Rob slowly snuck out of the room and down the hall towards the kitchen that Rogue had showed him earlier

Rob slowly snuck out of the room and down the hall towards the kitchen that Rogue had showed him earlier. He had spent about an hour in the room before he had gone crazy from its neatness and had to hold himself back from throwing things everywhere. He was hoping that none of the X-Men would find him. He didn't want to get to attached to this place or the people here.

He found the kitchen and walked in. Luckily, nobody was there. He pulled a bag of chips out of one of the cupboards and ran back to his room. He opened the bag and pulled a few out.

"Rob?" a voice at his door called, followed by a knock. It was a male's voice. Rob sighed in relief. It wasn't Rogue again.

"Yeah?" he called back. The door was pushed open. Evan and Kurt stood at the door. Kurt eyed the bag of chips and then the room. Rob could tell that he didn't think that he should have them in his room.

"We're going to play basketball out back. We need somebody else to play so we can have even teams." Evan explained. Rob looked at him and then at Kurt.

"You have six people here, don't you?" he asked. He actually did want to play with them, but he didn't want somebody being left out so that they could make lame attempts to include him.

"Rogue doesn't want to play." Kurt said. He was keeping his distance from Rob. He had first hand experience of what Rob could do.

"I guess…" Rob trailed off. He went into his bag and pulled on a long sleeved T-shirt.

"Wear your gloves." Kurt commanded. He grabbed onto Evan's back. "The games out there. We'll see you in a few." There was a poof of smoke and a really nasty smell and the two were gone. Rob looked out his window. He could see the five teenagers standing there. Scott and Jean were standing together looking at Kitty, Kurt, and Evan. He pulled on a pair of pants and grabbed his gloves and looked out the window again. They were all still standing there, but this time Kitty was tapping her foot impatiently against the ground. Rob stifled a laugh and ran out of his door and around random hallways until he finally found one that led outside—ten minutes later.

"Where were you?" Scott asked him.

"I had trouble finding a way out, no big deal." Rob said. He could feel his face begin to smile, but he quickly frowned instead. Scott looked away.

"Well, you're on my team with Jean. No powers." Scott said. A collected groan sounded from all of the players. Rob could tell that this was a rule that was often put into place by Scott, and then quickly 'forgotten'. Jean levitated the ball up for a jump ball, then let it go. The game began.

Rob quickly gained control of the basketball, avoiding all of the other players on the court easily. He had been on the basketball team at his old school and had been one of the best players. He had almost made a basket when Evan out of nowhere got the ball from him. The game quickly became a one-on-one deal between Evan and Rob. They continually taunted each other and played keep away for almost an hour. The others watched from the sidelines and slowly drifted back into the house.

It's time for dinner, Evan and Rob. The Professor's voice was loud and clear in Rob's head. He looked towards Evan and gave a small smile.

"Good game," he said and set out towards the house to find the dining room. Evan stared after him in disbelief. Had Rob just smiled? Rob hadn't even given any of them a second glance since he'd gotten there earlier that day. He'd given them all the impression that the institute was the last place he wanted to spend his time. Evan shrugged and followed Rob into the mansion. He went through the hallways and into the dining room. Everybody was there, even Rob.

"What's for dinner?" Scott asked.

"Burgers…veggie for you, Kitty." Jean said. She levitated the covers off of the food and everybody began their normal dinner rush. Food was thrown, eaten, and stolen, and Rob was watching the whole time.

Watching them was hard, but participating was harder. He was so used to being alone in the world that he wasn't really sure how to get close to people again. He'd made an effort with Evan that afternoon, but besides that he hadn't really tried. He couldn't really figure out why. He didn't really want to know why. He trusted his instincts and they were telling him not to get close. That somebody might get hurt.

"Rob, where are you from?" Kurt said inbetween bites.

"Massachusetts." Rob said. He took a big bite of his burger. Kurt got the message once again that he really didn't want to talk. He looked away from Rob with hurt in his eyes. Rob remembered that hurt all too well. It had haunted him for years.