A/N: Thank you again for all the reviews. Yes, the kiss was early, but I'm using it as my own lame excuse for a plot device. Don't worry, things are going to take a much more realistic pace. Egad! These things just keep getting shorter and shorter... Would you rather have faster updates or longer chapters? Put it in a review! Man, checking reviews is just like Christmas. But enough about that. On with the story!

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Kurt glared at Rogue angrily.

"You aren't going to tell, right?"

Rogue didn't flinch.

"Why shouldn't I?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"Come on, Rogue! I don't go telling about your personal life. Besides, I think..." Kurt looked back at Laura, "I think she's been drinking."

"What?" Rogue asked, more in disbelief than shock. "How is that even possible?"

"She probably took it out of Wolverine's stash. You know he HAS to have one somewhere," Kurt guessed. "I doubt she even knew what it was. She doesn't know much about food."

"I know lots about food..." Laura declared, sleepily, still lying on her back.

Kurt and Rogue walked a little further away and continued their conversation, away from their subject.

"Please, Rogue!" Kurt begged. "If Professor Xavier finds out, he could make her leave! She didn't know any better. And if she left... I think I'd go with her," Kurt added, sadly.

"Geez, Kurt, you really care about her," Rogue observed, softly.

Kurt paused, looking at the ground.

"Yeah, I guess I do. She's kind of like me, you know? When I came to America, I didn't know a thing about how to act. All my schools in Germany were... stricter. Fancy private schools, you know? Not as many people to hide from. People there didn't tolerate blue demons, and people here don't tolerate people who act like robots."

Rogue nodded silently.

"I think she could use my help," Kurt finished.

He looked up, slightly embarrassed at his confession.

"Wow, Kurt," Rogue began, with a newfound respect for her foster brother, "I didn't think you felt that way about... anything, really."

"Heh, yeah. I crack jokes when I'm uncomfortable," Kurt explained. "And, well, I guess I do when I'm not, too." He smiled.

"Well, I guess she does need some friends," Rogue remarked thoughtfully. "I guess I could help her with the whole 'robot' thing."

"She's not that bad now," Kurt explained. "It's just the way she thinks, mostly. She can't really help it. She mostly just needs to know how to fit in."

Rogue looked up.

"Well, I better get. I've got dinner duty tonight."

Kurt looked up at her.

"Rogue... did you mean what you said about being my big sister?"

Rogue stopped, not expecting this question.

"I mean, I was joking around, but, well... I guess you could say that I've been thinking a lot about our mother. You know, how I can't really write her off or anything. So, uh, yeah. I guess you could say that I'm thinking about things a bit differently. Not that this means I'll drive you around town or anything," she finished with a smirk.

"Well..." Kurt started, mischievously, "you think you could help me carry Laura up to her bed?"

Rogue looked over at Laura, who was peacefully asleep in the summer sun. Just when she thought she and Kurt were kindred spirits...

"Alright, fine," she half snarled, inwardly smiling, "but you owe me."

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Laura awoke in her bed with a splitting headache. Struggling to see through the fog of her hangover, she wondered what could have been in those drinks. At first she thought they were like the antidepressants she was forced to take at HYDRA, but now she wondered why anybody would bother to drink anything that would leave you this miserable. She suddenly realized that part of the reason she couldn't see was that it was dark, with only the moonbeams streaming through the big bay window to illuminate the room.

"Morning, sleepyhead. We thought you'd never wake up," Rogue said from the shadows.

Laura groaned loudly as she sat up. Her head swimming, she suddenly remembered kissing Kurt, and the thought hit her like a bombshell. He wasn't unattractive, but STILL. She didn't get the significance of it, but her intuition told her it was a big deal.

"Did I...?" she started, worriedly.

"Lock lips with Kurt? Heh, yeah," Rogue replied. "It was quite the smooch."

Laura groaned again.

"What was wrong with me?"

Rogue smiled at the small assassin's naiveté.

"That's booze, girl. You've got to be careful or you'll do something stupid without even thinking about it. Although it was pretty stupid in the first place to get into Wolverine's stash," Rogue observed.

"Wha... what time is it?" Laura asked after a brief pause.

Rogue looked at the bedside clock. "9:30," she announced. "You've been out for four and a half hours."

Laura groaned for the third time.

"What are you doing in my room?" she inquired.

"Professor Xavier didn't like you being alone so much. I overheard him talking with Beast about it, and so I volunteered. Kurt helped me move my bed, and I'll get the rest of my things tomorrow," came Rogue's reply. "We're both loners, so I figure we should get along fine."

Laura pondered this. It was nice of Rogue to try and be nice, but why HER? She wasn't special. She was a hopeless, socially inept failure.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she finally asked.

"Because you're a fellow mutant. We've got to stick together, you know?" Rogue answered. She paused. "Alright, you can blame Kurt. He kinda told me you were lonely," The southern girl admitted.

Laura started. Was she that transparent? Everybody seemed to be able to read her mind, and that's exactly what she'd been trained to avoid all her life.

"Kurt really likes you, you know," Rogue remarked.

Laura was pretty much in the dark about love, but she was starting to understand affection.

"How do you know?" she pressed, almost distrusting.

"I... I'm his sister," Rogue finally said.

Boy, it felt good to finally say those words. Almost as if an entire part of her had been in prison and she'd just unlocked it. She smiled.

"Oh," Rogue added, "I heard you've been asking about being normal..."

Did EVERYBODY know?

"...and I think I can help you with that."

Laura smiled in spite of herself.

"By the way, I saved you some dinner. I thought you might be hungry," Rogue offered.

Laura took the plate and dug in, quickly wolfing down a whole piece of chicken and some rice. She hesitated at the vegetables, but ate them just as quickly after an experimental taste. Handing the plate back to Rogue, she lay back down on her pillow.

"Rogue?" Laura asked.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"It's alright. Kitty and Jean kind of did the same thing for me, and it really helped me feel like part of the gang," Rogue mentioned.

"Do you think I can achieve normality?" Laura asked, sleepily.

"Well, the first thing is to teach you how to talk like a teenager," Rogue smirked. "But I reckon we can get you there."

Laura smiled as blissful sleep enveloped her. Rogue smiled at the young mutant before turning and walking across the room to her own bed. She made a mental note: Tomorrow, after school. Being normal 101. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.