A/N: Hi, I hope you're quite excited, cause I'm anxious as hell. Just so you know, the updates will not be nearly as frequent as they were with TBAMT, mostly because I didn't have two years to write it. It will be more like every two weeks than every two days. As per usual, the title is from a song. Please tell me what you think and what you'd like to see, since I'm still in the process of writing and maybe it will inspire me ;) I hope you'll enjoy it and thanks for reading :D
Chapter 1: Congratulations, You Already Are Meeting Someone New
John slowly munched on his breakfast, looking around the unusually crowded table. He himself stayed over at the Institute although the Brotherhood retreated to the Boarding House pretty quickly. Sitting in front of him was is ex-teammate, Piotr, and a few seats down Gambit was scarfing down eggs and bacon. More so, the blonde kid who was introduced to him as Havok was sitting in between an Asian girl he didn't recognize at all and a tortoise someone called Spyke.
They were a weird bunch, he knew, but somehow they all fit in with the usual crowd.
Amara squeezed his knee under the table and gave him a bright smile, before asking him to pass the bread.
He could really get used to that.
Evan took the bag of food his aunt was handing to him with a grateful smile.
"You don't have to go, Evan" She put her hand on his cheek, sighing. He could see her eyes glaze over. "There is a place for you at the Institute."
"I know, Auntie O" He covered her hand with his own. "But right now, I'm needed elsewhere."
She nodded, taking her hand off and hugging him tightly.
"Just, come back every once in a while, alright?" She pulled away, a lonely tear running down her face. "And maybe try to call your parents now and again."
"I promise I'll try" Trying didn't mean he had to do it. He still wasn't sure whether he'd stomach hearing his mom's voice over the phone. "Goodbye, Auntie O."
"See you soon, Evan."
He had one more stop before he returned to the sewers.
The road to the Boarding House seemed surprisingly familiar, although he was at the place only one time before. He knocked on the door before his sense could talk him out of it. Come to think of it, he was really lucky that the exact person he was looking for opened it.
"Evan?"
She looked completely different than when they last talked to each other. Less panicky, more stable. He took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully.
"I wanted to say goodbye" He wasn't sure if it was the right thing to say, but he went with it. "Since I'm not sure if we'll see each other again."
"Oh."
Both of them stayed silent, Evan staring at her shoes and Wanda staring at him. He cleared his throat, finding the courage to look her in the eye.
"Goodbye, Wanda" His voice was full of emotion which he tried to hide. It wouldn't do him any good. "I hope you'll be happy. You deserve it."
She sucked in the air harshly, her hand tightening on the doorknob.
"You too, Evan" She swallowed, her eyes dropping down to his hands. "If anyone does, it's you."
He grabbed his bag and turned around, walking off. The only sounds that followed him to the main road was the beating of his heart and gravel crunching beneath his feet.
For the first time in forever, Violette felt as if everything was falling into place.
Apocalypse was gone. She somehow reconciled with the Brotherhood. She had friends in the New Mutants. Her relationship with Kurt was going great. Jamie was safe and happy. She had a roof over her head and food in her belly and life was good.
She was so thankful that the Professor allowed them to take a week off of school following the battle. Kurt's leg hurt as hell so she dutifully kept him company when the worst pains hit.
"I hate life" He groaned, swallowing down painkillers. "Why do I have a high metabolism? I'm going through these pills like a junkie."
"You weren't complaining about your metabolism when you were stuffing your face with ten Gut Bombs one after the other" She brushed his hair back, smiling. "My poor baby."
He pouted exaggeratedly, wiping fake tears off his cheeks. Violette giggled, leaning down and kissing him slowly.
"On the other hand" Kurt brushed her cheeks with his thumbs, wincing when he adjusted his leg. "The medical care is pretty amazing."
She buried her face in his neck, more giggles escaping her lips.
"You're unbelievable."
"You love it."
She leaned back, staring right into his eyes.
"That I do."
Piotr looked at the spot he planned on knocking on before exhaling audibly. It wasn't as if the man didn't already know that he was in front of his door.
He knocked three times and walked in as soon as he heard a gentle invitation.
"What can I do for you, Piotr?"
