A/N: My hibernation is over. Even bears don't hibernate this long. Sheesh.

Snow and fire don't mix!

Ch. 17

Got It All Wrong

Brooke led John to the bar, it's not like he had to be dragged. She ordered as soon as they sat down, not giving the bartender a chance to turn around. "Coming right up," he said.

When the bartender turned around he instantly recognized John and winked at him, hinting at the girl he was with and recalling John saying he had a girlfriend.

Brooke held the beer bottle up, "Ready?"

"For wh—"

In a matter of seconds, all of her beer was gone. Brooke smiled broadly, showing off her perfect pearly white teeth.

John laughed to himself. If only she knew his special talent. He swiveled the seat to face the people sitting at tables and propped his elbows on the edge of the counter. "So, what's your story?" he asked casually.

Brooke swiveled around to face John. She crossed her legs and began her story. The pickpocket was more open than he thought she would be. Maybe it was because she drank too fast.

On the way back to the room, Rogue and Bobby saw Kitty flirting with a tall blonde. The two mutants smiled at each other and left Kitty alone. They went up to Bobby's room to see John.

"He's not here," Rogue announced.

Bobby saw the pillow on the floor, "Maybe he had a pillow fight with himself. He's a sore loser you know."

Rogue had a hunch so she turned on the television set. She braced herself for porn. To her surprise, it was the weather channel.

"Score!" exclaimed Bobby. "What's not to love? We get to stay longer, and we're unsupervised."

Unlike Bobby's reaction, Rogue knew John didn't embrace this news with open arms. "Let me go find our pyromaniac before he does something without thinking."

At some point, John drifted off into space during Brooke's story. When he snapped out of it, he noticed Brooke was silent. She was looking at him with a smile on her face. Before he could even speak a word she forced herself onto him and kissed him. Rogue turned the corner and stood in the doorway unable to move. She witnessed her boyfriend kissing someone else. Heartbroken and disgusted, Rogue stormed off back to her room.

John broke the kiss and pushed the pickpocket off him.

"I have a girlfriend."

Brooke whispered in John's ear, "I don't care." Her hand was inching up his thigh. However, her hand was lacking the invitation and it was stopped from reaching its destination. Brooke frowned, as she was not used to being rejected.

"I said I have a girlfriend," he raised his voice, stood up, and left the bar. He left Brooke stunned and alone. She was so sure that he was a cheater. This made her urge for him stronger. To her, this was simply a game of hard-to-get."

As John entered his room, he applauded, "Brilliant wipe out, Bobby. I'm sure by now there is a video of it posted on youtube with at least fifty thousand views."

Bobby didn't respond to John's comment. Instead, he changed the subject. "Look out the window," he said with a smirk.

John wasn't surprised, as he knew it was coming, but now it was official that the blizzard had arrived. The sky was gray and it was snowing heavily. What was so great about being cooped up inside with nowhere to go? It was no different than being back home at the mansion. He went into the bathroom to make sure there wasn't any lipstick on his face. "Did you happen to see Rogue?" John yelled through the door.

"She was looking for you," Bobby yelled back.

John was about to knock on Rogue's door when he noticed it was open. He pushed the door and walked in cautiously. "Rogue?" There was no answer. "Kitty?" Again there was no answer.

Further into the room he saw a pair of legs on the bed. Rogue was lying in the bed, her back facing him. "Rogue are you okay?" he asked softly as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"I can't believe you, John. I knew you would do this to me. You said you could handle not being able to touch me or even kiss me for that matter. You make me sick. Get out!" she said as tears ran down her cheeks.

He cursed to himself. If only he knew sooner that she saw. Now she had so many negative thoughts running through her head. "I don't care about that stuff, Rogue. I've never met anyone like you and I never will. She came on to me and kissed me. You didn't see everything. You missed the part where I broke the kiss and explained that I wasn't interested and that I had a girlfriend. You're my girlfriend. I don't want to be with anyone else." There was sorrow in John's eyes and sincerity in his voice. He really meant what he said.

"Get out."

John took a couple of steps towards the door, turned around, and said, "You know I'm not who everyone else thinks I am. I know that's partially my fault but you see through that. You see me for who I really am. Don't let them cloud your judgment." He paused to see if she would face him, but she didn't. "I swear I'm telling you the truth." He closed the door gently and walked slowly back to his room. He wanted to give Rogue some space.

"Did you find her?" Bobby inquired.

John nodded. "Apparently she did find me. She's angry with me because of her bad timing." John sat on his bed and buried his face in his hands. "I have to figure out how to fix this."

A/N: Wow, MIA for a year. Sorry about that. R & R!

You know you love this story. XOXO.