I've re-posted Chapter 8, for those of you who had trouble reading it.
Sorry. Hope it's easier on the eyes now.
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men. ______________________________________________________________
Bobby hadn't expected that it would take so long to get back to Jubilee. When he finally reached his destination, near a small but crowded picnic area, he found that there was a decent sized line leading from the small stand. Freddie's Ice Cream. Bobby had spoken to Freddie on a few occasions. He was an older man, in his mid sixties, who had retired after working for years as a truck driver. Retirement didn't suit Freddie, though. He found that, after years of solitary driving, he craved companionship. Mostly, he wanted to be surrounded by people. He himself was a divorcee. His wife had moved back home to Oklahoma after their divorce, taking the children with her.
Freddie had tried to maintain ties with his offspring, but found that, once they grew older, they cared little for keeping in touch with their father. He'd only recently found out he was a grandfather; his grandchild was four years old. Bobby figured most people would be pretty morose after being recipients of such treatment, but not old Freddie. Just because he couldn't be a good father and grandfather to his own flesh and blood didn't mean he couldn't bring joy into others' lives. So Freddie opened himself a small ice cream stand in the center of McCormick Park. He made the ice cream himself, using old family recipes and adding his own twist. In the winter, when ice cream wasn't as desirable (To most people. When cold didn't really affect you, it didn't matter what time of year you had your ice cream), Freddie sold homemade hot chocolate and apple cider. His stand generated little income, but Freddie didn't mind. As long as he had his small pension to survive on, Freddie would run the ice cream stand for no profit. What brought him pleasure was seeing how happy he made his customers, children especially. When business was slow, Freddie could usually be seen talking to anyone who would stop and listen. That was how Bobby knew of his circumstances.
"Hey Freddie, how've you been"? asked Bobby as he finally reached the front of the line.
"Bobby! Long time no see. I can't complain. Stand's been busy, days go by quickly. Nice life, really. But enough small talk, young 'un. Can't you see I've got a line," kidded the old man. "What can I get for you"?
Bobby placed his order.
"Wow, that's quite a load. More than you normally get, that's for sure."
"I'm sharing today."
"Ahhh, I see. Anyone special?" Freddie winked conspiratorially.
"Just a friend."
"So it is someone special. Well then, I better make sure to give you a large helping," chuckled Freddie.
Bobby didn't know how to respond, and simply accepted the extra-large waffle cones that Freddie handed him.
"Thanks, Freddie, I'll see you around," said Bobby, struggling to juggle the ice cream and pay.
"Yup, you sure will."
He hoped Jubilee would enjoy the ice cream as much as he did. Freddie made some of the best ice cream that he had ever tasted, but he had never asked anyone else if they shared his opinion. Quit being paranoid, he told himself, making his way back up the path. You'd have to be missing taste buds to not like Freddie's creations. The night was warm, though every once in a while a pleasant breeze made and appearance. While walking, he applied his power to keep the ice cream from melting. At least no one could say that he was good for nothing.
He noticed that Jubilee was not where he left her from several feet away. At first, he was more curious than worried. Where did she run off too? About three feet from the park bench she had been sitting on, Bobby noticed something shining in the grass. On closer examination, it proved to be a bag of sunflower seeds, only half empty. It had to be Jubilee's. She'd always liked to snack on the small seeds. Before he had a chance to ponder which way she might have gone, he heard a loud grunt from the other side of a small copse of trees. And Jubilee's voice. He couldn't make out her words, but he recognized her voice. And her tone was not a friendly one. Now he was worried. Still holding on to the ice cream, he hurried off in the direction from which the sounds had come from.
He rounded the trees, and the first thing he noticed was Jubilee, standing in front of three men, each one larger than she was. It appeared that there was also someone hiding behind Jubilee, whimpering softly. The shortest of the three men was holding something that reflected the moonlight. Bobby walked slowly and quietly along the line of trees to get a better sight of it. He felt his heart skip a beat when he realized it was a knife.
"Don't do something we both know you'll regret, Derek. Put away the knife," came Jubilee's calm and cool voice.
"No way. I think you're just scared," answered the man.
"Y'know, I've been reeeaally patient with you. This is your last warning." Bobby detected some agitation in her voice.
"Oh. My last warning, huh? I'm scared." Without warning, Derek jumped forward, brandishing his knife.
