When Marie woke up alone the next morning, she found herself grateful that she wasn't in Logan's room. She wouldn't have been able to stand being alone with so many memories.

She got ready for class almost mechanically. She couldn't believe this had happened to her again, that she'd let Logan in only to have him leave her the same way he had before.

Marie sat down on the bed and tried to access any of Logan's memories that might have had something to do with Mariko. She couldn't find anything clear, but that really didn't surprise her. It had been so long since she had last absorbed him on the Statue of Liberty, and many of his memories had started to fade. Besides, Marie had no way of knowing when Logan had met Mariko. For all she knew, it could've been after he'd fallen in with the X-Men

But he had said he'd be coming back. And he hadn't said it was over between them or that he was going to be with Mariko. Marie picked his dogtags up from her pillow and put them back around her neck. She could cling to the hope that he would come home to her soon.

Rogue tucked his dogtags into her shirt and walked out into the hall, ready to face her day with forced optimism.

*** *** ***

Over the next couple of days, Rogue noticed that everyone around her seemed to be walking on eggshells every time they spoke to her. Logan and his current whereabouts was never the topic of conversation, and many people avoided having a very in depth discussion with her about anything at all. She knew that they thought Logan had left because of her, or that their relationship had ended and Rogue was broken hearted ,and she wasn't particularly in the mood to sit down and set them straight. Besides, she didn't even know where she stood with Logan. What if he fell back in love with Mariko Yashida and never came back at all? What if he came back only to tell Rogue it was over for good this time?

Rogue found herself restless at night. She wanted them to be finished laying the new carpet in her room upstairs. The fear of being alone with Logan's memories had been replaced with the desire to be near anything that could keep her believing he'd come home to her.

Logan had been gone a month, and he hadn't even called. That didn't really surprise Rogue. He'd never called before, and she hadn't expected that to change now. She'd moved back into their room, and she couldn't decide how being there made her feel. She decided to drown out the silence with background noise from the television or radio so she wouldn't have to think.

Soon, almost all conversations had dwindled down to pity-filled looks, and Rogue felt as if she'd been reverted to the untouchable girl who'd arrived at the mansion so many years ago. Her friends never came around anymore; she ate all her meals alone. If it weren't for her classes, and Jean's continued understanding—which Rogue attributed to the fact that her powers allowed her to know what Rogue was truly feeling—she would've had almost no contact with other people at all.

It was during the third month of solitude that Rogue realized she'd given everything away for Logan, and now she didn't even have him.

It was then that the emptiness came.

*** *** **

"You should tell Rogue."

"Kitty, I haven't talked to her in months, and this isn't exactly something you can just walk up to someone and say."

"Sure it is. She has a right to know."

"You tell her then."

"No, Jubilee, you need to."

"You've seen how Rogue's been acting ever since Wolverine left her high and dry—again. For all I know, she wants him back and she'll flip out on me when I tell her."

Rogue stopped short when she heard the conversation between Kitty and Jubilee. She knew she shouldn't be listening since it was obviously not something she was meant to hear, but she couldn't bring herself to walk away either.

"She probably should. You basically killed the friendship over a choice she made that really wasn't any of your business and then hooked up with her ex and didn't even bother to tell her. Wait, make that not only kept from telling her, but actively worked to hide it from her as well."

"My ex?," Rogue thought. "Jubilee and Bobby?! Well, I guess I should've known that was a possibility after the way she reacted to me hurting him."

"You're one to talk, Kit. When's the last time you sat down and shared some quality time with Rogue?"

"We're not talking about me here. Besides, you have to admit that Rogue hasn't been the easiest person to get close to these days. She's been so distant."

"Yeah, probably because she's gone back to her old routine of sitting around and pining for Logan as if getting him—and keeping him—is actually an obtainable goal for her. You'd think she would've grown up by now," Jubilee said.

"I was only helping her."

He sat up and looked around the room and found her sitting by the window. She was wearing headphones, and he realized that was where the music was coming from. She had them turned up louder than what was probably good for her ears, and with Logan's heightened senses he was able to hear the song fairly well. He got out of bed and walked towards her.

He found her downstairs sitting on the couch. "I was wondering when you were gonna wake up," she said.