Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copywritten/ trademarked/
whatevered by Marvel ect.
Author's Note: Well people are sure giving feedback. Glad y'all like it, here's the next installment, keep the comments flowing I feeeed on your attention, mwahaha. BTW, this is kind of all going to fall together later, though it seems random now. ^_^
Moonlight Reflections
Chapter Three
The Day After...
By: NightElfCrawler
Kurt lay on his bed later that night, staring up at the ceiling with a distracted look, his eyes not really focused. Kitty had decided to stay a few days at her folks, and said she'd call him when they were ready to look for her sister. Until then, he'd gone home with Logan, since school would resume again tomorrow. He wasn't really looking forward to the prospect of everyone knowing about mutants...granted most wouldn't recognize him anyway with his holo watch on, since it'd been off when the cameras had been around, but the others didn't have that luxury, and he didn't really like the idea of being the odd one out... It wasn't that he WANTED to be treated as a freak, just he didn't know if he really wanted his friends going through that without him.
He sighed, and rolled out of bed, his two toed feet padding soflty as he walked to the window, and stepped out onto the balcony where the wind blew calmly, a crisp cold breeze after the storm. He perched on the railing, his toes curling firmly around the top of the rail, holding him solidly there, as his tail hung, swishing idly behind him, restless like a cat.
He had to make a decision. He had already made it, he thought, but he just had to convince himself to go through with it. If the world already knew about mutants, and if the others were going to have to face it, then he would as well. He'd go incogneto to figure it out first, but if it ended up that he must share the burden with his friends, he would do that, despite the obviousness of his difference with other people. He sighed, and leaned his chin on his knees, and closed his eyes, feeling drowsy, but not wanting to lay in bed. Before he was aware of it, the sun had risen and he was blinking tiredly as a knock stirred him out of his revelry.
"Hey lazy! Come on, we're waiting on you for breakfast already!" Came Evan's voice through the door. "You comin or what?"
Kurt rubbed his eyes with the back of a fuzzy wrist, and hopped down, glancing in the mirror at his reflection. He looked pretty awful, his eyes were shot with red, and a bit puffy beneath, and he looked haggard. He sighed and quickly changed into his school clothes, and grabbed his things, then did a quick teleport to the bathroom to wash his face and try to look more presentable, then put his inducer on, and bamfed downstairs to eat.
Everyone was sitting there, chatting as normal, but there was obvious tension in the room. No one really wanted to go back to school today, not after what happened, but the Proffessor had insisted that they try.
Kurt ate quietly, not his usual joking self, staring distractedly out the window as he stuffed sasages into his mouth. It was a few minutes before he realized the table had gone quiet, and he was knawing on an empty fork. He glanced over, blinking, seeing everyones eyes focused on him. "What..?" He managed.
"Yo, Kurt, you feeling ok? You're not yourself at all, dude." Evan said, leaning over across the table and putting a hand on his forehead as if feeling for a fever. "You don't feel sick, but with that fur it's hard to tell."
Kurt swallowed the half chewed sausage, and forced a grin. "Hey, I'm just a bit distracted, nothing's wrong."
Jean nodded faintly, and stood up. "I think we're all distracted. How about we just get this over with, the sooner the better."
Everyone nodded solemnly around the table. "Hey, how bad can it be?" Evan said stuffing a bagel in his satchel for a snack. "I mean, it's not like the students didn't suspect something, I mean we all have slipped up once or twice."
Jean sighed, and walked out, Scott following her looking solomn. Rogue rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but now the whole world knows, and if the school didn't, they sure as heck do now." She glanced at Kurt. "You're the lucky one ya know. The rest of us can't hide." She snorted and walked out, seeming bitter for some reason.
Evan blinked and glanced at Kurt, who looked back at him, tail twitching in internal struggle. "I..." he tried to say, but fell short, confusion inside of him boiling.
"Hey, don't sweat it man." Evan punched him lightly on the shoulder as he headed out. "She's just worked up, don't take it personal, everyone's kinda jittery. See ya at school man." And with that Evan ran out the door, skateboard on his shoulder.
Kurt sighed, and stuffed one more muffin in his mouth, then headed out towards the front. He wanted to be optimistic, but it was hard under the circumstances.
Scott was starting up the engine to his car and waved seeing Kurt step out into the sun. "Hop in."
Kurt eyed the car, and smiled faintly, giving him a small wave. "Thanks, but I think I'm gonna walk."
Scott looked at him, sensing some internal struggle, and nodded. "Well don't be late again..." And he sped off with the others in the back seat.
Kurt stretched his arms, then 'ported across the canyon, and kept at it, 'porting from tree to tree, finally ending up a block from school. He jumped down, and straightened his shirt, and took a deep breath, then walked down the street, joining the other streams of kids on their way. The ports had drained him a bit, but it'd also awakened his mind... kind of like running early in the cold morning does to you.
As he walked he could hear snippits of their convorsation, drifting in from all sides.
"Did you see it?"
"Yeah, weird huh?"
"Scary's more like it, some of them were monsters."
"But that one guy in my class..."
"Yeah I know.. creepy..."
Kurt walked along, glancing from side to side as he heard the other students talking. Today was going to be a long day, very long.
The school was busy as usual as they approached it, and as Kurt stepped onto the grounds, he could see some of the others from the institute milling around, and being left alone by the majority of the student body, with eyes on them from all direction. So far it didn't look as if any trouble was brewing, but one never knew.
He walked quietly into the hall, and was greeted by some friends who knew him. He waved cheerily back, taking some solice and at the same time misery in the fact that they didn't know he was one of the so called 'freaks' too. As he spun his locker open, packing some books into his book bag, he heard a commotion.
"Hey, why don't you just buzz off pal!" Came a throaty southern drawl from his left, and he glanced over seeing Rogue backed up against her locker with about ten big burly guys surrounding her. Most of the other students in the hall had stopped to watch, some whispering, some pointing at Rogue.
He bit his lip and put his bag down, and walked over there.
"Go home mutie." Snarled one of the boys. "Your kind ain't wanted here." He jabbed a finger at Rogue, and she glowered at him.
"You're just thinking you're better than me cause you're all so tough." She spat back, but nervousness was flickering in her eyes at the danger she was in.
Kurt quickly pushed through the boys and stood in front of her defensively, eyes narrowed. "Hey, leave her alone."
Rogue's eyes widened and she put a gloved hand on the back of his shoulder in warning. "Kurt...:
He flashed her a smile. "Hey, I can't let them pick on girls." He glanced back to the guys, who were looking at him with a smirk. "Why don't you find someone closer to your own size to pick on."
