Author's note: So yesterday I was procrastinating on finding a reference for my Illustration III final online when I'm suddenly messaged by some random person who asks me when I'll be updating this story while comparing it to cocaine. Apparently this story had a following or something.

Shocked? I know I am.

We talk for a bit, my ego is stroked and otherwise pleasured, and so my Boomclops muse (you heard right… Boomclops) starts clawing at me, pleading with me. "Oh Gayle!" it says. "It's been so long since you've last updated your story! Fuck that final project for your major, write another chapter! Please?"

Now normally I'd try, at least for a moment, to resist my urges (filthy, manly urges), but now that it turns out I've got fans or something like that, I'm all like "to hell with it! Time for some sweet sweet Tabby/Scott action". So, to all those members of that high school fan fiction club that have been reading this fic… this is your fault. Hope you're happy, because now this chapter is dedicated to all of you.

Oh yes, and I know this story may seem somewhat fluffy right now, but fear not, there shall be drama and action and character death and the Acolytes soon enough. I just like to take it slow… like I'm making tender loooovin', baby.

Back to your regularly scheduled fanfic.

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"Scott! Over here!"

Jean waved Scott over to the table she was sitting at in the lunchroom. For his part, Scott was trying to balance the extra weight in his backpack with the weight of his lunch tray while searching through the masses of eating high school students for a place to sit. He usually arrived for lunch early to secure a seat for himself, but today he'd been held up and now lunch was nearly over. His sigh of relief at seeing Jean came a bit soon, however, as he noticed that Duncan was sitting with her.

Perfect.

Biting his tongue, Scott waded through the packed tables to where Jean was sitting beside Duncan. Both smiled at him as he set his tray down, but Duncan's smile seemed a bit less genuine than Jean's. Of course, Scott's own smile was probably just as forced as he fought back a number of things he'd like to say to Duncan, none of which would be appropriate for a role-model like himself to say. He'd often lectured the other Xavier students against instigating fights at school, but oh how he's like to let some of that good old-fashioned repressed anger out on Duncan right now. Perhaps punching that man at the truck stop last night had given him a bit of a taste for acting on impulse. However, Jean wasn't in any sort of distress at the moment so on top of trying to remain the upstanding student at Bayville, he lacked any reason for punching Duncan right in that smirking mouth of his.

"Scott, what happened? You're usually here so early."

The sound of Scott's overstuffed backpack hitting the floor was almost an answer to Jean's question in itself.

"I went around to some of Tabitha's classes to pick up her homework for her. I wasn't sure if she had any of her books with her, so I borrowed some extra ones…"

Scott paused, still rubbing one of his sore shoulders as he looked at Jean's expression. It appeared eerily like a young girl that had just spotted a basket full of golden retriever puppies in the middle of a park.

"Scott… that's so sweet of you!"

Somehow, Scott had a feeling that Tabby's reaction to all this homework he was bringing back to him wouldn't quite be the same as Jean's.

"Well, I didn't want her to get behind in her classes, especially not after all that extra work she's had to put in just to keep up these past few months."

Jean and Scott shared a knowing look, not wanting to say what Tabitha'd been up to out loud. She'd obviously not wanted anyone in school to know about her job at the truck stop or else it had been all over school right now.

"Wait, this is Tabitha Smith, right?"

Both Scott and Jean's head turned in unison to look at Duncan, his mouth still half-full with a large bite from his hamburger.

"I know her! Never figured her for the brainy type, though. She didn't seem the kind to have any talent in it. At least, not after that post-season party she was at last year." He swallowed the rest of his food before giving a knowing laugh in Scott's direction. "Though if you're going to that kinda trouble for a girl like her, then you must know all about it, right Scott?

Time seemed to stop as Jean and Scott stared dumbfounded at Duncan.

"Duncan! How can you say that about Tabitha? What if someone heard you?"

"Heard me? Jean, everyone knows about Tabby. At least, anyone with eyes and good taste in parties last season. I'll tell you though, you've gotta respect a girl who can drink that much and still-"

"DUNCAN!"

"What? Jean, you can't tell me you haven't heard-"

"Duncan, are you implying that you and Tabitha have… have…"

"Oh chill out, will you Jean? It wasn't like it meant anything! We were just fooling around a bit, you know? You and I weren't even dating!"

