Disclaimer- Don't own.
A/N- I'll TRY to post the next chapter by next Sunday (2-6-05) at the very latest. Key word, 'try'. I have been getting a lot more homework now and have been busy doing that, watching my recorded Inuyasha episodes, drawing IY characters (they're good too! If you want to check them out tell me, leave me your email address, and I'll see if they'll show up on the scanner and then email them to you. I want others' opinions on them besides friends and family!) After the next chapter we only have one left. Huzzah!
Chapter Sixteen- Nauseous
Pietro had run home. The moment he set his foot outside, it started to pour rain and he cursed fate for making his life so difficult.
Never, ever, in all his life with the exception of Wanda had anyone told him that they had loved him. Maybe his adoptive parents, the Maximoff's, had, but it was so far back in his memory that he hardly remembered. He really didn't remember the time before Magneto. He didn't want to remember, in fear that there had been a time when he was happy until his life came spiraling down into the hell it was now.
Now Crystal was pissed as hell at him.
Crap, crap, crapcrapcrapcrapcrap.
He ran through the puddles that formed on the sidewalks, and made a shortcut through the park to the boarding house. The grass had been so slick that he actually slipped and skidded across the grass a good twelve feet, covered in mud. He cursed fate again.
Hardly anyone nearby paid any attention to him; instead concentrating on finding shelter from the rain. A few glanced at his mud-covered form, looking scandalized when he uttered a few colorful words.
He got up, shot them a sneer, and then sped on off again, careful to avoid the mud pile he had made.
His thoughts drifted back to Crystal.
He had been a complete idiot.
But that's what she did to him.
Something tightened painfully in his chest as her heartbroken face flashed in his mind's eye, her lips quivering slightly and her emerald eyes filling with tears. She would never talk to him now after that stunt he pulled and the thought of losing her made his chest constrict painfully again, suddenly making it difficult to breath. He felt sick. Nauseous.
Never had anyone had such an affect on him. He was a loner by nature, one to be alone in the world of the slow living. He had covered it up, using his good looks to his advantage and snatching all the ladies right from under their feet. But inside he was just a lonely man, wishing desperately to be normal and to fit in. But even among mutants like him haven't comforted him as much as he thought they would. Something had been missing.
He had found what it was and he had no intention of losing it.
But just for now….
He'd wait, and it was the last thing in the world he wanted to do.
She was a fool. She realized that now. You don't just tell a man you love them and expect them to feel giddy, sweep you up in their arms, and claim that they loved you back.
The expression on his face was etched in to her memory and it wouldn't leave her be. He was shocked, that much she saw. It was like no one had ever told him that before. But that couldn't be possible; Pietro knew loads of people that cared for him. He was probably told that he was loved almost everyday. She certainly was, when she talked to her sister and friends on the phone they would tell each other before they hung up. He probably went through the same thing.
Or at least, she thought he did.
She stood up from where she had been huddled up on the couch, swaying slightly as she felt a little dizzy and lightheaded but also slightly nauseous.
Probably caught the flu, she thought to herself.She was so caught up in her thoughts about the man she loved that she didn't realize that it wasn't the flu season. It was almost August.
Rubbing her belly absentmindedly, she made her way to the kitchen, prepared on peeling her an apple and spreading a bit of peanut butter on it.
After finishing that task, she took a long soak in the tub, enjoying the warm feeling the hot water provided as it surrounded her and literally soaked her to the bones.
Distantly she heard the phone ring. She groaned; scrunching her eyes up and sinking further into the bubbly depths of her bathtub until only her nose and up was above the water. She let the phone ring on.
Hearing the answering machine record a message, she sighed, sinking even further into the now lukewarm water.
After toweling herself dry and wrapping her turban-towel around her hair, she made her way to the phone and checked her caller I.D. It had been Lorna.
She quickly dialed the number, listening as the phone rang four times before her friend on the other line finally picked it up.
"Buenos nochase, mon amiga," Lorna answered, completely butchering the Spanish language. Well, she had failed that language when she took it in high school, so it was no big surprise.
Crystal sighed, "Hello, Lorna. You called?"
"Yes, yes I did. I was just wondering if you're free tomorrow. We're gonna have another sleepover," the young woman asked over the phone.
"Yeah, I guess I am," Crystal sighed.
"You sound depressed, girl. Why are you free? No Pietro to snuggle up to later?" Lorna asked. "Oh, you would not guess who I saw today."
"Who?" Crystal asked dully.
"Pietro! Yeah, I was cutting through the park for a shortcut to get to my car cause it started to rain, and all of a sudden he appears out of thin air, sliding across the ground; all covered in mud and grass and crap like that. I was gonna call out to him but he was gone about three seconds later. And after throwing a concerned old couple a very nasty sneer, might I add. He handled himself very dignified, considering that on one side of his head his hair was sticking straight up and nearly his entire face had been coated with mud." Lorna told her without seeming to pause for breath.
Crystal swallowed. "Yeah…so?"
Lorna suddenly sounded very serious.
"Crystal…humans don't just appear out of thin air like that."
Crystal swallowed, feeling nauseous again. She remained silent.
"Humans also don't disappear from sight at what seems to be the speed of light-or sound whatever."
Crystal still hadn't said anything.
"He's a mutant, isn't he?"
"Yes," Crystal said, so softly that Lorna thought for a second that Crystal hadn't said anything at all.
"I've looked him up, Crystal, after that fiasco at the workout center. He's part of that Brotherhood, Crystal. They're dangerous, if you haven't heard in the news a few years ago. They hijacked a train. To earn money." Lorna's voice had a slight edge to it. "They're crooks, Crystal. I don't want you mixed up in that."
"I've met them," Crystal said, her voice trembling slightly, "They're nice. A little…psychotic, but they're really nice people. I'm sure they don't do things like that anymore."
Lorna sighed. "Fine. Believe what you will. But please, please, listen to me. I don't want you to end up hurt. I love you, you're one of my best friends in the whole, wide world. Please ask him about it. If he tells you he had done it in the past, then I think you can trust him. If he denies any of it, I wouldn't, because I know the truth."
"We had a fight. I-I slapped him across the face. I don't think we'll be talking for awhile. I love him to death…and I told him so. But- I'm going to let things cool down first. Then I'll ask him." She paused, "I promise."
"Good, because you both need to trust each other more…Be honest with each other." Her tone suggested that she was indicating something. Lorna paused for effect as Crystal held her breath.
"Tell him what you are."
Yes! Two more chapters to go. And if I made a mistake about Crystal's friends not knowing about Pietro being a mutant…I'm going to fix that in earlier chapters so they don't. I just didn't have the energy to look back and check.
Or I'm just lazy.
Darkstorm5000- Thanks for your review! Pietro's going to have to get used to the 'L' word. Yep.
The Uncanny R-Man- Yep, Pietro blew it. He's just not used to affection like that though. He grew up in rotten foster homes. But he's still stupid. But we love him anyways.
Zee4- Yes. Pie is VERY much a hypocrite. I hate those…argh. And Crystal was stupid. She completely threw him off by saying that. The first day me and my ex-boyfriend started going out, he told me he loved me. I'm like 'aww? Thanks?' lol I didn't know what to say.
Insanebunneh- I have your picture on hold… And you still have to give me those little Inuyasha figurines…cause they're my Christmas presents! Mine! Mine!
Kyuushi- You have NO idea what your review meant to me. Or maybe you do, you probably had one like it before. About Crystal being human or inhuman, wait till uh…last chapter I think. Or just look back in earlier chapters, cause I mentioned it before ;-)
Thanks for reviewing!
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