Important Notice: I am currently re-writing all of the chapters in this story, because, looking back, I have a lot of plot holes and my writing is pretty weak at some parts. Please bear with me I would still appreciate feedback on if you like the new version of the chapters and if it makes more sense. It would suck to rewrite everything and then have it be worse than before. Thanks! You guys are awesome 

I also want to apologize for the lack of updates. I have no excuse. I'm just an awful person  I hope I haven't lost too many of you. For those of you still reading, you are the BEST and I love you to pieces!

A/U: Lance Alvers was orphaned when he was 7 and sent to an orphanage. There he met Katherine Pryde, a fellow orphan at only 5 years old. Ten years later, they meet again, but this time on opposing teams.

Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men, and I am not making any money off of this.

I Will Crumble

Over the next week or two, Lance and Kitty grew closer. They spent every waking second of the day together, and if they hadn't been so young, it would have been very suspicious.

Lance had never been so happy in his life. He had never really had a true friend when he lived with his parents, but when he was with Kitty, he forgot all about that. She made him feel…complete. He wasn't exactly sure how he felt about her. Whenever they were together (which was most of the time) his heart sped up, and when she laughed he would get flutters in his stomach.

It utterly confused him—he was only seven after all! Most sever year olds wouldn't be caught dead feeling that way about a girl, but he couldn't help that he felt that way…he just…did. He decided not to think about what exactly he felt for Kitty; besides, everything was perfect now. He should have known it wouldn't last.

Nothing, however, seemed different on the night of December 19 when there was a raging thunderstorm over Chicago.

Kitty whimpered in her sleep and curled her knees closer into her chest. She was clutching her pillow tightly and kept her eyes squeezed shut as another bolt of lightning struck, lighting up the room for a fraction of a second. Her eyes bolted open.

She pulled her covers back, and stepped out of her bed. Kitty tiptoed to Lance's bed, which was only a few feet from hers. She sat down quietly on the side of his bed.

"Lance," she whispered, shaking him lightly. She was shivering all over. He didn't wake.

"Lance!" she whined, tears welling up in her eyes. "Lance wake up!"

He stirred. "Wha'? Huh?"

"Lance?"

"Kitty?"

"I can't sleep Lance!" she said, tears falling. "I- I'm scared…"

Lance's look of protest from being woken up so mercilessly softened as he watched her biting her bottom lip, trying not to burst out sobbing. "Come here," he said as he pulled the covers of his bed back.

She crawled up to the front of the bed, and laid her head on the pillow, next to his. He moved to pull the comforter back up to cover them both, and laid back down. Kitty snuggled closer to him and he wrapped his arms around her.

A crack of thunder sounded, followed by another bolt of lightning. Lance felt Kitty tense. "Shh…" he whispered to her soothingly, stroking her hair. "It's okay."

Kitty relaxed, feeling safe, now that she was next to Lance.

"Hey, Lance," she whispered, looking up at him.

"Yeah?"

"Does anything ever scare you?" She looked so adorable and innocent with her glassy, clear blue eyes. Sometimes it was amazing to think of all that she'd been through.

"Yes…" he admitted reluctantly.

"Like what?" she asked him, curious.

"My father; he really scared me…" he said, closing his eyes, as if trying to make the thoughts that were attacking his mind go away.

Kitty noticed this and squeezed is arms which encircled her protectively. "Why?"

"He- he would hurt my mom."

"You mean like yell at her and make her feel bad?"

"No… he- he would…hit her…" he trailed off, looking away.

"I'm sorry," she said, feeling guilty.

"It's okay."

"But I thought you said he was gone," she said, curiosity getting the better of her.

"He is."

"Then why does he still scare you? He can't hurt your mom any more."

"I guess I'm just scared that I'll end up like him…"

"Oh." Kitty was silent for a minute. "Don't worry; you'll never be like him."

"I hope so."

"Besides, you said you would always take care of me, and you would never do that to me, right?"

"Right," Lance said. "I'll always be there for you." He pulled her closer to him and smiled.

"Always," he murmured to her now sleeping from. Having said that, he too fell asleep, the lightning flashing outside the window.

