FYI:
I do not own the X-Men. I do own Allison...and a few of her friends as well.

ZoeyZone: More is coming. Unfortunately, I struggle to write linearly. Believe it or not, I have the epilogue to the story written right now. But I'm struggling with the next chapter. *Shrugs* It's weird. But, I find it's better than forcing myself to write filler dribble. So instead, I write whatever comes to me, as it comes to me.

Chapter 10: A Surprise Visitor

"I can't believe you're going to be seventeen in two days!" Kitty said excitedly as the girls walked down the front steps. They were on their way to join the others in the living room for an exciting evening of reality TV. This was made exciting by gambling chores on silly things like who would get kicked off and who would win a challenge. Allison was relatively proud of herself for doing well so far especially for not being the least bit interested in these types of shows before.

"Kitty, it's really not a big deal," Allison sighed. "It's not even a sweet sixteen or anything."

"But it's your first birthday with us. And if I have anything to do about it, it's going to be like totally unforgettable." Kitty just beamed and Betsy shot Allison a look that said, 'beware'.

Allison sighed in defeat and shrugged. She had thus far managed to survive more than a month at the institute. She'd even gotten used to waking up before the crack of dawn for training sessions with Logan. She'd even survived a cave in. In fact, she'd been doing pretty good since then. She and Bobby had managed to eek out a friendship without any form of physical contact. Granted, keeping Sam in the middle certainly helped. Surely, she could manage a party planned by Kitty Pryde.

Kitty jumped onto Allison's back hugging her tightly. "Thank you! I can't wait to dress you up too."

"That might be pushing your luck," Allison warned getting a dark chuckle out of Betsy. Allison had a strong visual image of leaving Kitty bound and gagged in the danger room for a few days and Betsy was getting it all too clearly.

They were almost to the hallway leading back to the living room when the doorbell rang, Kitty was already skipping ahead rattling off her random ideas for a party and Allison and Betsy glanced back over their shoulders to see if any adults would be getting it. "Why don't you answer it, Luv," Betsy suggested before walking on ahead.

Allison rolled her eyes at getting left with having to answer the door but she returned to the foyer and her heart skipped quite a few beats when she saw who was standing on the other side of the glass door. She quickened her pace as she opened the door and was quickly swept up into a hug. "Happy birthday!"

When her feet found the ground again, Allison rested her hands on the broad shoulders in front of her and gazed up at rugged features of Mark's face. "What are you doing here?" she asked in her surprise.

He laughed at her and tweaked her chin as he winked. "I came to see you, of course. Mr. Xavier said that it would be okay for me to stay here for a few days."

Allison forced a cheerful smile to mask her fear as she stepped back and allowed him to come inside. She still hadn't found a way to tell him that she was a mutant and she was afraid that at any second someone would come flying through-literally. "He did? That's...fantastic," she lied as she placed a hand on his arm and led him back towards the living room. She frantically directed her thoughts to Betsy hoping that the Brit would pick up on them and spread the word to keep the mutant powers at bay at least for a little while.

Everything appeared normal when they entered the living room, and it remained as such for the next few minutes to Allison's appreciation. Apparently her plea had been heard.

Kitty was the first to notice their entrance and she did a very fast double take before completely turning around backwards on the couch. "You totally failed to mention that you had a totally hunky brother, Al!"

Allison could feel her cheeks turning bright pink as she let go of Mark's arm and took a tiny step to the side. "He's not my brother," she said. "This is Mark, my best friend from back home."

Sam stiffened from where he was sitting at one of the side tables with Bobby and Ray. He looked up and tried to not let his jaw go slack. Mark was at least a couple of inches taller than he was and he was easily built like Piotr. In fact, he would bet on Mark in a fight as long as Piotr didn't armor up.

"It's like totally nice to meet you," Kitty gushed. "And you're totally hot. Allison completely failed to mention that the boys from her hometown were so cute. Watch it Al, if you don't make a move, I might have to." She winked but was quickly dragged back down on the couch by Piotr who turned and shook his head in apology.

"Well, you've now met Kitty," Allison said to Mark waving towards the petite brunette. "And that's her boyfriend, Piotr, so you can breathe a little easier. She won't actually be jumping you."

"I heard that!" Kitty protested as she tried to squirm around Piotr's grip.

Betsy appeared on the other side of Mark and held out her hand. "'Ello, Luv. I'm Betsy, Al's roommie."

Mark gripped her hand and smiled seeing that there were normal girls at Allison's school. "Mark," he replied cordially.

Allison quickly pulled him towards the guys and pointed them out in turn. "This is Sam, Bobby, Roberto and Ray. They're cool. Sam plays football too so you guys should get along," Allison said beaming up at Mark. Mark nodded and slid an arm around her waist which she quickly side stepped as she moved on.

