Disclaimer: I do not own X-men or any of the original cast of characters. I do own Iris Hunter.
WARNING: In case you've read thus far and haven't figured it out yet, this is a YURI story. That means GIRL X GIRL, don't like don't read.
---Bayville High: Lunch---
Iris sat at the table by herself. She was kicking the peas around with her plastic spork. Since the night before, Kitty had been avoiding her. Iris had skipped breakfast as usual, but this morning Kitty didn't meet up with her in the main hall. She didn't sit next to her in the car. She said she was busy at lunch. Iris let out a long sigh, she had made a mistake. They had gotten caught up in a moment of confusion and she had taken it the wrong way. She blew it.
"What's wrong? You don't seem like yourself today." A familiar accent said. Rogue slid her lunch tray onto the table and sat across from the saddened student. "Anything I can do to help?" She seemed as if she herself was in a bit of a down mood, but she was trying to be up-beat-which is pretty strange for Rogue.
"I'm alright, just thinking too much maybe." Iris said with a small smile, looking up at today's lunch buddy. "You look like you've been doing the same." She added with a short laugh.
"Maybe." She answered with a frown. "Do you think I'm selfish? I mean what we were talking about the other night." Rogue leaned foreword at the table, playing with her own food-if it could even be called that.
"Selfish?" Iris repeated. "When you were talking to me I could tell that it was something unusual for you. The way you worded things seemed like you were trying to be careful about it, but over thinking it made it come out differently then you meant."
"I don't understand." Rogue admitted, it wasn't the most straight-foreword answer.
"You said that you haven't even had a first kiss. You asked me if there was a possibility that there were other people with my power. I don't know the answer to that, but I know what you really wanted to ask me when you said that." Iris paused, looking into Rogue's eyes for a moment. "You wanted to know if there was a way to find people that you could love that you wouldn't hurt. When you were talking to me you made it sound like you wanted affection, but what you want is to be able to get close to people without hurting them. It's not selfish to want to be loved, and it's definitely not selfish to try not to hurt people."
"Thanks." Rogue said with what must have been a very small smile. "Now it's your turn, what's really wrong? You don't have to hide it from me, remember?"
Iris nodded, "I guess I've just always been better at listening." She sat her spork on the tray and took a deep breath. "Well, I like a couple of people right now." She paused at that, making sure that Rogue wasn't going to ask her to stop, she showed no signs of disgust. "Something happened with one of them, but now I think maybe she was just caught up in something. I'm afraid I may have lost a friend because of it."
"Really?" Rogue asked, obviously surprised. "Look, I'm not great at giving advice or anything. But I think she'll come around, I doubt she would just avoid you for the rest of her life over one night. I mean, if it were me I'd at least want to talk about it. Just give her some time to think."
"I don't think it would have happened the same way with you." Iris admitted. "You have more self control. Though I know it wasn't all her."
"Having an ability like mine almost forces self control, believe me, I wasn't always this way."
"In a way I understand, but I know that you've got it much harder than I do."
"I dunno, you've got a pretty intense life at home. Was all that over a single drawing of Kitty?"
Iris' eyes grew wide, "The memories were that vivid?" She was surprised, and maybe a bit embarrassed. "I never did ask you what you saw. I guess now I don't need to."
"Hey, my lips are sealed."
"Yeah, too bad mine spoiled it last night."
"No way, you mean-"
"Like I said, I think we were just caught up in a moment. I don't think she meant anything by it."
"Kitty may be an airhead sometimes, but believe me, I don't think it was an accident." Her voice held a bit of sadness in it, and she knew it. "So who's the other lucky lady?" She asked, trying to cover it up. She was also past her denial phase, she knew very well that she was jealous, and that she hoped the answer to her question was her own name. In this moment she was being selfish.
Iris smirked, "I'll save that answer for another time."
The same sort of sly smirk crossed Rogue's own lips. "That works for me." She answered, looking up into Iris' blue eyes. She knew what that meant, in Iris speak it meant 'I'll see you tonight.'
---After School---
On the ride home, Kitty sat next to Iris. She didn't say a word, just stared out the opposite side. But she was close, really close, Iris could feel Kitty's hair blowing on her neck. Rogue sat in the far seat, her cheek leaning in her palm. She was scowling, obviously displeased, though she was the one to tell Kitty to sit back in the middle on the way home. Kitty could pretend to be angry as much as she wanted, but that's exactly what she was doing-pretending.
She couldn't stay mad, how could she? In fact she was happier than she had been in a long time. By the end of the ride, Kitty was leaning contently on Iris' shoulder, even holding onto her jeans with her tiny fingertips. In the rear-view mirror, Rogue saw Scott raise an eyebrow and shrugged. He immediately turned his attention back to the road, Rogue obviously wasn't in the best of moods.
