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Your parent’s old cabin was abandoned for the longest time, it was passed down to you from your parents and by the time you managed to get up to North Dakota it seemed like this place wasn’t so abandoned after all. It appeared to be well maintained, kept up by an unknown person who you didn’t discover until he came back to the cabin late at night. You held up your father’s old rifle, albeit the old thing was rusty and didn’t have any ammo in it, it still did the job by spooking the man. You looked back on the memory with embarrassment. Logan, however, enjoyed bringing it up from time to time since it showed how fiery you really could be.
Logan… the man is truly one in a million. He was hardened by the ever-changing world, losing everyone close around him and when he stumbled upon this seemingly abandoned cabin in the middle of the wilderness he figured he could live out the rest of his dwindling life in peace. That was until you aimed a rusted rifle in his face and then something just changed inside his brain. Maybe it was the way your eyes widened in shock when you realized it was him living in your home, the way your hands were shaking when you held the gun but you still held it up high. There was something in him that told him to stay, he didn’t feel compelled to run anymore. Logan stood right there as you nervously pressed the gun to his chest and he stood still while you placed it down on the floor next to you. Thankfully he forgave you quickly.
The first year of the both of you living together was awkward to say the least. You officially moved into the cabin once you realized Logan wasn’t a threat and even though most people would have called the cops to have a squatter removed, you felt compelled to keep him around… so to speak. He was a great roommate, staying quiet and always being courteous of your shared spaces and him being easy on the eyes was the cherry on top. You remember one afternoon where he was out chopping wood in the front yard and you couldn’t help but watch him, how his muscles flexed under his shirt. You turned away before he could catch you staring, though.
However, one night everything had changed between the both of you. You couldn’t sleep that night, the snow was coming down fast and looked like it would definitely block the front door in the morning. You were anxious and that kept you up into the late hours. A quiet grunt pulled you from your sleepy thoughts, then it became louder until it almost sounded like your roommate was screaming. You knocked on his door, calling out Logan’s name as loudly as you could and you finally stepped inside when you heard him shout in pain.
Logan was sitting up, his chest heaving and nostrils flared as he took in deep breaths. Sweat dripped down his face as his eyes met yours, you looked down at his fists and gasped at the sharp claws that protruded from between his knuckles. “Are you okay?” You asked as you approached his bed, “let me—“
“No!” He shouted at you, pulling his hands away from you and you jumped back. “Please, just…”
You planted yourself on the edge of his bed, arms crossed with that familiar face he recognized from the night when you held that gun up to him. Passion, an intense feeling crossed your mind and something within you told you to stay right here, begging you to not leave him on his own for the rest of the night. He sighed and set his hands down in his lap, the claws took a while to retract and you noticed the bloodstains across his knuckles. You weren’t quite sure how old Logan was, you guessed he had to be at least in his fifties judging by the gray hairs on his head and beard. You assumed he didn’t like to talk about his claws, you wouldn’t have guessed he was a mutant until right now. “I’m not scared of you.” You grinned, “I can go get the rifle to prove it if you want.”
Logan shook his head, letting out a scoff mixed with a chuckle at your words. “I haven’t— I used to get nightmares, it all went away for a while but now they’ve been coming back.” He sighs, wincing as his claws finish retracting back in and his skin slowly seals back up leaving red lines between the knuckles. “It’s been a long time.”
You take his hands into yours, he flinches and almost pulls away but he attempts to settle down as you squeeze them. “I never asked how you ended up here anyways.” You look up at him curiously.
Logan’s jaw clenches as he takes in a deep breath. “I lost a lot of people very close to me, I’m not a good guy.” He chuckles dryly, “just was looking for somewhere safe to stay.”
You scanned his face, getting lost in his eyes and the way he looked at you. He had always had a soft spot for you and you could tell, he never argued or threatened you. “Well, you’re safe here.” You nod and smile, “not like I was planning on kicking you out anyways, I kinda like having you as a roommate.”
