Kurt's eyes opened, eyelids fluttering in lazy contentment. He had just awoken from the most peculiar dream. The details were hazy but he knew it had something to do with the color pink, a couple of lonesome but friendly grizzly bears, and a brown something that continually swung back and forth in front of his eyes like a pendulum.
Well, now that he thought about it, maybe it hadn't been as pleasant as he had initially thought. He couldn't for the life of him imagine what had been so nice about a dream that contained grizzly bears.
But then, for the first time in four days, realization washed over Kurt. He still didn't remember the dream, but he knew what those little snippets meant. The color pink was there because it was Kitty's favorite color and in turn, it reminded him of her. The friendly, lonesome grizzly bears were there because last week he had read Goldilocks to the Morlock children. And that brown something that swayed in front of his eyes like a pendulum was Kitty's ponytail. He liked Kitty's ponytail.
Kurt grinned. He was back. Kitty was alive and well and able to walk and he loved her and he had another chance. This time, he relished in it. This time, he was going to do it right, and he was going to love every second of it.
Throwing the covers off of himself, he sprung from his bed and sprinted for the closet. He had only moved a short way when he slipped on the sock and fell to the ground.
Ok, so maybe he wasn't going to love every second of it.
The sock had tripped him up again, but this time, it didn't matter. He wasn't going to let it get him down, figuratively speaking only of course. That sock could trip him up all it wanted today and he didn't care. Kitty was ok and he had his opportunity to fix things. He was happy. In fact, he was so thrilled with his life right now, that he sat up and then grabbed the sock, bringing it to his lips to give it a loud kiss.
Maybe that was a bit too much enthusiasm.
But it didn't matter! He jumped to his feet and ran to his closet, threw his clothes on and then ran into the bathroom. After he brushed his teeth, combed his hair, applied the necessary amount of deodorant, and smoothed the hair on his tail, he walked out of the bathroom, ducked under the flying underwear, and then came back up and grabbed Bobby in a crushing hug.
"Whoa!" Bobby, who felt his masculinity being threatened, struggled to get away from him. "Dude! What are you doing? Get off me!"
Kurt squeezed before letting him go. "I was just hugging you. Merry Christmas!"
Bobby stared at him. "What the CRAP!"
Kurt just smiled. And that's when Wolverine showed up.
"Snow cone," he growled, dangling the red, lacy thong from one claw, "Elf. You've both got some explaining to—oof!"
He was cut off as Kurt grabbed him around the middle and hugged him tight.
"Merry Christmas, Mister Logan!" He said brightly as he stepped away again.
Wolverine's mouth hung open as he looked at him. Bobby was staring at him again, too. But it didn't matter. Nothing was going to stop him today. He reached out a hand and grabbed the thong off of Logan's claw, sending him an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry about your underwear. That was wrong of me. I'll…take whatever punishment that you see fit." It was the middle of winter, but Kurt could swear that he heard some crickets chirping somewhere. Wolverine just continued to stare at him with that far off and confused look on his face for several long moments.
Bobby, however, ran off in the opposite direction, giggling like a mad man.
"You…" The older man seemed to be trying to think of something to say. "…are being weird. Go away."
"Ok! See ya!" Grinning, Kurt sent him a salute and then teleported to a downstairs hallway.
There was that closet door again, and he knew exactly what was behind it. That was why he swung it open without hesitation and announced himself.
"Hey Rogue!"
Gambit and Rogue jumped apart quicker than he could blink.
"Oh, hey Kurt," Rogue said casually, "What's up—oh!"
Kurt crushed her to him in a strong hug. "Gambit is!" He said happily. "And Merry Christmas!"
Gambit still did not look guilty. Rogue just looked embarrassed and extremely confused. But before she could ask what Kurt was doing, he had let go of her and was giving Gambit a hug. But he stopped as soon as he felt something hard poking him.
It was a broom handle.
"Stupid broom-" Kurt pulled it out of his ribs and propped it up against the wall again. "Anyway," he turned his attention back to Rogue and Remy. "I won't tell anyone about this. But I will tell you that everyone except for Logan already knows. You probably don't want to stress anyone out during the holidays, but eventually Logan is going to find out one way or another. And its better you tell him than he just walk in on you, don't you think? Tell him. I think it's the right thing to do."