One of the boys chuckled, and slammed a fist into his hand. "Oh, maybe like you runt?" He shoved Kurt roughly with a hand, pushing him back into Rogue. "Standing up for this here mutie, mutie lover." He smirked wider. "We otta teach him a lesson, right boys?"
Rogue's grip tightened on him in fear. "Come on." She whispered. "Let's just get outta here, Kurt."
Kurt had other plans though. His jaw hardened, and his eyes narrowed. "No Rogue..." He said, his voice solomn and even, making some of the guys eye him warily. "This isn't time to back away". They can't push us around like this. We have to stand up to them."
"WE?" The big burly boy said, raising eyebrows. "So you're one of them muties too, are ya?"
Kurt just eyed him, still standing in front of Rogue defensively. "And if I am?"
The hall was jammed with students by now, all of them whispering and watching with wide eyes, none of tehm attempting to stop the fight.
"Well then, we'll just have to beat some sense into ya too!" The boy smirked and made a fist, and aimed it straight for Kurt's head.
Rogue scowled and jerked back as Kurt's head jerked to the side to avoid the punch. "Ok, now this is getting to really piss me off." She pulled her glove off and held it palm out towards the big guy. "Ok pal, you wanna fight, then come at me." Her eyes locked on his in warning. "Just see what this 'mutie' can do."
Kurt grabbed her arm though, and pulled it down. "No." He said quietly. "Don't fight them, that'll only make them stronger."
Rogue looked athim exasperated. "What? First ya say to stand up now you're saying back off? Make up your mind already!"
Kurt was about to answer, when suddenly he saw movement out of the corner of his eyes, and jerked aside just enough to avoid having a big fist punch his head into the locker. Instead, the guy's fist hit the locker, making a dent, and the students all laughed loudly. Kurt was seething inside. He was torn between keeping his stand, and just getting out of there and avoiding it. He figured the safest, and quickest thing, was to sort out his priorities later, and with that thought, seeing as they all knew he was a mutant too, he grabbed Rogue's arm, and they both vanished with a puff of smoke and implosion of air. The thugs were left staring at the empty spot in confusion.
They re-appearned in another hall, one that was mostly empty, since classes were about to start. Rogue shoved his arm away. "Look, fuzzball." She pulled her glove back on. "I don't need defending. I can take care of myself." And with a swipe of her hair, she stalked off down the hall towards class.
Kurt was left standing there, confusion on his face, and boiling inside. The bell rang though, startling him out of his thoughts, and he sighed, and quickly walked to class, and sat down in his seat, having forgotten his books in the process.
The day seemed to stretch out forever...each class he got sideways looks from the more skeptical students who knew he lived at the institute where all the freaks were, and glares of hatred, curiosity, and fear from the students who'd actually seen him in the hall using his power and knew he was one of the 'freaks'.
At lunch, he was sitting down at a table alone, since he couldn't find any of the others, they'd all seemed to have vacated campus for lunch. His normal friends had somehow found 'other things' to do, after the fiasco in the hallway... so he was left sitting on the bench alone.. something he'd never done since coming to Bayville. He caught a glimpse of someone who looked like Amanda... he'd not seen her at all today, and wondered where she'd gone. After that night of the dance, she'd been hard to get a hold of... they'd had a great night, and he'd thought that he'd finally found someone normal who could understand and treat him as a real person, not as a blue freak of nature... But she'd been avoiding him... When he'd asked her, she'd just replied that it wasn't him, that she had some other problems to sort out... yeah right... sure.
He wolfed down his food, as normal packing away enough to feed five normal folks, and then cleaned up to go, promptly freezing in place and gulping. Blocking his way were five of the big hulks he'd run into with Rogue that morning. "Uh oh.. big trouble." He murmered under his breath as one reached for his shirt, and lifted him up into the air so his feet dangled.
"I think it's time we settled our little dispute, mutie." Spat the boy holding him up.
Kurt gulped a bit. "Ah, I'd like to but I really have to be going now you see." He was preparing to teleport out, but the guys seem to know what he had planned.
He felt a sharp pain on the back of his head, and everything began to swim suddenly as one of the guys had thunked him fairly hard. He dangled there woozy, not hearing the inflamitory words that came from the thugs, just wondering how he got himself into these messes. He felt someone punch him in the gut, and groaned faintly, opening his eyes and seeing the thugs grinning at him. The one holding him dropped him, and he fell awkwardly to the ground, managing to keep his balance. He took a step back, but one of them grabbed his hand, unfortunately as always, the one with the holo watch on it.
He heard the sickening crunch of the watch, and internally groaned. Maybe he could use this to get away now. He readied himself to teleport, even though his head wasn't quite clear yet.
"What the HELL is that!?" Came a familiar answer to his real appearance suddenly broadcasted to the whole student body. But instead of backing off, they pushed forward, grabbing onto him from all sides. "Don't' let it get away!"
Kurt yelped as his arms were twisted behind his back, and suddenly something cold and sharp was placed to his throat, and he opened his gleaming yellow eyes to stare at a knife pushed against his throat. "Uh... I suppose now's a bad time to mention lunch is nearly over...?"
"Don't even think about doing that disappearing act pal, you'll have to take us all with ya or I'll cut ya before you can vanish." The grunt growled, eyes narrow and staring straight into his.
From the side of his peripheral vision, he could see the whole school it seemed, surrounding them, the shocked, frightened, and alarmed looks on all of their faces. He was in a very bad situation, he thought, yeah, pretty bad. Typical.
"Stop it!" Came an angry voice he recognized, and felt relief flood thorugh him. It was Jean followed closely by Scott. "Let him go, and no one gets hurt." She said matter of factly, looking deadly serious.
The brute just laughed, glancing back at her. "What's this, another mutie? Whatcha gonna do before I slice blue-boy's throat here?"
Kurt swallowed hard, watching her with nervous eyes. He could try to teleport, and might make it out before the guys realized it, after all he didn't have to take them with him if he concentrated hard enough, but that'd leave them to deal with the thugs alone. He glanced around quickly looking for an escape route.
Jean in the meantime had lifted a hand, looking very pissed off. "For the last time, let Kurt go."
Scott had come up beside her, and was gripping his glasses with one hand, looking pretty threatening.
The thug just laughed, but he seemed a bit nervous at two pissed off looking students, who seemed to mean business. "What the hell do you care about him anyway, he's just a no good, ugly..."
