A Change of Plan

I'm sorry to all of you eagerly awaiting the next chapter that I haven't updated sooner! This past week was my exam week, and I had some major studying to do to make sure I wouldn't fail some courses (coughMATHcough). I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting, and please don't think I've given up on the story, because I haven't. It's much too early for that!

Okay, so this is the first sort of Author's note, as I'll be calling it, and it's mainly to answer questions, explain things, or tell you, the reader, anything that needs telling. So, first off, I'd like to thank all the people who comment on the story, and even on each chapter (you know who you are). Those reviews really keep me going, and without them, I would have no motivation. (Jeez, it sounds like I've just won an award for God's sake)

I also would like to let you know, that from July 15th to September 30th, I will be on an exchange to Australia (I live in Canada, and traveling all the way to the other side of the world is making me really excited!) for two and a half months. I'm bringing my laptop, but the house I'm staying in won't have wireless Internet, so it will be hard for me to update regularly. I will continue to write and most likely get a good number of chapters written, but most likely be unable to actually put them up on the website. Please forgive me, and please continue checking from that time to see if I've been able to update the chapters!

With reading the recent reviews, I noticed many of you wanted Logan to drive Marie down to Meridian. At first, I had actually planned on Rogue flying solo back home, but thanks to my imaginative mind (and your pressuring comments), I was able to put the two ideas together.

Jeez, I'm really keeping you from the actual story, so I'm gonna let you go now. By the way, my Author Notes for the up and coming chapters will not be this long, I swear to you. This is just to tell you readers some stuff that has been and will be happening. Thanks for reading, keep checking up on the story for updates, and keep up the reviews!

xRogan

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"Map out your future - but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it. Make it worth the trip."

- Bon Jovi

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I was correct in my assumptions about packing last night; I had to re-pack my whole bag with new clothes. My flight was at 11:30, and with all the customs you had to go through now, you had to get there at least two hours before to be safe. I had woken up at about 7:00 and was ready to sleep almost anywhere, and had grabbed a quick bite to eat before readying to leave

It was about 9:00 at the moment, and I was waiting at the front door since Ororo said she'd take me, when Logan came striding down the hallway, a large bag slung over his shoulder. I stood up from my sitting position and gave him a questioning look.

"I'm takin' ya." He said before I could even open my mouth. I shrugged and heaved my duffel bag up onto my shoulder, then opened the front door, holding it for Logan.

"Ladies first." I gestured with my open hand for him to go through the open door, smirking, but he just raised his eyebrow, smirking as well.

"I don't think so, kid." He playfully kicked me on my butt, making me yelp and scurry outside.

There were two cars parked in the driveway; Scott's blue Mazda and a red Ford pickup truck. I made a beeline for the Mazda, since it was the car that we used the most, when I heard Logan calling out to me.

"We're takin' this one, Marie."

I looked over my shoulder, and watched as Logan threw his backpack into the back of the truck. I shrugged and copied him by chucking my duffel bag into the open trunk, then climbing into the passenger seat, remembering to fasten my seatbelt.

"When did the school get this ol' thing?" I asked, nodding towards the windshield.

He turned the keys, which ignited the engine, letting it roar to life. He squealed out of the driveway and smiled. "I bought it."

"Oh." I said, trying to hide my surprise. "It's… nice."

He looked over at me and gave me a very small smile. "This sounds like our first meetin' in Laughlin City, don't it?"

I smiled back at him. "Sure does. You gonna ask me if I prefer the road?"

"Only if ya keep botherin' me." He winked and I blushed for no reason at all. I guess I hadn't really seen Logan wink in a while, and it made me feel really special. Oh God, there was that stupid crush again. I inhaled deeply and rolled down the window, watching the blurred landscape pass by. After about twenty minutes, I noticed we were nowhere near the airport. I looked around, then to Logan, then back to outside the window.

"Um… Logan?" I asked, looking over at him.

"Yeah?"

"The airport's that way, isn't it?" I asked, jerking my thumb behind me.

"We're not goin' to the airport, darlin'."

I gawked. Woah, wait a sec. If we weren't going to the airport, then where were we going?

"Uh, where are we going then?" I asked, completely confused.

