It took two days for Lydia to get over what Nate referred to as 'the incident'. Little eye contact had been made between the pyromaniac and young woman, only fleeting awkward glances in the other's direction.

John wasn't stupid. He knew she had a crush on him. At first, it had just been a guess, but the boys had out and out told him she did after she went home the first night.

It made him slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't that she was unattractive, or even unappealing. In fact, he thought she was rather cute in a dorky, girl next door kind of way. In a dorky, human girl next door kind of way. It was that second part that threw him for a loop. It seemed…wrong. He was tempted to tell her about his mutation –the three of them hadn't even hinted at the possibility of any of them being anything other than human- but he found himself…reluctant. Not that he was ashamed of his mutation or anything. He just didn't want to lose her attention.

His brown eyes slipped over to her bored features. Lydia didn't seem to notice, her eyes blinking heavily as she struggled to stay awake. The light of the television lit up her face in an almost erotic matter, flickering and shifting across the soft curve of her cheekbones. Entertaining the thought of the bright colours being replaced with the shimmer of a flame, he felt stiffening in his jeans. Swallowing, the mutant turned his attention back to the movie.

"I saw that, John." Nate smirked from his place on the floor, continuing to write in the darkness. Apparently, the little freak had a penpal.

Lydia cast the boy a queer look, "What?" She watched the man's olive skin darken lightly, "What'd I miss?"

Shaking his head, the bearded man looked up to the screen. "Nothing, kitten."

Shrugging it off, she did the same, not noticing the pyrokentic's relief when she did. "Where's Bren?"

"Swim meet. Then he's goin' out with Rox."

"Ah." She nodded, "He bringing Roxy back with him?"

"Who's Roxy?" Pyro asked, confidence returning quickly.

Nate stood, brushing off his track pants as he took the bowl to the kitchen. He flicked the living room light on as he did so. "Brendan's girlfriend."

"You'll like her," Lydia assured the new comer, "She's awesome."

"Yeah, to you maybe."

"Don't be jealous, baby, you know he still loves you best of all." She winked at Nate, who grinned lewdly at her in return.

"Everybody does."

Her eyes slipped back to John, "What's the verdict there, Johnny?"

He bristled slightly at the nickname, but only raised a brow. "Verdict?"

"Yeah. You love Nate best of all?"

"Love him?" He echoed, a wicked smirk on his lips, "I'm not even sure if I like him yet."

With a giggle, the girl shook her head. Her long red head flowing over her face like a curtain as Nate glared at him. "Oh you guys are bitches."

Stifling a yawn, Lydia stood, cracking her arms above her head. She didn't notice her t-shirt ride up a few inches, but John did. His dark eyes followed the thin maroon material slide upwards. The sight of her bare skin made his head spin a little bit.

Good god he needed to get laid. He entertained the idea of going to a mutant bar, but had no idea where one was. If the Brotherhood hadn't fell apart he would've had his pick of eager women, just waiting for the chance to have a roll in the sack with the infamous Pyro…but he squashed the idea when he remembered they hadn't stuck around long after that. That they were attracted not to the fire, but all the smoke and mirrors that went along with it. They wanted a taste of glory and for once in his life…John didn't. He had enjoyed the past few years of his life. Having a family. Being a normal, average teenager.

He didn't want to go backward. He blinked when he realized he was being stared at.

"You okay, dude?" Nate asked, eying the other man's hand curiously with black concerned eyes, "You seem a little…"

"Out of it." Lydia finished, her light eyes watching him with a softness. Her hand slipped over his forehead and she frowned, "I think you're running a fever."

He pulled away from her, shaking his head. "I'm fine." There was a hoarse note in his voice, but she nodded.

"Alright, if you say so." She shrugged. Her hand slipped into the front pocket of her jeans as she sighed. "What time is it?"

"Like, seven thirty."

She made a noise of discontent before dropping back onto the couch with a heavy limpness in her bones. "God damn it."