He was interrupted by a sharp kick to the groin, not from Jean or Scott, but from Amanda, who was standing there quite suddenly, fists and teeth clenched, looking very very pissed off. "DO NOT HARM MY BOYFRIEND!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, and tackled the guy full on, grabbing his arm to try and pull it away from Kurt.
There was no way she was strong enough, but her attack gave him the distraction he needed to teleport out of the thugs grips, and onto the guy with the knife's back, where he quickly grabbed his hand, and tried to wrest the knife away. He wasn't strong enough either, but given the two people on top of him, and a quick blast of red light from Scott, the knife ended up being melted into a useless pile of metal anyway. Kurt grabbed Amanda's hand as the thug doubled over still in pain from the groin shot, and pulled her back to Jean and Scott, facing the other four guys in a crouch. He winced a bit as he moved, feeling pain in his side, but he ignored it for the moment, as it wasn't as critical.
However he need not have worried, the other four thugs were freaked out by the mutants ganging up on them, and they backed off, muttering 'freaks' and 'monsters' before finally turning and just leaving.
There was a small sigh that collectively expelled from everyone present, and Jean glanced over at Kurt as he watched them leave. "You ok?"
Kurt grined lopsidedly and gave a thumbs up. "Yeah, no problem. Just..." He managed to hold in a yelp, but did jump, as Amanda roughly pulled his shirt up. "What are you DOING?!"
She poked his side, and saw him flinch, and glared up at him. "Idiot! You shouldn't have let them hurt you like that!"
Kurt flushed a bit, and glanced at Jean and Scott who looked a bit bewildered by Amanda's demeanor, as Kurt had sorta kept quiet about how much she knew about him. "I...um.. sorry. I'll be more careful next time...?"
Jean shook her head faintly, and knelt down. "Let me see." She gently touched his side, where a dark splotch was forming even against the blue fur. "Uh oh, we'd better get you back home Kurt, they may have broken a rib here."
Kurt groaned, and put a hand to his head. "Wunderbar..."
Amanda glared up at him, and gave him a pouting face, to which he just completely melted upon seeing. "You need to be more careful! What if they'd really hurt you!?" She sniffled, then threw herself on him, throwing her arms around his neck and bursting into tears against his chest.
That threw both Scott and Jean, and everyone else who was still gathered around watching the scene. Kurt blinked awkwardly, and slowly put his arms around Amanda. "Hey, take it easy, I'm not really hurt that bad... it looks worse than it is..."
Jean glanced around and put a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Maybe you'd better go back now." She glanced at the crowd, seeing they were restless, whispering and staring. "We don't want to start another incident, and you should get that looked at...can you get home yourself Kurt?"
Kurt nodded. "Yah, I'll manage."
Amanda pouted. "You're taking me with you."
Scott raised a hand. "Uh..."
She glared at him. "NO. I'm going with him.. to make sure he doesn't get in any more trouble this time." She glared at Kurt too. "Take us both there."
Kurt sighed, and figured he had little choice, so held her more tightly to him, then teleported out of the school grounds.
They reappeared in front of the institute grounds, and Kurt groaned as a wave of dizziness came over him from excessive teleporting and his injury, and he nearly fell over, but Amanda supported him with an arm quickly. "Whoa, take it easy there fuzzy." She said concerned. "Where's this hospital place of yours?"
Kurt was about to answer when he didn't have to, as Logan stepped out from the front door, peering down at them. "Oh great, what'd you do this time elf?" He growled, and walked down the steps, looking grumpy as usual.
Kurt grinned slightly, feeling dizzy still. "Ah, nothing much really, just a little scratch."
Logan grunted and guestured for Amanda to bring him up the steps. "Allright, come on you can tell me while yer getting fixed."
Amanda glanced around, awed by the huge plush mansion as they walked in, and were led to an elevator by Logan. She hadn't thought that the institute was this lavish. She glanced at Kurt sideways and saw he looked to be in pretty bad shape, trying to stay conscious as they stood riding down the elevator. She felt a wave of guilt flood her as she noticed him trying hard to not glance at her curiously. She'd been avoiding him, but as she'd told him it wasn't due to him... it was... other reasons. But still she felt bad for abandoning him like this. She glanced up at the rough looking guy, who gave her a small glance and a 'humph' before stopping the elevator at a level, and walking out. She followed, leading Kurt with her, glancing around in surprise. These lower levels were totally different in structure from the above levels. They were as if some kind of hidden secret base.
Her thoughts were cut short when they arrived in a small room with a bed and medical supplies, and she led Kurt to the bed, sitting him down on it upright. She glanced at the man who was just standing with his arms crossed. "Aren't you going to help him?"
Logan grunted. "I ain't a nurse kid. Backups coming."
Just as he spoke, the doors opened again and two people walked, or rather one walked the other wheeled, into the room. A tall woman with white hair, and a bald man in a wheelchair came into the room.
"Well...I knew something like this might happen." The tall woman said, walking over and putting a hand on Kurt's shoulder.
Kurt looked up, still seeming out of it and smiled weakly. "You know me, always causing trouble."
The woman shook her head, and grabbed the lower part of his shirt. "Ok, arms up, strip."
Amanda stood slightly back out of the way, watching with a hesitant look. She glanced over at the bald man, and he turned her way and smiled. "You must be Amanda. Kurt has told us something about you, although I'm sure this must come as quite a shock to you."
She blinked. "What part? This whole place being like some kinda base or something?"
The man blinked, and she felt a tickle in her mind, and then he seemed to relax. "Ah, I see. You already knew about Kurt's appearance."
She flushed and played with a strand of hair. "Um.. yeah, he didn't tell you?" She blinked remember that Kurt had tended to avoid the issue when mentioning if anyone else knew about him. "I guess he kinda was cautious huh."
The man nodded and extended a hand. "Kurt is a good boy, and I'm glad he has a friend who can understand him as he truly is. I am Proffessor Charles Xaiver."
She took his hand and shook it. "Oh, so you're the one who runs this place, neat." She glanced at Kurt. "It wasn' this fault, those guys just picked on him after he stood up for that friend of his. But now like the whole school knows what he looks like..."
Charles sighed softly. "It was bound to happen, the rest of the student body knows about the rest of us now anyway.. but Kurt's position is a bit more...unusual."
Amanda bit her lip. "Yeah, they're gonna eat him alive when he goes back. Like most people don't wanna understand."
Logan grunted. "Time for home study if things gets much worse Chuck."
Xavier sighed again, and wheeled over to where the white haired woman was examining Kurt's fuzzy blue side. "How badly injured is he Ororo?"