The fight went on, but Scott was still standing by his seat, staring blankly ahead. Duncan and Tabby had… But, last year Tabitha would have only been fifteen years old. Sure, she'd always acted more mature in some areas than others, but Scott had never really considered that she'd… well… been doing anything sexual. Scott himself had never done more than shyly kiss Jean's cheek one night, though he'd thought about doing more. But he was going on eighteen years old while Tabitha was just barely sixteen. As for the rumors, he'd always thought they were just that: rumors. Kids in high school could be particularly mean to each other, especially if someone has some quality that sets him or her apart from the normal crowd. And Tabitha definitely stood out in a crowd. But now, with Duncan saying these things, Scott started to wonder how true some of those rumors were. At the same time, the urge to shut Duncan up with a punch to the face was starting to sound very appealing. Jean must have picked up on as much as she quickly made sure she was placed between the two.

"You know what, Duncan? I don't know what ever possessed me to date you again. Let's go, Scott."

Latching onto Scott's wrist, Jean dragged him out of the cafeteria, giving Scott only enough time to grab his backpack on the way out, his lunch tray left forgotten and untouched.

-------------------------------------------

Scott managed to grab one of the energy bars from the vending machine by the gym before his next class after Jean had pulled him away from both Duncan and his lunch. Still, after staying up so late last night and now having almost nothing in his stomach, the length of the day was starting to hit him pretty hard. By the last class of the day he found it almost as hard to simply keep his eyes open, as it was to go through double Danger Room sessions with Logan. He sat in the back during his last class, economics, while his eyelids sinking lower and lower until they shut entirely and he found himself lost to sleep.

"Scott?"

Scott awoke with a start, his head jerking up from where it had been pillowed against his open text book.

"Hey, Scooter. Rough day?"

Blinking the drowsiness form his eyes, Scott looked up at the smiling face of Tabitha Smith from where she sat atop his school desk. Horrified, Scott's head swung from right to left as he checked the rest of the room for the class's reaction to his present position. It took him a moment to realize that he and Tabby were alone in the classroom.

"What… what happened?"

Tabitha giggled, her legs swinging back and forth on either side of the desk.

"You tell me. I stopped by to pick up my homework and Jean told meyou never met her for a ride home. She mentioned that you'd been getting my work for me so she figured that was why you were late. So I decided to go looking for you."

She extended on hand, her many bracelets jingling as she pressed one finger to the tip of his nose.

"Found you."

"Hold on… Jean's waiting for me still? You're feeling better? I… I slept through class?"

"Hold up, Slim, let's take that one at a time." Tabby held up a hand, ticking off her answers on her fingers. "One, not anymore. She caught a ride with Taryn. Two, yup, guess I just needed to sleep it off. And three… I'd say that judging from the page creases on your face, you must have slipped into a coma rather than just dozed off."

Scott blinked several times behind his glasses, his tired mind still trying to catch up.

"Aw, what's wrong, Scooter? Still sleepy? Here, let me help you with that."

Before his sleepy senses could react, Tabitha slid one hand up Scott's chest, slipping it over his shoulder to finally rest it at the base of his neck. Her fingers gently stroked at his hair for a moment before yanking him forward into a deep, smoldering kiss. Scott's body caught up with what was happening before his mind did and responded to the pleasant sensation. He leaned forward into the kiss, pausing only to sweep his economics book off his desk before placing both his hands on Tabitha's hips to pull her in closer. It was the sort of kiss that Scott would never dream of even dreaming of with Jean; she was tugging roughly at his hair while his fingers clutched desperately at the back of her jeans, his hands holding her forcefully still as their mouths parted and met with frantic gasps and moans in between. One of Tabitha's legs found it's way to Scott's shoulder, hitching over it to pull him even closer, if such a thing was even possible. One of Scott's hands found the dip at the small of Tabitha's back and seemed determined to follow this smooth sloping line to it's final destination. Unfortunately, before that could happen, Scott's mind found his body again and he pulled away, breathless.

"Tabitha… what… what are you doing?"

"Didn't you know, Scott? I thought everyone knew. I'm easy."

