Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men.
36
"I don't believe this," Kurt said later that night. "She likes him. She really likes him." He picked up the notebook and started to flip through the pages.
Kiara had decorated the back cover and most of the pages in the notebook with multi-colored hearts and the initials N.C. in various forms of calligraphy.
"I can't, like, believe it either," Kitty said, "and after what happened today, she must be, like, so upset."
"I just don't get it," Kurt said, throwing the notebook on his bed. "I mean, I know Kiara's been ignoring me lately, but it really kind of seemed like -- like --"
"Like she loves you," Rogue said, picking up the notebook. "I really don't think Kiara likes Nick."
"Why would you think that?" Kurt asked, sitting on his bed.
"Well," Rogue said. "For one thing, there are a lot of pictures in here that remind me of you."
She flipped through the pages of the notebook and showed him a picture of a pair of shining, golden eyes.
"She sleeps with that picture of the two of y'all under her pillow," Rogue went on, "and the letters N.C. can stand for something other than Nick Crenshaw."
"Like what?" Kitty asked her.
Rogue tore a blank page out of the notebook and scribbled something on it quickly. "Here," she said, handing the paper to Kurt.
Kurt stared at the paper for a minute, stunned. "Nightcrawler," he said, reading it aloud. "My codename. Nightcrawler."
"Oh, my god," Kitty said. "That makes, like, perfect sense. Why didn't we, like, think of that, Kurt?"
"I don't think y'all were supposed to," Rogue said. "I think she wanted to throw us off guard just in case one of us did find it. She wanted to keep her feelings a secret. That's why she picked the initials for Nightcrawler instead of the ones for Kurt Wagner."
"Wait," Kurt said. "Why would Kiara want to hide her feelings from me?"
"Oh, I don't know," Rogue said, scowling at him. "It could be because she thinks you're going out with her." She gestured to Kitty. "Or 'cause she wants to make you jealous. Or it could just be a way to prove how dense you are."
"Yeah," Kitty said before Kurt had a chance to respond, "but that's not the point. The point is that you need to, like, go talk to Kiara, like, right away."
Kurt sighed and shook his head. "Nein," he said. "Not tonight, anyway. It's past eleven. Kiara's probably asleep by now."
"Yeah, probably," Kitty agreed with a sigh.
Kurt had a hard time falling asleep that night. He was too excited to fall asleep.
Kiara had feelings for him. She liked him. Maybe even loved him.
Kurt flipped through the pages over and over again just so he could see his initials written in Kiara's beautiful handwriting.
Then, finally, when it was long past midnight, Kurt stood up and teleported to Kiara's bedroom. He landed on the floor next to Kiara's bed.
He smiled in a disappointed sort of way. "I wish you would have told me yourself," he whispered, brushing some hair off of her forehead. "Things would have been so much easier if I had found out sooner. I could have told you how I really feel about you, but I'll make things better, I promise. I won't let you run away from me this time."
Kurt stared down at Kiara silently. She was so adorable in her asleep.
Then Kurt realized something. Kiara couldn't run away from him and now that he knew she was in love with him, would it really be so wrong if he -- if he--?
Kurt bent silently, nervously praying that Kiara didn't wake up because he knew she would kill him if he did. Then he kissed her lips ever so lightly and pulled away from her slowly.
"There," Kurt whispered. "Our first kiss."
He smiled silently and teleported back to his bedroom.