10. CRAZY

That night, after Kurt and I had spent the evening wandering around White Plains as civilians (him with his image inducer, of course), we sat inside Starbucks sipping on coffee. Despite the fact that our date had been peaceful and without mishap, the tension rippling between us was palpable, even though neither of us had acknowledged it.

I folded my hands on top of the table and cleared my throat. "Kurt?"

Kurt shifted his gaze from the window and met my eyes. I noticed for the first time tonight that the complexion he wore was simply tanned, without the previous olive undertones. I sort of liked it better.

I twiddled my thumbs as I thought of a way to bring this up. I would just have to tell the truth. "I just wanted you to know that this wasn't my idea. I mean, coming here was my idea, but Bella was the one that suggested we try going out again." There.

Kurt cocked his head to one side. "And what inspired that?"

Truth again. "She wanted us to get away from the estate to work out our 'issues.'" I removed my hands from the table to make air quotes.

He seemed confused. "What issues?"

I took a long sip of my coffee, giving me enough time to figure out how to word what I wanted to say. Finally I came up with something decent. "You just haven't been yourself since you started getting these letters. And when we were in your room last night…"

"I scared you." His astute observation was clinical, but he still sounded remorseful.

I couldn't lie to him about that. "…Yes." I sighed heavily. "See, when you're like that, I have no idea what you're gonna do, and it freaks me out. Usually you're kinda predictable, but maybe that's 'cause I know you so well."

A small smile graced his lips. "Probably."

I would not let myself get distracted by that damn smile. I would not. I shook my head slightly to clear it. "Anyway, what really bothers me is that you've been pretending that you're fine, and you won't let me in. When you won't let me in and tell me how you feel, it's like you're building a wall. And we promised that we'd never let anything between us." I took his hand in mine. "So talk to me. Maybe we can fix this."

He gently squeezed my hand. "Okay. What do you want to know?"

"I wanna know why you've been so broody," I said, cutting right to the point. "Give me details."

Kurt looked down and shook his head, as if he didn't know quite where to begin. "To start, I was raised in a foster family, so I was used to not knowing much of anything about my parents," he said. "Three months ago I found out about Mystique, and while having a former terrorist for a mother is not an ideal situation, I figured I could deal with it."

I nodded. "And you did."

"But now I've been getting these letters from my father," he continued. "Although that would be fantastic, I have learned very little about him, apart from that he is apparently Russian. And this last letter…I had always hoped that even if my parents weren't married, then they at least stayed together for a while after they more or less abandoned me. That they at least wished they could keep me. But this most recent letter was the final nail in the coffin." He lowered his head, staring down at the table. "An illegitimate child. Unwanted—an accident."

Pain filled my heart at the words of his hurt. I leaned forward and spoke softly. "Kurt, there are no accidental children. Only accidental parents. What your parents did doesn't define you because you'll never be them. Understand?"

"Yes. Thank you." He looked up at me. "You know, that is not the sole source of my stress."

"I know," I said. "I wish I could say that I know how you feel. I've never really had to hide. I mean, the only physical evidence of my mutation is my eye color." Half-jokingly, I went on, "But at least you had a lot of people willing to back you, growing up. All I had were my parents, my grandmother and an imaginary friend."

"That's true," he said. He paused before asking, "Why were you so keen on finding out about my father, anyway? Ignorance is bliss."

"Yeah, but knowledge is power," I contradicted him. "And I guess I wanted to attempt to make your life even a little bit easier."

He did it again—that little half-smile that made me forget all our strife. "Really? That's very sweet of you."

I cast my eyes downward, trying to ignore the blush that crept through my cheeks.

"Now I have another question for you," he said, drawing my attention back to him. "What exactly is your problem with this?" He gestured to himself. I knew he was referring to the image inducer.

"It's not that I have a problem with it," I said quickly. "'Cause you have very nice features." I wasn't going to lie about that. "It's just that it's like…putting makeup on a tiger because you don't like its stripes. I happen to like all of your unique attributes. The blueness, the tail, everything. They're a part of who you are, and I wouldn't change a thing." I stood with my now-empty coffee cup, a plan concocting in my mind.

Kurt followed my example. "Where are we going now?"

I grabbed my shoulder bag. "A private place. I wanna demonstrate my point to the real you."

We threw away our cups, and I led Kurt outside, where people were milling about, going through their lives. Or maybe they were just going through the motions.

"Look around," I said, keeping my voice low to avoid anyone overhearing. "What does everyone here have in common?"

"They're all normal," Kurt said wistfully.

"True," I said. "As far as we can tell. But you know what I think?" I tilted my head upward to him. "I bet nine out of ten aren't happy with who they are. A lot like you." I linked arms with him. "Kurt, they're never gonna accept you they way you want them to unless you can fully accept yourself." As we passed by an alley, I changed direction to walk down it. "Come on."