"That's Jamie, Sarah, Rahne and Danielle playing Monopoly over there, and that's Amara and Jubilee fighting over the magazine." Kurt waved from his spot on the couch next to Kitty just in case Allison had managed to forget him and Allison smiled to see that he wasn't blue and fuzzy. "That's Kurt, and the couple cuddling on the arm chair is Scott and Jean." Jean narrowed her eyes at the description but Scott smiled and waved.

Seeing that Mark looked a little overwhelmed she placed her hand on his arm and turned him back towards the door. "Why don't we go catch up though?" she offered and he nodded gratefully. They left going further down the hall until Allison led him out a side door onto one of the mansion's balconies.

Sam stood up and when Bobby looked up at him with more than a little concern he just shook his head and said, "Ah need some air."

"He's just a friend from back home," Bobby said earning him a glare from Sam. "Dude, you can tell she's not into him like that. She kept dodging him every time he got touchy-feely."

"Bobby, Ah swear, if ya don' learn ta shut up, Ah'm gonna help ya."

Bobby shrugged and watched as Sam too left the room, slamming the door behind him loud enough to cause everyone to turn.

"He's totally jealous," Kitty cooed and got knocked across the back of the head with a well aimed magazine by Betsy.

"You need to shut it too, Luv. Let the poor bloke be."

Allison was now starting to regret bringing Mark outside alone. Immediately he had an arm around her waist again and she couldn't shy away anymore. As much time as she'd had to think, she'd failed to do so. Instead, she'd allowed herself to get distracted by football and making friends. Looking up at him, she chewed her lip and wondered how she was going to manage to spit out either of the two topics that needed to be broached.

"There's something, I've been meaning to tell you," she said with a small sigh. She looked down and found nothing there to look at except for Mark's chest. She frowned slightly as she wondered if he would look as good as Sam in an X-Man uniform. So instead she glanced sideways and frowned even deeper when she saw that they had acquired a small audience. She contemplated leading him farther away but knew it probably wouldn't do any good.

"Well, there's something I've been meaning to ask you too," he said smiling down at her. He gently brushed her hair back behind her ear and tilted her head back up to face him.

"Oh, uh, you go first," she said hesitantly.

"I was wondering if you were planning to come home and visit at all this semester. 'Cause, well, ya see, I was hoping you might, if you wanted, be my date for homecoming."

Allison blinked. She'd forgotten how awkward Mark could be when it came to things like this. If she was honest with herself, they were probably actually perfect for each other in that respect. She actually had to consciously remind herself not to let her jaw go slack. "Are you asking me out?"

He hesitated for a moment before nodding. "I really like you," he admitted. "And I don't want to look back one day and regret not taking a chance. So since me kissing you wasn't clear enough, yes, I'm asking you out, Allison."

When he leaned down to kiss her, Allison seemed to recover from her shock as she placed her hands on his broad chest and gently pushed him back again. "Wait. There was something I needed to tell you too."

He nodded and leaned back even slower, not wanting to give up what little ground he'd managed to make after a long drive.

"I'm...well...I'm a mutant," she said practically spitting it out. She couldn't think of a better way of saying it other than being blunt and Mark laughed.

"I know."

"What?" Her eyes snapped open wide as she looked up at him. That had certainly not been the reaction she'd expected. She'd hoped for a good one. Perhaps some acceptance. But he already knew?

"Some of the other kids were outside playing when I pulled up. Uh, Rahne I think you said her name was. Well, I watched her transform from being a wolf. And Jamie...well, I thought at first he was triplets. We're from the country, Al, but I ain't dumb." He was watching her carefully, rubbing her shoulders in what he hoped was a comforting manner. "Considering, I'm putting this together in less than an hour, I'd say that it's actually making a lot of sense. Is that why you were always getting sick?"

"You don't care?" she asked, her brows creasing with disbelief at what she was hearing.

"Why would I care, Al? You're still the girl I practically grew up with. I'm just guessing you now also have super powers," he said chuckling.

"I wouldn't go that far," she sighed holding a hand to her forehead. "I can manipulate water and to a point, I react like it as well. The professor thinks that while my abilities were latent that it was causing my illnesses, so I am better now, much better."

"Can I see?"

Allison scratched her head looking around them for something to demonstrate on and came up empty. She was hoping to keep her demonstration small so as to not overwhelm him when he was being ridiculously understanding thus far. Finally she sighed and stepped back from his hold.

