Taming a Beast

I looked between them and Logan looked caught, unsure of where to go. I hissed, “Glad you two could have some reunion time.”

He stood up, pushing the girl gently away from him. “Shiloh, you-”

“Let me guess-- ‘you’ve got to understand.’ Oh, I understand completely, Logan,” I said, my voice sad, not angry. He stepped towards me, and Kayla looked extremely unhappy that he even considered moving a centimeter away from her. “She’s your first love. Your only love.”

“That’s not true,” he whispered as tears swam in his eyes. “Shiloh, I love you now.”

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t be half naked with her right now!” I roared at him, tears streaking down my face. I had never felt this betrayed before. Never, in all my years of living, had I felt this much pain. Logan shook his head, going to speak, but Kayla reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. His mouth fell shut, and he looked momentarily confused as he opened his mouth again.

“I don’t love you. I love Kayla. Every time we’ve had sex, every time we’ve kissed, it’s her I’ve been thinking off. I’m surprised I didn’t do the name flub earlier. I never forgot her,” Logan said. My eyes narrowed. Things were off. One, I had seen that moment of confusion-- of restraint-- that Logan had shown. Two, there’s no medically possible way he remembered who she was.

It clicked.

“Take your hand off of him, Kayla,” I said to her. Due to the fact that I had been crying and that I didn’t pin Kayla as an easy target, I only morphed my hands into Lady Deathstrike’s to conserve energy.

Bad decision.

I ran towards Kayla, but all she had to do was reach out and touch Logan’s shoulder. He unsheathed his own claws and, when I leapt, stabbed them through my upper arm.

I screamed bloody murder, but managed to stab Kayla anyway. She yelped and let go of Logan as he blinked and stared down at me, blood pouring out from my arm and onto the ground. He stared at his claws, covered in my blood, and then quickly back at me as I went back to my normal being. He ran over to me and put out his arms, preparing to scoop me up as he said, “Shiloh, come...”

I cringed away from him and hissed, “Get away from me.”

He couldn’t look any more surprised or hurt. “Shiloh, it wasn’t...”

I couldn’t take it; my emotions shattered. All the stress and heartbreak I had felt within the past week just caught up to me. I screamed, uncontrollable, “GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU MONSTER!”

Logan jerked back like he had been shot. “Shiloh!”

“I do believe she said get away from her,” a voice growled. I moved my head and saw Gambit leading Storm, Rogue, Bobby, and Scotty in. Gambit cracked his fingers, sliding out a charged card. “I’m not afraid to use it, Wolverine. Don’t tempt me.”

Once Gambit fully saw me, his tough exterior broke. He ran over to me and lifted me up as he ran back outside with me, to the plane hanging outside. Storm ran on with us and Gambit laid me down on the bed in the back as I cried hysterically, Gambit shushing me and pushing hair out of my face. I stared up at him and he shook his head.

“I hate to see you like this, cherie,” he said, practically cooing. I don’t know if it was the extensive blood loss or what, but Gambit looked really handsome to me right now.

We finally made it back to the school and Gambit picked me up carefully before running me inside to your indoor hospital. Beast began working on me; although I healed pretty fast, it had damaged some kind of ligament in my arm and I was bleeding underneath my skin. He put me under, but not before Gambit walked over to me, pushing my hair out of my face and kissing me on the forehead as he whispered, “I’ll take care of you, beautiful.”

Everything went black.

--

When I woke up, Gambit was sleeping next to my bed and Storm was pacing at the foot of it. I peeked at her and she looked over at me, grinning. “How are you feeling, superstar? Beast said it wouldn’t be a tricky procedure and shouldn’t harm you at all, that your... body would fix itself once he just tweaked something. You uncomfortable or anything?”

I lifted my arm. “Well, I’ve never known anybody to be a fan of having an IV stuck in their arm.”

“I’ll ask Beast if you can leave,” Storm said with a warm smile before she left the room. The boom of the door when she closed it woke up Gambit, and he lazily looked over towards me. He smiled and stood up.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” He asked me softly, standing up beside my bed as he stroked my hair. I sighed, leaning into his hand.