He chuckled and you continued on. “Seriously, grandpa,” you teased, “it’s been a couple of months so I think we’re both stuck with each other. But you can leave whenever you want, I’ll understand.”
“Grandpa? Really now…” Logan raised a brow, “wasn’t really plannin’ on leaving, seeing as you don’t charge any rent.”
You laughed, the cabin was passed down to you so all you had to take care of were the utilities and the land. “Maybe I’ll start charging you for some of the bills.”
“I’ll help, whenever you need it.” He squeezed your hand and your thumb ran over the scars on his hands. “Okay, sweetheart?”
“Okay.” You smiled at him reassuringly, “we good?”
“Yeah, we’re good.” Logan hesitated letting go of your hands but eventually did so once you got up and left.
*~*~*
It was obvious something changed that night because the relationship between the two of you shifted. You picked up a job at the local diner, waitressing every couple of nights and you were able to snag Logan a position there as well, helping receive shipments and unload them from the truck. Each night you both would swap who drove each other home and when the nights got colder Logan insisted on driving and wrapping you up in his heavy work coat.
After a long shift, you were standing outside the restaurant, waiting for Logan to pull up with the truck and he promised he would be quick as he pulled his coat over your shoulders. Barely a minute had passed when a few drunk patrons had stepped out of the bar next door, you stepped over to be out of their way but one of the men had unfortunately noticed you moving around. You tighten the coat around you, silently hoping you’d be invisible under it but it didn’t work.
“Well hello there, what’s a sweet thing like you doing out here alone?” One of the men called out to you, he was the tallest of the three and you could smell the booze from where you were standing. You chose to ignore him, looking down at the parking lot and silently praying for Logan to pull up any minute now. “Hey! I’m talking to ya, sweetheart.” A chill went down your spine, feeling disgusted as the man called you sweetheart. A word that was so sweet coming from Logan quickly became disgusting when this man said it.
The familiar beaten up blue truck whipped around the corner as the bright headlights made you and the men squint. Logan hopped out of the car and slammed the door shut as he made his way over to you. He looked over you with concern as you slowly inched behind him, then he glared at the men. “Everything alright?” He growled, staring down at the men with crossed arms.
The taller man held up his hands, “everything’s good here. Ain’t that right, doll?”
You squeezed Logan’s arm, frowning. His fist clenched and he could feel his claws just threatening to come out and give this guy what he deserved but he held back. For you. He believed you didn’t deserve to see anything violent like that, especially over three drunk idiots. “Get in the truck.” Logan muttered to you and you didn’t have to be told twice as you scurried away and hopped into the truck. From the inside you could see the three men arguing with Logan and he raises his fist up, punching the tall creep in the face. You’re not quite sure what words were shared between the two but you saw Logan spit at the man before turning around and climbing back into the truck, driving off without another word. He was quiet for a few moments, then he sighed, “you okay?”
You hesitated to answer, thinking about just saying that you were fine and to not worry about it. “I’ll be alright, but it did shake me up a little.”
“A little?” Logan muttered, “guys were assholes to you. You didn’t deserve that.”
“I know but I’m glad they didn’t touch me.” You said and he nodded. “You came at the right time. I’m just mad that the guy called me sweetheart.”
“Really? He called you that?” Logan shook his head, looking at your frustrated face from the corner of his eye. “Why’d that piss you off?”
You huffed, shrugging as you felt your cheeks burn up and turn read. You’re glad that the truck was dark as he drove you both up your windy road. “It just did.”
“Hm.” Logan let out a little chuckle, “just did?” You nodded as he moved his hand above your knee, giving your thigh a gentle squeeze. You felt yourself get hotter at the simple touch and the rest of the drive fell into a comfortable silence, though you still felt some sort of tension between the two of you.
*~*~*
It soon became this little game of cat and mouse between you and Logan. There were fleeting gazes, gentle touches and sweet gestures shared between the two of you, you didn’t realize how sweet Logan could be. You were up late one night, humming to yourself as an old Frank Sinatra record played in the living room. You didn’t want to admit to yourself that you were waiting up for Logan as he had picked up a late shift at the restaurant, however it was starting to get too late and passed the time you thought he would be home. You shrugged it off as you put away the dishes, figuring that he’s just staying late and will be home soon.
