Disclaimer: I do own the X-Men.
37
The next day was Saturday. The day of the back-to-school dance. Since Kiara had no training sessions that day, she spent the day in her room, watching Rogue get ready, who was going with her boyfriend Gambit.
It was one of the most boring things Kiara had ever done, but she refused to leave her room. If she did, she might run into Kurt. She felt safe in her room today, away from Kurt and the others and Rogue was the one person who wasn't constantly trying to convince her to go talk to Kurt.
Kiara didn't want to talk to Kurt. She needed to, but she wouldn't. She refused to. She wished she could just forget about him.
That's when Kiara realized that she was crying. She had spent so much time crying lately that she couldn't even feel the tears stinging her cheeks. They had gone numb.
"Kiara," Rogue said. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Rogue," Kiara said, wiping the tears out of her eyes.
"If you're so fine," Rogue said, "then why are you crying?"
"I don't know!" Kiara snapped at her in between sobs. "I really don't know."
"It's because of Kurt, isn't it?" Rogue asked her.
"That has nothing to do with you," Kiara said, trying to sound angry.
"Excuse me," Rogue said, "but Kurt is my brother. His happiness has everything to do with me."
Kiara lay down on her bed and pulled the covers over her head. "Just go away, Rogue," she begged her.
"No, I won't go away," Rogue said, pulling the covers off of her. "You need to go downstairs and talk to him now because in case you haven't noticed you are acting completely childish and you're making both of y'all feel completely miserable just because you're too afraid to tell him how you feel."
"I don't care what you think of me, Rogue," Kiara said without looking at her. "Now, please, just go."
Rogue scowled at her for a moment. "Fine," she said. "Gambit's probably here by anyway."
"Why did you yell at her?" Kurt said when he met Rogue outside of her room. "Do you know upset she must be right now?"
"She deserved it," Rogue said, scowling, "and I ought to yell at you, too. You're acting stupider than she is. You know how she feels and you still won't talk her. What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"Hello," Kurt said. "Do you know how long it takes to get ready for a dance -- Kitty would murder me if I refused to dress up." He gestured to the tux he was wearing.
"What are you guys, like, arguing about?" Kitty said, walking towards them. "I could hear you all the way down the, like, hall."
"We're arguing about what idiot he is," Rogue said, stalking off down the hall.
"You know," Kitty said, "I'm starting to, like, think that this might be a bad idea."
"Nein," Kurt said, sighing. "Everything will be fine. After all, I still have all weekend to talk to Kiara."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Kitty said. "Let's go."
Kitty sat silently at one of the many small round tables in the gym, which had been cheerfully decorated with the school colors. Despite Kurt's promise that she would have a great time, she was feeling absolutely miserable. She and Kurt hadn't spoken or danced all evening. He was too upset about his argument with Rogue.
"So. How does it feel knowing that stabbed your friend in the back just so you could avoid going on a date with me?"
Kitty looked up to see Lance standing in front of her. "What are you, like, doing here?" she asked miserably.
"I came to see you, of course," Lance said, smiling. "So, where is your pretend date?"
"I don't know," Kitty said. "Getting us drinks, probably."
"Right," Lance said, sitting down in Kurt's empty chair. "You know, that was a really stupid thing you did -- lying about your date. You could have just said you didn't want to come with me."
"I did," Kitty said, scowling at him, "and you yelled at me, remember?"
"That's because I wasn't ready to give up on you," Lance told her, smiling.
"And now you are?" Kitty asked him.
"Of course not," Lance said, "and I don't think you should give up on me, either. I mean, come on, Kitty. Do you even remember why we broke up?"
"No, not really," Kitty admitted, "but it probably had something to do with the way you treat my friends."
"Oh, come on," Lance said. "The other guys are ten times worse than I am, especially Pietro."
"Yeah," Kitty said. "That's true."
"Yeah," Lance said. "So what do you say you give us another chance?"
"I don't know, Lance," Kitty sighed. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea."
"Well," Lance said, standing up. "Just think about it, alright?"
Kurt stood in the doorway of the gym with Rogue and Gambit and sighed. "I bet you anything they're back together by Monday," he muttered.
"I can believe that," Rogue said, crossing her arms.
Kiara lay on the couch silently in the living room, watching Animal Planet.
The mansion was almost completely empty because the dance for the middle school students was on the same night as the dance for the high school students.
"Hey. You alright, kid?"
Kiara looked up to see Logan standing in the doorway.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Kiara said, turning her attention back to the television.
"Why aren't you at the dance with your friends then?" Logan asked, sitting down in the one of the armchairs.
"What friends?" Kiara said.
"You know," Logan said, "just because you guys are fighting that doesn't mean they aren't your friends."
"They sure aren't acting like friends," Kiara muttered.
"Maybe that's because you aren't like their friend," Logan told her.
"What do you mean?" Kiara asked, looking at him.
"Well," Logan said, "you're avoiding them, you don't talk them, and you won't even look at Kurt or Kitty."
"They don't need me," Kiara said, looking away from him. "They've got each other to spend time with."
"Look," Logan said. "I may not spend a lot of time with you kids outside of training sessions, but I'm not dense and I'm not stupid, and I really don't think those two are dating."
"Why would you say that?" Kiara said.
"Because," Logan said, "Kurt pays more attention to you than any other person in the mansion, and I really think you ought to talk to him because it's starting to affect his performance in the Danger Room. I mean, if he's doing bad in there, just imagine how he'll do on our next mission. You wouldn't want him to get hurt, would you?"
Kiara shook her head silently.
"Well, then," Logan said, "I suggest you go talk to him. Soon."
Kiara nodded silently and left the room.
Logan sighed and stood up.
"Why, Logan," Beast said as he entered the room. "I don't believe I've ever known you to play match-maker."
"Shut it, fur ball," Logan said, pushing past him.