Kurt watched as Kitty slipped into the floor, leaving him and Amanda alone.
'Schiesse, now she's pissed at me,' Kurt thought. He knew he had been wrong to treat Kitty like that but after watching her survey the bare bodies of the four stooges, and then damn near kiss one of them, he had let his jealousy take over.
Amanda tried to hold his hand but Kurt pulled it away quickly.
Amanda let out a sigh. They had been like this for a while now, ever since one of her loudmouthed friends had let it slip that the only reason Amanda wanted Kurt was because he was a mutant. Apparently Amanda had a thing for odd and extreme things, and the fact that Kurt was from Germany, a mutant and blue made him irresistible to her. Of course she had grown to care for Kurt, but he was acting colder and more distant all the time.
Kurt silently looked over at her, staring into her brown eyes. And all Kurt wanted to see were Kitty's lively blue eyes. He knew what was coming, and he had a feeling that Amanda did too. They had truly had a good time together over their five month relationship, but the infatuation had died and Kurt's real love began to surface once more. The heart wants what the heart wants.
"Look Kurt, I know what you're thinking," Amanda said softly. Kurt felt a small twinge of guilt as he remembered how easy it was to be swept up into liking Amanda. Finally someone had liked him, but he hadn't realized that she only liked him because he was a mutant.
"Amanda," Kurt began, knowing that ending it was what needed to happen for both of them. He glanced down at her pretty face that was etched with concern and heartbreak. "We both know it's not working."
"I know. It isn't. I'm sorry if you ever felt like I was using you," Amanda said, her own guilt finding it's way into her voice. She pushed her hair behind her ear and shifted her gaze down.
"We used each other. I wanted something normal, because I felt like I was so far from it," Kurt replied, owning up to his own faults.
"You really are a great guy Kurt, everyone knows that." Amanda said somewhat sadly, forcing herself to look him in the eyes, knowing the real reason why her relationship with Kurt could never go beyond silly high school crush, though she knew he'd never admit it.
"And you're amazing Amanda, I really did learn a lot from you," Kurt said, a thousand emotions running through him.
"I did too Kurt, it definitely wasn't a waste of time," Amanda said. She fidgeted slightly before swallowing hard and meeting his gaze, prepared to admit the thing that she'd been denying for the past five months. "And I can't compete with her Kurt, I tried to make you love me, but she was always there, just being herself. It's okay though, it hurts right now, but that's part of living," Amanda laughed gently.
Kurt smiled at the bittersweetness of it all. Amanda leaned forward and kissed Kurt on the cheek before getting up to leave. Kurt listened to her footsteps, a sad yet somehow fulfilling sound, the creak of the front door and the loud click of it shutting. And just like that, it was done. They were done.
His heart swelled with relief, sadness, hope and joy, then regret as he remembered Kitty's departure.
'She's probably in the arms of Alvers,' Kurt thought, holding his head in his hands. 'I'm such an ass.'
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Scott and Jean were driving down the road, a picture perfect couple. Jean's red hair was being blown out by the wind and Scott would sneak a glance at her every once in a while, feeling that he was the luckiest guy in the world. Sure they were hunted, nearly killed and damn near hated, but they were together.
Scott felt Jean's slim and soft hand fold into his and his world almost felt complete, the only thing he needed to do was skin Jamie's ferret, and then Scott could die a happy man.
Scott spotted Kitty walking on the sidewalk and honked his hello.
Jean and he laughed when they saw her accidently phase through a mailbox from being startled, though Jean didn't fail to notice that she seemed upset. They drove a few more minutes and stopped at the Mansion's gate, waiting for it to open for them, which it did slowly and reluctantly. The electricians from Japan still hadn't shown up, but a very determined Beast, Kitty and Ray had set to work getting at least some of the electricity to work and had managed to revive the security cameras and lights. But extra things like TV or the computer weren't an option and the girls had a 15 minute limit on using hairdryers, curling irons and straighteners. Worse yet was that the AC was the biggest causality of the electricity shortage and the heat was what eventually prompted Jean and Scott to take a drive. They passed a white sedan that Scott was pretty sure belonged to Kurt's girlfriend, and Rahne who looked distant and confused.
Scott felt slightly guilty at the thought of Kurt, the two of them hadn't really talked in a while, a long while.
'Come to think of it, I haven't spent any time with the guys..' Scott thought as he pulled into the garage. His absence from the house could be blamed on his relationship with Jean, the two of them were near inseparable. Scott sighed, knowing he had been neglecting his duty as role model for the X chromosomes of the house.
'That's it,' Scott thought, opening the door for Jean. 'Tonight will be brotherly bonding...damn that sounded weird...'
