I spent a whole hour talking without using apostrophes today (Or is it yesterday? It's 2:19 am, so I guess yesterday). A very strange experience, let me tell you. I never realized how many apostrophes were used in everyday language. For instance, instead of saying "Mike's house," you'd say "the house of Mike." Very strange, no? It made me think about the English language with an entirely new perspective…. (Don't worry, I maintained my use of apostrophes in this chapter!)

midnight-lady123123 – your review helped shape this chapter and the one to follow, thanks :)

Plus, this chapter is longer! Booyah! On that note: chapter three!

Kiss Her Already!

Jubilee leaned against the countertop, chin propped up on her fist. In her other hand, she twirled a spatula like a baton.

She couldn't sleep; she'd fallen asleep with great difficulty last night, and had woken up outrageously early this morning. After lying in bed for half an hour, vainly attempting to fall back asleep, she decided to get up. She'd been recruited by Storm to help on breakfast duty; hence the spatula. She was making pancakes.

Luckily, her cooking skills weren't as terrible as Kitty's, and she thought the end result was actually pretty edible. But that wasn't what was on her mind. Not even close. No, rather, her focus was on something that had been plaguing her since yesterday, robbing her of her sleep. What was up with Bobby? More importantly, what was with the whole 'kiss her already' business?

She peeled a pancake off the bottom of the frying pan and slipped it on top of a precariously piled stack of flapjacks, pouring another half cup of batter onto the grill. Distractedly, she scanned the room, though she already knew only Ororo and Logan got up this early. Correction: Ororo, Logan, and Bobby. Something was up.

The ice mutant stood in the doorway, looking tired, with light circles under his eyes. He gave a massive yawn and said, "Hey."

Jubilee's lips moved in a silent response, no sound actually escaping them. Logan grunted his generic welcome.

"Morning, Bobby," Ororo greeted. "You don't usually get up this early."

"Couldn't sleep," he shrugged. His gaze lingered on Jubilee for a moment as he scanned the room. She absently tugged on the bottom of her faded pink t-shirt, though it didn't really make a difference; a sliver of her midriff stubbornly remained exposed. But that wasn't what had caught his eye.*

He couldn't sleep either? Jubilee mulled over this thought, twirling a lock of her long hair around her finger.

Logan looked up from his cup of coffee and raised an eyebrow slightly. His mouth twitched, like he wanted to smile, but kept a straight face.

"I'm sure," Ororo consoled, a knowing smile on her lips. "Pancake? Jubilee's done an excellent job with them."

"Um, sure," Bobby said, grabbing a plate and delicately relocating three pancakes onto it, avoiding any sort of eye content with Jubilee just as carefully.

He dumped a load of syrup on them, leaning against the counter next to the sink. He wanted to make a swift escape, but mmm, those pancakes were good. "Good pancakes," he commented, making sure to look just to the right of Jubilee's ear.

"Thanks." She stared into the bowl of batter, stirring it slowly, obviously deep in thought.

Logan made another sound in the back of his throat. Bobby looked up to see his smirking face and instantly knew there was trouble brewing.

"Y'know," Wolverine started in a low voice so Jubilee couldn't hear. "You should really…." He trailed off and gave him a look.

"He means," Ororo said, coming to stand next to Bobby under the pretext of washing her used plate. "You should really kiss her soon."

Bobby choked on his mouthful of pancake as his cheeks turned bright red. He put his plate down so he wouldn't drop it and hurriedly exited the room, the amused gazes of Ororo and Logan on his back. Ororo shook her head slightly, and Logan's facial features twitched into a look that was a cross between annoyance and pity. Ororo gave him a smile, as if to say, 'what can you do about it?'

Jubilee looked up just in time to catch Bobby's departure. She looked over at her mentors to check if anything was wrong. All she received was an endearing smile from Storm and nothing at all from the other; he'd gone back to staring at the steaming caffeine in his cup.

She retrieved Bobby's still loaded plate and began finishing off what he left. He was definitely acting strange – well, stranger than normal – she knew that for sure. She had a hunch that it was related to the 'kiss her already' stuff, but….

"Jubilation?"

Jubilee looked up at the mention of her full name. Very few people could say it and survive. She met Ororo's compassionate smile looking rather blank.

"You're pancake is burning," she said, motioning to the pan. Indeed, tendrils of smoke were rising from the pan and its acrid smell stung the nose.

"Dang," Jubilee muttered, and scraped the blackened pancake off the pan. She turned the stove off and started picking thoughtfully at bits that could still be scavenged. At least there was a heaping pile for the rest of the mansion's occupants – though knowing them, it wouldn't last for long.

Logan and Ororo exchanged glances again, though Jubilee didn't notice.

"I wonder when Chuck's gonna tell him," Logan asked, though it was more like a statement. Ororo just smiled, remaining silent as Jubilee came to the conclusion that no part of the pancake could be saved and tossed it in the bin.

"I think he should just kiss her already."

*Waffle points to those who can guess what did. I mean, seriously? Not that hard, people! I even added the next line (long lock of hair) just for it to be a glaringly obvious hint!

Sorry for the totally unepic ending :| not the greatest time of year for me. I have the next chapter all planned out and all that's left to do is write it out. I'll try and get it up tomorrow (which is today, at some more sane hour, I think…).

Review! Review! Review! I do read them! They make me smile! I need smiles tomorrow (today)! Okay, I'm done, but REVIEW!

J. J. Bean