Alright, this is by far one of the best chapters I have ever typed. Well, I like this chapter.
So enjoy, and thanks for all the kind reviews!
It was evening on the third day we were here. Everyone but me was having a wonderful time training. When ever Charles came up to me and asked if I wanted to work with my powers, I would always shrug it off and tell him I m not ready. He didn t like that I would not acknowledge my powers. But he would be kind and drop the matter.
I was currently standing around in the kitchen with Hank and Erik.
The latter was making me uncomfortable. Which he really should not make me uncomfortable considering that we were both mutants but even the way he eats is kind of really intimidating.
My arm was healing up nicely. Stitches were the only reminder of what transpired that night. Hank and I were talking quietly, worried that we might disturb Erik with our conversation. You re not worried about what would happen if your powers sprung up in public? He was determined to get my answer on this question.
Considering that my power can change me into a bird, I could easily get away before they even noticed. But my powers don t give me a cosmetic problem. Either normal human, normal hawk, or normal lioness. I knew he did not like his mutation. Last I heard he was working on something to counter his mutation, but I wasn t sure it would work. I never liked science.
"Don't you want to be normal though?"
"No. This is the best thing that ever happened to me. I found people who can accept me, and..." I was about to say something I knew I would regret. "Him." I said that so quietly, I wasn't even sure Hank heard what I said. This obviously alarmed him. I bet it was the fact I was glad for something he was cursed by.
"So you're happy that you killed three people and orphaned a child?" He commented loud enough for Erik to hear it.
That was a straight punch in the face. I didn't know what to say, but I'm pretty sure the look of horror that spread across my features expressed it all. Hank immediately regretted what he said.
I don't know why I did what I did.
All I remember after that was raising my hand and slapping my friend right across the face and storming out of the kitchen.
I was angry.
Upset and angry.
But mostly upset.
I felt like bursting into a thousand tears at that moment. What he said was too much. It struck too many nerves.
So you're happy that you killed three people and orphaned a child?
Yes, I stormed off and now isolated myself in my room. It seemed so childish, but it worked. They all understood how that made me feel, and I'm pretty sure Hank felt terrible for what he said. He must be beating himself up over this. We were good friends, and friends had fights.
But I wasn't sure if that counted with two mutant friends, where one could easily slice the other open.
I was also embarrassed it happened in front of Erik. You did not want to be considered weak by him, he had that type of personality where he couldn t handle emotional people well. Or I assumed he had that type of personality. It sure must have been strange for him to witness Hank and I arguing, and then me slapping him.
They were probably trying to figure out what to do right now. If to just leave me alone and let me wallow in self-pity or send someone up. I m not sure what they were going to do, the sun was already beginning to fade and be taken over by darkness. I bet the problem was the dilemma of who to send up. No doubt Charles would come up. Considering the feelings that I know he has for me.
Not the fact that I didn t return the feelings, I was just unsure. I've never felt this way before, nobody makes me so confused like him. No one makes me feel like I m worth something, except for him. Audrey never made me feel special, if I haven't already talked about her personality enough, she is (Or was) an attention hog. Maybe Sean and Alex were right. Maybe we were supposed to be together. Maybe our lives would end up like some crappy romance novel.
In truth, I wouldn t mind that. My life has already been hell, and the ending of one of those books sounded pretty good right about now. Especially if it was shared with him. So strange how one day, everything is normal, and the next you re a murderer with a telepath falling for you. That never happened in the novels. And if it did, that would be extremely coincidental.
Considering the range of abilities we mutants possess, I wouldn t be surprised if someone was a time traveler who heard about mine and Charles's love story and traveled all the way back before we were born to write a romance novel about us to tell us what to do. I don t think that is too far off from what could actually happen nowadays.
A few raps on my door told me how the rest of the night would go.
Now I just had to see if my guess on who it was is correct.
"May I come in?" Shocker, it was him. But who else would come up?
I wouldn't say no to him. Anyone else would have received a very nasty reply.
I was sitting on my bed, knees pulled up to my face and turned away from the door. Not the fetal position but pretty close to it. The gentle squeak that came with opening the doors signaled that he was in my room. I also heard it when he shut the door. This made me slightly uncomfortable. Alone in the room with someone who I have strong feelings with, and who returns those feelings ten fold. That would make anyone feel uncomfortable.
I felt him sit beside me on the bed and gently wrap an arm around me. The warmth immediately spread through my back and settled through out my body.
Don't know if that sounds cheesy, but that's what happened.
A pair of lips caressed the top of my head. That was the closest I have ever let someone get to me. I never even allowed my own parents to do that. That pretty much sums up how much I liked my parents.
"Anne," The way he murmured my name, I adored it. I'm pretty sure he wanted to say something, but couldn't quite think of the right words. Which is strange because he always knew what to say. He would have made a great motivational speaker. Or therapist.
"I think I ll just show you." I felt his arm squeeze my shoulder and I let my head gently rest on his shoulder.
All of a sudden images flooded my mind.
We were back in the forest, it was the day we meant. Of him standing over my lioness body, banishing the voices from my head. It made me realize how beautiful the forest was that day, which only amplified my feelings.
That disappeared and was replaced by me and him talking before he left with Erik and Moira. It was then I noticed the true emotion that went with every thought he sent me. I never saw that before.
All the moments that we shared were relived. I saw me through his eyes. And I loved it.
The last image was something I did not expect. Something I didn't know even happened.
It was last night, when I was sleeping. I was having a dream I could not remember. Every time I tried to remember all I got was shadows and blood and a sudden warmth that ended it.
Apparently I had been thrashing around terribly that night. And according to the image I was showed, the sudden warmth of my dream wasn't just a figment of my imagination.
It was real.
It was him.
Charles had come into my room and onto my bed, gently laying down beside me. His arm held me in place, and if I was awake I would have felt his warm breath against my neck. He did not sleep.
Every time I even flinched he would hug my sleeping body and I would go still again. This continued well into the morning, and he left only about five minutes before I woke up.
Words did not have to be expressed at that moment.
I still felt like bursting into a thousand tears , but now those were tears of happiness.
And so I cried into his shoulder for an hour.
Because, sometimes you just need to cry.
