Note: The prompts this time were to write about a phobia your main character has and to put a bad character in a good light or a good character in a bad light. Thanks to my awesome reviewers! This chapter is for you guys. I hope you enjoy it!

Reviews make for happy Sprites.

Laura came through the door and announced regally, "Come, Storm is taking us on an impulsive field trip. She wants everyone downstairs and ready to go in twenty minutes or less."

"Where are we going?" asked Kitty, perking up with interest.

"We will be going into town. There is a new recreational area with a heated pool. She has rented the entire place for us so we will not have to worry about being bothered."

"A pool in December!?" Rogue exclaimed.

"It is a heated indoors pool. Apparently the place keeps the heat turned up like a sauna."

"Oh that sounds divine!" Rogue cried. "Get your suit, Kitty."

"I don't have a suit," Kitty replied, looking a bit fidgety.

"Neither do I," Laura said. "Storm told me I may wear shorts and a tank top. She would let you wear the same, I am sure."

"No, you can go on without me."

"What's wrong, Kitty?" Rogue asked.

"I…I'm not a fan of pools. Or any body of water, really," she replied, fidgeting a bit more.

"Whoa, I didn't know that, Kit," Rogue replied.

"Yea…well I don't talk about it much and it's not like we've ever had much opportunity to go out swimming or anything."

"But you did fine over that bridge!"

"That was a bridge. I didn't have to go into the water!"

She shuddered at the thought of it.

"You can sit on the sidelines! In shorts and a t-shirt," Rogue offered.

She shuddered again. "Someone might throw me in. Or I might fall in. Or the pool might just become a big mouth and swallow me right up. Or…"

"Whoa, Kit. Are you really that scared of it?"

"Yes! I know I shouldn't be but I am! I always start thinking of all of these things that could happen and I just hate it."

"Will you please come with us? You can sit very far away."

"I'll come, but I'm not wearing shorts and a tank top. You can't make me get in," she glowered.

In the end she wore jeans and a tank top, with a sweater over until they got there. The mutants trooped in and all stripped down to their suits and began to splash, swim and play in the warm water in the even warmer room. Kitty, looking at it as though it was about to come up and eat her, retreated to the far wall and curled in a ball in front of it. Whenever someone made a particularly loud noise she would phase, part of her disappearing right into the wall.

"Kit," Rogue replied, sitting beside her after a while and trying to not drip water on her. "What makes you so afraid?"

"Lots of little things I guess. My uncle taught me to swim by taking me out in a pond in the middle of the lake and throwing me in. I held my own for a little while but then I got so confused I panicked and went under. I nearly drowned. My mother forced me out again, in a bit safer of a scenario and finished the lesson. But I never trusted it after that."

"That sounds reasonable," Rogue offered.

"Then one of my friends drowned in her family's pond."

"Was she learning to swim?"

"No. She was ice skating. The ice cracked and she went under. They couldn't get her up in time. I was there and saw it happen."

"Oh, that's awful."

They were silent for a moment.

"Bobby took you ice skating once. I saw you, you seemed fine."

"Yes, because I knew that the water was very frozen. And it was shallow enough that even if it did crack I couldn't go all the way under. But if it's too deep or I don't know how frozen it is...I always imagine it swallowing me up. I don't even like to take baths," she confessed in a whisper. "Showers are much safer."

Rogue gave her friend a slightly damp hug. "Well then you just stay over here and nothing bad will happen, I promise."

"All right," Kitty replied, smiling as Rogue ran and dove into the deep end of the pool.

Laura came to sit by her next. "Why don't you come with me and dip your feet in? It might help you get over your fear."

"I don't know…"

"Please?" Laura asked.

Kitty gasped, she had never heard her say please.

So that was how Kitty ended up sitting on the edge of the deep end, her jeans rolled up to her knees, dangling her feet in the water as she watched Laura swim around with Rogue.

"Hey, Kitten," John whispered as he crouched behind her.

She scowled at him, still having not forgiven him for his cake thieving ways.

"Why aren't you swimming?"

"I don't want to get wet."

