Author's Note: *sighs* Real life's been threatening to eat me alive. So, to make up for my absence, I'd say it's about time for Kurt and Kitty to get a Relationship Upgrade after all the angst and UST of the previous chapters. Thanks to BabyBeaver for helping me out with this one-shot!
Date
It was a warm day outside—a cloudless blue sky, a slight breeze, the works. It was perfect weather for what Kurt had in mind to do today. Now, if only he could muster up enough guts to knock on Kitty's door...
Kurt wasn't altogether sure why he was still hesitating. He had been in situations that were worse than this (heck, matters of life and death were part of the job when one was an X-Man), and it wasn't like this was anything fancy he was inviting Kitty on.
So he really should just stop staring at Kitty's door and knock on the darn thing.
Just calm down, you can do zis, Kurt thought to himself. Ze vorst zat can happen is...no, don't zink about zat; you'll just lose your nerve again.
Taking a deep breath and trying not to think about anything except what he was planning to do, Kurt quickly knocked once, twice, three times on the door, then stepped back to wait. Within seconds, Kitty had opened the door, her blue eyes brightening as she saw who it was.
"Hey, Kurt," she greeted. "So you finally learned how to use a door?"
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Despite popular belief, Keety, I don't alvays teleport from room to room."
Kitty smirked. "Could've fooled me. What do you want, anyway?"
"I vas vondering...since it's a nice day out and all, if you'd vant to go for a valk vith me," Kurt said, surprised by how steady his voice was.
Kitty paused momentarily, looking thoughtful. "You mean, just the two of us?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Like a date?"
"Ye—I mean, no! I mean..." Kurt mentally cursed himself; why did he have to clamp up now? "No, not a date, it's just..."
His voice trailed off as Kitty merely stood there, her arms folded and an eyebrow raised skeptically.
Kurt sighed. "Yes, it's a date." He looked at Kitty. "I'm asking you out on a date."
Kitty could barely contain the wide grin that was creeping its way onto her face. Finally! she thought.
Out loud, she let out a giggle and said, "Then I'd love to! Just give me five minutes to change clothes."
"All right." Kurt nodded (Yes! She said yes, she said yes! he thought). "I'll meet you in ze main hall."
A few minutes later, Kurt was in the main hall, his inducer turned on. He lifted his head as Kitty walked down the stairs. She had changed into a white cotton top, a knee-length black skirt, and matching black flip-flops. To top it off, she had let her hair out of its usual ponytail so that it now fell around her shoulders.
"What, see something you like?" Kitty asked in amusement when she caught Kurt staring.
Kurt blinked, his face flushing slightly beneath the hologram. "Uh..."
Kitty didn't wait for him to answer. "So, you ready to go?"
"Ja," Kurt replied, nodding vaguely. "But I'm driving," he quickly added, showing Kitty the car keys.
Her smile turned into a pout. "I have been getting better, y'know!"
Kurt laughed at the look on Kitty's face. "I'm not taking any chances, Keety."
When Kurt and Kitty made it to town, they started off just walking the streets together, talking about a wide variety of subjects: what their lives were like before the X-Men, how they joined up with the team, what they wanted to do in the future. Sometimes, one of them could not resist poking fun at the other ("So Keety, do you still drink milk from ze carton?" "Come on, Kurt, that only happened once!"), and other times, they slipped into moments of comfortable silence.
Eventually, Kurt and Kitty found themselves strolling in the park. The breeze picked up a little, and Kurt watched as it ruffled Kitty's brown hair and brushed past her skirt. The sun seemed to be giving Kitty's skin a slight glow, and Kurt decided it was the prettiest he had ever seen her.
The holographically-hidden mutant smiled as he and Kitty found a park bench to sit on. I should've asked her out a long time ago, Kurt thought.
"So, Kurt..." Kitty began as she played with a lock of her hair, "I don't think I've ever really apologized for...y'know, for how I acted when we first met."
"You mean vhen ze inducer shorted out and you screamed and ran avay vhen you saw vhat I really looked like?" Kurt recalled. "Don't vorry about zat; you don't need to apologize."
It didn't stop me from chasing you, he thought. Out loud, Kurt grinned and added, "Besides, you varmed up to ze Fuzzy Dude soon enough."
Kitty smiled in reply. "'Course I did." Her smile faded slightly. "But maybe if I'd liked you from the start, things would've been different."
Kurt remained silent, looking at Kitty.
Her voice became quieter, as though she were talking more to herself than to him. "You really liked me, even when you freaked me out...even when you annoyed me...even when I just saw you as my friend." Kitty laughed shakily. "By the time I figured out that I liked you as...something more, you were, well..." Kitty's voice trailed off.
"Vith Amanda," Kurt finished. "And you vere vith Lance."
"Yeah." Kitty was looking down at the grass; she looked up at Kurt as his hand touched hers.
"Keety, for vhat it's vorth," Kurt said, "I don't zink I ever stopped. Liking you, I mean."
"Really?" Kitty asked, almost looking as though she didn't believe him.
Kurt nodded. His heartbeat quickened. It's now or never. "I love you, Keety."
It took a few seconds for Kitty to realize what Kurt had just said, but when she did, she suddenly threw her arms around him in a hug.
"Love you too, Fuzzy Elf," she said as she released him, grinning. And with that, Kitty gently leaned her head against Kurt's shoulder, and he smiled down at her.
"And just where've y'all bin?" Rogue asked Kurt and Kitty when they came back to the mansion.
Kitty blushed slightly and exchanged glances with Kurt. "Oh, just out for a walk," she replied in a nonchalant voice.
Kurt snickered, and Kitty took him by the hand as they walked towards the kitchen.
Rogue stared, taking note of their clasped hands. Well, 'bout tahme those two got it tahgether, she thought.