A Lovers Feud

Ok… here it is! TA DA!!! ^_^ Chapter 9! Can you believe it?!

Anyway, sorry it took so long -_-; (I'm a bad person)

You can blame college and homework! Either one you choose will be fine…

A Lovers Feud

By: Alex Destine

Chapter 9

The ride back home had been rather quiet. Pietro though wasn't taking any chances so he let Todd sit in the front with Lance while he sat uncomfortably next to Fred in the back. Pietro thought Lance would be screaming his lungs out at him or at least saying something… anything. Instead all he got was silence. That was starting to get to him.

~~ Maybe he'll scream when we get home. Maybe he'll lock me up in a closet and tell Freddy and Todd not to give me any food…. Maybe…. ~~

Lance was too busy thinking to talk to anyone as he drove off back to their house.

~~ So… this is how I handle shock… I freeze. ~~ Lance was a bit surprised at his own actions. Scott had freaked. He had screamed at the poor Kitty while she tried unsuccessfully to hide behind Pietro. His white haired friend really didn't say anything. He simply stood there starring at Summers as he served as a shield for Pryde. There really was nothing he could say at that point. It took Lance a minute to register that all the yelling was now being done toward Pietro and not at Kitty. Still the young sophomore didn't move or make any attempts at sarcasm or anything.

Lance didn't really care how much Summers screamed at Kitty, but no one (and he meant NO ONE!) was going to be screaming at one of his 'self appointed' younger brothers. Lance grabbed Scott by the shoulders and pulled him away from Pietro's face. Of course Scott tried to fight back but Kurt helped to calm him down.

After that Kurt teleported Kitty back to the Institute and returned to drive with Scott since he wanted to make sure Summers wouldn't go drive off a cliff.

~~ We aren't that lucky… ~~

Yet he didn't scream at Pietro. He could tell his young friend was expecting him to. Even Todd and Freddy kept waiting to hear Lance scream… instead they were all rather surprised when all he said was: "Let's go home now." And walked out toward the parking lot not waiting for anyone.

Now that he thought about it, he was rather surprised himself. From the review mirror Lance kept a close eye on Pietro. He was starring off into space, for all he knew probably thinking about his new girlfriend. From the corner of his eye he kept watching Todd; he was busy looking over the road. He figured the young freshman was probably concerned Lance would be the one to drive off a cliff if Todd wasn't paying attention to where they were going. Truth was Lance was very aware of everything; of the road, his friends, the current situation… oh yes, the 'current situation'.

~~ Why does Pietro always have to cause a 'situation'?! ~~ It seemed that was what the young sophomore was best at. He couldn't believe Todd had been so worried because Pietro might have had a cheerleader girlfriend.

~~ Still, Pietro can't possibly be serious about her… right? This is Kitty Pryde for crying out loud! ~~ He knew her well enough from their old school even though they never talked much. She was annoying, that was it, nothing more to say about her. Still he hoped Pietro wasn't really serious about being with her cause if he was… well, Mystique was going to have a heart attack.

Todd Tolensky was watching the road. That was all he could do, make sure Lance wouldn't drive into a post or over anyone. The young freshman didn't like the eerie silence that took over them, he much rather hear the screaming and cursing that usually came whenever either Pietro or Lance were upset, he was at least used to that. Instead they were being punished with silence, or at least that's how he saw it.

~~ Pietro and… Kitty?!? ~~ Todd couldn't believe that just moments before they found out Kurt had been joking about that.

~~ Maybe Blue boy knew something… Nah, he was just as shocked as the rest of us.~~

They had all been shocked, funny thing was that the most tranquil of them all was the only one to burst into hysterical screaming. Todd never figured Scott would loose it the way he did. He was sure Lance would be the one doing all the screaming and wasn't that another surprise when the oldest member of the Brotherhood simply stood there and told them they were going home.

Todd kept looking back from time to time. He looked over at Fred who seemed to be deep in thought, if Pietro were feeling like his usual self he'd joke Freddy was probably hungry. Todd knew most people didn't give Fred the credit he deserved but he did understand things and he knew Freddy was just as worried about what just happened.

He then glanced over at Pietro. The white-haired boy looked so out of it, he didn't look like he was tuned into the same galaxy as the rest of them.

~~ Does he really love Pryde? ~~ Pietro wouldn't be feeling this down if he didn't care about the girl. His whole change of personality, his mood swings… that idiotic box of chocolates! Kitty had been the cause of all that from the beginning.

Todd cursed himself for not looking into this sooner. Maybe he could've changed something… anything, he wasn't sure what though.