"Like this?" he asked, and with great speed he grabbed her around the waist and hurled her forward so that she landed right in the middle of the deep end of the pool with a rather large splash.

Kitty thrashed wildly, gasping, spluttering, and smacking several other frolicking students with her flailing limbs. She came up briefly but was panicking so badly that she went right back under, swallowing quite a lot of water on accident. She was so distraught that it didn't even occur to her to phase, all she could think about was how the water kept tugging at her clothes and trying to suck her under. How she would die like her friend, how she would drown now like she almost did years ago.

Then there were hands on her arm and her leg, which were the two appendages that were closest to the surface at this point and her head was above the water. She coughed and choked and spluttered, spewing water everywhere. Her hair was in her eyes and she couldn't see.

"Stop thrashing!" someone snarled at her and she obliged them as she realized that they were saving her.

She was flung harshly to the concrete around the edge of the pool and she crawled away from it, still coughing weakly. As soon as she was able she stood to her feet and ran from the building, not stopping until she was at the van that they had arrived at the pool in.

She climbed inside and sat there shivering until John appeared, holding her sweater.

"You okay?" he asked, wrapping in around her shoulders.

"I don't like water," she wheezed, glaring mutinously at him.

"Sorry about that, Kitty," John murmured, looking very apologetic indeed.

"No, you're not sorry. You're not sorry at all," Kitty rasped.

He shrugged. "I am actually. I didn't know you couldn't swim."

"I can swim. I just don't like water."

"Then why didn't you swim? Or phase?"

"I couldn't think, I just panicked."

"Oh, well I am sorry."

"I forgive you. Why'd you drag me out, anyway?"

"My intent wasn't to drown you."

She continued to shiver violently and he took his towel and threw it over her legs.

"Want me to go get you anything?"

"I just want to go home," she sighed, leaning her head against the window and fighting back tears.

"Storm said it'll be a while yet. She chewed me out pretty good for tossing you in," John said, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. It was a mark of how cold and exhausted she was that she let him.

"You deserved it."

"Yea…I did, didn't I?" he grinned. "Storm drove the van, but Logan came in a different car. If I went and asked to borrow it to take you home would you ride with me?"

"You would do that?"

"Yes. It's about thirty degrees in this vehicle - I'd hate for you to get pneumonia and die. Your hair's frozen," he commented, pulling at a few strands and she realized that, indeed, it was.

"Yes, I would ride with you."

With that he left, reappearing a few minutes later. "Come on."

Clutching the sweater and towel to her she departed the vehicle and made her way over to Logan's car. John let her in the passenger side before getting behind the wheel.

"You called me Kitty."

"It's your name."

"You always call me Kitten, even though I hate it."

"Maybe I felt like being nice to you today," he responded as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"You also have yet to be a smart mouth."

"Like I said…maybe I want to be nice to you for once."

"One minute you're nice, then the next you're so horrible…"

"Do you like me?" he asked abruptly, causing a blush to bloom across her cheeks.

"What?"

"Do you like me? Like…if I asked you out would you date me?"

"I'm halfway dating Peter."

"And if you weren't and I asked you out?"

"I would say yes."

"And that is why I'm such a jerk to you sometimes."

"That makes no sense!"

"I'm attracted to you and I could tell you were attracted to me. But I'm not good for you," he told her, cranking the heat up to full blast and aiming the vents her way.

"How do you know?" she asked, sighing as she leaned toward the warm air.

"I know that I'm a jerk and worse. I know that I'm a bad person. I know that sometimes I'd rather be fighting against the X-men rather than for them. I know that I very nearly joined Magneto once. I know that in the end I would do nothing but hurt you. I know that it would never work if we got together. So I took anything you trusted me with and used it against you. I was behind horrid to you. I hurt you in every way I could think of without laying hands on you."

She stared at him mutely.

"I wanted you to hate me."

"Why?" she asked, trying to take all this in even as she shivered uncontrollably.

"Because I want you. Because I think you're one of the few…no…maybe the only person that I could really care about."

"And now?"

"Do you hate me?"

"No."

