Chapter Two: Torn

"Wow, you really are excited to see me aren't you?" John said with a smirk and ran a hand through his hair. He wasn't sure why he had stepped out from the trees and approached Rogue to begin with, and now he had no idea what to say to her. Any sane person in his shoes would have just turned around and headed back to the hideout and forgotten all about the mansion and its inhabitants, but seeing Rogue all by herself like that, in an outfit that looked positively skimpy on her because he had never seen her not completely covered in clothes, had made a small voice in his head speak up. And the next thing he knew he was standing right next to her, looking down on her face.

She had looked so gorgeous, even more than he remembered. But then she had, of course, noticed him, and now she just looked confused and a little bit angry with a frown on her forehead and her arms crossed protectively in front of her chest.

"What the hell are you doing here, John? Out to torch the mansion huh? Spying on us?" She scowled at him.

"It's Pyro, not John," John corrected before he shrugged. "And nope, I had no intention on torching the place. Not before I steal a bed at least."

Rogue opened her mouth as to say something, but then closed it and just frowned some more, probably waiting for him to explain. John saw no need to explain about the uncomfortable beds at the hideout, so he just changed the topic.

"So, you and the popsicle aren't doing well are you?" John said with a smirk. He was not surprised. How anyone could have bothered staying with Bobby for so long was a mystery to him, he was surprised Rogue hadn't dumped him a long time ago.

Rogue's jaw dropped, and she stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before she actually got her mouth to work. "You…You eavesdropping sneak!

"Hey, I'm the bad guy you know, the rebel-ly type," John said, using Jubilee's words from earlier, "it's what we do, you know. It's why the girls like us."

"Well, count me out of those girls, you creep. That was a private conversation! I'm so gonna…" She took a step closer to him, all hints of confusion switched to pure anger.

John snickered. "Yeah, just exactly what are you going to do with that?" he said and nonchalantly leaned against the trunk of a tree, something that only seemed to make her even angrier.

"I'm gonna call Logan and get him to skewer you!"

"Oooh, now I'm really scared. The big bad Wolverine out to get me."

Rogue took another step closer to him and jabbed him in the chest with her index finger. "Or I'll just take you out myself. I'm sure it wouldn't take much."

"Oh, Rogue, you are really hurting my manly pride now. Only, as far as I remember there isn't much you can do to me. Once yeah, sure, you could have taken me out using only your pinkie finger, but now? You're just a human, nothing to worry about."

John never saw the fist that came flying through the air, not until it connected with his jaw. His head snapped backwards with the force of it, and he slammed his head into the trunk of the tree. Pain flared both places and he uttered a pain-filled groan. He clenched his eyes shut and at the same time felt the coppery taste of blood on his tongue. His hand went to his lips, and he touched it gingerly. His fingers came away smudged with blood from where he'd bitten himself when Rogue punched him.

"Why the hell did you do that?" he asked and spit the blood to the ground before he wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"To make you shut up. I'm not just a human, I'm still an X-Man, and even if I don't have my powers I'm not defenceless. I told you I wouldn't have any problem taking you down." Rogue looked rather pleased with herself, and John used the opportunity when she wasn't paying attention to launch himself at her and grab her shoulders, pressing her against the trunk of the tree behind her.

She let out a small moan as her back connected with the tree. It had to be more because of the shock, because he hadn't pushed her hard against it, nothing that would hurt her. Now he kept his grip on her shoulders and held her against the trunk, slowly leaning in towards her.

"Don't get cocky now," he whispered, just barely loud enough for her to hear it.

Rogue squirmed, trying to get loose of his hold, but was finding it difficult. Someone had obviously trained since he left the mansion, because she didn't seem to be able to just shrug him off. Okay, so maybe it had been a bad idea to slug him like that, but she couldn't stand the way he was smirking and talking. He was just so full of himself, he always had been. Always wanting to show how cool he was, how powerful he was. That act might work on fifteen year olds, but now it just seemed stupid. And why had he come back here? Just to pick on her, to mock her? Well, fuck him, he could mock all he wanted to, she couldn't care less. He'd been a friend once, but he wasn't anymore. He was a traitor, and she really didn't want anything to do with him. There was no part of her that was happy to see him, not at all. Or well, she was maybe a tad bit happy to see him and know that he hadn't gotten himself killed on some stupid Brotherhood mission at least.

She stopped moving and just glared at him, waiting for him to get tired of this and just leave. Unfortunately he didn't seem to be in a hurry, because he just stared at her and didn't move to let her go.