“Tired, but what else is new?” I asked him. He laughed and Beast walked in, checking my vitals and such before he let me go. Gambit and I walked down the hallway together in comfortable silence until we got to my room.

He rocked back and forth on his heels and said, “So, this is your stop.”

“It is,” I said, staring at my door. I turned around and hugged Gambit tightly; he returned the gesture. I pulled away from him and gave him a weak smile and said, “Thank you so much, Gambit. I really need someone like you right now, and you’re dealing with me perfectly although I’m a mess.”

“Everybody has that one thing that makes them a mess. How well they conceal it or deal with it is what makes them different,” Gambit said to me softly, kissing my forehead. “Goodnight, cherie. I hope you sleep well.”

I went into my bedroom, smiling, as I flopped onto my bed. What was that little moment of exhilaration whenever Gambit had kissed me on the forehead? I had never felt it before. But I suppose the feeling of being around or near Logan had always surpassed the apparently small feelings I had for Gambit.

That was the last thought I had before I fell asleep.

--

It was two weeks later, and I couldn’t remember a good night of sleep ever since that night. I’d wake up screaming, like an alarm to everybody in the school. Eventually, Xavier moved my room to a sound-proof room that wouldn’t wake everybody up when I woke up. But it didn’t help with ridding of the nightmares in the least.

After one especially horrific nightmare, I decided to go get something to eat since my stomach was growling. I had skipped over dinner to do some rigorous training, something I started doing in substitution for sleeping. But now, I was hungry. I walked into the always-lit kitchen, and jumped a bit when I saw Gambit quietly reading and sipping from a mug of coffee, presumably. He looked up at me and tipped his head, asking, “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t sleep,” I said, wiping at my eyes tiredly as I shuffled into the kitchen. Gambit put down his magazine, which I took as a sign that he was willing to listen. I took a seat on one of the stools at the bar, then leant across the counter as he reflected my posture across from me. I sighed and said, “I think it’s because my mind knows that the nightmares will come back.”

“I know what will make you feel better,” Gambit said suddenly, turning around to the fridge. I watched him curiously, and when he turned back around and closed the fridge behind him, I saw he was cradling all sorts of tools needed to make an awesome ice cream sundae. I smiled and he placed it all on the counter, sliding me a spoon and a bowl. “What flavor, madam?”

“Like you have to ask,” I said, my eyes shooting towards the mint chocolate chip. He laughed and nodded, scooping me five generous scoops into the huge bowl. I stood up and decided to join him as he began dressing his sundae. I saw him hesitate and look over at me, and then smile and shake his head.

“What?” I asked him. Before I could register what was happening, he flung whipped cream at me, and I looked at him, open-mouthed. “You did not just...”

He rose both of his eyebrows, a devilish gleam in his eyes. “Oh, but I did.”

“You little... !” I cried, jumping after him as I grabbed a handful of pie and threw it at him. He stood there, then growled with a smile as we began a full-fledged food fight, using whatever ammo we could find. A good ten minutes later, we were covered, head-to-toe, in an assortment of foods, both of us sliding down to the floor from laughing so hard. I tried to get up, but slipped and fell on top of Gambit, who caught me before I could smack the tile. Still laughing, we both abruptly stopped when our eyes locked.

“Cherie,” he whispered, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. I blushed, looking down, and he tipped my chin up, searching my face it seemed. He smiled a bit and whispered, “You deserve better than Wolverine.”

He leant down and brushed his lips against mine. Although it was nothing like Logan and I’s passionate kisses we had shared, it was a start, and there was a bit of a spark. With the thought of Logan, I shut my eyes tighter and pulled in Gambit. His firms hands circled around my back and pulled me up, and I continued kissing him until I finally grew comfortable with the position.

I had told myself that I would give anything to forget about Logan, and here was Gambit, presenting me with a distraction.

For once, I was convinced my prayers had been answered.