"I'm tired of trying, Kitten," he whispered, staring resolutely at the road. For once, the nickname didn't bother her a bit. "I'm tired of being mean to you. I'm tired of making you cry. Could…" he faltered. "Could you forgive me?"

There was silence for so long that he wondered if she had fallen asleep. Or passed out.

"I'm not mad."

"But you're hurt."

"I'm hurt. But I see your motives, and I could forgive you. But you would have to keep showing me this side of you that I see right now. I don't think you're a bad person. I think you have bad tendencies sometimes. You like to be the bad boy and the rebel and there's nothing wrong with that. You like to aggravate people. You like to get a rise out of them. But that's not always a bad thing. You are skilled at taking things and twisting them until they hurt worse than anyone could have imagined it ever could. But you don't have to. You can be sweet."

"I want you to give me a chance, but…I'm not worth it."

"You are worth it, John. But you have to prove to me that you can repress that side of you that thinks you are all wrong for me. You have to prove to me that you are capable of being kind to me for more than one hour of one day."

"I will," he replied solemnly as he pulled the vehicle in the garage.

"Though I'm still going to the dance with Peter tomorrow."

"Of course. You can't break your word."

"Though…if you went and if you asked me…I would be honored to dance a dance with you."

"We'll see, Kitten," he replied. "Now come on, let's get you inside."

He walked her up to her room and when she came back from taking a shower it was to find John, in dry clothes with tousled hair, lounging on her bed. He sat up when she entered and closed the door so she could hang her towel on the back of it.

"What do you want?" she asked warily

"To make sure you were doing okay," he replied.

She blinked. "…I am not used to you being this nice."

"And I won't be. To anyone but you."

She laughed then and moved to sit on her bed beside John.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked.

"Nah, you can keep me company. When are the others supposed to be back?"

He looked at his watch. "Not for….two more hours."

"Wow."

"When she does a field trip she really does one," John voiced.

"That's for sure."

Kitty started brushing out her hair, watched closely by John.

"What?" she asked, fidgeting and a bit self conscious.

"I'm just looking at you."

She put the brush down and turned back to John to find that he was very close.

"What are you…?"

And then he kissed her, slow and sweet and so much better than the last time. Kitty returned it hesitantly at first, but then she slid closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pulled back and looked up at him - he could read the uncertainty in her eyes.

"I won't hurt you again like I did yesterday."

She smiled and bridged the gap between them, kissing him again. He pushed her gently until she was reclining backwards on the bed with him leaning over her. He skimmed his hand down her side and across her stomach before bringing it to rest at her hip. When she pulled her face away from him he let her, and started to sit up, but she tugged at him, scooting over a bit, until he lay down on the bed beside her.

"I'm still cold," she giggled. "And you are very warm."

He smiled a bit at that, pulling her close and tugging the edge of the blanket up over her.

"I think I could get used to you being nice like this," she murmured.

"Just as long as you don't blab about it and ruin my reputation."

She laughed quietly. "I won't."

Without meaning to at all, Kitty drifted off to sleep. John was content to hold her and watch her sleep. He stiffened a bit when the door opened and Laura came in.

Her claws extended with a snicket and she glared at him.

"What are you doing in here?" she hissed.

"Kitty invited me in," he replied.

"Kitty dislikes you."

"We made up," he replied nonchalantly. "Do you want me to leave?"

"Yes, I do," she answered, holding out her claws menacingly.

He slipped away from the girl slowly so as to not disturb her. She rolled a bit toward where he had been and John stroked her hair until she quieted. He tugged the blanket farther up over her.

"Tell her I'll be in my room if she wants to see me?" he asked Laura.

"Why would I?" Laura growled.

He shrugged. "I apologized to Kitty and she forgave me. I don't want her to think I was being a jerk by running out on her while she was taking a nap. "

"She is more forgiving that I am. I would very much like to impale you on my claws." Laura sighed. "Unfortunately, she has forbidden it."

"And I am grateful for that, truly," he said with a ghost of his familiar smirk dancing on his lips.

"You should leave before I forget what she has asked of me," Laura warned, advancing a step.

John obliged her, hoping that he could continue to show Kitty that somewhere in him was a good side.