You sang along with Frank as you finished tidying up the kitchen, “My Way” echoed across the cabin as you put away the broom and a sudden slam made you jolt. You didn’t hear the truck pull up or Logan fiddling with the doorknob like usual, you peek around the corner and notice him hunched over and clutching his stomach as he struggled with something in his hands. “Logan?” You called out to him, slowly stepping forward. “Are you okay?”
“‘M fine.” He grunted, straightening up to pull off his coat and you could notice the faint blood stains on the cuffs.
“No you’re not. Are you bleeding?” You gasped, rushing over to him and looking him over with concern. There were a few scrapes on his face that were slowly mending back together, his knuckles were a little bruised and you could see that his claws were still slowly retracting back in. “You are!” You ushered him into the bathroom as he groaned, saying that he was fine and just needed to lay down.
“Logan,” you frowned as you sat him down on the edge of the tub. “What happened?” You pulled out the first aid kit and dug through it for some alcohol wipes and bandaids. You kneeled down in front of him, nestling yourself between his legs so you could take a look at his face.
“Those assholes from before remembered me.” He said, wincing as you wiped at his cheek. “Thought they could pull one on me, they were trying to fuck with the truck.”
You sighed and placed a bandaid on his cheek. “So you taught them a lesson?” You smiled, meeting his eyes with yours, “I hope they look worse than you.”
“Yeah, they do.” He chuckled, smiling as you wiped off his hands from the blood that was either his or the other guys. “I’m sure you won’t be seeing them around.”
“Thanks for sticking up for me.” You said, “not many people have done that, so thank you. Seriously.”
He watched you quietly as you finished fussing over him, making sure that all his cuts were clean and had bandaids on them. God, he thought. Logan would do just about anything for you, the way you took care of him was enough for him to devote himself to you. Of course, he was too afraid to confess all this to you in fear of losing you so he didn’t want to admit any feelings he had for you. He believed that if he did, you’d be gone the next day.
“Logan?” You called out to him, resting your hand on his cheek and brushed your thumb against it. “You there?”
He blinked, focusing back on you. “Yeah, I’m alright. Am I all set, sweetheart?” He asked, grinning at you, taking notice of how your tongue jutted out ever so slightly to wet your lips. The things he wanted to do with that— he shook away the thought.
“Yeah, all set.” You smiled and stood up, hesitating to move from your spot between his legs. Logan looked up at you with a raised brow. “Actually, there’s just one more thing.” You said.
Logan opened his mouth to ask you what that could be and as he did so, you pressed your lips against his. His eyes widened, brain malfunctioning as you kissed him. When you noticed he wasn’t kissing back, you went to pull away but Logan wrapped his arms around you and pulled you to sit on his leg, kissing you back. You gasped and he took the opportunity to kiss you deeper, tongue slipping through and meeting your own. A soft moan escaped you as his hands clenched around you tightly, then he pulled away for a moment to rest his forehead against yours. You smiled then let out a soft laugh.
“Been wantin’ to do that forever.” He muttered against your lips, giving you another soft peck and smiled as you laughed softly.
“Me too.” You agreed and smiled as he wrapped his arms around your waist, perfectly content with him holding you in the bathroom as Sinatra sang along in the living room.
*~*~*
After a month the two of you had settled in a good routine, you both shared small gestures with each other. Little kisses here and there, sweet hugs now and again, but you were always left with wanting just a little more. However you weren’t sure where Logan was with things, it was clear that he enjoyed spending time with you and loving every moment of the attention you had given him but to you it still felt like he was holding himself back. You wondered if he thought he didn’t deserve you or a happy relationship? Although you couldn’t really call what was going on between you two a relationship, it felt more like an old married couple who kissed on the lips and then went to sleep in separate rooms.