"Um-"
But Kurt was already gone on his merry way, sprinting down the hall to the kitchen. He couldn't wait to see her. He couldn't wait to-
He threw the kitchen door open and there was Kitty, covered from head to toe in flour, looking happy, and unbeknownst to her, being the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.
Glancing upwards, he said a silent thank you before rushing towards her. She turned to him, smiling.
"Hi Kurt! What are you-Kurt!"
He couldn't help it; she got the biggest hug of all. It was probably too hard for comfort but she didn't complain. Instead she hugged him back and then giggled when he picked her up and swung her around in a circle. He liked the sound so he did it again, and again and she kept laughing so he kept spinning. It was inevitable that they ended up on the ground, tangled up in each other and laughing life maniacs.
Ororo smiled knowingly to herself before slipping out of the room.
Once their giggling had subsided, Kurt rolled onto his stomach to lean over her. Without thinking, he pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Merry Christmas, Kitty." He said softly.
She blinked up at him, most likely confused by his sudden affectionate behavior. Her cheeks colored. "Merry Christmas, Kurt."
He didn't hesitate before he spoke again. The time for being hesitant and cowardly was over. "Kitty, I like you. If Lance doesn't want you, then I'll take you. And if he does want you…then I'll take you anyway."
Her eyes widened. "W-what?"
"What?"
"I asked you first." She nudged his shoulder lightly and he moved out of the way so that she could sit up. "What are you saying?"
This conversation brought another one back to his mind. The one in the car when she had asked him if he was asking her out and he didn't answer…He should have answered. He should have told her then how much he wanted her. And she might have said…Now another memory came crashing back to him. Kitty had said right before she kissed him: 'If you had asked, I would have said yes.'
He sat up as it dawned on him. Kitty would have said yes if he had asked her out. Kitty had hung onto him all throughout the grocery store. Kitty had laughed with him, and talked with him, and crashed the car with him, and enjoyed his company. Kitty had kissed him three times. And Kitty had lied.
And now he understood what she had lied about.
"Kurt?" She was looking at it him expectantly, still waiting for his answer.
"Yes, Kitty?"
"What did you mean by saying that?"
He smirked slowly at her before standing up. There was nothing more that he wanted to do than to tell her how he felt right now. But now was not the right time and somehow, today, he understood that. If he told Kitty now she might become embarrassed and not ask him to go with her to the Brotherhood house. And since he didn't want a repeat of yesterday, he would wait until the time was right. All he needed was some time. And for him, as of late, he had that in spades.
"Think about it." He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Now. Were you going to do some cooking? Can I help?"
The morning went by quickly. Because for the first time in a long time (it seemed) Kurt was having fun.
He helped Kitty cook. Cooking and baking was not his area of expertise by any means, but he felt safe in following the directions to a T and encouraging Kitty to do the same. The hour that he had spent nearly every other day running from Logan, now he spent it helping Kitty. Speaking of Wolverine, ever since Kurt had (apparently) taken all the fun out of trying to kill him, the man wasn't trying to hunt anyone down anymore. He had come downstairs, appearing bored, when Ororo had asked him to go find a present for Professor X. And then he left.
Since Kurt had hardly left the kitchen, he hadn't run into Remy and Rogue again either. This was a welcome change.
At one point he did leave to go stop something. He walked into the living room just in time to see Bobby throw a whoopee cushion under Jean. Kurt teleported the last few feet, grabbed it before Jean could sit down, and then teleported again to the kitchen where Kitty stared at him as he threw it into the freezer.
He flashed Kitty a grin, she blushed, and then he teleported again down to the rec room.
Piotr, who sat avidly watching the Christmas parade, started to fumble around with the remote.
"Piotr!" He shouted, startling the man out of his frantic haste for the remote.
"Yes?"
"Bobby wishes he was a tortoise, Logan is insane, Kitty's nosy, Jean hears voices in her head, Scott has made more corny one-liners than anyone I've ever heard, Ororo's too scared to go under the covers in her bed, Professor X listens to our thoughts to know what we got him for Christmas, Tabitha's a pervert, Remy's a pervert, Rogue wears bad makeup and I'm blue and furry. Trust me. Liking the parade? You're the normal one."
And then he teleported.
"Hey Kitty," he greeted as soon as he was in the kitchen again. "Are you ready to go to the Brotherhood house?"
