Normality
By: Kryptonite
*****
*Three Weeks Later*
" Rogue? You up?" Kitty called, knocking on the door.
" Kitty?" Rogue's voice called from behind the girl. " Can I help you?" Kitty turned to look at her friend.
" I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the mall with me and Jubilee. Like we used to." Kitty suggested, smiling. Everyone at the mansion was still trying to adjust and go back to the way things had been before Rogue had started cutting herself off.
" Uh… sure. Why not?" Rogue smiled at Kitty. " Just give me a few minutes to take a shower and change."
" Okay, we'll be downstairs in the rec. room." Kitty said, turning to walk down the hall and then the stairs.
" So is she coming?" Jubilee asked, trying not to betray how she felt.
" Yes, she is. Is that a problem?" Kitty's tone was metallic, giving any normal person a warning to back down while they still had all of their limbs.
" I just, everything's been so weird with her. And it's not just lately. She's been shutting us out since the first day she got here. Me and Siryn have caught her lying to us point blank about specific things before. How do we know she's not just gonna flip while we're out."
" Because, we aren't going to give her a reason. We are going to treat her with the same courtesy and respect that we give each other, do you understand?" Kitty had walked into Jubilee's space while she was talking and her face was now mere inches from Jubilee's.
" Crystal." She muttered, eyes sparking with anger. Jubilee sat licking her wounds for a few minutes as Kitty talked to Bobby, her current boyfriend. " I still don't want her to go. It's girls' night. She hasn't been part of that for very long. Why can't we just take Siryn and be done with it."
" Because I want Rogue to go to. She is my friend, even if you don't consider her one of yours. If you want, go invite Siryn. 'Course she's probably off somewhere moping about Pyro leaving."
Rogue didn't bother going into the room as tears pricked her eyes.
" You know what Kitty? I just realized I have a ton of homework to work on. Sorry, I can't go." Kitty spun to look at Rogue, regret visible in her eyes.
" Rogue-"
" No, it's okay. I'll talk to you when you get back, okay?" Rogue didn't wait for an answer before turning and running back to her room.
" See what you've done now?" Kitty scolded, turning on Jubilee.
" You can't blame me. The girl's a freak." Rogue managed to make it to her room, bypassing Scott on her way there before she started crying.
" Rogue?" Scott was able to slide into the room before she shut the door. " What's wrong?"
" I just want to be normal." Scott pulled her into his arms as the two slumped to the floor.
" You are normal." He tried, muttering into her hair as they rocked back and forth.
" I'm not. I'm a freak and everybody knows it. Why'd you have to save me?"
" Because, a lot of people would have missed you. We love you."
" No you don't."
Rogue continued crying for a while before she finally settled down, leaning heavily against Scott's chest.
" Better?"
" No. I want to be normal."
" What is normality? When you can answer that truthfully in a description that fits everybody then you're normal."
" What kind of answer is that." Rogue asked happily, craning her neck around to look at Scott. He grinned right back.
" The kind that is just vague enough to annoy you and yet enough to give you an answer."
" I hate those kind of answers." The two settled down, comfortable on the floor, taking more comfort in the fact that they had a friend, another kindred heart.
Normal at last.
*****
A/N: Well I'm continuing with this. Obviously. I know I gave the impression of Rogue being this happy, well-adjusted girl in the second chapter. Well screw that image. I wanted to show all of the… heartache, for lack of a better word, that went into cultivating that image.