I Remember You
She couldn't quite meet his eyes. She felt completely wretched and she wished that the entire thing had never happened. Except that it had happened, and now she had a brokenhearted Peter Rasputin to contend with.
Slowly, he took the small box she held out to him.
"I'm really sorry," she repeated for what must have been the seventh time.
He forced a smile. "It's all right. I understand."
Kitty sighed. "I'm sorry," she said again. "You're a great guy and I like you. I do like you a lot. But, - I just don't feel the same way. And, even if I did, I'm at a point in my life right now where I'm just not ready for anything like this."
He nodded. "Of course. I respect that. I respect you. But it doesn't change the way I feel. I will still care for you, Kitty, and I will still be your friend."
He couldn't have made her feel worse than if he had shouted at her. "Thank you," she told him. "You are amazing, Peter Rasputin." She suddenly wanted to cry.
"But not amazing enough." He shrugged and even managed a weak chuckle. "I'm sorry, but - I think I should go. Would you excuse me?"
"Yes. Yes! Sure." Before he turned away, she impulsively hugged him. "Oh, Peter."
His arms tightened around her briefly then he pulled away. "I'll see you."
As she watched him go, she was almost tempted for a second to call him back. But it wouldn't have been fair to him. He deserved better than someone who was only with him because of a misguided sense of friendship.
He had taken her completely by surprise. She had had no idea that he had feelings for her until he made that stammering confession when he presented her with his gift. She had listened silently as he told her that recent events, especially the battle in Alcatraz, had made him reevaluate a lot of things in his life. "There seemed to be all the time in the world before that night," he had said. "But, it turns out there isn't. You can lose everything in a second, and you can never get things back once they're gone. So I don't want to let things just happen to me anymore. I want to make choices, take chances. I want to live my life, and if I can have you in it then I'd be the happiest man in the world." Then she had spoken, and her words had made the hopeful light in his eyes fade.
The whole encounter had upset her greatly. It had become her habit these days that, whenever she was upset, she would go to the Danger Room and have a solo training run to clear her head. She was in the middle of her exercise, intensely focused on fighting half a dozen robotic opponents. She had taken out four of them and was about to charge the remaining two when they were suddenly struck by fire. She turned around in surprise and saw Pyro smirking at her.
"That was lousy," he said. "I could have torched you before you even knew that I was there."
"You're interrupting my session," she snapped.
He just shrugged. "How about a little one on one?" he suggested. "You. Me. Gloves off."
She looked at him curiously. He seemed to be in a strange mood today; not that his mood was ever not strange. But there was something.
"Hello, Kitty? Come on. Let's see who can kick ass better."
She nodded. "Okay. You're on."
It was brutal. When it was over, Pyro sat up on the floor, wincing in pain. He gave her a dark look. "Have you been holding back during training all this time?" he asked.
"Maybe." She couldn't help but grin at his expression.
"Haven't had a workout like that in a while," he remarked, shaking his head.
"You're supposed to be a badass. You can take it," she told him without any trace of sympathy.
"As soon as the swelling goes down, we're having a rematch," he vowed.
"I won't hold my breath," she retorted. She held out a hand to help him up, but he ignored it pointedly and got back to his feet on his own. He frowned at her and that was when she finally noticed the two small wounds caused by Rogue's fingernails.
"I didn't see these before! What happened?" She reached out and touched his cheek gingerly.
He started as if she had electrocuted him. "It's none of your business!" he growled.
"Sorry. I was just -!" She couldn't imagine what had gotten into him. His moods changed so much from moment to moment that it was difficult to keep up with him.
"You know what, it's fine. Forget it." He told her, then he left as abruptly as he had arrived.