Kitty was ready to go so they packed up the cake and piled into the car. They were driving down the driveway when Wolverine, looking stressed and covered in blood while carrying a box of honey buns came walking past them towards the house. They stopped, their mouths agape and Kurt rolled down his window and asked what had happened.
"Wrecked." Wolverine grunted. "Be careful, there's ice on the roads."
Kurt just grinned. At least it wasn't Kitty this time.
Oh. Wait…he shouldn't think that. That was bad of him, wasn't it? Well…what the hey, it wasn't like Wolverine could die from a car crash anyway. So Kurt was happy.
Kitty stared at him the whole way over. It was very unnerving but he kept his eyes on the road. It wouldn't do to crash the car on the day that was finally going right. This time around she didn't talk about Lance or their relationship. She was very quiet and when he chanced a glance over at her when he came to the stop sign, there was a look of contemplation on her face. He didn't know what to make of it but he didn't try; he looked away quickly when she noticed him looking.
Finally they arrived at the Brotherhood house. Kurt unbuckled his seatbelt and moved to open his door but Kitty stopped him with a question.
"Were you serious?" She asked quietly. "You know, about what you said earlier. That…that you would take me?"
He gulped and forced himself to be brave. It didn't help that his hands were trying to start shaking. "Would I joke about something like that? I was being honest with you, Kitty."
"Then," she bit her lip and looked down at her lap, away from him, "how did you mean it? Did you mean like, romantically?"
This was so hard. Why was this so hard? Kitty was his best friend; shouldn't that have made this easier? He had never felt so sweaty in his whole life. "If-uh…if you want…I mean—I um…yes." What had happened to that calm, cool, confident Kurt? He had liked that Kurt.
"Oh, that's like…" She lifted her gaze from her lap and their eyes met. Slowly, she smiled. "Great."
All of a sudden he felt like the luckiest man in the world. "Really?"
"Mhmm." She blushed and quickly looked away again. "I haven't talked to him in weeks but do you think I should tell Lance I'm done with him?"
"Nah, he'll get the hint." He said quickly. "But you know what? I'm feeling the Christmas spirit. Let's invite the Brotherhood to supper."
Kitty liked the idea of getting more people's opinion on her cooking, and also thought that he was being, in her words, 'like totally super sweet' so she came up to the front stoop with him and rang the bell. Wanda, who was clearly feeling the Christmas spirit and loving everyone and everything in the world in a cloud of rainbows and glitter and fairies, greeted them politely.
"What?" She grunted.
"I brought cake!" Kitty said cheerily as she stood on the front stoop. "And also, do you guys want to come over for supper? We would LOVE to have you all there. It's Christmas, you know? Let's be happy. Merry Christmas! Here, take your cake."
Kitty had certainly become very happy all of a sudden. Kurt lifted an eyebrow at her before turning, smiling to Wanda. "Yeah, I know we've had some altercations in the past but its Christmas. We would like to put it all behind us…"
Wanda just stared at them for a moment, appearing bored before she shrugged. "I guess. What time?"
"Seven O'clock!" Kitty grinned. "Hi Toad!" She waved to Toad over Wanda's shoulder. "Merry Christmas!"
Toad stared.
"Alrighty then," Kurt said quickly before he could get sucked into a staring match. "Time for us to go…hope we'll see you guys for supper." He grabbed hold of Kitty's hand because it was totally necessary to do so as they walked off of the stoop…and across the yard…and all the way to the car. He really hated letting it go again, but that really wasnecessary in order to get into the car.
They were home again. And he didn't want to leave her. He didn't want to leave her big, blue eyes and her little shy smiles and her relaxing company. But there was something that needed fixing and he was determined to make it right.
He teleported upstairs just in time to see Scott and Jean approaching his door. He hadn't helped Bobby stuff the closet full today even though he had asked him to. But just because he had refrained from helping him, Kurt didn't doubt that Bobby had gone ahead with the prank by himself anyway.
And he HAD to stop it.
"We're not opening the gifts until later, but I wanted to give you yours now, you know, in private."
"Oh Scott," Jean said dreamily.
Kurt stood a safe distance away and waited for Scott to approach the closet door. He was walking, he was getting closer…his hand was on the doorknob-"It's in my closet," Scott said. "I'll get it right—"
Kurt teleported to the room, grabbed Scott, and then teleported again to stand next to Jean.