"I wanted to thank you for convincing Magneto to tell me the whereabouts of my sister" He tried very hard to say every word as clearly as he could, hyper aware of his accent. When he spent most of his time in the company of Pyro and Gambit he didn't feel nearly as self-conscious about it as now that he was surrounded by a bunch of Americans.
"It was nothing, really" The Professor gave him a reassuring smile, motioning for Piotr to sit in front of his desk. "Actually, I was wondering whether you'd be interested in joining the X-Men."
"Don't you think I'm a bit too… Old?" He was twenty one after all, while most of the kids were… Well, still kids. "Besides, although I'm very honored, I need to pay for my sister's hospital bills."
"You could help out Logan with training the younger kids for now" The man folded his hands into a triangle, leaning back in his wheelchair. "And I pay a pretty reasonable amount of money."
"I-I couldn't possibly-"
"Piotr, let us help you."
That's how Piotr found himself moving into the Institute at about the same time Pyro and Gambit did.
"Since when are you welcome here, mate?" Pyro chuckled, punching Gambit's shoulder.
"I could ask you the same question, mon ami" Piotr rolled his eyes as he watched the two of them bicker and decided to focus instead on carrying his stuff upstairs. "And for your information, Remy had a long and uncomfortable talk with Wolvie about boundaries and it seems like you're the next in line."
"Shit."
Out of all the possible visitors Kurt could have, he really didn't expect Jamie to show up in his room.
"Um, hi?" He scratched the back of his neck, feeling kind of uneasy in the presence of his girlfriend's younger brother. He thought Jamie was a nice kid, really, but it wasn't like they were very close friends and him being in Kurt's room couldn't mean anything good.
"Kurt, we need to talk" Jamie sat down on his chair and gestured towards the bed.
Kurt obediently sat down, happy to stop putting weight on his leg. He was maybe being ordered by a fourteen year old in his own room, but he didn't really feel like picking fights in his state.
"Is this about Violette?" It was a stupid question, because of course it was about this one person who had a huge part in both of their lives.
"I'm just worried" Jamie folded his hands into a triangle, doing a great impression of the Professor. "Your relationship with my sister seems to have become pretty… Serious."
"Well, we both are pretty serious about it" Kurt punctuated the word, raising his brow. "Where are you going with this?"
"And as we both know, once a relationship gets serious, serious things happen" Jamie completely ignored the question, continuing to stare straight at Kurt's face. He felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze. "Very serious things."
"Yeah, and those serious things are seriously not your business" Kurt folded his arms in front of his chest, feeling his cheeks color.
"She's my sister, dude!" Jamie's mask fell apart as he threw his hands in the air. "It's gross! She's, like, twelve!"
"Jamie, Violette's three years older than you."
"Maybe, but she's fragile and not nearly as careful about her heart as she should be when it comes to you" He huffed, standing up. "If you were Lance or hell, even Pietro, I know she'd be fine, she knows how to deal with guys like them. But she thinks you're some freaking harmless marshmallow!" Jamie buried his hands in his hair. "She can't say no to you!"
Kurt sighed, his hands running over his face.
"I know it very well" He swallowed, looking up at Jamie. "Don't worry, okay? I really, really love her and I have no plans to take advantage of her in any way, alright?"
Jamie nodded, still not entirely convinced, and walked over to the door. Kurt was just happy that he let it slide for now.
"Well hello there, cherie."
Rogue jumped in her armchair, throwing the book she had in her hands at the source of the voice.
Was she pissed at him? Very. Have she deliberately avoided him through the whole battle with the Apocalypse? Oh yes. Was it one hundred percent because he was a sleazy scum bag? Well no, but the fact that he made her nervous and vulnerable wasn't the point right now. Right now, she needed to avoid him at all costs before something once again fucking blew up in her face.
"Stay. Away. From. Me."
"But that's no fun!" He smirked, folding the book he of course caught and putting it down on a nearby table.
She didn't move an inch and finally he sighed, running his hand down his face. She could see his ring glimmer in the light.
'You don't really know a thing about him, Rogue' She watched as he carefully made his way onto the couch and scooted as far from him as her armchair allowed her to. 'Not a single thing.'
"I'm sorry, Rogue" He put his hand on the armrest of her chair. She could see a corner of the card she knew he had in his hands, the same card he always gave her. "Please, don't shut me out."