Jubilee was in the proper stance; she could easily have deflected the blow and disarmed him. But Bobby saw an opening and took it. Holding both waffle cones in his left hand, he jumped out of his hiding space and grabbed Derek's knife arm by the wrist, twisting it hard enough to sprain it, if not break a bone.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you that stabbing people isn't good matters?"
Derek dropped the knife with a cry of pain and fell to the ground. Spooked, his two accomplices turned and ran into the darkness, fear for their own lives overcoming any concern they had for their friend's well being. Now that he was closer to Derek, several things caught Bobby's attention. Firstly, Jubilee's assailant was a young boy, not the full- grown man Bobby'd assumed that he was. Secondly, that the knife Jubilee was being threatened with was much smaller and duller than he had thought. She really was in no danger. Basically, he had over-reacted and attacked a teenager. Not that said teenager didn't deserve it, exactly, but Bobby felt that there were better ways to deal with him than trying to snap his wrist off.
Ignoring Derek, who was now clenching his wrist and rolling on the ground, Bobby asked Jubilee, "You okay?"
"Yeah," she responded, though her expression was unreadable. Of course, Bobby mused, most expressions are unreadable when people are wearing sunglasses and standing ten feet away from you in the dark.
Turning, Jubilee asked the trembling figure behind her, "Are you okay?"
"Y-y-yeah. P-please don't h-hurt me," stammered the girl. Jubilee took a closer look at her, and was gripped by a strong feeling of nostalgia. She'd seen this girl before. Or maybe the girl strongly reminded her of someone she'd once known. No, that wasn't it. As was so often the case with these things, Jubilee couldn't pinpoint exactly why this girl seemed so familiar.
"Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Y-yes. Derek and his friends followed me here. I know them from school. I-I think I just want to go home."
"We'll take you," offered Bobby, approaching them.
"No! It's okay, really. I'll be fine. I live just over there," the girl said, indicating a row of houses at the end of the park. "I was on my way home. Like I said, they followed me."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. P-please, I'll be fine. Just let me get home. It's almost my curfew and I'll get into a t-ton of trouble if I'm late."
"Alright. What's you're name?"
"Lorraine."
"Alright, Lorraine. We'll see you around."
"B-bye," Lorraine responded. She began to walk quickly in the direction of her house. By the time she had reached the street, she'd broken into a run. It seemed that she was as frightened of Bobby and Jubilee as she was of Derek, Riley and Justin.
"And you," said Jubilee, turning towards Derek, who was trying to slink by them unnoticed. "If you bother her again - and trust me, I'll find out - I'm coming after you. Understood"?
"Uh-huh," whimpered Derek, clutching his arm.
"Good," responded Jubilee, who began to walk in the direction of the pathway without looking back. Bobby spared one angry glare at Derek, who cringed, before following.
"Well, that was interesting," Bobby said once they'd reached the main path.
"Mm-hmm," responded Jubilee.
"Uh, this is for you," he continued, thrusting her ice cream towards her. Amazingly, it was still intact. A gigantic scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough sat atop an equally monstrous scoop of Oreo ice cream.
"Thanks," she replied softly, taking it from him.
"Sure," he said, disappointed. He'd hoped she'd react with more enthusiasm. He'd never known Jubilee to show such apathy towards sweets.
They walked back in the direction of the car in what Bobby felt was an uncomfortable silence. Though he tried to lighten the mood, she stifled his few attempts at conversation with one-word answers. He attempted to discern her feelings from her facial expression, but found it difficult to do so while she wore her sunglasses. Eventually he just gave up.
Jubilee broke the silence as they were approaching the car.
"I could have taken those guys," she said, deliberately not looking at him.
Bobby paused, surprised at her comment. Although her sunglasses still masked most of her expression, he thought she seemed unusually anxious.
"I know," he replied softly.
"I'm serious, you know. I was purposely not using my powers. But I could have," she said. The words came out hurried and ran together.
"I know," he repeated, finally realizing what the problem was. "Jubilee, it's not that I don't think you can take care of yourself. Or handle a couple of kids looking for trouble. It's just that you're my friend. A good friend. I saw an opening and I took it. I would have done the same thing for Rogue or Hank or just about any of the X-men."
Although he hadn't finished his statement, he paused. Would he have done the same thing for any other member of the team? Or were his actions due to something else? Like the fact that it was Jubilee who was being threatened? Just barely back from the dead and still recovering Jubilee.
