That was when Logan walked in plunked down on the couch beside me, tried to steal the remote from me, settled down (after I asserted my control over the remote) and then we sat in companionable silence, watching some silly sit-com. We were having a giggle over ‘Drew Carey’ when Gambit walked in and plunked down on the couch on the other side of me. Normally I enjoy being squished between two guys, but this was Logan and Gambit. Not to mention, it was getting a little crowded. When Rogue walked in, she took one look at the couch, winced in sympathy and walked over to sit in the over stuffed chair across the room. Of course from there she couldn’t see the TV. So she picked up the chair (one handed, the show off) and dumped it between the couch and the TV.

So, a combined roar went up from those of us on the couch and pillows started to fly, along with a few other things. Logan took a chair in the head and was out for a few seconds, while I got a gut full off trinkets that Jean had put around for decoration (the unbreakable kind, cause let’s face it, this place can get rather juvenile at times, not to mention how often the entire mansion gets blown up). Fortunately Gambit didn’t charge them up when he threw them. At that point I pulled my disappearing act and started ambushing him with a water gun that Bobby had left hidden under the couch. The couch was no longer in it’s original position, ‘cause Rogue was using it as a shield against Gambit and the flying trinkets.

That was when Cyke walked in, took one look at the ensuing chaos, hollered for attention and promptly banned us all from the rec room for the rest of the evening. Gambit declared the night still too young to turn in (three in the morning being too early for him) and graciously invited us to a local bar he likes to frequent.

This was where things started to get really interesting. I suppose I should mention that I don’t think I’ve ever had a drink in my life, before last night. When I was in the cult, alcohol was strongly frowned on and being the daughter of the head wacko, I didn’t get a chance to touch the stuff. When I got out, I was too out of it to think about drinking and them I was too busy. Not to mention, Hank had suggested that I might react differently to alcohol, complements of a chemical that decided it liked me and didn’t break down after I drank a certain chemical cocktail, compliments of the cult brainwashing. He didn’t think the little chemical would affect me in any way other than making me prone to depression (thank Heaven’s for St. John’s Wort) and mearly mentioned to avoid alcohol as a side note, nothing serious, just a possible exaggerated reaction. All this combined to me never having had a drink, let alone getting drunk. I was so unprepared.

Well, we all pilled into Logan’s Jeep and headed out to this bar. Having never been in a bar either, I didn’t know if it was nice or not, but I thought it fit the pub category more than a bar. But I could be getting a bar mixed up with a club. Like I care what the subtle differences are. The bar was called The Gambit (I guess that’s why Gambit went there, other than the name, it didn’t really seem his type). So we all pilled out of the jeep, Gambit leading the way, and we entered the bar.

Logan: Beer

Gambit: Beer

Rogue: Beer

Me, I had a Pepsi. Or I was going to have a Pepsi. Logan canceled that and ordered me, you got it, beer. Actually he just growled out beers all around. I would have thought Logan more of the hard liquor type, Rogue, for drinks with an umbrella in them, and I wasn’t sure about Gambit, but Icould see beer as his drink of choice. Maybe this was just for starters. Looking around the mostly empty bar (it was a Monday night) I saw a juke box. I love juke boxes. After rifling through my pockets I came up with about fifty cents. Enough for one song. Not enough for me. Hitting the other’s up, I got a buck twenty nine from Rogue, eighty three cents from Logan, and a penny from Gambit, the rest of his change having fallen out of his pockets when Rogue had him upside down holding onto him with one hand and tickling him with the other. You know the sound of nails scrapping down a chalk board? That’s about what Gambits hysterical screeching sounded like at the time. I’m gonna have to remember how ticklish he is.

