Silver Stars of Quebec: Thank you. Wow, that's really a huge compliment. I hope that you enjoy finding out where things go with Mark.

FYI:
I do not own the X-Men. But I do have the special privilege of owning Allison and putting her through whatever crazy scenarios I can dream up.

Chapter 11: Like the Rain

"Kitty, it's dinner for God's sake," Allison sighed as she impatiently sat in front of the vanity in her room while Kitty ran a brush through the wild tangle of curls trying to put them into a semblance of order. Finally Kitty arranged them into a low ponytail and used a large clip to hold the hair back from Allison's face. "What's with all the fuss?"

"Well, Mark's only here for one more day. I thought you'd want to look extra cute for him," Kitty said with a shrug as she set the brush aside and admired her work. She knew she'd be pushing her luck if she tried to get any makeup on Allison but luckily Allison had a fantastic complexion that always showed off her flustered blushes well.

Allison just scoffed at the suggestion and crossed her arms over her chest. "That doesn't even make sense. He's not going to notice what I wear or how I put up my hair at all."

"Oh yes he will," Kitty admonished as she wrinkled her nose at Allison's clothes. She was wearing her far too usual jeans and a hoodie combination. "And he'll be absolutely shocked if you dump those baggy clothes for just one night."

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Allison asked defensively as she stood up and looked down at herself.

"What's not?" Kitty teased going into Allison and Betsy's closet. "You've got this rocking bod and you insist on covering it with too many bulky layers. You should be totally showing it off."

Allison just made a face at Kitty's back and found a t-shirt to be launched in her general direction. Allison picked it off her face and held it up to see that it actually was a shirt of Betsy's. "This isn't going to fit me," Allison said holding up the teal babydoll tee.

"Surprise yourself," Kitty sighed putting her hands on her hips. She was starting to regret begging for this job tonight. She should have allowed Betsy to get Allison dressed for the party and been downstairs with the others. She just hadn't counted on Allison being so stubborn-or self conscious. She waited while Allison stripped off her hoodie and the baggy t-shirt she'd had on underneath and carefully slipped the babydoll tee on so as to not disrupt the hair Kitty had so carefully arranged. When Allison's head reappeared, she was blushing hard as she looked into the mirror and nervously tugged at the front hem of the shirt which seemed to refuse to meet the top of her jeans. Kitty just grinned at how the simple change had seemingly transformed the other girl from looking like she'd just rolled out of bed to looking ready for a party. "You look great."

"Really?" Allison asked as she turned looking in a mirror. She was still not quite used to having such feminine curves. Aside from her uniform for training, she didn't wear anything else that would show them off really. She ran her hands down over her stomach, still trying to stretch the bottom hem of the shirt before turning to meet Kitty's gaze.

Kitty nodded as she grinned. "Who knew? You're a total hottie under that hoodie. Even Sam's going to have a hard time not wagging his tongue."

Allison's brows rose up at Kitty's mention of Sam. "You act like I'm wearing something scandalous. Our training uniforms are tighter than this and Sam sees me in that every day."

"True. But after a while the drool factor wears off a little because we're all wearing it," Kitty said with a shrug. "This is a change. It's definitely going to catch his attention."

"I thought you wanted me to catch Mark's attention," Allison said catching Kitty in her double entendre. The other girl paused for a moment and Allison crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, what are you up to?"

"I think you need to pick one of them," Kitty admitted. "They both totally like you. Mark can't seem to keep his hands off you and Sam's been walking around for the last few days in a near jealous rage."

"Sam's been jealous?" Allison's mouth twitched to the side in thought as she considered the behavior of her friends over the last few days. Kitty was right about Mark. And Sam had been acting a little more competitive lately. She'd just chalked it up to him being jealous of her time spent with Mark instead of him but she'd figured he'd get over it as soon as Mark went home. She hadn't realized that it was actually Sam being afraid that he'd lose her to Mark.

Kitty just watched as Allison sorted things out in her head and then smirked. "You didn't know, did you?"

"No...I mean, yes...a little. Maybe," Allison sighed as she sunk down onto the end of her bed. She chewed nervously on a fingernail while Kitty crossed the room to sit next to her. "What should I do?"

"Be honest," Kitty suggested. "With both of them," she added.

"I'm just not so sure I'm ready for this whole 'dating' thing," Allison said holding up quotation marks in the air. "I'm not a fan of changes."