"I had the situation under control, Bobby," Jubilee said, interrupting his thoughts. She removed her sunglasses and finally met his gaze. He saw her red-rimmed, tired eyes, and almost wished she had kept the glasses on. Those eyes now focused on her barely touched, though still unmelted, ice cream. "I could have handled those guys. I'm not thirteen anymore. Why can't any of you guys see that?" The words were said in a flat, tired tone, in spite of the emotion fueling them.
"Jubilee, are you nuts?" Bobby responded in quiet disbelief. "I came back to find you missing and when I finally come across you, you're surrounded by some knife wielding kids. What did you expect me to do?"
"Let me handle it."
"Why? I mean, yeah, I'm sure you could have done a great job mopping the floor with those guys. But I happened to be there, and I helped because I could. Friends do that sometimes."
She opened her mouth to reply, and then snapped it shut again. She seemed to contemplate his words. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry, Bobby. You're right, kinda. I mean, I guess I would have done the same thing if the situation were reversed. You know, me in the bushes, you going up against an angry bunch of kids."
Bobby felt slightly elated at her comment. Yay, she doesn't want me getting stabbed! He dismissed the silly thought and listened to the rest of what she had to say.
"It's just that, well, everyone's been so over-protective since I got back. I mean, it's as bad as when I was thirteen. Maybe even worse," she said derisively. "I've got good control over my powers. I'm older and more experienced. But now." she trailed off and lifted her hand so that she could examine the gauze bandages covering it. "Now, since I got these, it's like, I dunno, like everyone thinks that I've forgotten everything I've ever known. Like I'm just a helpless, powerless kid. Again."
"I don't think that," he said truthfully, opening the car door for her.
"Yeah, right," she responded weakly. She suddenly felt very tired.
"Really," he said, entering the car from his side and starting the engine. "Look, if I ever seem like I'm being too protective of you, let me know. Trust me, I know what it feels like to be underestimated. But, Jubes, you have to realize that we just got you back. I know we didn't really talk too much while you lived in LA. I still knew you were there, though. Kind of, I don't know, a friend in reserve."
"Yeah, I know, I felt the same way about you. And everyone else."
"Right. But then, I step outside one morning, and there you are. Hanging on this stupid wooden cross, cuts all over, spikes in your hands. Totally gone. All I could do for you was to help Logan unpin you. Your clothes were damp, I guess from the sprinklers, and I wondered how long you'd been out there." She was looking at him with rapt curiously. Bobby swallowed, staring straight ahead, intent on avoiding her gaze.
"We had to go in for a strategy meeting while Warren was trying to recover you guys. Don't ask me what we talked about. I really can't remember. I just sat there, thinking about how we'd never get to replace Jean's shampoo with bleach, like we'd always planned. And how, if I'd maybe gotten up earlier, or gone to bed later, I could have saved you. Then we came out, and there you are, leaning against your bed. We'd all thought it was impossible. Even Logan had given up. But there you were.
"You can't expect me just to forget that morning in a few days. I know you're older, smarter, all that. But you were dead a little over a week ago. You can't expect me to forget that.
"Back there. I meant what I said. I knew you could stand up for yourself against those guys. I helped because I could. That's all."
Bobby's voice took on a faraway tone and it sounded she was hearing him through a wall. "But I don't want to live that day ever again. I don't want to see you dead. If that makes me, or the rest of the X-men, just a little bit protective, fine," he stated adamantly. "I don't think that you're incapable of taking care of yourself. I'm just, still . Well, I guess we're all still recovering from that day too."
For a few seconds, Jubilee just stared at him. He refused to look back at her, keeping his attention focused straight ahead.
"Bobby." She spoke softly. He still refused to look at her. He hadn't meant to say everything he'd just said. Hell, he hadn't even realized he felt half the things he'd said until the words were out of his mouth. It was too much information and he felt extremely awkward. His ears felt hot, and he knew he was flushing. Bobby was used to joking with his friends. He made light of almost every situation. Now, the conversation was serious and he had no idea how to act. Or what he was supposed to do. So he just kept staring straight ahead, knowing that he would feel that much more uncomfortable if he looked into her tired, all-knowing eyes.
"I didn't know," Jubilee continued, not letting his silence deter her. "No one's ever told me much about, umm, you know, about how I was when you guys found me."
Her only answer was silence.
Normally, Jubilee would have kept prodding Bobby until he said something. She was stubborn - it was her nature. Today, though, she was too tired. It was all she could do not to fall asleep during the remainder of their silent ride back to the mansion.
