Elisabeth sat at the table the next day, stirring her spoon absentmindedly in her coffee. She didn't even notice Alex walk in until he had leaned down to kiss her cheek. She snapped out of her reverie and smiled at him, pecking his lips.

"You looked like you were very deep in thought, care to share?" he asked, sitting down across from her.

"What happened in the yard…that was my fault," she said slowly, as if just now realizing it. "I'm the one that convinced Charles to let us go outside. All of it is my fault." She looked up at him, tears welling in her big brown eyes. Alex's face suddenly went serious and he knelt in front of her, taking her hands.

"Hey," he said softly, cupping her cheek in his hand and making her look at him. "It wasn't your fault, Elle. Those guys would have attacked eventually, we're just lucky that it was sooner rather than later. We're all okay, Elisabeth. You didn't do anything." She drew a shuddering breath and rested her forehead against his.

"How do you always know what to say?" she asked quietly and he chuckled.

"Beats me." She smiled and leaned down, kissing him lightly. "Listen, there's something I have to tell you."

"Okay, what is it?"

He took a deep breath. Well, it's now or never. "I…I love you." She sat there for a moment, staring at him in shock. "Like…a lot." Then, a very wide smile spread across her face and she threw her arms around him.

"I love you too," she whispered into his ear, hugging him tight. He laughed a little in relief and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in her shoulder. They pulled apart and kissed for a moment before they had to pull away due to Lucy walking into the kitchen, throwing them a look and rolling her eyes. Sean walked in and snaked an arm around Lucy's waist, kissing her passionately. Alex and Elisabeth shared a look, smiling. Rosabelle and Charles soon entered, and Lucy whistled.

"Look at you two lovebirds! Could you have been any louder yesterday?" Rosabelle's eyes widened and she blushed fiercely. Charles threw a look at Lucy, who shrugged and blew on her coffee. "What?"

"God, could you two be any more hormonal?" a voice asked, and Marianne made her way around the pair and over to the counter, lifting herself up onto it. She grabbed an apple from the bowl of fruit and studied it, wiping it on her shirt while saying, "Seriously, Alex and Elisabeth have been together longer than you two and they haven't even had sex yet." Elisabeth's jaw dropped and Alex rolled his eyes.

"I liked you better without your voice," Elisabeth muttered, a frown settling on her face.

"Marianne," Rosabelle said with a sigh.

"What? I can't be honest?"

"No," almost everyone said at once. She rolled her eyes.

"Are you going to ground me or something?"

"I just might," Charles replied and she rolled her eyes again, biting into her apple. Hank made his way into the room and lifted himself up next to Marianne.

"It feels odd not having hair all over my body anymore." Marianne giggled and shook her head, taking another bite of the apple.

"Hey, toss me an apple," Elisabeth said and Marianne obeyed, sighing a little and leaning over onto Hank. There was a silence in the room for several moments, in which Charles had leaned over and kissed Rosabelle. There was a gag and everyone looked over at Marianne, who glanced up and pointed at Elisabeth. The brunette opened her mouth into an "O" and dropped her apple, looking scandalized.

"C'mon, let's get out of here before you cause any more trouble," Hank said, jumping down from the counter and taking her hand, tugging until she hopped down from the counter and followed him out of the room, throwing up a rather rude hand gesture when someone in the room whistled. "Stop being so moody," he whispered in her ear as they walked down the hallway, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "I'm just really tired. Can we go sit in the pool room? It's so peaceful in there." He shrugged and nodded.

"Sure." The two walked down the corridor and after a few turns were opening the door of the pool room, walking into the humid space. Hank immediately felt sweaty and continued pulling on his shirt, even after shedding his jacket and scarf and shoes. Marianne, however, was stretched out on a lawn chair and looking content, her shoes and jacket on the chair next to her. "How can you be comfortable? It's so humid in here!"

"I spent most of my life in Florida, Hank," she informed him, closing her eyes. "It feels like home." Hank continued pulling on his shirt before finally sighing and pulling it off, draping it over the chair as he began working on his belt. Marianne opened one eye and immediately blushed. "What are you doing?"

"It's a pool room, right? Might as well make use of it." He pulled off his socks and stripped down to his boxers, taking a few steps back before launching forward and cannon-balling into the pool. She stood from her seat and crouched at the edge of the pool, laughing and shaking her head.

"You're crazy, Hank McCoy!"

"Join me!" He laughed at the shocked look on her face. "C'mon Marianne, the water is great!"

"No! Are you crazy?"

"Oh come on! Just for a minute." He took her hand and began pulling her, despite her hurried protests. Finally she shrieked and tumbled into the pool. She kicked her way up and broke the surface with a gasp, pushing her hair out of her face.

"I hate you!" she yelled playfully, splashing him. "I can't believe you did that." Still, she awkwardly pulled off her soaking shirt and jeans, tossing them up onto dry land. Hank suddenly turned back into the awkward nerd from before upon seeing her in only her bra and underwear. "What? Is there something on my face?" Her hands rose to her face and he laughed a little, shaking his head.

"You just make me a little nervous," he admitted, blushing and rubbing the back of his neck. She quirked an eyebrow.

"It's basically a bikini; I don't see what makes you so nervous." She floated up onto her back and swam slowly away from him. He rolled his eyes and followed her. She swam back against the wall and he trapped her there, bringing his face mere inches from hers.

"In all honesty," he whispered, "you in general make me nervous." She placed a hand on his chest and the other one cupped his cheek. A small smile crossed her face and she started to rise, bringing her face closer to his.