Ororo shook her head. "I can't tell from here, but the bleeding is minor, he just got scratched a bit. But he might have a cracked rib, we'll need to x-ray him."
Kurt looked halfway amused. "X-ray.. cool. I've never seen what I look like that way." Amanda giggled a bit, and he threw a grin at her, flashing his fangs.
Ororo just smiled and patted his shoulder. "All right then, up with you over to the wall."
Kurt slid off the bed slowly, still feeling dizzy, but not as bad now that he'd sat for a little bit, and had some bandages on. He walked over to stand behind a tall screen, and Ororo worked the controls, and there was a bright flash, and the image showed Kurt's skeletal structure. He came out from behind the screen, peering curiously at the image there, as Ororo darkened the room to get a closer look.
Amanda giggled, pointing at his tail. "It looks so funny like that."
Kurt grinned, staring at the bone structure, amused himself. It wasn't that much different from any normal humans, only his spine was more curved, the tail sticking out behind his back was obvious, and where his hands and feet were, there were actually the full five fingered bone structures there, just squished together so that they became only three or two didgets, slightly elongated.
Ororo was examining the ribcage and nodded slightly. "As I thought, it's not broken, but one bone is slightly cracked there." She turned around and pointed to the bed. "Down."
Kurt sighed, and walked over to the bed, sliding onto it again, and laying down flat on the bed, wincing a bit as he put pressure on his side in the motion. Ororo began rummaging through the bandages, to take care of the problem.
Amanda shifted on her feet, and glanced at the professor. "So...what are you going to do now? Like if everyone knows about you all."
The professor looked deep in thought then spoke up. "I think we'll still try to give it a go. Everyone will have to be careful, however maybe if we're lucky they may come to accept us. I don't' want to give up, not yet." He glanced at her, smiling. "That there are people more like you, willing to accept our differences is what gives me hope that not all is lost."
Amanda flushed a bit, and shuffled her feet. "Yeah, well there's others like me you know, just not as many as the other kinds."
Kurt waved a hand giving a thumbs up from the bed. "Hey, it's better than nothing, right?"
Amanda play pouted at him. "Don't you go moving around and hurt yourself more. I fully expect to see you at school tomorrow."
Kurt looked dubious. "I don't know..."
Xavier wheeled over to the bedside and glanced at Kurt. "You aren't injured enough to skip out on school, unless you're threatened again, I'd like you to go back, but I'm not going to force you Kurt."
Kurt sighed. "Yes Proffessor, I know..." He lowered his head back down, wincing as Ororo tightened the bandages around his chest. "Ow! Careful!"
Ororo snorted a bit. "Baby. It's just a small crack and you're acting like a child."
Kurt grinned slyly. "I still am one, kind of."
Ororo patted him on the head. "Nice try. No, you're not getting meals served to you in bed."
Kurts ears drooped a bit. "Darn..."
Amanda giggled again. "I'd do it for you Kurt."
His face turned a purplish color, blue mixing with bright red. "Er..."
Everyone laughed at his expression.
The next morning....
Kurt winced as he finished up his breakfast. It still hurt to move his left side much, but that wasn't the key thing on his mind. Everyone had been really nice to him all day, after hearing about what had happened. Even Rogue had come and apologized for being so stuffy to him about saving her butt. He was feeling quite a bit better, but a heavy dillema weighed on his mind.
Everyone was gathered outside, and Scott waved to him. "Come on Kurt, no walking today for you."
He wasn't about to complain this time, so ported into the seat behind Scott, and buckled up.
"Um, Kurt?" Scott turned around and peered at him with a concerned look. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Kurts bright yellow eyes blinked up at Scott, then he grinned faintly. "No, I haven't. I'm not wearing it today everyone knows anyway, and hiding it might just be worse, you know."
Scott looked dubious. "I don't know...did the professor say it was allright?"
Kurt nodded, and pulled his holo watch out of his pocket. "Yah, he said it was my choice. I've got it just in case, but I want to try going without it."
Scott sighed, and shrugged. "OK buddy, your call." And with that they drove off to school.
Kurt definitely had butterflys in his stomach, after all, he wasn't sure if he wanted to do this, but he knew he had to. The proffessor was right on one count, they shouldn't have to hide or be ashamed, however, since the studends knew by now what he looked like anyway, he figured the best way to get them used to the idea, was to have them deal with it directly. He had steeled himself to take lots of crap today..he expected it.
They drove up, and everyone unpiled, and instantly, Kurt felt eyes on him, and hushed silence everywhere. He'd chosen just to wear his normal school clothes anyway, but the white bandages and small splint on his chest still showed beneath the shirt a bit. "See ya later Scott." He waved as the other teen went off to park the car. With a deep breath that hurt his side quite a bit, he turned around, and faced everyone's staring eyes. He forced himself to be calm, and keep his eyes up, and started walking onto the campus. The whole school seemed to be deathly silent as he walked by, but that could have just been due to the rushing blood pumping in his ears that drowned out everything. As he walked, he saw students draw back from him, peer curiously at him, and give him odd looks. But he ignored most of it and kept walking. Amazingly enough... there were no screams....
Halfway to the door, he heard a relieving familiar voice. "Hey Kurt, wait up!" He turned around and saw Amanda and her other friends jogging towards him. As they approached, some of them looked a bit stunned, and Amanda herself looked shocked. "Um.. Kurt, you sure you want to do this?" She took his hand, to let him know she didn't care what he looked like.
He grinned. "Yeah, I mean why not, if everyone else has to face being recognized, so do I...and it's not like everyone doesn't know already, at least they can get used to me this way."
Amanda looked doubtful, just like everyone else had so far. "I don't know Kurt, I think they'll just be meaner to you."
He shrugged. "I'm used to it. But I'm not going to let it get to me anymore. Know why?" He grinned up at her as she shook her head curiously. "Because I've got friends like you." He smiled at her shyly, and on a splurge of impulse, with his heart beating rapidly, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek before she knew what was happening.
She stood there, then blushed deep red and giggled, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Darn you Kurt. You're such a charmer."
He grinned, feeling lightheaded, but not from the injury. "I try my best." And with that they began walking towards the door to the school, everyone's eyes still on them, but now that Amanda was by his side, he didn't feel so alone anymore.
End note: No, it's not a Kurt/Amanda fic, again this is just part of a whole. I'm more focusing on general issues, with side plots thrown in. Don't worry, for those of you wanting Kurtty action, it's coming later ^_^. And some others maybe.. we'll see. Imput! This is as far as I've written so far, so ideas are helpful if anyone has them.
whatevered by Marvel ect.