"This looks like the alley we were in the other night," Kurt said.

I shrugged. "It does, doesn't it? Maybe it is." I turned to him and looked pointedly at his belt, where his image inducer was clipped.

Reluctantly, he pressed the button and the hologram faded, leaving behind velvet-soft royal blue skin, shining golden eyes, elf-like ears, two-fingered hands, that devilish tail and two-toed, faunlike feet. The moonlight shone off his midnight-colored hair and illuminated his face and shoulders, contouring him in such a way that he looked to be part of the night itself. God, he's so lovely, I thought on impulse.

I couldn't help but stare up at him in awe. "Perfection," I whispered, taking his hand once again. "Don't you realize? You're beautiful—everything you are." I held up our hands for him to see, revealing the stark contrast of our skin tones. It was actually a nice mixture. "Well, whaddya know? Blue looks great on red," I quipped. Suddenly overwhelmed with a rush of emotion, I hugged him tight around his middle. "If only we lived in a perfect world," I said. "Then nobody would care about this. You would be free. We would be free."

"Instead we live in a world where people constantly debate over the 'mutant problem,'" Kurt said.

"'Mutant problem'…'Indian problem'…" I shook my head. "It's all the same. There's really no problem at all."

His arms wound around me. "Thank you for this," he said.

"For what?"

"Helping me see," he explained. "I only thought I was unhappy with myself because no one else looked this way, and I could never truly experience all the things I should. No, I don't dislike myself. I dislike my circumstances."

"That's all it ever is, right?" I asked. "Circumstances."

"Ja," he said. "That is why we must make do for now, and work to make things different."

I moved somewhat so that I could see him. "Doesn't mean we can't wish for better."

"You seem very intent on boosting my confidence," he observed. "Why is that?"

"Well, the other night you helped me feel better about myself when you told me what you think of me. Just figured I'd return the favor."

He smirked. "Speaking of, we never picked up where we left off, did we?"

We both almost threw ourselves into the kiss. I hungered for him deep in the pit of my stomach. I hadn't kissed him in over a week, and he was just so good…He pulled me close to him, tilting his head to deepen the kiss. I wasn't used to this kind of initiative, but I certainly liked it.

Somewhere overhead thunder rumbled. Neither of us paid much mind to it.

I locked my fingers in his hair. A low grunt came from his throat. What a nice sound, I thought. It occurred to me that he was not holding himself back as usual, which would have worried me if I weren't so caught up in what he was doing to me.

He held me firmly, but that underlying gentleness was still there. I felt him stroke my spine. I shivered, and he pulled back for a moment. I was briefly concerned. Had I done something wrong? Was his heart acting up again? My alarm was unfounded, though, as he transferred his attentions to my neck. His lips were ridiculously soft on the sensitive skin there. How is he so good at this? My heart raced. I heard a sigh of contentment and was vaguely aware that it was me.

His lips found mine once again. This time his kisses were less ravenous and more…intimate, I supposed? Whatever they were, I enjoyed them. While he kissed me, his hand found the exposed small of my back where my shirt had ridden up. When he began making slow, sensual circles on my bare skin, I shuddered in delight and pressed myself even nearer to him, if such a thing were possible. My thoughts ran wild. Don't stop, don't stop touching me. Don't ever stop. Oh, Kurt, I love you, I love you like crazy…He was driving me nuts. And he could probably feel every little sensation he gave me, too.

At that instant, his tongue gingerly traced the outline of my lips, bringing me back to the kiss. I was a bit stunned that he was the one to start that, especially since the last time we'd tried it his heart rate had increased nearly to the point of dangerousness. But if he was willing it give it a go, so was I. I returned the action, and there was that amazing taste again. His lips parted; mine followed suit.

I loved every single second of this, and I was pretty sure he knew that.

That blasted thunder crashed again. I would have gladly ignored it, but just as soon as it sounded, a torrential rain poured over us. We broke apart, and our eyes met. The hilarity of the situation found us both, and we burst into belly-shaking guffaws.

I hugged Kurt once more. "Oh, I love you so much," I said.

"And just what do you love about me?" He smiled when he asked the question.

A nervous giggle bubbled up and escaped me. I'd never told him the reasons I loved him before. "Hmm…You're a wonderful person, for starters. You're smart and sweet and the nicest guy I've ever met and kind of a dork but that's okay because I think it's adorable and I'm rambling. Sorry."

Kurt laughed. "I love you, too, Elyon. And I think I have already told you why."

My blush made its way back to my face. I ignored it. "Well, we should probably call home. We're already soaked to the bone. We don't wanna get sick."

"I thought this didn't affect you?" He was puzzled.

"I'm immune to air temperature," I said. "Water temperature is probably a completely different story."

A mischievous grin darted across his features. "You're keeping me warm."

