Sorry that I have taken so long. No one responded to the last chapter so I didn't really know whether to continue or not. Right now I'm continuing for my own curiosity of where this story will go. By the way, be sure to check out my website dedicated to the story. There are pictures of the characters and a poll. There will be more to it but it's a work in progress. Thanks so much for all of your support. Please keep reviewing and let me know what you think! de lovely

Let's Get the Party Started!

"Hey! E! Wake up girl!" A groan escaped from Blaze's mouth as she rolled over and found Flux sitting on her bed with Dustin and Alyson with her. They were surrounding her, but what for? They didn't seem sad, so no one must have died throughout the night. They weren't jumping up and down hysterically, so they all didn't win a million dollars from Ed McMahon. So why are they grinning so big?

"Hmmm… What time is it?" She glanced at the clock by her bedside and was horrified. "It's 6:30 in the morning! Why are you waking me up so early?"

"Umm…let's think about what today is. Hmmm…." Flux pretended to ponder on the current date. "Uh, hello! It's our birthday! We're 21 years old now! Get up! We have a surprise for you! Well, Dustin and Alyson do." Flux stepped back and took a seat next to Blaze on her bed. Dustin and Aly each brought forward a bed tray full of breakfast foods that the girls love to eat. Pancakes, with lots of syrup and butter, with a side of sausage links and scrambled eggs were piled high up on several plates. Toast and jellies were on another plate while the orange juice and milk was presented to them. Two bowls of cereal were set off to the side. Dustin and Alyson both picked those up and started to dig in while the two girls just stared at all of the food in front of them.

"Are y'all sure that you don't want to share? There is plenty to go around. You guys made enough for the whole school."

"Yeah, we're sure." They said in unison as they dug into their Frosted Flakes. The breakfast was divine. There was not much more to say. This was the first time in the month that they had been living here that they had spent together with some real quality time. They all enjoyed it and spent hour after hour catching up with each other's hectic lives. Between Blaze spending time between Logan and Spenser, Flux staying on top of her math classes, and Alyson and Dustin doing project after project in their classes. Before they knew it, all of the food was gone, and lunch was just a few hours away. It was a Saturday and the weekend was a well deserved break. The graduating seniors finished their finals yesterday and received their diplomas overseen by the state of New York. It was exciting to see the ceremony in the back yard, especially for Blaze and Flux since they got their GED's a few years ago. The graduates were given one night on the town and were to come back in the vicinity of 3 am. Fortunately they showed up in one piece and not a one of them were awake at this hour of 10 am. The point was proven when the McHill kids were walking through the halls with their dirty plates to the kitchen. Not a sound was heard or made.

When they reached the kitchen, Bobby was awake, nursing a glass of orange juice. Blaze looked over at Flux who was looking a little flustered. "Bobby, what are you doing up?" Flux asked as she set down her plates.

"Ah, I don't need a lot of sleep. Never was a heavy sleeper." He replied as he gave a hug to Alyson. Every once and a while, she would hang out with Rogue and Bobby. But she hadn't been lately because Bobby and Rogue had been having more and more arguments and personally, Aly didn't want to get involved.

Flux cleared her throat and nodded a little, and gave a meek smile. "Oh, Happy Birthday you two. Do you guys have anything planned?" Bobby asked giving his best smile.

"Um, no not really. Think we are just going to relax and take a break." She said leaning against the counter across from him.

"I'm going to go get dressed and I'll see you later." Blaze said politely, excusing herself from the room with Dustin and Alyson following close at her heels.

"Oh, okay. Well, um, did you and Marie have anything planned for your first day of summer?"

"Uh, no not really. She's still asleep and probably won't wake up for another two hours. But I don't want to hang around here all day. There's too much to do now that school is out." He said spreading his arms out wide.

Flux raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Well then it's settled. We're going out today."

"And what are we going to do?"

Flux laughed, "Well that much I haven't quite figured out just yet. I just woke up a few hours ago. Give me a minute."

"Ok, how about we just get out and figure out the rest later. Meet you back here in say, thirty minutes?" A smile beamed on Flux's face as she nodded started to leave.

"Ok, thirty minutes."

Thirty minutes later, Flux and Bobby pulled out of the mansion drive and through the neighborhood.

