a/n-wow, I feel like I'm in some sort of debt to anyone who still reads this. And enjoy it no less. I'll just give a big shout out to all you guys, you know who you are.

The Big Picture

John peered into the kitchen in time to see Kitty yank out a pint of Ben and Jerry's and plop down behind the counter with a sigh. It was about 10 at night, John had figured he had better give her some time to cool down before he tried to talk to her. Even now it was somewhat risky.

He pulled his head back in to avoid being seen as he mentally prepared himself. With a deep breath he took a step into the room.

"Hey, Kitty."

After a small pause Kitty made a small noise of acknowledgement, her attention directed to the ice cream.

"You gonna eat all of that?"

She answered with a shrug and began to dig into the container. Realizing his first approach wasn't working he tried again.

"Kitty," he sat down next to her at the counter, "Look, you're upset right now, and for good reason, I know. I just want you to know that Bobby didn't mean what he said."

Kitty looked up at him with her eyebrows knitted together in a look of disbelief. "Then why did he say it?"

John licked his lips, she didn't seem angry anymore, just upset. It would've been easier if she had been yelling. He could handle yelling.

"He just didn't realize what he was saying at the time. You know how us guys like to talk out of our asses."

She gave a soft smile, but didn't seem convinced. He tried harder.

"Okay, maybe he meant it when he said it, but he loves you. Very much. Because you-"

"John," Kitty interrupted him, "I know what you're doing."

John let out a soft "Oh…" of disappointment.

"And I appreciate it."

"Oh! But you have to understand everything I'm saying is true."

Kitty shrugged. She remained silent for a couple minutes, then-"Am I not enough?" she asked quietly.

"Of course you are!" John replied almost immediately as he scooted stool in closer to her. "If you wanna know the truth, sometimes I don't think he deserves you."

Kitty snorted into her ice cream. "Oh, yeah right!"

"No, I'm serious! You're too good for him."

Kitty shoveled a large amount of the frozen strawberries into her mouth and mulled over the thought before turning to face John again. Swallowing, she asked, "Aren't you supposed to be persuading me to take him back?"

John put on a cocky smile. "Well, naturally. I just haven't gotten to that part yet."

"Ah, well don't let me stop you."

"The thing he said about Rogue…what he meant was that she's just more of a laid back person."

"Laid back?" Kitty gave him an incredulous look.

"Well, not necessarily laid back. But more soft spoken. Er, sometimes. She doesn't have as much spunk as you do. That's all Bobby was saying."

"Yeah, but he made it sound like something he had to deal with. Like I'm some sort of job or something."

John bit his tongue in order to keep himself from replying immediately. He knew that he was dealing with a volatile Kitty at the moment and a wrong joke could set her off. "What Bobby said was stupid. I know it, he knows it. And he's extremely sorry. I know he couldn't regret it more."

Kitty sighed softly as she peered at John. "Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise." John grinned, "Alright, since I think we're having a moment it's only appropriate if we end with a hug."

Giving a real smile for the first time that night, Kitty complied eagerly. John held her close to his body, her skin in contact with his. Their embrace was longer than a friendly hug, but neither made a move to break contact. John hadn't been this close to a girl since…since Rogue.

Beginning to feel slightly guilty, John started to extract himself from Kitty's arms when he heard someone clear their throat by the doorway. A female someone.

The two pulled away from each other so fast that John almost toppled off his stool.

"Heeey, Rogue." John gulped. "'Sup?"

"I don't know, I was just about to ask you the same thing." Her reply was cold as she stared down the both of them. Kitty had lowered her gaze to her bowl and was fiddling with the spoon.

"We're just talking." John made his best attempt at sounding nonchalant but he couldn't quite pull it off.

"That's not what it looked like," she said dangerously.

John looked over at Kitty for support, but her head was still turned down, it didn't look like she was going to enter the conversation any time soon. "Um, well maybe you looked wrong."

Kitty shot John a well concealed warning look before focusing her gaze towards the floor.

Rogue paused for a beat before she spoke. "If I'm so wrong then why does Kitty look so guilty." She said it as more of a demand than an inquiry.

"Ro-" John began, but the effort was fruitless. She was out the door before he had even opened his mouth.

0000000000000000000000000

"Rogue?" Bobby poked his head into one of the living rooms. He saw a streak of white hair in the flickering light of the TV. "That you?"

"Yeah."

Bobby frowned, her accent seemed thicker than usual. He knew it to be a sign of trouble. "What happened?" he asked as he sat down next to her on the couch.

Her face was pointing towards the television and didn't register as if she had heard him, but she answered. "John."

"Oh."

And uncomfortable air hung between the two as neither of them spoke. The television displayed a woman demonstrating the many uses of some revolutionary spatula. A screen at the bottom of the TV showed that there was only 10 seconds left. Time was running out, the lady said.

Bobby began to open his mouth but Rogue beat him to it.

"I saw him and Kitty together. It was probably something completely harmless. Or it would've been if Kitty hadn't been so..." she paused as she struggled to find the right word. "Guilty." She turned to face him for the first time since he had entered the room.

"Wait, what happened?" Bobby prayed his actions hadn't led her to do something in retaliation.

"They were in the kitchen and they were hugging. But it wasn't like a normal hug. It was like a 'realization' hug."

"A 'realization' hug?" This didn't sound too good.

"Yeah, like when you hug someone for the first time. I mean, really hug them. And you hold on to the person like you never want to let them go."

Bobby paled.

"I mean, I'm not saying that that's what it was." Rogue added hastily. The color of his face was apparent even in the dim lighting. "It's just that Kitty refused to look at me the entire time I was in there."

"You think they che-." Bobby caught himself. "She cheated on me?"

Rogue licked her lips. She couldn't bring herself to make Bobby look any more grief stricken than he already did. "Kitty wouldn't do that. She loves you, even if you do say…questionable things."

"She told you?"

"Well she didn't tell me your exact words, but I got the gist."

Bobby ran his hand through his hair. "Does that make me a total bastard?"

Rogue smirked, "Well, maybe if you hadn't been complimenting me."

Bobby laughed, but his smile faded quickly. Noticing his heightened despondency, Rogue gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "She knows you didn't mean it."

"Well that's great and all, but I did. Mean it."

Letting out a soft laugh, she said, "Even if you mean it you're not supposed to admit it."

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted you to know."

A silence grew between the two, but not like before. It was comfortable. Rogue leaned her head against Bobby's shoulder. She knew that any other day it probably would've been under the list of prohibited activities to do with someone who's smitten, but for now she knew it would be okay. They were both going to be okay.

a/n-well, I think that I should probably be trying to wrap this story up. But do not fret, I'll give warning and I'll probably start on another story. You know, for those of you who just can't get enough. :)