"To see yer parents." He glanced over at me then returned his gaze back to the road. "I thought that's what you wanted to do."

"But I was, um, I was supposed to take a plane over."

"I talked to Chuck – he said that it'd be okay if I drove ya." Logan answered matter-of-factly. "We already exchanged your ticket. It's okay," He said, looking over at me. He gave me a smile, so I must have had some stricken looking expression. "Everything's planned out."

"I-I know, it's just…" I stuttered, fiddling with my gloves. I finally looked up and met his amber eyes, putting on a nervous smile. "You're not the type of guy that you'd wanna bring home to Mum and Dad."

Logan raised his eyebrow at this, switching his gaze to the windshield. "Whaddya mean?"

"Well, I mean, look atcha, Logan. You look almost twice my age, even though you're probably quadrupled it, you're big, you're scruffy, and your personality, when edgy, is as about as nice as a feral pitbull." I explained, giggling after at his expression.

"So?" He said after a moment.

I burst out laughing. "So, parents, who are extremely protective of their children, might seem a little nervous seeing that their daughter's being looked over that type of guy." I sighed. "To them and to all the other people that see us together, might think that you're irresponsible and stuff, even though I know you're not." I reached over with my gloved hand and gave him a pat on his arm. "I know that you're the most responsible and most protective person out there."

He shook his head slightly, hiding the smile that twitched at his lips. "Yer crazy, kid."

I rolled my eyes and let my arm hang out the window. "Ugh, just you wait. You'll see that surprised and suspicious expression as soon as they open the door."

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We had been riding for about four hours straight, and it was when my stomach growled Logan suggested we pull over for some lunch. The first place we found was a homey looking restaurant, and the people inside seemed nice enough, so we took a seat by a large window (with a beautiful scene of the highway, I had to add), and waited for the waitress to stop by our table.

"So," Logan said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his burly arms in front of his chest. I stared at his large, muscular biceps before tearing my gaze off his arms to his intense amber eyes. "Two years, you said? Since you've last seen 'em?"

I nodded, resting my arms on the table. "Two years, no contact whatsoever. Hopefully they haven't moved or anything…" I added as an afterthought.

"And if they have?" He asked, concentrating on me.

"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there." I shrugged. "I mean, how hard could it be to find my family in—"

"Good afternoon, I'm Sheri, you're waitress for today! Can I start you two off with a drink?" A blonde young lady with large blue eyes and bright red lipstick interrupted. I looked up at her and gave her an annoyed look, but found she was more interested in Logan. My blood began to boil.

"Beer." Logan said in his usual friendly tone. The waitress nodded and glanced over at me.

"Uh, diet Coke, please." I answered sourly. 'Sheri' didn't seem to notice and nodded at me, then smiled at Logan.

"Comin' right up. Here are your menus." She carefully gave Logan his and more or less dropped mine onto the table, and then left in a hurry.

I paused, looking down at the menu, then up at Logan, looking skeptical. He just smirked. I sighed, and continued, grabbing the laminated menu and scanning it briefly. "As I was saying, before Miss Blondie so kindly interrupted, it wouldn't be that hard to find my parents in Meridian. If worst comes to worst, I can go to some old neighbours or friends or something."

Logan nodded as he inspected his own menu. There was a moment of silence as we both searched for something we wanted for lunch, when Sheri came up again, holding Logan's beer and my diet Coke. She set them down in front of us, spilling some of mine but not seeing since she was so focused on Logan, then drew out her notepad.

"You guys ready to order?" She asked, smiling sweetly.

Logan answered 'yes' at the same time I answered 'no', but I sighed and quickly picked out the easiest thing.

"Burger and fries." He said, folding up his menu and pushing it aside. He looked at me expectantly.

"Chicken strips, please." I stated in a huff, pushing my menu aside as well, but with a little more force.

Sheri finished jotting it down, smiled, grabbed the menus, then hurried off to the back once again. I rubbed my temples and then wiped up the spilled drink, taking a long sip before setting it down in front of me.

"She seems to have taken an interest in you." I said smugly, looking up at Logan.