Kitty paused and rested her chin on her fist for a moment as she thought. "Dating is a whole lot like being best friends. But with kissing. So I can understand why you're befuddled. Two really hunky guys are your best friends."

Allison snorted and started to laugh. "Maybe that is why I'm so confused," she admitted. "But shouldn't there be more to dating than that?"

Kitty just shrugged as she was uncertain of what to add. "Well, I know that Piotr would do anything for me. He's always being super protective. And I'd do anything for him too. A lot like Sam and you are," Kitty said tossing in the last part as she watched Allison for a reaction, perhaps even a contradiction.

"It's true, I would do anything for him. But I like to think I'd do it for all of you because you're my friends."

"But I know for a fact that he specifically watches your back in training," Kitty said with a smirk. "Sure he'd help Danielle or me if he saw we needed it, but he's looking out for you the entire time. And it's not just because you look good in your uniform."

Allison looked up meeting Kitty's gaze and sighed. "We should get going or Kurt's going to have eaten everything again." Kitty stood up and took Allison's hand and smiled. Before Allison could even react, they were phasing down through the floor of the bedroom and dropped into the hallway below. Instinctively, Allison landed in a crouched position and slowly stood back up as Kitty turned and phased through the nearest set of doors. "Kitty, wait!" She reached out and turned the door knob so that she could walk through the doors herself to follow her friend and was assaulted by a cacophony.

"SURPRISE!"

Allison stood rooted to the spot as the other students assaulted her with hugs and pulled her into the room. She spun and wheeled amongst them unable to gain any balance or bearings as she moved across the ballroom. Finally, a pair of strong arms surrounded her and lifted her off her feet in a bear hug. "Happy birthday, Al!"

She playfully slapped at Mark's arms, waiting for her sneakered toes to find purchase on the floor again before she spun to face him. "You brat," she reprimanded. He leaned in for a kiss and she quickly turned her head slightly to the side so that he caught her hot cheek instead of her lips but he took it in stride as he hugged her tightly again.

Before she could appreciate solid ground too much, she was dragged off to the side of the room where there was a small pyramid of gifts stacked up at the end of a long table that was covered in food as well as a tiered birthday cake. Amara was already digging into the pyramid and retrieved a card which she pressed into Allison's hands eagerly. "Open ours first," she commanded.

Allison obliged and opened the card to read the signatures of all of the female students and smiled as she pulled out a mall gift certificate. "We're taking you shopping this weekend," Jubilee said with a wink.

"Yeah, so that you can be the new hottie at Bayville next week," Kitty added as she elbowed Allison gently in the side. "We X-girls have a reputation to uphold."

Allison just blushed but didn't have much time to come up with any sort of witty retort as an unambiguously wrapped present was tossed at her by Ray. She tore away the paper to reveal a new leather football to replace hers that had been melted in an unforeseen accident of 'mutant ball' the a few weeks earlier. She grinned as she shot the guys a thumbs up and quickly glanced around to catch Sam's eye but he was nowhere nearby.

Sam stood on the edges of the group watching as Allison opened her presents from her family back home as well as the adults from the institute. Her final present came from Mark who'd never moved further away than her elbow the entire time. He handed her a carefully wrapped flat present which she tore into eagerly. Pulling away the paper, she revealed her junior yearbook and flipping through it she saw that Mark had collected signatures and notes from all of her friends in her absence. "Thank you," she sighed turning and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

He returned the gesture before kissing her gently on the forehead. "No problem," he said grinning. Dance music began to pump into the room and Mark playfully took Allison's hand and led her away from the table as she struggled to at least set her yearbook down. Finally, she managed to get the book to balance on the edge of the table before she was dragged out to dance to the starting strains of P!nk's "Get this Party Started".

Allison kept looking around trying to spot Sam but he seemed to be eluding her or as was far more likely, she was too distracted by the gyrating bodies surrounding her. Soon, she found herself fully encircled by Mark's arms who was easily keeping Ray and his playful attempts to cut in at bay.

Meanwhile, Sam stood by the small pile of presents and flipped through Allison's yearbook glancing over the notes and studying the pictures. She seemed to be incredibly popular at her old school as there were very few people who hadn't signed the yearbook with some kind of personal not or inside joke. Sam paused when he reached a picture of Mark and Allison on the sidelines of a football game. It was the same picture Allison had framed in her room upstairs. Mark had signed here and written simply, "Best Friends Forever, All My Love, Mark". Sam snapped the book shut and sighed as he leaned back against the table and watched as his friends were having fun dancing together. Mark was leading Allison away from the dance floor and towards the balcony and suddenly Sam could feel in the pit of his stomach that his window of opportunity had closed.

