I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I've been really busy now that school has begun again. Nevertheless, I'll still be posting rather frequently on this story until the end, which isn't all that far off.

Thanks so much for reading!

Anatui

Chapter 10

Only fifteen minutes after the session began, Carlson sits in the room attached to her patient's in front of the television screen on the far left side of the room. For some reason, even watching her patient's conversations with Kitty Pryde from behind the glass while it's happening feels awkward, like she's invading. Just the tape recorder or the surveillance camera is all right, though.

The videotape begins when she presses 'Play.'

--

The door closed behind Kitty Pryde when she entered John's room. "Hey!" she greeted happily. "I brought you more books! I don't really know what you like, though, so I brought a little bit of everything—well, not everything. I didn't think you'd really appreciate smutty romance novels, so I left those for Jubilee. She seems to like them."

"Do you?" he asked curiously.

She shrugged. "Not really. They never seem all that realistic to me." She dropped a plastic bag on his bed, the sound crinkling through the room, and she soon followed. "Did you like it, the book?"

"Yeah, very entertaining."

"Really?"

His turn to shrug. "Eh, it was all right."

She laughed. "Yeah, I thought so." She paused and, then, continued hesitantly. "So, I heard you talked to Bobby."

He shrugged again. "Yeah. Didn't go all that great. Oh well."

She clucked disapprovingly. "You two will never get along, will you?"

"Doubtful. We neither of us like each-other all that much, you know."

"Yeah, I know," she sighed, "but I really wish you did. He's one of my best friends, you know, and I don't like it when my best friend and my… uh, my other friend don't get along."

He hesitated at her error in words, but he did his best to ignore it. He said, "Well, at least you don't have to see the two of us at the same time. You probably wouldn't be able to handle it."

Despite everything, she laughed. "Oh, shut up, you," she said, pushing him playfully, and, as he fell back on the bed, he grabbed hold of her and pulled her down with him. "John," she heaved as the plastic bag crumpled beneath her pressure, "careful of the books."

He laughed at her words, leaned forward a little, and tugged the bag carrying them out from under her and onto the floor before leaning back again and pulling Kitty up against him. And, then, he just held her.

She sighed, nervous, suddenly feeling a little claustrophobic. "John, let me up," she requested a little desperately. "I should probably get going."

But he shook his head and said, "No, Kitten, I'm not letting you go. I want to talk."

"Well, then, can you at least let me go."

He laughed heartily at that. "I could, but I don't think I will," and he just hugged her more tightly, sighing in contentment. "This is my favorite part of the week, Kitten, you know that?"

"No." She struggled a little but finally came to terms with the fact that he wouldn't let her go any time soon. "John, please."

"No."

She heaved a sigh in frustration. "Fine," she huffed. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Why won't you look at me?"

That was when she realized that she was avoiding eye contact—she had hardly even noticed before. "Why do you want me to?" she asked back.

"Why do you always stay far enough away that I don't get to touch you?"

"Haven't you touched me enough?"

"You kissed me first, and it certainly wasn't rape."

"Aren't you afraid of what Dr. Carlson is going to think when she sees this? You know she watches you."

"I stopped worrying about Carlson about a month ago. I actually kinda like her now, oddly enough. It's kinda funny."

"Yeah, that's hilarious, Pyro," she snapped.

He stiffened. "Since when did you call me that, Kitty?"

"Since you decided holding me against my will and nearly suffocating me is a good idea."

"Hey, it's not my fault you don't want me to touch you. You were all worried about me before, you change so quickly."

John didn't respond. He just held her tighter, a little afraid to say anything when she would probably just push his words away like they mean nothing. Finally, he said, "I'm not sure how much longer I'll be here, though."

"Why's that?" she asked, suddenly forgetting her anger and growing worried.

"Carlson said that since, uh, the Cure is failing, my case has even less of a chance. And she's right."

Kitty seemed to consider this for a moment. "You don't sound all that upset about it, though. Do you want to leave?" she asked, and her voice didn't betray her feelings in the least.

"I wouldn't just be leaving, Kitty. I'd be gone for good. If the government wins, I'll be executed, didn't you know that?"

She hesitated. "I'd heard something like that from Logan, but I was trying to convince myself it wasn't true. I don't want you to die."

John appeared startled by this admittance on her part when she had been angry and cold a moment before, but he just hugs her a little tighter.

"Is that what you wanted to talk to me about? Are you done?"

"Yeah." He heaved a large sigh and tugged her a little closer, as close as she could get, and, amazingly enough, she didn't protest. "Except to say this," he added a moment later.

"What?"

"Well, that I love you," he said quietly.

"Oh," she stuttered a little bit, "I know."

Strangely, he wasn't upset by the fact that she didn't say the words to him in return.

--

Carlson fast-forwards through them just laying there together in silence, and, when it runs out, she glances back toward the two still laying on his bed, both asleep now. She wonders when Kitty will come to terms with the fact that she obviously loves him back and when she will be able to tell him face to face. She secretly hopes it's soon.