Hey all, here's chapter 17, yay! I personally am rather quite fond of this chapter, I enjoyed writing it a lot, it made me laugh, I hope you all enjoy reading it as much. Huge thanks to storyofgreen and Patricia16 for reviewing that past two chapters (Sorry I forgot to thank y'all last time). So, here it is, and no, the silk shirt is not random, it will have a significance at the end. Read, Review, Enjoy!
They spent the rest of dinner talking and getting to know each other better. They even started a sort of game of it, asking each other random questions about themselves. As time wore on Warren relaxed and they became more comfortable around each other. Warren even laughed, quite a bit, actually. Apparently Logan had developed a talent for comedy, or maybe Warren only laughed so much out of relief that he could laugh, that he could be happy now. Whatever the reason, Logan was just glad to see the boy happy.
Once they'd paid for their meal they went shopping, and found themselves at the nearest mall.
It felt strange to Warren, surreal, walking around the mall, next to Mr. Logan, laughing and joking, like… like normal people.
Almost before they realized it, it was nearly ten o'clock and the mall was getting ready to close. They'd each bought several outfits, suitcases to carry them in, some other necessities, and some things that weren't so necessary, including several books, as Logan had insisted on buying every book Warren showed even the slightest interest in, despite the younger mutant's protests.
"You'll need something to entertain yourself with, what with all the driving," Logan had told him practically, so Warren had relented.
They were heading back toward the truck, licking their ice cream cones, which Logan had excused getting by teasingly telling Warren, "I don't want to wake up one morning and find that you've wasted right away. Besides, I want some," the last part he'd add with an extra grin.
They'd almost reached the door when suddenly Warren stopped, staring at something through a department store window.
"What is it?" Logan asked, peering over his shoulder. Warren just grinned, grabbed the last remains of Logan's ice cream cone and discarding it in the nearest trashcan, before grabbing his hand and dragging him into the store. He grabbed something off of the rack right by the door, and thrusting it into Logan's hands shoved him into the dressing room.
"Try," he ordered.
Logan was quite surprised by Warren's sudden boldness, and even more surprised when he looked down at what he held.
It was a shirt, black and silky, with long sleeves and buttons all the way up the front, definitely not something Logan would have normally worn.
"Warren?" he called through the dressing room door.
"Just trust me," Warren's voice floated back, and from his tone Logan could tell the younger mutant was smiling. So, with a sigh, Logan removed his usual wife-beater and flannel shirt, sliding the silk on.
When he emerged Warren was waiting impatiently. "Do you like it?" he asked breathlessly, looking anxious despite his grin.
Logan turned to examine himself in the mirror, raising a critical eyebrow. It was a nice shirt, fitting, with a certain elegance to it that Logan usually didn't care for. But seeing Warren's expression in the mirror, a comical mix between nerves at Logan's pending reaction and pleasure, making apparent his opinion of how Logan looked in the shirt, Logan felt a grin creeping over his own face and had to admit, it did look good on him.
At Logan's grin Warren all but jumped up and down with excitement, throwing his arms around Logan's neck and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Immediately afterward he froze, shocked with himself, but Logan just grinned, kissing him back before leading him up to the cash register.
8
The entire ride back to the motel Logan couldn't stop himself from glancing sidelong at Warren every chance he got. The younger mutant was practically glowing as he held the bag with the silk shirt in it on his lap, and Logan though his face might crack from the grin he couldn't control. There was just something about Warren's smile that made something tighten in his chest, something that made him feel that everything in the world was just fine.
As soon as they got back to their motel room, Warren shoved the bag at Logan, half blushing, half grinning. "Put it on?" he asked.
With an exaggerated sigh, and a teasing grin Logan took the bag and disappeared into the bathroom for a minute. When he returned Warren was sitting on the bed waiting for him. He blushed as Logan put out his arms and twirled to show off the shirt, ending the motion in a dramatic bow.
"I-it looks really good on you," Warren stammered, his cheeks glowing.
"Only because you picked it out," Logan whispered, leaning in closely and gently capturing Warren's lips with his. Warren gasped in slight surprise, which only served to leave an opening for Logan's tongue to snake into his mouth, not that Warren really minded.
Logan deepened the kiss, gently pushing Warren down on the bed, running his hands up and down the younger mutants lithe frame.
Warren closed his eyes, embracing the warm feeling of Logan on top of him, Logan's large hands tracing along his back and sides, Logan's tongue tracing the inside of his mouth. He relaxed, loosing himself in the feeling, letting his body move of its own accord.