"I ain't interested." He answered back swiftly. I shrugged and took another sip of my diet Coke as he downed half of his beer. "All I'm interested in is gettin' my food and gettin' the hell outta here." He smirked and I rolled my eyes playfully. Folding my hands together and leaning back over the table, I gave him a questioning look.

"What're you gonna do, y'know, once we get down there?" I asked, twisting the straw between my fingers. "'Cause it might be sorta boring if you just hang around my family. It'll be mainly catch up and stuff."

He shrugged. "Might go and do some stuff."

"Like…?" I prodded.

He shrugged. Then Sheri practically came skipping back to the table, Logan's burger and my strips balanced precariously in each hand. She set them down with a big smile on her face, bending down a little more necessary than needed to expose her cleavage off to Logan, then snapped back up. I swore those lower buttons were done up when she had brought us our drinks…

"Enjoy!" She said, her voice making me sick. Just as she was turning, she winked at him and hurried off around the corner.

I looked at my chicken strips with distaste, wondering if she spat in it or something. Logan grabbed his burger, once again, oblivious to anything going on around him, and took a large bite out of it, chewing silently.

"You gonna eat?" He asked, nodding towards the untouched basket of chicken and fries.

"I'm not hungry…" I muttered, grabbing my Coke and taking long gulps of it to distract my mouth from saying anything regrettable or embarrassing. He rolled his eyes and took a quick sip of his beer, then diving back into his meal.

"You're jealous." He said after a few moments, his bright eyes prodding me to look up. I peeked up over the lip of my glass and met his eyes skeptically.

"What?" I asked, quirking my eyebrow. He chewed quietly for a second, smirking, enjoying the suspense he put me through. "Jealous of what?" I asked again. "Of her? Of Sheri?"

He swallowed, still smirking, and leaned forward, crossing his fingers together on the table. "You're jealous of her flirting."

"What?" I cried out, sitting up quickly, almost knocking my diet Coke off the table with the swinging motion of my arms. I caught it just as it was tipping, and slammed it as quietly as I could back onto the firm surface. A few people not too far off in their own separate booths stole a glance in our direction, but I glared them away, making them turn back to their meal.

"I said that you're jealous of her flirting." I stared at him incredulously, feeling the urge to laugh.

Me? Jealous of the waitress's flirtation with Logan? Ha! I wasn't jealous of that. Hell, I wasn't really even jealous! I was just annoyed. For a reason, I could assure you, I just wasn't sure of what, exactly, I was frustrated with. I sighed inwardly, excepting it. Logan was right. I was jealous. But why? I asked myself, feeling my face turn pink. My silence answered his observation, and he smiled, finishing the last of his beer.

"Y'know, you can flirt with me." He said, his voice low and gravelly. His finger was circling the lip of his empty beer bottle. My eyes widened and I opened my mouth to ask him to repeat what he just said, or if it was just my mind dreaming again. "I wouldn't mind. You could… practice, or whatever. For other guys. Since…" He trailed off, noticing he had hit a sensitive subject. But his voice was calm and collected, he didn't sound nervous, so that meant he wasn't serious. This was obviously a joke. Wasn't it?

"Logan," I began, hiding a smirk. I was going to be mature about this. No gawking, no childish blushing, and awkward silences, just sensible and mature teasing. "The only reason you'd let me flirt with you is because you're a womanizer." I winked. "You haven't been gettin' any action lately, so you're ready to take whatever you can get."

It was his turn to raise his eyebrow, but he continued smirking, so my little teases were okay. I think. "Is that so?" He asked, his eyes locked with mine. I nodded, smiling mischievously. "Well, since you're not opposing the idea, it'd be okay to do this…" Just then, I felt his foot brushing up against my leg, slowly rising upwards, stroking. I heard myself take a sharp inhalation of breath and I flinched at the shivering feeling, and the foot caresses stopped suddenly.

"I'm sorry…" He muttered, his face looking shameful. It was as if his whole body had recoiled, and he was ashamed. I opened my mouth and moved my gloved hand across the table to console him, to tell him that I didn't mind, and what I did was uncontrollable, but at that moment, Sheri interrupted. I swear to God I was going to slit that girl's throat if she came anywhere near me again.

