Either of them didn't know how long they had been standing there, but Scott could feel his feet pounding in his shoes after standing so long. He still had his arms wrapped around Jean, hers around his neck. And they were still holding each other just as tightly as they had started. Needless to say, Scott liked it. Sure they had hugged each other plenty of times. But not like this — this meant something to him. And that made all the difference. After what seemed like an eternity, Scott slowly pulled himself away from Jean to look at her for the first time.
She was sparkling. Her eyes were dancing; a filmy glare from her tears blanketed them. Her entire skin was illuminated by the moon's light, making her eyes appear like the only thing that mattered. Ever. At least to Scott.
"I'm sorry," Jean said quietly, not taking her eyes away from him — he liked seeing them too much. He squeezed her arms tightly and smiled warmly. It sent chills through Jean's body.
"It's okay. Just know that I'm here for you," Scott answered sincerely. Jean smiled back. For some reason she felt compelled to look away from Scott. Maybe he was staring at her too much. Or at least in that general direction.
How... how did I get here? she thought monotonously, a flash of events appearing inside her head. There was Duncan, then Scott. Then me kissing Scott on the neck. Then the ride ho— her eyes widened for a moment. D-did I... Did I do that? She looked back up at Scott — his eyebrows furrowed as he mused in watching her think.
"Something wrong?" he inquired, curious to understand her. She shook her head in reply.
"No, no. Everything's fine," she said, pausing briefly to think once more, "I think we should go inside now."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Scott wrapped his arm over Jean's shoulder to keep her warm as he led her over the grounds to the front doors of the Institute.
It was raining now. Or perhaps it was sleeting. Regardless of the form of the weather, it was a loud thunderstorm. The lightening and thunder crashed and lit up the night sky periodically. It was relatively late and there was hardly a sound in the Institute. Jean had skipped dinner and locked herself in her room. The rest of the students and the adults didn't need to ask Scott about what happened at school today — it was hard not to know.
Jean had always hated thunderstorms. But loved rain. But the thunder and the lightening always scared her, though she wasn't sure why. Her childhood was too blurry for her to really remember if there was some traumatic incident or not. Not that it mattered — she just hated not having a root to a problem. And a path to a solution.
Psst, hey! Scott — it's me, Jean! Open up! she sent in a mind link into Scott's bedroom. Before she knew it, the door clicked open and Scott's body was hovering over her. He raised an eyebrow and leaned against the door frame.
"Need something?" he asked stiffly, his head tilted down to look at her. She waltzed past him and into his room and sat down on the bed.
"You know I hate thunderstorms," she said. He walked slowly over to the bed and sat down next to her.
"I still don't see why, Jean. You're almost 18 and you're still scared of them. It is a bit childish," he added mockingly. Jean crossed her arms and turned her head away from him.
"At least I don't pretend like I'm not scared — like you." Scott chuckled lowly to himself.
"You caught me. I really do hate storms," he said sarcastically. Almost on cue, a large flash of lightening followed by a clap of thunder made Scott jump from the bed in a sudden panic. Jean didn't even attempt to stifle her giggling. To recover from his sudden behavior, Scott slicked his hair back coolly and laid down on his bed.
"Can I stay in here tonight?" Jean asked instantly as she laid down next to him. He lifted his head to her, a look of disbelief across his face.
"Y-you.. you want to stay in here t-tonight?" Scott stuttered out, realizing what she was asking him.
"I know it's against Institute rules..." Jean's voice trailed off. The two of them sat in silence for a few moments. She took a quick breath and started up again.
"I'm really hurt right now and I need to be with someone," she added. Another boom of thunder made them both flinch. She smirked seductively and rolled her eyes, "And besides, I just can not stand being alone in my room during this." Scott blinked a few times, too enraptured by her request to let it actually sink in. He knew he must have told her "sure" because she had started pulling the covers up around herself. Without thinking, he did the same. He rolled on his side, his eyes meeting with hers even though she couldn't see them.
"Are you... feeling any better?" he finally asked, her eyes closing slowly to the question. Jean slid one of her hands under her head to prop it up a bit more.
"I am now," she replied with a warm smile. Scott smiled back and closed his eyes.
'Night he said in his thoughts, hoping she'd be able to hear him. After a minute or so, he could hear Jean's voice ringing in his head.
Good night.
Scott mumbled softly as he stirred from his sleep. The sun was beaming through his windows; apparently it had overpowered the thunderstorm from the previous night. He tilted his head, realizing that Jean was pressed up against him, her head resting peacefully on his bare chest, red hair draped over him. Scott smiled weakly at Jean. She looked so peaceful — like nothing could possibly be plaguing her. But the truth of the matter was that there was something plaguing her. And the last thing Scott wanted to do was wake Jean up from her sleep — her mind's only time to be on a true relaxing "vacation." Scott didn't feel bad for Jean and her powers, however. Besides, she wouldn't want the sympathy.
