Story Title: Learning to Trust- Pyro, Bobby
Author: Savvy
Characters/Ships: John, Bobby
Fandom: X-men
Summary: After coming upon Xavier's Academy, John tries to adjust to the life of a normal teenager.
Rating: R for language, sexual references in first few chapters. NC-17 for later chapters
Warning: Slash, angst
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. I only own the story itself.

Chapter 3: Friends

"You don't have to be nervous," Bobby said as we stood outside Xavier's office. "You've met him before. He wasn't that bad was he?"

"He told me things before I even said them. It was irritating."

"Well, try not to think," he joked nudging me in my arm. Normally, I would have hit him back but I was sort of past that now; with him anyway. When he stood up for himself and didn't simply take my bullshit over the past few days, and made it clear that he didn't appreciate my attitude on those days where I would snap at him for no apparent reason, something inside me clicked and I started to respect him more. We weren't friends by a long shot, but I got along with him. He really wasn't that bad, once you got past his annoying way of laughing at life and not taking things seriously.

"I'll do that," I said sarcastically rolling my eyes and knocking on the door.

"Enter."

"I'll be in the student lounge until you finish," Bobby said walking down the hall.

I nodded and entered the room. There Xavier sat, his fingers intertwined on the desktop, the smile still present on his face like the day I first met him.

Before he could ask I sat in the chair offered for his guest and waited for him to speak. He noticed he wasn't as overbearing as that day and I quickly relaxed before his gaze, though just enough that my heart no longer pounded in my ears.

"It seems you've made yourself quite comfortable since you've been here," he said shuffling some papers on his desk and looking at me.

I shrugged. Where was he going with this?

"You've made a friend in Mr. Drake I see…"

"He's not my friend," I sneered.

"Of course not." He smiled nonetheless and continued on.

"I've received your blood test result back from the lab. There seemed to be a few drugs in your system, very peculiar, but there were no signs of any sexually transmitted diseases. You seem to have healed quite nicely too. Good," he quirked an eyebrow and dropped the files.

"Now, to answer your question from the other night…"

"What question?" I snapped.

"About how I knew you were coming."

You're a weirdo, that's how.

"You do want to know?"

"Sure."

"I have a machine I like to call cerebro. It helps me follow the paths of mutants, like yourself, among other things."

"What's a cerebro?" I asked leaning my head to the side and crossing my arms; my lips perking out disbelievingly.

"Why don't I show you!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It didn't look like anything special at first. I big round room with a catwalk reaching out into the center; I'd seen prostitutes do tricks that were more fascinating then what lay before me.

It wasn't until he placed a weird looking helmet on his head and used the damn thing that I was at a lost for words. Be still he told me. I couldn't move if I had wanted to.

"Cerebro magnifies my powers, making it possible to track the whereabouts of every single mutant that roams the planet earth. See, each red dot show mutants like you and I. Fascinating isn't it?"

And it was.

He took off the helmet and turned to face me. "I've only focused on your path just recently, a month or so actually. I saw you enter the small farming town just ten miles away. That's how I knew you were coming, though it took you a few days for to get here, I've known of your whereabouts' for much longer. Did you think it was a coincidence that you came here?"

He didn't wait for me to answer.

"My people brought you here. Jean helped by getting the word out among those like us. You weren't the first and you certainly won't be the last to come. We help our own here. We only ask that you give us a chance to help you. This is no place to fear John. You're welcome as long as you can call this place home."

I stood in silence.

"Think about it, and hopefully you'll come to a decision not to leave, as you were undoubtedly planning to do…though I think someone has changed your mind."

"What do you mean?"

He smirked and wheeled toward the door. "Breakfast is about to start. Hurry along."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I hadn't been prepared for the glares and whispered conversations that met my arrival in the breakfast hall.

"Who's that guy?"

"Why does he keep flicking that lighter? Is something wrong with him?"

"That's Bobby's weird friend, right?"

