X-Men Evolution is a trademarked product from Marvel, all the characters are owned by Marvel and not me. This is a work of fiction based off of said series. I make no money off this, yadda yadda yah.

"In The Garage" - by Val Shrum (kiyonekatz at yahoo dot com)

Chapter 24

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The silence in the small infirmary room seemed to go on forever, until finally Kitty decided to speak again.

"Get out." She pointed to the door.

"Wait, no! Pretty Kitty, that's not what I was meant!" Lance was caught offguard.

Another voice came in, "Actually, maybe you should leave." Said the girl known as Jean Grey. "You heard the Professor, Lance. This is not a good time."

"I'm not breaking up with you!" He practically yelled at Kitty. It was obvious how frustrated he was just by his tone of voice. "I'm not." He looked at Jean.

"... I think you two have had enough excitement for the day. Lance, go upstairs and join Wanda and Kurt."

"You can't tell me what to do." Lance said.

"Yes, I can." Jean was firm. "And I am. Go, now."

He looked at Jean, attempting to read her features. Lance then looked back at Kitty, who was still quite upset but silent. His heart broke at the image. "... I'll be upstairs..." He shrugged and left the room through the door. Jean waited until the elevator doors closed and he was on his way up before she approached Kitty.

"You shouldn't have." Kitty said plainly.

"I know." Jean looked back at the door. "You okay?"

"If I said yes, would you leave me alone?"

"That's not very nice, Kitty." Jean sat down on the chair next to the bed. "I just wanted to tell you... I'm with you on this one. I would have done the same thing in your stuation and I feel you shouldn't have been grounded." She added, "And I didn't mean to walk in on you and Lance arguing."

"Well, you know us kids..." Kitty laid back in the bed. "I think I'm going to rest a bit. It's been way too much of an emotionally and physically draining kind of day. Thanks for dropping by."

Jean stood up. "...okay. Let me know if you need anything. I know you're not okay, but I'd rather you rest and feel better."

"Yeah." Was the only response Kitty decided to say.

Jean let out a sigh and left.

***

"No, you're wrong." Kurt intoned. "If Marty McFly went into the past, then the future and his future had changed, there would be two Marty McFlys. One who existed in that time frame, and himself, who existed from another line or reality path."

"Seriously, Kurt. It's JUST a movie. Stuff like that never happens in real life." Wanda looked annoyed and poked at the food on her plate.

Lance walked into the room, "What are you arguing about."

"We're not arguing." Kurt said, "We're talking about 'Back to the Future'."

"Why?" Lance sat down, satisfied with the slight distraction.

"I watched it the other day. Someone at the house rented it." Wanda commented, "Kurt was just telling me how incorrect the movie was on some sort of level. They probably covered it in the sequels or something. Hell if I know."

Kurt looked over at Lance, "So how's Kitty?"

"... hell if I know." Lance replied, mimicking Wanda's tone.

"That doesn't sound encouraging." Wanda looked at Lance, "What's going on?"

"I made the mistake of trying to explain what I'm feeling, and it came out completely wrong." He sighed, frustrated. "Then she started to cry and thought I was breaking up with her. Then Miss Perfect, Jean Grey interrupted and ruined everything."

"I live here too, you know." Jean entered the kitchen. "And I am far... FAR from perfect. What exactly were you trying to accomplish down there, Lance? You're not supposed to make her cry."

Lance winced. He didn't intend for her to cry. "Good thing I have people like Jean here to tell me what I'm supposed to and not supposed to do. Hey Kurt, why don't you tell me again how you don't want me taking advantage of her. Better yet, Wanda... warn me again about how I'm out of my league. You guys think this is some sort of game to me! This is NOT fun." He looked at Jean, "You and Summers need to stay out of our business. I'm sick and tired of people judging me! This is part of the problem. You single people out. I sometimes just want to live a normal life, too. Be treated equally. Get respect. I get none of that here. Except from Kitty, and now from Kurt. It's hard to fight when all the odds are against you."

Wanda stood up and touched her hand on Lance's shoulder, "Calm down. We're guests in their house."

"Right, calm down." He pulled away from Wanda and grabbed Kurt by the arm, "We're going somewhere, blue boy. Now."

Kurt blinked, setting his fork down, "What? Where?!"

"My place, come on." Lance glared one last time at Jean before Kurt begrudgingly teleported away.

"What did you say to him?" Wanda asked.

"I only told him to leave Kitty alone for a little bit. The emotions were pretty high. And... I know he wasn't going to break up with her." Jean sighed. "So, what's going on with you and Kurt?" She asked to change the subject.