Back to the juke box, I plunked in the accumulated change, dialed up six songs, and started dancing to the B-52’s. After the pillow/other fight I was in a goofy mood. Waving Gambit up on the dance floor, as I dubbed the two foot by two foot space between the pool tables and being denied, I thought about jumping up on the pool table and doing the whole go-go dancer thing. Then I figured I might want to have less sugar in my diet. After that song was done, and November Rain started up, I went back to the table, as the drinks had come. Plunking down beside Logan, the other side of the booth being occupied with Gambit making googly eyes at Rogue, who was politely making googly eyes back, I took my first sip of beer.

***

Back at the mansion, unbeknownst to me, Cyke was still grumbling about the state of the rec room when Hank walked in.

"They are all nothing but a bunch ex-juvenile delinquites who have yet realize that they’ve grown up. You’d think Logan would act his age, but noooo!! Even he was jumping around trying to tackle Rogue." Turning on Henry the second he walked in, having managed to work himself in to a fine fury by being unable flip the couch from it’s current upside down position, Cyke yelled out "WHAT!?!?!?!"

Being the mild intelectual type, Hank quietly yelled back "I DON’T KNOW!!!!!" After picking Cyke off of his butt and in a more normal tone of voice, he asked "I was wondering if you had seen Charity, I’ve been going over her blood work and I need to talk to her about the results." Cyke immediately felt his blood turn cold, and concern quickly fell over his features. "Nothing serious I assure you" was Beast’s immediate assurance "but she may have a few strange side effects from various foods. You remember the peanut butter incident."

Scott winced at the memory, "I think she spent a week straight in the bathroom, throwing up."

"Actually it was more like an hour, but that type of violent reaction to a food she had previously eaten with impunity, caused me to look a little closer at the possible interactions. I hadn’t come up with any others until this after noon. You should see what this stuff does when combined with alcohol."

Scott grew pale again, "I thought you said alcohol wasn’t really a problem, just causeing a bit of a strong reaction."

"Well, I was mearly looking at the alcohol itself when I first looked into it. You see the problem with the peanut butter wasn’t the peanut butter, it was what the peanut butter caused the chemical to do, which was violently trigger the gag reflex. As for what alcohol does, again, it’s not how the alcohol itself reacts to the chemical, it’s what the chemical stimulates when alcohol is introduced to the system. I think it might start a rather severe fluctuation in her hormone levels." During this whole explanation Cyke had gone from pale, to paler, to white, to that queer blue tinged death look from "Interview with a Vampire" that made even Brad Pitt look bad. On Scott, he looked about ready to decompose.

"What is it Scott?" Hank was getting rather concerned at the pallor, or more accurate the lack of pallor, in Scott. He looked like he was trying to say something but was having trouble speaking. Having not taken a breath in the last minute or two didn’t help things. After being banged on the back a couple of times, Cyke took a deep breath and blurted out:

"She went with Gambit and Logan and Rogue, to a Bar"

Being covered with blue fur doesn’t make it easy to tell what color Beast’s skin had turned, but Scott was pretty sure Hank's was a pretty close match for his own. Always being the great understater, Hank replied "O my stars and garters."

***

Well, I had knocked back a whole quarter of that beer, and was starting to feel kinda weird. Not like the time I ate a peanut butter sandwich that Jean made me (she still feels bad about that ), but more like I had just spun around about a thousand times, and had just stopped. Just a little woozy was all. A sip later, I stopped feeling dizzy and just started to feel, goooood. You know I never noticed how rugged - good looking Wolverine looked in a red flannel shirt and really nice, tight jeans.

Okay, I had no idea where that thought came from. It just sort of popped in. It was true, but this was LOGAN I was thinking about here. He’s nearly three times my age. Or maybe it’s four. But I really like a pair of nicely filled out jeans. I mean, these were really nicely filled out. Gambit didn’t look too bad either. And that hair. I love long hair, to run my fingers through when … Okay, I really think I could use a breath of fresh air. I was running by the time I got to the door.

"What’s with Petite?"

"Like I know." The three of them instantly though back to the peanut butter incident.