"You've changed," he said suddenly, surprising Rogue. He was saying it so calmly, like he was just stating a fact and she hadn't just punched him in the face. Like they were old friends, and not enemies. She didn't know what to say, so she stuck with acting like he didn't have that look in his eyes, like he was just the same insufferable brat he had once been.

"Well, you haven't," she said when he didn't seem to feel the need to say anything else, but as the words left her lips she could hear that it didn't seem like she really meant it. She bit her bottom lip and hoped he wouldn't notice. That he would just let her go and vanish. This was getting weird, him and her out here. It was something with the way he was looking at her. She saw something in his eyes that she hadn't seen before. They seemed harder, older, more serious, and she had no idea what to make of it.

"Really?" he said with scepticism on his voice and leaned closer to her, putting his mouth right next to her ear. "Not at all?"

Rogue swallowed hard and tried to think of something to say, but was finding it hard to think with him this close. She could feel his breath on her skin, and it was rather distracting. He had never been like this before, this close, this intimidating. He might have made an advance or two on her earlier, but that hadn't been anything she took seriously, just a horny teen playing around, trying to get attention. But now things were different. She hadn't seen him since he left the mansion, and that was years ago. And it was clear he had changed during that time, but she just couldn't admit it. Couldn't admit that it was something about the way his hands were tightening on her shoulders that made her pulse beat harder.

"Nope, you are still the same old sneak. Nothing new there." Rogue flinched and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. That did not come out as she had intended it to. She had tried to sound casual and like she didn't care, but her voice had betrayed her, and with the way it had broken at the end it wasn't hard to figure out that she didn't really mean it. Or well, he had acted like a sneak, with the eavesdropping and all, but he was not the same. Now she felt like it was only a façade, some attitude that he wore out of habit. It was something about him that made her doubt that he was still that same old sarcastic and annoying teen he had been. He seemed more grownup in a way. Which maybe wasn't that weird, he was older than when she had last seen him, of course he seemed older.

John pulled away from her so his eyes met hers again. His gaze was intense, and the grin he wore faded slowly.

Rogue was about to make another attempt on getting lose when he suddenly leaned in. She felt his lips on hers and froze instantly, her eyes widening. That was…unexpected.

John could feel Rogue tense and pulled away. He chuckled a little, but it soon died. He had no idea why he had just done that, why he had kissed her like that. It wasn't like he had planned it, it just…happened. Maybe it was the smell of her, or the way she looked at him. All he knew was that before he could think it through his lips were against her. And it seemed to have surprised her as much as him by the way she went completely rigid.

"Heh…" he started to say. He had no idea what to say, but he didn't have to worry about that as Rogue seemed to snap out of it right that instance.

"Why the hell did you do that?!" she shrieked and squirmed worse that ever. John let go of her and took a step backwards before she decided she needed to start punching him again. She certainly seemed more than tempted.

"I—"

"I'm with Bobby remember! You can't just go around and kiss other guys' girlfriends like that!"

John just stared at her, waiting for her to shut up. Which she did after calling out some more profanities. She seemed to be tapping into a vocabulary only Wolverine could be responsible for teaching her.

"I thought you and Bobby weren't doing all that great," he said plainly, which only caused her to flare up again.

"It's none of you business!"

John held up his hands in defeat as he backed away. He couldn't help but to smile though. She looked quite hot when she was all fired up like this.

"What are you smiling at?!" Rogue demanded.

"Nothing," John said and grinned wider.

"I'm going now, and you better be gone by the time I get back to the mansion and tell Logan just where you are. I'm sure he would love to sharpen his claws on a Brotherhood mutant."

There was something about the way she said "Brotherhood" that showed nothing but hate. Obviously she didn't see the same in them as John had once done. He had been so excited to join them, to tap into his full potential. Well, he didn't really blame her though, being kidnapped by their leader might make most people hesitant to joining them.

"Come one, we were friends once weren't we? You can't hate me that bad just because I left you?"

Rogue crossed her arms in front of her chest again and looked away from John. She had wanted to just say that it wasn't why she hated him, that she hated him because he was one of them now, one of the bad guys. But there was something stopping her. Maybe it was more truth in what John had said, maybe she was angry with him for leaving her, not for leaving the X-Men? But no, that was stupid. She had been with Bobby at the time, and John was only their friend, or actually, he was mostly Bobby's friend.