"What?" He asked, snickering as she pursed her lips at him.

"It's too early for bed."

"Go lay down in my bed," Nate offered, "Roxy'll wake ya when she comes in."

Lydia ran her tongue over her teeth. Her eyes went to John's, "Would you consider me a totally ignorant bitch if I did?"

"What does it matter?"

"Uh, you're new, I'm still trying to make a good impression." The woman's eyes were fluttering at him, but he knew it wasn't a come on.

He shrugged, "It's fine. Go to bed."

"Thank you." With nothing else to say, her slender form disappeared down the hall.

"So." Nate was smirking again. "What's up?"

"Nothing."

"You think she's hot."

John rolled his eyes. "So?"

The man shrugged. "It's okay. I mean. She thinks you're hot too, guy."

"Yeah, I know." Pyro said, looking back at the television as the credits rolled.

"Gonna try anything with her?" Nate asked, rooting for through the cabinets.

"No."

"Oh, good, because I really didn't wanna read you the riot act for making a play on our girl."

There were a lot of things in that statement that struck the mutant as odd, but kept quiet on the matter. Instead, he picked up the remote and began flipping through channels. This went on for approximately ten seconds before a loud shriek of "what the fuck!" rang through the air.

"Nathaniel for the love of god, man! You are too old to leave that shit out!" Lydia screamed. "At least not the kinky- oh, what's that?"

The shock wore off and John looked questioningly over at Nate. He shrugged in response, his lewd smile back in place. Deciding not to even ask, the pair went back to the History channel.

-Two Hours Later-

Roxy and Lydia were gossiping a few feet away from the guys. Ignoring them. Apparently Brendan had said something rather insensitive to his girlfriend, and now vengeance was being exacted.

"So... What? We're just going to sit here and pretend we don't see them all night?" Lydia asked, not entirely understanding the concept, "How is that punishing him? It sounds like you're punishing me, there, Bright Eyes."

Roxy scoffed, smiling at her. "I'm not. Besides, I haven't seen you in like, three days. What've you been up to?"

"Not much," The other woman sighed, running a hand through her already mused red hair. "Classes are getting to me already."

"It's been a day."

"I know. I think I'm screwed."

"I agree." Roxy said, moving to lay in the woman's lap, "Speaking of screwed…what's with you and the new guy?"

"Who? John?"

"Is that his name?" She asked, raising her voice, "nobody introduced us." Brendan, who feared his girlfriend's wrath, ignored her.

"Do you want me to?"

"No, Di, we're ignoring them, remember?"

"Yes!" She rolled her eyes, "But I don't see why we have to ignore Nate and John because Brendan was stupid enough to call you-"

"Don't say it, Di."

"-Fat. You're not fat." Lydia told her. "You could shop at BabyGap for christsakes, you are not faaaat." She repeated, drawing it out. "Right Brendan?"

"Damn right. It was a moment of idiocy on my part." He admitted, looking over at them, "Besides, B, you know you're gorgeous."

Her mocha features darkened dramatically and she sat up a bit. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," He told her before going back to the boys, "Never get in a committed relationship, fellas, it's a lot of fuckin' work."

"Really?" Nate said, "'Cause it looks like Lydia's the one doing all the damage control."

"Speaking of damage control," Brendan's light eyes went over to John, who looked back with a bored stare, "you read Johnny here the riot act?"

"No, he's not gonna make a play."

"Oh the fuck he isn't!"

Lydia sighed, "Guys. Seriously? I'm sitting right here," to prove her point she gave Nate a light prod in the back with her foot, "I can hear you."

"Oh, right."

A/N: Trailer for Everything Changes is up on youtube. It was done by littlemotel410 and is Amazing. Here's the link, just take out the spaces:

http:/www. youtube .com/watch?v=gxiH0UYx4Mg&feature=BF&playnext=1&list=QL