Now he was looking over at Lance. He looked calm, too calm. He wondered when the older boy was going to explode. Todd was sure Lance would have a fit once they got home but even then the older boy surprised them.

They had already reached their drive way, Pietro was the first to come out of the car. Obviously he ran all the way and locked himself up in his room before anyone said anything. Lance however didn't seem to care and he simply made his way to the kitchen to make himself some coffee.

Todd stood watching his friends wondering when each of them was going to explode. He felt like he had to do something, but he was so tired… all he wanted was to curl up under his covers and pretend nothing had happened. He suddenly felt a strong big hand land on his shoulders. It was only Freddy.

"Hey yo… what is it?" asked Todd rubbing his eyes.

"Go to bed." Freddy then proceeded to direct Todd toward the stairs.

~~ Great, now I'm being treated like a child. ~~ however, Todd wasn't going to argue with the huge mutant. He went up the stairs and paused in front of Pietro's room. His light was still on… Todd wondered what Pietro was doing but Freddy simply pushed him toward his own room.

"Ok ok! I get it… I'm going to sleep. But yo! We have to work something out in the morning you know." And with that Todd Tolensky went inside his room and before he knew it he was out like a light.

All the way home Freddy had been thinking of what had happened. After he screamed at the X-man for what he thought at the moment was an attack at one of his friends everything seemed to go by so fast.

~~ Maybe I shouldn't have screamed like that… ~~ Maybe it was all his fault things had turned out so badly. Then again both Lance and Scott already knew what was going on, so maybe things wouldn't have turned out so different.

Fred went back downstairs after making sure Todd was asleep. He worried over their youngest member; funny thing was he was sure Todd worried about him instead.

He took a quick look around and spotted Lance drinking his coffee on the couch. Freddy decided he would give him some company for a while.

"Hey Lance…" he said as he sat down next to him.

"Hey…. Where's Todd?" Lance took a sip of his very hot coffee and apparently decided to let it cool down first.

"In his room sleeping…"

"And Pietro?"

"In his room…" Fred knew Todd was asleep, but what Pietro was up to was a mystery to him.

Lance smiled for a while… it was also a mystery to him what could make Lance smile right now.

"He's not serious…"

"What?" What was Lance talking about?

"Pietro, he's not serious about Pryde." Lance once again tried to drink his coffee.

"They looked pretty serious to me…" Fred still remembered how those two had looked while they were kissing, almost like the rest of the world didn't exist.

"Pietro will probably be stubborn if I tell him he should stop seeing her. He'd continue to date her just to prove he can do whatever he wants… So I'm not doing anything. Besides, chances are Kitty will break things up with Pietro first. Scott is not going to let her be with a Brotherhood member and being the 'good girl' that she is she'll agree."

So this whole situation was over before it began. Freddy knew Lance was right, Scott would have a tantrum back at their mansion and Kitty will be forced to break things up. Still…

~~ How does Pietro end up in all this? ~~ that thought kept nagging the large mutant. He decided to find out for himself.

"Hey, where you going Freddy?" asked Lance as he continued to drink from his coffee.

"Off to bed… I'm tired." He said as he headed toward the stairs.

"Ok, later…" Lance just waved him off as he turned on the TV.

As Fred reached Pietro's room he started to hear some weird noises. He had heard them before so he knew what to do. Making sure Lance wouldn't notice him Fred left through the front door and headed toward the side of the house right under Pietro's window and (surprise, surprise) Pietro was climbing his way down.

Freddy shook his head a bit. Pietro had done the same thing the time Mystique had grounded him after playing with paint bombs inside the house. He walked up behind the white haired boy and decided to let his presence known.

"Where are you going?"

"AAAAAAHHH!!…. Damn it Freddy! You just love to scare people today, don't ya?!"

Pietro jumped down the rest of the way and looked up at his large friend.

"I'm going out." He tried to move past him, but Freddy held on to his arm.

"No you're not."

"Yes I am." Pietro tugged a bit but of course, nothing happened.

"No. You're not." Fred started to drag him back to the house.

"Aww! Come on! I just need to walk for a while! I won't be late I promise!"

"No."

"Damn it Freddy! Let go of me!"

"No."

Pietro decided to give in… after all, he was tired. As they walked back inside the house Pietro took one good look at the back of Lance's head. The older boy was busy watching TV, maybe if they were really quiet he wouldn't notice that both he and Freddy had been outside at all.

Suddenly Lance raised his arm and waved the two of them off.

"Good night kiddies…" Never once turning from the television set he simply acknowledged his friends presence and kept watching his show.