She gave him a wink before pulling his head back within the reach of her mouth, biting not-so-delicately at his lower lip and drawing it into his mouth. Their tongues met amidst the fray as hands splayed across various planes of each other's bodies. When their mouths parted again, it was so that Scott, in a move so bold shocked both he and Tabby more than the punch he'd delivered in the diner last night, could start a slow decent down Tabitha's neck, tasting ever inch of her skin on his way. As his tongue lapped at the area just above the v-shaped dip of her shirt collar, a long moan tore itself from her throat.

"Scott… oh God, Scott… Sc-"

"cott? Scott? Wake up mein freund! Class is over."

Scott awoke with a start, his head nearly colliding with Kurt's as Kurt leaned over him, shaking him awake. His hand flew to his glasses to keep them in place as he blinked up at Kurt.

"Wha-?"

"Jean is waiting for us! She wants to escape before Kitty finds you guys and asks to drive again!"

Scott sighed heavily, collecting his books and cramming them back into his backpack. So it was just a dream, then? Why on earth did he have that sort of dream about Tabitha? Well, logically he knew it must have had something to do with his brain dealing with seeing Tabitha so exposed this morning followed by Duncan's insinuations at lunch… and that was where he decided to leave it for now. He wasn't awake enough yet to deal with anything else. Besides, Jean was waiting for him and he was just thankful that he hadn't been dreaming for long enough for his thoughts to become, well, outwardly apparent.

"Thanks, Kurt. I guess I'm just tired from last night."

"Oh, right! I heard that Tabitha had come back. Amara was all excited about it during our study period. You don't know why she came back do you?"

"Well, uh…" Scott paused. He knew Tabitha wouldn't want him to say, but he hated to lie to his friend. "How about we wait until she's feeling better and then she can tell you."

"Right, she's sick. Jean said you were picking up her books and her homework for you. I think you scored some major brownie points with her on that one."

Kurt smiled widely, giving Scott a big thumbs up.

"I don't know, I don't think Tabby will be too thrilled about my tidings of chemistry problems."

"What? No, I meant Jean, not Tabitha."

Scott paused.

"Right, sorry. I'm just so tired. Let's get going."

Why do I keep thinking about her? This… this doesn't make any sense. Tabitha...

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"Tabitha?"

Yawning, Tabby opened her eyes to the warm light that filled her old, familiar room, looking up to see Ororo standing at the edge of her bed.

"Mmm… Miss Munroe?"

"Feeling better, Tabitha?"

"Well, Miss Munroe, waking up to such a beautiful face, how could I not be?"

Tabitha winked once before laughing weakly at Ororo's temporarily startled expression. She'd missed how Tabitha had teased even the teachers at the Xavier's institute.

"Yes, well, there are some visitors here for you. They want to know if you're well enough to see them."

"Visitors? Well damn, show 'em in then!"

Feeling a sudden burst of energy, Tabby fairly bounced up to a seated position in her bed. Unfortunately her head didn't feel quite as well as the rest of her, and she had to pause as her vision blurred and spun around her before settling back in place just in time for a loud bamf noise followed by a plop.

"Tabitha!"

"Blue!"

Throwing her arms around his neck, Tabitha grabbed Kurt and pulled him into a hug, which was returned with nearly the same amount of enthusiasm. She mussed his fur before pulling away, grinning from ear to ear.

"Tabitha! You're back!"

Amara ran through the door and hopped onto the bed beside Kurt, also greeting Tabby with a hug. There was much giggling as the bed bounced from the sudden additional weight, but Tabby managed to look between the two new bodies towards the door as Ray, Jubilee, Bobby, and Kitty came in. She spotted Rogue too, but she seemed to be hanging out around the door for the moment.

There was hugging and welcoming and laughing and chatting and plenty of catching up with her friends before Ororo stepped in and shooed everyone out of the room. She took Tabby's temperature on her way out, promising to send someone up soon with dinner for her. With her mood significantly lightened from what it had been earlier, Tabby decided to haul her lazy ass out of bed and stretch her legs a bit, walking around the room to see what had changed. She was in the midst of examining Amara's porcelain unicorn statues when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in as long as you have food!"

Smirking to herself, Tabby turned back to face the doorway as Scott stepped into the room, carrying a bowl in one hand and a backpack in the other.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Question of the day, isn't it Scooter? Eh, I'm not so bad off right now. In fact, if I wasn't sick I'd say I was doing pretty spectacular."

