This is gonna sound wild but I'm working on like, chapter seven of this fic and just realized I had a prophetic dream about it weeks ago. But then I have always been a little psychic. Time travel is always possible in dreams.

KURT

He took her to the mall, picking up an oversized hoodie for himself first; he had an image inducer, of course, but it could be unreliable, so even when he used it he tended to bury himself in baggy clothing and scarves in the winter or summer, always keeping his hood up.

"Do you want to see a movie?" he asked as they walked down the long, vividly colorful main stretch of the mall.

"A movie?" Wanda sounded uncertain, though she took in every storefront with rapt attention. He could tell she was trying to keep up her cool demeanor but her blue eyes were wide with wonder. "Oh, sure."

"Have you ever seen a movie before? Have you ever been to the mall?"

"Of course I have," she bristled, "it's just different on Genosha."

He wasn't sure how honest she was being but he didn't press her, instead getting them both tickets to the new action flick, as well as popcorn.

They sat at the back as images began flickering across the massive screen, and Kurt decided that Wanda had definitely never been to the movies before. Once the lights dimmed her usually closed off expression turned to delight and wonder, and he spent the majority of the movie covertly watching her instead of the screen, then mentally slapping himself for it.

They could be friends, but only friends. She didn't even want to be here. She didn't even like him.

WANDA

After the movie they went to the food court and ate fries and milkshakes (Kurt dipped his fries in his milkshake, much to Wanda's chagrin) and watched the steady stream of people filter through the open mall.

Wanda felt better than she had at the institute, though she was still a little down it was nice to get away from the claustrophobic classes and training and everything. Well, she couldn't get away from Kurt, but he wasn't so bad. He didn't insist that the institute was the best place for her to be, and he'd skipped class to take her to the mall. She knew he'd done it because he was a bleeding heart who couldn't stand to see a girl cry, but she was grateful anyways.

The food court was bustling with humans, none of which noticed the two mutants among them. Wanda even noticed a group of teen girls pointing at Kurt and talking behind their hands, and they seemed to be egging one girl into asking him out.

"We should probably be getting back soon," said Kurt, oblivious to the group of girls. "Morning classes will be over and someone could notice that we're missing."

"I don't want to go back."

"You want to go home?"

When he said it it made her feel like a little kid begging for its parents, but she didn't fit in at the institute and she didn't like it there. The stifling classes, the smothering training. And what good was it all? She was never going to be an X-Man.

She was saved from having to answer him by one of those girls, a pretty petite blond with butterfly clips in her hair and a lot of lipgloss. She sauntered over to their table, ignoring Wanda and fixing Kurt with big doey eyes.

"Hi," she said with a smile, "I'm Amy."

"Er, hello." Kurt seemed to shrink a little into his coat, pulling the sleeves down over his hands. Wanda realized that this was because his inducer could only hide his mutations from someone looking at him, not touching him.

Amy twirled a strand of blond hair around her finger. "My friends and I were watching you guys, and I thought you were cute, so Vanessa said I should come ask you out...and here I am." She looked confident that whatever she asked Kurt would agree to.

"Oh." His gaze cut quickly to Wanda, then back to Amy. "I'm with someone, actually."

Amy finally turned her eyes to Wanda. Man, if looks could kill...

Anger ignited inside Wanda. If only this human girl knew who she was dealing with. Her fists clenched under the table, but Wanda pasted a fake smile onto her face.

"That's right. He's with me. Isn't that right, Kurtie?"

"So you really are together?" Amy frowned. "Together, together?"

Kurt glanced awkwardly over to Wanda and cleared his throat. "Yeah."

"Hmf." Amy tossed her blond hair and walked away without even saying goodbye, shooting a murderous glare at Wanda as she left.

Kurt looked at Wanda, one eyebrow raised. "Kurtie?"

She shrugged. "What? I was playing a part."

"It's just that..." he tugged at his collar, a self-conscious smile playing across his lips, "that's what my mom calls me."

The look of discomfort on his face was so funny Wanda couldn't help buy laugh. "Did you want to go out with her? It looked like you didn't, but maybe I shouldn't have said anything."

He shook his head. "I don't want to go out with her." He fiddled with his image inducer. "I don't...go out with humans."

"Why do you hide?" Her eyebrows drew together. "You shouldn't have to pretend to be something you're not."

"It's okay, really. I wouldn't want to frighten any small children."

"The small children on Genosha are perfectly fine," Wanda retorted, "and there are mutants who look far worse than you do there."

His expression shifted, his eyes flicking down. "Oh."

A sudden stab of guilt shot through Wanda. She backtracked. "I didn't mean it like that. You don't look bad, Kurt. I...I like the way you look."

His eyes lifted and she saw the light of raw emotion there. "Really?"

Her cheeks flushed but she nodded. "Really."