't slept great the night before; Hele went off with Warren, and I'm sure down the road she'd agree to marrying the poor son of a bitch. Aggravated and stubborn, Logan put on his jeans and black t-shirt and headed for the kitchen.
On his way, he felt a girl run past him, nearly knocking him down. He looked up to see that it was Rogue, heading for the head office. Curiously, he followed her to it.
Storm, inside the office was looking over some papers on her desk with the other teachers when Rogue barged in, "Tell me they're lying! Tell me it's not true!"
Storm sighed, "Rogue, what do you want me to say? Her room is empty and she left these resignation forms on my desk. That's it."
"What's it?" Logan asked harshly, wanting to know why he was out of the loop, "You having a staff meeting without me Storm? How nice of you since I'm not really a teacher here, am I?"
Storm stood up and walked over to him, "I thought it would be better if I told the staff and then you in solitude since you'd take it harder than they would. It was no secret that you loved her!"
Logan stopped before he shouted, and processed her words, "Wait, what?"
Sighing, she said, "Helena's gone. She left early this morning. She quit her position here. No one knows where she went."
"What?" Logan couldn't believe it. But then, he asked, "Did you call the fly-boy? He should know where she is; they were together last night."
"Not for long buddy," a voice boomed from the door. It was Warren; in the same suit from last night, he was a wreck, "Thanks to you!"
"What are you talking about-" before Logan could finish, Warren lifted off the ground and flew in, punching Logan back.
He fell to the ground, and got up with Rogue's help. He pushed her back and ran for Warren.
Out in the hallways, the students walked around as normal. Suddenly, Logan and Warren brusted through the doors and wrestled down the hallway. The students screamed and got out of the way. The circled around them and watched.
Completely enraged now, Logan grabbed the back of Warren's wings and threw him against the wooden column. Warren fell down hard, unable to get back up.
With a smile in the corner of his eye, Logan said, "Finally, I beat you fair and square. Told you I could."
He turned around, finding a very angry Storm who said, "You sound like a child! Both of you in my office now!"
Warren pulled himself up and stumbled into the office behind the proud Logan. Bobby snuck in and shut the doors, finding his way to Rogue.
"Now," Storm said, sitting back down after dismissing the other teachers, "Warren, you have no idea where Helena might've gone?"
"No, she left me at Central Park last night around ten. Just before it rained; it didn't stop for seven hours."
Everyone looked at him, kind of weirded out from his tone and ghastly appearance.
Storm continued, "Alright. Then, there's nothing we can do. It was her choice to leave, and we must respect that. Now, I'll have to make a few calls to get a replacement for this January-"
"Wait you're giving up just like that?" Logan walked towards her desk.
"It's her life Logan; she can do what she wants, we can't help that."
"Oh I can. She doesn't know what she wants. Screw this; I'm going to find her."
Bobby and Rogue cleared the door and Logan opened it. However, someone was blocking his way. There on the outside was Mystique, still human, holding a file.
"We've got a big problem," she told them.
The file cover read, Magneto.