Tabitha sat back down on the edge of her bed, patting it in silent offer to Scott to join her. He dropped the backpack beside the bed and handed her the bowl, which she found to be full of chicken noodle soup, before sitting beside her.

"Aw, Scotty, you made me soup?"

Scott flushed a bit, clearing his throat.

"Actually Storm just warmed it up for you in the microwave and I offered to take it since I was on my way up here already to-"

Schlllluuurrrrrp.

He paused as Tabitha went about sucking a group of noodles down in the loudest way possible. She stopped a moment later, looking sheepishly over at Scott with a noodle hanging out of the corner of her mouth.

"Ouh, shahrry. Ou 'ere shaying?"

Shaking his head, Scott continued. "I picked up your books and your homework from school today, so you wouldn't fall too far behind. It's all in the backpack over there."

Slurping down another spoonful of soup, Tabitha swallowed before speaking this time.

"You brought me homework? You know, most people bring the sick flowers or cards or something, and you bring me unbalanced chemistry equations? Scooter, it's no wonder you haven't been laid."

Tabitha didn't need to see Scott's eyes to know that they were bugging out of his head at that one.

"I… excuse me? What?!"

"Hey, it's not a big deal, Scooter. I'm just joking with you. I'm sure it's your own moral decision not to get yourself good and laid by now, and I totally respect that. Hell, Ray's all straight edge and waiting for just the right girl to come along himself, and even though I tease the fuck out of him, I still respect it."

Scott stared blankly at her.

"Oh come on, Scott, everyone knows you haven't had sex. You practically have virgin tattooed on your forehead. But I mean it, it's not a big deal."

Tabby dipped her head over her soup bowl to shovel another load of chicken, noodles, and broth into her mouth.

"Ah mahee nah unahashand whahee ah gahee wike ou hashn' none hih hehd, hu-"

"Wait, I can't understand what you're-"

Shluurp.

"I said, I may not understand why a guy like you hasn't done it yet, but it's not that big a deal to me so don't feel so embarrassed about it."

"I'm not embarrassed about it…"

"Oh please, Scott. If your cheek turned any redder I'd think you'd gotten into too much of my makeup or something. Don't worry, it's cute."

Tabitha set the soup bowl down on the bedside table next to her water glass before scooping up the backpack and dumping the book and papers out onto the bed. Looking at the pile, she gave a heavy sigh and started to pull out the assignment sheets to look over exactly what she had to do.

Scott, on the other hand, was still sitting on the edge of the bed, recovering from the last slew of comments.

Cute? She thinks I'm cute? What, like Kurt is cute or like pathetic cute? And how can she talk about sex so casually? She's two years younger than me! Me? Cute? I'm… I'm the team leader! I've been training in the danger room since before she'd even heard the word mutant! I've taken on Juggernaut, Mystic, Magneto, all of them! And won! I'm, I'm tough and heroic and… cute?

"Hey, cutie!"

A foot prodded at the small of Scott's back and he turned to see Tabitha sitting cross-legged with an open chemistry book in her lap and a notebook to one side.

"What's up? You look all super serious."

Scott shook his head to himself, clearing his thoughts.

"Nothing. I guess I'll get going now so you can start on your homework." He pushed himself to his feet, picking up his empty backpack before heading towards the door.

"Oh… do you have to go? 'Cause, uh, chemistry's never been my strongest subject, and I know I could use your help."

Help. She wants my help?

"You… want me to help you with your homework?"

"That's what I asked you, didn't I? I mean, if you've got other stuff to do…"

Someoneasked for my help?

"Uh, no, I've got time."

"Great!"

Tabitha scooted over on the bed, shifting her notebook over as she looked up expectantly at Scott, who had a look of slight disbelief on his face. She guessed that Jean didn't really need his help much, academically or physically. It took a moment, but Scott eventually joined her on her bed. They moved the book between them so it rested with one cover on each of their legs with Tabitha's notebook in her lap. Huddled together on the twin sized bed, the two worked their way through the chemistry handout together, with Scott explaining exactly how to balance each equation and how to take the exponents into consideration in the process and other things that Tabby would usually spend a good few hours struggling over. With each finished problem, Tabitha seemed to relax more against Scott, who in turn seemed to feel more relaxed at his close proximity to her as well, until finally Tabby took to casually resting her head against Scott's arm.

And that was exactly what Amara and Kurt saw when they peeked into the room an hour later.