Marvel owns the X-men, no profit is to be made from this work.

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It was the kind of early morning Kitty loved, the sort where it was so easy to think you were the only person awake in the whole wide world. The school slumbered behind her with a dusting of freshly fallen snow that was, as of yet, still untouched and wondrous. Warming her hands on a mug of tea, she sat out on the front steps of that very school which had become her whole world, if not her home.

And while homey it might be it still felt too big at times, with there being far too few of them and altogether too many empty rooms. Of the times she had asked the Professor about this his reply was always the same, that it was only a matter of time. With too few students to fill the classrooms, the lessons taught were often done so in the Professors study, the library, the den, or even the garage where Mister Summers tried to muster in them an interest of cars and bikes (all this done under the guise of shop class).

Shaking off these thoughts, the stars above were beautiful and the sky itself still dark as the dawn lingered a lifetime away. Enjoying a sip of the tea she warmed her hands on, it was a coins toss if she really heard a car in the distance or if she just wanted to hear the one she waited on.

Each and every set of lights that crested the blind hill of that distant bend were held against her memory of the car Mister Summers had driven away in, an unassuming Chevy sedan. It was a car that held a special place in her heart ever since she'd made the trip to Xavier's in it riding shotgun. Since then chance and circumstance had her meet a few new faces pulling up that very same car.

Only a couple of weeks before it had been Jones she had met that way, and how it hurt to think of all the time he had spent with Doctor Grey since then. The poor kid had been treated by a quack of a physician thinking to treat his 'insomnia' with prescription after prescription that did more harm than good. Such an eye opening moment in her life she had never experienced before, and ever since she wanted to be there to greet the new faces and help them settle in. Even if that meant on a morning such as this that she had to get up before the sun had bothered to rise, and to half freeze her behind off in the process.

To hear the faint sound of road spray promised that this time she wasn't hearing things, and so she waited out the darkness to be dispelled by the headlights that perfectly fit the ones she remembered. As that unassuming Chevy slowed the gates opened, the fresh snow crushed beneath the tires in a squeak and squawk of protest for the trip up the drive, interrupted only by lazy slap of wipers that now and again cleared the windshield.

Fat were the flakes that fell, their brief lives cut short as they quickly melted against the warm windows of the car. With it still running the driver side door was thrown open with Scott stepping out for a good, long stretch and groan. Waving at him, Kitty got a polite nod back and a smile that showed him to be happy to be home. The school was growing on her in that sense, too. There still were times when she missed her old life, most likely there always would be. But too many painful memories left her home as something she would have had grown out of anyway, the novelty of a normal life worn away and tarnished.

As eager as she was to help, she still remembered pulling up to the school to find herself need some time to take it all in. It was just too big, too grand, and just too much for her to process all at once. So she watched and waited, and in doing so noticed a boy fast asleep in the back, a boy who looked cute as he stirred and woke as Mister Summers opened up one of the back doors. Crouched and hunched, Scott came back holding a bundle of blankets from which a leg tumbled out of, and only then did she realize that it was a another kid, one wrapped up against the cold and seemingly still fast asleep.

"Bobby?" Scott called, to which the boy unspokenly answered.

Thinking he looked like a Bobby, there was something honest and everyday about him, the sort of boy mothers wanted to see their little girls come home with. He jumped out of the car in just jeans and a T-shirt as if the cold didn't bother him, and sitting there herself bundled up against that very same cold, Kitty waited for him to go rummaging for a coat that he must have pulled off somewhere along the drive.

Instead he just looked up at the school as so many others before him had, just standing there in the snow with his hands in his pockets, utterly unperturbed by the flakes that fell to dust his hair. Only as he looked to the school doors did she see a blush, and clearly not from the cold with how he smiled. As her eyes met his, Kitty felt her own cheeks burning from noticing really just how cute he was.

As he smiled at her she was betrayed by her own, smiling right back at him instead of feigning the disinterest that all her friends had advised her to do, well, back when she still had friends who gave her dating advice pulled from magazines.

"Hi, I'm Bobby." At saying this he looked embarrassed, "But you probably already figured that out..."

