Disclaimer: Again...they are sadly not mine. One day when I become rich and famous I will own them...but until then... *glances at where Pietro, Rogue, and all the rest are locked in rooms* I'll just have to improvise. Oh don't worry they'll be released from there rooms...eventually. But until I am that rich and famous, they belong to WB and all them.

A/N: OMG, I am so sorry that it took me so long to update this story! I can't believe that it took me this long. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed (and is still reading, lol). You guys got me to over a hundred reviews!!! YAY!!!! Okay so that reaction was reeeeally delayed but what can I say? I've been swamped with Homecoming decorating, tests, and writing papers. Plus I went home recently and I will be going again. But I hope it never takes this long for me to update again because I've been going nuts thinking of stuff for this. Of course, those are things that could happen in later chapters and not this one but that's beside the point. The point is...erm...well, crap, I forgot my point. So without further ado...onto the story!

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Toad peeked around the corner, his eyes searching the hall for the one person that he wanted to see. He hadn't seen her since she had left and he missed her. His Scarlet Witch.

Wanda.

A grin spread across his face as he saw her walk out of a classroom. He hopped out from his hiding spot and started towards her, stoppping when he saw her stop and start talking to Kurt. He frowned. What was she doing talking to blue boy? He hopped over to her and looked between the two.

"Uh, sweetums? What are you doing talking to the furry freak, yo?" he asked. Wanda frowned at the use of both nicknames.

"Toad!" she exclaimed, frustrated. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I was asking a question, yo." he replied as if stating the obvious.

"Why?"

"I wanted to know." Todd said. "Why would you talk to him?"

"Toad..." Wanda trailed off, hesitating for the first time when getting ready to tell Todd off. "Toad, I don't live with you anymore and I am not your girlfriend. You don't have the right to ask." She paused and felt a bit of sorrow creep into her, knowing that what she was about to say was going to sound cruel and yet, she didn't know how to soften the blow except by softening her voice. "You never did."

Todd's shoulders slumped and Kurt remained silent, looking away from the defeated expression on his face. With that one sentence, it seemed that Wanda had gotten rid of any hope that Todd might have had of him and Wanda becoming a couple. Wanda couldn't help but feel sorry about it but she had spoken the truth. She'd never thought of Todd like that.

"I understand, yo." he told her, his voice weighed down with sadness. Before she could reply, he walked away. Wanda sighed and turned to Kurt.

"Did I do the right thing?" she asked. Kurt turned and looked at her, slinging an arm around her shoulder for support, leaving it there even when she tensed. Wanda still wasn't used to the casual touching like this with people and Kurt was determined that she would become used to it.

"It was what you felt, wasn't it?" Kurt questioned. Wanda nodded. "Then you did the right thing." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Wanda relaxed a bit. It was unusual for her to ask what other people thought and she knew it. But with this...she'd had to know what Kurt thought. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Kurt.

"Come on. It's time to go back to the Institute." Not home. Not yet.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hiya Roguey!" Pietro said brightly, appearing by her side suddenly. Rogue snapped her notebook shut, startled. Her head shot up and she met Pietro's laughing eyes. She sighed.

"Who gave you sugar?" she asked. Pietro gave her a wide smile.

"Sugar? Who-said-I-had-sugar?" By this time, Pietro's voice had started to speed up. Rogue shook her head.

"Pietro..." she warned.

"Daniels-gave-me-pixie-sticks." At this Rogue raised an eyebrow. Evan had given Pietro his favorite candy? Why on Earth would he do that? As if he had heard her, Pietro looked down at her. "He-said-I-could-have-them-if-I- left-him-alone."

"Ah." Rogue nodded. So Pietro's need for pixie sticks had been greater than his need to annoy Evan. She never thought she'd see the day. "Pietro, are you feeling okay?"

"I-feel-great!" Rogue glanced over at him and noticed that his foot had started to tap the ground at super speed. She could practically see the energy around him and knew that he was just dying to move, to run. She frowned. So why didn't he? "What's-in-the-notebook?"

Rogue shoved the notebook into her bag. "Nothing. Just doodles." she muttered. Pietro stared at her, suspiciously. She was lying. He could tell. Tilting his head to the side, Pietro's thoughts raced through his head and he grinned. He'd just have to find out later.

"Want-a-lift-home?" he asked. Rogue turned back towards him and gave him a stunned look. "What?"

"Nothing...it's just the first time you've offered me a ride home in a long time." she replied. He smiled at her and when he spoke, it was at a normal speed again.

"Well, then why don't you accept this great honor gracefully and hop into my arms?" When Rogue merely stared at him, Pietro smiled innocently. "How else am I going to get you home?" Rogue studied him before nodding. There was something about that expression that told her he was either up to something or considering something. And yet, she still agreed to it.

She was probably insane to agree to go running with Pietro when he'd had pixie sticks and was most likely up to something but for once, Rogue decided it was time to do something impulsive.

Pietro grinned as if reading her thoughts and swept her and her bag up in his arms and took off running in the direction of the Institute. As she felt the wind hitting her face, Rogue glanced down.

Big mistake.

Pietro's feet were nothing but a blur and the ground flew by. She stiffened a bit and instinctively gripped Pietro tighter. He glanced down at her and tightened his grip around her.

Rogue let out a sigh of relief when they came to a stop at the bottom of the steps at the Institute. A grin still on his face, Pietro lowered her legs and bag to the ground though he kept his other arm around her waist. Rogue looked up at him, not moving her hands from his shoulders.

Pietro stared down at Rogue, his face becoming serious. Rogue held her breath as she returned his steady gaze and didn't move. Slowly he began to lower his head until their lips were barely an inch apart. He paused, looking into her eyes and when he didn't see any signs of her moving away, he smiled.

