The next morning, the pair were conspicuous by their absence from the table in the kitchen. Jean cast about mentally for them, and found both deeply asleep in their room. She asked Kitty to go and knock on their door, to see if they were going to have some breakfast. Kitty nodded, and went to their room. As she walked round a corner, she didn't heard Jean calling her back, with a slightly panicked tone in her voice. She carried on walking. She knocked on the door and called out, "Breakfast's ready, boys!"

When there was no answer, she knocked again, slightly louder. "Bobby! John!"

There was still no answer. Mentally preparing herself, she phased her head and shoulders through the door, intending to yell at them from the other side of the door. What she saw, however, drove all thoughts of waking them from her mind.

They were curled up together in Bobby's bed, Bobby lying with his back to the wall. John was nestled against his chest, spooned against him, and Bobby's arm was carelessly flung over John's body, his elbow on John's hip and hand on his chest. They were both wearing shorts and shirts, for which Kitty was immensely grateful. Kitty's first thought was that the scene was one of the cutest things she had ever seen.

The second thought was that this was too perfect a blackmail opportunity to pass up. She smirked to herself and phased back through the door, then raced to her room to grab her camera.

This was too good a chance to miss, she thought.

Retrieving her camera, she returned at speed to their room, and got her breathing under control. Opening the door, she stepped in, raised the camera, focused, and took the photo. Unfortunately, she had forgotten to stop the flash, and the subsequent burst of light and the click-whirr of the camera spitting out a photo woke John.

"Huh? Whaa? Who's there… Kitty! What are you doing here…"

He suddenly remembered where he was, what had happened, and whose arm was draped over his body. He struggled to sit up, but Bobby, more awake than he realised, kept his arm firmly in place, and he failed. He felt, more than saw, Bobby smile to himself.

"We'll be down for breakfast soon, Kitty. Just… give us a minute," he said, tightening his grip on John slightly, the smile becoming wider.

John, blushing, again tried to get up, but was again thwarted by Bobby's arm. Kitty left, closing the door behind her. The photo held in her hand was just starting to develop.

John turned over, lying on his back, and tilted his head to stare at Bobby.

"You realise that this is going to be all over the school in less than an hour," he said conversationally.

"You honestly think anyone's going to care? I mean, everyone's had their suspicions about you for some time."

"What! What the hell is that supposed to mean?" John was outraged.

The smile was back on Bobby's face. He began idly stroking John's hair. "Well, let's see, you've never had a girlfriend, in all the time you've been at the Institute, you get on everyone's nerves with your constant bitching… need I go on?"

"Huh. Whatever," said John, wriggling deeper into Bobby's embrace. He was silent for a moment, then brightened. "Well, I suppose the one good thing about this is that we don't have to worry about-"

"Bobby! John! Get out here, NOW!" growled Logan from the other side of the door.

Both boys' faces dropped. They untangled themselves from the sheets and each other, and got up. "I was going to say, 'getting pregnant'," whispered John, "but I think that I've just found a worse choice."

"I heard that, Allerdyce!"

Bobby smothered a laugh.

"Now!"

They both struggled into trousers and shoes, and both made for the door, which opened to reveal-

-Logan.

There was a completely humourless expression on his face. That didn't worry the boys. That was his usual face. What did were the six sharp, shiny Adamantium claws that were in plain sight, three of them pointing directly at the two teens framed in the doorway. They both stopped dead.

He didn't say a word, but just glared at them.

"Are we going to get 'the talk' now?" asked John.

"No," ground out Logan. "You're going to get a warning. No more funny stuff. I don't care one way or the other whether or not you two have finally figured each other out. I don't care if you're gay, or not. No more funny stuff."

"Okay, we get it, thank you, Logan," said John, rolling his eyes.

Logan growled. John shut up.

He retracted the claws, the gashes healing instantly, only a single drop of blood running down his knuckle.

"Breakfast is ready. I suggest you get down there now." His face broke into a malicious grin, one of the scariest facial expressions the Wolverine had. "Kitty's put her photo on the table."

Both teens ran for the kitchen. As they burst through the door, there was a chorus of "Awwww, how cute!" from Rogue, Jubilee, Kitty, Syrin, Storm, Jean and all the other females still at the table. The boys were having a good chuckle over the picture, with a few comments of "Finally", "About time", and the like. The picture was being passed from one person to the next, all the way down the table. Horrorstruck, they could only stare. Jean noticed them.

