Chance Encounter - Wolverine/X-Men Fanfic

Chapter 7: Don't start getting all psych 101 on me, Max.

Max looked around the room as Logan closed the door behind them. It was a decent sized room with a small bathroom off to the left. A double bed sat in the right hand corner of the room beneath an open window that let the night breeze in. She looked back to see Logan leaning back against the door, watching her with a careful expression.

"What's wrong?" she asked, frowning slightly.

He pushed away from the door, his voice gruff as he replied, "Been awhile since I slept in an actual bed."

Max walked over to the bed and began turning the covers down.

"How long have you been roughing it?" she asked, looking back at him.

Logan pulled his sweatshirt off and tossed it onto a chair in the corner.

"'long as I can remember."

She walked over to him and placed a hand on his chest. "Don't you ever use a tent?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Nope. Never needed one."

"Not even in the rain?"

"What'dya think the tarps were for?"

Max smiled at that and gently pulled away. Logan caught her hand, pressing it back to his chest. Max could feel his heart hammering beneath his ribcage. By his expression, she could tell that he wanted to say something, but was wrestling with it.

"Logan.." she murmured softly, feeling him shiver beneath her hand.

"I'm not good with this kinda thing." He explained stiffly, not knowing how else to say it.

Max smiled and replied, "It's not entirely surprising, seeing how all you've been doing for the last year is running for your life and squatting out in the wilderness."

He sighed and pulled her close. She detected a hint of a tremor in his voice as he murmured, "What is it about you..?"

"Your wolf wants companionship."

Max felt him shiver at the sound of her voice. "So does mine. It's a powerful draw between Turnskins."

"But I'm not.."

Max cut him off, shaking her head. "You may not shift, Logan, but you're furry on the inside where it matters most."

"That's what I'm afraid of, darlin'," he replied in a hushed whisper.

Max wrapped her arms around him, kissing his cheek. The man had his own demons to fight. She couldn't step up and battle them for him, no matter how much she wanted to. Simply put, the wolf wanted him – she wanted him, and Max knew she would do what she could for him – no matter how he ended up feeling after he figured things out. There were too many variables to try to direct anything, or to hope that anything ended up a certain way. The best thing at this point was to just go with it for as long as it lasted.

In her experience, regret was something best saved for other things that were more easily controlled.

***

Logan frowned, squeezing her gently. He drew in a shaky breath, wondering if this was it – a chance to finally stop running so hard. To stop fighting tooth and nail for every goddamned thing. She was definitely right about one thing – there was a powerful draw between them. He almost couldn't pull away from it now if he wanted to and it felt both reassuring and terrifying at the same time. At times, it felt as if the beast inside him was large enough to shake the world.

As Max gently pulled away and met his gaze, he found himself searching her eyes for something – he wasn't quite sure what. He definitely knew he didn't like feeling this conflicted.