Once they reached the mansion, Iris walked with Kitty up to her room. They stopped in front of her door and Kitty turned to face her. She was biting her bottom lip again, obviously a nervous habit. "I'm sorry about today, I was sort of afraid that if I talked to you you'd tell me something I didn't want to hear." At first she was looking to the floor, but she raised her head up as she spoke. "I know it's silly, but I didn't want you to reject me."
"It's not silly, I know exactly how you feel." She wrapped her arms around the other, hugging her tightly. "You won't hear any complaints from me."
Tears welled in Kitty's eyes as she was released. "I'm glad." She leaned up and gave Iris a quick kiss on the cheek before phasing into her room. As Iris turned to walk away, she spotted Rogue, leaning against the wall at the top of the stairs. Iris looked at her questioningly.
"Don't worry, I just told her that I hate sitting in the middle." Rogue replied with a smirk.
"Thanks," Iris answered, her fingers on her cheek. "So, after dinner?"
Rogue nodded, "Courtyard? Being inside all the time is boring."
Iris nodded back, "Sounds great." She looked the other up and down as she began her way down the stairs. Rogue made her way down the hall.
"Rogue, you still haven't told me how it went." Kurt said, popping up from downstairs with a sandwich in his hand and peanut butter on his lips.
"I told you to stop doing that." Rogue said, punching him in the arm again. Classical conditioning, one day he would learn. "It went fine, I told you not to worry about it."
"So you were right? She wanted you to check out her memories?" They weren't really questions, since he already knew the answers. "What did you see?"
"My lips are sealed, Kurt." She said, crossing her arms.
"That's no fair, I helped you get in there." He complained.
"Your curiosity isn't my problem." She said, and it was the truth. "Besides, I could've just walked in the front door with the way things happened."
Kurt raised an eyebrow, but he knew that Rogue wouldn't elaborate.
---At Dinner---
Dinner was the one time of most days that everyone was together. The professor, the elder team members, the students, and the rest of the mutants. To Iris, this was still very new. At her own house it was pretty much fending for yourself and eating alone in your room. The intercom on the wall buzzed, "Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you but we're looking for somebody and we've heard she may be here."
"Of course, I'll open the gate." The professor didn't turn anyone away unless he had a reason to be distrustful.
"I'll get the door." Kitty offered, phasing through the walls and opening the large main doors. A blue sedan pulled up and out stepped three. A man, a woman, and a younger child. "Who is it you're looking for?" Kitty asked politely.
When the woman reached the top of the stairs and looked at Kitty she immediately raised her hand up and struck her across the cheek. "I should have known she would be living with you!"
"Laura!" The man called, rushing to the top of the stairs. He appeared to be more levelheaded, though just as angry.
With the sound of that exchange, that voice, Iris stood and ran to the doorway. Rogue, the professor, and Kurt-who was fiddling with his image enhancer- ran for the main doors. Upon the sight, Iris stepped in front of Kitty and turned to face her first. Her cheek was red and tears were in her eyes. She turned back to her parents. "First you kick me out, then you track me down? Do you enjoy hitting kids mom? Do you LIKE seeing people like this? What did she do to you? NOTHING. I don't need to see it to know that." She raised her voice, it was more intimidating that anyone would have expected.
"Iris, please calm down and take Kitty back upstairs." The professor suggested, well, demanded in his own calm way of demanding things. Iris nodded, putting her arm around Kitty's shoulders and escorting her up the stairs. Kurt followed, Rogue stayed behind with Xavior. He turned his attention to the woman, "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to leave, I will not tolerate the abuse or harassment of my students."
From behind Kitty's closed door, they could still hear the argument rage on. The professor was calm as ever, though the irritation in his voice was evident. No matter what he said though, Laura's rebuttal was never pleasant. "How do you grow up in a family like that and turn out like you?" Kitty asked, sitting on her bed and leaning into Iris.
"It's easy," Iris said with a comforting smile, brushing her fingers through the girl's hair. "Just try as hard as you can not to turn out the way they did."
"You've done a good job." Kitty said with a short laugh, it stung to talk, it stung worse to laugh. "It sounds like they really want to take you back home." Kitty said, listening in on the fight downstairs. Kurt stepped out of the restroom, a cold wet cloth in his hand.
"Here, put this over it, it should help it feel better." He said, handing it to Kitty.
"Thanks, Kurt." She answered with a smile, sitting up and holding the cold cloth to her red cheek. It did help, it wasn't as hot and the stinging turned to more of an unpleasant tingle. The three of them jumped at the sound of a fist against what must have been the wall downstairs.
"If you don't leave this property right now you're gonna wish we only called the cops!" It was Rogue's voice, obviously ticked. "You can't just come in here and demand to take her back after what you did to her, after what you just did to my friend. You're lucky I don't take it out on you ten fold!"