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Kitty bent over and began picking up the mail that she had accidently taken with her when she phased through the mailbox. Trying to be discreet, Kitty shoved the letters, bills and magazines back into the slot. Quickly she turned and walked on, not really caring where she went, as long as it was faraway from the heartbreak of watching Kurt and Amanda.
She'd made a lot of mistakes in her relationship with Kurt. First by acting like a stuck up bitch when they first met, calling him creepy and yelling at him to stay away from her. Then by being self absorbed and dating Lance, what a huge mess that was. And now, when she and Kurt had an amazing friendship, she was screwing that all up by falling for him. Kitty scowled as she ticked these off in her head, deciding that it all sounded like some bad romantic comedy starring Rene Zellwigger.
'Except she has a bigger chest, blonde hair and always gets the guy in the end,' Kitty thought as she found herself in Bayville park, which was a good three miles from the mansion. Kitty glanced at her watch and was surprised to see that it was only eleven in the morning. Fanning her pink and flushed face, Kitty found shade up in a tree as she began trying to ease her mind. Slowly she felt her heart begin to beat again, though she would choke on her breath as the image of Kurt kissing Amanda kept coming to mind. She toyed with the idea of returning to Chicago for the summer, but she couldn't leave Rogue to deal with Remy by herself and Rahne and Jubilee had just returned. Besides, the Mansion was her home.
"Oh, look, Pretty Kitty got stuck up in a tree!" A drunken and slurred voice brought Kitty's attention down to the ground below her. She hadn't thought her day could really get much worse, but she realized she was very wrong.
Below her was Todd, Fred and Lance, each holding a paper bag that Kitty was sure contained some kind of alcoholic beverage.
"Little early, don't you think you guys?" She asked in a disgusted voice. Kitty wasn't against drinking, but she was against drinking before noon.
"Just trying to start the summer off on the right foot, Kitten," Lance responded, staggering a bit. "Why don't you come down here and chat with us a while?"
"Yea, here kitty, kitty, come here," Todd laughed as he hopped up onto a picnic table. Fred laughed and staggered as Kitty desperately hoped he wouldn't fall and cause an earthquake.
"Are you guys like still drunk from last night?" She had heard about a wild party at the brotherhood house that had happened the night before and the three of them really looked like hell. 'Tabby probably blew their house up when she was drunk,' Kitty thought with a laugh. 'Good for her.'
"What's it matter to you?" Lance demanded. His expression was slowly changing from nonchalant drunk to pissed off ex-boyfriend.
"Just go home and get some sleep, I don't want to talk to you," Kitty yelled, her temper flaring, feeling that she had had enough drama for one day.
"Not until you come down here and give me a kiss," Lance replied, a bitter smirk on his face as the two morons behind him whooped and hollered.
"Hell no, I'm not coming down!" Kitty said, glaring daggers down at Lance.
"Fine, then I'll make you!" Lance bit back, throwing down his paper bag covered bottle and thrusting his hands out in front of him.
A quick rumbling could be heard and the tree Kitty was in shook violently. Kitty's head whipped back and she saw flashes of white as her head met with the thick tree. She lost her balance and fell, to surprised to phase. She felt her ribcage collide with a sturdy branch as sharp twigs left scratches on her arms. One particularly jagged branch caught the side of her neck and Kitty felt a burning sensation. She landed on her left knee with a yelp of pain. She rolled over onto her back and saw a large branch from the tree falling toward her. Kitty quickly phased herself into the ground and 'swam' painfully for a couple seconds before pulling herself out of the ground in time to see the retreating backs of the three hoods, Todd yelling about how they had to get out of there before she called her X-Geek friends.
Kitty staggered to her feet and glanced around to make sure no one else was hurt. Luckily most people in Bayville were inside enjoying their air conditioning and there had been no witnesses. There wasn't too much damage done to the tree, only one of it's limbs had fallen from it.
Pulling up her shirt, Kitty gingerly poked and prodded her ribs. When she was satisfied that they were only bruised and not broken, she sunk onto a bench and fought not to cry.
'Can I be anymore worthless?' Kitty berated herself as blood trickled from the cut on her neck.
She considered calling someone for help, but didn't want people to make a big deal about it. Lance had been drunk and hurt, and Kitty, despite being with the X-Men for almost two years, was simply to slow to act to save herself from these injuries. Besides, she didn't want anyone to think she couldn't handle herself, even though her bruised and battered knee told her that she obviously couldn't.
No, she'd suffer through this on her own. The pain almost felt good, it eased the aching of her heart as she thought about how weak Kurt would consider her if he ever found out about this.
Kitty rose slowly, deciding that if she wasn't back by lunch then someone would try and find her. She walked very carefully, feeling the different pains of her body. Her left knee was throbbing dully in sync with her heartbeat and the cut on her neck stung and burned if Kitty raised or turned her head. Her ribs caused her to walk slowly and gently as sharp and fresh pains would cause her to cringe and double over, which in turn made the pain five times worse.
