Nighty here, how are all you Kurtty people. So sorry I haven't been updating Pictures particularly quickly, I have been busy with NeXt Gen and Mary, two very important stories close to my heart, and I have found myself neglecting my wonderful Kurtty that I hold so dear. I miss Kurtty. I shall now present a new chapter of my Kurtty. Please review said new chapter.

"Well," Alison said as she was sat down in Professor Xavier's office. "That wasn't what one would call a WARM welcome." She sighed and looked at him as he rolled behind his desk. "So I suppose I did something wrong?"

"No," the Professor said. "You simply came at the wrong time. Kurt has just been through a terrible ordeal, and as you now know he is in a relationship with miss Pryde. I do not think he meant anything by his reaction."

"He just seemed so upset," Ally looked at the window. "I wish he had just been happy like me, to see him after all that time was wonderful and he wouldn't even look at me. I just wish he had looked at me is all."

"I'm sure he meant nothing by it." The Professor looked across at her and gave her a small, rare smile. She smiled back, bright and cheerful again. "Your paperwork says you can control light."

"Yes," she nodded. "Light and color. I can do all sorts of things." She pointed at the window, the sunlight shining through, and by concentrating her will the light separated into a rainbow of shimmering color. She took a deep breath, losing focus and letting the sunlight pull itself back together. "Oh well," she said. "I'm not too good at it, see."

"That's alright," Xavier formed a steeple with his hands. "You will get better. This school is here to help you learn how your powers work and how to control them. So many mutant children discover their gifts every day, and only a few are as lucky as you, to have someone to teach them the art of having a mutant ability. If I could help all of the children who so desperately need it, I would. But I only have so much space."

Alison nodded again and stood up. "I best start unpacking," she said briskly. "Thank you, Professor."

"You are most welcome."

Ally made her way out of the office and into the hallway, looking around before closing the office door. She was nervous, and she felt alone now that she knew she couldn't depend on Kurt like she thought she would have been able to. She had thought he would have been pleased to see her, or at least a little less upset. She had expected the surprise, she had not expected the silence, the discomfort, how cold and alone she felt as he refused to look at her. She had thought that, knowing Kurt already, she would have a leg up in this place. Now she felt as she had when she moved to Munich from England in the first place, frightened and very lonely.

She sighed and turned, bumping into the girl with the white streaks in her hair. "Um," she said immediately, nervous and shaken. "Hi." What's wrong with my tongue, she asked herself. What's wrong with my brain. What's wrong with my life.

"Hey," the girl said.

"I'm, um, Ally," Alison felt herself whack her own head in her mind, ashamed of her shyness and lack of communication skills.

"Nice to meet you, Ally," the girl said, her southern accent sounding less than friendly.

"Um," Alison was even more uncomfortable. "Um…"

"Bye," the girl said, passing her and continuing down the hall. Ally stamped her foot in social agony. It was like she had no brain when it was time to meet new people. That was one of the reasons she and Kurt were best friends; when she was speechless, Kurt always had something smart or quippy to say, just to cover it up. She sighed sadly. Oh Kurt. Why hadn't he LOOKED at her…?

She nearly shrieked and jumped as she was tapped on the shoulder, having been in her own little world and not expecting such a thing to happen. She was even more surprised to see Kurt standing there, unsteady on his feet and still attempting to recover from whatever ordeal had put him in the infirmary. "Um," she said, feeling her stomach knot up and her throat close. Kurt, she thought. Come to apologize, come to make her feel better again.

"Hi," he said. "Ally."

"Hi," she mumbled nervously. "Kurt."

"I'm, um, sorry," he said softly, rubbing the back of his neck. "For how I acted. I mean, how I behaved back in the other room. I was surprised, that's all."

She nodded. "I understand," she said. "It's okay, Kurt, I'm not mad."

"But I thought you were, the way you stormed out before the Professor could say anything."

She blushed. "Maybe I was a little mad just then, but I'm okay now." Looking at her feet, she wondered what was wrong with her fingers so as she couldn't feel them. "I'm happy to see you again."

"Me too," Kurt murmured uncertainly. "I mean of course I'm happy to see you. How's… how's Karl?"

"He's fine," Ally said. "He's fine."

"Have you talked to Jimaine?"

"Yes," Ally said, feeling a little sad now, remembering what had happened to Stephan, how sad Jimaine still was, how Kurt's parents had looked. "She's alright too." She paused. "She's better. Than she was, I mean. Your parents, too." She looked up at him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," he said quickly. "No."

"Have you talked about it with miss Pryde?"

Kurt cringed, feeling blood rush to his face and ears. Thank God he had fur to cover how much he was blushing. "No," he said. "No I haven't." he looked at her, strengthening his resolve, then seeing her pretty eyes and feeling that resolve tumble whistling back to Earth. "Are you mad?"

"That you didn't wait?" Ally said angrily. "Did you FORGET what happened between us before you left?"

"No, of course I didn't forget," Kurt said, trying to keep calm, keep a steady face. "I could never forget."

"You kissed me," Ally said. "And you left, and now I come here hoping you still feel… something, ANYTHING for me and I find out you've moved on. No, Kurt, why on Earth should I be mad? What have I got, what reason to be angry?"

Kurt groaned and put a three-fingered hand over his eyes. "Alison…"

"Don't," she said. She stopped and looked away. She was going to ask him, and she already didn't want to, but she knew she must, she must know the answer, and she might even ask the other dreaded question. One step at a time, though. "Do you love her?"

He sighed. "Alison…"

"I said," she whispered slowly. "Do you love her?"

He looked away too. "…yes."

She looked at his face, looked at his eyes as he moved his hand. Here, he had answered the first dreaded question. There was one more to ask, one more question that would seal her mood for the next week at least. "Do you love me?" She dared to ask.

He stared at her blankly, almost for a full minute. "What?"

"Do you love me."

He held his breath, hoping maybe that he would wake up. Maybe he would wake up and still be in the infirmary, or the sewer even, anywhere but right here, right now. He couldn't think, he couldn't answer, all answers seemed wrong. "I… don't know, Ally." He shook his head. "I don't know."

She pushed her hair back. "You don't know." She had been terrified that those words would escape his lips, that he would say them, that he wouldn't know. Why couldn't this be a fairy tale, like they pretended as children, where she was a princess, and he was a handsome knight, and he knew that he loved her, that he would just kiss her and forget about that other girl. She knew that was selfish, but wasn't that okay to sometimes be selfish?

"I don't know."

Feeling her chest tighten, she folded her arms. "Okay," she said, accepting the answer to his surprise. "Fine. I'll just go unpack." She walked around him and started down the hall towards her room, tightening her arms over her hurting chest and struggling not to cry. Kurt watched her go, wanting to call her back, wanting to keep his mouth shut, wanting to make someone laugh. Option three seemed the path of least resistance. Off he went, to hide behind his humor, his uncanny ability to make just about anything funny.

He wished he knew why he found nothing funny about the way he felt at present.

Please review, I know it's been a while but I promise more Kurtty to come! Love to my readers from Nighty, may all your travels be bright!