"And here's the pair of them now!" she said, grinning.

---

Weeks passed, weeks that quickly developed into months, and these were some of the happiest for John and Bobby. They had their arguments, their fights, both with and without powers, but they always resolved them, and never went to sleep with an unresolved argument. For the most part, as with Bobby's coming out, nobody had a problem, and were happy for them. The one person who had a problem was dealt with quickly, very early on.

"It's not right, it's against the natural way of things."

There was a good-natured snort. "And you're not?"

"Excuse me?" Raised eyebrows.

"What is Homo Superior, if not different?"

"It's not the same, though." Shrugging.

"I fail to see any difference."

"Mutation is genetic. That isn't."

"That hasn't been proven one way or the other. The debate about nature versus nurture is still raging."

"I still don't see why everyone has to be so happy about it."

"The main difference between being homosexual and being a mutant is, in most cases, the visibility. You, for instance, it's fairly obvious that you're a mutant. They've told people, but they were not obliged to. This is now visible, and they need to be accepted, and loved, for what they are, just as you were, for being a mutant. Now, that's enough on that subject. They've proved their commitment to one another, and I'll have them move into the teacher's wing in a week. They've agreed to stay on and help the staff with the new students who'll be joining us soon."

On the team, as well, they had turned into two of the best fighters, always looking out for each other and the rest of the team. On several Danger Room sessions, they had been the most deadly, combining their powers to overwhelm their opponents. They demonstrated this on the missions as well.

They settled comfortably into their teaching assistant roles at the mansion, eventually gaining the necessary qualifications through a correspondence course to become teachers. Bobby taught Science, along with Jean, and John taught Applied Powers, with help from Bobby. He was especially good with the students who were lacking the control or self-discipline of their abilities, as he had had the same problem, and could often relate to their situations.

When they made their relationship official, the small ceremony at the mansion was attended by the mansions residents and Mrs. Drake. She had finally gotten over the shock of having the destroyed police cruisers on her lawn, and the lesser shock of Bobby coming out, and she was determined to enjoy the celebrations. The expression on her face when she saw that Bobby's boyfriend was the firebug who had caused the damage was captured by Kitty's Polaroid camera. It took pride of place in the photo album, right next to a picture of the happy couple, grinning, holding champagne flutes.

---

Five Years Later.

They were getting ready for bed when John turned round to Bobby and said, "You know, I don't think I ever properly thanked Marie for what she did to you, and to me."

"What do you mean?" asked Bobby, pulling off his shirt. John stopped to admire Bobby's chest, and didn't hear the question. It was only when a pillow bounced off his face that he looked up.

"Stop drooling, John, and answer me," said Bobby, a smile playing on his face.

"I just think that if it hadn't've been for her, kissing you, then knocking me out, we'd still be wandering round here, looking for someone to live with, to love with. You know that we owe her our happiness."

Bobby stopped, and looked at John with a curious expression.

"What?"

"Mystique, I suggest you get out of here and don't come back. There's three telepaths in this school, plus the entire X-Men team."

"Huh? Mystique? Bobby, it's me," said John, completely confused.

"Oh," said Bobby lightly. "It's just that the John I know and love would never come out with such a sentimental and romantic line like that." He grinned wickedly.

John's eyes narrowed. "Very funny. Ha ha ha. You see this?" he pointed to his face. "This is me, being amused by your wit." He sprawled on the bed, and made no move to get up. Bobby sat down on the bed, and pushed him over. "Stop taking all the room," he muttered.

"Nope," said John. "I'm perfectly fine right where I- Hey! No powers! Jeez, that's freezing!"

"Thank you," said Bobby happily, his side once more free of Pyro. It was amazing, really, what an icy hand could do to get his side of the bed back. He immediately rolled over, and came face to face with John, who was glaring at him.

"You used powers," he muttered. Bobby silenced his protests with a kiss.

"Only when you took up the entire bed."

"You realise that we're acting like an old married couple?"

"Yep."

"You don't care, do you?"

"Nope."

John kissed Bobby, and said, "Neither do I."