Bobby paced through his dorm, his eyes red and sore from tears. He wiped sweat from his brow as he waited for his roommate, friend and, most of all, lover, to return from the Danger Room. The mutant had delayed this decision for far too long. The tears dropping from his face freezing before they touched the ground mirrored the pain in his heart as they shattered. He jumped as the door burst open.

"Goddamn," exclaimed an exhausted the young man rustling his shaggy, brown hair. "I absolutely hate when that fucking Boy Scout is running training. I know it isn't supposed to be easy but why is he such a dick?"

Bobby forced a chuckle, unsure of what to say. "Yeah, he can be sometimes, can't he?" John cocked his head to the side, startled and curious.

"What? You always defend our great and fearless leader," he moved in closer pulling the man who held his heart close. "What's wrong babe?"

Bobby broke away, tears flowing free with the task now at hand. "Us, John. We are." Fear waved over the other mutant's face as his eyes went dull.

"What are you talking about? Did I do something wrong?" he grasped at every straw that came to mind. "Is it about Piotr? I was only doing that to get that jealous look on your face. I can cut back on pda. I know you hate it. I will stop bugging you about your parents. Is that it? God, Bobby, I didn't mean to make you mad."

He looked down and just shook his head. "John it isn't you." A questioning look returned his gaze as Bobby looked back to his roommate. "It's Warren."

"Warren? What did he do that has you so upset."

"You didn't let me finish," John nodded and apologized as Bobby took in a deep breath, as if he were drowning in honey. "It is Warren and," hesitation flooded through his body. For a split second, Bobby considered resigning his life to the man he once loved. In one final desire to be happy, the words spewed out like a fire hose rupturing. "I don't love you. Warren proposed and I said yes!"

"What?" as quiet as the first time the two had met, John questioned reality.

"I," Bobby looked down in shame. "I love him. We have been together for about a year. He knew about us, but we couldn't stop. I'm so sorry."

"A year? We have been together for three," he trailed off, flicking his Zippo. "You've been lying to me? Why are you saying all of this, I thought you loved me."

"I did," the stressed answer crept out in a hoarse whisper. "I really did, but I fell for him. I fell hard."

"You lied to me."

"I didn't want to hurt you, John," as he tried to continue, John's voice cut through him as if Wolverine had cut him.

"Pyro."

"What?"

"Call me Pyro."

"John, don't be like that."

The resounding clap startled them both. Bobby found himself looking at the floor as John stared into the ice on his knuckles. They met eyes and their gazes locked. All of the anger and pain rushing from John colliding with the resentment and sorrow from Bobby like a volcanic eruption. In that instant, they snapped, abandoning all reason, completely intoxicated by their emotions.

"You fucking asshole," Bobby screamed as his fist impacted with the underside of John's chin. "You are never happy with anything. You can't be happy unless at least one other person is miserable."

From the ground, John swept his leg into the back of Bobby's knee causing the elder mutant to crash down banging his head on the nightstand. "You're a cheat. You follow all the rules as long as they benefit you." Bobby rolled over, slamming his elbow into John's solar plexus forcing the air out of his chest.

"Me? Don't even talk to me about morality!"

He screamed as he felt the flames lick up his arm, singeing his skin tight shirt. They both looked at John's hand to see the open lighter. "Bobby, I am so so so-"

A shard of ice flew across the floor cutting John's mouth. Rage rivaling Wolverine's flashed in Bobby's eyes pushing John to the brink. Tears gone they bolted up and the argument turned into a death match.

The trademark swoosh filled the room as the air became oven hot; even as all the walls and furniture grew a thick ice casing. John lashed out scorching Bobby's legs, dropping him to the ground. John screamed as the shards of ice pierced his shoulder, throwing him back. Bobby slowly stood, only to be blasted through the wall into Piotr's room by a fireball.

Kitty bolted, screaming, from the room as Bobby donned his ice-armor throwing spears of permafrost towards his now ex-boyfriend. They struck to no avail as John walked into the room engulfed in flames. The walls and floor smoked from changing to frozen to burning so rapidly and repeatedly as the battle wore on.

As the mansion began to blaze, the two remained oblivious. The distant screams only heightened their desire to win, at whatever the cost. Bobby fought for his freedom and heart and remained deadlocked by John's heart and pain. A spear pierced John's left shoulder, frostbite spreading as the frigid icicle froze his blood. Even in his ice form, Bobby could not regenerate the right arm that had been evaporated by a flaming inferno.

They both stopped, breathing hard and shallow. In one last final attempt, they threw their arms forward. Bobby blasting a ray of ice whilst John a stream of dragon fire. A massive explosion threw them out of the mansion, as the building itself caved in from the force.

Warren rushed to an unconscious Bobby, fervently attempting to stir him. Beast tended to his wounds, trying to stop the bleeding from the now flesh shoulder. Marie cried nearly a football field away.

Leaning over the body of the man she loved, she wept deep into the night, until Storm finally drug her away the next day.