Chapter Six

The large, marble floored entryway of the mansion had never seemed so cold and uninviting to Kylie as it did right then. After dinner that night Professor Xavier had called her, once more, to his office.

"Since you were unable to bring any of your possessions with you last night," the Professor said, facing Kylie from behind his large, oak desk, "Storm and Cyclops will accompany you to your home so that you may gather whatever you need."

"I don't think that's such a good idea sir," Kylie protested softly, "I mean for them to come with me. My parents won't be there, I'm pretty sure they flew back to Manhattan as soon as they could, so I won't have to face them and they won't put up any fight about me being in the house."

"All the same Kylie," Professor Xavier said, "I would feel better if they went with you. You never know who might be keeping you from entering your home."

So she stood there. Scott and Storm on either side of her, looking at the large staircase that led up to the second story. Taking in a deep, calming breath, Kylie started for the impressive staircase. Her hand gripped the familiar wood of the banister, a banister which she had slid down numerous times as a small child. She would have given anything at that moment to be able to go back in time to when her parents didn't think her a freak and she was as carefree as any other kid on the block.

Climbing the stairs slowly, Kylie relived happy memories of her childhood, before she had found out she was a mutant. Her parents hadn't always been away. She could remember times when she would go running down the stairs only to be swept up in her father's strong arms. She remembered his laughing and her mother's smile as they sat as a family around the dinner table. But those times hadn't lasted long. Her parents' careers took off and they left her alone more and more as the years passed.

Kylie opened the door to her room. The hinges creaked slightly. They had given her away on more than one occasion when she had been trying to sneak out to a party with her friends. That was before she had found out that she could climb down the ivy trellis just a few feet from her window.

Her clothes still laid scattered on the floor, the same way they had been after she had finished dressing for her party. Make-up was scattered across the top of the vanity, a tube of lipstick still open. She walked towards her closet. Dresses were hanging onto their hangers by a strap and shoes were spilling out onto the floor. She reached for the set of designer luggage that her parents had gotten her for their trip to France two years ago, and began to fill the bags in a trance like state. Her mind was still in the past, but her hands didn't seem to need to be directed to do their task.

She moved towards her desk. Unfinished homework, textbooks, and random notes littered the top. Balled up pieces of paper threatened to spill out of the trashcan. Kylie rummaged through her drawers, taking what she needed and leaving the rest for the housekeeper to take care of, or for her parents to throw away.

Finally, everything was packed. Everything except for her guitar. Kylie turned towards the corner where she always put the beloved instrument, but it wasn't there. Her mind snapped back to reality and she whirled around in the room, searching everywhere for the one thing she treasured above all else. It was nowhere to be found. Her heart raced and Kylie felt as if she were going to hyperventilate. Where could it be? It wasn't as if the guitar had legs and could just walk out of the room. It had to be somewhere, but where?

There was a soft knock on the open door and Kylie turned to see Storm standing there.

"It's getting late." She said, "We need to get back to the school."

"I'm…I'm almost done," Kylie said, looking around her room once more, "I'll be down in a sec." Storm nodded and went back downstairs to wait with Cyclops. The two adults had known not to follow Kylie upstairs. They knew she needed time alone to really let it all sink in, and for that she was grateful.

It was useless to continue searching for the guitar, so Kylie closed up her luggage and carted it out into the hall. The bags were heavy, filled to the brim with her possessions, and they banged against her body with each step she took.

"Who the hell are you?" The angry voice carried up the stairway and Kylie flinched. Her bags fell to the floor, the sound of them hitting the floor dulled by the plush carpet that lined the hallway.

Quickly she gathered them again and hurried down the stairway, nearly tripping over her feet on each stair. Her parents stood in the entryway, staring at Scott and Ororo with mixed expressions of anger and fear. Her father's face was contorted in rage and his skin was quickly turning purple. Her mother stood in the doorway, her hand clutched at her throat as she surveyed the intruders.

All eyes turned to Kylie as she stepped onto the marble floor, her steps sounding like gunshots in the quiet room.

"You." Her father seethed, "What are you doing here? You are not allowed here." Tears pricked at the back of Kylie's eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She wouldn't give these people, who she used to call family, see her cry. Tears weren't allowed, she had been taught that since birth. She had lived seventeen years without crying a tear and she wouldn't start now.

Kylie stood up straight, the way she had been taught to, and held her head high. Her formal upbringing took over and she returned her parents' icy glares.

"I have come to collect what is mine." she replied in a haughty tone, the one her parents used with the staff.

"You have no right to anything in this house you little thief," her mother's false soprano voice bounced off the floor and sounded even more high pitched than usual. "We've just been to our lawyer's office, you are no longer part of this family and have no claim to anything here." The words stung Kylie. She had been disowned by her family, the people she thought cared about her. Well it was no matter, she had a new family now. One filled with people who accepted her, who were like her, who knew what she went through everyday. She bit her lip, trying to get her raging emotions under control. If she had to, she would fight them for what was hers, but only if they made the first move.

She took a step forward, testing them, seeing what they would do. Storm and Cyclops were behind her, neither of them speaking a word. They knew it was not their place to interfere with family matters. They were there only to help Kylie should she need it.

Her parents looked frightened as she moved slowly towards the door where they stood, but they never wavered.

"I'll call the cops," her father threatened. "Don't think I won't." he reached for the cell-phone in his pocket. Kylie closed her eyes, ready to take the phone from him with her telekinesis, but a strong hand rested on her shoulder, stopping her. She looked up at Storm, who shook her head slightly. Kylie understood what she was trying to convey. They wanted to get out of the house with using as little force as necessary.

