Early morning.

Having privately said the goodbyes that she'd wanted to say, Chloe decided to avoid eating breakfast with
the other students. Instead, she snuck down to the kitchen before everyone else was awake.

Or so she thought...

"Good morning, Chloe." Charles Xavier smiled warmly as the teen walked into the room.

"Professor?!" Her eyebrows rose as she stammered out her greeting. "Good...good morning...I'm sorry, I
didn't think anyone would be up yet."

"You were partially right. No one else is." He replied with a chuckle, maneuvering his chair to the breakfast
nook. "You didn't sleep much last night."

She blinked and stared at him, realization entering her face. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to keep you up!"
She'd spent most of the night tossing and turning, completely forgetting about Xavier's telepathic abilities.

"No need to concern yourself with apologies, my dear." he reassured. "I was up most of the night in the
infirmary. Bobby's picked up that stomach flu that's been making its way 'round the school."

As Chloe well knew. The Professor and Ororo had spent a few nights sitting up with her while she suffered
through it. Making a sympathetic face, she poured a cup of coffee for herself. "Poor guy. How's he feeling?"

Her teacher waited until she'd joined him at the table before answering. "Resting now. Jean expects he'll be
back on his feet by the end of the week."

"I'll drop by after I get dressed." She decided. "See how he's feeling."

"He'd enjoy that." Xavier replied with a smile, reaching for his paper.

She nodded quickly in agreement then her gaze dropped to plumb the depths of her coffee cup. What a
time for her legendary 'motor mouth' to fail her. She loathed uncomfortable silences.

And to make things worse? The Professor seemed to be the opposite. With an almost serene air, he
drank his Earl Grey while leafing through the paper casually; apparently quite comfortable with the silence.

Sighing, Chloe fidgeted with her cup, her gaze going to the window where birds flew about their business
without a care in the world. Little stinkers. She was going to miss them. Even the annoying one who
insisted on perching on her windowsill to regale her with his tone-deaf offerings. She was going to miss
all of it. And she said so in a voice barely above a whisper. When she trusted her voice more, she added.
"It's beautiful and..." Again her voice left her.

"Safe." Charles finished gently, folding his paper and meeting her gaze. "The School will always be here
for you, Chloe. I know Erin has already told you that but I wish to repeat it. Westchester will always be a
sanctuary . You call and we'll be there to help." He reached out to rest a hand on hers. "You may not be
living here anymore but you will always have a home with us."

She sniffed and ducked her head, free hand sneaking up to dash away stray tears. "Thank you,
Professor, thank you for everything. For all of this." She smiled through her tears. "I owe you all more
than I can ever hope to repay."

"There's no debt, Chloe." he argued immediately. "You are a mutant, one who controls an awesome
power, and a prime example of everything all mutants should strive to be. If there ever was a debt you
have paid it simply being who you are."

It seemed she was fated to begin her last day at Westchester in tears. Not knowing what to say in
response, she moved to hug him, finally managing to whisper another thank you.

Xavier returned the embrace firmly. He was very proud of all she'd accomplished in her short time with
them and he was proud of the fact she'd made the difficult decision to return home to an 'ordinary' life
rather than remain tucked away behind the protective walls of the School, proud indeed. But he couldn't
escape the sadness at seeing her leave anymore than he could forget the worries that had plagued him
over the decision. It was right for her but still the doubts persisted. Smallville was quite the distance from
Westchester and that meant she was relatively unprotected...

"Professor?" Chloe's hesitant voice interrupted his musings and he smiled at her.

"I'm sorry; it seems I'm not as awake as I'd thought." He chuckled. "Perhaps you should have had the tea
while I had the coffee."

She grinned. "Probably."

The background noise his telepathy left him vulnerable to increased with the growing number of the
students waking up and he added. "I believe some of the others are up. If you want to avoid the rush..."

Gratitude filled her expressive face and she hugged him again. "Thanks, Professor." Then, coffee in hand,
she made a hasty escape before the others arrived.

Sighing, Xavier reached for his tea once more. He was going to miss that girl. She livened up the place in
a way that none of her peers had quite managed to do. The silence would be profound. And lonely.

-----

Chloe managed to make it back to her room without being seen by any of the others and - after closing
the door - she leaned back against it with a sigh of relief. She definitely wasn't good with awkwardness.
Not at all.

"Don't worry," Rogue's voice surprised her and she looked over to see her friend curled up in the
overstuffed chair Erin had sat in two nights before. "They all think you're still sleepin', I told 'em you
weren't feelin' the best."

"Well You weren't lying." The petite blonde told her with a crooked grin. "I've got butterflies in my stomach
the size of robins."

The other young mutant laughed. "'fraid to fly?"

"More like terrified of going home."

Marie's head inclined her head toward the picture of Clark Kent that Chloe had pinned to the small
corkboard above her bed. "Cause of him?"

"Yes." She exhaled out, dropping on the bed before her friend. "How am I supposed to walk around every
day like nothing's changed? I can't look him in the eyes and *lie* Rogue. I *can't*. He'll see right through
me in a couple of seconds."

"It's not really lyin' if he doesn't ask you about bein' a mutant right out." The other girl hedged, trying to be
supportive.