Early, the next morning, Greg walked into the dormitory quietly, carrying some of the kids' freshly laundered clothes. He stopped when he noticed Kitty's bed was empty.

His first thought was panic, but the he saw her in Lance's bed, both of them cuddled up together, sleeping peacefully. He was unsure of how to react. I mean, sure, they're only kids, but what if they get into a habit? He decided he needed a second opinion.

He left to get Sara, who was in the middle of eating her cereal, and dragged her to the dormitory. He pointed at Lance and Kitty.

"Aw! They're so adorable!" she gushed

"Is that…is it okay for them to do that?" Greg asked, uncertain. "Should I move her?"

"Nah…just leave her for now…besides she's 5 and he's 7—it's not like anything's going to happen," she laughed.

"O-okay," Greg said, still slightly confused. "Right, I thought so too, I just wasn't sure… Well now that that's cleared up, I'm just going to go…" he said as he walked out.

When Kitty and Lance finally woke up and went to the kitchen, Sara came up to Kitty.

"Hey, Kitty, can I sit with you?"

"Sure!" Kitty said, excited and delighted that the older girl wanted to talk to her.

"We got a call this morning from a family who wants to take care of you; they're on their way right now."

"Really?"

"Yup! And if you like then, you can go live with them," Sara said, grinning.

"Wow! I have to go tell Lance!"

"Wait—Kitty, don't tell Lance just yet, okay? He might get…jealous…" Sara felt bad lying to Kitty like that, but she knew if Lance found out, he would tell her anything to make sure she wouldn't go. While Sara thought that their bond was sweet, Kitty needed a real home, with real parents who cared about her. They both did.

"Oh…" Kitty said, confused, "Okay…"

"Great! Now that that's settled, how 'bout we get you washed up before they get here?"

"Okay!" Kitty said, excited once again. Kitty grabbed Sara's hand and dragged her towards the bathrooms in the dormitory.

Wow! I wish they were all this enthusiastic about taking baths.

About half an hour after Sara had taken Kitty to give her a bath, the Pryde's arrived. They looked like warm, kind-hearted people. They walked up to the reception desk, where Greg was typing something into the computer. He turned around when he heard the door open.

"Hello," he said, and then looked down at a file on the computer desk. "You must be Mr. and Mrs. Pryde."

"Yes," Mrs. Pryde said. "We called earlier about Katherine."

"Yeah, that's right—one sec, let me go and get her. She was taking a bath earlier," he explained.

"Okay," Mr. Pryde nodded and looked at his wife. She was so excited. He wrapped his arm around her, and she laid her head on his shoulder. They waited there like that until Greg came back, this time followed by the most adorable little girl.

Mrs. Pryde held her breath while Kitty looked at them like a deer caught in the headlights. She shook it off quickly, and ran up to them.

"Mr. Greg told me that you're going to be my mom and dad!" she squealed, grabbing Mrs. Pryde's hand, jumping up and down.

Mrs. Pryde looked a little surprised at first, but then she knelt down to Kitty's level. She had expected Kitty to be shy and withdrawn from what she had been told about how she had ended up at the orphanage, but the ecstatic little girl in front of her was exactly the opposite of that. Mrs. Pryde smiled.

"That's right! We're going to get all your stuff and you'll come live with us now!"

"Really?"

"Really," Mrs. Pryde said, delighted with Kitty. She stood up, still holding Kitty's hand and leaned over to her husband.

"She's adorable, isn't she?" she whispered in his ear.

"Yeah, she's perfect," he whispered back. "Well, Kitty," he said, "Let's get your stuff, shall we? The sooner leave, the sooner we can show you your new home."

For the first time that morning, Kitty's smile flickered. "What…what about Lance?" she said quietly.

"Lance?" Mr. and Mrs. Pryde looked at Greg with confused expressions upon their faces.

"Lance is her best friend here," Greg told the Pryde's worriedly. "They have a…special bond, I guess is what you'd call it…"

"Oh…"

"Honey, Lance can't come with us, too…" Mrs. Pryde said gently.

"Can…can I at least say goodbye?" She looked so crushed.

"Of course, darling," Mrs. Pryde said, smiling at her little girl.

