CHAPTER EIGHT: BLUE ROMEO
Kitty stood at the door, steeling herself to knock. Her heart was pounding. This was it - this was the moment she'd been waiting for. The reason she made the potion in the first place. Squeezing her eyes shut, Kitty lifted her hand-
"Don't you dare!"
Something hard tackled Kitty from the side and sent her sprawling onto the carpet. Kitty shrieked.
Quickly, before her bare face and neck could touch any part of Kitty, Rogue scrambled to her feet. She stood breathing hard, glaring down at Kitty, fists clenched. "Kitty, Ah hate to hurt you, but Ah will-"
Kitty rose to her feet in a fury. "Like, what the hell is wrong with you?! You're, like, such a creep, Rogue! Stay out of my buiness!"
"It's mah business as much as yours." Rogue took a step closer, eyes blazing. "If you get Kurt to fall in love with you, it will be impossible getting him to kiss Jean. And how are we gonna cure the two of you? Answer me that. You're just making this whole thing much more complicated than it should be."
"And you're just totally jealous!" Kitty wailed, red in the face.
Rogue snorted. "Of what? An uppity little chicken-giblet in charm bracelets and a pink sweater? This is all your fault, Kitty. And Ah'm here to fix-"
Kitty vanished again.
"Oh no. Oh no." Panicking, Rogue turned and began pounding on Kurt's door. "Kurt! Kurt!! Open up, damn it! This is important." There was no answer. "Kurt!"
The door flew open.
"Mein Gott, Rogue, what is wrong with you?" Looking bleary-eyed and rumpled, Kurt stared at her in annoyance. "I was just sleeping. I have been feeling sick, you know. Krank. If you don't stop pounding the door, I am going to be a little upset with you-"
Rogue interrupted impatiently. "Listen, Kurt. No time to explain. Just come with me."
"What? Where? Sind Sie geisteskrank?"
"Don't speak German!" Rogue snapped, impatient. She looked over Kurt's shoulder. Her eyes grew big with horror. "Oh, no-"
"What's going on here? What do you see?" Disgruntled, Kurt started to turn his head.
Rogue grabbed his chin with her gloved hand and yanked his head back towards her. "Oh, it's nothing. Nothing at all. Why don't you come downstairs with me?" She looked over his shoulder and winced.
"No, I want to see what's going on!" Kurt tried to turn his head again.
Rogue yanked it back. "Come with me."
"No!" Turn.
"Yes." Yank.
"No!" Turn.
"Yes." Yank
Kurt lost his temper completely. "Rogue! You are trying my patience! Mein Gott, woman, was mit Ihnen falsch is?!"
"Um. it doesn't matter. Come on-" Rogue began forcibly pulling him by his chin, out of the bedroom.
Kurt choked.
"Oh, Kurt?"
Kurt, face squished by Rogue's deathgrip, tried to turn his head once more. "Kitty?" he asked incredulously. "Are you in there?"
"Yes, I totally am." Her voice was low and seductive. "Why don't you, like, come here?"
Kurt began struggling in earnest. "I can't-"
Rogue grimly dragged him over the threshhold.
"Kurt!" Now Kitty sounded slightly impatient. "Honestly! Like, use your head, dummy."
"Oh! Of course! Wie dumm!" A moment later, he vanished out of Rogue's grasp.
She grasped desperately at thin air.
The bedroom door slammed shut in her face.
"No!" Rogue wailed, outraged. She began pounding at the door as hard as she could. "Let me in, you stupid little brats, you anklebiters, you lowdown, good-for-nothing, childish-"
Kitty and Kurt paid no attention to her. Kurt was gazing at Kitty as if he had never seen her before. His eyes grew huge as he took in her bright blue eyes, her flirtatious smile, her soft pink sweater, her slim legs in her brandnew jeans. He gave a deep, heartfelt sigh. "Kitty. Wow."
Kitty giggled. "Hey, Kurt. Are you feeling better?"