~~ Stupid Lance… ~~ thought Pietro as he ran to his room again.

Fred simply walked behind Pietro but just as he was going to say something to the white haired boy he felt the door close right on his face.

"Pietro?" Freddy knocked a few times. "Pietro?"

"What?" Why couldn't he just leave him alone?

"Are you ok?" Fred just wanted to make sure Pietro wouldn't be running out the window again.

The door opened a bit, but only enough to see Pietro's left side of his face as he answered his big friend.

"I'm just fine and dandy. Never been better Freddy. What do you think?!" and with that the door was slammed again against his face.

If it had been Lance the house would already be tumbling down, if it had been Todd the young mutant would already be throwing insults at Pietro, but fortunately for the speed demon he was dealing with a concerned Fred.

"May I come in?"

~~ What does he want now?! ~~ Pietro opened the door and decide to let him in, after all… it was only Freddy. He wouldn't dream of letting Lance in and he would've had to think rather hard about letting Todd in but Fred… Fred was ok.

"Just make it quick ok? I'm tired." Pietro jumped on his bed as Fred came in. The big mutant simply leaned against the closed door for a while looking down at his friend.

"Do you really like her?"

"Huh?… Let me guess, Lance told you to come up here?" Pietro was about ready to throw a tantrum.

"No… I just wanted to talk to you." Freddy now sat on the floor waiting for Pietro to answer.

"Well… not like if that was important since Lance is going to tell me not to see her again." Pietro took one of his pillows and held it under his chin.

"Actually Lance said you could do whatever you want."

"What?…" Pietro's eyes met Freddy's at this.

"He said you'd go out with her just to prove him wrong but I want to know if you'd go out with her because you liked her."

Pietro blinked a few times. He was having an honest, deep conversation with Freddy… with FREDDY!! He couldn't believe this…

~~ Next thing he says is that he'll go on a diet… ~~ Pietro smiled a bit but quickly became serious. He always made jokes at Fred's expense… but it seemed the older mutant wasn't as slow or stupid as others might think.

"I… I don't know Freddy… I kinda like her… she's nice. I know she comes off as annoying most of the time, and she does say 'like' and 'whatever' a lot, but I don't find that so disturbing now…"

Fred remained silent expecting Pietro to continue with his rant.

"Well… I guess I don't know… I mean, if she weren't an X-men this wouldn't be a problem. Besides, we don't talk about our teams at all, it's kind of an unspoken rule. She doesn't mention anything related to that Institute of hers and I don't mention anything regarding the Brotherhood. We just talk… 'normal' stuff…. Do you know how great that feels like Freddy? We talk about music and about how stupid Duncan is and that kind of stuff… it's completely harmless!"

Fred was still quiet.

"Well! Aren't you going to say something? Call me an idiot because I'm falling for a stupid X-men! Go on! I dare ya!! … Out of all the ditzy girls in this entire school and I had to kiss Kitty Pryde!" Pietro landed face first into the bed and covered the rest of his head with his pillow.

Fred was still silent. It seemed that Pietro actually had feelings for the girl, but he had to make sure.

"Pietro, if Mystique sends us on a mission and the X-men go as well… would you fight Pryde?"

Pietro thought about this for a while.

~~ Would I fight Kitty? Could I really do that? … She's just so cute… AW! WHY IS SHE SO BEAUTIFUL!? ~~

"No…" he answered through his pillow.

"Would you let any one of us fight her?"

Now there was a thought… he pictured Lance fighting his Kitty…. 'his' Kitty? Since when was she 'his' Kitty?!?!… He couldn't let that happen.

"No…" Pietro looked up at Freddy now. He was so serious, so deep in thought… Pietro wondered if his friend was hungry.

"Well Pietro…" Fred was standing up now. "Good night." Fred went out the door and closed it behind him leaving Pietro very confused.

~~ What the hell?!!??!!…. ~~

Pietro dashed out of his room and stumbled into Fred in the middle of the hallway.

"What do you mean 'good night'? You can't just leave me like this! What if I turn suicidal!?!?!"

"You won't turn suicidal… you want to see Kitty again, don't you?"

Pietro was just standing there staring at his friend.

~~ Damn! He's right…~~

"Fine! Maybe not suicidal… but I could do some real damage here."

"Good night Pietro." Again Fred turned to leave.

"Why are you torturing me like this?! Freddy! Wait… just… just tell me what you think of all this… please?"

"Well…." Fred didn't know what to say to his friend right now. He obviously cared for the girl, as annoying as she was. But Lance did not approve of this and neither would Mystique if she ever found out.