The door suddenly swung open and a voice said, "Hey Hank-oh…uh…"

Marianne laughed a little in disbelief, resting her forehead on Hank's chest and muttering, "Damn it." Hank looked up at Alex, who looked unsure of what to say.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Not anymore," Marianne replied, lifting her head. "What do you want?" A boyish grin appeared on his face, which slightly worried the pair in the pool.

"We have visitors." Alex caught Hank's eye and gave him a knowing look before walking out of the pool room. Hank pulled himself out of the pool and dried himself off before pulling on his clothes and following Alex into the hall. Marianne also got out of the pool, but since her clothes were still soaked she settled for one of the robes hanging by the door. It went to her knees and was soft on her skin, two things she appreciated. She tied it around her waist and walked out into the hall, following the two boys at the front while pulling her hair over one shoulder. Alex said something to Hank, who stopped for a moment before taking off down the hall. This made Marianne worried, and she walked a little faster after Alex, stopping in the doorway of the lounge.

Everyone that was originally in the mansion was gathered in the room, hugging a group of people that had seemed to just appear out of nowhere. There was a red man with a pointed tail and ears that was shaking people's hand, although he was obviously uncomfortable. A Latin man who looked much too cocky for his own good was chatting up Elisabeth, who kept throwing "save me" looks to Alex, who was too busy shaking the hand of a very tall man with green eyes and brown hair. Lucy obviously was uncomfortable due to this man, because she kept to herself in the other doorway, shooting him nervous looks every now and then. Charles, Rosabelle, and Sean were talking with a woman that had platinum blonde hair and not enough clothes on. Tramp. Then she caught sight of Hank, and her heart stopped.

He was locked in an embrace with an azure-skinned woman with hair just as red as Marianne's and yellow eyes. It was clear by their body language that at one point they had been more than friends. She blinked a few times and tried to swallow the large lump in her throat, but it stayed there. Lucy noticed and mouthed, "Are you okay?" in her direction. Marianne nodded, but wouldn't meet her best friend's green eyes. The cocky Latin man then noticed her and swaggered up.

"Hey there senorita," he greeted, flashing a smile that showed off a row of pearly white teeth. "Need some help drying off?" Her eyes flickered from Hank to this man, and they narrowed into a glare. She didn't say anything, just turned on her heel and walked away from the group.

It's not like he was mine in the first place.

Charles heard this thought and looked over his shoulder, barely noticing the flash of red that turned the corner. Lucy peeked around the corner before flashing a nasty look at the embracing Hank and Raven, shaking her head and walking into the kitchen. Janos looked around with a confused face. "What did I do?" he asked, walking over to the couch and sitting down next to Elisabeth, who groaned. Charles looked back over to Emma, who was staring down the hall as well.

I'm assuming you heard that as well? he asked and she nodded, her eyebrows furrowing. She started to walk in that direction, but Charles held out a hand. Leave her be for the moment. Emma frowned, but nodded anyway. Sean and Rosabelle threw each other confused looks, but shrugged.

Telepaths.

xxxxOxxxx

Marianne yanked the brush through her hair after a nice long shower, dressed in her most comfortable pajama shorts and an old tank top, fully intent on listening to the classical music on the radio until she fell asleep. After deciding that her scalp had had enough torture for now, Marianne grabbed the nearest hair-tie and walked out of her bathroom, sitting on the bed. Tears jumped to her eyes as she tried not to think about Hank and the blue woman, but she couldn't help it. She swiped at her eyes and sniffled, crawling up to the head of her bed and crawling under the covers, turning on the radio. Just as she was about to change the station, there was a poof and a cloud of blue smoke, and then three people were suddenly in her room. She screamed a little and pressed herself against the headboard, staring at the tall man with the green eyes as he walked over and sat on the edge of her bed.

"Hello Marianne," he greeted in a friendly voice. "I'm Erik."

"How do you know my name?" she asked shakily, pulling the blanket over her legs, suddenly feeling very exposed.

"Emma here is a telepath. She knows everything." The blonde smiled stiffly, and she blushed.

Sorry about that. Marianne noticed the red-skinned man standing awkwardly off to the side, and she smiled at him, waving a little. He returned the wave, but didn't lose his uncomfortable stance. "Marianne," Erik said, catching her attention with that lovely voice. "You have a very powerful gift, one that could be used to help my cause."

"Your cause?" He nodded. "What cause?"

"If you accept, then I'll explain everything." He held out his hand, and she narrowed her eyes.

"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked suspiciously, and he chuckled.

"You don't. But you know that somewhere deep inside you, you want to trust me." She looked down at his hand and felt like taking his hand and letting him whisk her away. She started to lift her hand, but snapped out of the trance and looked away. Did he have a manipulation power as well?

"I need to think about it." He nodded a little, patting her legs.

"We'll be here two weeks, which should be more than enough time to ponder over everything." He stood and walked back over to Emma and the red man. "Choose wisely, Marianne." They disappeared in a puff of blue smoke, and Marianne sat there for a moment before changing the station on the radio and sinking down into her blanket. Maybe it would be better if she accepted. Maybe there wouldn't be this hurting feeling in her heart if she accepted.

So this is more Marianne centered, and just so you know, I was totally planning on hooking her and Hank up in this chapter, but then I got a stroke of inspiration, like "what if Raven came back and ruined everything?" So yeah, there's probably going to be some Raven-bashing in the next few chapters. Sorry…

So, remember when I said I was going to end this story soon? Changed my mind ^_^