Though only a young woman, Rogue was much more intimidating the calm professor Xavior. Laura's response was much less forceful, she could tell Rogue was not kidding. "Fine, then you just let her know that all of her belongings are going to be taken to the dump in the morning."
"Fine, whatever, just leave." Rogue demanded, her hands shooing them away. She looked past the two standing at the door and down to the girl at the bottom of the stairs. She must have been a freshmen at Bayville High. Judging by the smug smirk on her face, this whole ordeal must have been brought on by her. Rogue glared at her piercing eyes intently, just what reason does one have to treat somebody this way?
Finally, the argument stopped, the family made their way back into the car and left the property. Rogue made her way up the stairs and into Kitty's room, skipping the knock. "What a fun bunch of people." She said sarcastically, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. "How's your cheek?" She asked, turning her attention to Kitty.
"It's feeling mostly better thanks to Kurt." Kitty replied with a smile.
"I'm really sorry, I should have known it was them." Iris said, her eyes meeting Kitty's. "I hope it feels better soon." She added, gently placing a hand on the girl's cheek. Rogue looked away, her eyes falling to the floor. Kurt's eyes grew wide at Rogue's reaction.
Rogue walked out, closing the door behind her a bit harder than she had meant to. Kurt followed, though not using the door. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Rogue, you like her don't you?" He didn't sound disgusted, or judgmental, in fact he sounded sad. He sounded sad because she was sad, the fact that Iris was a woman made no difference to him.
"What?" Rogue said, her tone a bit overly defensive. "Of course not, are you stupid?" She pulled her shoulder away.
"I know you. I know what that look was. It hurt you that they were so close."
"What are you getting at, Kurt?" Rogue demanded an answer.
"You and I both saw the drawings in her room, you're not the only one who feels this way." He assured.
"So what? You saw them in there." Her voice was low, but still had a sting to it as if she was yelling.
"I'm your brother, I want you to be happy. I think you two need to talk."
"We are gonna talk, but I'm not gonna get my hopes up just to be shot down." Rogue knew that there was no point in withholding information from Kurt, he had a way of pulling out what he wanted to know. It was called pestering, and he did it quite well. She could never open up to him the way that she had with Iris, but he could pull more out of her than most of the other x-men.
---The Courtyard---
Iris sat on a stone bench, facing the small pond in the center of the courtyard. It was dark, the courtyard was lit only by standing lamps along the concrete pathways. Rogue approached along the path, shivering in the autumn night. "Rogue," Iris said, a small smile upon her lips. "I'm glad you still came here." She was sitting as usual, her knees apart, her elbows leaning on them.
"Is there a reason that I shouldn't have?" Rogue replied, slightly confused.
"No, I just…" She looked to the ground, "I realize that maybe I did something I shouldn't have."
"I don't understand, what do you mean?" Rogue asked, standing at the edge of the pond and staring out into its still water. Her arms were crossed and she was visibly shivering. She heard rustling, and as she looked back a black leather jacket slid over shoulders. Iris let her arms fall over Rogue's body, pulling her close as she stood behind her. Rogue's cheeks lit up, but she said nothing.
"I did something that upset you, and I sincerely apologize." Iris whispered, "You're the other woman, Rogue."
"How did you know that I wouldn't push you away?"
"If you were going to push me away then you wouldn't have come by at all." She pulled her arms back, releasing the other. She began to tug her gloves off.
"What are you doing?" Rogue asked, turning around to face her and sliding her arms into the sleeves of the warm jacket.
"Take your gloves off." Iris said with a smile.
"Um, alright. But why?" Rogue complied, slipping her gloves off and stuffing them into the pockets of the jacket.
Iris grabbed one of Rogue's hands and let her other hand land on her cheek, "Because I want to feel your skin." Rogue took a step foreword, leaning into Iris' body. She kept hold of her hand and let her other hand rest on the other's hip. Her head rested on her chest. Iris slid her finger beneath Rogue's chin and lifted it, leaning in close. Rogue didn't pull away, but Iris could feel her hesitate.
"What about Kitty?" She asked. She wanted this, more than anything else right now she wanted this, but she wouldn't let Kitty get hurt.
"I already told her. She understands."
Contented with that answer, Rogue eagerly leaned up into Iris' lips. She could feel the warmth flow through her cold body, and she didn't pull away until she had to. Rogue had more self control, but this feeling was new to her, and she loved it.
Whew, that one was a bit longer, finally getting up to a normal length. This chapter ended up focusing on both Kitty and Rogue, but the main deal here is the relief of Rogue's feelings. I can't say that she won't still get jealous, not that she'll be the only one. We're going to be moving into the final stretch soon, I still need to figure out how this story is going to end-and that means that I need you to give me some FEEDBACK PEOPLE. I'm here to make my readers happy, so I want it to end how you want it to end. Rogue or Kitty?