What a cornball! A silly beam overtook my own face. "Aww." I snuggled closer to him.

He held me close, and it wasn't long before he captured my lips with his again. I melted into the kiss, but I quickly became conscious of something I had to do first. I pulled away from him.

"Hold on," I said. I pulled my cell phone out of my shoulder bag, pulled up Scott in my contacts list, texted him our location, and put the phone back in my bag. I looked up at Kurt expectantly. "Continue."

He resumed our kiss. Things had changed between us, to be sure, but we had healed. I was relieved.

Ugh, kids are so loud. I drummed my fingers on my desk and waited for the students to calm themselves. As it turned out, I had caught quite a chill last night in the rain. I couldn't say that I was surprised; my immune system was kind of terrible when it came to European diseases. As such, all the noise was beginning to give me a migraine.

"Okay, everyone, quiet down," I said. Jesus. Even I could barely hear my voice. Understandably, no one followed the instruction.

Noriko, who, in her eternal helpfulness, had decided to sit near me today, turned to her classmates. "She said to be quiet!" They immediately grew silent.

I sniffled. "Thanks." I addressed the students. "Anyways, in case you couldn't tell, I'm not feeling so good today. So just work on your projects and keep the volume down as much as you can. And try not to make my headache any worse."

Once everyone had mingled, Laura approached me.

"Miss Ryder?" Her voice was hushed. I found it sort of odd hearing her call me "Miss Ryder." Over the summer she'd simply called me by my first name.

I looked up at her. "Yeah, Laura?"

"I found this assignment difficult," she said matter-of-factly.

I wondered what was giving her trouble. "Pull up a chair and sit down," I said. She obeyed my instruction. "Now, what about this is hard for you?"

Laura didn't hesitate to answer. "I have no true family, and I come from a facility."

I didn't know how to respond to that. "…Oh," I said after a moment. "I see the problem. Well, you don't have to talk about your past if you don't want to."

I could hear Santo and Julian talking beyond me and Laura. Santo said something about "the clone." I would have called him down, but Julian beat me to it, angrily retorting, "Her name is Laura." Apparently, Laura heard this, too, and she blushed slightly. I wondered if she was aware of it.

I continued, "And as for family…well, we're your family now, Laura."

Cessily came up to my desk. "Having trouble?" she asked. I nodded. "Well," she went on, "I don't exactly have a great home life, either. Maybe we can help each other."

I smiled at the two of them. Cessily had been trying to get Laura to open up ever since they'd met. This would be a great opportunity to achieve that. "I think that's a great idea," I said.

After class, I remained at my desk and rubbed my forehead with my fingertips, trying to alleviate the pain. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kurt enter with a book. He, too, had gotten a bit sick last night, but he was far better off than me, only having swollen tonsils.

"Hey," I said.

"Hello," he replied, making his way to the front of my desk.

"Whatcha need?" I asked.

"I wanted to keep you company. Also, what is this word?" He showed me the page and pointed out the word.

The corner of my mouth tugged upward. "'Turgid?' It means swollen, or bloated, or overdramatic. You know, like a Lifetime movie." I giggled, unable to help myself.

He furrowed his brow. "Are you laughing at me?"

I shook my head. "No," I said. "I think you're cute, that's all."

A faint violet blush manifested on his cheeks, but it went away just as quickly as it appeared. "So," he said, "I was wondering…what is your favorite stone?" He seated himself in the chair just in front of me.

"Why?"

He shrugged. "Curiosity."

I still felt suspicion, but it would only be polite to give him an answer. "Hmm…turquoise is a healing stone—I like it a lot. And tiger eye. It's supposed to give strength and courage."

He looked thoughtful. What is he planning? I wondered. "Oh," he said, as if his interest had been sated. He leaned in to kiss me.

I covered my face with a piece of paper. "Don't kiss me, I'm sick!"

"So am I," he said.

"But I'm sicker than you," I countered.

He sighed. "Fine, then. At least dance with me." He stood, walked to my side of the desk, and held out his hand.

I rolled my eyes exaggeratedly, so that he'd know my reluctance was insincere. "Oh, okay." I took his hand.

Kurt helped me up. He held me as we twirled around the room, avoiding any complicated moves. Suddenly, the blood drained from my head, and I swooned.

"Oh!" I was too surprised to come up with anything else.

"Elyon!" Kurt caught me before I fell. "Perhaps you should lie down." He put an arm around my shoulders.

"Yeah." I nodded. "That sounds nice."

He put together a few chairs and helped me over to them. I lay down on them.

Kurt's face was filled with concern. "You look a little green." He touched his hand to my forehead, presumably to wipe away the cold sweat that had dewed up there. "You're warm," he said, sounding surprised.

"I'm always warm," I said.

"I mean warmer than you are normally," he clarified. "Have you felt this ill all day?"

I thought for a moment. "Not really. I've been a bit peaked, but I was mostly fine."

