Disclaimer: I own nothing Rating: PG 13 A/N: thank you to every one who has reviewed this fic, your kind words made me feel so much better! Thank you! xXxXx

The Hearts Choice

Chapter two:

The sound young children's laughter roused Scott from his sleep. He opened his eyes and squinted at the blinding sunlight. Looking around feeling disorientated he suddenly became aware of a sleeping body beside his. Scott turned his head looking at the river and then to the body next to him. Jean was curled up next to him, nestled in his arms, her head pillowed by his chest, her dark red air sprawled out all over him. Resting his head back on to the hard ground and looked to his left. He was now lying on his back, the oak tree now at this thigh. He could see past the tree into the field behind where he saw children kicking around a soccer ball and laughing. Bringing his wrist to his eyes he glanced at the digital watch tied around it. His eyes widened at the numbers displayed on the small screen. 2:45 pm.

"Shit" he whispered to himself. Turning his gaze back to the sleeping Jean at his side he gently began to shake her.

"Jean" he whispered into her ear. He heard her let out a groan of complaint as she buried her face into his chest.

"Jean" he said louder this time brushing the hair that had covered her face away, "I think we over slept." He said dryly. Jean finally looked up, her cheeks slightly pink. She smiled at him, rolling onto her back, shading her eyes with her hand. Scott could see the confused look upon her face.

"Did we fall asleep?" she asked sleepily

"Obviously" Scott replied with a chuckle. Jean covered her mouth to muffle and yawn pulling herself up into a sitting position. Rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands and yawned again.

"What time is it?" she asked tucking her tangled hair behind her ears.

"Quarter to three"

"Quarter to three?" she repeated.

"In the afternoon" Scott said sitting up and stretching. He turned to look at her, staggering to his feet. Brushing himself down in an attempted to remove the dirt and grass stains he groaned in annoyance. His hands rested upon a damp patch at the back of his trousers and he pulled the material around to look at it. Immediately his eyes scanned the floor for the thermos and the two cups. Spotting them, resting on their sides by the river bank, all empty.

Jean looked up at him, her eyes fell upon the wet patch at the back of his trousers and she raised an eyebrow.

"Hot chocolate" he told her and Jean giggled pushing herself onto her feet.

"Looks like you slept on it to" Scott snickered. Jean frowned, reaching behind her to where Scott pointed and she felt the material of her jacket.

"Damn!" she cursed taking the jacket off and looking at it. On the back of the red material was a large section where the colour was darker than the rest from where it had become damp.

"We must have rolled onto them when we were sleeping" she murmured tucking the jacket under her arm. She turned to Scott who was running his fingers through his muffled hair. They began to walk across the field, under the blazing sunlight.

"We are in so much trouble" Scott commented as they reached the front gates of the mansion. Jean smiled wryly looking up at the mansion ahead of them.

"I can not believe we fell asleep in a field" she laughed.

"I can't believe we slept on hot chocolate". They both laughed, "So what are we going to say when we are asked about where we were?" Scott asked. Jean shrugged. They had passed the gates and were now nearing the front doors.

"Just say something like we woke up really early and went for a walk?" she suggested. Scott smiled and nodded.

"Something like that" he finished as he opened the front doors and they stepped into the foyer. They walked over to the corner of the foyer and removed their shoes and jackets. Only moments of being inside did Kitty came running through one of the walls. She spotted them and began to jog over, the sound of her shoes smacking against the hard marble floor echoing across the space.

"Like thank God!" she began stopping in front of them. She sighed putting her hands on her hips.

"Like where have you been!?" she asked. Jean could feel the younger girl's relief oozing from her body.

"F-for a walk" Scott began. Jean shook her head, knowing that Scott was the worst when it came to lying and in all the years he had tried to do it he hasn't gotten any better.

"A walk? Logan has been dicing up this place looking for you guys, you like missed a training session and he has been harassing us to like look for you two."

Jean frowned biting her lower lip.

"Where the fuck have you two been?!" the shout came from down the hallway. Kitty jumped looking in the voice's direction.

"Well I guess that is like my signal to leave, good luck guys" she said before phasing through the nearest wall. Just as she disappeared, a short man with blue hair came storming into the foyer. His face creased from frowning, his teeth gritted. He stopped before them, he seemed to be growling slightly under his breath.

"Well?" he barked.

"Urm - we went for a walk" Scott began. Jean kept her eyes on Logan's face. He cocked an eyebrow and turned his eyes to her and held her gaze for a moment. She said nothing.

"A walk?" he said in a non-believing chuckle. Jean nodded.