She jumped over the other armrest and walked over to the table to get her book before making her way to her room, forcefully shutting the door.
For the first time since he was adopted, Alex felt like everything was turning to shit.
Apocalypse was gone, so he lost this one purpose he had in the X-Men. He was fighting with his parents. He had a fallout with his friends back home. His last girlfriend broke it off with him as soon as she found out that he was a mutant. He rarely saw Scott face to face. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to go back to Hawaii and life was awful.
'Maybe I can stay here for a while' Alex paced in front of Scott's room, weighting the pros and cons in his head. He already felt like he overstayed his welcome, since he's stayed at the Mansion for a week after the battle. 'Well, a longer while.'
"Is everything alright?"
Alex stumbled forward, catching himself on the nearby table and knocking over the vase which sat on it. It fell down onto the floor and shattered into a million pieces.
"Fuck" He hid his face in his hands, not wanting to look at his brother's amused expression. "There's no way they're gonna let me stay here now."
"Wait, you want to stay?"
Alex looked between his fingers, before letting his hands fall to his sides.
"Well, yeah."
Scott's face lit up like a Christmas tree and before he knew it, Alex was being pulled in the direction of the Professor's office.
"You'll probably have to share a room with someone – hell, if it comes to it, I can share with you. We're gonna have so much fun together, Alex! Oh man, I just can't wait!"
Alex smiled at his brother's back suddenly feeling like maybe everything was going to be alright after all.
Sam couldn't sit still as they waited for Storm to return from the airport with Rahne.
"Woah, take a chill pill, dude" Ray took a step back, rubbing his arm which collided with Sam's
"Sorry" He mumbled, trying to keep his powers at bay. They didn't really need holes in any of their walls. "I'm just-"
"Excited" Roberto didn't look up from his drama, popping a jelly bean into his mouth.
"We get it" Jubilee rolled her eyes, before going back to her book.
"You've said that at least twenty times already" Bobby tossed a jelly bean at Jubilee and chuckled when she caught it with her mouth.
"You know that no matter how fast you pace, she still won't arrive faster?" Jamie threw his dice and sighed when they both landed on one. "I hate Monopoly."
"Hey, stop it, guys" Violette looked up from the board, grinning. "It's not Sam's fault he's in love."
"Sammy and Rahne, sitting in a tree-" Amara slapped John upside the head before he could finish singing. "That's violence, young lady!"
"I hate, like, at least all of my friends" Sam pouted, finally sitting down on the couch.
His leg started to bounce up and down at such a rapid speed that the whole sofa started to vibrate.
"I've changed my mind, get off and resume pacing" Roberto kicked his thigh, effectively pushing him off.
"Life update: I officially resign from the New Mutants" Sam mumbled with his face buried in the carpet.
"Too bad, since I've only gotten here."
His eyes couldn't possibly move to the doorway faster. There she stood, still as petite as he remembered, with the same dark red hair and forest green eyes. Her accent was as thick as ever and he stumbled while getting off the ground, the fact that he missed the sound of her voice so much hitting him full force.
"Hi" He breathed out, feeling his heart beating at incredible speed.
The corners of her lips twitched and before he knew it she lunged at him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him with the same passion she did during their goodbye. He instinctively grabbed her waist with his hands, closing his eyes. His thoughts seemed to blur and he could feel his face color because Rahne was kissing him of all people and just when he thought that he was going to die she broke their kiss, burying her face in his neck.
"I've missed you" She laughed, her hair tickling the underside of his jaw. She smelt of forest and rain and Sam was in love, truly in love.
"I've missed you too."
Lance awkwardly shifted from one foot to the other, feeling the skin on his fingers breaking under the thorns. But it was worth it, because girls liked this shit, right? Romantic guys who gave them roses and cut their hair regularly. And he wasn't about to give up his hair, so roses it was.
As soon as Kitty ran through the gates and saw the ridiculous bouquet in his hands she started to laugh and okay, that wasn't alright at all. Lance felt his ego deflate as the little voice in his head told him that he was pathetic.
"You didn't have to" She walked up to him and accepted the flowers. "Seriously, you didn't have to. Like, I know it's not your thing and I don't expect you to do this sort of stuff."
