Or rather, above them.

I looked down and saw a fuzzy blue snake wrapped around my ankle. I realized that it was Kurt's tail, and looked up. There he was, staring at me searchingly.

"I know you didn't mean it, Katzchen. But one does wonder why you would say it?" he said with twinkling eyes and a soft voice.

"I saw… but I thought… and you, I, um…" I stuttered. I was trapped in his stare, so piercing.

He gave a last slightly sad smile and with a BAMF! I was sitting confused back at the table. I heard a muffled BAMF from under it and knew that he was gone.

I brought my dishes into the kitchen and leaned against the counter with my arms folded across my chest.

Tabitha came in. I must have had some look on my face, because she got instantly curious.

"Hey, Kitty. What's on your mind?"

"Kurt," I answered without thinking, and instantly blushed. "I mean…"

She laughed shortly. "Yeah, I know what you mean." She leaned back, too. "He seemed a bit upset for a while last night. His sister, too. Do you know anything about that?"

A single tear slid down my face. "Yeah, I know something about that," I said, but didn't offer any other information.

She wiped the tear off and her face softened. She had gotten more responsible, and almost big-sisterly after the first disbanding of the X-Men. Which was only the weirder, since she was a year younger than me.

"He'd forgive you anything," she told me. I was a bit startled.

"Why?"

She chuckled. "You always were oblivious, weren't you?" I just stared. "Kitty, He's loved you since high school. Everyone's seen the way he looks at you! And when you were with that Peter Wisdom guy? We all knew how much it killed him. He'd never admit it, though. You know how he's one to suffer in silence and all that crap."

I pondered that. Since high school?

"But, Kitty," she started seriously. "You're going to have to be the instigator for the relationship. You've gotta give him the go sign. You might not think it, but I'm an observer. I catch everything, and even though there's really no outward show, he's got incredibly low self-esteem. Kitty, he thinks that he doesn't have a chance with you, and never will. And it tears him up every day. And in my opinion, he's just a frickin masochist."

Count on Boom Boom to voice all her thoughts.

But she did have a point.

"Thanks, Tabby," I said and left.

:---oo|oo---:

I leaned against my headboard and grabbed my tail. The fuzzy blue fur was sticking out all over the place on me from my shower. I could go through more shampoo than anyone in the institute, except maybe hank.

My door opened quietly, and Kitty stepped in. She held her boom box, and she pressed play.

"About ya now" by the Sugababes started playing.

qoOop

Kurt rose from his bed and started toward me on catlike feet. He took the boom box from me and set it on his bedside table. When he turned back to me, I saw something in his eyes that I had never seen before. I realized that it had probably been there all along and I was just too unobservant to see it.

He pulled me toward him until we were standing toe-to-toe. I could feel his body heat radiating, his fur brushing me, the perfect insulation for winter nights. He stared int my eyes with his piercing ones, and leaned down. He kissed me, lightly, barely brushing my lips. We deepened the kiss, and I never knew exactly how the events would have played out, because we were interrupted.

CRASH!!

"Oh, shit," he said and BAMFed us downstairs. Everyone was staring at the intruder, and the professor started forward.

"What are you doing here, brother?" he asked.

It was Cain Marko, AKA: Juggernaut.

AN: so, I got some author alerts, and reviews, and I was super exited! I was also happy that nobody saw the little YAYZ-Dance I did in my living room when I got them, cuz it was really dorky. Any way… CLIFFHANGER! Haha! I do plan to write more, and sorry this one took so long. I do a lot of stuff.