"Yep, I'm Kitty by the way."

Sipping her tea to hide her smile that just wouldn't go away, she watched as he gave a small wave to Mister Summers before running to the trunk. There he pulled out a ratty old knapsack of the likes that weren't unheard of around the school, not with some of kids having been runaways with John chief among them. Try as she might to cut him some slack, Allerdyce had one of those oblivious personalities that didn't have an ounce of tact.

And while Bobby could have perhaps been a runaway, he sure didn't strike her as a guy who was into hot pink. No, he looked like the kind of guy who would have a duffle that had once seen him through a camping trip before gathering dust until it was needed again. As it turned out, it was an army surplus rucksack, one he easily hefted over his shoulder without any much trouble. The last thing to be pulled out was a skateboard, and that just painted cute and sweet Bobby as a bit of a thrill seeker.

Slipping off her perch as Mister Summers came by, she helped him with the door and had a peek at the kid tucked away in the blanket. She was a cutie for sure, perhaps Chinese in heritage or somewhere there about, and if she was ten Kitty would have been surprised. Whispering a silent 'Thank you' as he passed by, Mister Summers left her alone with Bobby.

"Need a hand?" Kitty asked as she spun on her heel, only to catch Bobby climbing up the stairs looking as though he was getting along just fine.

"I got this." It wasn't bravado or him showing off, just a truthful remark said without a second thought.

Standing there with the door open, that the car was still running hinted that Mister Summers would be back after he got to tucking in the kid for the night, so she shut the door to chase after Bobby. Thinking of just what a boy like him might want to do first after a long drive, the kitchen and something to eat were at the top of her list, well, somewhere after maybe needing to 'check the plumbing' as her father always had so politely said on needing to the washroom.

"You skate?" Kitty asked, looking to make a bit of small talk.

"Yeah, you?"

"Sorry, ice only." Chuckling, she'd never been bold enough to try out skateboarding back in her old life.

"Me too." Bobby replied, and at her curious look he seemed to put the pieces of her puzzled expression together, "Oh! This isn't mine, it's hers."

It was a misunderstanding that came with a pleasant surprise, one that had her find out that Bobby and her shared a hobby. Traipsing into the kitchen with a flourish, Bobby looked instantly impressed if his low whistle was anything to go by. He was clearly just as shy, too, as she had been at first about going for a good rummage in the fridge or cabinets.

"It also doubles as our classroom for Home Ec." Kitty mentioned.

Hoping to make him feel safe, it was the nudge he needed to throw down his rucksack. Rough as he was with his own stuff, she saw him take far more care with the little cutie's skateboard and knapsack, setting them down together with his own stuff. Smiling again, she didn't care if he caught her watching as he made a beeline for the fridge. Standing there gaping, she openly giggled at him and his clear indecision. If anything, the fridge was always well stocked beyond imagining.

"Don't be shy, help yourself." Kitty said as she walked up for a peek down in the freezer drawer.

Having some ice cream in there that she had made during one such Home Ec class, the lesson plans were little more than guidelines than anything writ in stone with how few of them there were. Turning her back to Bobby as to leave him be, by the time she had scooped out a bowl of real, homemade vanilla ice cream, he had a pile of meats and cheeses spread across the island that left him with a dilemma between French's Mustard or Dijon.

Obviously having himself a hankering for a sandwich, Kitty found the leftovers of a day old loaf that someone had made during their last class, "Sorry, all out of Wonder bread."

"Whoa, this looks way better than Wonder bread. Thanks."

Overhearing who she suspected to be Mister Summers off somewhere in the foyer, the front door opened and closed with a quiet click which the early hour insisted on. Headlights flashed in the windows as the garage door rattled open. It was minutes later and from the side door that Scott returned, looking like Mister Dad himself with a mismatched pair of fuzzy socks in one hand and new looking jacket in the other.

"Could you show Bobby to a room once he's ready to hit the hay? We'll worry about something more permanent this afternoon." Scott said in passing as he gathered up the little cutie's skateboard and knapsack.