"She woulda run to the bathroom if that was tha case. Wouldn’t she?" The two men just looked at Rogue. "Okay, I’ll go check. Wait a sec, You bought her the beer ya dolt." Logan now had a few broken ribs, that quickly re knit, from a well placed poke. "You go see if she’s pukin’ her guts out."

Logan’s reply "Well, It was Remy’s idea to go to a bar in the first place." Rogue stares intently at Remy, getting altogether the wrong reaction. A jab in his arm, quickly quelled that, and Remy ( new bruise and all ) stammered out:

"But Petite was gonna have a Pepsi, but non, you had to buy her a beer."

Logan lost the argument.

***

Outside I was trying desperately to cool down. I had pulled my shirt out from my pants and was trying to fan myself with it rather unsuccessfully. Being the middle of August didn’t help much either, so I finally just gathered it up in front and tied it into a knot so that at least I got some air on my stomach. This of course turned an ordinary T-shirt into something you expect to see on a cheer leader. A rather popular cheer leader. Okay, steer the thoughts the other way girl.

For some reason my mind decided to wallow in the gutter tonight. Well, I was finally started to cool down a little when Logan walked out. Startled me half to death to. Letting out a rather loud yelp, Logan immediately rushed up beside me to see what was wrong. Did you ever realize how sensuous shadows playing on a six o’clock shadow can be? Well, once he was beside me, I, um, kinda lost it. Now I don’t have a lot of experience with guys, the whole cult thing you know, well, maybe you don’t. Maybe I’m just a prude, but I think sex belongs in a marriage. I just wish I remembered that when I kissed Logan.

He’s not all that bad either. Not that I got much of a chance to tell. He was backed off and back in the bar faster than a dog with it’s tail on fire. He has such a cute butt. I never noticed that before.

***

Back in the bar a very red Logan stopped his mad dash once he got back in and then nervously made his way back to the booth. Rogue and Gambit were still sitting there making googly eyes at each other, cause lets face it people, they couldn’t do all that much else. The whole skin to skin thing with Rogue. After the door banged into the wall, they tore their eyes off the other and then had their jaws drop simultaneously as Logan walked over. He was flustered. Logan was never flustered. He wouldn’t bate an eye if Apocalypse showed up on the mansion door step. But now, he was embarrassed?

"She’s not sick." Well, that explained all of nothing.

"Then what’s wrong with her. She’s not cryin’ is she?" Rogue remembered the quivering mess that Charity was after she tried to kill herself.

All the reply she got for her concern was a an equally revealing "No."

"What happened then?"

Logan leaned over and whispered in Rogues ear. Gambit got a little jealous, but this was Logan for heaven sake. But why was he whispering? Rogue got a very odd look on her face, giggled a little and then headed out the door to the outside.

***

Well, I was still outside, now sitting on the pavement wondering what on earth I just did. I just kissed Logan. And I really wanted to do it again. I have never kissed a guy before in my life. I’ve been kissed, but I never started it myself. Well, let me rephrease that. I’ve been kissed by Jason, and no disrespect for the dead, but he kissed like a dead fish. Not that I ever kissed a fish either, let a lone a dead one.

That’s when I saw the cutest guy I have ever seen in my life get out of a car and start walking towards me. Since I was sitting right in front of the door, that wasn’t hard. We are talking drop dead, drag my tongue off the floor and stuff it back in my mouth gorgeous. It’s like time slowed as he walked up to me, his hair falling into his eyes, to be gracefully swept back. He had incredible eyes that stared into my soul as I stood up and started to move towards him. I could feel a small smile (looking back I think it was probably more along the lines of a silly grin) form on my lips as I walked right up to him and planted one right on him. Being a little surprised at first, he was a little cool and then, man o man o man. We are talking light’s exploding in my head and the whole nine yards. I could feel his hands start to wander to some rather delightful places when we were rudely interrupted.

