So after a moment of sitting there on the bench, she stood up, pulling Scott with her, repeating his words from earlier softly, "Come on."

Rogue was smiling, if not a little self-consciously, as she stared out the window. It was a beautiful night, no doubt about it, but she couldn't help but notice Scott and Jean down in the courtyard. She knew she should give them their privacy, she'd want it, but at the same time, she had to know and she knew that not only was she probably not the only one watching, and that Jean and Scott would ultimately probably not care. Eventually, she did look away, once she saw Scott let Jean take his glasses off and it was okay. Jean really could control it. Then, she did look away. She wouldn't want an audience. She had just had to know. And it had worked. They had managed to overcome their powers. She could, too. She looked at the lone plant on the window, and reached out to it-her gloves were already off, being alone. She maintained her smile as she touched the still green plan. It was then, though, that she heard a knock on her door. For a second, she nearly lost her concentration, the leaves just started to lose their firmness, when she focused again and pulled back, shaking her head and slipping on her gloves to get the door.

"Bobby," she breathed, half annoyed, half excited, half nervous.

He smiled, "Hey."

"What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised, but not entirely unhappy about it.

He laughed a little, "Came to say hi, and was wondering if you'd had dinner already."

She was smiling again, a little, her lips slightly apart as she looked at him. She wanted to take off her glove and reach out to him so badly, she almost did, then she looked back to the window, Jean and Scott had, but they were older, the plant on the windowsill was wilted, she didn't have perfect control, but, but, she was close.

"What?" he asked.

"Uh," she started, putting her hand to head for a moment, then shaking her head, looking down, then back at him, and making herself say, "Nothing. I haven't had dinner yet, no."

Bobby laughed gently at her aloofness, "Want to come, then?"

"Yeah," she said, offering her hand, and she knew she'd made the right decision to wait. She'd almost jerked it back when Bobby smiled and took it. Her hand was gloved, but she'd been so caught up in her own thoughts and then had let herself be completely surprised by Bobby, she wasn't thinking clearly. There'd be no way she'd be able to focus. But this was good. Remember to get used to it again, human contact, when it was perfectly alright. Let herself learn to relax around Bobby.

She almost laughed when they got to the cafeteria. Of the few kids who were eating late, already a handful were talking about Scott and Jean, if you focused on a single conversation long enough to make it out. It didn't seem that Bobby was, or he didn't care.

After dinner, Bobby walked Rogue back to her room. She could see it in his eyes, but he knew better than to ask. What he didn't know, though, was that soon, hopefully, he would be able to get it. She looked at him as he did her, wanting so badly to cross that space. She almost did, but she held back. Instead, when Bobby reached his hand out slowly, she made herself relax as he brushed a strand of white hair that fallen in her face back out of her eyes and said quietly, "Good night, Rogue."

"'Night, Bobby," she answered softly, closing the door and slipping off her gloves. She looked back to the window. It seemed Jean and Scott were gone; she had one plant left on the window; she'd save it, though. For tonight, she'd just go to bed; tomorrow would be different.

The next morning, Rogue woke up to the sun streaming through her window as her alarm went off. She was anxious. In the back of her mind, she kept thinking about that mission, but she had her own personal mission that she saw as important. Next time, she would be on it. But that wasn't her main problem today. First, she had to survive physics, which she wasn't terrible at, but it certainly wasn't her favorite class; for once, though, she was sort of looking forward to it. It was her last class of the day and Scott taught it. And then tonight, if all went well…She took a deep breath, glancing at her gloves and allowing herself the tiniest of a determined smiled as she got dressed for the day.

The day passed on by, and she was watching the clock in Physics. Was it going by slower than usual, to test her concentration? Eventually, though, the bell rang and she took her time packing up, focusing on staying calm. After a minute, she looked up at Professor Scott and he nodded, asking when the room was empty, "You're ready now?"

She simply nodded and as they walked down to the practice rooms, found herself asking, though she knew the answer and probably shouldn't pry, she needed to hear it from him: "How is it going with Jean?"

Scott eyed her, maybe he wouldn't answer. Then he smiled, "Did you see?"

She lied, "No."

He laughed, "Well, I've heard half the school talking, but we don't care. It went well. Professor was right. She was right. It was…" he trailed off and she didn't push, from what she'd seen and his tone, she could imagine how well it had gone. She hoped she could make it work as well with Bobby.

Scott looked at her again, deciding, "Why don't you go ahead and start. I'll be in in a minute."

"O..kay," she answered, slowly, going in alone. She looked around, uncertain. There wasn't anyone here. She wasn't quite sure what to do. Well…she looked down at her brown leather clad hands. There wasn't anyone here and the whole point was so that she didn't have to always need them. She nodded and slipped them off, staying calm. She thought back to the other day, tried to remember that feeling of uncontrolled peace, in a way. She made herself think of Bobby, since this was what it was all about, and then before she had time to get nervous, she thought of all the times he'd made her feel safe, made her feel like she belonged, the time they just spent the afternoon walking together, hand in gloved hand in the sunlight grounds. With that in mind, she reached her right hand out to the plant, grabbing the green stem and watching it stay that bright green, moving to the petals, gently stroking the purple flowers. She almost lost her focus when she heard the door open, but she didn't care. She'd done it! The flower wasn't even wilting, to be sure, she focused on Bobby now, more than focus, and the purple was as rich as ever. Smiling, then she turned around, not jumping back at the sight of Scott standing there, smiling as well. She thought she knew what his plan had been, and she was glad. She needed to get comfortable on her own, and get used to interruptions. It had worked.

He smiled and nodded, "Very good. I'm impressed."