Neither of them seemed to have any words. They just stared in astonishment at the flying marshmallows, and then back to Kurt, and then back to the marshmallows that had settled on the floor. Wordlessly he trudged through the sea of white, picked a wrapped present off of the closet shelf, made his way back to Scott, and then placed it in his hand.
"Merry Christmas," he said before teleporting down to the kitchen where-
"Supper!" Kitty yelled straight into his ear. But he didn't mind. She could yell into his ear all she wanted. Yelling with her bubbly voice and those soft, pink lips-
"Kurt, why are you staring at me?"
"You're pretty." He said quickly and then looked around, missing her resulting blush. "Where's Professor X?"
"I think he's in the living room."
Professor X was sitting in the living room, admiring the lights on the tree. Kurt approached him and squatted to sit next to him, lowering his voice so that no one but the professor could hear him. "Professor. I have to ask you a huge favor."
"Yes?" Charles asked him politely.
"You know how Remy and Rogue are…together?"
The professor nodded in understanding. "Yes, I had suspected as much. What about it?"
"Well…I think they're going to tell everyone about them tonight. I…look, I know it's against your code but can you try to—uh—help Logan out?"
A single brow rose. "Help?"
"Yeah, just kind of you know, do your mind thing? Make him ok with it, just for Christmas? Please Professor…."
Professor X gazed at him for a moment before giving a little smile. "I'll see what I can do."
Ok. That was weird. He had been sure that he would have to convince him a little more. Maybe Professor X was really feeling the Christmas spirit this year…
They sat down to supper fifteen minutes later, right after the Brotherhood had arrived and squeezed into the rest of the crowd around the table. And then, they had a normal, enjoyable dinner. Everyone was forced to try the potatoes. The delicious, creamy, buttery potatoes. And then they were forced to eat the corn. The normally salted, non burnt and tasty corn. It was all good and well.
Until Rogue stood up.
"Everyone, Remy and I have an announcement to make."
Kitty gasped dramatically. "You guys are in LOVE?"
Rogue paused before nodding. "Yes."
Instantly Wolverine went frigid. The grip he had on his fork became so hard that his knuckles were a bright white. "Is that true, Cajun? Are you two-" he started to growl but then suddenly stopped and as a dazed, happy look overcame his features. "-in LOVE? That's great." he finished, sounding a lot more like Kitty than he ever had before.
"Are you for real?" Rogue asked incredulously.
"Yeah," Wolverine gave a drunk-looking smile. "We got any more of those potatoes?"
After everyone else (all of them looking EXTREMELY confused) congratulated Remy and Rogue, the dinner went back to normal. Kurt felt a great accomplishment at this. Everyone was happy, everyone was eating, Kitty was smiling at him, and Rogue didn't hate him.
And then, the strangest thing happened.
They finished their meal. Then all as one, they cleaned up the mess together. Ororo asked him to take out the trash and Kitty happily offered to come along with him. His heart immediately started up this annoying little tango inside of his chest as they walked out into the cold. It wouldn't stop no matter how much he mentally told it to. Oh well, it was kind of pointless anyway. Kitty would always have that affect on him.
Silently she hooked her arm in his as they made their way around the house and to the trash can. Taking out the trash had never been more enjoyable. He let go of her to swing the bag into the can and then turned around, only to find Kitty already so close to him that he could feel her breath on his neck.
"Kurt." She whispered. "Can I kiss you?"
Why was she asking him that? Didn't she already know that he wanted it?
She didn't wait for an answer. Her lips pressed to his before he had time to process it. And before he even had a chance to kiss her back, she had stopped. Her arms came around his shoulders as she stared up at him.
"Kurt," she asked softly, "are you ok?"
He was very confused by this question. Why wouldn't he be ok? Did he not look ok? He couldn't figure why he wouldn't look like the happiest man in the world; today had been the best day of his life.
"I'm fine," he responded and slipped his arms around her waist. "As long you're here, I'll be happy."
The mood shifted in an instant. Suddenly she was serious. "Kurt. I want you to be perfectly honest with me about something. What…what are your feelings for me?"
Should he tell her the truth? He had already done so once before and it had gone alright, except that she had become very flustered afterward. But now she was asking him straight out. If he was honest, how would she take it? There was only one way to find out.
"You're my best friend." He said quietly, reaching a hand out to tenderly push a strand of hair behind her ear. "Being with you…it would make perfect sense. I love you."