Disclaimer: X-Men Evolution is not mine
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Rogue sat in her room, arms wrapped around her legs, making herself into the smallest ball possible, as if to reduce the chance of being a target. Resting her chin on her knees, she sighed. She was so confused, so unsure, so not in control, and she hated it. Why her? Why now, so all of a sudden? Usually she scared everybody off, she wanted to scare everybody off, and normally it worked. Though apparently Pietro saw right through that. She sighed. Didn't he see how it could never work? Evan would freak, Scott and the others would never let it go, and the guys of the brotherhood; well, actually, maybe they would just tease him. Her eyes flickered down to her gloved hands, lifting one and removing the protective cloth. But even if their teammates accepted it, there was still the problem of her poison skin. It looked so normal, so harmless. But a simple touch, a caress without protection could prove to be so deadly. Her eyes crumbled into tears and she pressed her face into her thighs to stifle sobs. She would never be able to kiss him anyway, never be able to feel his cheek against hers, never get to see how soft or rugged his skin felt. It wasn't fair, it just wasn't. She hated her power, her curse.
Suddenly, a shrill voice called out, startling her out of her thoughts. "Omigod, Rogue, are you okay?" Kitty had phased into their room and had saw her before Rogue could quickly compose herself. "You've been crying? Why? What happened?" Her voice was full of worry and concern.
"Didn' ya evah hear o' knockin' before comin' in?" Rogue snapped, jerking away to the other side of the bed.
"Rogue, what happened?"
"It's none o' ya business, Kitty. Leave meh alone."
"Sure it's my business. I'm your roommate and your best friend!"
"Go away! I don' want ta talk about.. about..." Rogue trailed off, breaking down into fresh sobs and Kitty rushed over to her, wrapping her arms around the distraught girl. "Kitty, it's not fair! Whay meh? Whay can' Ah have everythin' you have? What did Ah do wrong?"
"What are you talking about, Rogue? You have-"
"Nothin'! Ah have nothin'! An' Ah'll nevah have anythin' so long as Ah have this curse for a power." She was staring at her bare hand again.
"Rogue-"
"Pietro loves meh," Rogue murmured softly, her face crumpling again as Kitty sat stunned. "He loves meh, Kitty. An' Ah want ta... Ah want ta.. but Ah cain't. Not while Ah... No, no, not evah!" She began to sob loudly and Kitty held her close, stroking the girl's hair, careful to avoid her skin. "It's not fair, Kitty. It's just not fair!"
"Shhh, Rogue, shh." Kitty rocked her back and forth soothingly, but she couldn't find any soothing words. What could soothe her anyway? Kitty couldn't fathom not being able to touch, and it was a hell that Rogue lived through everyday. She never realized how much her roommate suffered. Kitty looked down at her compassionately, pushing the snowy white strands of hair from the girl's eyes. Rogue had quieted, the sobs taking their toll, and had fallen into a disturbed slumber. Kitty let Rogue down onto the bed into a position as comfortable as she could manage and phased the blanket up from beneath her until it covered her. Kitty gave the sleeping girl a small but reassuring smile. "I'll keep it a secret, okay? I won't tell anybody about you and Pietro." She turned to leave but hesitated, adding, "Or how you actually cried for once." She left the room as silently as possible, a pensive look on her face. The rogue was human after all. And she suffered so much; she had problems that made everyone else's so petty because hers were problems that, even with work and counseling, would never go away.
Kitty was determined to help her. Her friend will know love.
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Short chapter again. I wanted to have Rogue's post-confession thoughts. And Kitty just popped up. She's not going to meddle too much, because I don't really want her intervening too much. Cause I want to keep the story centered on Remy/Rogue/Pietro.
Kanshisa & Lady Trunks - I'm actually tempted to write a Rietro sometime. It'd have to be after this fic is over, which is gonna be awhile, but I'm considering it. I dunno, though. And don't worry, Pietro's role in Rogue's life is hardly over in this fic; though yeah, she's gonna end up with Remy and not Pietro.
Oh, and by the way, it's not exactly that Rogue feels the same for Pietro. (At least at this point. :-p) Love is something she longs for, but as she feels it's denied, she thinks it'll always be an unrequited desire. And so when Pietro confesses his love, she naturally wants to return it (and can therefore convince herself that she could/does love him back), just because he's offering his to her. Which makes things worse, yatta yatta yatta.
I'm definitely not much of an action writer, I don't think. I think I focus more on psychological stuff. Hmm... Angsty too. But romantic! I think I can do humor, but not as well. I should write a much lighter, less thoughtful fic after this.
:)
Rielyn