"What walk takes yer so long?" he asked slightly calmer this time, "Well I don't care where you two where, but there is no excuse for missing training sessions!" he growled. Jean looked to the floor at her now bare feet, covered only in a pair of white cotton ankle socks. She heard a deep sigh From Logan and looked up. His expression had softened and he folded his arms over his bulked up chest. He was wearing a blue T- shirt and jeans.

"Sorry" she murmured. He shook his head lifting a hand to his temples and rubbing his thumb and index finger on the skin. He sighed again dropping his hand.

"Do ya know that somethin' coulda' happened to yer?" he asked now talking in his normal voice. Jean and Scott were silent. Scott shifted his weight looking over at Jean.

"We're sorry" Scott said.

"Sorry or not, don't do it again, you're both grounded." He said firmly. Scott watched Jean nod and did the same.

"For how long?" Scott asked turning his gaze back to Logan. The older man shrugged plunging his hands into his jean pockets.

"I donno, until I cool off I guess. Now get out'ta my sight before I think of another punishment" Logan said. Jean smiled at him before brushing past him, Scott close behind her.

As the two jogged up the marble staircase they broke out into smiles. Jean bit her lower lip turning to look at Scott who was now beside her. She breathed out a sigh of relief and Scott smiled. Turning the corner of the corridor they stopped in the middle of the narrow space. Jean leaned against the wall and began to chuckle softly. Scott breathed out a large breath of air, running his fingers through his hair.

"That went better then I expected" Jean began. Scott nodded.

"You always get us into trouble" he said jokely, playfully pushing her gently. Jean raised her eyebrows.

"Me! I never get any one into trouble" she said matter-of-factly. Scott shook his head.

"Sure" he began. Jean pushed herself off the wall and pushed him back.

"Don't 'sure', I don't and I never get into trouble or do something I am not supposed to" she said and Scott laughed. Jean couldn't suppress her smile and folder her arms over her chest.

"Ok Miss Goody goody. No that's a lie, you're just never caught" he said. Jean smiled dropping her arms and shrugged beginning to walk up the rest of the corridor.

"Ok, putting aside the fact that we got into trouble, I had fun" Jean said as they neared her bedroom door. They were slowly strolling down the corridor, their talking echoing and bouncing off of the walls. Scott nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I did to" he said.

"We haven't done something just us two in a while and it was nice." Jean continued and Scott just nodded along. They stopped outside her bedroom door. Scott put his hands in his trouser pockets and looked at her.

"I miss doing things with you" she said quietly. Scott frowned.

"What are you talking about? We do stuff together all the time."

"Not like that, not just us, it's always with the others. I am not complaining, I am just saying that I miss doing things on our own." Scott pulled a huge grin and slipped an arm around her shoulders.

"How about this, we do something together just us two at least once every week?" Jean looked up at him and smiled. She nodded.

"I better go and clean myself up, I'm a mess" she said twirling a lock of red hair around her slender finger. Scott smiled and nodded releasing her shoulders.

"Well I guess I'll see you later" he said lowering his head and placing a delicate kiss on her cheek.

He stood there for a short while after she had disappeared behind her bedroom door deep in thought. Was now a good time to ask her? To tell her. How could he get out how he felt about her when the words tangled around his throat? Maybe this time was a good time, she had said so herself that she missed spending time alone. Scott sighed and turned and walked down the hall to where his bedroom was.

Jean pressed her back against her bedroom door. A faint smile plastered onto her face. The skin of her cheek seemed to burn from where Scott had placed his lips. She raised a hand and touched the side of her face, hanging onto the feeling of his soft, warm lips upon her and the sensations that shot through her. She blinked several times dropping her hand and shaking her head.

"Don't be stupid Jean" she said to herself as she walked over to her bed and began to undress, "It's Scott, he has kissed you millions of times on the cheek" she told herself. Throwing her clothes onto the bed she walked over to her door and removed her dressing gown, which hung off of a sliver peg. Pulling it on she tied it around her small waist and walked over to her dressing table. She paused for a moment in front of the full-length mirror standing up against the wall and gazed at her reflection. She reached up and touched her cheek again, the kiss nothing but a memory now. She frowned tearing her hand away.

"He is your best friend" she said aloud as if talking to the reflection before her, "You can't" she said firmly before grabbing her towel off of the seat of the small chair beside her and walked out of the room.

Scott lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling. He gazed wryly around him asking himself the same question.

Should I ask her?

The thought that Jean was seeing Duncan Matthews had slipped out of his mind completely. He was so over whelmed by the strength of his feelings for her that he hadn't even given it a thought.

