Chapter Eight

Bobby shut the door quietly behind him. The office never changed much but some kind of amazing aura was always radiating off it. You were careful, and usually quiet, when you went in it or walked past it. It was just that extraordinary.

"Yes, Professor?" Bobby asked, taking a seat in front of the desk.

"While in Cerebro, your brain waves were rather high in worry, which is why I told you what I did. In your head, I mean. I'm just wondering if you understand the images I saw in your mind." the Professor folded his hands in front of himself and waited for Bobby's reaction.

"Wha-?...Images? I don't know what you're talking about, professor," Bobby replied, trying to change to a more comfortable position in the already comfortable chair.

"I mean these images," Xavier repeated, causing them both to enter into a deep, hidden part of Bobby's mind. The place where things you don't want to accept are kept.

Bobby clearly saw, before his eyes, John kissing him. John was shirtless but Bobby was fully clothed. Bobby was also fully into the make-out session they had going on. The real Bobby blushed and the scene cut off.

It switched to just John, laying in his bed in Bobby's room. Then Bobby appeared in the scene and sat beside the sleeping teen, caressing his face. He leaned down and kissed John on the forehead before laying down beside him, on top of the covers.

"Stop it," Bobby said.

The scene switch again. This time, they were in Magneto's headquarters...in Bobby's cell. The real Bobby's heart sped up. This wasn't an imagination. This was a memory and he knew where it was going.

"Please stop," Bobby spoke again.

He saw John up in the window and the vision looked right at him. John was talking but there were no words. There was no sound to any of these images. Then Bobby's own voice echoed around them as Pyro left their view.

'John!' and slow tears ran down the memory Bobby's face. When the scene changed, Bobby nearly cried himself.

"What are you trying to show to me?" he asked.

"Nothing you don't already know. People... just need a little push sometimes... to realize what they want," Xavier finally replied.

'What does she have to do with this?' memory Bobby's voice rang out, angrily.

'Nothing!' John's voice rang back, trying futilely to explain something Bobby wouldn't understand. 'She means nothing to me! It's you! You're the problem, Bobby!'

'Me?' Bobby's voice was quiet now.

The next line from Bobby was muted. The whole scene seemed to be in fast forward until John's lips connected with Bobby's. Bobby watched from inside his own body as the whole night replayed in front of him. All the way up until John was no longer in view.

"What? What are you trying to tell me?" Bobby asked, hiding his face in his hands. He didn't want to say it. Yes, that scene had been repeating over and over in his head. Yes, he was worried sick over John. Yes, he'd had those dreams of kissing John and sleeping beside him... Yes, it was all true! But he didn't want to say it. Saying it would make it true...

"John means more to you than you let on, Bobby Drake. I'm just returning a favor to one of my dear students," Xavier said. Bobby looked up, about to accuse the professor of planting the images. "No. I did not create any of these images myself. They've been floating through your head ever since you got the idea that I could tell you where Pyro was."

Bobby bit his lip, making a fist in one hand. He looked down at his hands in his lap and sighed.

"I-...," he held back a sob and pressed his palms into his eyes. "I'm in love with him."

"Yes..." the professor rolled over to Bobby and put a hand on his shoulder. "Why are you crying, Bobby?" The professor's voice was pleasantly confused.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Bobby replied, snappishly. "I'm in love with another guy! I'm even more unnatural than I already was!"

"No." The professor suddenly took on a grave look. He made Bobby look at him. "You are no more unnatural than you ever were. You're just a regular human being... who happens to be blessed with gifts that make him better than everyone else."

Bobby nodded, closing his eyes and looking at his hands. They felt tingly, kinda like when Rogue... Bobby's head snapped up.

"What about Rogue?" he asked, shocked he hadn't even thought about his girlfriend.

"Well now...," Xavier laughed. "Even I can not tell you how to break up with a woman. All my loves were killed or taken away."

The smile on his professor's face made Bobby want to laugh. How could he smile when talking about something so dismal? Bobby snickered and wiped his eyes. Xavier smiled pleasantly. He'd brought Bobby back from denial and depression. Now he could move on with his life and love.