Together

Summary: Kitty finds something from Kurt's past and learns things about him she didn't know. Wolverine and the X-men sort of. Lots of Kurtty fluff, I promise. R&R please!

Author's Note: Woot! First one-shot in forever. Sorry for my laziness, guys. I'm bogged down with art projects and school and life and shit. I never have any time for important things like sleeping and writing and eating. But anyway, thank you all as always for putting up with my slowness and waiting patiently for my stories. You guys are the best. ^-^

Disclaimer: Haven't done one of these in forever, either. Hopefully no one's out to get me…But yeah, I don't own X-men or Marvel or anything cool like that. If only…. *Sigh*

oOo

"You have so many books, Wagner," Kitty commented, as she pawed through Kurt and Angel's bookshelf. Kurt was laying on his stomach on his bed, watching Kitty curiously, his tail flicking side to side like a lazy cat's.

"A few of them are Warren's," he pointed out. "A few."

Kitty picked a book off the shelf and raised a disbelieving brow. "Angel reads?" she teased, chuckling playfully. Kurt smiled.

"Yah, like once a year. He has five books on zat shelf, I think, und you want to know how many of zem I've seen him touch? None. They just sit there, gazzering dust."

"Aha!" Kitty exclaimed, grabbing another book off the shelf. "A book worth reading. You like Roger Zelazny, Kurt?" She turned his copy of Nine Princes in Amber over in her hands, admiring the old, textured cover, the worn spine, the thick leafy pages. Kurt nodded.

"Are you kidding? Zelazny is the best fantasy writer since Asimov and Heinlein." Kitty smiled, glad Kurt shared her taste in books. She loved it when she met people as well-read as herself.

"You're such a geek," she teased him, lovingly returning the book to its space on the shelf.

"Almost as much as you are," Kurt replied, grinning cheekily. Kitty faked a frown and tossed a crumpled up sheet of paper at him.

Kurt just laughed. "You're a geek und you have terrible aim," he taunted. "Where are your glasses, geeky girl?"

"Oooh, that is it," Kitty cried throwing herself at Kurt and landing on top of him. Kurt squeaked, taken by surprise. They wrestled playfully for a minute. Kurt rolled onto his stomach and reached up to grab Kitty's flailing arms.

"Gotcha," he grinned. Kitty struggled to get free, finally twisting one of her wrists out of his grasp. She laughed and rolled onto the bed beside him. Kurt kicked at her hands, which were reaching for his stomach. He started to laugh, and Kitty laughed too. She got close enough to tickle him a little, and he pushed her away—a bit harder than he'd intended—and Kitty went tumbling off the bed onto the carpet.

"Oof," she groaned. She was all twisted around, stuck lying on her side. She looked up and discovered her head was partly under Kurt's bed.

"Keety, you ok?" Kurt asked, leaning over the edge of his bed and staring down at her worriedly.

"Uh, yeah. Fine, but jeeze Kurt, you need to watch the power there."

"Sorry," he winced. Just then, Kitty's arms extended and her upper body disappeared under the bed. She reappeared a few moments later, holding a small chest in her arms.

"Oooh what's this, Kurt?" Kitty asked curiously, sitting up and setting the chest on front of herself. Kurt's eyes went wide for a moment and he jumped off the bed, landing beside Kitty.

"It's private," he said, his cheeks turning red, and his hands flying over the chest protectively. "Put zis back vhere you found it."

Kitty cocked her head and noticed some writing on the chest. "A. J. Wagner. Who's that?" Kurt sighed in defeat and turned the chest toward himself.

"It's my mother's name," he said quietly, a hint of sadness in his voice. "This belonged to her once."

Kitty's eyes softened. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't ha"—

"No, it's fine," Kurt interrupted. "I'm glad you found this. I haven't looked inside in a long time." His ears drooped a little and his face softened. Kitty noticed his restrained emotion and sensed his hesitation. She gave him a hug.

"You don't have to open it if you don't want to," she said, but Kurt shook his head.

"It's ok," he said, lifting the lid open. Inside was a small box full of old photographs. There were letters, drawings, and small items scattered around loosely.

"Wow," Kitty breathed. "How long have you been holding onto this?"

Kurt shrugged. "Ever since my parents died. I….I kept it with me. It's the only thing I have left of my old life." He touched the chest gently, running his fingers along the sides of it, feeling the wood grain. He didn't want to, but he felt a sudden loneliness, and it made him want to cry. His eyes got wet at the edges, but he wiped his face with his sleeve before Kitty noticed. Kitty nestled up to Kurt, leaning against his chest, and looked through the chest. She removed the box of photos and picked out the first one her fingers touched. It was a picture of Kurt as a child, maybe four or five years old. He was smiling and peering out from under his mother's arm. His mother was wearing a plain blouse and holding a stack of papers in her hands. She was sitting on a couch, and Kurt was stretched out in the narrow space behind her. Kurt felt another pang of loneliness as he stared at the long-forgotten picture. He sniffed a little.

"Ohmygoshyouweresocute!" Kitty squealed suddenly, surprising Kurt out of his dreary state.

