Hey all, here's the next chapter! Yay! Huge thanks to StoryofGreen and Patricia16 for reviewing. This chapter is pretty much just filler, but it gets good again soon, I promise. So, read, review, enjoy!
The next morning Logan woke and was surprised to find a small, peacefully breathing body laying on his chest. He blinked and shook his head to clear the sleep from his eyes. He had to smile at how cute Warren looked, for once peaceful, for once not trembling with fear, not avoiding meeting the eyes of those around him, or flinching as though expecting to be hit.
Warren was sprawled on his stomach on the couch, laying half on top of Logan, his left hand dangling over the edge of the couch, intertwined, Logan realized with a smile, with Logan's own hand, which was also trailing on the floor. Warren's beautiful, pearly wings were halfway unfolded, spread out over the two in a warm, downy blanket.
Gently Logan lifted his free hand and ran it through Warren's hair, his fingers gliding over the cut on Warren's forehead and caressing his cheek.
His heart both ached with sorrow and flared with angry hate when he thought about all that the younger mutant had gone through to leave him bruised so, both physically and emotionally.
But his thoughts didn't have the chance to go much farther than that as Warren stirred under his gentle touch.
Warren sighed, taking a deep breath of contentment as he slowly opened his eyes. He blinked several times, breathing deeply the musky scent of Logan's chest. When his eyes focused, the first thing he saw was his hand intertwined with Logan's. A blush colored his pale cheeks as slowly his gaze traveled up to Logan's face. The blush only intensified when he saw that Logan too was awake and watching him. He pushed himself up so quickly that he all but fell off of the couch, flapping his wings slightly to regain his balance.
"I-I-I'm sorry," he muttered quickly, not looking at Logan. "It-, um, I got cold," he stammered his excuses.
Logan laughed, sitting up and drawing Warren back to him. "If you really wanted me to stay with you last night you could have just said," he chuckled.
Warren nodded, his eyes on the ground.
Logan sighed, deciding that it was going to take a lot of patience to convince Warren to be comfortable around him. But that was alright, it was understandable after all. So he smiled, giving Warren a quick kiss on the lips he whispered, "Good morning."
Warren smiled a bit, biting his lip. "'Morning," he muttered back.
"Ready for some breakfast, kid?" Logan asked, standing up and stretching.
Warren nodded mutely, though he didn't move, he was too busy staring at Logan's bare chest.
Logan laughed, (Warren of course blushed profusely at being caught), and taking Warren's hand pulled him to his feet.
Warren retreated into the bathroom to change, while Logan just stayed in the main room. Once both were dressed they packed up their things and checked out of the motel. They ate breakfast in a waffle house down the road. Amazingly Warren actually ordered something different than Logan did, which Logan laughingly teased him about, making Warren blush.
Then they hit the road. Warren didn't know where they were going, Logan hadn't said, and he didn't ask. For the first several hours Warren sat silently. He had one of the books Logan had bought him resting in his lap, but he didn't open it. Instead gazed absently out of the window, every so often glancing covertly at Logan, who pretended not to notice, hiding his grin.
It was nearly one when they stopped for lunch and to stretch their legs. After lunch Warren did begin to read, though he still watched Logan out of the corner of his eye, almost as if he didn't, Logan might disappear at any second. They stopped once more for dinner, then found a motel. They watched some TV, talked some about this and that, then settled down to bed, Warren safely cradled in Logan's arms.
This was the beginning of a pattern. Their days followed much the same as the first after that. Warren still dreamed at night. Sometimes he woke Logan by crying out, or thrashing, sometimes he just sat and cried silently. He smiled and laughed every chance he got, always pressing himself as close to Logan as was possible, especially when they were walking around whatever town they'd stopped at, often bumping into him without meaning to. Whenever this happened Logan would just smile and take his hand, usually kissing him quickly on the lips.
Logan never tried to do much more than that, a quick kiss on the lips in the morning or right before they went to sleep, now and then throughout the day. Holding him close and kissing his forehead when he was upset after a dream. And for that Warren was in part grateful, in part saddened by. He didn't want a repeat of the disaster of that first night, but he wished that they didn't have to be so careful with each other. He longed for Logan to kiss him deeply and passionately, but feared how his body and mind would react if they tried. So he let it be.
Sometimes they would stay more than one night at a place. At those times Logan would often leave for several hours, sometimes in the morning before Warren woke (he always left a note promising to be back soon when this happened), sometimes in the afternoon, or evening. Warren never asked where he went at those times, there were a lot of things Warren didn't ask about.
One night, just over a week since they'd left the institute, Logan returned to their motel room rather late. Warren was of course awake and waiting for him.
The younger mutant was sitting up in the bed, his knees drawn up to his chest with his wings wrapped around him.
"Hey," Logan said quietly, leaning over and kissing him before heading toward the bathroom, "You didn't have to wait up," he said over his shoulder.
"I know," Warren replied, and from his meek tone and the way his eyes flickered away uncomfortably, Logan realized he'd probably been thinking about Scott, and therefore was unable to sleep.
A few minutes later Logan came back out of the bathroom in his pajama pants, halfway through unbuttoning his shirt. Warren hadn't moved.
"Warren?" he asked softly, tossing his dirty clothes aside carelessly and leaning over the bed, gently grabbing Warren's chin and forcing him to meet his eyes, "Is something wrong?"
Warren shook his head, avoiding Logan's eyes, and Logan knew he was lying.
"What is it?" he persisted, trying to look Warren in the eyes.
Warren swallowed biting his lip and turning his head even farther away. "You've been drinking," he said quietly after a moment.
"Yeah," Logan confirmed slowly.
"He… Scott," he corrected himself, though a slight shiver passed up his spine at the name, "Used to drink a lot." Oh.
"I'm sorry," Logan said softly, "I didn't mean to-"
"Its OK," Warren cut him off.
"I'm sorry," Logan said again, before getting up and going to brush his teeth and shave. By the time he came back Warren was laying down, his back to him, and the blanket pulled up tightly.
Logan slid into the bed next to him, wrapping his arms around the younger mutant and placing a light kiss on his shoulder blade, just above his wing.
"Its OK," Warren said again, his voice slightly muffled.
All the same, after that Logan didn't drink anymore, or at least, if he did, Warren never knew about it.