"KitKat, I really want to try though" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, feeling his face heat up as she buried her nose in the roses and sniffed, smiling widely. "You know, to make you happy."
"It's not the roses that make me happy, Lance" She set the bouquet down on the hood of his jeep, before taking his hands in hers. "It's you. Yes, they're nice, but they're unnecessary. I couldn't care less about flowers when I'm with you."
"Thanks, Kitty" He leaned down, leaving a tiny kiss on her forehead. "I really needed that."
"It was nothing" She giggled, moving closer until her toes were on his. She stood on her tiptoes and tugged him downwards, just so she could kiss him. "Now, where are we going?"
"So, there's this carnival just outside the city and I remember you've said that you love carnivals, so I thought that maybe we could go" He shrugged. "Unless you think it's lame. Than we can do something else entirely."
"The carnival does sound great" She smiled, stepping aside to get in his car. He quickly opened the passenger's side door for her. "Thanks. I can't believe you listen to all the shit I'm talking about."
"I just love to hear your voice, no matter what you're talking about" He felt like biting of his tongue as he walked over to his side. "Sorry, that was horrible."
"If that's your 'horrible', I can't wait to see what your 'awesome' looks like."
"I'm going to try to find our mother."
Rogue knew he was going to say that. She could see it in his eyes as soon as he stepped into her room. She sighed, patting her bed right in front of her. Kurt sat there, folding his hands in his lap.
"Why would you, sugar?" She brushed his knee with her hand. "We're free of her for once in our lives, Kurt. Why would you try to bring her back into them?"
"Because you still haven't forgiven her" He took her hand in his and she felt disappointed that he still felt the need to use his watch in front of her. "And come to think of it, neither have I. It's not healthy, Rogue. We can't stay bitter over her our whole lives."
"Kurt, the last time you've tried getting me to forgive her, I pushed her off a cliff" She slipped her hand out of his grip, retreating it back to her book. She raised it up, finding cover behind it. "It doesn't seem like a very good idea to me."
Kurt sighed, slipping off her bed and slowly walking towards her door.
"Just consider it, Rogue" His voice was soft and seemed to belong to a much younger boy. "For me."
She pushed her nose into her book, not wanting to see Kurt close the door behind himself.
Tabitha has been gradually packing her bags over the course of the two weeks she spent at the Institute. When finally the only things left on her side of the room – the other still being used by Amara – were her pajamas, she figured it was time to run off, as always.
It was around two. Amara was asleep, snoring in a very unladylike manner she'd be disgusted by if she knew. Tabby picked up her duffel bag and slowly opened the door, wincing quietly when it's creaking ripped through the silence of the night. She sneaked out on her tiptoes, checking over her shoulder every few seconds to make sure no one was making a quick bathroom break in the middle of the night.
She was almost at the top of the stairs when a giant came out of nowhere, her face colliding with a huge, firm chest.
"Exactly how tall a person can be?" She whispered, rubbing her forehead.
"I'm 199 centimeters, if that's what you're asking" It was Colossus, with a cup of tea in one hand and a half eaten banana in the other. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, you know, just walking around."
"At two in the morning? With a bag on your shoulder?"
"I like to exercise and I'm too poor for dumbbells."
"That's a very bad lie."
Tabitha sighed, letting her bag fall to the ground.
"Okay, you've got me, sweetie. How about I go back to my room, you go back to yours and we both forget about this?"
"Why are you trying to run away?"
"You see, you're quite new here, so I'm going to fill you in. It's this thing I do" She patted his bare shoulder, smiling widely. "I stay for a week or so, then run off and come back in a month or two. You should try it, it's very refreshing. Keeps you on your toes."
They stood there in silence for a minute, Tabitha staring at the cup of tea and Piotr staring at her face.
"Do you maybe want to talk about it?"
You could hear how awkward he felt in the tone of his voice and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other constantly, as if he was getting ready to run himself.
"Actually, I kind of do."
That's how Tabitha found herself sitting with pretty much a total stranger in the kitchen, sipping tea and talking about the mess her life was and her feelings and pretty much everything you shouldn't talk to a total stranger about. But although Piotr had this air of stiffness and awkwardness around him, he was a very good listener and somehow something told her that it was okay to share this with him.