Chapter 12 - 'Prom Dates'

Kurt silently said a thanks to the heavens as the bell signaled the end of class on Friday. The day had gone exceptionally well and he was just thankful to have the upcoming weekend to relax.

As soon as he departed his classroom, he headed down the hall to where Kitty would be exiting her's. After they had proven last night that Kitty's powers really were kept under control from being near Kurt; he had tried to make a conscious effort to be by her side all day. Not because she asked him too, Kitty was too proud for that, but because he knew that she was grateful. Besides, it's not as though he minded having an excuse to hang out with his gorgeous friend that he was completely infatuated with.

As he rounded the corner of the long, locker lined linoleum hallways he passed the area where the "punks" usually hung out. The ones that wore all black, usually sported a few visible piercings and most of their outfits involved chains. Kurt didn't actually know anyone from this clique and was surprised to hear his last name called out as he passed.

He stopped and turned around, his brain telling him a second too late to just ignore them and keep walking to avoid a confrontation.

"You rock." Said one of the guys from the group in an unenthusiastic, but positive statement.

Kurt glanced in his direction and then realized that he, along with most of the others in his group had newly dyed blue hair.

"Uh, thanks." Kurt smiled and waved as he kept on walking.

"I've gone from 'freak of the week' to fashion trend." He muttered to himself.

He saw Kitty come out of her classroom, a smile formed across her face as she noticed him heading towards her.

She walked up and took his hand in hers, something she had just started doing two passing periods earlier. Even then it had seemed natural and Kurt thought to himself that he could get very used to this.

The two had carpooled that morning with a few of the younger students and had decided to walk home and enjoy the beautiful weather. On their way out, they ran into Rogue just outside the building. She noticed the two holding hands, but mentally decided to ask Kurt about it later. Besides, she had better things on her mind at the moment. She smiled to herself as the pair approached.

"Hey, what's up with you?" Kitty asked Rogue as they neared her.

"Ja. You're all grins." Kurt added, noting the foreign smile she wore.

"Huh?" Rogue tried to play dumb.

"Come on roommie, spill. You can act like nothing's up, but like the glow is definitely giving you away."

Rogue was trying to keep up her trademark, 'I don't give a damn about anything' attitude, but failed miserably after Kitty's prodding.

"Ah got asked tah prom today." She finally said, attempting to make it sound as though it were no big deal.

Kitty screamed and grabbed her roommate in a hug. "Oh my god, like who was it? When did it happen? How did he ask you?" She was talking so quickly that Rogue was glad she had practice deciphering her 'Valley Girl' talk.

"This was in mah locker." She replied before pulling a long, thin, black box from her bag and handed it to Kitty. She opened it and inside was a note asking Rogue to prom along with a long stemmed rose that just happened to be made of ice.

"Awwww." Kitty made a sound as if she were adoring a cute puppy. "Like I totally knew that Drake had a thing for you." She added.

"Nah." Rogue tried to brush the thought away. "He just overheard me th'other night saying that ah would go if someone asked me."

"Nothing like Bobby to vait until the last minute." Kurt said playfully.

"Ah know! Prom is tomorrow night. Speaking of which, ah gotta go shopping, Kit you wanna come?"

"Uh, no thanks. I've got some stuff to get to." Kitty answered awkwardly, surprising both present that she would turn down a shopping trip.

"Awlright, well I'll see you two tonight then." Rogue waved as she walked off towards her car.

Kurt and Kitty walked in a comfortable silence for the first part of their trip home.

"How was your day?" Kitty asked, trying to sound casual, but Kurt noticed a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Not too bad." He said, a smile crept across his features. "Rouge vasn't the only one who got asked to prom today."

"What?!" Kitty stopped dead in her tracks. "Seriously? Who?" She was suddenly having trouble forming sentences.

"This girl Janie, in my Chemistry class. She's my lab partner." He casually answered and continued walking leaving Kitty standing dumbfounded behind him.

She quickly picked up her pace and got back in stride with him, noticing that he looked al little smug having obviously caught her off guard.

"Well, like what did you say?" She asked, trying to sound as though either way, she didn't care. She was thankful that his senses were not as acute as Mr. Logan's, or the thumping of her speeding heart would have surly given her away.

"I politely declined." He answered.

"Why?" Kitty asked, silently thankful that he had said "no".

"I vasn't going to go anyways." He shrugged.

"But it's your Senior Prom." She emphasized the title. "Besides, I thought you loved dances?"

"Ja. But let's face it Keety, no one really vants me there. I'm just trying to avoid a confrontation."