You hummed to yourself as you got ready for bed. It was another late night that Logan was working so you were left to your own devices and you decided to end your day with a cup of tea and a good movie. While you were staring at your movie and completely zoned out you didn’t hear Logan come in behind you.
He was tired, as usual, the long shifts at work made his bones ache and the poisonous metal didn’t help either. He never thought he’d be here but here he is, living out however long he has left with you of all people. Logan didn’t expect this as he never would have imagined in a hundred years that he would be happy for once. Some days he would wake up and convince himself it was all a dream until he heard you clattering around in the kitchen making coffee for the both of you. He never wanted to admit to you that he is dying and he doesn’t know how much time he has left, but he hoped that he has enough time with you.
Logan loves you. He knew that for a fact. It was one of the few things that was actually clear to him, he didn’t know how he’d ever get those three words out to you but he figured he'd get it at some point. He stepped into the cabin quietly, making sure to not wake you up and to his surprise you were still awake watching a cheesy rom-com with a cup of tea in your hands. He’s not sure how you can make him fall in love with you even more. You were his, his love and he knew he could bare his soul to you. But yet he couldn’t. How could he sit you down and tell you his entire life story, how he had gone through so much and how he thought he was immortal up until a few years ago, how could he tell you that he was going to die soon? But… his optimistic side got the better of him, no thanks to you, he knew worrying about all the dying shit was futile when he had you.
“Hey,” Logan called out to you, your shoulders jumped in surprise as you turned around and looked at him over the couch.
“Hey! I didn’t even hear you come in.” You smiled, pausing your movie and got up to greet him. “How was work?”
“Work.” He shrugged and you rolled your eyes, helping him take off his coat. “Did you have a good day off?”
You nodded while hanging up his coat, he kicked his boots to the side and checked back to make sure the door was locked. “Yeah, I actually was able to clean the whole place without any distractions!”
“Oh yeah?” Logan chuckled, resting his hands on your hips as he pulled you close. “Are you saying I’m the distraction?”
“Yup.” You pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, “always are, Lo!”
He smiled, eyes crinkling as he did so. God, you could get lost in that smile and those eyes. He thought the same thing about you, the two of you were blissfully unaware how mutual the love was between you both. “I made some dinner, wrapped it up in the fridge for you if you want some?”
“Uh,” his train of thought was interrupted and he nodded, “sure, I could eat.”
You happily made your way over to the fridge, heating up his food and handing him a beer as well. “I’ve been thinking about the driveway, we should probably get it paved in the summer. I think I squirreled away enough money for it…” you chatted about ideas for when the spring and summer rolled around, Logan nodded as he ate and drank. He listened while you spoke, always letting you ramble on about whatever was on your mind because it made him happy to hear your voice and to memorize what it sounded like.
“Sounds like a good plan.” Logan said with a small smile as he put his dishes into the sink.
You, on the other hand, felt a bit off. You couldn’t quite put your finger on it but you could tell Logan was being different. You shrugged it off while you shut off the tv and put your mug away, thinking he was just tired from a long day at work. He was old after all, there was at least a twenty-something year age gap between the two of you. Speaking of… “when’s your birthday?” You asked randomly while you leaned against the counter, watching Logan do the dishes. He looked at you with surprise, eyes wide as he met your own. “Um, well, you don’t have to tell me! I was really just curious, it’s not a big deal.”
“No, no it’s alright.” He shook it off, “I just… haven’t really celebrated it in a long time.”
“Huh, really? Well I can get you a little cake or something, would that be okay?” You smiled and attempted to reassure him.
He shut off the water, wiping his hands off and scratching the back of his head. “Well,” he chuckled, “I can’t remember my birthday. Haven’t thought about it in a long time, beautiful.”
You blushed at the compliment but you weren’t giving up so soon. “Seriously? Let me guess, it had to be at least in the 1970s?” You couldn’t help but pry now, why was he being so evasive about his birthday?
Logan ran his fingers through your hair, smiling. “You know that I’m a mutant, right?” He asked and you nodded. “I’m strong, I can heal, I got metal claws that shoot out of me for god’s sake… I’m fuckin’ old.”