'I must look incredibly pathetic ,' Kitty thought bitterly. She tried to feel anger towards Lance, but didn't have the strength in her heart for any emotion except hurt from the knowledge that the guy she needed in her life already had the perfect girl, who wasn't a mutant freak like Kitty was.
Kitty shuffled along the sidewalk, her eye's seeing only her feet moving on the ground. She was trying to think of a cover story for when she got back to the mansion. The moment she walked into the kitchen then Logan or Kurt or Rahne would smell her blood and she would have a lot of explaining to do.
'The sub levels would be the best to enter through. No one will see or smell me and the Danger Room showers and medical room are there too. Now i just have to make it there without passing out,' Kitty decided as she stumbled on a rock and had to steady herself on a road sign. Kitty wasn't sure, but she could have sworn she just heard someone laughing at her.
"Hey slowpoke, you're moving slower then usual," A fast talking and high pitched voice said from behind her.
'Oh dear God, now I know you hate me,' Kitty thought as she cringed, knowing now for certain that someone had been laughing at her. The company Kitty had found herself with today were basically the last people she wanted to be with. First there was Amanda, then Lance and now Pietro. Yep, the big man upstairs really had it out for her.
Kitty attempted to straighten her back and bit back a cry of pain. She realized how hot she felt, and how much her head was swimming. Nausea swept over her and she prayed that she wouldn't throw up, knowing that if her stomach heaved against her ribs then she wouldn't be able to keep from crying and vomiting right now would rob her of the last dignity and self respect she had.
"Pietro, please go," Kitty managed to say weakly.
Kitty felt a quick and cool breeze rush past her and Pietro was now standing in front of her, his eyes widening when he saw the state she was.
"What the fuck, you look like hell," He said, before nodding knowingly. "I thought that shaking I felt was Lance. Ya know, you really shouldn't have pissed him off," Pietro said, as Kitty began seeing double of him, his speedy speech pattern making her head throb in a numb anguish. Kitty lifted her arm and swatted at him, trying to express her discontent with his and his doubles presence.
"Get out of my way," Kitty said as she attempted to take another step but ended up sinking to her knees, her left knee protesting in flashes of affliction. "And why aren't you drunk like the others?"
"My metabolism is higher then theirs. Call one of your X-Men, you can't walk back in this heat," He advised as he stood next to her.
"No, I'm not calling them," Kitty replied firmly, shaking her head, which stretched the cut on her neck more.
Pietro cracked a smile at her raw stubbornness.
"Pryde's pride getting in the way?"
Kitty braced her palms on the concrete in front of her, her arms shaking as she tried to get back on her feet.
She was surprised when she felt Pietro's hand on her arm, helping her.
"Yea, something like that," She replied, taking a few deep breaths and relishing in the pain in her ribs as her lungs expanded. She shook her arm loose of Pietro's hand and looked him in his icy blue eyes.
"If you're going to tease and taunt me then just get it over with. At the rate I'm going I won't make it home until dark and I don't need you holding me up."
Pietro kept her steady gaze and sighed after a moment and narrowed his eyes.
"This is how it's going to be Pryde. Someone has to help you, and by the looks of it, you're going to pass out soon. And if your X-Freaks find you lying on the side of the road, then they'll come to my place and a whole hell of a mess will follow, and I just spent the morning cleaning up after that party. Do you have any idea how messy a drunk Tabitha is?" Pietro demanded as Kitty growled for him to get to the point or move out of her way.
"Anyway, with all my team laying around with hangovers, then your X squad will be able to wipe the floor with us. So, to avoid a lot of trouble, you're going to let me help you," Pietro sighed, clenching his jaw and making it obvious that this idea was just as unpleasant to him.
"I don't need your help," Kitty said, lying to herself.
"Like when I didn't need your help when I was in that falling trunk?" Pietro said, reminding her of when she had jumped into a trunk and had phased them out as it fell off the side of the road and down a sharp drop. Kitty barked out a small laugh, though it turned into a painful gasp as a new sensation of pain coursed through her.
Pietro rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid, just call it payback."
Kitty let herself be lifted into his arms, groaning as his hand pressed into her ribs painfully. She hurdled her arms close to her chest and attempted to keep her head erect, though the cut on her neck was making that very difficult so reluctantly she gave in and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Damn Pryde, don't you eat?"
And with that they were off, the breeze cooling Kitty off. She had never felt so worthless and weak in her life, in the arms of the enemy.
'No wonder the stupid fuzzy guy doesn't want me,' Kitty thought bitterly, the world around her a mere blur.