The young brunette stopped walking again, although this time it wasn't out of shock. She knew what he meant, how he felt unaccepted in their own school. Hell, she felt that way too, and aside from passing through walls, she was a pretty normal high school girl.

She remembered how many times they as mutants had been shunned by their peers for showing up to dances or sporting events. She recalled all the glares that Scott and Jean received merely for attending their graduation, and knew that just as much was to be expected for their fast approaching graduation. At the same time, she could understand why the school felt that way after Magneto, The Brotherhood or any other angry mutant had caused a scene so many times before.

"Well, I want you there." She said softly.

Kurt had slowed down his pace, but now he too stopped so he could turn around and look at her.

"Thanks Katzchen, but in case you forgot, they all know that I resemble a fuzzy blue monster." His words were cynical.

"Yeah, so?" She said light heartedly, but with a determination in her voice. "They don't even seem to care anymore, you're last weeks news."

"Ja, they don't care as long as I look like this!" He spoke louder now as he motioned to his hologram covered body. "They know who I really am, yet I hide behind this disguise every verdamnet day!" He slowed down and his voice level returned to normal. "I'm tired of hiding Keety."

She came up to look him in the eye.

"So here's your chance to show them the real you." She said seriously before adding, "Not too mention all those secret dance moves." She smiled at him.

"Oh ja. That'd go over vell." His tone got serious and he looked back into her eyes. "Vhy do you vant me there so badly?"

"Well." She stammered, she really did want him there, she just wasn't sure how to ask. "Now that Rogue, Bobby and Evan are going, we won't be the only mutants there. Besides ..." She took an audible swallow. "I was hoping you would be there for me." She all but whispered the last words having used up all her courage to say them.

"Oh." Kurt's voice went cold and he took a step back from her. "I see. I guess it vouldn't do if you phased through your prom date."

"What?" She asked softly confused by his sudden change of behavior.

By this point in their conversation the two had arrived at the mansion and stood in the front yard.

"No, really, it's no problem. I mean, what are friends for right?" He said dryly, all of his playfulness lost.

"Kurt I didn't mean to upset you." Kitty felt horrible, her emotions were a mix of guilt and embarrassment. With all that had happened between the two recently, she had thought that he would enjoy accompanying her. She had even ridiculed herself over the fear of his rejection, now she realized why she had originally worried so much over him saying "no". She wished she could somehow go back in time and remove the invitation that now hung awkwardly between them.

"Eet's fine." He stated obviously still upset. "Look, I have a Danger Room session to make up from Tuesday. I vill see you later okay. You know vhere to find me if you have any problems."

Kitty's heart ached over hearing him so hurt, and knowing that somehow she had caused it. She felt even more guilty when he mentioned that he would help her if she had any more phasing problems, even though he obviously didn't even want to talk to her at the moment.

"Okay, I'll see you later." She weakly replied.

He was already half way in the front door when he added, "Don't forget to go see Dr. McCoy."

"You're not coming?" She asked, remembering their appointment.

"I'll go later." He said, shutting the door behind him while leaving Kitty standing in the front lawn, not quite sure of what had just happened.

About an hour into their Danger Room sequence it was more than a little obvious to Scott that something was troubling his friend. Nightcrawler had been pushing himself much harder then necessary, making dangerous decisions and risky moves. Scott knew from his own personal experience that sometimes physical exertion could be the best way to rid oneself of a little stress, but if his friend got much worse, he was going to have to stop him.

Kurt leapt out of the way as a projectile was shot in his direction. He attached himself to the wall, running on all fours in a manner completely impossible for most humans. Scott counteracted the attack by firing down as many of the projectiles as he could. The room equipped with all kinds of hazards for these young students to train against, continued to spring to life tossing out small explosives as metal tentacles writhered out of the walls grasping at the two boys as they sped through.

Kurt already felt at a disadvantage, not being able to rely on his teleportation to get him out of harms way. At the moment however, he wasn't about to let that slow him down.

The goal of this particular training exercise was to get past all of the obstacles across the room and make it to the other side where there was a large red lever that when pulled would end the program.

Scott knew that Kurt was clear on the objective, that they only needed to avoid the obstacles, not destroy them. This being said, he was a bit irritated to see his blue companion ignore his clear shot at the red lever and instead choose to attack another weapon wielding machine.

As Scott himself went for the lever, he was grabbed from behind. A large robotic hand quickly coiled tentacles around him enabling him to move while slowly crushing him.

"Kurt, a little help here!" He hollered.

Conveniently the hand that held him was keeping his head, or more importantly his destructive eyes, turned away from itself which just happened to give the older boy a good view of the fight his friend was engaged in.