Nodding her reply, what with her mouth being busy with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream, Kitty wondered just where the girl had been tucked in for the night. Probably off in the teachers wing, somewhere close to Mister Summers in case she woke up feeling lost. The first night away was always the worst, a night often filled with bellyaches born of crying out of homesickness. It got better with time, but there were still some nights when she couldn't sleep. They were the nights spent wondering about all the ifs and buts that might have changed things, nights wondering why her?

Drowning these dour thoughts in ice cream, Kitty watched with undisguised surprise as Bobby wolfed down the monstrous sandwich he had made, "...boys."

"What?"

Realizing she had been overheard through all his munching, Kitty spun off of her stool to take a stroll to the sink. Tossing her empty ice cream tub and spoon in, she did a the few dishes left loitering from someone's earlier midnight snack.

"So, ready to play goldilocks?" Kitty asked after stacking up the done dishes in the strainer.

"Goldilocks?" Bobby asked with a laugh, one she liked.

"This one's too hard, that one's too soft, but this one? This one's just right. Just like Goldilocks. It's a game that lets find you a bed for the night, I've seen Jean play it with a couple of the younger kids to help them settle in. She said it gave them just that bit of control they needed or something like that."

"Sure, let me just wash this real quick and get a drink."

Adding polite and consciences to his qualities, maybe Bobby just came from that kind of family. That in and of itself was a mix bag around the school, that being the students cleaning up after themselves. Her own habit of doing dishes while cooking was something picked up as to keep her hands busy between checking how a dish was coming along, be it Mac 'n Cheese or just the pita pizzas the younger kids loved. Though after a few Home Ec's with Missus Munroe, what she could cook had improved from being that and fish fingers or grilled cheese.

"Tap water? We have a ..." Kitty started, pointing to the water dispenser on the fridge.

A touch of mischief twinkled in Bobby's eyes, one she liked. Watching as the glass frosted over, the water inside looked cold enough that flecks of ice floated inside. Handing it to her, the first sip was beyond ice cold.

"Scott called me a Cryokinetic, whatever that is. I just know the cold doesn't bother me, and I'm never far from a cold drink."

"Anything else?" Kitty asked, her interest long since piqued.

"Uh, nothing I've done on purpose. That's why I wanted to come here."

His answer was eager and hopeful, he obviously wasn't scared of what he could do, and that in itself was something that would be a nice change of pace around the school.

John found out on his birthday of all days after trying to blow out candles that wouldn't die. Jones had to be told he wasn't sick, that he was just different from most folks. And as for herself? She'd let her parents believe she had a habit of sleep walking when they found her down in the living room, or even the basement that one time. The thing was, though, that she remembered falling through the floors after waking up from a nightmare, but that wasn't something she could tell them her nice and normal parents.

Wondering if Bobby's parents knew about him, she couldn't ask that of someone she had met just maybe twenty minutes ago. There was always tomorrow, though, after she showed him around the spare rooms for a game of Goldilocks.

"Goodnight." Kitty whispered, standing at the threshold.

"See you, uh...later today I guess? Think you could show me around some more?" Bobby asked as an afterthought.

"I, uh, I...sure." Kitty stammered, feeling foolish for getting flustered from such an innocent question.

"Cool, it's a date."

With how offhandedly he said it she knew she shouldn't read too much into it, but closing the door to rest her back against it, she felt a goofy smile split her lips. Rushing through the halls that lead to her room, Kitty ghosted through her door because she couldn't trust herself not to slam it behind her. Bouncing into bed to realize there was no way she was getting back to sleep, it was to be a sleepless night born out of thinking about a cute boy and his nice and sincere smile that set her heart aflutter.

"Huh, well, I guess I'll go keep Jones some company. I wonder if anything good is playing this early?"

Ghosting in leaving just as she came, she snuck back down to the kitchen first. If there was one thing she knew about Jones, it was that he liked himself glass of grape juice. Pouring two, she snuck off to the den to greet the new day with the sweetest little night owl she knew.

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A/N: I've always wanted to explore the first X-men movie before it happened, so I thought it'd be fun to do so through a bit of girl meets boy. Gonna mix in a little of both continuities, the Pre and Post DoFP.