AN: The long author's note is at the bottom today :) Enjoy!

What a Web We Weave

36) Pancakes

Heather breathed out slowly, sleepily. She felt so warm and happy, she was practically glowing. One of Kurt's arms was cushioning her cheek, while the other stroked the spot just above her hip. She felt his lips kiss her shoulder, soft and wonderful.

She smiled, even though he couldn't see it. "Good morning," she breathed, reaching out for his hand and kissing his palm.

Kurt's mouth smiled against her bare skin. "Morning," he murmured. "I vasn't sure if you vere avake."

"I have been for a little while," she admitted quietly, drinking in the buttery yellow light that streamed in through her curtains and warmed the whole room. "But I didn't want to move. This is just so…" She smiled wider, closing her eyes and snuggling deeper into his arms, "nice."

"I vish zhis never had to end," he said, his thumb tracing lazy circles across her stomach, beneath her silk negligee.

"It doesn't have to," Heather smirked. "I have the day off. We can stay here, turn off the phones, lock the door – the world will just have to get along without us for the day."

He sighed deeply. "I have to go to zhe mansion. I'm sorry, love."

"What on earth do you need that you have to go all the way out to Bayside?" Heather asked, a bit of annoyance leaking into her happy bubble. She turned to face him, propping up on her elbow so she could look him in the eye. Kurt ran a hand through his already messy blue hair, not meeting her gaze.

God she loved that hair. And she really, really wanted to mess it up some more, but she resisted the urge to pull him back down with her for the moment. They needed to talk about this, and they needed to do it now… Even if she was still being distracted by how his black boxers were the perfect color to offset his deep blue skin.

"Heazher, zhe mansion is my home. All my zhings are zhere... and I have responsibilities zhere. I can't stay here all zhe time and avoid zhem," he explained. She could see his tail swishing sharply, agitated.

Heather placed a palm against his bare chest and he finally looked up. "Kurt, you're a reservist now. You hardly ever go on missions anymore with the X-Men. You spend more time out in the field with me and Audrey than them. Besides, I keep telling you that you can bring whatever you want here! You have a drawer here, plus there's a laundromat around the corner, so it's not like you're running out of clothes. Just stay with me today, please?" She begged unashamedly, a slight whine in her voice.

There were many things she would never beg for. But spending as much time as possible with her wonderful boyfriend? She'd plead and grovel on her knees for that.

"Baby, I can't," Kurt smoothed back her short hair, then stroked her cheek, making her close her eyes. "I vish I could be here in zhe city all zhe time vith you."

"Why don't you just move into the neighborhood, then?" Heather was definitely whining now. She didn't care.

She reached around him and pulled him close, her fingers tracing the paths of old scars across his back. She felt one hand tangle into her hair and moaned as he tugged on the locks. His other hand slid down her lower back, down, down, down to grip her thigh. He found her mouth, and the taste of him was so sweet, she forgot completely what they had been talking about for a blissful moment.

Kurt pulled back from the kiss far too soon, and she couldn't help the whimper of disappointment she made. "Love, I could never afford zhis neighborhood in a million years, or anyvhere else in zhe city. Xavier has done so much for me, zhe least I can do is help mentor zhe new kids and stay on at zhe mansion."

Heather felt her lip pucker out as he pulled away and 'poofed' to the other side of the room, searching for his clothes. "I'm pretty sure that if you said that to Charles, he'd tell you that you've done enough for the team, and you should get out and make a life for yourself away from the rest of them. That it would… oh, I don't know, build your character, help you to adapt to normal civilian life, something. He would never tell you that you had to stay."

Kurt chuckled as he started to pull his jeans on. "He vouldn't say it because zhat's not his vay. He vould never try to make someone feel guilty."

"Exactly! Now stop doing it to yourself, and come back here," Heather retorted, crawling to the edge of the bed. She narrowed her eyes at him while he hunted for his shirt. "If you leave now, you'll miss the amazing breakfast in bed I was going to make you," she said in a singsong voice.