"If you like her… then you have to work out a way to be with her but not if that means you have to turn your back on your family."

And with that, Fred was gone. Pietro stood in the middle of the hallway for a full minute before moving… that was a long time for Pietro.

~~ My family?…. ~~

There it was again, the reason he and Lance had fought the night he came home late from the party, the reason Todd didn't want him having some cheerleader girlfriend and now the reason Fred gave him to not be with Kitty… His family.

~~ Well, it looks like my 'family' is just not going to let me do anything… ~~

Pietro went back to his room and locked himself inside. He didn't hate Freddy or Todd or even Lance, he rather like them all… they had been living together for a while now and he appreciated their help and their companionship, but how long would this last?

Soon Magneto will get bored of his little 'club' for troublesome mutant teenagers and then Mystique would not feel obligated to pay most of their bills anymore. And with no legal guardian that meant that they would all have to return to foster care and that was that… so much for his 'family'.

Pietro sat down on his bed again thinking over what he had to do. Of course, it all boiled down to one inevitable conclusion…. He had to beat up his pillow.

"Damn it!… Damn it!…. DAMN IT!…."

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This had not been a good day for Kitty Pryde. After Kurt teleported her back to the Institute she locked herself up in her room, that of course only made Rogue angry since she had no access to her own room.

~~ Like, not a good time to be having a roommate… ~~ Kitty knew Scott would tell everyone and the Professor would most likely want to have a 'talk' with her. How on Earth had things turned out this badly?

Kitty was looking out the window when she suddenly heard a soft poof land on Rogue's bed.

"Hi Kurt…" Kitty kept looking out the window.

"Hi… listen, the Professor would like to speak with you…"

"Like I didn't know that was coming… tell him I'll be right there."

"Right… Kitty, I'm sorry everything turned out like this… Scott,… well, he's still a little freaked over the whole thing…" Kurt was still a little deaf over Scott's screams.

"He didn't have to like, yell at Pietro you know! I'm the one he was mad at." Kitty stood up and sat on Rogue's bed next to Kurt.

"I know, the Professor told him he should calm down… he's down in the Danger Room blowing some steam with Evan… it seemed they both got a little angry with what you were doing…"

"What I'm doing is like no concern of either Scott or Evan."

~~ God! Why is everyone making like, such a big deal out of this? ~~ Kitty just wanted to scream for a while…

"I know Kitty, and you're right… but you have to admit, it is kind of freaky. I mean, Pietro Maximoff? What did you see in him?" Kurt was truly trying to understand why Kitty had chosen to be with a Brotherhood member… so many other boys in the school and it had to be the white-haired speed demon.

"Like… I don't know Kurt. He's not as bad as Evan described him all the time. He's actually very sweet."

"Sweet?"

"Well, to me at least…Kurt, you're not like, against this, are you?" Kitty was looking up at Kurt with big sad eyes.

"Hey… what do you mean by that?" He didn't like where this was going…

"Like, you don't think like Scott or Evan, right? You don't think I should dump Pietro just because he's in the Brotherhood, right? I mean, if it weren't for that there wouldn't be a problem."

"Kitty… if you really like him I have no problem with you being with him… it's just that… are you sure he's not playing around with you?"

Kitty thought about that for a while. In fact, she had thought about that a lot, it just didn't look that way though. If Pietro really didn't care he wouldn't have been so nervous the first time they kissed or he wouldn't have blushed. Kitty laughed a bit as she remembered how red his whole face looked… of course hers wasn't any better.

If he was playing then he was one heck of an actor.

"I don't think he is Kurt, but like if we ever find out that he was… you'll like, beat him for me, alright?" and with that Kitty stood up and phased through the door on her way to the Professor's office.

"Umm?… Me? Oh gee, thanks Kitty…" then Kurt teleported outside.

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Professor Charles Xavier had always thought he was prepared for anything his adversaries could throw at his X-men. That's what he was training them for, to be prepared for the unexpected. He could anticipate attacks and sneaky plans… but never had it ever entered his mind the possibility of one of his children to be in love with a Brotherhood member.

"Professor?… Are you alright?" Storm was standing next to Xavier as they waited for Kitty to arrive.

"Yes, yes Ororo… I was just thinking what an odd turn of events have befallen us…"

"Yes Professor… I never would have thought Kitty and Quicksilver would be together… what are we going to do about this?"

"I'm afraid I'm not sure… I've tried to search the boy's mind, it's rather unorganized right now… but it seems his feeling for Kitty are true…"

"Perhaps the boy might join us now Professor?"