Allison had been dancing for quite a while when Mark had managed to pull her aside and out onto the balcony alone. For once, everyone's attention did not seem to follow them as there was far too much happening inside the ballroom. "Al, I was wondering if you'd given it any more thought."

She glanced down at the ground between them and shook her head. "Problem is I've probably given it too much thought," she sighed. "I know I care about you, but to a point, it doesn't quite feel right either. I'm sorry," she said finally looking up to catch the slightly disheartened look in his eyes. "Please, don't be upset. It's just that I'm not ready for something else to change on me again. I like knowing that there are certain things I can count on. Like you always being my friend."

"And that wouldn't change, Al, I swear."

She gave him a weak smile and shook her head. "You can't promise that. Remember, I'm the one who's been there when all of your other relationships have gone south. It's a small school, Mark. And you manage to avoid those girls like the plague. I don't want that to happen to us."

He sighed as he reached over and picked up one of her hands in his. "You make it tough for a guy to be mad at you, you know that?"

"I can imagine," she replied meeting his gaze as she tilted her head slightly. "And I think one day you'll find the right girl. I just don't think that I'm her." She leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips as he sighed, his warm breath floating over her cheeks.

It deepened for a moment before they parted and he pressed his forehead to hers. "I really wish you were though," he sighed as he opened his eyes to find her steel green eyes gazing back at him. "But I have the feeling it's that I'm not the right guy for you."

"Nonsense," Allison laughed. "There is no right guy for me. I have no type."

Mark smirked for a moment and shook his head. "Sam seems like a pretty good guy."

"He is. But I don't know why you're bringing him up." Mark held her gaze captive for several long beats and her jaw dropped slowly. "Oh no, you've got that all wrong. We're friends."

"He likes you a lot. I can tell and I've only known him a few days. And I've never seen you act so strangely around a guy before in your life."

"I do not act strange around him," Allison said taking a step back as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Mark just smirked and leaned back against the balcony railing as he gazed heavenward for a moment, as if asking for the patience necessary to speak to Allison at times. "You can't seem to get close enough to him. Me, you can't seem to work out the right distance. I shoulda known right away," he said looking back at her as she settled against the railing next to him. "You really look up to him for some reason that I can't place my finger on yet. I'd give anything for you to look at me that way."

"Mark..."

"Don't," he said holding up a hand as he sighed. "I'm not mad. I'm just realizing how blind I was being. Just promise me you won't screw this up, Al. I want you to be happy." He leaned down and kissed her gently on the cheek before walking away.

Allison leaned back against the bannister and watched as Mark went back inside to the party. She sighed heavily pressing a hand to her forehead as she tried to figure out what she was going to say to him tomorrow when he left. She could still feel the gentle pressure of his lips against her cheek and while it had been nice it had just...left her wanting. Somehow it hadn't been enough.

Through the glass doors she could see everyone inside, her friends laughing, smiling, and dancing. She could see in one corner that Bobby was flirting with Jubilee while Amara stood by rolling her eyes. She was surprised to see that Sam wasn't right there as well. Usually, Sam and Bobby seemed so inseparable that she furrowed her brows in confusion as she quickly glanced around the rest of the party trying to spot the tall blonde. The only one she could spot was Mark.

She frowned when she couldn't find him and turned to look out over the grounds. In the distance, she could make out Sam walking towards the gazebo that was situated on the edge of the cliff. She took off after him at a quick pace determined to make up the ground between them. All the while she kept contemplating why her kiss with Mark hadn't seemed quite right. Perhaps she'd been forced to watch too many chick flicks with Kelly that she was expecting some kind of literal spark when no such thing existed.

He was almost to the gazebo when she caught up with him and fell into step beside him. "So why aren't you at the party?" she asked.

"Ah should be askin' you that," he countered turning to look at her. "But Ah doubt ya'd give meh a straight answer."

"No, I will," she said smiling. "I went to go find a dance partner and realized that my newest best friend was missing."

"Ah jus' didn' wanna get in the way of you an' yo' boyfriend," he said as his gaze fell to his feet. He sighed when his words had come out rather harsh and looked up to see that she was looking confused and hurt. "Ah saw ya kissin'."

