I Want You Back
Disclaimer: Marvel owns X-Men.
Chapter 11: Friends?
Kitty gulped. She took several deep breaths as the phone continued to ring. After finally regaining her composure, she picked it up. "H-Hello?"
"Katya, it's Piotr," the thick Russian voice said.
"Oh, hey!" she said, brightening up slightly. "Is something wrong?"
"No, no, everything is fine. I theenk. Anyway, we'll be here for a while, maybe unteel afternoon. I need you to do me a favour. That ees, eef you don't mind?"
"Of course not! I'm, like, bored anyways," Kitty said, tucking her hand behind her ear.
"Okay. Katya, you remember I got into that accident yesterday, right?"
"Uh-huh," she confirmed while nodding.
"Can you peeck it up for me? Eet ees supposed to be done at one. Eet ees at Rick's Garage," he said and gave her directions. "Did you get that, Katya?"
"I got it, Piotr," she said, putting her pen down. "I'm not that much of a ditz, ya know."
Piotr chuckled. "I know, Katya. I love you. Bye."
"Bye," she said softly, hanging up. I love you, the words echoed in her ears. She shook her head when she heard Ororo calling her for lunch. She hastily put her Lance's Notes back into the box and shoving it back behind her shoes. No use leaving evidence of having Lance's stuff around.
She went to the kitchen. Both Rogue and Amara were there, taking their plates. "Hey, Kitty," they both said. Kitty nodded to them.
"Say, Rogue, are you gonna go out again this afternoon?" Kitty asked, taking her salad.
"Maybeh. Why? Ya wanna come?" Rogue asked.
"Sure, but I have to, like, pick up Piotr's car from Rick's Garage, first," Kitty said.
Rogue look to Amara, who just shrugged. "Alraght," she said, nodding.
About an hour later, they were on the road, leaving the professor and Ororo in the house. "Where did ya say Rick's Garage was again?" Rogue asked.
"Um, I'm not sure," Kitty said after hesitating. Shethought she could memorize the directions. Apparently, it was not so. And, apparently, she was a ditz.
Rogue sighed. "Alraght, Kit, go through the directory. It's under your seat ah think," she said.
Kitty nodded and got it out. "Here it is," she said and recited the address to Rogue. By the time they got there, it was already about half past two. Kitty thanked the two and went in, asking for Piotr's car from the secretary. When she got her information, she went to Garage 3.
"Um, like, excuse me? I'm here to pick up Piotr Rasputin's car," she said after she had knocked on the wall softly. The mechanic had familiar brown hair. Her eyebrows furrowed at the thought. Is it him?
"Um, yeah, here it is," he said. He was not looking at her so it was hard for her to see his face.
Kitty huffed silently. "It's, like, more polite to look at someone in the face when they're talking to you, you know," she said indignantly.
She heard him sigh as he turned around. His head was bowed down though. But there was no mistaking that face, no matter how much it was shadowed. "Here's the keys to the car, miss," he said. He was quite polite despite being rude.
"You," she whispered, the slip fluttering to the floor.
"Me," he said. "Hey, Kit," he said in an attempt to make conversation, even if only for a while.
"Oh, um, hey, Lance," she said nervously. She cursed herself silently. How could she forget he worked here? Damn it, Piotr, you so owe me, Kitty thought furiously. He didn't even mention to her… Surely he would have known. "It's been a while." Stupid thing to say, Pryde, she snapped at herself.
"Yea," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Um, hey, maybe you should go. I mean, you're kinda like about an hour and a half late."
"Yea, I'm sorry about that," she said sheepishly. "Lance?"
"Yeah, Kitty?"
"Do you think we can, like, talk for a moment?" she asked.
Lance actually considered saying no. Just like he used to when she asked him to do something he didn't want to. But even if she was no longer in love with him, he was still in love with her. He could never say no to that beautiful face.
"Sure," he sighed,"but only for while. Do you want to sit?"
She shook hr head no. She opened her mouth but it had chosen that moment to close up. She took a deep breath. Her throat was dry. What she was about to ask him was about the most craziest thing to do, especially when you had a loving boyfriend whose car you were supposed to be picking up, and a boyfriend who knew that they had dated.
"Lance, I was just wondering, ya know? Do you think we can, I dunno, be friends?" she asked tentatively.
He stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "Won't tin-man be mad?" he said bitterly.
"His name is Piotr, Lance," she said exasperatedly. But when she noticed the hurt look on his face, she said gently, "It's just friends, Lance. What's the harm in that?"
Because I want to be more than just friends. I want to go back to when they were eight months ago, he wanted to say. But instead, he said, "Oh, look, hey, I gotta go. My shift ends in ten minutes."
"Lance," she pleaded. "Please?"
Lance sighed. As much as his heart wanted him to say yes, a part of him told him to stay away from her. It looked to him as though tin-man hadn't told her about his threat. Should he tell her?
"Kitty, I'll get someone else over here, alright?" he asked. He turned around to face her. There was that face. Again. He sighed once more. "Look, tin-grin told me to stay away from you. I'm only doing what he says."
"Wait, Piotr talked to you?" she asked. "When?"
"When the car was brought in," he said, stating the obvious.
"Did he threaten you?" she asked furiously. "He has absolutely no right to do that!" Ooh, bad sign. No valley-girl talk. She calmed down a bit as she opened the car door to put the key into the ignition. "Lance, I'm only asking to be friends. Please?"
He sighed again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Fine, Kitty, but if he comes after me, I'm telling him you wouldn't stop pestering me," he teased. It was almost like old times. Almost.
"Okay. I better get going," Kitty said, closing the door. Lance signed the slip after he had picked it up from the floor. He passed it to her. "I'll see ya around."
"Yea," Lance said as she drove out. She had become a better driver after she had gotten her license. Why did he feel that things were about to become more complicated now?