I watched as Storm disappeared into the mansion, then turned and caught a glimpse of Logan as he faded into the shadows of the woods. It suddenly hit me that I didn't want to face a single day without Logan's companionship. Tears began to roll down my face. "Shit," I muttered as sobs welled up. I slowly lowered myself to the ground and wrapped my arms around my knees and cried into them. Victor knelt behind me and wrapped his arms around me. He whispered something in my ear, but I wasn't listening. I could feel Logan's pain at being betrayed. For once, it was all my fault. "Logan," I said quietly. "Logan," a little louder. I wriggled out of Victor's arms and stood, screaming, "LOGAN!"

Victor grabbed my hand and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I have to go after him, Vic. He's my best friend."

"What you have to do is give him time."

"Go to my room and stay there. I'll be back." Without waiting for a response, I took off. It was a very strange, surreal moment. The wind was blowing my hair wildly around and all I could hear was the thuds of my heart and of my feet hitting the ground. When I broke the perimeter of the trees I cried, "Logan, where are you?" Twilight had fallen and the wood was getting darker. I was shocked to remember the dream I had had the 1st night Victor had stayed. 'You are dead to me…' The words whispered through my mind and fresh tears flowed out. "Logan, please, come home!" Silence. I ran deeper in, constantly calling for Logan. Finally, I collapsed in tears on the forest floor. "Logan," I sobbed, "I'm sorry! I never really meant to hurt you! Please, come back!" Nothing. I painfully got myself off my knees, wrapped my arms around myself, and made my way back to the mansion.

It was dark when I walked in the front door, tear stained and muddy. Multiple people tried to talk to me, but I ignored them. I trudged up the stairs to my room. Victor was sitting nervously on the foot of my bed, but he jumped up when I walked in. "Are you ok?"

I stared at him for nearly a minute before slowly answering, "Do I look ok?" He couldn't seem to answer. I rolled my eyes and went into the bathroom, slamming the door. I turned the shower on steaming hot, took my muddy clothes off, and got in. The searing heat felt good. It created an equilibrium between the inside and outside of my body. The only way I could describe Logan's feelings was heat. Fire. I stood under the stream of water and just let go. I came to realize I was angry too. Logan was being awfully selfish…but so was I. Why couldn't he see that Victor was different? The anger of both of us suddenly busted loose. Screaming, I began to punch the shower wall, and I couldn't stop. When I had broken through the tile and hit plaster, I kind of came to my senses. I glanced down at my extremely bloody hands and muttered, "Damn it." I rinsed them off and then healed them. I decided it wasn't safe for me to stand anymore, so I plopped down on the shower floor.

I started when I heard Professor Xavier calling my name. "Leslie."

I knew it was telepathic, so I answered in thought, "Yes, Professor?"

"I've just been in contact with Logan. Would you like to tell me what's going on?"

"What? He didn't tell you?"

"I just thought you might like to give your own account."

"No thanks. If you want it, dredge it out of my brain yourself…sir."

Surprisingly, he chuckled. "That's exactly what Logan would say. You two are so much alike."

"You're point being, Professor?"

"Don't let this be your breaking point. Forgive each other."

"For what do I have to forgive him? This is all my fault. Take it up with him…and kindly leave me alone in the process."

"Leslie, surely you didn't expect any other kind of reaction from Logan. Not after what I told the two of you."

I sighed. For all his good qualities, Charles Xavier never knew when to just leave someone alone, hence, his consciousness was trapped in a useless body. "Professor, I expected some understanding."

"Understanding? You have just told him that you have feelings for the man who caused him to lose everything, and that you have been seeing said man behind his back for nearly a month! Besides, understanding has never been one of Logan's high points."

Reluctantly, I relented. "You're right. I was just hoping…"

"I know. This is not going to be easy. Logan needs you. He knows this. I don't know if he'll accept your relationship with Creed or not, but he'll come back and most likely forgive you."

"It certainly doesn't feel like he will right now."

"Give him a couple days."

I sighed, "Alright, Professor," out loud. He did not reply. I actually did the washing part of my shower and got out. I grabbed my robe, slid it on, and went out the door to my room.

Victor was at the window. He spun around when he heard me. "Better now?" he asked almost meekly. His barely detectable sense of awkwardness softened me.

I threw my dirty clothes on the bed and joined him at the window. I took one of his hands and ran my finger affectionately along one of his god-awful nails. "A bit better," I answered quietly. I looked up, curious to see his expression. I was surprised to see a sad face looking back at me.

"Leslie, I'm sorry that you and Jimmy had to fight on my behalf."

"It was inevitable. I don't even know why I expected anything different."

"It was my fault. I shouldn't have come so early in the day, and…"

I put a finger on his lips. "Shh."

I removed my finger and he asked, "Can I do anything?"

"Remind me why I stood up for you today."