She drew in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. It didn't work.

"I want you out of this house now." her father snapped, his finger poised over the numbers on his phone.

"Don't worry," Kylie said, "we're going. And once I'm gone, you won't ever have to worry about seeing me again."

Lying in bed that night, Kylie couldn't fall asleep. She tossed and turned, but sleep eluded her. Her mind was still on that evening. She had been scared, for a moment, that her parents would actually pose a threat. It had been a useless fear, for they were incapable of anything but signing checks and using their credit cards. It had been simple for her, Scott, and Ororo to simply walk out of the house. Her parents were intimidated by the two mutants. Both of them stronger and more powerful than her parents could ever imagine. They had made it back to the school without mishap.

Kylie sighed and glanced at the clock. Four thirty. There was no use in trying to go to sleep now. She would just have to get up in a few hours anyway.

Climbing out of bed, Kylie walked silently across the carpeted floor and opened the door slowly, so as not to wake Rogue. Kylie stepped out into the hallway and closed the door softly behind her. She didn't know what she was going to do or where she was going to go, all she knew was that she needed air. Her feet seemed to know where they were going as she made her way down the hall towards a pair of French doors. She gripped the cool, metal handles and pushed the doors open. The warm night breeze caressed her face and Kylie closed her eyes, drinking in the scent of coming rain. She walked out onto the small balcony and looked out over the school's grounds. Everything was so mythical and romantic in the moonlight.

Kylie looked around and noticed that there was a slight overhang near her that led to the roof. A small smile crept up her face and she pulled herself up onto the balcony's railing so that she could reach the overhang. The stone railing felt cold beneath her bare feet and a shiver ran up her spine. Kylie reached out for the overhang, gripped it tightly, and pulled herself up onto the roof.

The roof wasn't steep, allowing Kylie the opportunity to walk around on top of the school. And she did, looking out over everything, taking in the view. Finally, she sat down and pulled her knees up under her chin as she watched the stars dance across the sky. She tried to find the different constellations, something that she had done often as a little girl whenever she couldn't sleep.

So lost in her own little world, Kylie didn't hear someone else jump up on the roof, nor did she hear their footsteps as they approached her.

"And here I thought I was the only one who came up here." The voice startled Kylie. She jumped slightly and turned her head to see who was behind her.

John smiled down at her.

"Don't do that to me." Kylie admonished him, placing a hand over her heart.

"Sorry," he replied with a rakish grin that she could see clearly in the bright moonlight, "you were just sitting there and it was too tempting." He sat down beside her, his leg brushed gently against her own, sending a shiver down Kylie's spine. He was clad in only a T-shirt and boxers and Kylie found herself thinking that he looked awfully sexy. Her face burned hot at the thought and she turned her eyes away from him quickly.

John could feel her watching him. Her gaze was intent on him, but he didn't dare look at her.

When he had first come up to the roof, he had been looking for a quiet place to think. But instead he found Kylie, sitting there with her hair gently tossed by the calm breeze and her face upturned towards the moon, her skin drinking in the rays of pale blue light. She didn't turn when he walked towards her, and he couldn't resist the temptation to scare her a little. Her eyes widened when he spoke and they stared up at him with childlike innocence. When he sat, he made sure that his leg brushed against hers. He couldn't help but smile slightly when she shivered at the contact.

"So what are you doing out here?" he asked quietly, careful not to disturb the calm around them.

"I couldn't sleep." she replied. John glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. There was one lone tear in her eye and it sparkled like a diamond in the moonlight.

"Rogue told us you had trouble when you went home earlier."

Kylie snorted and shook her head.

"Trouble would not be the word I would use." she said, the disgust in her voice evident. She sighed and then fell silent.

"Hey," he nudged her arm gently with his elbow, she turned to look at him. "You can talk to me if you want." Kylie hung her head, then, after a minute or two, she looked back up at him.

"They disowned me." Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "My own parents disowned me. Then they called me a thief because I was taking my stuff. My own possessions, things that I even bought with my own money, and they called me a thief." More tears fell from her eyes, cascading down her face like twin waterfalls. Her face suddenly changed from grief to anger. "Damn them." She yelled at the sky, her voice echoing loudly in the stillness, "Damn them to hell!" And with that she broke down crying.

John didn't know what to do. He had never seen a girl break like this. Tears were pouring down her face in torrents and her body was wracked by tremendous sobs. She turned towards him and buried her head in his shoulder. Slightly taken aback, John placed an awkward arm around Kylie. Even though it wasn't exactly the way he would have wanted it to happen, John had been wanting to hold her ever since he had first seen her, and was glad to finally have her in his arms. Her own arms snaked around his neck, holding him tightly, and John felt her skin hot against his own.

Finally her crying lessened, and her body stopped shaking so violently. Kylie sniffed and pulled away slightly, but her arms still lay locked around John's neck, and she made no move to remove his arm from her body.

"Thank you." She whispered. John smiled lightly and shook his head.

"For what?" He asked.

"For just listening to me, for not thinking I'm being a drama queen, and especially for not being weirded out by my crying." She laughed, or tried to, it ended up sounded more like a funny sob.

"Anytime." he replied, pulling her back into his arms and resting his chin on the top of her head. "Anytime."

Ooh, John and Kylie are gettin' closer. Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter. Oh, and sorry if the chapter was kinda short.

TheAlmightyMasterT-Chan: Unless you listen to Christian artists, it is unlikely that you have heard the song in the last chapter as Bethany Dillion is a Christian singer. Anyways, I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter.

melodie568: Thank you so much for reviewing.