"You know, you look better when you smile. I mean, not that you don't look good already, but…"

Flux laughed at his attempt to fix his mistake, "It's okay. Do you really think so? I always feel like I'm exposing myself when I do." She cut herself off as if realizing that she had said too much. She turned and looked out the window, watching all the houses fly by.

"Of course I think so. When you smile, you're eyes light up and you become more animated." Flux turned to face him.

"Really?"

"Well, I wouldn't lie to you!" he said as he pulled into the mall parking lot.

"What are we doing here?" Flux asked as she unclipped her seatbelt.

"Well," he placed his hand on his chest, "today is my first day of summer, so I need to get some camping and summer gear and," he pointed at Flux, "today is your birthday. Today is a day for celebrating and I wasn't about to let you slip through your birthday doing nothing special." He smiled as he draped his arm around her shoulders as they walked through the front doors of the mall. Her smile never left her face.

"So what was with the hug this morning?" Flux nonchalantly asked as she was looking through some bathing suits.

"Oh, with Alyson? She's giving me archery lessons in exchange for fighting lessons." He said as he held out a pair of swimming trunks to examine.

"Really? I didn't know that."

"Well, no one does. At the school, we learn the basics of mathematics and science on top of learning how to control our 'special abilities'. We don't learn anything about how to use real weapons. So I asked if Alyson wouldn't mind if she would help me out."

"So you never brought up the fighting? She did?"

"Yeah," he said as his blue eyes lit up and a smirk appeared on his lips.

"Why?"

"I don't know. There's just something about using the old school weapons that has some draw on me. You could say that I'm a sucker for them. I would have asked Dustin, but he was too busy chasing the girls and Aly insisted that she was the better one." He picked up another swimsuit and took a look at it. "Cool! Look, Flux." He held up a pair with icicles and snowflakes on it. It was blue and white. It fit his personality perfectly and no one would guess why he would have a winter pattern, but the people who really knew him. Flux couldn't help but smile and nod.

"It's perfect! Does it come in your size?"

Bobby searched through the racks and pulled out one his size. "Yup!" he smiled brightly. "Have you found anything yet?" he nodded in her direction.

"No, not yet. I can't decide what style I want or what colors. Or how much I want to spend," she mumbled.

"Whoa! What about this?" he held up a teeny tiny two piece that was two small triangles that barely covered anything and a thong.

"Um, I don't think so!" she laughed. She grabbed it from his hands and put it back on the rack, making sure that no one saw what he was so excited about.

"Hm, what about this one?" she held up a hot pink conservative two piece with black palm trees on it.

"Well, I'd have to see it on before I agree," he smiled wickedly.

"Oh, pul-ease!" She picked up the correct size and they continued on shopping for more clothes and equipment. Soon, they stopped in the food court for lunch. After their meal, Bobby excused himself and left for a minute. Before Flux even knew what he was up to, he returned with a small cookie cake with a candle on top.

"Happy Birthday, Hali." Everything caught her off-guard. Him surprising her with the trip, the cake and then calling her by her birth name, this was all too much!

"Oh my gosh! Bobby, you shouldn't have. You've already done so much." He just shrugged as he set the cake down on their table.

"It's really no problem. Honest." Flux closed her eyes and made a wish before blowing out the candle. When she blew, cold air escaped her mouth and she looked up and around to make sure no one saw that. Bobby just raised his eyebrow and shook his head and laughed.

"Thank you so much." She grabbed her knife and started to slice up the cake. "Does Marie know you're doing this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in his direction.

"Um, no. She doesn't. I'm sure she's gonna be pissed when she wakes up and finds out that I was out running around with you."

"What do you mean by that?" she narrowed her eyes in his direction.

"Well…Um… Marie can become very jealous and it can get pretty scary at times. I mean, come on! She can suck the life right outta you! Literally!"

"Then why do you stay with her if she's that threatening?"

"I don't know. I just do. She was one of the first people who understood me."

"If she understood you, she would understand why you are gone and not freak out." She smiled again and took a bite of her cookie. "Let's hurry. There's a 1:00 movie at the theatre that I wanted to see." She finished her piece of cookie and grabbed her bags and headed towards the door.

"The theatre is that way." Bobby said pointing in the direction opposite of what Flux was walking.