Author's Note: Well people are sure giving feedback. Glad y'all like it, here's the next installment, keep the comments flowing I feeeed on your attention, mwahaha. BTW, this is kind of all going to fall together later, though it seems random now. ^_^
Moonlight Reflections
Chapter Three
The Day After...
By: NightElfCrawler
Kurt lay on his bed later that night, staring up at the ceiling with a distracted look, his eyes not really focused. Kitty had decided to stay a few days at her folks, and said she'd call him when they were ready to look for her sister. Until then, he'd gone home with Logan, since school would resume again tomorrow. He wasn't really looking forward to the prospect of everyone knowing about mutants...granted most wouldn't recognize him anyway with his holo watch on, since it'd been off when the cameras had been around, but the others didn't have that luxury, and he didn't really like the idea of being the odd one out... It wasn't that he WANTED to be treated as a freak, just he didn't know if he really wanted his friends going through that without him.
He sighed, and rolled out of bed, his two toed feet padding soflty as he walked to the window, and stepped out onto the balcony where the wind blew calmly, a crisp cold breeze after the storm. He perched on the railing, his toes curling firmly around the top of the rail, holding him solidly there, as his tail hung, swishing idly behind him, restless like a cat.
He had to make a decision. He had already made it, he thought, but he just had to convince himself to go through with it. If the world already knew about mutants, and if the others were going to have to face it, then he would as well. He'd go incogneto to figure it out first, but if it ended up that he must share the burden with his friends, he would do that, despite the obviousness of his difference with other people. He sighed, and leaned his chin on his knees, and closed his eyes, feeling drowsy, but not wanting to lay in bed. Before he was aware of it, the sun had risen and he was blinking tiredly as a knock stirred him out of his revelry.
"Hey lazy! Come on, we're waiting on you for breakfast already!" Came Evan's voice through the door. "You comin or what?"
Kurt rubbed his eyes with the back of a fuzzy wrist, and hopped down, glancing in the mirror at his reflection. He looked pretty awful, his eyes were shot with red, and a bit puffy beneath, and he looked haggard. He sighed and quickly changed into his school clothes, and grabbed his things, then did a quick teleport to the bathroom to wash his face and try to look more presentable, then put his inducer on, and bamfed downstairs to eat.
Everyone was sitting there, chatting as normal, but there was obvious tension in the room. No one really wanted to go back to school today, not after what happened, but the Proffessor had insisted that they try.
Kurt ate quietly, not his usual joking self, staring distractedly out the window as he stuffed sasages into his mouth. It was a few minutes before he realized the table had gone quiet, and he was knawing on an empty fork. He glanced over, blinking, seeing everyones eyes focused on him. "What..?" He managed.
"Yo, Kurt, you feeling ok? You're not yourself at all, dude." Evan said, leaning over across the table and putting a hand on his forehead as if feeling for a fever. "You don't feel sick, but with that fur it's hard to tell."
Kurt swallowed the half chewed sausage, and forced a grin. "Hey, I'm just a bit distracted, nothing's wrong."
Jean nodded faintly, and stood up. "I think we're all distracted. How about we just get this over with, the sooner the better."
Everyone nodded solemnly around the table. "Hey, how bad can it be?" Evan said stuffing a bagel in his satchel for a snack. "I mean, it's not like the students didn't suspect something, I mean we all have slipped up once or twice."
Jean sighed, and walked out, Scott following her looking solomn. Rogue rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but now the whole world knows, and if the school didn't, they sure as heck do now." She glanced at Kurt. "You're the lucky one ya know. The rest of us can't hide." She snorted and walked out, seeming bitter for some reason.
Evan blinked and glanced at Kurt, who looked back at him, tail twitching in internal struggle. "I..." he tried to say, but fell short, confusion inside of him boiling.
"Hey, don't sweat it man." Evan punched him lightly on the shoulder as he headed out. "She's just worked up, don't take it personal, everyone's kinda jittery. See ya at school man." And with that Evan ran out the door, skateboard on his shoulder.
Kurt sighed, and stuffed one more muffin in his mouth, then headed out towards the front. He wanted to be optimistic, but it was hard under the circumstances.
Scott was starting up the engine to his car and waved seeing Kurt step out into the sun. "Hop in."
Kurt eyed the car, and smiled faintly, giving him a small wave. "Thanks, but I think I'm gonna walk."
Scott looked at him, sensing some internal struggle, and nodded. "Well don't be late again..." And he sped off with the others in the back seat.
Kurt stretched his arms, then 'ported across the canyon, and kept at it, 'porting from tree to tree, finally ending up a block from school. He jumped down, and straightened his shirt, and took a deep breath, then walked down the street, joining the other streams of kids on their way. The ports had drained him a bit, but it'd also awakened his mind... kind of like running early in the cold morning does to you.
As he walked he could hear snippits of their convorsation, drifting in from all sides.
"Did you see it?"
"Yeah, weird huh?"
"Scary's more like it, some of them were monsters."
"But that one guy in my class..."
"Yeah I know.. creepy..."
Kurt walked along, glancing from side to side as he heard the other students talking. Today was going to be a long day, very long.
The school was busy as usual as they approached it, and as Kurt stepped onto the grounds, he could see some of the others from the institute milling around, and being left alone by the majority of the student body, with eyes on them from all direction. So far it didn't look as if any trouble was brewing, but one never knew.
He walked quietly into the hall, and was greeted by some friends who knew him. He waved cheerily back, taking some solice and at the same time misery in the fact that they didn't know he was one of the so called 'freaks' too. As he spun his locker open, packing some books into his book bag, he heard a commotion.
"Hey, why don't you just buzz off pal!" Came a throaty southern drawl from his left, and he glanced over seeing Rogue backed up against her locker with about ten big burly guys surrounding her. Most of the other students in the hall had stopped to watch, some whispering, some pointing at Rogue.
He bit his lip and put his bag down, and walked over there.
"Go home mutie." Snarled one of the boys. "Your kind ain't wanted here." He jabbed a finger at Rogue, and she glowered at him.
"You're just thinking you're better than me cause you're all so tough." She spat back, but nervousness was flickering in her eyes at the danger she was in.
Kurt quickly pushed through the boys and stood in front of her defensively, eyes narrowed. "Hey, leave her alone."
Rogue's eyes widened and she put a gloved hand on the back of his shoulder in warning. "Kurt...:
He flashed her a smile. "Hey, I can't let them pick on girls." He glanced back to the guys, who were looking at him with a smirk. "Why don't you find someone closer to your own size to pick on."