As he watched, her form became transparent, the surface rippling against the light breeze before it seemingly collapsed into a puddle at his feet. Mark stepped back in surprise as a much more solid looking Allison seemed to rise out of the ground before him. "Th-that's cool," he stammered. He recovered and stepped back towards her, placing a hand on the back of her neck as he pulled her in to him to kiss her. Allison closed her eyes as his lips brushed against hers and she sighed as they parted. "And it most definitely doesn't change how I feel about you," he said.

Allison could feel the heat rising up in her cheeks and for a few moments, she forgot about their audience just inside as she rocked up onto the balls of her feet and kissed him again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and she could feel his going around her waist pulling her completely up against him. Finally she pulled back gasping for breath and shook her head. "This'll never work," she moaned.

"Why not?" he asked confused by her rapid changes.

"'Cause I'm here and you're there and then there's college and...it'll never work," she sighed still shaking her head.

"We can make it work." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and a warming smile. "Just sleep on it. I'll be here for a few days. Allison just sighed and nodded a little numbly. Once again, the pressure was on to think about it and it had just been cranked up to high gear.

Sam was walking around the mansion trying to calm himself down before he went back inside. He knew there was no escaping Bobby who had failed to cease a nearly constant third degree on him as soon as he'd figured out that Sam had the slightest interest in Allison. It had even managed to get worse after the day at the beach. Probably because it marked the point in which Allison and Bobby had cleared the air between them and could actually manage to be functioning friends-including an ability to gang up against him.

Sam let a puff of air through tightened lips as he turned a corner of the building and froze when he saw Mark's back no more than fifty feet away up on the balcony. Sam cursed his luck as he went to walk away but paused when he saw Allison shift into view. As he watched, she took on her watery form and melted into a puddle at Mark's feet before slowly rising back up again. He blinked as he watched, always mystified by her abilities. To him, it seemed that she should fail to ever come back together again, and yet, she always did.

Unfortunately for Sam, as he was still watching, Mark pulled Allison to him and kissed her. Sam frowned, closing his eyes, not wanting to watch as his chance with a girl disappeared once again. When he reopened his eyes, they'd parted but only briefly as Allison then leaned in to kiss Mark a second time. Sam let out a disheartened sigh as the disappointment of being wrong yet again when it came to the subject of girls began to overwhelm him. He turned back the way he'd come and hoped that for the remainder of Mark's visit that he'd be able to avoid the other farm boy as much as humanly, and even mutantly possible.

"So...you're Allison's boyfriend?" Bobby asked as Mark dug through his duffel trying to find clothes to sleep in. Sam shot him a murderous look which Bobby responded to with a shrug while Mark's back was turned. Sam already wanted to kill Bobby. There was a perfectly good room down the hall where Mark could have stayed. Yes, it was with Scott which is possibly a fate worse than death, but he would have gladly used Mark as a test subject in the matter. So why in the world was this guy, who had unwittingly become his enemy numero uno, staying in the same room as him for the next several days? Oh, that's right, Bobby had volunteered them.

"It's complicated," Mark admitted as he stood up and shrugged. "We've been best friends for what feels like forever, but lately I guess I've been hoping for more."

"Yeah, it's impossible for guys and girls to stay 'just friends'," Bobby said knowingly.

Mark just chuckled and shook his head. "No, it's not like that. Before my grandfather died, he told me that the secret to staying married as long as he and my grandma had been was to marry your best friend. I didn't really get it at the time, but I started realize that having Al around made everything better. That's when I understood. Your best friend is someone you can't imagine not having in your life. So why wouldn't you commit to spend your life with them?"

Bobby looked stumped. He hadn't expected that for an answer. Perhaps he'd been hoping for a commentary more along the lines that Ray usually had when it come to topic of Allison. It certainly would have made a better case for Sam to keep up the pursuit. But now Sam looked like he was going to either kill Bobby or jump off the balcony.

"But I really just want Al to be happy. Whether we're dating or not, she'll always be my best friend," Mark added with a smile.

Sam was definitely leaning towards killing Bobby. There was no competing against that. The guy was the perfect, wholesome farm boy that any girl would be stupid not to date. Apparently, there wasn't a single impure thought on Mark's brain. Unlike Sam who was starting to find more and more of those types of thoughts creeping in around the corners. In fact, it was almost like having the devil on his shoulder replaced by Ray who couldn't shut up about Allison's mile long legs. Further not helped by the fact that he spent every day with her and got to see her wearing things such as spandex for training and tiny, tiny shorts for football practice.

As Sam sat silently on his bed pretending to be more interested in his comic book, he couldn't help but see that Mark was ripped as he changed into his pajamas. He bit the inside of his cheek as he pulled the comic up higher over his face and groaned. The guy wasn't even a mutant and he was built better than Piotr. Apparently, Sam had left the farm too soon if all it took to look like that was tossing hay bales.