"I know but I don't want to carry my bags into the movies. I'm putting them in the car." Looking down at the bags that Bobby was carrying, six bags was a lot to carry. He shrugged and picked up his bags and grabbed his cars keys and headed in Flux's direction.

The movie was great, not to mention the fast that she was sitting so close to Bobby and they split a bag popcorn and drink. It was the best birthday gift that she's had in a long time. 'Ugh! You have to stop thinking like that! He's taken! Even though he's kind of scared, he still loves her a lot. So stop!' Flux shook the voice out of her head and laced her arm through his as they headed back towards the car.

"So how come your boyfriend hasn't called yet on your birthday?" Bobby asked on their way home.

Hali diverted her eyes away from his and shrugged. "I don't know. He seems to be acting weird lately."

"How do you mean?" He stole a glance at her and then put his eyes back on the road.

"Well he's asking more and more questions about the people I'm with and where I am. It almost feels like he's stalking me because of some of his comments that he's made." Bobby gave a concerned face and tightened his grip on the steering wheel ever so slightly. When they pulled up into the mansion drive, Hali recognized the Vette sitting next to her Mazda. She sucked in a deep breath and slowly unbuckled herself and reluctantly stepped out of Bobby's car. Bobby looked over at her with a question in his eyes. "Aaron." Bobby nodded his head and walked Hali into the house with her as moral support.

"Flux! Where have you been all afternoon?" Aaron quickly walked over to Flux.

"Aaron? Is something wrong?" she shot him a questionable look.

"Nothing is wrong now that you are found." He pulled her away from Bobby's side and crushed in an embrace that made Bobby feel slightly uncomfortable.

Bobby cleared his voice and started to walk away, "If you'll excuse me…"

"No! Hey you! Come back here." Aaron stopped Bobby from leaving. Bobby turned around as Aaron continued. "Who gave you the right to go off with my girlfriend? Huh?" Aaron still had one arm around Hali as if he was protecting her from Bobby and the other was pointing at Bobby with a fury unleashed.

"Aaron, what is wrong with you! I don't need anyone's permission to go anywhere! Quit being a jerk!"

"No but I would like to know what you two were doing all afternoon." A voice came from behind Bobby. Hali looked over his shoulder and found a pissed off Rogue with her hands crossed over her chest.

"Marie, don't start it." Bobby turned around and pointed his own finger.

"Okay, y'all need to break it up because there's too much finger pointing." Blaze said as she came up from behind them all. "I would suggest that Hali needs to have a word with Aaron. And Bobby, you need to talk with Marie. Now go you separate ways and don't look at each other. Okay?" No one said anything and they were still looking at each other, not daring to be the first one to back down. "Okay?" Hali nodded and grabbed Aaron's arm, keeping hers eyes away from Bobby's as he watched her walk away. Marie came up behind him and started to pull him with her, but he pulled his arm out of her grasp.

"Don't."

"What is your problem?" Flux was livid with Aaron's behavior down stairs. They went up to Flux's room and shut the door.

"He's my problem, Hali! You're spending too much time with him. I know something's going on between you two. I'm not stupid."

"Nothing is going on between us, Aaron. That's just your imagination at work again, making you panic about every little thing that I do! Since when do I have to check in with you about the people I hang out with? We used to never be like this. Aaron, what's changed that made you so questionable about my actions? Can't I just have some friends for once?" She started to get quiet and tears started to well up in her eyes. She still had a fury in her eyes as the room temperature started to drop while Aaron started to shake from the chill.

"Well why were you with him for so long today?"

"Oh my god Aaron! Today is my birthday and the first day of summer and all you care about is how I spend my time!" A tear rolled down her cheek as she wiped it away.

"Baby, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I guess I just got jealous. Can you ever forgive me? Please, Hali." She looked up at him and took a minute to ponder her decision, and then nodded. A smile broke on his face and walked up to her and gave her a hug. The room started to warm up slowly and the goose bumps on his skin started to fade.

"Yeah I can forgive you but just don't let jealousy get the best of you again. Okay?" Aaron nodded and squeezed a little harder.

"So where were you two for the day?" Marie calmly asked Bobby when she closed the door to her room.

"We were shopping at the mall." Marie shot him a glance that told him that she didn't believe him. "If you don't believe me, go pop the trunk of my car and go through the bags if you aren't satisfied." He said as he propped his body against the wall on the other side of the room from Marie.