Rogue by this time had come outside, saw me kissing a total stranger (to her at least. For me as well, but she didn’t know that.) and picked me up by both arms and started to force march me back into the bar. I looked over my shoulder at one very confused man, winked and then allowed myself to be dragged back in. I wonder if he was gonna follow me in?

***

"We have a problem. Ah don’t know what’s wrong with her, but she was neckin’ with some guy in the parkin’ lot."

Logan went from red with embarrassment, to red with rage. "What guy." I love a man who can growl like that. He was jealous. Wow! I wonder if I could make him more jealous.

"Calm down there. I don’t think he’s coming in. He looked like he was about to run when I showed up." By this time Rogue had let go of my arm "The question is what do we do with her now. She’s actin’ like a dog in heat."

"We take her home, that’s what."

"Yah, stick her in a small jeep with two guys, thar’s an idea." I hated to be ignored. But there was quite an interesting guy over by the pool tables. While his butt wasn’t as nice as Logan’s, he had on a T-shirt that wasn’t leaving much up to the imagination. This guy even had a wash board stomach. I love men with really good definition. Nice, rock hard muscles. The others were still arguing about something that I didn’t care about and would probably be at it for some time. Since they wanted to ignore me I ignored them and preceeded to make a bee line over to the guy playing pool. He was leaning over the table and I was reassessing his butt. From this vantage point, he rivaled Logan in that department.

After a few minutes of reassigning blame and claiming innocence, the three people still at the booth finally came up with a solution.

"Well, than YOU drive her home and Gambit and me’ll take a cab."

"Ah suppose that would work. Ready to go Charity?" Turning around Rogue looked, but didn’t see her errant friend. "Uh-oh" Another candidate for understatement of the year.

***

Well, I swayed over to the guy I was thinking of as Hot Buns, having come to the conclusion that, while his jeans weren’t as tight as Wolvie’s, it looked pretty good when he was leaning all the way over the table trying to make a shot. Make that really good. Walking up to him, the first thing I said, was "Hi hot stuff. Wanna blow this gin joint and find a nice quiet corner to explore the differences between man and woman?" I think I saw that in a movie somewhere. Of course, it was a guy hitting on a girl and she punched him, but it seemed appropriate.

It certainly got his attention. I think he blushed.

I don’t think he was sure how to answer that, cause he just sat and stuttered there for a second. And then he turned around, and I sat and stuttered for a while. He had the nicest eyes. They were a dark chocolate brown, framed by dark lashes that were anything but feminine and set in a weathered, softly tanned face. I could look in those eyes for an eternity. Finally coming up for air, I introduced myself. I think. I’m not to sure, the heat in this place had gone from hot to searing and I don’t think I was thinking too clearly. Actually, I know I wasn’t thinking too clearly. But he was calling me by my name later so I guess I did. And he introduced himself as Derek. His voice was like polished wood. Rich and smooth, with hidden depths.

I was still lost in his eyes when he passed me a pool cue and asked if I wanted to play. Since I would have followed him into the gates of hell and then ask where he wanted to go next, I said yes. Since, like bars, beer and men, I had no experience with pool, I couldn’t even hit the little white ball. Racking up a new game, he took pity me and said he’d teach me. So he leaned over me, wrapped me in his really strong arms and helped me get the cue ball and the cue stick lined up. Pulling the stick back I hit the white ball this time and watched in absolute fascination as it totally missed the triangle of balls on the other side of the table, because I don’t know what I did but that ball went flying up and over instead of straight ahead.

We were both laughing a little until it hit another guy in the back. We both had the same instinct and dropped to the floor, hoping to hide before the other guy turned around. It must of worked cause there was some swearing and cursing, the like I haven’t heard in a while, before it quieted down. Not that I was paying too much attention to that because Derek and I had discovered the nice quiet corner I mentioned earlier.

***

Having looked over the entire bar without finding her (looking over to the pool tables but not under), all three of the gang left where getting a little worried. Rogue was having nightmare of explaining this to Scott and Jean, Logan was having visions of spilling intestines of the guy who would take advantage of an obviously out of control girl and poor Gambit just knew that when it all got sorted out, it didn’t matter what happened, he’d get blamed.