Sam woke up extra early the next morning slipping out of the room past both Bobby and Mark and headed to the lower levels of the mansion. He flipped on the light to reveal the weight room and peeled off the shirt he'd slept in.

In the center of the room was a weight bag that looked a little worse for wear after going a few rounds with Piotr but it still was holding at least 95% of its stuffing. Sam clenched his fists and pretended that the punching bag was Mark as he laid into it with a long series of punches and kicks. He finally collapsed to sit back in defeat and drenched in sweat. He had a feeling that the thick farm boy would have just as easily withstood his attacks. He cursed his lanky build as he crossed his arms over his knees.

"Doing some extra training, bub?" Sam laid on his back and looked at the door upside down to see Logan leaning against the door frame. The older man crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Maybe."

"Try using the gloves. It hurts less," he suggested as he entered the room and grabbed the boxing gloves off a nearby weight bench. He tossed them to Sam so that they landed on the boy's stomach.

Sam held his hands up in front of his face and turned them so he was looking at the backs and realized that his knuckles were cut and bleeding. "Thanks."

Logan sat down on the weight bench and eyed the boy for a moment before sighing. "I don't do this often, but what's your problem?"

"Ah really like this girl, but there are times where Ah think she doesn' even know Ah exist," Sam explained as he slowly sat up and spun to face Logan.

Logan let out a low growl and shook his head. "I'm sorry I asked, but it's too late for that. Why don't you try talking to her?"

"Ah do…all the time. Ah jus' don' think she sees meh as anything other than a friend."

"Kicks, huh?" Logan said smirking and Sam's face fell.

"Is it that obvious?"

"To everyone but her, I'm guessing." Logan stood up and went to leave but paused in the door. "Well, good luck, bub."

"Thanks," Sam muttered realizing that he'd hit a new low by getting relationship advice from Logan. He slid the gloves on as he stood back up and began another attack on the punching bag. After another fifteen minutes of pure exertion, he gave up and dropped the gloves back onto the weight bench and picked up his t-shirt as he headed back upstairs.

Entering the room, only Bobby was starting to wake up and he stared at Sam in confusion seeing his long hair matted with sweat. "Did I sleep through training?" he hissed trying not to wake Mark.

"Nah, man. Ah jus' couldn' sleep." With that he shut the bathroom door behind him and Bobby shrugged as he drifted back off to sleep lulled by the sound of the shower running.

Allison leaned over the engine of her truck with a pair of pliers and wire cutters as she messed with the radio. Somehow the damn thing was wired all the way up into here and not just easily accessible from under the dash. Finally, she managed to disconnect the last of the wires and reached out to where she'd placed her rag in order to wipe the grease from her hands. "Don't hit your head," a voice warned and of course that's exactly what she did as she straightened jerkily.

She turned, rubbing the back of her head from where it'd connected with the hood and gave Mark a lopsided smile. "Hello, Mark. Why do you insist on jinxing me like that?" she asked as she moved around the front of the truck to the passenger seat. She leaned over, carefully removing the radio from the dash and then carried it over and unceremoniously dropped it into a large garbage can.

"Making some alterations?" he asked raising an eyebrow to the loud ruckus of clanging the metal box had made dropping into the can.

"Yep," came her oversimplified response as she moved back to the truck and began opening a cardboard box that contained her new radio/CD player.

"Need help?" he asked grinning as he watched her. she was always stubborn and it amused the hell out of him.

"Nope." came her next monosyllabic response as she pulled away the plastic wrapping and styrofoam padding.

"Are you made at me?" he asked as she climbed into the front seat again to slide the new radio into the empty space the old one had left behind.

"No, should I?"she asked as her head temporarily bobbed up to be seen through the driver's side window and he shook his head in amusement as she disappeared again to begin screwing the new radio into place.

"I just thought that after last night…"

"I'm confused, okay?" she said cutting him off as she got back out of the truck and poked her head back in under the hood as she attempted to relocate the wires.

"About what?"

"Everything right now," she sighed heavily. She closed her eyes for a moment as she allowed last night's kiss to replay in her mind.

Mark leaned in over the engine next to her, watching as her stilled hands came back to life as she twisted the wires together completing the connections.

She pulled back as soon as she was done and quickly dropped the hood. He barely managed to get his head out in time. "You're just the queen of subtlety," he teased leaning back against the front end of the truck to watch as she used the rag to wipe her hands again before crossing in front of him to go to the driver's side to turn on the ignition.