One of the boys chuckled, and slammed a fist into his hand. "Oh, maybe like you runt?" He shoved Kurt roughly with a hand, pushing him back into Rogue. "Standing up for this here mutie, mutie lover." He smirked wider. "We otta teach him a lesson, right boys?"
Rogue's grip tightened on him in fear. "Come on." She whispered. "Let's just get outta here, Kurt."
Kurt had other plans though. His jaw hardened, and his eyes narrowed. "No Rogue..." He said, his voice solomn and even, making some of the guys eye him warily. "This isn't time to back away". They can't push us around like this. We have to stand up to them."
"WE?" The big burly boy said, raising eyebrows. "So you're one of them muties too, are ya?"
Kurt just eyed him, still standing in front of Rogue defensively. "And if I am?"
The hall was jammed with students by now, all of them whispering and watching with wide eyes, none of tehm attempting to stop the fight.
"Well then, we'll just have to beat some sense into ya too!" The boy smirked and made a fist, and aimed it straight for Kurt's head.
Rogue scowled and jerked back as Kurt's head jerked to the side to avoid the punch. "Ok, now this is getting to really piss me off." She pulled her glove off and held it palm out towards the big guy. "Ok pal, you wanna fight, then come at me." Her eyes locked on his in warning. "Just see what this 'mutie' can do."
Kurt grabbed her arm though, and pulled it down. "No." He said quietly. "Don't fight them, that'll only make them stronger."
Rogue looked athim exasperated. "What? First ya say to stand up now you're saying back off? Make up your mind already!"
Kurt was about to answer, when suddenly he saw movement out of the corner of his eyes, and jerked aside just enough to avoid having a big fist punch his head into the locker. Instead, the guy's fist hit the locker, making a dent, and the students all laughed loudly. Kurt was seething inside. He was torn between keeping his stand, and just getting out of there and avoiding it. He figured the safest, and quickest thing, was to sort out his priorities later, and with that thought, seeing as they all knew he was a mutant too, he grabbed Rogue's arm, and they both vanished with a puff of smoke and implosion of air. The thugs were left staring at the empty spot in confusion.
They re-appearned in another hall, one that was mostly empty, since classes were about to start. Rogue shoved his arm away. "Look, fuzzball." She pulled her glove back on. "I don't need defending. I can take care of myself." And with a swipe of her hair, she stalked off down the hall towards class.
Kurt was left standing there, confusion on his face, and boiling inside. The bell rang though, startling him out of his thoughts, and he sighed, and quickly walked to class, and sat down in his seat, having forgotten his books in the process.
The day seemed to stretch out forever...each class he got sideways looks from the more skeptical students who knew he lived at the institute where all the freaks were, and glares of hatred, curiosity, and fear from the students who'd actually seen him in the hall using his power and knew he was one of the 'freaks'.
At lunch, he was sitting down at a table alone, since he couldn't find any of the others, they'd all seemed to have vacated campus for lunch. His normal friends had somehow found 'other things' to do, after the fiasco in the hallway... so he was left sitting on the bench alone.. something he'd never done since coming to Bayville. He caught a glimpse of someone who looked like Amanda... he'd not seen her at all today, and wondered where she'd gone. After that night of the dance, she'd been hard to get a hold of... they'd had a great night, and he'd thought that he'd finally found someone normal who could understand and treat him as a real person, not as a blue freak of nature... But she'd been avoiding him... When he'd asked her, she'd just replied that it wasn't him, that she had some other problems to sort out... yeah right... sure.
He wolfed down his food, as normal packing away enough to feed five normal folks, and then cleaned up to go, promptly freezing in place and gulping. Blocking his way were five of the big hulks he'd run into with Rogue that morning. "Uh oh.. big trouble." He murmered under his breath as one reached for his shirt, and lifted him up into the air so his feet dangled.
"I think it's time we settled our little dispute, mutie." Spat the boy holding him up.
Kurt gulped a bit. "Ah, I'd like to but I really have to be going now you see." He was preparing to teleport out, but the guys seem to know what he had planned.
He felt a sharp pain on the back of his head, and everything began to swim suddenly as one of the guys had thunked him fairly hard. He dangled there woozy, not hearing the inflamitory words that came from the thugs, just wondering how he got himself into these messes. He felt someone punch him in the gut, and groaned faintly, opening his eyes and seeing the thugs grinning at him. The one holding him dropped him, and he fell awkwardly to the ground, managing to keep his balance. He took a step back, but one of them grabbed his hand, unfortunately as always, the one with the holo watch on it.
He heard the sickening crunch of the watch, and internally groaned. Maybe he could use this to get away now. He readied himself to teleport, even though his head wasn't quite clear yet.
"What the HELL is that!?" Came a familiar answer to his real appearance suddenly broadcasted to the whole student body. But instead of backing off, they pushed forward, grabbing onto him from all sides. "Don't' let it get away!"
Kurt yelped as his arms were twisted behind his back, and suddenly something cold and sharp was placed to his throat, and he opened his gleaming yellow eyes to stare at a knife pushed against his throat. "Uh... I suppose now's a bad time to mention lunch is nearly over...?"
"Don't even think about doing that disappearing act pal, you'll have to take us all with ya or I'll cut ya before you can vanish." The grunt growled, eyes narrow and staring straight into his.
From the side of his peripheral vision, he could see the whole school it seemed, surrounding them, the shocked, frightened, and alarmed looks on all of their faces. He was in a very bad situation, he thought, yeah, pretty bad. Typical.
"Stop it!" Came an angry voice he recognized, and felt relief flood thorugh him. It was Jean followed closely by Scott. "Let him go, and no one gets hurt." She said matter of factly, looking deadly serious.
The brute just laughed, glancing back at her. "What's this, another mutie? Whatcha gonna do before I slice blue-boy's throat here?"
Kurt swallowed hard, watching her with nervous eyes. He could try to teleport, and might make it out before the guys realized it, after all he didn't have to take them with him if he concentrated hard enough, but that'd leave them to deal with the thugs alone. He glanced around quickly looking for an escape route.
Jean in the meantime had lifted a hand, looking very pissed off. "For the last time, let Kurt go."
Scott had come up beside her, and was gripping his glasses with one hand, looking pretty threatening.
The thug just laughed, but he seemed a bit nervous at two pissed off looking students, who seemed to mean business. "What the hell do you care about him anyway, he's just a no good, ugly..."