This was the state the three of them were in when Scott and Henry showed up. Hank had a pleasant looking young man in jeans and jacket set on his image inducer, not sure what his welcome would be like if he forgot the stupid thing. Well, a quick conference had Rogue checking the ladies’ room, Gambit checking out the men’s, Logan sniffing around outside and Scott and Hank checking the rest of the bar. Walking around the pool tables didn’t reveal much to Scott except a missing cue ball, until he walked around one in the back and discovered a couple arduously exploring the realms of man and woman.

***

The exploration, boldly going where no man had gone before, on me at least, had to wait because a shadow passed over both of us. Looking up into the eyes of a very angry Cyke pretty much put my fire out. For the moment. Derek probably felt much the same once he got turned around enough to look. Now I was getting hot again but for a totally different reason. First Scott ruins my fun in the rec room and the he goes and throws a wet blanket just when I was starting to really get to know Derek. Intimately.

Well, I got up real quick and planted one right on him and it wasn’t a kiss. It was a fist thrown with all the skill the last ten years had given me. I got Cyke right on the chin and down he went. Well, this attracted the attention of Hank, who I didn’t recognize at the time. Well this total stranger came over and tried to grab my arm. After seeing my reaction to Scott and possibly being just a teensy bit frustrated, Derek let one loose and would have done a credible job if Hank’s face was where he thought it was. As it was, it still connected pretty good from the body on the floor, it just really hurt from the way Derek was shaking out his hand.

Well, I grabbed his uninjured hand and we both made our way over to the door, running once Hank got over his shock. And consequently, we ran right into Logan as he was coming in. Boy he smelled good. And I was once again in the enviable position of squished between two men. But I also knew that Logan was pissed, Scott had gotten up and was starting to call to him and Hank was right behind us. Okay turn around and run back in. I must have been out of it, cause I didn’t even think of fading out. Not that that would have been fair to Derek. Well, yelling over to the guy I hit with the cue ball, I yelled out, "Hey I saw you hit that guy with the little white ball." It wasn’t the most dignified statement I ever made, but it got the guy’s attention and centered it squarely on the guy I was pointing to. Cyke.

A few seconds later, Scott was back in la-la land and I was running around a pool table being chased around and around and around by Gambit, who had made his way out of the men’s room (and just about went back in when he saw the level of confusion). Cue ball guy was trying to pummel Hank, seeing him as an associate of Scott’s with Hank who, getting wise to the situation, was doing an admirable job of ducking out of the way and disabling the man, with out injuring him. Logan was duking it out with Derek who wasn’t doing too bad, since Wolvie hadn’t bared the claws yet. Well, Rogue hearing the ruckus, stepped out of the Ladies Room and also just about went back in when she saw what all was going on, but decided this better end.

"Enough bangin’ already!!" Well, this stopped everyone for a moment. Unfortunately, I used the stop in the action to make a break for the door and if I was really lucky, Gambit might continue to chase me. This prompted Cue ball guy to land a picture perfect roundhouse on what he thought was Hank’s chin, and was actually his eye and Derek, not to be outdone sucker punched Logan in the gut and the chaos ensued again. Alas, it was not to be though and Rogue flew up catching me by my shirt. Being in a slightly altered state, I figured I wanted to watch the battle between Derek and Logan and maybe I could sneak off with the winner. Surprisingly, Derek was still holding his own. Well, the best way I figured I could get out of Rogue’s rather tight grip on my shirt was to lose the shirt. Did I mention that my bra was left under the pool table. Well, I fell in a rather ungainly heap on the floor, rather topless. Seeing as how Cue ball and Derek were facing me, it didn’t help there case much when I stood up in full glory. Well, half glory. I still had my pants on.