"Much better, since I saw you. Mein Gott! You're gorgeous!" Unable to contain himself, Kurt rushed at her and grabbed her around the waist. "Kitty, I must tell you something!"
"Yes?" Kitty asked, slightly breathless.
"I am madly in love with you. I can scarcely eat or breath, I love you so much. You're my angel - my goddess - I would do anything for you -" Kurt began covering her neck in kisses. "Ich liebe dich, Sie bin schšn, Sie bin vollkommen, ich liebe dich, ich liebe dich. . . ."
Kitty returned the kisses. "I, like, totally love you too."
Rogue, hearing them through the door, groaned and let herself slide limply to the floor. Kitty would be knocked up by the time anyone managed to get in there. Kurt would refuse to kiss Jean, Jean would fly into a jealous rage. Rogue saw visions of misery, chaos, and disaster dancing in her head. She groaned and buried her head in her hands.
Behind her, the door flew open suddenly.
Rogue fell flat on her back, shocked and stunned.
Above her, hazily, she saw Kitty's distressed face. "Rogue! Like, stop playing around and get up! This is totally serious!" Kitty grabbed Rogue's arm and pulled her forcefully inside the bedroom. Rogue was too dazed and surprised to protest. She wondered if she was still awake or not. This could very easily be a nightmare.
"What? My darling, what are you doing? Mein Gott!" Rogue heard the sounds of Kurt's panicked voice. "No - no! Kitty, don't lock me out!" A door slammed. A lock clicked. Kurt howled. "Kitty! Sie sind ein schreckliches MŠdchen! But I love you - I love you anyway. Let me in." The doorknob rattled. "Please, darling, let me in!"
Kitty knelt over Rogue, tearful and tense. "Rogue - Rogue - like, sit up. You're scaring me."
Rogue managed to sit up. She was in Kurt's bedroom, his slightly messy and dark bedroom, with the high ceiling and enormous windows. "Um. Kitty. What the hell is happening now?"
Kitty burst into tears. "Oh, god, Rogue. This is, like, such a total mess. I hate myself! I hate myself!"
Rogue, after an awkward moment, reached out and patted Kitty clumsily on the back. "Would you mind explaining what happened? One moment, you were letting Kurt stick his tongue in your mouth, and now-"
Kitty shook her head, sobbing. "It's - it's too hard to explain. Like, I thought I'd be happy when Kurt loved me. For the first few seconds it was totally heaven. I was so, like, happy to be with him - and he's such a good kisser - and then-" Kitty sniffled miserably. "All of a sudden I realized: like, it's all fake! It's all fake! Kurt totally wouldn't have been kissing me if he hadn't had the love potion. It wasn't Kurt who loved me at all. It was, like, some silly spell."
"Oh." Rogue considered this. "And you couldn't stand it anymore?"
"Like, exactly." Kitty looked at her friend with moist eyes. "What are we going to do?"
"Beats me." Rogue looked over at the door with a deep sigh. "At least we know he can't use his powers anymore."
"Oh, like, right. I forgot." Kitty perked up a little. "I mean, he totally would have used them by now, right?"
"Ah would think so."
The girls stared at the door in silence for a moment. Kurt was banging on it, less and less powerfully - he seemed to be sinking into a pit of despair. "Kitty-" they heard him moan. "You are a heartbreaker, Kitty!"
Kitty sniffled loudly.
"We have to get the cure," Rogue announced. "And that's that."
"But how do we, like, get out without letting him in?" Kitty asked anxiously.
Rogue just gave her a look. "Um. Kitty. You aren't being affected by the love potion."
"Oh. Right." With a last sheepish smile, Kitty vanished.
Rogue lay back with a moan. This was a horrible mess. At least it would all be cleared up soon. Just Kurt and Kitty - and then Jean and Kurt - Rogue smiled, thinking of Scott's horrified reaction in the kitchen. In fact, a lot of the things that went on had been funny. If it hadn't been so serious, Rogue could have enjoyed them more. Of course, Rogue herself hadn't suffered from the potion yet. Rogue frowned, considering this. She was the only one unaffected. She figured this was because all the boys she'd run into so far had already been "claimed" - Scott by Kitty, Kurt by Jean, Logan by Ororo. But still - it seemed suspicious that she was the only one left out of the fray.