He was interrupted by a sharp kick to the groin, not from Jean or Scott, but from Amanda, who was standing there quite suddenly, fists and teeth clenched, looking very very pissed off. "DO NOT HARM MY BOYFRIEND!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, and tackled the guy full on, grabbing his arm to try and pull it away from Kurt.
There was no way she was strong enough, but her attack gave him the distraction he needed to teleport out of the thugs grips, and onto the guy with the knife's back, where he quickly grabbed his hand, and tried to wrest the knife away. He wasn't strong enough either, but given the two people on top of him, and a quick blast of red light from Scott, the knife ended up being melted into a useless pile of metal anyway. Kurt grabbed Amanda's hand as the thug doubled over still in pain from the groin shot, and pulled her back to Jean and Scott, facing the other four guys in a crouch. He winced a bit as he moved, feeling pain in his side, but he ignored it for the moment, as it wasn't as critical.
However he need not have worried, the other four thugs were freaked out by the mutants ganging up on them, and they backed off, muttering 'freaks' and 'monsters' before finally turning and just leaving.
There was a small sigh that collectively expelled from everyone present, and Jean glanced over at Kurt as he watched them leave. "You ok?"
Kurt grined lopsidedly and gave a thumbs up. "Yeah, no problem. Just..." He managed to hold in a yelp, but did jump, as Amanda roughly pulled his shirt up. "What are you DOING?!"
She poked his side, and saw him flinch, and glared up at him. "Idiot! You shouldn't have let them hurt you like that!"
Kurt flushed a bit, and glanced at Jean and Scott who looked a bit bewildered by Amanda's demeanor, as Kurt had sorta kept quiet about how much she knew about him. "I...um.. sorry. I'll be more careful next time...?"
Jean shook her head faintly, and knelt down. "Let me see." She gently touched his side, where a dark splotch was forming even against the blue fur. "Uh oh, we'd better get you back home Kurt, they may have broken a rib here."
Kurt groaned, and put a hand to his head. "Wunderbar..."
Amanda glared up at him, and gave him a pouting face, to which he just completely melted upon seeing. "You need to be more careful! What if they'd really hurt you!?" She sniffled, then threw herself on him, throwing her arms around his neck and bursting into tears against his chest.
That threw both Scott and Jean, and everyone else who was still gathered around watching the scene. Kurt blinked awkwardly, and slowly put his arms around Amanda. "Hey, take it easy, I'm not really hurt that bad... it looks worse than it is..."
Jean glanced around and put a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Maybe you'd better go back now." She glanced at the crowd, seeing they were restless, whispering and staring. "We don't want to start another incident, and you should get that looked at...can you get home yourself Kurt?"
Kurt nodded. "Yah, I'll manage."
Amanda pouted. "You're taking me with you."
Scott raised a hand. "Uh..."
She glared at him. "NO. I'm going with him.. to make sure he doesn't get in any more trouble this time." She glared at Kurt too. "Take us both there."
Kurt sighed, and figured he had little choice, so held her more tightly to him, then teleported out of the school grounds.
They reappeared in front of the institute grounds, and Kurt groaned as a wave of dizziness came over him from excessive teleporting and his injury, and he nearly fell over, but Amanda supported him with an arm quickly. "Whoa, take it easy there fuzzy." She said concerned. "Where's this hospital place of yours?"
Kurt was about to answer when he didn't have to, as Logan stepped out from the front door, peering down at them. "Oh great, what'd you do this time elf?" He growled, and walked down the steps, looking grumpy as usual.
Kurt grinned slightly, feeling dizzy still. "Ah, nothing much really, just a little scratch."
Logan grunted and guestured for Amanda to bring him up the steps. "Allright, come on you can tell me while yer getting fixed."
Amanda glanced around, awed by the huge plush mansion as they walked in, and were led to an elevator by Logan. She hadn't thought that the institute was this lavish. She glanced at Kurt sideways and saw he looked to be in pretty bad shape, trying to stay conscious as they stood riding down the elevator. She felt a wave of guilt flood her as she noticed him trying hard to not glance at her curiously. She'd been avoiding him, but as she'd told him it wasn't due to him... it was... other reasons. But still she felt bad for abandoning him like this. She glanced up at the rough looking guy, who gave her a small glance and a 'humph' before stopping the elevator at a level, and walking out. She followed, leading Kurt with her, glancing around in surprise. These lower levels were totally different in structure from the above levels. They were as if some kind of hidden secret base.
Her thoughts were cut short when they arrived in a small room with a bed and medical supplies, and she led Kurt to the bed, sitting him down on it upright. She glanced at the man who was just standing with his arms crossed. "Aren't you going to help him?"
Logan grunted. "I ain't a nurse kid. Backups coming."
Just as he spoke, the doors opened again and two people walked, or rather one walked the other wheeled, into the room. A tall woman with white hair, and a bald man in a wheelchair came into the room.
"Well...I knew something like this might happen." The tall woman said, walking over and putting a hand on Kurt's shoulder.
Kurt looked up, still seeming out of it and smiled weakly. "You know me, always causing trouble."
The woman shook her head, and grabbed the lower part of his shirt. "Ok, arms up, strip."
Amanda stood slightly back out of the way, watching with a hesitant look. She glanced over at the bald man, and he turned her way and smiled. "You must be Amanda. Kurt has told us something about you, although I'm sure this must come as quite a shock to you."
She blinked. "What part? This whole place being like some kinda base or something?"
The man blinked, and she felt a tickle in her mind, and then he seemed to relax. "Ah, I see. You already knew about Kurt's appearance."
She flushed and played with a strand of hair. "Um.. yeah, he didn't tell you?" She blinked remember that Kurt had tended to avoid the issue when mentioning if anyone else knew about him. "I guess he kinda was cautious huh."
The man nodded and extended a hand. "Kurt is a good boy, and I'm glad he has a friend who can understand him as he truly is. I am Proffessor Charles Xaiver."
She took his hand and shook it. "Oh, so you're the one who runs this place, neat." She glanced at Kurt. "It wasn' this fault, those guys just picked on him after he stood up for that friend of his. But now like the whole school knows what he looks like..."
Charles sighed softly. "It was bound to happen, the rest of the student body knows about the rest of us now anyway.. but Kurt's position is a bit more...unusual."
Amanda bit her lip. "Yeah, they're gonna eat him alive when he goes back. Like most people don't wanna understand."
Logan grunted. "Time for home study if things gets much worse Chuck."
Xavier sighed again, and wheeled over to where the white haired woman was examining Kurt's fuzzy blue side. "How badly injured is he Ororo?"