A rather wicked look on Cue balls face was quickly replaced with a rather blue furry fist (Hanks image inducer having finnaly shorted out) and the strongly interested look (lets be honest, pure lust) on Derek’s met a simmilar fate as a perhaps equally furry, but more normal colored fist connected, sending the two of them to join Scott in la-la land. Gambit snuck a look at me and quickly turned around, hoping Rogue hadn’t noticed. He didn’t want to add to the bruise on his arm and the ones on his ankle. Hank had the decency to try and find me something to put on. Logan just took one look, turned an interesting shade of purple and walked right back out the door he had entered earlier. With the sudden release of my weight on the shirt, Rogue rammed into the ceiling and was still trying to disengage herself from the fan. She wasn’t hurt but unfortunatly my shirt was, having been caught in the blades and shreded. Not that I really cared. I was really starting to not feel too happy.

By this time, Cyke was joining the land of the living. He staggered up, looked at the crumpled body of cue ball at his feet and then looked up at me. I think he must have passed out cause I don’t think he got hit hard enough to black out twice. Well, Hank had finally managed to scrounge up a spare shirt for me from a very cowed bartender who had spent the majority of the fight behind the counter. When he popped his head up over the counter, he took one look at me, one look at the rather irate blue creature demanding a shirt and decided that behind the counter, out of sight was a very good idea. Dropping a wad of bills on the counter, Hank passed me the shirt and I started to cry. I managed to get the shirt on before I really let loose cause after that it was Niagara falls and I wasn’t thinking on much of anything other than the fact that I was crying and I really had no idea why.

Hank took charge, told Remy he could turn around now and go find Logan, had Rogue (now untangled from the ceiling fan) collect a still out of it Scott, gathered me to him and followed the precession out into the parking lot. Did you realize that Hank looks an awful like a really big teddy bear. If you ignore the fangs at least. Well, Rogue and Hank took me home in the jeep; I have know idea what the other guys did. I was too busy sniffling into Hank’s fur, getting it very wet. By the time we got to the mansion I guess I’d fallen asleep because here I am this morning with the headache from hell and really wishing I could sink into the furniture.

***

I heard a tentative knock at the door, but I was in no mood to be around people at the moment. I considered disappearing out the front door, but I had to face them sometime and it was already 1 in the afternoon. But I still didn’t want to face up to it just not right then.

"Goway!"

"Charity, it’s Jean, I thought you might want to talk."

"Don’t wanna talk. Goway."

"That’s okay, we’re all just a little worried about you, that’s all."

It never works to try and get rid of a telepath when they want to talk to you, they know all the right buttons to push and they can tell if it’s working too. Can we say ‘guilt trip’ boys and girls? "I’m fine."

"Well, Hanks worried you might still have some hormonal imbalances from last night."

That got the door open and me in her face. "Hormonal imbalance. HORMONAL IMBALANCE! I TURN INTO SLUT OF THE WEEK AND YOU CALL IT A HORMONAL IMBALANCE! I BET YOU CALL A BEHEADING A NICK OF THE RAZOR!!!!!!"

"It got you to open the door didn’t it?"

"Oh. Yea. I guess it did."

"Now why don’t you come down stairs, get something to eat and let Hank run a few tests to make sure nothing else is wrong."

"I am not going any where near anyone who saw me last night. I can’t believe I kissed Logan."

"You kissed LOGAN?"

"um yea."

"How could you, he’s three times your age! At least!"

"Actually it’s four and a half, I worked it out this morning. Along with trying to remember where my bra ended up."

"Oh. Um. At least let me bring you a sandwich."

"Okay, just don’t make it peanut butter okay?"

***

One week later:

Having finally lived down my horror at becoming an uncontrollable nymphomaniac and then bawling my eyes out over nothing, well, make that out of shear embarrassment, Jean managed to drag me out to the shopping market. It was my turn to go and most of the guys couldn’t look at me without turning beet red, with me joining them, just about everybody else was out on an assignment and I really didn’t feel up to facing the world alone yet.