"Lying by omission is still lying." The blonde insisted stubbornly. "You've never met him...You don't know
how...hypnotizing he can be. All he'll have to do is give me one of those infamous 'Kent smiles' of his and
I'll sing like the proverbial canary." She laughed shortly. "Can you imagine his reaction? Clark's spent his
entire life in Smallville which - granted - does have it's weirdness but nothing like this." She thought better
of that and shook her head. "Okay, so there have been a few...sort of mutants but they were all results of
the mess the meteor shower left behind. Me...I'm one of *them*. Legitimate mutants. The kind that has the
politicians posturing."

She flopped back on the downey comforter and stared at the ceiling. "I have to be nuts thinking I can just
waltz back into Smallville like nothing's happened and actually expect to pull it off."

"Well, I still say you're overreactin'." Rogue said firmly, rolling onto her stomach and tucking a pillow
beneath her arms. "This guy isn't the Professor. He can't just read your mind."

"No, but he can play me like a grand piano." Chloe replied almost glumly. "I don't like the idea of lying to
him. It would be right up there with kicking a puppy." She reached up to pull down the picture and shifted
to hold it before the other girl's face. "Look at him. See those big blue eyes of his? That smile?"

Examining the picture as instructed, the Southern girl had to admit that the boy in question was without a
doubt absolutely gorgeous but she still didn't see what her friend did. She worked to smother a grin. The
reason for that was kind of obvious. She wasn't in love with Clark Kent. Chloe was. "He does look kinda..."

"Don't say it." The other warned with a wry grin.

"Say what?"

"Farm boy."

Rogue was the very picture of innocence. "I wasn't gonna say that. I *wasn't*!" She insisted at the
skeptical look that appeared in Chloe's eyes. "Okay," she admitted with a grin. "so I was going to say it,
but he does have that...rugged thing goin' on."

Chloe snorted with laughter. "Knew that was coming."

"What?"

"You compare every guy you see to *Logan*."

"I do not!" She protested immediately.

"Yeah you do." Her friend replied smoothly. "But when you think about it...not a bad example to go by."
She allowed. "But seriously...Clark's Mr. All American. Good, kind, honest, loves animals. The whole thing."
She looked over at Rogue. "See what I mean? How can I keep something this big from him?"

----

She was still brooding about it when Erin found her sitting on the front steps, her bag at her feet.

"You stare at that step any harder and you'll bore a hole through it."

The teen looked up with a half-smile. "Don't you mean blow it up?"

"Oh yeah, you're right. Sorry, I keep mixing up who has what power." The teacher grinned and dropped
down on the step next to her. "Ready to go?"

"No." Chloe replied honestly, tossing a pebble at the ground. "But if I went by that I'd never leave."

"Okay...true." The other woman allowed, running a hand through her wild curls. "Rogue says you've been
worried about going back."

"Yeah...I'm afraid of losing control. I told you about that."

Despite the earnest look on her face, she wasn't fooling anyone. "It bothers you doesn't it? Hiding your
mutancy?"

A heavy sigh escaped the young woman and she nodded. "Yes." She rubbed her palms across the denim
of her jeans. "It's not *everybody* just..."

"This Clark you've told me about?"

Her head bobbed in another nod. "Yeah. I just hate the thought of lying to him. Every time I picture seeing
him again, I walk up to him, he gives me a hug and one of those killer smiles then he just looks all sad and
asks how come I didn't email as much as I promise..."

"And?"

"And I tell him the truth and we live happily ever after." Chloe said sarcastically before pressing her face
into her hands briefly. "Sorry. I'm just completely freaked about this. It always ends with him looking hurt
and walking away from me. Mostly because I couldn't trust him with what had happened." She looked
miserable. "I can't lie to him Erin. I'll hate myself for it."

"Can you trust him?"

"Yes!"

"Then why don't you?"

Chloe stared at her in shock. "What?"

"Tell him."

"I can't!"

"Why not?" The teacher's voice was even as she responded. "You said it yourself: you can trust him.
Why don't you tell him?"

The lightbulb went on and Chloe saw where the other woman had been leading her. "I can't do that to him.
I'd be putting him in the same position I'm in now."

"Lying to his friends to protect you." Erin clarified softly. "And from what you've told me of this boy..."

"That would be harder on him than it would be on me." She sighed heavily. "I understand that but it still
doesn't make me feel better."

The teacher reached out to rub her shoulder. "It never does."

—

Chloe stared at Erin with a grin on her face. "You're taking me to the airport?"

"Yep." The teacher held out a helmet. "Your luggage is already on its way to Smallville, you can strap the
other bag on the bike. C'mon...one last ride."

She eyed the motorcycle with a grin. "You're crazy Erin."

"Bah, it's perfectly safe." Tossing Chloe the helmet, the elder woman put her own on. "I promise Scott has
done *nothing* to this baby. This bike's as pristine as the day I bought her."

"Her?"

"No way a guy runs this smooth." Flipping the guard down on her helmet, she leaned forward to start the
bike. "C'mon..."

Though her face was obscured, Chloe knew her friend was still grinning and she couldn't help but shrug
and laugh. "Why not. Just watch the curves this time."

The other woman snickered. "I always do. You just forget to lean with the bike."

"Question for ya Erin..."

"What?"

"Whatever happened to the stuff shirt British thing?"

"Living in the United States for nearly eight years all but killed that." Erin's laugh was muffled by the helmet.
"You lot've been a bad influence."

"Look who's talking." Chloe held out her bag and watched as the teacher strapped it onto the back then
she climbed on behind her. "Erin?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you...For everything."

The other woman didn't reply immediately and when she did, it was simple but painfully honest.

"It was my honor."