"Oh not this again.."

***

The boys teleported into the basement where all the band equipment was still set up. Lance rushed over to grab an accoustic guitar. He moved back to grab Kurt's arm. "Okay. Now when we 'port back, I want it to be near the infirmary."

"But you just had an argument with Kitty... don't you think it'd be a good idea to let things cool down?" Kurt looked confused.

"No. If they cool down, she'll make up her mind about me. I want to finish what I started, Kurt. I won't hurt her and you know it." Lance said softly.

"I know you won't. I'm afraid of what she'll do to you, man."

"Huh?" Lance looked confused.

"Nevermind. Let's go." Kurt teleported again, appearing with Lance in the hallway near Kitty's room. "You're on your own from this point. Leaving Jean with Wanda... what were WE thinking?"

"Oh crap. Uh... good luck, man." Lance waved to Kurt who then teleported away.

Lance looked forward and took a deep breath. 'Here goes nothing.' He thought to himself. Quietly moving down the hall to the doorframe, he looked in to watch her. Kitty's eyes were closed, her breathing rhythmatic and calm. 'She must be sleeping.' He moved over to the chair and sat on it, setting the guitar down carefully.

Her body stirred. She turned over to face Lance. Kitty's eyes didn't open, she just curled up tightly.

His hand touched the top of the guitar, then pulled up to hold in a proper position. He started to strum the guitar slowly, first with a c chord and moving through a few others. He played softly, almost so that he didn't want to wake Kitty, but yet he wanted her to hear. Lance's voice shyly began to sing. "... What's it mean to be alone now. How's it feel to be by yourself. You got me, I didn't get you back. Then you got me, again. You got inside through a hole in my defenses. How you fit I'll never understand. But you got into me. And I got into you and now... I wanna do it again." He played the warm rock styled song playfully on the guitar. He closed his eyes, lost in the moment and continued to sing. "How's it feel to know now. Whatcha think 'bout that. You got me. Now we can't go back. You'll never get me again." He sang through the chorus again, moving into the next part quickly. "Only wanna dance with you. I only want to dance with you. You go up down turn around merry go round and round. Shake it shake it two times, dose doe cotten eyed joe. Run around pull me down never gonna come around I'm never gonna forget you." He hummed along, mumbling through repeated choruses until finally he ended the song with "..only wanna dance with you..." Lance, although finished, continued to just pluck at the strings softly. Almost moving into another song, until..

"...when you play, you just look so peaceful." Kitty sat up.

"How long were you listening?" He asked.

"Whole time. I heard you come in." She seemed embarassed. "You seem to like their songs."

"They're easy to play." Lance put the guitar aside, "Kitty... I'm sorry about earlier. I'm calmer now."

"..So'm I." Kitty looked like she may cry again.

Lance moved to sit on the bed next to her. He cupped her cheek, "It tore me up to see you crying like that, especially over me."

"I was NOT crying over you. I'm was upset about the situation. Everything was just spiraling out of control and I--" Her voice cut off mid-sentence by a well placed kiss.

He was careful of her wounds. Kitty closed her eyes and eased herself into his embrace quicker than expected. Lance cupped her cheek and touched his forehead to hers, "...what I wanted to say is that I love you. No misunderstandings. Just the truth. I don't feel I'm good enough for you, but I'm willing to try to be better."

Kitty couldn't help but laugh. She winced as her side was still bandaged and sensitive. "... idiot. If anything, over the past month I've discovered that I'm perfectly fine with who you are and wouldn't want that any other way. Don't feel guilty about today. Only do what you think is right, then. In the future you can do that, but in the meantime you need to stop beating yourself up and just be... happy. I know I am."

He wrapped his arms around her, careful not to disturb the wounds. He gave a gentle kiss to her cheek. "Alright. I'm sorry for getting you upset."

"It's been a rough day." Kitty noted. She whispered to him, "Stay here, with me? Nothing uh... implied there. I think I'd just like to stay like this."

Lance smiled and said in return, "They'd have to chase me out of here. Well, they might. But I'll stay with you until they do. Okay?"

"Yeah." She smiled and yawned. She pulled away from Lance to lay down in the bed, then scooted to make room for him.

He looked confused then it clicked, '... she was serious... oh man. And there are cameras everywhere. I'm such a dead man in the morning. Do I care? No." Lance kicked off his shoes and slid under the covers. He awkwardly placed an arm around her, to hug her to him from behind. The warmth of her body and calm breathing quickly lulled him to sleep, with her comfortably in his arms.

***

"Dance With You" By: Bowling For Soup