Kitty reappeared, breathless. "OK." She was clutching two wine glasses. "Like, they had them waiting for me."
Rogue grinned. "Getting on top of things again, Ah guess."
Kitty took a deep breath. "Now all we have to do is let him in."
Rogue nodded encouragingly. "Right."
Kitty hesitated. "This is, like, kinda hard for me."
"Ah know."
"I feel totally bad about it all."
"It's OK. Just get it over with, all right?"
Kitty smiled. "Like, here goes nothing." Steeling herself, she marched over to the door and yanked it open. Kurt stood there, looking hurt and confused. He gazed at her with puzzled eyes. She grinned and held out the wine glass.
"Want some wine?"
Kurt backed away. "I am afraid of you now, Kitty. I love you very much, but I don't feel I have your trust. That wine could be poisoned."
Kitty gritted her teeth in annoyance. "Please, Kurt. Like, do it for me."
Kurt shook his head, looking frightened.
Rogue stood up. "Don't be foolish, Kurt," she called, keeping her voice carefully free of impatience. "Can't you see the girl wants to share some alone time with you? Don't be a prude. Drink the damn wine."
Kurt hesitantly came forwards.
Kitty batted her eyelashes.
Kurt snatched the drink away, sniffed it, and then gulped it down in two swallows. Kitty hastily sipped her own drink. Rogue saw a look of disgust cross her face; the next moment, Kitty had lunged at Kurt. Rogue watched as the two toppled to the floor, kissing passionately.
And kissing.
And kissing.
Rogue cleared her throat. "Um. Kitty."
No response.
Rogue raised her voice. "Kitty!"
Still no response. Kitty seemed to be enjoying herself immensely. So did Kurt, for that matter.
Sighing, Rogue strode over and nudged the writhing mass with her boot. "Hey, you two. Knock it off. Ah don't need to be seeing this."
Kitty sat up, and after a second, Kurt reluctantly followed suit. He looked baffled but very happy. "Oh, like, hey, Rogue," Kitty said, sheepish. "I guess that cure must have worked."
"Ah think it probably did," Rogue agreed dryly. "You didn't give it much room not to."
Kitty blushed and slid a curious glance over towards Kurt.
"I - I don't think I feel sick anymore -" Kurt announced uncertainly. He looked at Kitty. "I had a rather odd dream. But - I think I liked it, too." He gazed at his feet, entwined with Kitty's. "Kitty?"
"Yeah?"
"What just happened here?"
Kitty blushed deeper and rose to her feet. "It's, like, kind of hard to explain."
"It involves tomato soup," Rogue offered.
"And apple seeds."
"And you," Rogue said, before she could stop herself.
Kitty gave her an agonized glance, embarrassed and nervous.
Kurt slowly looked from one girl to the other. A ligh of understanding crept over his face. Rogue felt sure that, beneath all that blue fur, he was blushing. "Oh - I see."
Kitty studied her feet intently.
Rogue cleared her throat. "Well! Anyhow! Ah guess we should probably tell him the story from start to finish."
Before Rogue could get another word in, however, there came the sound of pounding footsteps. Ororo appeared at the door, rather out of breath. She didn't waste any words. Just grabbed Kurt by the arm and started running back down the staircase. Kitty and Rogue exchanged startled glances.
"What's going on?" Rogue called.
Kurt looked as if he'd like to know the same thing.
Ororo's voice was already faint and muffled by the time she replied. "We found Jean!" she called over her shoulder.
Kitty sucked her breath in sharply.
Rogue put out a hand to steady her. "Now, come on. It will just take a moment - at least he won't be in love with her, too - and then this whole thing will be all cleared up - " Rogue died off.
Kitty had vanished.