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men. ______________________________________________________________
Bobby hadn't expected that it would take so long to get back to Jubilee. When he finally reached his destination, near a small but crowded picnic area, he found that there was a decent sized line leading from the small stand. Freddie's Ice Cream. Bobby had spoken to Freddie on a few occasions. He was an older man, in his mid sixties, who had retired after working for years as a truck driver. Retirement didn't suit Freddie, though. He found that, after years of solitary driving, he craved companionship. Mostly, he wanted to be surrounded by people. He himself was a divorcee. His wife had moved back home to Oklahoma after their divorce, taking the children with her.
Freddie had tried to maintain ties with his offspring, but found that, once they grew older, they cared little for keeping in touch with their father. He'd only recently found out he was a grandfather; his grandchild was four years old. Bobby figured most people would be pretty morose after being recipients of such treatment, but not old Freddie. Just because he couldn't be a good father and grandfather to his own flesh and blood didn't mean he couldn't bring joy into others' lives. So Freddie opened himself a small ice cream stand in the center of McCormick Park. He made the ice cream himself, using old family recipes and adding his own twist. In the winter, when ice cream wasn't as desirable (To most people. When cold didn't really affect you, it didn't matter what time of year you had your ice cream), Freddie sold homemade hot chocolate and apple cider. His stand generated little income, but Freddie didn't mind. As long as he had his small pension to survive on, Freddie would run the ice cream stand for no profit. What brought him pleasure was seeing how happy he made his customers, children especially. When business was slow, Freddie could usually be seen talking to anyone who would stop and listen. That was how Bobby knew of his circumstances.
"Hey Freddie, how've you been"? asked Bobby as he finally reached the front of the line.
"Bobby! Long time no see. I can't complain. Stand's been busy, days go by quickly. Nice life, really. But enough small talk, young 'un. Can't you see I've got a line," kidded the old man. "What can I get for you"?
Bobby placed his order.
"Wow, that's quite a load. More than you normally get, that's for sure."
"I'm sharing today."
"Ahhh, I see. Anyone special?" Freddie winked conspiratorially.
"Just a friend."
"So it is someone special. Well then, I better make sure to give you a large helping," chuckled Freddie.
Bobby didn't know how to respond, and simply accepted the extra-large waffle cones that Freddie handed him.
"Thanks, Freddie, I'll see you around," said Bobby, struggling to juggle the ice cream and pay.
"Yup, you sure will."
He hoped Jubilee would enjoy the ice cream as much as he did. Freddie made some of the best ice cream that he had ever tasted, but he had never asked anyone else if they shared his opinion. Quit being paranoid, he told himself, making his way back up the path. You'd have to be missing taste buds to not like Freddie's creations. The night was warm, though every once in a while a pleasant breeze made and appearance. While walking, he applied his power to keep the ice cream from melting. At least no one could say that he was good for nothing.
He noticed that Jubilee was not where he left her from several feet away. At first, he was more curious than worried. Where did she run off too? About three feet from the park bench she had been sitting on, Bobby noticed something shining in the grass. On closer examination, it proved to be a bag of sunflower seeds, only half empty. It had to be Jubilee's. She'd always liked to snack on the small seeds. Before he had a chance to ponder which way she might have gone, he heard a loud grunt from the other side of a small copse of trees. And Jubilee's voice. He couldn't make out her words, but he recognized her voice. And her tone was not a friendly one. Now he was worried. Still holding on to the ice cream, he hurried off in the direction from which the sounds had come from.
He rounded the trees, and the first thing he noticed was Jubilee, standing in front of three men, each one larger than she was. It appeared that there was also someone hiding behind Jubilee, whimpering softly. The shortest of the three men was holding something that reflected the moonlight. Bobby walked slowly and quietly along the line of trees to get a better sight of it. He felt his heart skip a beat when he realized it was a knife.
"Don't do something we both know you'll regret, Derek. Put away the knife," came Jubilee's calm and cool voice.
"No way. I think you're just scared," answered the man.
"Y'know, I've been reeeaally patient with you. This is your last warning." Bobby detected some agitation in her voice.
"Oh. My last warning, huh? I'm scared." Without warning, Derek jumped forward, brandishing his knife.
Jubilee was in the proper stance; she could easily have deflected the blow and disarmed him. But Bobby saw an opening and took it. Holding both waffle cones in his left hand, he jumped out of his hiding space and grabbed Derek's knife arm by the wrist, twisting it hard enough to sprain it, if not break a bone.
