I Want You Back
Disclaimer: Marvel owns X-Men.
Btw, sorry if the storyline goes all wrong and stuff. I have this memory problem (no, it's not Alzheimer's), and tend to forget things a lot. For example, I was supposed to cook dinner about two months ago, and I forgot, and my mom ended up having to order take-out. I was grounded for a week because of that.
Chapter 4: Ironic
Kitty half-heartedly modelled some clothes for Piotr. However, she was able to keep a huge smile on her face every time he complimented her.
She couldn't stop thinking about how broken Lance seemed to look when he had seen them together. It didn't help when Piotr put his arm around her. She shook her, as she stood inside a cubicle, pulling on a red collared shirt.
She almost hated herself for thinking about Lance at a time like this. Especially since she was out with Piotr. She could remember back to when she and Avalanche were still together. No matter how much he complained, he would still be there for her to carry her shopping bags. Even though he did whine the entire time. She loved the look on his face every time she stepped out of the dressing room.
Snap out of it, Pryde! she scolded herself. You're here with Piotr. A sweet, quiet and sensitive guy who likes you very much and who you like back. Stop thinking about Lance!
She stepped out from behind the curtain and struck a pose. "Well, what do you think?"
"Beautiful," Piotr said simply and smiled softly at her, his eyes boring into her.
Kitty smiled back. Even when she was torn between him and Lance, it wasn't hard to remember what she saw in Piotr in the first place. "Let me get change. We'll head out for something to eat, alright?"
Without a word, Kitty went back into the cubicle and changed back into her clothes and picked off the ones she wanted. After they paid for her clothes, they left towards the food court.
"I'll go get us a seat, okay? The usual?" Kitty said, taking some of her bags.
"Sure, Katya," Piotr said, nodding.
She turned on her heel and found an empty spot towards the edge of the food court. She sat down patiently as she waited for Piotr to come with their food. It had been a while since she had eaten outside, and something that was in the junk food variety.
"Alright, so what do you want, Pretty Kitty?" Lance asked, one hand holding the half of dozen bags or so of his girlfriend's shopping while the other holding onto her hand as they moved forwards in the line.
"Um, just a veggie burger and large fries, will do, thanks," Kitty said, one hand clutching a bag of her own. She had not let Lance touch it, or take a peek inside. It was a gift for him. They were going to celebrate the anniversary of the first time they ever met back in Northbrook that night.
"Alright, and I'll have a double cheese burger, and a large coke," Lance said.
Kitty rolled her eyes. Men and big helpings of food. Lance grabbed a number. She dragged him off towards a seat at the edge of the court.
"So, looking forward to tonight?" he asked, leaning back against his chair and toying with a napkin.
"Definitely," she said, leaning over to kiss him. She smiled and sat back, enjoying the look on his happy-and-slightly-embarrassed face.
He never thought that she'd be willing to do that in public.
Kitty shook her head from the memory. As she looked down at the table, she suddenly realized that this was also the table she and Lance used quite often whenever they were out. Most people stayed away from it. It was as if there was an invisible force field saying, 'Lance and Kitty's Table. Back off!'.
She cursed herself for choosing this table but smiled when Piotr finally came with their orders. "Thanks," she said. She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. She felt a sense of déjà vu taking over her. She looked confused for a moment when Piotr had said, "Not in public, Katya."
She shrugged it off and started eating her fries. If she had to honestly admit, she sort of did miss Lance. Sort of, being the keywords there. Apart from having all those blissful happy memories, there were also the bitter ones. Fights that caused her to cry more than once. Words that cut deeper into her than she had expected. Ones that she didn't need to remember.
But then again, Lance would always come back the next morning, even if meant Scott having to activate the defence system even though Lance had permission to come any time he wanted. But Lance would send a seismic wave to the ground claiming that, "Those things were always easy to take out." Then he'd go straight to her room, and knocked on the door until she opened it. There would be a guilty look on his face as he told her the sleepless night he had, thinking about the words they said. They would kiss and make up, and stay out until a few minutes before curfew. She could tell, too, that he hadn't had enough sleep. There were always signs of black smudges under his eyes.
She should be glad that she and Piotr never fought. Even if she was hanging out with Kurt or Bobby or any of the other guys, he never got jealous. If he thought something was up, he would ask her calmly and ask for her side of the story and she'd tell him honestly. She almost longed for the hot-headedness and jealousy of Lance and their fights.
"Katya, are you sure you're alright?" Piotr asked, nudging her arm.
"Huh?" Kitty said, snapping out of her thoughts.
"I'm really worried about you, Katya," he said. "Maybe we should head back to the Institute. Eet's almost 4.45 anyway. We don't have to go out tonight, eef you're not up to eet."
Oh, yeah. They were supposed to go out tonight to celebrate their six month anniversary. "Okay," she said, nodding. "Let's go rent some movies and buy tubs of ice-cream, though, okay? We can, like, take over the rec room or something."
After renting quite a number of chick flicks (as Evan had called them when he was still with the X-Men) and buying a tub of cookie dough, peppermint, and butterscotch, they headed towards the entrance where Rogue was already waiting.
"Hey, you two. Have you seen Bobby or the others?" Rogue asked as soon as Kitty and Piotr were both close enough.
Kitty shook her head. So did Piotr.
"Those three. And of all the tahmes to not bring their cell phones," she grumbled.
"Relax, Rogue, we're here. Amara had trouble choosing between a pink or a yellow halter," Bobby said, rolling his eyes as he, Ray and the princess in question came into view. He was met with a sharp hit in the back of the head, as well as a shock to the butt from Ray. "Torture the Iceman, why don'tcha?" he mumbled. "I should ice your hands together, or something."
"Are we ready tah go or not?" Rogue said exasperatedly before Ray could retort. "If Ah may remind you three, you have a Danger Room session with Logan."
"Why do we even need Danger Room sessions any more anyway?" Bobby asked. "I mean, Apocalypse is beaten right?"
Rogue groaned. That was the last time she brought Bobby shopping. Even if the majority of her time had been spent away from the eager teen.
They made it back just in time for the younger mutants to suit up and run down to the Danger Room. During the entire car ride, no one had said anything. They all remembered what had happened earlier on. Mentioning it to Kitty would probably result in virtual pain. Piotr had offered to carry Amara's bags to her room before joining his girlfriend in the rec room.
"So, what first?" Piotr asked, entering the rec room to find it empty except for Kitty who was sitting on the couch. She had threatened the rest of the students with their stereos and computers and cell phones if they didn't stay away from the room.
"Just pop in anything," she said.
"Alright," he said, and popped in A Walk to Remember.
Oh boy, she thought, knowing she wouldn't be able to stop the waterworks, no matter how many times she watched it. There was a memory in the back of her head that told her she used to watch this with Lance too. Don't think about it! she scolded herself.
After the movie had ended, Kitty got up from her comfortable spot next to Piotr to put in a random One Tree Hill episode.
Ironic how Nathan unconsciously changes because of Haley. Just like Lance unconsciously, but surely, changed because of her.
A/N: Well, that's it. Mentions of A Walk to Remember and One Tree Hill, which of course, I don't own. A Walk to Remember belongs to Nicholas Sparks, a writer who can touch the hearts.