Suddenly there was a crash, followed by a shout and Jamie running around the corner. Pietro and Rogue jumped apart as if they'd been burned with a slightly guilty expression on their faces.

"I'm going to kill them." Pietro muttered as Sam and Bobby appeared shortly after Jamie giving them a look that would have them buried if looks could kill. He turned back to Rogue who was staring at him with wide eyes. She leaned over and picked up her bag and didn't take her eyes off of him. The look in his eyes became concerned. "Rogue?" he asked. She shook her head and held up a hand, backing away from him.

"I...I have to go." she said, her voice a bit shaky. Before Pietro could reply, she turned and ran up the stairs and through the door, leaving Pietro where he stood. He turned to watch her retreat and frowned.

"What was that all about?" he wondered out loud. The only problem was, he didn't know if he was talking about her leaving or their almost kiss. He let out a sigh. He just better figure it out.

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Rogue ran upstairs, passing by Storm without saying a word. Storm turned back towards her, a concerned expression on her face. "Rogue?" she called. Rogue didn't respond, she just kept going until she reached her room. She dropped her bag on the floor and closed the door behind her. She let out her breath in a rush and leaned back against the door. Frowning, she pushed herself away from the door and began pacing around her room, her movements edgy.

"What was I thinking?" she asked. She shook her head and began to pace just a bit faster. It felt as if there was a weight pressing down on her and she dropped onto her bed.

"How could I do that?" she said. "I almost kissed him. I almost kissed Pietro." She closed her eyes and dropped her head into her hands. "How stupid am I? What was I trying to do? Kill him? Put him in a coma?" Rogue's laugh was bitter. "Yeah, that'd be great. Put another guy in a coma because I don't know how to control my powers..." With a groan, Rogue fell backwards so that she was lying down. Suddenly her eyes shot open as something else occured to her.

"Oh my God." she gasped. "I almost kissed Pietro." Why would she come so close to doing that? She hadn't had the urge to kiss a guy in so long and now that she did, it was Pietro? Pietro, her best friend. Was that all that it was? Was it just because he was her best friend? It had to be. She couldn't be developing feelings for him, could she?

Rogue let out a shaky breath as that possibility, along with the fact of what could've happened to Pietro if they had kissed, came crashing down on her. She closed her eyes again and covered her face with her hands once again.

What was she going to do?

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Pietro watched with satisfaction as the basketball fell through the net with a swish. He nodded and a small smile crossed his face. "And that's how you get it done." he said quietly. Falling silent again, he picked up the ball as it rolled towards him and he twirled it in his hands, turning to stare at the upper floors of the Institute. He studied the windows thoughtfully, his eyes scanning each one as if he could see every little detail through them, even from that distance.

He knew Rogue was up there. Her door had been closed and though he had considered going in to talk to her, he thought that it'd be better if he figured out just what he was feeling or thinking before he tried to talk to her about it.

And just what was he thinking? More importantly, what was he feeling?

He knew he cared about Rogue. She'd become one of the few people that he knew he could trust and for a long time she'd been the only friend he'd had at the Institute besides Wanda. Maybe it was because she'd been a member of the Brotherhood first or maybe it was because she knew what it was like to have a parent who didn't care about your feelings, who just wanted to take over the world or whatever.

But did he think of her as more than a friend? Or had that just been a momentary slip?

Pietro shook his head, turned and threw the basketball at the backboard, watching as it bounced off and rolled away, stopping after it had gone a couple of feet.

He didn't move, just stared at the ball and tried to sort out his thoughts. He thought of the way Rogue had looked when they had been standing there and smiled.

Her cheeks had been just a bit flushed from the run and strands of her hair had fallen into her face from the wind. And she been holding onto him more tightly than she'd ever done before when he had taken her on a run in the past. He hadn't been able to help himself, he'd just suddenly wanted to kiss her.

And what was that about? One kiss from her could be deadly. He knew that and yet he hadn't cared. He'd wanted to kiss her anyway. What would've happened if they hadn't been interrupted? Would he have kissed her or would he have stopped? Pietro shook his head. Why was he even asking these questions? He already knew the answer. If they hadn't been interrupted, he definitely would've kissed her. And she would've let him.

So did she have feelings for him? Or had she realized who she was with and what they had almost done and that was why she had run? He frowned. He didn't like feeling this unsure of himself. It was time he found out how she felt. But how was he supposed to do that?

As if a light bulb had gone off above his head, the frown disappeared and Pietro smiled. Of course. Why hadn't he thought of that earlier?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Pietro glanced around making sure that no one was around before he casually walked into Rogue's room, which was thankfully empty. He looked around the room, his eyes taking in all the details of the room that he knew as well as his own. As his eyes landed on what he was looking for, he smiled.

He was next to her bag in less than a second and he happily sat down and began to look for the notebook that she had been drawing in earlier. It never occured to Pietro to feel guilty about looking through her things. After all, it was for a good cause wasn't it?

"Ha!" he exclaimed, triumphantly as he found the notebook. Deciding that he didn't want to bother with getting up, he began to flip through it, looking for the last page that she had drawn on. He had a feeling that whatever she had been drawing would give him his answer. Why else would she hide it from him when he showed up?

Pietro stopped as he found what he was looking for. The last page that had been drawn on...was a picture of him.

He was leaning against the edge of a doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. One ankle was crossed over another as well. Somehow, Rogue had managed to make his expression one of calm and impatience all at once and one eyebrow was raised. And there seemed to be an air of just barely contained energy around him.

Pietro stared down at the picture as different feelings and thoughts raced through him. All at once, with just that one picture, things seemed to be clicking into place. He closed the notebook and put it back where he had found it before standing up and walking back into the hallway.

Now if only he knew what to do about it.