“Well yeah,” you laughed, “I know you’re like at least fifty-something!”
“Try a hundred-something.”
You blinked, the smile on your face grew wider. “You’re kidding, right?” His easy going attitude faded, you saw him clench his jaw as he shook his head and sighed. Logan started to walk off before you grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards you. “Wait, don’t try to run. Please. Every time I try to get you to tell me something about yourself you hightail it out of here.”
He sighed deeply, “I’ve been around for a long time, doll.”
“Clearly!”
“I’m not a good person.”
“Yes you are.” You said, crossing your arms. “What makes you say that?”
He shook his head, “I’ve done a lot of bad things, been part of a lot of crazy shit.”
You bit your lip, “that… that was the past. I know that’s cheesy to say but things are a little different now, consider yourself retired.” You threw your hands up in the air, “living lavishly in some person’s cabin rent free!”
“You’re not just some person.” Logan exclaimed, wrapping his hand around your arm as he pulled you close. “You’re—“
He didn’t really know what to say. You’re his person? You both barely ever kissed, how could he say that to you?
“I’m what, Logan?” You huffed, he stayed silent for a moment and you shook your head. “Okay… have a good night.”
He watched you walk off silently. He clenched his fists by his sides, fuming because he didn’t know what to say to you. He was ready for you to be pissed off, disgusted that you’ve been living it up with a man who’s over a hundred years old, embarrassed with him. But you weren’t, you made it extremely clear that you wanted him to be transparent with you.
Fuck.
If he hadn’t fumbled the bag yet, he definitely did now.
Logan sauntered off into his own room, shutting the door behind him as he crawled into his cold bed. He wished he could just barge into your room, pull you into his arms and whisper sweet promises and tell you that he’s all yours forever. The yearning in his heart rattled him to his core because the way you made him feel confused him, scared him… it comforted him, made him feel happy and safe and— “fuck it.” He growled, pushing himself off of the bed and hurried over into your room. He slammed your bedroom door open and flicked the lights on, you gasped at his looming figure in the doorway.
“What the hell?” You asked while watching him breathe heavily, thinking through his next words carefully.
“You drive me insane.” He began and you opened your mouth to call him out on his nonsense. “You are everything I want, everything I need. I’d do anything to keep that fuckin’ smile on your face.”
“Logan—“
He cut you off once more as he made his way towards your bed, climbing onto it, “I can’t keep playing this game and trying to convince myself that I don’t deserve this.” He crawled over to you, pinning you to the mattress. “But I do, I really think I do.”
Your breath hitched, any words caught in your throat as you looked at Logan with wide eyes. Something had snapped in him and made him finally realize that you are all he needs. As long as he had you then he would be content. Before you could say anything else, he kissed you, it wasn’t like all the other kisses that were sweet and gentle. This one was passionate and he kissed you with such fierceness. You moaned ever so quietly, wrapping your arms around his neck as he gently pulled you up so that you could be seated on his lap. One of his hands was holding so tightly onto your waist you’re sure there will be a bruise in the morning and the other was tangled in your hair while he pulled you closer. He pulled away for a moment, forehead against yours as your noses brushed together.
A wide smile grew on your face and a quiet giggle escaped you, he smiled back bashfully. “You do deserve this.” You said, “there’s no denying what’s between us.”
“I know.” He mutters, kissing you softly once more. “It’s just—“
“A lot.” You nodded, “we can take it slow.”
He whispered, “Yeah, I think… I think I’d like that.”
“As long as you call me yours, okay?” A cheeky grin appeared on your face.
Logan chuckled and hugged you tightly as he nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck and breathed in your sweet smell, something he never wanted to forget. “You’re mine alright? Don’t you ever forget that.” He nipped and kissed at your neck which caused you to gasp in surprise. “Mine…” Logan grumbled.
“All yours.” You said, running your hands through his graying hair, fully content that you were both on the same page now.
You’re glad that he’s by your side, you wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.