They'd reached the gazebo and Sam sat down, his hands tucked between his knees and Allison sat down beside him, angled slightly towards him. "I don't know what Mark and I are," she admitted. "This dating thing isn't really something I've ever done before and it just doesn't seem right with him. I know too much about him. All of his little quirks would eventually drive me nuts, whereas now I can just laugh them off." She wrinkled her nose as she imagined some of his worse habits and closed her eyes as she shook her head. "Besides, now he's kinda far away."

"So you ain't gonna date 'im?" Sam asked as his brows rose up.

Allison just shook her head in the negative. "So, can I get that dance?" she asked standing up and offering him a hand.

He took it and once he was standing, he twirled her easily under his arm. Or at least for him it was easy as Allison quickly tripped over her own two feet causing Sam to quickly grab her around the waist and pull her to stand up straight again. "I'm not very good at this," she said laughing a little as they were now practically nose to nose.

"Meh neither."

"I guess it's a good thing we're all the way out here where no one can see us then," she teased as he eased her back from him a little.

Sam still held her one hand as he allowed the other to rest easily on her hip and she brought hers up to rest on the back of his neck. He took the first slow, shuffling steps and she followed his lead as he directed them in a slow circle. After a few moments, he tried twirling her again and caught her with a hand at the small of her back before she could stumble again.

Again, their faces were so close that their noses practically touched and without thinking, Allison leaned in and kissed him. At first he was too shocked to respond, his eyes snapping open wide with his surprise. He dropped her hand and wrapped his arms around her waist afraid that she might pull away before he could even fully register what it felt like to have her lips against his own.

When they did part, they became aware of the drumming of rain falling on the gazebo roof above them. They were both looking up and Allison began to laugh lightly more so out of relief than anything else. She hadn't been crazy and she hadn't been imagining it. There really was a 'spark' when the kiss was right. "So that's what it's supposed to feel like," she said as her eyes drifted back down to him.

Sam met her gaze and couldn't help but notice just how bright green her eyes had turned. "An' how's that?"

"Like every chick flick claims it should," she said still laughing a little but now at her inability to express herself well. "Like fireworks...or crack. Maybe both."

The rain slowed as they stood there in silence and Sam reached up to gently brush back her long curls. He kissed her again and the rain began to come down in torrents as their kiss deepened. They parted and Allison's cheeks were flushed as she tried to get her heart rate to slow. Sam grinned, his breathing still a little off-kilter. "Ah'm fairly certain that was better'n flyin'."

"That I wouldn't know," Allison said returning his smile. "But I think I'm making it rain." Her cheeks turned a darker shade of pink as they looked outside the gazebo to see the rain slow again. But they could also see now that everywhere else still looked dry despite the gray skies overhead that had been threatening rain. Sam pulled her into a tight hug as they both laughed.

Allison and Sam returned to the party with farm more notice than she'd managed to slip away from the party with. She hesitated at the door as Betsy, Kitty and Mark's gazes all leveled on her seemingly instantaneously. She swallowed as she felt Sam gently squeeze her hand and pull her forward. She did her best to gather her courage over the next several steps as they walked towards their friends who were now definitely all watching them return as a couple.

"Where have you been?" Kitty asked, furtively glancing at Sam who was now standing elbow to elbow with Allison. "We've been looking for you so we could cut the cake."

"Just went for a walk, didn't you, Luv," Betsy offered with a wink as she placed a hand on Kitty's shoulder and spun the petite girl away for a moment.

Kitty, however, would not be diverted. She twisted under Betsy's arm so that she was facing Allison and Sam once again. "So what happened? Did you choose?" Kitty asked and Allison held a hand up over her face attempting to hide the bright pink blush in her cheeks as Kitty squealed. "You did, didn't you!" One quick glance at Sam and Kitty had her answer as to whom because Sam also had color rising up in his cheeks.

"Kitty, shush..." Allison pleaded, motioning with her hands for her to keep her voice down as she glanced about to see that Kitty was unfortunately doing a fantastic job of attracting attention to their little corner of the room. She met Mark's gaze over the heads of the other students and he gave her a wane smile and she sighed. It wasn't exactly how she'd wanted to deal with the situation. Then again, she should have been getting used to things changing on her too quickly for her to have any influence. She gave Mark what she hoped was an apologetic smile in return before she was distracted by the sound of singing.