"Nah, not me," he said, chuckling, though he didn't know why. Maybe it was Kitty's bubbly enthusiasm. It clashed with his sadness, but he liked it. It took his mind of things.

"I'm serious," Kitty went on, "you were so adorable. Look how big your eyes were." Kurt smiled.

"Yah," he sighed. "I guess." Kitty nudged him affectionately and moved on to another picture.

"Look, fuzzy, whether you know it or not, you are very handsome, and now I see that you were a cute kid, too. So cute," she trailed off, holding up another photo.

"I was a devil child," Kurt said somewhat seriously. "I got in so much trouble."

Kitty smiled. "I bet." The next picture was a picture of Kurt playing with his father. Kitty moved on and stopped on a picture of Kurt making a playfully wicked face at his mother, or whoever was taking the picture. At this, Kurt laughed loudly.

"See?"

"Holy crap, you look evil," Kitty exclaimed. "Like you just murdered a kitten or something."

"That's not even funny," Kurt said in a teasingly deadpan voice. "You know how sensitive I am about being called evil." Kitty elbowed him in the stomach.

"Please. You're a sneaky, evil, little devil, and everyone knows it." Kurt chuckled.

"I know," he agreed. Kitty once again began to flip through the photo box. She smiled at some of them, and at others she was quiet. She realized after looking through twenty or so pictures that Kurt really just lived with his parents and never saw anyone else.

"You must have been lonely," she said quietly. Kurt frowned quickly, his eyes lowering.

"Yes," he breathed. "It was just me und my parents. There vere only three people outside my family who knew of me."

"Who?" Kitty asked. Kurt bit his lip and sighed nostalgically.

"Uh, there vas a friend of my parents, Dr. Heizerman, und zen there vas Eric Kohler und his wife Utta. Old friends of my parents. But ozzer than them, no one knew about me. Ever," he said seriously. "I….I tried to run away a few times, just to see vhat ozzer people were like. I didn't understand that my parents were trying to protect me. Our house just felt like a jail to me…." Kurt trailed off quietly. "I never realized how hard my parents worked to keep me safe. Never appreciated or thanked them for it, und then they were gone one day, und it was too late…." Kitty wrapped her arms around Kurt's narrow waist and put her head against his chest. She heard his fluttery heartbeat, his shallow, nervous breathing.

"Hey, it's ok," she said softly. "You turned out to be a great person. You're caring and you put everyone before yourself, and you're sweet and intelligent….I don't think they could have asked for a better kid."

At this point, Kurt started to cry a little, and he couldn't keep it inside. Kitty squeezed him harder. "It's ok, fuzzy. It's ok." She rubbed a small circle on his back with her thumb and leaned her head against his collar bone. She just hugged him tightly, desperately, as if she thought he might break apart if she left him go. Kurt just wept softly, burying his head in Kitty's warm, soft hair. He hadn't felt so lonely in a long time, and yet as he felt Kitty's small body pressed against his, he felt very safe and comforted. He was torn between two emotions, two worlds.

"I know," Kurt said after a while. His sobs slowed, his shaking stopped. "I know it's ok." He wiped the wetness away from his fuzzy face. "If I could go back in time, und tell myself as a kid zat zis vould be my future, I wouldn't believe myself. My parents are dead, und part of me is dead, too, but zat's ok, I suppose," he sighed, sniffing quietly. "I moved on. I'm so much better off here…"

"Yeah," Kitty muttered, not sure whether to smile encouragingly or look sad. Kurt picked up on of the pictures that was scattered on the floor.

"You know, its terrible zat I've kept this box hidden for forever," Kurt mused wistfully. "I feel sad when I look at these, but I shouldn't. These are happy memories. I just don't know how to deal with….some things I've experienced, und I should know better than to hide from them." He smiled a slow, sad smile. Kitty stared at him, still unsure what to do. She'd never really seen this side of Kurt before, and she liked it. It was complex, confused, haunted….she didn't even know why she found that sort of thing attractive, but she did.

Kitty suddenly looked into Kurt's eyes and said, "I love you, Kurt."

Kurt paused and looked down at her, confused but happy. "I know," he said. He kissed her gently on the forehead.

"No, I mean it," Kitty said. "I love you, no matter where you came from, or what you've been through. I just….feel like you forget that sometimes. Me, and other people here, really love you. We're your family." Kurt closed his eyes and laid his head on Kitty's shoulder.

"Thank you," he murmured, barely audible. Kitty smiled.

"Welkies," she replied, half-teasingly despite the serious mood. Kurt broke into another smile. She and he held each other, gently, lovingly for a few minutes, just feeling the rush of breath, the quivering heartbeats, the slow spin of the earth. As Kurt squeezed Kitty tighter, he felt a rush of blood to head. Maybe some part of him was dead, but today, he was very much alive.

oOo

Well, I couldn't find a good story to work with, and at like 2 AM the other night, this popped into my mind, so I had to drag out my laptop and write part of this until I was sure I wouldn't forget it the next morning. Hopefully it doesn't suck for being a 2AM brainchild. Thanks for reading (and maybe reviewing, pretty please?). Until next time….

-The Ember Raven