She had always been a little annoyed with him, with the way he was always showing off, always acting up. But, she had to admit, she had found him a bit fun from time to time too. And she had always found him attractive, like, purely look-wise.

Rogue sighed and lowered her face to the ground. She was not going to admit, not even to herself, that she'd had a crush on John, and that she had been truly upset when he left because that meant she couldn't see him anymore. She was not going to admit that, even if it was just a little bit true.

"Well, you're awfully quiet all of a sudden," John said and Rogue peered up at him. He wasn't smirking now, he was just looking at her with a mildly confused look. She didn't blame him, she was just as confused herself.

"I have to go," she whispered and turned around, starting off towards the mansion. But before she had taken two steps she felt his hand on her shoulder, stopping her. She didn't turn around, but she didn't try and leave either.

"Hey, I'm sorry about… you know, kissing you and all. I didn't mean to, it was just…well…"

"It's okay. It's not like Bobby would care either way. " Rogue said, bitterness tainting her voice. She really wasn't sure he would have cared if she went out with someone else. She had a sneaking suspicion he wanted to do so himself only hadn't gotten around to actually break up with her yet. They really were doomed, so that wasn't her biggest concern. Her biggest concern was that one of their enemies, one she was supposed to fight against, had just kissed her, and some part of her had liked it and wanted more.

"Why don't you just break up with him then?"

"Because… Heck, I don't know, just because."

"He never was good enough for you."

Rogue turned around slowly and John's hand dropped from her shoulder. "What do you mean?" she asked tentatively.

"What I just said. He wasn't good enough for you. Too boring."

"And who would you think better suited then?" Rogue asked and stared him boldly in the eyes. She wasn't sure what had gotten into her, she was going through some major mood swings. From angry to upset to…flirtatious? She must be going insane. Maybe John was just some hallucination, a figment of her insanity. Well, if that was so, maybe she should just go with it. Might as well enjoy going crazy.

"Well," John said and took a small step closer to her, which put him straight in front of her. She could see him leaning closer and for a moment considered just turning around and getting the hell away. It wasn't like he had her cornered, all she needed to do was turn away and leave, but her feet seemed unwilling to obey her mind. And then the rest of her body seemed to rebel as well, and she found herself leaning closer to him. Yupp, she had to be going crazy, because this was really not like her. A moment ago she hadn't even wanted to talk about other guys with Jubilee, now she wanted to kiss one? Her mind was practically spinning.

Then, for the second time that day, his lips met hers, and this time she didn't tense up. That small voice in the back of her mind that called out that she needed to get away and not do something she would regret, was pushed behind a door which was securely locked. Right now she didn't act rationally, she acted on impulse, and to be honest, she was very much enjoying it.

John's lips were so very different from Bobby's. Bobby was always cold, like he had been outside in the middle of the winter, but John was the exact opposite, he was warm. And that heat seemed to spread through her body as he deepened the kiss.

Soon she felt his hands on her waist, and then he pulled her close, pressing her against his body. Her arms wound around his neck. The little voice in the back of her mind was furiously knocking on the door now, urging her to leave before she did, or well, continued to do something she most definitely would regret in a moment. But Rogue really didn't care. Now all she cared about was the way John's tongue slid along her bottom lip. She opened her lips and let her own tongue meet his, intensifying the kiss.

John was not sure how this had happened, how he suddenly found himself making out with Rogue in the back of the garden back at Xavier's school. First of all, he had never intended to come back. Secondly, he had never intended to talk to the X-Men on friendly terms again, thirdly, he had definitely had no intention to meeting Rogue and kissing her. Or having her suck at his tongue like she did now…and oh, that was good… and he never…oh, and her fingers caressing his neck and…

John forgot what it was he had never intended to do and just went with it. He had no idea why Bobby would ever fight with her, why he would do anything other than make out with her all day long, because, damn! She really knew how to do this. Pyro hadn't kissed anyone for the last months, and certainly couldn't remember it being like this, because this was just…hot. Rogue made the most pleasurable little sounds as he let his hands slide up her back and her lips were so soft, so incredibly soft.

He might have dreamed about this from time to time when he still lived at the mansion, but he had never come even close to reality in his dreams, because this was so much better.

Just as he lifted his hands to pull her hair away a shout echoed through the garden.

"ROGUE-Y!" It was Jubilee, of course it was Jubilee, and judging by the sound she wasn't far from where John and Rogue were standing.