"How?"

"Kiss me." As our lips met, I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him tight. One of his sharpened teeth caught my lip, but I didn't pull away. His tongue lightly brushed the scratch, wiping away the droplets of blood that had formed. A knock at the door stopped us from progressing. I sighed and leaned into his shoulder for half a second before yanking some sweatpants on and answering the door. It was Marie.

"Hey, um, Les."

"Marie."

"Can I meet him?" she whispered.

"You're such a typical girl," I hissed as I opened the door wider. She came through the doorway and waited as I shut the door. Then I led the way into the room. "Victor, this is my friend, Marie."

He cleared his throat and managed to get "Hi" out. She smiled and kind of awkwardly waved. No one said anything for a minute.

I exasperatedly cried, "Is that all you two are going to say to each other?! Was that even worth your energy to come over here, Marie?"

"That's not the only reason I came over here."

"The other being?"

"Logan came in the kitchen door about 15 minutes ago and told me to give you these. He said you would understand." She held out her hand. In it was clasped Logan's new dogtags.

I gingerly took them and remembered back to the time when Logan left to check out Alkali Lake for the first time. "I don't want you to go," I had said.

He had given me his tags and told me, "I'll be back for these."

Smiling, I pulled the chain over my head. "Thanks, Marie." She nodded and left with a small wave.

Victor walked over and looked at the tags. "I thought you said Jimmy got rid of his tags."

"He did. He got new ones. They say Wolverine on one side and Chord on the other."

"Ah. Why does he want you to have them?"

"Because he'll be back for them." I smiled up at him.

He leaned in and kissed me softly, then murmured, "Good."

"Very," I added before pulling him to me again. I sat and leaned back on the bed pulling him with me.

He groaned and pulled away a bit. "Stop being so…tantalizing," he strained.

I grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and said, "No fair! You do it all the time!" He growled and kissed me again with renewed intensity. He moved to my neck, brushing every inch of skin he could find on the way.

He caught me with a tooth again and chuckled, "Sorry," before focusing his attention on the spot.

I abruptly healed it and made him look at me before saying, "You never told me you were a vampire too."

He smiled and leaned his forehead against my own. "Only when I find someone as sweet as you."

I pushed him back and cackled, "Now THAT was corny!" He laughed and swiftly picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his torso and latched my finger behind he head. He spun around my room, grinning the whole time. Finally, when I cried, "Ok, dizzy now!" he stopped and sat me on my feet and let go. I fell right back into him. He held me while I got my bearings back.

"I love you," he said into my hair.

I held onto him while I shifted my head upwards knowing it would probably make me dizzy again. "I love you too. Logan can accept it or not. It doesn't matter anymore. He can share me or lose me. It's his choice."

"You know, he's never been that great at sharing."

I shrugged. "Not my problem."

"Now, don't go abandoning him. You remember what happened when he abandoned me?"

"He didn't abandon you! He offered for you to come with him."

"Just answer the question for the sake of the conversation."

"Nothing motivates the men in your family like revenge," I quoted Stryker.

Victor pursed his lips and nodded. "Truer words have never been spoken. It's a bad family trait."

"That's an understatement!" I laughed. "The entirety of your dealings with Logan and Stryker was based on revenge."

"Well…"

"No no no! Don't try to deny it! You know I'm right."

"Ugh, fine. I give."

I smiled softly and sadly. "I wonder if things would have gone differently if you could have brought yourself to say that 15 years ago."

He thoughtfully looked out at the night sky. "Probably," he answered quietly.

I glanced at the clock. 9:45pm. "Dang! It got late fast!"

"You were in the shower for at least an hour and a half."

"Really? Amazing how time flies when you punch a hole in the wall and have a telepathic conversation with Professor Xavier."

"…a hole in the wall?"

"Yeah! It's quite impressive," I joked.

"You've been feeling like Jimmy for way too long."

I pat him on the chest. "All the better to understand him. I have to go to bed. Danger Room stuff tomorrow, and since Logan's not here, I have to run it." I pulled away from him to find my pajama t-shirt, and when I found it, I hopped into the bathroom to throw it on. When I came out, Victor had pulled the covers down on the bed and was shedding his coat and boots.

"Can I do anything to help out tomorrow?" he asked.

"Stay out of trouble," I answered while climbing into the bed.

He snickered and climbed in beside me. "I can do that," he told me.

"Good," I yawned.

"Come here." He pulled me to his chest.

"You just can't let go of me, can you?" He opened his mouth, but he didn't say anything, and closed it. "What were you gonna say?"

"Nothing important."

"That's not fair. I'm…almost always honest with you."

"I'll take a rain check on this one. Go to sleep."

I yawned again and contented with, "Okay." I fell asleep easily. My early dreams were those where you wake up and swear your subconscious is insane, but Logan had none, and for once, I felt bad about that.