CONFESSION

I burst through the front doors and stormed up the stairs. I could feel the stairs quake with each step. I could hear the blood rushing through my ears. I could feel eyes on my back watching me until I threw my door open and slammed it behind me as I entered my room. I would have locked my door but what would it matter. Locks meant nothing in a house full of mutants. I opened the closet to my side and pulled out my suitcase. The suitcase that survived several runaways. I threw it onto my bed, opened it and proceeded to threw random things into it. I was too angry to care whether these things were things I actually needed or even wanted. I just needed to pack. I needed to leave.

I heard the door open. I didn't stop to see who it was. I didn't need to. I already knew.

"What are you doing, Jasper?" Professor X asked. What does it look like? I thought.

"Leaving." I answered not missing a beat. Still throwing stuff into the suitcase.

"May I ask why?" He asked. I resist the urge to say "Yes you may." I started to fume as I actually thought about why I was leaving. The straw that broke the camel's back.

The last bell for the day had rung. I was at my locker trading out books I didn't need for those I needed to take home. I heard Tobias's voice and turned to see him and Brittany holding hands and laughing. They talked a little longer, promised to see each other later, then, hugged kissed and parted ways. Brittany started in my direction and I turned back to my locker.

"Don't we make a cute couple?" Brittany asked as she got closer. I didn't respond.

"Still mad, huh?" She asked leaning against the locker next to mine. "I guess I can understand. I mean, your dad left you and now your boyfriend. If every man I loved left me I'd be mad, too. It sucks to be you." She smiled and started to walk away but I grabbed her shoulder and slammed her against the lockers. I had no idea what I was going to do but when I heard teachers talking in the distance I just pushed her out of my way, closed my locker, grabbed my backpack and left.

I directed the memory to the Professor, to angry to speak anymore. He made a "hmm" in response and I continued packing.

"Maybe it was Mystique trying to get to you." He finally said after a moment of silence. I slammed the suitcase and turned to face the Professor.

"I don't care who did it or why! I'm tired of the excuses. I'm tired of people trying to get to me. I'm tired of not being able to trust anyone here. I'm tired…" I sighed and leaned against the wall burying my face in my hands. Finally, I looked up at the Professor. "I'm tired of being tired, Professor, and I can't stay here anymore." Professor X nodded solemnly, letting out a sigh of his own and folded his hands under his chin the way he always does when he has to make a decision.

"I understand. I'll give you're your keys and car when you're done packing." With that he left and the door closed behind him. Feeling defeated, I slid to the ground and cried.

I was still on the floor when there was a knock on the door. I didn't say anything hoping whoever it was would go away. Instead the door opened and my father walked in.

"I heard you were leaving." He said. Unsure if that was a statement or a question I didn't respond. I only looked over to the suitcase and shrugged. He walked over and sat next to me.

"Anything I can do to make you change your mind." He asked. I shook my head. He sighed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "I know you're mad at me and that I'm the last person you want to talk to, but I can't sit by and watch you go through whatever it is that you're going through alone." I could feel tears forming in my eyes. I didn't want to cry in front of him but I was too tired to fight it. I let the tears flow. "You can talk to me." He whispered. Before I could think I told him what I hadn't told anyone.

"I had a miscarriage." I cried. "I didn't even know I was pregnant. But when I was attacked by Sabertooth I lost the…the…" I couldn't speak anymore. I was crying to hard. I couldn't even breathe anymore. I just I just curled up into my fathers arms and cried.

"And you've been going through this by yourself for this long?" He asked.

"I wanted to tell Tobias before I told anyone but then you showed up and I was so mad at you and the professor. Then Mystique showed up and made Tobias and Allana mad at me and then Tobias broke up with me. Everything just kept happening until I was too angry and overwhelmed to deal with it anymore."

"Ashley, you need to talk to someone about this. You need to tell Tobias." He said stroking my hair like he did when I was little and sad about something. I didn't even care that he called me Ashley.

"What's the point? He doesn't care. He won't even talk to me."

"He doesn't understand and he won't until you tell him. He deserves to know." He pulled me away from him and turned me to face him. "He deserves to know." I nodded and stood.

"Thanks, Dad." I said wiping the tears from my face.

"No problem." He said and walked me to the door. "No go tell him." He repeated and we parted ways.

I stood in front of Tobias's door for a second trying to compose myself before I took a deep breath and knocked. The door pushed open in response, indicating that it wasn't completely closed to begin with. I stood in the doorway and watched as Tobias, who was stretched out on his bed, looked up from the book he was reading.

"May I come in?" I asked. He nodded and sat up on his bed as I walked in and closed the door behind me.

"Brittany and I broke up." He said gesturing to the chair across from him.

"Why." I asked, not really caring. But I figured he brought it up for a reason.

"When I got home Professor X told me what happened at school. I called Brittany and she pointed you out as the bad guy. After some arguing I realized that I'd rather bang my head against the wall so I ended it." I just nodded. In any other situation I would have laughed. I would have even joked about it but I just didn't have the energy.

"Jasper, I'm sorry." He said taking my hand in his. I almost pulled away out of shock.

"For what?" I asked, surprised that he was the one apologizing.

"You were going through a tough time and instead of being there for you I was jealous and made things worse. I should have talked to you and I'm sorry. I didn't realize that the attack would affected you as much as it did"

"It wasn't just the attack." I confessed. I opened the door and now I have to follow through. My heart started pounding and my mind screamed "ABORT!"

"Jas. Talk to me. What's going on?" He took both of my hands into his and gave me a look that said you could be a serial killer and I will still understand. I looked away.

"You remember after the attack when I woke up and Hank made you and Allana leave?" He nodded. "Well when you left he…He told me that I…that I had a miscarriage." I looked back at his face. He wasn't looking at me anymore. He was looking down at our hands, his eyes racing left to right. As though he was reading my words in a foreign language and was trying to translate. But once the translation sunk in he pulled away from me, his hands separating from mine, and he turned away from me. My heart dropped. Before I could even breathe he turned back around to me.

"A miscarriage Jasper? You had a mis…you were…and you didn't."

"I didn't know!" I stood and grabbed his arm. "I didn't know until Hank told me."

"And you didn't tell me after you found out!" He pulled away again. "You should have told me."

"When?! When my dad showed up out of no where? When Mystique was running around pretending to be me?" I walked over to him and looked him in the eyes. "When you were breaking up with me? When would have been the perfect time to tell you?" We stood there, frozen in silence. Just when I thought I couldn't hold my breath any longer Tobias took me into his arms.

"You should have told me. You shouldn't have had to go through this alone." I buried my head into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." I whispered into his shirt.

"Don't be." He replied holding me tighter.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."