A soft moan escaped Jean's lifts as she began to wake. Her eyes fluttered open, tickling Scott's chest. She raised her head to look at him and smiled.
"You sleep okay?" he asked. Jean rested her chin on his chest, her smile growing.
"I did. Thank you," she said in reply as she gathered her red hair behind her. Scott shifted awkwardly in the bed.
"We better not get in trouble for this," Scott said hesitantly, knowing that there could and would be consequences for Jean's little sleep over. Jean sat up, stretched her arms above her head and yawned. Scott stared at her, eyes wide with admiration — she was so beautiful in the morning. Well, not just the morning.
"It'll be fine," Jean replied, hoping to reassure him, "Besides, we can't be grounded for this."
"Why's that?" he questioned, somewhat confused.
"The party at Meredith's place tonight — remember?"
"Is it really Saturday?"
"Yeah, thank God. I'd hate to have to face school after... you know..." Jean's voice trailed off for a moment.
"Won't Duncan be there?"
"I don't know. Probably. But I could care less," Jean answered defensively. She let a long sigh escape her pouty lips. Scott stared at her.
"I guess I'll go. I don't know though."
"Well I know Kitty's going. And I think Kurt is too," Jean added, hoping to give Scott more incentive.
"Maybe," he finally said.
"I'll take that as a yes, Mr. Summers."
"Like, oh my God! This is going to be the most totally cool party like, ever!" Kitty shrieked, jumping up and down in her seat at the kitchen table, "I can't believe I got asked to go by some Senior!" she yelped, unable to contain her joy. Kurt brought one of his hands to his head and sighed. Rogue revealed herself from around the corner and walked over to the fridge to get her daily glass of orange juice.
"They hand out those damn flyers to everyone, Kitty. Quantity is what matters for these parties, not quality," Rogue added coolly, running a gloved hand through her hair as she took a swig of her drink. Kitty huffed at her and crossed her arms.
"Just because you didn't get asked doesn't mean that you can rag on me for being asked!"
"Even if Ah did get a flyer, Ah wouldn't go to some stupid party like that. Ah've got better things to do," Rogue replied, pushing herself away from the counter she was leaning on, "And if yuh don't mind, Ah'm going to go do one of those things right now." And with that, Rogue walked out of the kitchen, leaving Kitty, Evan, and Kurt to eat their breakfast in peace.
"Well, at least we won't have to hear her bitch about the 'shitty main-stream noise that isn't worthy of being defined as music' the entire time tonight," Evan added with a grin. Kurt and Kitty chuckled lightly knowing that Evan was right. Suddenly, Scott came into the kitchen and walked directly to the fridge to hunt for some breakfast.
"Good morning to you, too, dude," Evan said sarcastically, somewhat insulted that Scott had not even acknowledged the others in the room. Scott let a soft grunt escape his lips as he pulled out a Tupperware filled with last night's spaghetti dinner. He grabbed a fork from the drawer and began eating.
"So how's she doing?" Kurt asked curiously, wondering how Jean was coping with the entire ordeal. Scott didn't even look up from his pasta as he shrugged his shoulders stiffly. Kitty moved in closer to Scott and poked him in the chest.
"You so totally know all the details and you like, are being a butthead about it."
"Maybe I don't want to talk about it," Scott answered back. All the others stared at him confused as to why he was being so moody about the whole thing.
"What happened between you two after you guys blew off lunch, fifth, and sixth? And why did you guys not even make an appearance until after dinner?" Evan inquired, trying to get details about yesterday. Scott stared back at him blankly, chewing unrelentlessly on his spaghetti. Without saying a word, he walked stiffly out of the room, leaving Kurt, Kitty, and Evan alone again. Suddenly, Evan's eyes lit up.
"Oh wait a minute. Those two... Ohhh, I get it now," Evan exclaimed triumphantly. Kitty grabbed Evan's arm and stared up at him excitedly.
"What do you get? He like, hasn't even told us anything yet."
"They were.. you know," Evan said slyly, smirking the entire time.
"We obviously like, don't know, Evan."
Evan just shook his head as he walked out of the kitchen with a stupid smirk glued to his face. Kurt and Kitty could have sworn they heard him cackle from down the hall. Kitty arched an eyebrow to Kurt who shook his head, confused at the entire morning.
"Like, since when is he, like, the brains of this institution?"
I AM SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY. I went on my mini-vacation but am definitely back in business. Hope you enjoyed the new chapter! Expect Chapter 6 very soon! Please leave me some feedback — it's always a good motivational tool :)
- Sarah