"Didn't your mother ever teach you that stabbing people isn't good matters?"
Derek dropped the knife with a cry of pain and fell to the ground. Spooked, his two accomplices turned and ran into the darkness, fear for their own lives overcoming any concern they had for their friend's well being. Now that he was closer to Derek, several things caught Bobby's attention. Firstly, Jubilee's assailant was a young boy, not the full- grown man Bobby'd assumed that he was. Secondly, that the knife Jubilee was being threatened with was much smaller and duller than he had thought. She really was in no danger. Basically, he had over-reacted and attacked a teenager. Not that said teenager didn't deserve it, exactly, but Bobby felt that there were better ways to deal with him than trying to snap his wrist off.
Ignoring Derek, who was now clenching his wrist and rolling on the ground, Bobby asked Jubilee, "You okay?"
"Yeah," she responded, though her expression was unreadable. Of course, Bobby mused, most expressions are unreadable when people are wearing sunglasses and standing ten feet away from you in the dark.
Turning, Jubilee asked the trembling figure behind her, "Are you okay?"
"Y-y-yeah. P-please don't h-hurt me," stammered the girl. Jubilee took a closer look at her, and was gripped by a strong feeling of nostalgia. She'd seen this girl before. Or maybe the girl strongly reminded her of someone she'd once known. No, that wasn't it. As was so often the case with these things, Jubilee couldn't pinpoint exactly why this girl seemed so familiar.
"Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Y-yes. Derek and his friends followed me here. I know them from school. I-I think I just want to go home."
"We'll take you," offered Bobby, approaching them.
"No! It's okay, really. I'll be fine. I live just over there," the girl said, indicating a row of houses at the end of the park. "I was on my way home. Like I said, they followed me."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. P-please, I'll be fine. Just let me get home. It's almost my curfew and I'll get into a t-ton of trouble if I'm late."
"Alright. What's you're name?"
"Lorraine."
"Alright, Lorraine. We'll see you around."
"B-bye," Lorraine responded. She began to walk quickly in the direction of her house. By the time she had reached the street, she'd broken into a run. It seemed that she was as frightened of Bobby and Jubilee as she was of Derek, Riley and Justin.
"And you," said Jubilee, turning towards Derek, who was trying to slink by them unnoticed. "If you bother her again - and trust me, I'll find out - I'm coming after you. Understood"?
"Uh-huh," whimpered Derek, clutching his arm.
"Good," responded Jubilee, who began to walk in the direction of the pathway without looking back. Bobby spared one angry glare at Derek, who cringed, before following.
"Well, that was interesting," Bobby said once they'd reached the main path.
"Mm-hmm," responded Jubilee.
"Uh, this is for you," he continued, thrusting her ice cream towards her. Amazingly, it was still intact. A gigantic scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough sat atop an equally monstrous scoop of Oreo ice cream.
"Thanks," she replied softly, taking it from him.
"Sure," he said, disappointed. He'd hoped she'd react with more enthusiasm. He'd never known Jubilee to show such apathy towards sweets.
They walked back in the direction of the car in what Bobby felt was an uncomfortable silence. Though he tried to lighten the mood, she stifled his few attempts at conversation with one-word answers. He attempted to discern her feelings from her facial expression, but found it difficult to do so while she wore her sunglasses. Eventually he just gave up.
Jubilee broke the silence as they were approaching the car.
"I could have taken those guys," she said, deliberately not looking at him.
Bobby paused, surprised at her comment. Although her sunglasses still masked most of her expression, he thought she seemed unusually anxious.
"I know," he replied softly.
"I'm serious, you know. I was purposely not using my powers. But I could have," she said. The words came out hurried and ran together.
"I know," he repeated, finally realizing what the problem was. "Jubilee, it's not that I don't think you can take care of yourself. Or handle a couple of kids looking for trouble. It's just that you're my friend. A good friend. I saw an opening and I took it. I would have done the same thing for Rogue or Hank or just about any of the X-men."
Although he hadn't finished his statement, he paused. Would he have done the same thing for any other member of the team? Or were his actions due to something else? Like the fact that it was Jubilee who was being threatened? Just barely back from the dead and still recovering Jubilee.
