Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides my own ideas and stories.

Chapter 4

A Long Awaited Talk

Time passed and the sounds eventually died out. Kitty watched the shadows of the trees on her wall. The moon was nearly full so it was almost like having a light on. She thought about closing the blinds but was enjoying the gentile movements of the shadows.

Suddenly there was shouting in the hallway. Alarmed, she got up and ran to her door. She unlocked it and jerked it open and saw Bobby and Rogue at the other end of the hallway. Kitty looked at the other doors and saw heads poking out of them as well.

"So what you're saying is that my opinion doesn't mean anything?" Bobby accused Rogue.

"No I'm not saying that at all. God, why don't you listen to me?" Rogue whined.

Kitty went back into her room. She had no desire to listen to another one of their arguments. She never understood why Bobby put up with that. He was too nice of a guy. She lay back down on top of her bed and went back to watching the shadows.

Every once and a while she could hear Bobby and Rogue argue again about who knows what. She tried to ignore them and focused on the shadows. They reminded her of a couple of cats chasing after a piece of string. It was so soothing.

Time passed as the silence continued. She was happy that the argument didn't last very long. Everyone in the mansion seemed so uptight and it made her exhausted. Just when Kitty was going to close her eyes for the night a soft, almost inaudible knock came from her door. Kitty sat up just as her door opened. The moon illuminated Bobby's face as he peered around the door.

"Kitty? Are you still up?" he whispered.

"Bobby? Yeah I'm up. Is everything alright?" she asked concerned.

"I'm not really sure."

He walked in and shut the door. He was already dressed for bed, wearing shorts and a tank top. She sat up on the bed and slid herself more towards the wall, drawing her knees up slightly, leaving room for Bobby to sit. He walked over and sat down heavily with one leg crossed on the bed.

"So what's on your mind, Bobby?" Kitty could only guess at this point.

Bobby just sat there staring down at the floor. The minimal light drastically sharpened the lines of his face. He suddenly looked old and worn out.

"Bobby," her voice almost trembled. It wasn't like him to be that quiet.

"It's…Rogue." He finally said.

"Oh. I heard you two arguing a little bit ago."

"Sorry if that kept you awake. I wasn't planning on arguing with her. She just caught me by surprise."

"I didn't hear any specifics. I poked my head out just for a second to make sure it wasn't anything major, like troops breaking into the mansion again."

Bobby gave a small laugh.

"So what were you arguing about?"

"The cure."

"Figures." Kitty couldn't help herself.

"Yeah, I know. Did you hear her leave?" He finally looked at her.

"No I didn't. Where'd she go?"

"She left for the city. She was going on and on about how she doesn't want to have her power back the whole time she was packing. And, I guess I understand that much. That would be a hard power to live with, not being able to touch anyone she loved. There's nothing quite like bare skin touching bare skin." He looked down at the floor again, a small smile on his face.

A pleasant tingle swept through her body. Kitty couldn't have agreed more and was very glad it was dark in the room so Bobby couldn't see her face turn red again.

"No there's not," she agreed and sounded almost out of breath. This shocked both of them and she saw Bobby looking at her again so Kitty quickly looked away. What was that?

"So." She swallowed composing herself. "Why did she leave now if she's still cured? She is still cured isn't she?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure she is. I mean nothing happened like before when she kissed me earlier."

"You guys kissed when she wasn't cured?"

"Yeah. Once back in Boston at my parents house, just after the raid on the mansion."

She looked up at him. "You never told me that."

"I figured you wouldn't want to know."

Which was true. It was bad enough seeing them in the hall or the lounge kissing, but when Rogue first got cured Bobby had told her how great it was to be able to kiss Rogue finally. Indicating that he had never done it before.

"That's different. Did you think it would be like a normal kiss? That you'd be immune to her power? What happened?"

"Well. We were up in my room. She was changing." He looked down again. "And um, after she was done changing she had grabbed my shoulder and turned me towards her. I gave her my grandmother's elbow length gloves and the urge just came over me. I told her she couldn't hurt me and I went in and she pulled back, but when I went a second time she let me. It only lasted a second or two but it was a good feeling and nothing happened to me. You know how when it's cold out you can see your breath? That's what happened to her so I figured it'd be okay."

Bobby paused for a minuet. Finally he looked back into Kitty's almond eyes. She smiled at him, reassuring him. He smiled weakly back but continued.

"We kissed again. Longer this time and…just a few seconds into it I could feel my energy and power being sucked out of me."

"Oh my God."

"Yeah. It wasn't just that either. It felt like my very life was leaving my body."

"What'd you do?"

"I pulled away completely out of breath. She apologized and I told her it was okay. But in all honesty I was completely scared out of my mind."

"Wow," she breathed.

They both sat there digesting the story. She couldn't believe Rogue would have let Bobby do that. Risk his life for a kiss. Then again she knew how hard it was to hold back feelings. She felt Rogues pain from back then but didn't understand why she left.

"So if she's still cured then why did she leave?"

"Paranoid I guess. She clearly doesn't want to hurt me like that again."

"But the Secretary said not to go unless their powers came back."

"That's what I tried to tell her in the hallway when she told me she was leaving. She wouldn't listen to me. She's so stubborn it's ridiculous."

"Hey, Bobby?"

"Yeah?"