"Right I am going to ask her tonight, the worst she can say is no right?" he asked himself. He bit his lip and closed his eyes. Come on Scott you can do this, It's Jean, your best friend. He groaned covering his face with his hands and sighed.

Stepping out of the shower Jean reached over for the white towel sitting folded up on the toilet seat. Wiping her face dry she wrapped the towel around her wet body and walked over to the sink. Turning on the tap she grabbed her toothbrush, squeezed on some toothpaste and began cleaning her teeth. The mirror before her was steamed up with small bits of condensation slowly running down the glass. She could see the out line of her head and shoulders and the outline of someone standing behind her by the door. It was Scott. Spinning around, clenching the toothbrush tightly she gazed at the door. She was alone in the room and the door was locked. Jean shook her head turning back to the skink.

"God I am seeing you every where" she whispered once her mouth was empty. Wiping her face clean she turned off the water and walked out of the bathroom.

Scott slowly made his way up the corridor to Jean's room. His heart was pumping under his rib cage, he could hardly control his nerves. Looking ahead of his, he could see her bedroom door. He swallowed forcing himself to walk on. His breath was shaky and his hands although deep in his pockets where shaking.

He stopped outside her door and stood there for a few moments staring at the wood. He repeated his phrase in his head and nodded as if confirming it. He reached out a hand to knock, but froze just before his knuckles touched the surface. What if she says no? How would things be between them? He didn't know if he could take being rejected by her. He dropped is hand about to turn away.

"Scott?"

He jumped turning on his heels. Jean stood before him in her dressing gown, her hair wet and her skin clean. Scott held his breath clenching his hands into fists. Jean offered him a half smile.

"Are you Ok?" she asked. He nodded. Jean raised an eyebrow feeling his nervousness and anxiety washing off him in waves.

"Jean wo-" he began looking into her green eyes. She was looking at him, her face expressionless. "Would you like to go out some time?" he asked. Jean nodded.

"Sure" she said. Scott sighed.

"As in a date?" he said, "A real date" he finished. Jean stood there staring at him. She blinked several times and opened her mouth to speak.

"Yes" she whispered, suddenly finding it hard to bring the words out. Scott's eyes lifted and he grinned wildly.

"Great, tomorrow at seven?" he asked and she nodded. His smile widened.

"Great, well I guess I'll see you later" he said before turning his back to her and walking back down the corridor. Jean stood there in silence watching him walk away.

"Oh my God" she whispered to herself once he was out of sight. She fell back against the wall, her mouth slightly open. Go on a date with Scott - would that work? Why now? Wouldn't that be weird? A bubble of excitement and nerves exploded inside her and a smile crept unnoticed over her face. Dreamily she turned to her bedroom door and walked inside closing it behind her. She walked over to her bed and threw herself down staring up at the ceiling. She giggled to herself pushing a strand of wet hair out of her eyes.

Her smiled faded suddenly. What about Duncan her boyfriend? The word boyfriend lingered in her mind like a bad stench. She frowned and let out a moan turning on to her stomach and burying her face into her pillow. She couldn't go on a date with Scott while she was going out with Duncan. So what was she going to do? She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. Things were not exactly going anywhere with him, at least not any more. Her happiness with him had gradually faded. So what was the point in being with some one that you didn't want to be with anymore? She sighed, her mind was made up, tomorrow was Monday and she would see Duncan then.

After dinner, the students retired to the common room to watch a rented movie, Pirates of the Carribean.

"Ah man, why did we have to get a chick flick?" Evan moaned as he threw himself down into an armchair. Kitty who was lying on her stomach on the floor looked over her shoulder and glared at him.

"It's not a chick flick Evan!" she began.

"Girl anything you pick out in the movie store is a chick flick" he murmured. Kitty narrowed her eyes at him before turning back to the television screen.

Jean sat beside Scott and Kurt on the sofa. Even though her eyes were on the screen she wasn't watching the film. As the day had progressed her nerves and doubt had over taken her excitement. She needed to talk to him before tomorrow.

"Jean, Scott can I speak to you both". Jean and Scott both looked over the sofa to the common room door at Logan who was leaning against the doorway with his arms folded. They got up and walked out of the room, following him down to the elevator.

"Ok you guys, I've cooled off now and I have decided that I am un-grounding you and that you two can run a training session now to make up for the one you missed."

They both nodded walking into the elevator and pressing a button for the basement. Jean gently nudged Scott with her elbow and he looked at her.

*I need to talk to you* she told him mentally. He nodded.

A/N: Did I mention how much I love reviews? I'm glad that you all like the story so far, hope I can continue to please you!

Chapter three up soon! Buh bye!