I walked a short distance behind Bobby my eyes focused on my destination; the furthest table from everyone else. I dropped into a seat in a dark corner and slumped down in my chair. My appetite was gone and a large part of me wanted to run to my room and hide. That was John talking, not Pyro, the tough, up for any challenge, portion of my personality. For some reason Pyro was hiding inside of me; frightened to come out before all these staring eyes. For the second time since I was small, I was unsure of myself.

I was afraid.

"Do you want me to get your food?" Bobby asked as he took a seat beside me.

"I'm not hungry," I lied as I stared into the small red flame in my hands.

"But you just told me that you were…"

"I lied, okay. I'm going back to the room." I stood and left the table.

"John," I froze. "Pyro, wait" he continued.

He followed be into the hall and gripped my arm, but I spun around and pushed him hard into a wall, my lower arm pressed firmly into his neck. I could feel his blood coursing through his veins as I pressed him against the hard, cold stone; the blood in my system fiery as I gazed into those damned blue eyes.

"Leave me alone," I hissed barely inches from his face.

His eyes wavered and he gasped. I could feel him trembling underneath my hold. I stepped back and stormed down the hall; not stopping until I was out of sight. It wasn't until I reached the third corridor that I realized I was going in the wrong direction and that I was lost. I tried retracing my steps but I only managed to go further into the school. Shit.

I turned left, then right, stopped at a junction that I didn't recognize, and then I continued straight. With each step I took I was getting more anxious. I could still hear their voice as they mocked me, made fun of my mere presence. Why had I tried to fit in? It had been a mistake. I wasn't welcome here and I knew it.

I stopped when I noticed the red curtains from the day I arrived. I was in the main lobby

again. The anxiety eased in my chest as I proceeded down the hall. If I got what little I now possessed and left, I knew I could make it outside the grounds before anyone noticed I was gone. They probably wouldn't care anyway, despite what they'd said.

When I found my, no not my room, Bobby's room, I pushed the door in, letting it bang off the walls and hurried to my bed; pulling off my, no Bobby's clothes; shirt first, then shoes and jeans. I flung them aside and began looking for my own.

"What are you doing?"

I didn't have to turn around to see who it was. His voice was the only voice I recognized and the only one that made my heart stop in my chest and consider exactly what it was that I was trying to do.

"I'm leaving." I bent to pick up my thin black wind breaker, jeans and ripped tee from the floor and when I stood he was right behind me, his hand on my naked back.

"Why?" he asked; his voice sounded hurt and feeble. I quickly regretted what I had done earlier."Was it something I did?"

"Not everything's about you," I grimaced pushing his hands away.

"Was it the others? They're always that way with new people. They'll get use to you."

"They didn't bother me," I lied. "I was planning on going sooner or later, what better time than now. Anyway, I have no reason to stay."

He dropped down on his bed and watched me dress. I could tell he was thinking of a way to persuade me to stay, but what ever he said next wouldn't make a difference. I was leaving and that was final. I'd stayed too long.

"Stay for me."

I looked back at him and he looked pleadingly into my eyes. I shook my head. "Why should I stay for you?" The muscles in my chest tightened as I waited for an answer.

"Because we're friends and that's what friends do."

"I'm not your friend," I hissed; the fib flowing easily from my lips. I pulled my shirt over my head and sat to put on my shoes.

"Well, I'm your friend and I want you to stay." He stood from his bed and came to sit beside me. "At least stay until the snow melts. It's freezing out and you won't make it far."

"I've been in worse. I'll be fine."

"John!" he yelled getting frustrated and using my name to purposely piss me off. "I said fucking stay!"

I glared at him and to my surprise I saw tears in his eyes. He was trembling though he tried to hide it by standing up and pacing the room. He fought back his tears, but his body quacked under his skin. He really wanted me to stay…and after seeing him like this; fighting for me to stay with his whole heart, I wanted to.

"Fine," I whispered kicking off my shoes.

He stopped his course and grinned widely, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But, I'm leaving as soon as the snow melts." I grimaced as I lay back into the white pillow and began flipping my Zippo between my fingers.

"Okay, deal."

We both knew I was lying.