She snorted out her nose and rolled her eyes. "No, I don't need to do that. So, do you love her?"

"What! What kind of question is that?"

"A simple one."

"No, it isn't. What is with you Marie? You didn't used to be like this. We used to be friends and now we can't even get along with anything."

"You didn't answer my question." She simply pointed out.

"Why are you jealous? Because if you are, then you know exactly how I felt every time Wolverine walks through the door, drawing you away from reality and into your fantasy. Even after he almost killed you!"

"But at least he loved me enough to come after me when I left."

"Don't talk to me about love Marie. How many guys have stayed with you after your mutation began and wasn't scared about you killing them! None except for me! And this is how I'm treated? Screw this! I don't need this." He pushed himself off of the wall and started for the door.

"Bobby, wait! We aren't done here!" Marie shouted after him.

"Yeah," he nodded and paused, "I think we are." He turned and walked away. He walked through the hall and saw several heads popping out of the doorframes, trying to figure out what all of the commotion is about. Bobby's heart was breaking because Marie was his first serious relationship that he had ever had, and now he didn't really know what he was supposed to do now. He'll figure it out later. For now, he went out to his car and started to take the bags out of the trunk. He took his bags up to his room and set Hali's bags outside of her room. As he started to walk away, the door opened and Hali and Aaron were hand in hand as they walked out of the room. Hali's eyes met Bobby's and saw the distress in his eyes.

"Uh…there are your bags from earlier today." He gave a nod in their direction and walked away. Hali could tell that something was off but couldn't tell if it was from him and Aaron yelling or if something had happened between him and Marie. He head was slightly hung as he turned into his room. Aaron saw Hali watching after him and he grabbed her arm and turned her towards the front of the house. The Team was decorating the dining hall for the birthday party that they were throwing for Hali and Edana. Well, except Logan was not present. No body had seen him all day.

Blaze walked up and took a look at what was being done to the room. The professor wheeled up behind her and spoke up. "He's in the Danger Room again. He seems to be spending a lot more time in there." The professor looked up at Blaze with a sincere look in his eyes. "Maybe you should see what is on his mind. He seems to tend to talk to you more than he does any one else."

She was a little reluctant because she didn't need to ask what was wrong with Logan, she already knew. "Can't you just read his mind?"

Professor just gave a chuckle and shook his head, "Logan has built himself a barrier against my powers. I could easily over take those powers but I will respect his privacy and let him talk on his own will."

Blaze gave a slight nod and headed towards the Danger Room. As she was walking through the halls, Marie turned a corner and almost knocked Blaze out. She just kept walking, not even checking to see if Blaze was okay. 'So I take it that the discussion between Bobby and Marie didn't go so well.' She picked herself up off the floor and brushed herself off and continued down the hall. She opened the door to the control room and saw Logan fighting another bad guy through his lenses. She checked his stats and the stats of the "opponent" and saw that he was winning. The battle was almost over and he was about to move on to the next round. She quietly slipped out of the control room and down the stairs to the ground floor where Logan was fighting. The sirens went off signaling that Logan KOed the opponent and that he was moving on.

"Never fails. You could beat these guys in your sleep but yet you still choose to fight a computer instead of a real person." Blaze said in the moment of silence with her arms crossed.

Logan took his lenses off and turned towards Blaze. "What are you doing in here?"

"Oh, I didn't know that the room was reserved or anything at all. And last time I checked, we still lived in a free country. What's it to you?"

"Nothing. You just startled me, that's all."

"I startled you? Man, are your senses fading quick or what." Logan just shot her a glare and she just smiled at him to say that she was just kidding. "The professor is worried about you, you know. He knows something's wrong."

"Did he send you down here to spy on me or something? Because he's got nothing to worry about. Now, if you'll leave me alone, I'll finish my exercises."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"You know what." She turned and started up the stairs. She stopped about half way up and turned to Logan again, "I'll pass your message to the professor." She nodded and walked out of the room. Logan stood there dumbfounded about all that just went on. 'Why was she apologizing? I'm the one that has been avoiding her for these past few weeks.' Logan finished taking the rest of his gear off and put them in the right places and shut down the system and turned out the lights. Right now he had to get ready for two girls' birthday parties.