Logan pulled away for the briefest moment as he pulled Warren's shirt over his head. By now Warren was half way through unbuttoning the silk shirt. As soon as the shirts were gone Logan once more pressed himself to Warren, and Warren welcomed him eagerly.
Warren kept his eyes closed, his insides humming. It was almost too good to be true; here he was, with Mr. Logan.
Warren was loosing himself in the feeling when suddenly the kiss changed. It began rougher, harder, and horribly familiar. A face, that face flash through Warren's mind, and with a cry he leapt up, wildly pushing the other body away from him.
"Warren? Warren!" Logan's upset voice pierced through the pain that had suddenly enveloped Warren's mind.
Warren wrapped his arms around himself, rocking back and forth, tears streaming down his face as he struggled to regain control of himself. "I-I-I-I'm s-s-s-orry," he stuttered, his voice choked with pain as he struggled to draw breath around his wracking sobs.
"It's alright," Logan said soothingly, trying to put a comforting hand on Warren's shoulder, but the younger mutant flinched away reflexively. "I'm the one who should be sorry, I wasn't thinking."
"Why?" Warren whispered, wiping uselessly at his eyes as the tears continued to run, "I was so-so h-happy, if just for a few hours. Why do I still have to think about h-h-him?"
"Shh," Logan soothed, pulling Warren gently into his embrace, holding his trembling body close while he cried, "You've been through a lot. You just have to give it time."
"I-I want it g-gone now!" Warren didn't care that he sounded childish, in fact he hardly noticed, "I want him gone now!"
Logan could do nothing but just continue holding Warren, gently rocking him back and forth and trying to sooth him.
At last Warren calmed and pulled away reluctantly from Logan's arms, wiping his face.
"I'm sor-" he started, sniffing loudly, but Logan stopped him.
"Don't even say it," Logan warned, putting a finger to Warren's lips. Warren just looked away. "We've both had a long day," Logan said gently, "We should get some rest."
Warren nodded and climbed obediently under the blanket that Logan pulled back for him. He watched as Logan grabbed the extra blanket at the foot of the bed.
"What are you doing?" he asked sleepily.
"Getting ready for bed," Logan answered, stating the obvious.
"But-" Warren started, glancing around. There was only one bed.
"Don't worry," Logan said, catching the look, "This couch is plenty comfortable."
"But, you don't have to… I mean…" Warren fumbled. He was blushing again. "There's plenty of room in the bed."
Logan looked a little uncomfortable and Warren immediately feared he'd done something wrong. "Warren, I don't think that that's the best idea just now," he said slowly, as though carefully choosing his words.
"Right, I'm sorry," Warren mumbled, "I didn't mean to-"
"I don't want you to be uncomfortable," Logan finished.
Warren's head shot up. "Uncomfortable, no, I-" but his voice trailed off, remembering what had happened only moments before and realizing what Logan was talking about. "R-right," he agreed sadly, nodding his head. "Well, uh, night," and with that he laid down, pulling the blanket over his head and praying Logan didn't see the tears beginning to fill his eyes again.
"Night," Logan replied, his tone clearly saying that he wished there was something else he could say, something to make the younger mutant feel better. But he said nothing more; he simply turned out the light, lay down on the couch, and was snoring within minutes.
8
Sometime later Warren woke with a start. He sat up in bed, one hand clutching his throat as though to silence the quiet sobs forcing their way out of his mouth. His panted, shivering violently, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Damn, why did he always have to cry? He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the tears to stop, waiting for his breathing to return to normal.
The dream he'd been having was little more than a blurred haze now, only one face sticking out in his memory, and that was enough. He still trembled with terror from it, despite his best efforts to still himself.
He drew his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and curling in on himself, willing the shaking to stop.
He felt cold, so cold. But this was a cold that no amount of warm blankets could banish, this cold was deeper, beneath his skin.
He raised his head, glancing about the room, and his eyes landed inevitably on Logan, stretched out on the couch under his blanket, snoring softly. He looked so peaceful, oblivious, warm. Without even thinking about it Warren crawled out of the bed and silently tiptoed across the room, stopping in front of the couch. He paused a moment, frozen in awe at the beauty of Logan's face, illuminated by a few moonbeams falling into the room from the cracks in the blinds over the windows. Then, carefully, and without really thinking about it, he lifted one of Logan's arms, and folded himself down on the couch.
In his sleep, Logan ran his hand absently through Warren's hair and down to his wings before wrapping his arm around the younger mutant and cradling him gently to his chest, without once waking up.
A small smile spread across Warren's face as he snuggled into Logan's chest and was dead asleep in seconds.