"How're you guys doin'?" She asked happily, totally oblivious to either of our emotions. She was still mainly staring at Logan, who was still looking guilty, as if he had committed a horrible sin. Jeez, I didn't know my feelings meant so much to him.

"Bill." He answered directly and sharply. Sensing that something between the two of us had turned sour, she fished deep into her pocket and pulled it out, as if she had had it all along. Sheri placed it on the counter and Logan pulled out a couple of bills, not even glancing at the check lying in front of him. He dropped them on the table and stood up quickly, marching off towards the exit. I stared at him for a moment, confused. Why was he so… worked up about this?

"Thanks…'" I muttered. "Do you think I could get this packaged up?" I asked, gesturing towards the chicken strips and fries. I had a feeling I would be hungry later. Sheri nodded and hurried off while I slipped out of the booth. She came back in a matter of seconds and quickly transferred my untouched meal into a Styrofoam case, then handed it to me. "Thank you." I said again, watching her walk off to some other tables. Clutching my meal, I followed Logan outside, and saw him already in the truck, arm hanging out the window, a cigar clenched tightly between his teeth.

I opened the door to the truck and climbed in, wary and curious. I clipped on my seatbelt just as we squealed out of the parking lot, the force pushing me back into my seat. We tore down the highway, making me slightly nervous. We traveled like this for about ten minutes, in total silence, until I finally had the guts to talk to him.

"Logan," I began. He lurched the car sideways into another lane, making me clutch my armrests. I took a deep breath, focusing on the road ahead of me. "Why are you so angry?" I asked, stealing a glance at him. His jaw was clamped down on the burning cigar, his eyes hard. "Logan?" I asked after a moment of silence. "Please, Logan, tell me—"

"I went too far. I'm sorry." He said quickly, as if he was rushing to get it out of his system.

I wanted to laugh, but the way Logan was acting made me control it. "Too far?" I repeated jokingly. "Logan, that was not too far! You touched my leg with your foot! How is that too far?"

"You jerked away from me. It was stupid of me to even think that you would—"

"Logan, pull over." I said. Well, more like ordered. Why was he acting this way? I mean, he had done almost nothing and I had a weird reaction, but why was he acting like he had forced me into something. "Pull. Over." I repeated, since he wasn't making any move to get to the side of the road. From the corner of my eye, he saw him throw me a quick glance, but he said nothing, and changed lanes until we were parked at the side of the highway. "Get out." I said again, opening my door and slamming it.

I watched him hesitantly step out, then shut his door, and solemnly walk around the front of the truck to meet me. His hands were stuck in his pockets and his shoulders slumped. I stared at him hard for a moment before completely melting and latching onto him around his shoulders.

The thing I loved about him was that he was the only one not afraid to get close to me. He would never flinch away from me if I came too near, and he was always the one to draw me into his arms, as if my skin wouldn't suck the living daylights out of him. Bobby – my ex-boyfriend, I had to add – was never the one to brush my hair out of my eyes, or just hug me when he felt like it. He had to make sure I was fully covered before he did anything near me. Looking back on it now, I guess it felt good to be gone with him.

I felt his hands slowly wrap around my waist, and I buried my face into his chest, inhaling his amazing, calming scent before pulling back to look up at him. My hands dropped and I took a step back, feeling his hands slip from my waist and end back up in his pockets.

"Logan, what you did wasn't 'too far'. Jeez, if anything, you should be blamin' me!" I said, adding a smile to brighten up the mood. I sighed and continued. "Listen, the only reason I flinched, was because I'm not used to that… sort of stuff. Bobby never did anything with me, so I never got used to anything like that before, okay?" I reached my gloved hand up to his jaw and held it for a moment, making him change his gaze from the ground to my eyes. He never once flinched. "I'm sorry for actin' like that. Now, can you please change that attitude of yours and get your ass into gear? I wanna see my parents." I grinned – and thankfully – received a small one back.

"Sure, kid." He said, giving me a pat on the head before turning and climbing back into the truck. We were back on the highway in a matter of minutes, listening to some classic rock radio station. I sighed contentedly, proud of my mature lecture. I made a pact with myself that I should act like that more often. Maybe it would score me some more times like that with Logan… I smiled. This was going to be the best trip ever.