From habit, Rogue wanted to hide her hands behind her back, but she didn't let herself. Instead, she let them hang at her sides, as if she was any other person having a conversation.

Scott looked at her understandingly, as he asked calmly, as he had yesterday, though now it was different, "Give me your hands."

For a moment, Rogue's face and posture became guarded.

Scott explained gently as she was coming to the same conclusion, "Plants aren't the same as us. You know that. I think you have it, really, I do."

Rogue took a deliberate breath, years of experience leading her away from this very thing told her not to, but this was why she was here. And as much as she believed Scott- she looked back at the plant- she believed it, for once in a moment, of herself. So she asked once, "Are you sure?"

He just nodded and she did in return. Slowly stretching out her arm, taking another breath, and remembering that feeling of accomplishment she'd just had. She could do this, and in that moment of thought, she took his hand as if to shake it. She watched his face; it didn't change, and then she smiled, neither did his coloring or composure. Then she felt him really shake it. She smiled and then released her hand, saying simply, "Thank you." She could do it! She could really touch someone else without sending them to the hospital! Of course, she had to focus, but it was better than nothing. She let herself ask, "You think…"

He smiled and nodded, "I do. And if you think so, too, I think we're done."

She nodded, then, turning to leave, saying once more, "Thank you."

He answered simply, smiling, "I know," and walked out.

Rogue looked down at her gloves lying on the floor. She almost thought of not putting them back on, but she didn't want to run the risk of accidentally brushing against someone without thinking about it, and she'd avoid the scared and questioning glances from those who knew what she had the potential to do. She took one look at the clock before leaving; it was 4 in the afternoon. Bobby would probably come to her room for dinner in an hour. She wanted to go to him now, but she also wanted to surprise him. Until then, she guessed she'd check her e-mail and stuff. She should probably study, but there'd be time for that. She didn't want to get herself frustrated and then not be able to concentrate.

When she got back to her room, though, she was surprised, "Bobby?"

"Hey," he said, somewhat sheepish and offering the explanation, "I was looking for you and your door was open I crack. I guess you didn't shut it all the way. I was about to leave."

She was smiling in spite of herself, blinked once and then shook her head, merely asking, "Why were you looking for me?"

He put up his hands, "Don't misunderstand me. I don't want anything to change…"

She thought she knew where he was going and under other circumstances, she'd be frustrated, but things were different now. She let him talk a little more as she slowly, discreetly, carefully started slipping her gloves, Bobby continued, "Nor do I want to argue, but I wanted to talk about…" she was coming to interrupt him just as he noticed her walking over without her gloves. He stopped talking, not scared, but wondering, looking at her, the question in his expression. He was sitting on her bed. She stopped right in front of him, smiling gently. Waiting, her question in her eyes. They didn't say anything. The fact that he'd been here to talk to her about it and that she'd willingly taken her gloves off said all the confirmation they needed. They didn't care about consequences, but he let her take the first move, knowing how difficult it'd be for her.

It was finally here, after all this time. The moment when she'd finally be able to really touch Bobby, kiss him. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them, taking a breath, she remembered how she'd felt a moment ago. She noticed his blond hair and waiting blue eyes, willing, and let herself lean in, not even hesitating a moment more; she could do this.

Bobby had turned around, embarrassed at being caught in her room, and then worried about talking about what was on his mind with her, again. They always ending up arguing, but if they were going to be together, they had to address it. Then he noticed something different. She wasn't arguing, she seemed to be focusing on something…and she had just turned back to him, her gloves were off. Then…was she…finally? They'd tried once and it, well…she wouldn't come near him for a day, even with her gloves on; though, he'd insisted he was fine. Now, here she was, on her own accord. He watched her silently walk over, slowly, and wait. She had a question in her eyes, briefly, asking him permission. He'd given it to her a long time ago. And she seemed to know that, because in the next moment she was there, her white, sun-deprived, soft hand on his cheek, brushing his hair back, resting in his hair and her soft lips kissing his.

She didn't even let herself think, but for the minute thought to stay just focused, so she focused on his blonde hair, his trust of her; that meant the world to her. So this was what it was like. It was just a kiss, but it was so much more, she didn't want to pull back, but she couldn't keep kissing him like this and stay focused like she needed to be. So she pulled back, but slipped her hand down to his and rolled over so they were lying side by side, as if they were lying on their sides in the grass on a sunny day, relaxing. She was smiling, and even her math teacher coming in announcing an immediate pop quiz worth 80% of their grade, however unlikely that was, couldn't spoil her mood. For a moment they just looked at each other, before she finally let go of her grip, saying quietly, "It's alright now, Bobby. I can control it."

He didn't care how, he just said simply, "Yeah," and leaned in to quickly kiss he forehead once more.

She nodded, adding, "But, you can't surprise me, Bobby;" she hesitated, "I, have to be… ready for it. If I'm not, I could still…I'm not cured. I'm still dangerous."

He smiled, half teasingly, "I like dangerous girls."

She laughed, slipping her gloves back on and taking his hand. It wouldn't be a problem anymore. She thought she felt he was too much of a guy, or a gentleman, either way, to ask, so she led into it, "Did you happen to see Jean and Scott last night?"

He smiled, "Not really. I noticed them walking outside, but I didn't pay attention, but I've heard kids talking about it. He was able to look around without his glasses?"

She smiled; he was such a gentleman most of the time. They both knew it was so much more than that and so she allowed, "Yeah, it was them that gave me the idea. Just the right state of minds."

He looked at her once more, in her square cut, flowing black, short sleeve top; her brown gloves didn't meet the sleeve and he held onto her arm in comfort. They'd make it work, as they always had. Maybe now, it'd just be a little easier.