Title: Not Another Cliche Love Story! Part 2.

Fandom: X-Men movieverse

Characters: ensemble

Rating: PG-13

Summary: AU, Ryro. Probably will be funny, not angsty and most likely a little cliche.

Author's Notes: Parts will probably be very short.

Marie stirred her drink boredly. She already regretted coming to this party and it'd only been 20 minutes. Kitty was off somewhere with her boy-toy. So far, it'd been one of those cliche drunken high school/frat parties. She'd nearly been puked on twice.

Never mind, three times.

Right. She was leaving now, no matter what Kitty said. She had a whole bevy of excuses and besides that she could leave if she wanted too. She'd driven herself, knowing that Kitty'd probably end up staying the night. Kitty probably wouldn't even notice. Actually, considering the position she and Bobby were in, Kitty definately wouldn't notice. Typical Kit. Marie swung her purse a little higher onto her shoulder and made her way to the door. She just hoped that she could get her car out. She groped blidly down the stairs and wished she'd brought the small keycahin flashlight she just got with her. Making her way across the parking lot, she stumbled, dropping her keys in the process. She kneeled and began feeling for them, cursing under her breath.

"Are you okay?"

She started, scratching the palm of her hand on a unusually large chunk of gravel. Tonight was just not her night.

"I'm fine." She bit off, taking her frustations out on this stranger.

"I can tell." He remarked dryly, bending down, picking up her keys and handing them to her. She looked up to thank him, however grudgingly, and froze.

'Oh My God,' she thought.

It was the guy from the coffee shop.

"Uhhh... Hi." She said, mentally wishing she didn't get so tongue-tied aroung strangers, particularly of the male and cute variety.

"Hi," He replied, amused, "You look familar. Have I seen you before?"

"Yeah," she managed, "The other day, at the coffee shop, 'Chocolat'?"

"Oh, yeah. You wouldn't stop staring at me." God, he looked good.

"You was staring at me!"

"That's not the way I remember it but let's agree to disagree, at least for now." He readched out to help her up but she ignored it and stood on her own, indignant. "My name's John."

"Pleasure to meet you. Thanks for your help." SHe began to walk away but he followed, still talking,

"Look, I get that you must've had a really bad time, I know the kinds of parties Bobby throws, but how about you let me make it up to you? Have dinner with me. I promise I won't bite. Unless you're into that kind of thing."

"No, thank you. I'm not hungry." And of course, her stomach picked that exact moment to growl. She cursed mentally.

"Then watch me eat. Please?" When she still shook her head no, he grasped her elbow, "I won't took no for an answer. I insist. I have handcuffs, if necessary."

He began gently pulling her towards the car and about halfway there she decided to just give up. At the very least she got a free meal. He smiled and opened the passenger's door of his car for her. The drive to the nearby 'burger joint,' as he called it, was mostly silent, except for his explaining where they were going and the radio.

The place was called, funnily enough, Joe's Burger Joint and smelled of bleach and old fries someone had tried to mask with Lysol. Hopefully, the food would be better, although that wasn't saying much.

John led her to the bar with a hand on the small of her back and she wondered if he was just being polite or if he was showing that she was off-limits. The place was mostly empty, only two tables occupied. Of course, that might be considered full, since they were the only tables. Everything else was bar seating. They took a seat at the aforementioned bar and she began munching on a container of peanuts while he talked to the bartender. After a minute or so, he turned back to her,

"So. You still haven't told me your name. I think it's only fair, considering you know mine."

"Marie." She finished the peanuts and moved onto pistachios, fiddling with a shell she couldn't quite open. What kind of bar had pistachios, anyways? He took the nut from her and, still smiling that infuriating smile, oopened it easily, popping it into his mouth.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Marie."

To Be Continued In Part Three.