Betsy had been busy lighting the candles of the cake and her singing had caused attentions to shift as the others in the room joined her. Sam gently nudged Allison to acknowledge the glowing cake and as the chorus ended, she blew out the candles to applause. Kitty was then back into hostess mode as she began to help Betsy cut the cake and hand out slices to the other students.

Allison just felt lost in the middle of the crowd that was swarming forward to get their share of the cake. Her attention locked on Sam's hand that had found her own again and he squeezed it gently before wrapping his arm around her waist and held her close so that she didn't get bumped and jostled. She kept her head down against his chest and closed her eyes wanting nothing more than to be away from the crowd again and feeling rather silly for coming back to the party. But at the time, she'd wanted to sing and dance and celebrate. Now, she was nervous and felt like she was under a microscope as everyone was watching her, expecting her to be joyous.

Combine that with the fact that she could still feel her powers on the jittery edge from their last kiss. It had been a wild and wonderful sensation that had gone through her like a current of electricity. She peeked up at him through her eyelashes and wondered how she'd not felt like that around him before. Granted, whenever they hung out, she'd always been on a buzz of energy as if she were akin to the Energizer Bunny. Mark had seen what she could not. She was a different person around Sam. She was happier around him even under all of her current nervousness, she was happy to be tucked against his warm chest.

"Dance with me," she said lifting her head slightly and ignoring the plates of cake that were being passed around them.

"Al..."

"Please?" she begged with a slight pout on her lips. "I'm feeling claustrophobic."

He let out an exacerbated puff of a laugh before pulling her free of all their friends, ignoring the catcalls from the other guys as he allowed her to wrap her arms around his neck and lean against his shoulder. He couldn't help but notice that Mark was watching them closely before finally getting distracted Betsy shoving a piece of cake into his hands. Sam gazed down at the top of Allison's head and gently ran his fingers through her hair. "Are ya okay?" he asked softly lowering his lips down near her ear.

She licked her dry lips before glancing up at him and shook her head gently in the negative. "I'm nervous," she admitted. "I feel like everyone's been watching us since we came back and my powers are still on edge which is helping absolutely nothing."

"We could leave again if ya want. Get ya as much air as ya want outside," he offered trailing his fingers down along her jawline. her eyes closed at his touch before fluttering back open. She nodded feebly and allowed him to lead her back outside to the balcony. She leaned against the railing, her eyes closed as she finally allowed herself to breath in and out deeply. Sam hesitantly stood a few feet back before moving to stand at her side and placed a hand on her back. The sky was still rather bleak looking as he leaned forward onto an elbow to gaze at her face. "Al?"

"Hm?" She kept her eyes closed as she made the soft noise low in her throat and leaned into him slightly.

"Feeling any better?" he asked wrapping an arm around her shoulders until her head was pressed in against his own shoulder and neck.

"A little," she sighed opening her eyes to meet his concerned gaze. She leaned forward sealing her lips against his and he gently pulled her into him as the kiss deepened. Rain drops started to fall heavily against them but neither seemed to care as it began to fall steadily. Once they parted Allison looked up at the dark clouds overhead and closed her eyes as the rain fell against her skin, cooling her flushed cheeks.

"Ah think Ah get why ya like the rain," Sam said watching her in amusement.

"Oh?" She turned her gaze back down to him again before shifting out of his arms so that she could perch herself on the railing to sit. She pulled him by his hand so that he stood in front of her, his back to the glass doors that were starting to crowed with curious classmates. With him standing in front of her it was easier for her to pretend they were alone.

He stood between her knees, her feet wrapped around to rest at the back of his calves in a loose grip and he held both of her hands, letting her thrumbs brush lazily across the calloused skin of his palms. "Yeah. It seems ta fall fo' ya. Jus' like meh."

"That's so corny," she teased tilting her head at a playful angle as she considered his sincerity. He just smiled and shrugged before leaning down to kiss her again. They parted slowly as Allison wrapped an arm around his neck to hold him still. "Granted, being with you makes me feel like I can completely cut loose," she said raising and dropping one shoulder. She smiled as she pressed her forehead against his. "Thank you."

"Fo'?" Sam asked raising an eyebrow and the movement caused Allison's brow to wrinkle as well and she laughed.

"For coming out here and getting wet with me."

"Ah coulda asked ya ta keep meh dry if Ah was really worried 'bout it. But Ah ain't. Ah really don' mind. Ah'm jus' glad yo' happy," he said running his fingers back through her hair again as he kissed her.