"I had the situation under control, Bobby," Jubilee said, interrupting his thoughts. She removed her sunglasses and finally met his gaze. He saw her red-rimmed, tired eyes, and almost wished she had kept the glasses on. Those eyes now focused on her barely touched, though still unmelted, ice cream. "I could have handled those guys. I'm not thirteen anymore. Why can't any of you guys see that?" The words were said in a flat, tired tone, in spite of the emotion fueling them.
"Jubilee, are you nuts?" Bobby responded in quiet disbelief. "I came back to find you missing and when I finally come across you, you're surrounded by some knife wielding kids. What did you expect me to do?"
"Let me handle it."
"Why? I mean, yeah, I'm sure you could have done a great job mopping the floor with those guys. But I happened to be there, and I helped because I could. Friends do that sometimes."
She opened her mouth to reply, and then snapped it shut again. She seemed to contemplate his words. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry, Bobby. You're right, kinda. I mean, I guess I would have done the same thing if the situation were reversed. You know, me in the bushes, you going up against an angry bunch of kids."
Bobby felt slightly elated at her comment. Yay, she doesn't want me getting stabbed! He dismissed the silly thought and listened to the rest of what she had to say.
"It's just that, well, everyone's been so over-protective since I got back. I mean, it's as bad as when I was thirteen. Maybe even worse," she said derisively. "I've got good control over my powers. I'm older and more experienced. But now." she trailed off and lifted her hand so that she could examine the gauze bandages covering it. "Now, since I got these, it's like, I dunno, like everyone thinks that I've forgotten everything I've ever known. Like I'm just a helpless, powerless kid. Again."
"I don't think that," he said truthfully, opening the car door for her.
"Yeah, right," she responded weakly. She suddenly felt very tired.
"Really," he said, entering the car from his side and starting the engine. "Look, if I ever seem like I'm being too protective of you, let me know. Trust me, I know what it feels like to be underestimated. But, Jubes, you have to realize that we just got you back. I know we didn't really talk too much while you lived in LA. I still knew you were there, though. Kind of, I don't know, a friend in reserve."
"Yeah, I know, I felt the same way about you. And everyone else."
"Right. But then, I step outside one morning, and there you are. Hanging on this stupid wooden cross, cuts all over, spikes in your hands. Totally gone. All I could do for you was to help Logan unpin you. Your clothes were damp, I guess from the sprinklers, and I wondered how long you'd been out there." She was looking at him with rapt curiously. Bobby swallowed, staring straight ahead, intent on avoiding her gaze.
"We had to go in for a strategy meeting while Warren was trying to recover you guys. Don't ask me what we talked about. I really can't remember. I just sat there, thinking about how we'd never get to replace Jean's shampoo with bleach, like we'd always planned. And how, if I'd maybe gotten up earlier, or gone to bed later, I could have saved you. Then we came out, and there you are, leaning against your bed. We'd all thought it was impossible. Even Logan had given up. But there you were.
"You can't expect me just to forget that morning in a few days. I know you're older, smarter, all that. But you were dead a little over a week ago. You can't expect me to forget that.
"Back there. I meant what I said. I knew you could stand up for yourself against those guys. I helped because I could. That's all."
Bobby's voice took on a faraway tone and it sounded she was hearing him through a wall. "But I don't want to live that day ever again. I don't want to see you dead. If that makes me, or the rest of the X-men, just a little bit protective, fine," he stated adamantly. "I don't think that you're incapable of taking care of yourself. I'm just, still . Well, I guess we're all still recovering from that day too."
For a few seconds, Jubilee just stared at him. He refused to look back at her, keeping his attention focused straight ahead.
"Bobby." She spoke softly. He still refused to look at her. He hadn't meant to say everything he'd just said. Hell, he hadn't even realized he felt half the things he'd said until the words were out of his mouth. It was too much information and he felt extremely awkward. His ears felt hot, and he knew he was flushing. Bobby was used to joking with his friends. He made light of almost every situation. Now, the conversation was serious and he had no idea how to act. Or what he was supposed to do. So he just kept staring straight ahead, knowing that he would feel that much more uncomfortable if he looked into her tired, all-knowing eyes.
"I didn't know," Jubilee continued, not letting his silence deter her. "No one's ever told me much about, umm, you know, about how I was when you guys found me."
Her only answer was silence.
Normally, Jubilee would have kept prodding Bobby until he said something. She was stubborn - it was her nature. Today, though, she was too tired. It was all she could do not to fall asleep during the remainder of their silent ride back to the mansion.