"Not likely Ororo… Pietro is very loyal to his friends and although he does love Kitty I don't think he could stand living here with your nephew."

"Oh yes… Evan really took it personally when he heard about those two." Storm had tried to control her nephew, but the inevitable happened at the mention of Pietro's name… a few pointy spikes were still decorating the wall in living room.

A gentle knock was heard at the door as the shy face of Kitty Pryde entered the Professor's office.

"Like, Kurt said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes Kitty… please sit down."

Kitty knew what was coming. The Professor and Storm had joined forces to stop her from seeing Pietro again…

~~ It's like totally unfair you know!… We didn't do anything wrong! ~~

"I know you didn't do anything wrong Kitty… we just want to talk." The Professor wasn't wasting time asking her anything… he was simply reading her thoughts.

~~ Like, almost forgot he could do that… ~~

The Professor smiled a bit… then continued talking to Kitty.

"How long has this been going on Kitty?"

"Like, I'm not sure… maybe a couple of weeks…" Kitty was feeling a bit nervous and she showed it by playing with her fingers. She just wanted to know what to do to make things right again…

"Professor, like… what do you think I should do? I don't want to like, leave Pietro but like I can't have Scott and Evan looking at me funny all the time."

Xavier thought about this for a while… he exchanged a few meaningful glances with Storm who only nodded from time to time. After what seemed like an eternity Xavier simply looked at Kitty and told her what she should do.

"This is your decision Kitty… no one else can make it. Don't let Scott or Evan do it for you, but be careful when dealing with any Brotherhood member. You never know what they could be up to."

~~ That's it?….. that's like, the 'Big Advise'?… Like, NO WAY you know… Kurt already told me something like that… And here I thought the Professor could like help me out here… turns out I could've read what he just told me out the back of a cereal box! What kind of a thing is that to say… 'My decision, my decision'… what if I decided to join the Brotherhood just to be with Pietro, huh? Maybe he'd freak out with that… or maybe not … you never know. I completely feel like I've wasted my time coming here you know… ~~

Kitty would have continued to expand on her thoughts but the Professor did something that made her stop. He started to gently tap on his head using his index finger. He continued to tap, and tap, and tap…. Kitty was lost on the soft tapping but she didn't understand why the Professor was doing that. Soon though his voice broke through the mesmerizing trance that his fingers had started.

"Kitty?…." said the Professor in a very calm and gentle voice.

"Yeah…?"

"You are aware I can read you thoughts…"

Kitty's eyes were wide when she suddenly realized he had heard everything she had been thinking. After that what else could she say to answer him? Only two words entered her mind at the moment…

"DAMN IT!" Kitty was blushing furiously.

"It would seem you are spending too much time with Quicksilver…" Storm hadn't been expecting Kitty to answer like that.

~~ Damn it!… Damn it!… Damn it!!…. oh, like… he can hear me! Ok, I just won't think you know… not thinking… not thinking at all… ~~

The Professor didn't know what else to say to Kitty. She had to make this decision by herself. Perhaps having these two children together would not be such a bad thing. It could draw the two mutant teams together… but then again, that was his optimistic side taking over. Xavier knew full well Magneto would never allow it and he guessed Mystique hadn't yet heard of what the young sophomore was doing with his free time.

"Kitty… it's quite alright. You do not need to come with a solution right now. In fact, you should talk this situation over with Quicksilver and try to come up with a solution… just remember whatever you decide must not place the team in any danger … that includes yourself."

"Yeah, I know Professor… Pietro and I don't talk about our teams… we just… talk…" she didn't know how to explain it… it was as if whenever she was with him she could pretend they weren't mutants and that everything was normal… it felt so good to not be reminded the reason why she had to leave her parents house.

Soon after that Kitty was heading toward her room again.

~~ I just want to be alone for a while… ~~ but as soon as Kitty phased through her door she noticed she wouldn't be allowed that chance.

"So… I hear you have yourself a new boyfriend…" Rogue was sitting down on her bed brushing her hair as Kitty simply came in and landed unceremoniously on her bed.

"Like, don't you be telling me to dump him too you know… Scott's doing a good enough job by himself." Kitty suddenly felt a pillow hitting her.

"Hey!" she cried snatching the pillow.

"That's for not telling me… and you can date whoever you want… so long as I'm not interested in him." Rogue winked at her roommate as she continued to brush her hair.

~~ Well, like that was weird… hope Pietro is having a better time with this then me… ~~

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End Chapter 9