John pulled away from Rogue and mumbled a few well-chosen phrases. He did not want to get interrupted, not now, not when he'd had Rogue in his hands, a Rogue that for some reason didn't seem to despise him as much as he had always thought she did. Give it to Jubilee to make her appearance at the worst possible moment. He quickly looked around himself. They were standing on the edge of the forest, among the trees, but Jubilee would spot them the instant she came around the hedges that was planted between here and where she was further up in the garden.

John debated what to do, whether he should just leave or not, but a quick look at Rogue did not favour the first. He didn't want to leave. Or, well, he wanted to leave before Jubilee came, he just didn't want to leave Rogue. Not when she, for some strange reason, didn't seem to hate him. He decided he would just have to hide for the moment. But, he did not want to hide alone.

He grabbed Rogue's hand and pulled her along with him as he stepped in amongst the trees. As they rounded the trunk of a large tree he pushed her against it, so that it was in-between them and the mansion. John positioned himself in front of Rogue, just so they wouldn't been seen, not at all because it meant he could push himself against her.

He looked at Rogue with a small smirk on his face, hoping they could take up where they'd left off a moment earlier. Her head turned to the side, towards the sound of Jubilee's shouting, and she closed her eyes for a moment. "Maybe I should go talk to her," she whispered.

"Or maybe you should stay here with me until she leaves?" John said and grinned wider. "I promise I won't bite." He lifted a hand and stroked her hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered on her cheek, gently brushing against her soft skin.

Rogue rolled her bottom lip into her mouth and bit down on it. John couldn't take his eyes off it, and as she let it go he leaned in and kissed it, sucking it gently into his own mouth for a second.

As he pulled away and met Rogue's eyes she was blinking rapidly, and he noticed her chest rising as she pulled for her breath. She seemed quite affected by him and he loved it.

"Uhm, okay, maybe I'll just stay here…with you…yeah…" Rogue said, her southern drawl heavier than usual.

"I like that idea," John said before he leaned in and gently pressed his lips to the soft skin of her neck, nuzzling it, alternating between small kisses and nibbling.

Rogue rested her hands against his chest, feeling his warmth as his mouth slid over her skin. Then his lips moved to her mouth, finding her lips in a kiss. Rogue met them eagerly, kissing back and deepening the kiss. She wasn't thinking about this, was just enjoying herself, enjoying John. She knew she shouldn't be doing this, but she just didn't care. John was the enemy, she was cheating on Bobby, she was ignoring her best friend who was trying to find her—these things just didn't matter now, all that mattered was him and his lips.

"ROGUE! Where are ya? I need to talk to ya!" Jubilee's voice cut through the forest, making Rogue wince. It seemed like she was headed straight for them, she had to be right by where Rogue had first seen John. It wouldn't take her long to find them where they were standing, all she needed to do was step just inside the forest.

Rogue broke the kiss and a small sigh escaped from her lips. It didn't seem like Jubilee was giving up that easily. "I should go to her," she said.

"Why?" John said.

"Because she'll not give up until she find me, and it might be something important. And…We really shouldn't be doing this." The moment John's lips hadn't been touching hers it seemed like her guilt came flowing back. This was so wrong, just the fact that it felt amazing didn't change that. She was still with Bobby, she couldn't do this to him, couldn't betray him. Couldn't make out with a guy she hadn't talked to in years. Couldn't ignore Jubilee.

She should have taken John to Storm so she could talk to him. She should get him to leave. She should leave herself. Anything but make out with him. She was so stupid, getting caught up in the kisses. But it wasn't only the kisses, it was the fact that someone was showing interest in her. Bobby hadn't done that in a while, not like this. Maybe she was just vain, or maybe she was just stupid. But, she wasn't stupid enough to keep it going any longer, not when Jubilee might find them any moment.

"I'm sorry," Rogue said and stepped away from John, heading towards where Jubilee was calling from. She bit her lip and lowered her face to the ground. She was feeling torn, one side wanting to forget all that she should and just stay, the other being the responsible part. And, now it seemed like the last one was winning. She had been staying with the X-Men for too long, she couldn't do anything she thought was wrong.

She stepped out from amongst the trees and saw Jubilee further off. She was standing with her back to her, walking around the garden, searching for her.

"Hey, Rogue!" John suddenly called out and Rogue immediately stopped and turned around.

John smiled softly at her, so unlike the smirk he usually had on his face. "I'll see you around, 'kay?"

Rogue beamed and nodded before she had time to realise that she should have said no, should have told him to stay the fuck away. John waved and turned around. Before she knew it he had vanished among the trees and it was only her left.