That made him laugh. "You do make zhe best chocolate chip pancakes," he admitted.

"See! And if you leave now, you'll miss out on all the chocolately goodness! Not to mention," She added, raising her eyebrows. "All the goodness that will come afterwards…" she trailed off.

Kurt looked up and watched, mesmerized as always, as she stood from the bed and walked over, her arms wrapping around his neck. She was so beautiful, sometimes he couldn't actually believe that she was his. Well, not his exactly. Someone as beautiful, intelligent and independent as Heather could never truly belong to anyone but herself. Yet, she still was willing to share her life with him, to act like he had any kind of hold on her – when the truth was, he was drowning so deeply in her that he had no idea where the surface was nor did he care.

"Please stay," She said it like a desperate prayer, as if begging any higher power to keep him with her.

Kurt's golden eyes were soft and warm as honey. He kissed her softly on her forehead – her lips were far too dangerous. "I can't," he murmured, regretting every syllable.

Heather's forehead puckered in that certain way which always threatened to buckle his knees. "But…" she stopped, dropping her eyes and frowning. She was thinking, he could tell. He waited for her to finish the thought, putting all the words in just the right places.

"What if, what if we…?" She blushed, and he nearly pushed her back onto the bed right then. It drove him crazy to see her blush. He settled for tightening his arms around her low back, nuzzling his forehead against hers.

"…what if we moved in together?" she breathed.

There was a beat as they both examined the idea.

"Think about it," Heather said, breaking the silence first. "I make enough money to cover the rent here by myself, so what's one more? You're here all the time anyway. The building is safe, and my apartment more so. I had Dick help me install a state of the art security system when I moved in. No one would bother us. The only people who know I live here are our friends and my family. You wouldn't have to worry about being harassed by anyone, my neighbors are super chill. There's already a mutant girl who lives on the floor above us who's an absolute peach. Besides, I've got barebones furniture here as it is, so if we combine my stuff with yours we'll have plenty…" Kurt's soft but firm kiss silenced Heather's word vomit. She was blushing even deeper by the time he pulled away.

He smiled, stroking a particularly long scar that arced across her back, his favorite one – it had been the result of one of their first missions together, and though painful at first, the memory held too much sweetness to remain bitter. He thought of the life they'd shared together so far. It hadn't been a picnic, by any means, but it was definitely an adventure. Every moment with Heather was like the best scenes from your favorite movie. Even during the quiet, slow moments of life, he still felt like Judd Nelson from The Breakfast Club pumping one fist in the air because he knows he has Molly Ringwald by his side.

"Let's do it," Kurt murmured, smiling gently.

Heather's eyes sparkled. She grinned, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him close for a kiss. She'd meant for it to be a quick peck, but it quickly spiraled into something much bigger. Before she knew it, they were on her bed – their bed – again, and Kurt's jeans were gone and long forgotten.

When she finally had to come up for air, Kurt was grinning like a lunatic and she laughed breathlessly. "Best day ever," he said, nuzzling his nose into her neck.

"It's about to get even better," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the doorway, giggling. "Because your girlfriend is about to make you the best chocolate chip pancakes in the whole world."

AN: So, I know I should be working on the story arcs, writing epic fight scenes, filling in time gaps, giving you big important information, and deep revelations… but you know? Sometimes, you just need some pancakes xD Out of the blue the other day, this idea just popped into existence in my brain and wouldn't leave me alone! I had this very clear mental image of Heather and Kurt wearing very little clothing while making pancakes and talking about moving in together and it was just too cute so I had to share! :D Sometimes, I can't help it, I just need to write fluff. I have no clue when I'll be posting again, but as always I love all of you lovely readers and reviewers! You've been such a great support for all these years and I can never thank you enough. Please leave a comment to share your thoughts or concerns, and you can also find me on tumblr at raepritewrites – my ask box is always open :)