Metallic and fuzzy limbs blurred together as Nightcrawler used his speed and acrobatic agility to maneuver himself not only around his opponent, but on it as well. He was precisely avoiding lash after lash thrown out by the large machine as he quickly planted strategic blows around it with a sharp piece of shrapnel he had picked up along the way.

"Watch out!" Cyclops yelled out, his lungs aching from the increasing pressure around his rib cage.

Kurt hadn't heard him in time and took a rather nasty blow to the side, knocking him down to the ground. This gave the machine just enough time to coil out an arm tightly around his neck and lift him off the ground.

"Kurt, you can reach the lever with your tail!"

Scott's cries fell on deaf ears as his teammate swung his flexible body up to plant his feet on either side of the machine, hoping to tear off something that would cause it to break down.

"Kurt!" Cyclops coughed out. "Hit the lever!" His body burned when he tried to inhale, all he could do was wait for Kurt to make his move, or at least get out of his way so he could get a clear shot of his adversary.

Before he got his chance a cold automated voice could be heard ringing throughout the room.

"Program terminated, designated safety level exceeded."

Immediately every hazard in the room came to a full stop as the program automatically shut down. Both of the boys felt the grasp around them loosen and were dropped unceremoniously on the cold metal floor; coughing as they enjoyed the ease of breathing again.

They laid there for a few moments catching their breaths.

"You...okay?" Scott asked between coughs.

Kurt laid still on his back, his breath returning to normal as he looked up at the mangled machinery above him that now stood eerily still.

"Ja." He answered quietly. "Are you okay"

"Yeah." The older by sat upright and dusted himself off. "But, I'm definitely going to feel it tomorrow." He added lightheartedly.

"I'm sorry." Kurt said softly, but making sure that Scott could hear him.

"Forget about it." He replied before offering a hand to his blue friend pulling him up. "But are you gonna tell me what's got you so riled up that a pile of metal just about had you for lunch?"

"I vould have been fine if I could teleport, I'm just not used to fighting vithout it." He muttered angrily knowing that it was only half true. As he stood up he rolled his shoulders to stretch out a few kinks and winced upon discovering a rather large gash in his left arm.

"Has Beast been able to figure out how to fix your and Kitty's powers?" Scott asked as he motioned for Kurt to follow him into the locker rooms where the two sat down and Kurt pressed a towel to his wound to stop the bleeding.

"Nothing to fix it, he's just figured out that we are somehow affecting each other's powers and as long as I stay nearby Kitty she can keep her phasing in check." His answer was stale.

"That doesn't seem like such a bad cure, now you have an excuse to hang around Kitty all day." Scott wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

"Or to be her chaperone so she and 'Rock Your World' Lance can go to prom." His voice was cold and angry.

"Kitty didn't really ask you to do that did she? I mean, I know she can be a little self-centered sometimes, but..." Scott trailed off in disbelief.

"Alvers asked her three weeks ago, and she so kindly asked if I vould "be there for her"." Kurt rolled his eyes in disgust as he repeated the words that had crushed his heart just an hour or so earlier.

"I dunno Kurt." Scott paused for a moment, he was trying his best to be supportive. "Just because Lance asked her doesn't mean that she said 'yes'. Besides, I thought I heard someone mention that he was going with Tabby."

Kurt's mood visibly lifted at this statement.

"Boom Boom?" He asked again making certain that he had heard the older boy correctly.

"That's what I heard." Scott shrugged at this statement and stood up. "Anyways, you should really talk to her and straighten this out, before you do something you'll really regret." Scott gestured to Kurt's wounded arm and the blood soaked towel he had pressed on it.

"Ja." He agreed.

"But first, go see Hank about that arm." He nudged Kurt's injured arm with a mischievous look on his face.

"Ouch!" Kurt glared up at Scott as his "brother" chuckled to himself and headed back for the showers. "Geez already, I'm going." He muttered as he massaged the sore limb.

End Chapter 12 - 'Prom Dates'

Author's Notes: Hey everyone! I bet you thought I forgot about this fic. I don't know why it has taken me so long to get this chapter up, but after more than a month it's finally here! And I already have the next chapter and a half written out, so read and enjoy while I type, and hopefully I will have the next chapter up soon. As always please REVIEW I would love to hear your comments!

Also: I'm not sure why I decided to pair Rogue up with Bobby. I can't say that the X-Men Evo Bobby is all that interesting, but I like him more than the Evo Gambit and I wanted a more uncommon pairing so .... I hope you like it!