"Yeah, I'm as subtle as an atomic bomb," she muttered turning the key and the radio started up perfectly without static.

"Good work," he commented as Love Me When I'm Gone played through the speakers.

Allison paused staring at the dash for a few moments before coming back to herself. "As always," she replied, her smile easily taking over her features as she cut the engine and hopped out of the truck.

"I never figured out where you learned mechanics," he commented as he patted the hood of the engine. "I remember when you were rebuilding this thing."

"I dunno, comes naturally," she said shrugging as she balled up the rag in her hands and tossed it over her shoulder into the trash can without looking.

"That puzzles me too."

"What?"

"The whole playing ball thing. You're too good."

Allison just smirked as she brushed past him and exited the garage. "You're just jealous." She turned pulling down the garage door with a little grunt until Mark reached up and eased it down, casting her sideways smile as he did. She didn't get a chance to say anything as she saw the guys walking around the corner of the mansion, Bobby leading the pack and tossing a football absentmindedly from one hand to the other. "Hey guys," she said waving her hand and causing Mark to turn and see what had caught her attention.

"Hey, Al. You up for a game?" Bobby asked as he tossed a football from one hand to the other absentmindedly.

"Sure," Allison said quickly shooting the guys a smile as she placed a hand on Mark's chest to hold him at bay from his attempt to wrap an arm around her. She patted his chest gently as she turned and looked up at him. "Mark'll even things out."

"Sounds good, but we're breaking up the dream team," Ray said elbowing Sam in the ribs and giving him a wink. "It'll be me, Sam and Bobby versus you, Roberto and Mark."

"Just don't cry too much when we kick your ass," Allison said smirking as she rested her fists against her hips.

"So what are the rules?" Mark asked hesitantly. He'd gotten filled in a little bit about how things at the institute sometimes ran a little differently, especially anything that involved physical activity.

"No powers, no helmets, just balls," Bobby said as he tossed the football to Allison. "Got a problem with that li'l lady?" he teased. "That and it's ten seconds before you can tackle the QB."

Allison just nodded, the smirk never leaving her face. "Okay, Mark cream his puny butt after the ten seconds, Roberto cover Ray and I'll take Sam." She rubbed her hands together, an evil grin flitting across her face and Mark's confidence returned. They trotted across to an open area of the yard and established roughly where the end zones would be before lining up against one another.

Ray hiked the ball back to Bobby and took off down the lawn with Roberto hot on his tracks while Mark began to ominously countdown as he slowly paced in front of Bobby, his shadow easily engulfing the smaller teen. "One-mississippi, two mississippi…"

Sam also took off and Allison spun on her heel to give chase. She could hear Mark still counting as time was running out and she glanced over her shoulder to see who Bobby would throw to. "Nine-mississippi, ten…" Bobby chucked the ball down field towards Sam's general direction. In desperation to keep him from catching the ball and taking off with his usual burst of speed, Allison made a flying leap, pinning his arms back down against his sides as she brought them both crashing down to earth.

Betsy sighed as she tapped the pen against the annoyingly blank piece of paper in front of her. They were supposed to be making a shopping list so that Ororo could take them to pick up everything they needed but Kitty seemed far more interested in whatever was happening on the lawn than in helping. "Kitty, are you going to help or not?" Betsy asked out loud and got no response as the younger girl continued to stare out the window. "Alright, what is so bloody fascinating about the landscaping?"

"The guys are out there playing football," came the response and Betsy heaved a heavy sigh before turning around in her chair to stare at Kitty's back.

"Seriously? Since when were you into football, Luv?"

"Since it looked like a makeout session," Kitty giggled pointing through the glass at the game outside.

Betsy finally stood up and moved to stand beside Kitty at the kitchen window and watched for herself. Only a couple dozen yards from the house, there was indeed a game of football taking place and the play had ended with Allison lying on top of Sam, the football bouncing away from them both. "That's a tackle."

"Looks like more to me," Kitty said still giggling as she watched Allison clumsily get back to her feet before offering Sam a hand. He took it and once back on his feet he leaned down to pick up the ball.

"If you start looking at all tackles that way, you're going to think that every football player is gay," Betsy said shaking her head as she went back to the table to look back down at her list. "Personally, this may be why football in Europe is an entirely different sport," Betsy joked as she held up their shopping list and waved it. "You ready to hit the mall or what?"

"Duh. Can I drive?" Kitty asked finally turning away from the window.

"No." Betsy shook her head to reinforce her monosyllabic response. "Ororo's taking us, remember?"

"Right," Kitty said still pouting a little bit. "Maybe she'll let me drive."

"God, I hope not," Betsy sighed as she followed Kitty out of the kitchen.