Kitty let go of Mrs. Pryde's hand and ran to the dormitory, where she found Lance, sitting on his bed.

"Hey, Lance."

"Hi Kitty—what's wrong?" he said, noticing her pained expression.

"I- I'm going away…I—there's a family out there, I'm going to live with them…" She looked at her feet.

"What?" Lance jumped off of his bed and grabbed her shoulders. "You - please - don't… don't leave me!" he pleaded softly, hugging her to his chest. He felt tears forming in his eyes, but he ignored them.

"I'm sorry, Lance," Kitty hugged him back, getting teary eyed, herself. "They'll take care of me now… I'll have a house to live in and everything—" She tried to make him see the positive side so that he would be happy for her.

"But I was supposed to take care of you! Not anyone else," he said, his voice cracking. "Don't - please - don't go with them!" he begged.

For some time, they just stood there, holding each other and crying. Finally, Kitty pulled away. "I- I have to go now," she said, trying desperately not to look at him. She knew if she looked into his eyes, she wouldn't be able to bear leaving him all alone.

"B-bye, Lance. Thanks for everything…" she trailed off, turning around to walk to the door where her 'parents' stood, waiting for her.

"Wait!" Lance cried.

Kitty turned around.

"Kitty I—you—" but Lance couldn't find the words to express what he was feeling at that moment, nor the strength to speak them. He looked away defeated. "Bye."

Kitty turned around again and walked out of the door with her new parents.

"I love you, Kitty," Lance whispered just as she left.

He couldn't believe that she was gone! It- it wasn't possible! She couldn't just be gone—they were meant to be together! He was supposed to take care of her! He had promised her…

No, a spiteful voice in his head countered, I just wasn't good enough for her. She wanted a home and a mom and dad. She'd never get that if she stayed here with me.

Lance took a deep breath as his anguish and sadness turned to bitterness and anger. It's not true! Lance reasoned with himself. It's not that she didn't think I was good enough—she just wanted something to call her own. Something to hold onto.

This made sense to Lance; after all, when he'd arrived here and gotten his bed, he'd finally felt like he had something to call his own. Kitty had never felt that way about anything, but if she had parents and a home, she would.

Lance sighed and wiped the tears from his eyes. He knew it was no use tearing himself up about it. He would just have to accept it… but that was so hard! She was the only person he could ever relate to in this place, and now she was out of his life, probably forever, too.

It was as if God didn't want him to be happy or something! What had he ever done to deserve this life of misery and loss! He was only seven, for crying out loud! And, already, he'd lost anyone he had ever been close to.

He was so lost in his emotions right then, he didn't notice the room around him beginning to shake. He barely noticed that while he was doing all this thinking, he had clenched his fists and his eyes had somehow rolled to the back of his head. It wasn't until he heard cries from the children in the common room as something crashed, that he realized what was going on.

His head snapped up and the shaking of the ground stopped instantly. He looked around, trying to figure out what had just happened, but he couldn't. His head felt like someone was pounding on if from the inside with a hammer.

Just before everything got blurry he figured out what had happened. He had caused the ground to shake like that! He didn't have time to think on it, he crumpled to the ground. The headache had become too much for him to bear. He was unconscious.

Kitty looked out of the car window in the back seat. She missed Lance already, and she'd only been separated from him for a few hours.

Her 'mom' saw this, but decided not to say anything about it. What could she say?

"We're here," her 'dad' told her. Kitty's eyes brightened up as they drove up to the two-story house.

"Wow! That's where we live?" she asked, in awe.

"Yup, that's it. Come on inside, and we'll show you around," her dad said, smiling.

Kitty squealed excitedly, and ran up to the door. Her mom chuckled, and unlocked the door. Kitty ran inside looking around.

"Wow! It's huge!" she cried. She ran into the living room, where there was a menorah above the fireplace. She jumped onto the couch and sighed happily.

"Welcome home, Kitty," her mom said as she hugged her. "Welcome home."

A/N: Okay, so there's that chapter… I know that the adoption process takes a much longer period of time, but for the sake of the story I made it REALLY short. Review and tell me what you think!