Ororo shook her head. "I can't tell from here, but the bleeding is minor, he just got scratched a bit. But he might have a cracked rib, we'll need to x-ray him."
Kurt looked halfway amused. "X-ray.. cool. I've never seen what I look like that way." Amanda giggled a bit, and he threw a grin at her, flashing his fangs.
Ororo just smiled and patted his shoulder. "All right then, up with you over to the wall."
Kurt slid off the bed slowly, still feeling dizzy, but not as bad now that he'd sat for a little bit, and had some bandages on. He walked over to stand behind a tall screen, and Ororo worked the controls, and there was a bright flash, and the image showed Kurt's skeletal structure. He came out from behind the screen, peering curiously at the image there, as Ororo darkened the room to get a closer look.
Amanda giggled, pointing at his tail. "It looks so funny like that."
Kurt grinned, staring at the bone structure, amused himself. It wasn't that much different from any normal humans, only his spine was more curved, the tail sticking out behind his back was obvious, and where his hands and feet were, there were actually the full five fingered bone structures there, just squished together so that they became only three or two didgets, slightly elongated.
Ororo was examining the ribcage and nodded slightly. "As I thought, it's not broken, but one bone is slightly cracked there." She turned around and pointed to the bed. "Down."
Kurt sighed, and walked over to the bed, sliding onto it again, and laying down flat on the bed, wincing a bit as he put pressure on his side in the motion. Ororo began rummaging through the bandages, to take care of the problem.
Amanda shifted on her feet, and glanced at the professor. "So...what are you going to do now? Like if everyone knows about you all."
The professor looked deep in thought then spoke up. "I think we'll still try to give it a go. Everyone will have to be careful, however maybe if we're lucky they may come to accept us. I don't' want to give up, not yet." He glanced at her, smiling. "That there are people more like you, willing to accept our differences is what gives me hope that not all is lost."
Amanda flushed a bit, and shuffled her feet. "Yeah, well there's others like me you know, just not as many as the other kinds."
Kurt waved a hand giving a thumbs up from the bed. "Hey, it's better than nothing, right?"
Amanda play pouted at him. "Don't you go moving around and hurt yourself more. I fully expect to see you at school tomorrow."
Kurt looked dubious. "I don't know..."
Xavier wheeled over to the bedside and glanced at Kurt. "You aren't injured enough to skip out on school, unless you're threatened again, I'd like you to go back, but I'm not going to force you Kurt."
Kurt sighed. "Yes Proffessor, I know..." He lowered his head back down, wincing as Ororo tightened the bandages around his chest. "Ow! Careful!"
Ororo snorted a bit. "Baby. It's just a small crack and you're acting like a child."
Kurt grinned slyly. "I still am one, kind of."
Ororo patted him on the head. "Nice try. No, you're not getting meals served to you in bed."
Kurts ears drooped a bit. "Darn..."
Amanda giggled again. "I'd do it for you Kurt."
His face turned a purplish color, blue mixing with bright red. "Er..."
Everyone laughed at his expression.
The next morning....
Kurt winced as he finished up his breakfast. It still hurt to move his left side much, but that wasn't the key thing on his mind. Everyone had been really nice to him all day, after hearing about what had happened. Even Rogue had come and apologized for being so stuffy to him about saving her butt. He was feeling quite a bit better, but a heavy dillema weighed on his mind.
Everyone was gathered outside, and Scott waved to him. "Come on Kurt, no walking today for you."
He wasn't about to complain this time, so ported into the seat behind Scott, and buckled up.
"Um, Kurt?" Scott turned around and peered at him with a concerned look. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Kurts bright yellow eyes blinked up at Scott, then he grinned faintly. "No, I haven't. I'm not wearing it today everyone knows anyway, and hiding it might just be worse, you know."
Scott looked dubious. "I don't know...did the professor say it was allright?"
Kurt nodded, and pulled his holo watch out of his pocket. "Yah, he said it was my choice. I've got it just in case, but I want to try going without it."
Scott sighed, and shrugged. "OK buddy, your call." And with that they drove off to school.
Kurt definitely had butterflys in his stomach, after all, he wasn't sure if he wanted to do this, but he knew he had to. The proffessor was right on one count, they shouldn't have to hide or be ashamed, however, since the studends knew by now what he looked like anyway, he figured the best way to get them used to the idea, was to have them deal with it directly. He had steeled himself to take lots of crap today..he expected it.
They drove up, and everyone unpiled, and instantly, Kurt felt eyes on him, and hushed silence everywhere. He'd chosen just to wear his normal school clothes anyway, but the white bandages and small splint on his chest still showed beneath the shirt a bit. "See ya later Scott." He waved as the other teen went off to park the car. With a deep breath that hurt his side quite a bit, he turned around, and faced everyone's staring eyes. He forced himself to be calm, and keep his eyes up, and started walking onto the campus. The whole school seemed to be deathly silent as he walked by, but that could have just been due to the rushing blood pumping in his ears that drowned out everything. As he walked, he saw students draw back from him, peer curiously at him, and give him odd looks. But he ignored most of it and kept walking. Amazingly enough... there were no screams....
Halfway to the door, he heard a relieving familiar voice. "Hey Kurt, wait up!" He turned around and saw Amanda and her other friends jogging towards him. As they approached, some of them looked a bit stunned, and Amanda herself looked shocked. "Um.. Kurt, you sure you want to do this?" She took his hand, to let him know she didn't care what he looked like.
He grinned. "Yeah, I mean why not, if everyone else has to face being recognized, so do I...and it's not like everyone doesn't know already, at least they can get used to me this way."
Amanda looked doubtful, just like everyone else had so far. "I don't know Kurt, I think they'll just be meaner to you."
He shrugged. "I'm used to it. But I'm not going to let it get to me anymore. Know why?" He grinned up at her as she shook her head curiously. "Because I've got friends like you." He smiled at her shyly, and on a splurge of impulse, with his heart beating rapidly, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek before she knew what was happening.
She stood there, then blushed deep red and giggled, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Darn you Kurt. You're such a charmer."
He grinned, feeling lightheaded, but not from the injury. "I try my best." And with that they began walking towards the door to the school, everyone's eyes still on them, but now that Amanda was by his side, he didn't feel so alone anymore.
End note: No, it's not a Kurt/Amanda fic, again this is just part of a whole. I'm more focusing on general issues, with side plots thrown in. Don't worry, for those of you wanting Kurtty action, it's coming later ^_^. And some others maybe.. we'll see. Imput! This is as far as I've written so far, so ideas are helpful if anyone has them.