"Perhaps Hank should take a look at you." He smoothed my hair, brushing it out of my face. "I'll pray for you."

"Thanks, honey." I smiled at the sentiment, but at the same time, his sweetness was infuriatingly irresistible, especially with that stupidly attractive mouth of his. I frowned. "You know, you can be very frustrating sometimes."

In response, Kurt kissed my forehead. Over his shoulder, I saw Xorn enter the room.

Xorn's face contorted in apparent embarrassment. "Oh, I'm sorry—am I interrupting anything?"

"No," Kurt said. "You're fine, Kuan-Yin."

Xorn stepped a little closer. "What is wrong with her?"

"She's sick," Kurt explained.

Xorn looked elated. "I can help!" he said.

Kurt's expression was not skeptical, but honestly inquisitive. "Can you?"

"Yes." Xorn backed out of the room. "Just give me one moment!"

Kurt watched Xorn leave before turning to me. "Do you trust him to help you?"

Come to think of it, I didn't exactly have a lot of options here. I looked Kurt in the eyes. "What choice do I have, babe?" Kurt blinked a few times at my words. "What?" I demanded, although my voice was too weak for it to truly sound like an order.

"Nothing." He shook his head in incredulity. "It's just…you're beginning to trust people. I'm proud of you."

Before I could even respond emotionally to Kurt's statement, Xorn reentered the room, a skull-patterned helmet tucked under his arm.

He put the helmet on and crossed the room to stand beside me. He looked at Kurt. "Stand back, please." Kurt stood and did as Xorn had told him.

"What're you gonna do?" I asked.

"Don't worry," Xorn said. "Just relax." His tone was quite reassuring. He touched his forehead to mine, and I saw blue light glow out of the eyes. When he pulled away, he was still glowing. "Better?"

Kurt moved to crouch beside me as soon as Xorn vacated the space.

I sat up and performed a quick internal self-examination. My aches, chills, and weakness were gone, almost like they had never afflicted me. "Yeah," I said, my voice now only a tad scratchy. "Loads." I cocked my head at him, puzzled by the fact that the glow had not gone away. "Um, are you supposed to still be glowing?"

Xorn nodded. "Yes," he said. "It is like a star—that is my mutation. It will not burn out for a while, so I must wear this helmet for the next month or so, lest I accidentally harm someone."

Well, that was more than a bit troubling. Regardless, I turned to fully face him. "Thank you, Xorn."

His body language told me that my thanks made him a little bashful, as he hunched his shoulders and fidgeted his feet. Then he awkwardly made his way out of the room.

I looked at the door for a moment and got a brilliant idea of how to fix my frustration. I pushed the door shut with telekinesis and glanced at Kurt. With no further warning than that, I tackled him to the floor and kissed him.

He pulled away from me after a couple of seconds. "Elyon, someone might come in…" His words were cautious, but his eyes bored into mine longingly.

"I locked the door," I told him.

He smirked. "Well, all right, then." He wrapped his arms around me and rolled over so that we lay on the floor on our sides, facing each other. He brought his lips back to mine in a kiss that was sweet and slow. I prayed no one would end up needing us, since I didn't know what I would do if I had to let him go now.

My little prayer turned out to be futile, as there was a timid knock on the door only a few seconds later.

Kurt and I broke apart, exchanged glances, and stood, straightening ourselves out so that whoever it was would have no inkling of what we were just doing.

I unlocked the door with my mind. "Come on in," I beckoned.

The door opened to reveal Clarice. "Miss Ryder?" she said. "There's a girl here who says she has to talk to you and Mr. Wagner."

Of course she does. "Where is she?" I asked.

"She's at the front door." Clarice motioned for us to follow her. Without another word, we left the room and followed her to the entryway, where the door stood ajar. I peered around the corner and found someone I'd never expected to see again.

The mutant girl from a few nights ago, Bonnie, looked relieved when she saw us. "I'm so glad you're here!" she cried. Upon studying her further, I noticed that she was an absolute mess—her toffee-colored ringlets were mussed all around her face, her clothes were torn in places, and her beret was conspicuously missing from her head.

"What—," I began, but she cut me off with a desperate plea.

"You've gotta help me," she begged. "They took him—they took Clyde!" With that, she threw her arms around me and collapsed in quivering sobs.

I looked up at Kurt, and his face told me exactly what he thought. We had no choice but to help this girl, whether we liked it or not.

A/N: Sorry this is kinda short. I'm aware it's not the best. I had a bit of trouble figuring out where to introduce this plot point, and I decided this would be the best place.

I'm also sorry this took so long. I've been very busy with school, and I experienced a crash with my old jump drive, so I lost a lot of material.

As you can probably tell, this is more or less a character development chapter, even though it is rather filler. I hope you like it nonetheless.

Don't forget to leave a review!