"What exactly happened in the dinning room?"

Bobby looked away from her. She had a feeling she knew what happened but her curiosity got the better of her.

"Well. At first she just put her hand on my thigh and was rubbing it. Then she gradually moved to my inner thigh then my crotch, and I wasn't expecting that and it kind of caught me off guard."

"Wow," was all Kitty could say. Her hunch was right. Rogue was unreal sometimes.

"I know." He looked back up at her. "It's one thing when we're by ourselves but it's another thing in a room full of mutants. And it seems like when all three of us are together she's always hanging on me. I think she's jealous of our friendship."

"That's stupid. She should just be happy that's she has you for a boyfriend."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh come on. You're going to make me say it?"

"Yeah." His smile was illuminated by the moonlight. "I am."

Kitty smiled and looked away for a moment. "Well, you're cute, funny, easy to talk to, you're a good listener, and you act like you really care. But on a deeper more personal level I know that you have a lot on your mind all the time. Your parents, your brother, and the life you could have had. You also worry about protecting all of us. Especially during missions."

"Yeah, except you saved me in the last training."

"Because I'm like you and want to protect everyone."

"And I appreciate it to no end. But there's one thing that I don't get."

"What's that?"

"Why doesn't Rogue seem to see all that in me? It's like she's never completely happy with me."

"It's hard to say."

"No it isn't." Bobby was talking to his feet again. "I think deep down she has feeling for someone else?"

"What? Who?"

"Logan…"

"Logan?" she said disgusted. "Are you crazy? He's old enough to be her father."

"I know it sounds weird, but haven't you ever been attracted to an older guy?"

Kitty thought about it for a minuet. There have been times in her life when she thought an older man was cute but she never felt anything more for them.

"Not that I can say."

"But haven't you ever seen the way she acts around? Always flirty and bubbly, which isn't like her at all. And I've seen how he looks at her too. Almost like a piece of meat."

"Oh come on, Bobby. A piece of meat?"

"You're telling me you've never noticed?"

"No. But then again I don't really pay that much attention to them when they're together."

"You know," Bobby suddenly switched topics. "Rogue never did tell me exactly how she met him. What if something happened between them up in Canada?"

Kitty buried her face in her hand. "Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?"

"But you have to admit that it is a possibility."

"Okay, okay. I'll give you that, but do you know how ridiculous that sounds?"

"Fine. Next time you see them together take a closer look. You'll see what I'm talking about."

"Alright, I will."

They were quiet for a minuet. It was times like this that Kitty had missed. Just talking to a good friend. Even the silence was enjoyable. But just as she was starting to watch the shadows again Bobby spoke again.

"Why won't she tell me about her and Logan in Canada?"

"Bobby," she said remorseful.

"I've straight up asked her and she refuses to answer. She says she crawled into his trailer, then Sabertooth attacked them, and then Cyclops and Storm saved them."

"You've been stirring over this for a long time haven't you?"

He nodded his head.

"Well." She thought desperately. "Maybe something did happen and she's ashamed that it did."

"I don't think she's ashamed, but more angry that they were brought here. They could have kept doing their thing up in Canada where they could have hid from everyone."

"Bobby, you can't be making accusation when you don't even know if it's true or not."

"I just don't get why she always leaves without saying anything. I honestly think she wasn't going to say anything to me about it. I think she was just going to take off like she has before. And I told her being human isn't what I want. I want her to be herself. So why does she act like this?" He was starting to get upset.

Kitty scooted up to Bobby and hugged him. He encircled her and buried his head in the crook of her neck. Staggered breaths kept escaping him. She could tell he was trying so hard to keep it together. Her leg relaxed and rested on his as she leaned her head against the side of his and massaged his scalp with a hand.

"I don't like being the one to tell you this," she whispered in his ear, "but maybe you shouldn't be with her anymore."

Bobby choked back a big sob. "I know," he breathed on her collarbone.

"I can't stand seeing you hurting like this. You deserve so much better."

"I know." Bobby sat up and stared into her eyes. "You're too good to me, Kitty."

His tears sparkled on his cheeks. She smiled and reached up and wiped them away. Bobby's hand caught hers and they froze and got lost in each other's eyes. His eyes kept falling to her lips then back again like a bouncing ball. His free hand pawed at her side and slowly he drew towards her. Kitty's heart hammered in her chest trying to claw its way out. She tilted her head slightly as his eyes shut. She followed suit and their lips touched.

The kiss was soft and light, just like before. Then they kissed again and Bobby caught her bottom lip in his and sucked on it ever so slightly. He released her hand and she ran hers through his hair and his slid under the back of her tank top. Just then Bobby pulled away.

"I'm sorry," he panted. He took his hand out from under her shirt and stood up.

"No, it's okay." She slid back towards the headboard.

"Um…I should go." He pointed towards then door then headed for it.

"Okay."

He pulled the door open and left. Then the door opened again and Bobby's head appeared. "Goodnight, Kitty."

"Night."

He left. Kitty sat in shock against her pillows. Despite it being late she was no longer tired. Her heart still thudded in her chest and her body and face were hot. This time it was Bobby who kissed her. But he wasn't in the right mindset to make that decision. Now Kitty had many more things to think about as she lay down.

A/N: Here it is. Now I have to go to work so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up.