Quinn, Kitchie, and Mark ran around the corner to see Rogue and Caim getting to their feet. Caim grabbed his guitar and binder as he stood. "Watch where you're walking much?" Rogue snapped as she got up. Caim looked at his feet, mumbled an apology, then took off past her and through the doorway behind her, disappearing into another hallway. "Caim!" Kitchie called, going after him Rogue watched him as he ran past before looking at Mark and Quinn. Mark shrugged and Rogue rolled her eyes. "Caim's a nice guy but he's weirder than all of us at time." Then she left the hallway, passing Mark and Quinn who were both standing there, confused. No sooner had she left did Kitchie come back with a smile on his face but a slight worry in his eyes.

"He'll be fine," he said, shrugging a shoulder.

"You sure?" Mark asked. "He looked kinda…" He glanced at Quinn as he searched for the right word. "Faded?" Quinn offered. "He was all happy at the mall but now he seems kind of faded."

"That's a good description," Kitchie replied. "And it makes sense. But either way we can't do anything to help and he'll be fine. Now come on, let's go find something to do." He grabbed Mark's hand as he ran off and Quinn trailed after them, her mind still on Caim.

She suspected that something was going on with Caim and Alex, she wasn't sure what but she knew that there was something else with them. You didn't have as big an issue as Caim did when you were just friends. Or maybe they were just like her and Mark, not together or whatever but just really close. Quinn didn't know what had happened between them, or even if anything had.

She bit her lip as she stood up from tying her shoes; she had been following Mark and Kitchie in a daze, thinking.

There probably wasn't anything going on actually. Friends, human or otherwise, were precious to a mutant. Whether they knew what you were or not a mutant was lucky to have friends that enjoyed them as much as Alex seemed to like Caim. There probably wasn't anything going on, just Caim wanting to spend time with a friend.

As she ended her thought her vision focused just in time to see the snowball flying before it hit her in the face.

A couple hours later when Kitchie, Mark, and Quinn trooped inside along with the rest of the snowballers they didn't see Caim. Nor did they see him at dinner or the time between the end of the meal (where Mark forced Quinn to eat something) and bed. None of the trio, except Kitchie who walked into his room to find Caim already asleep, saw him until the next morning when Quinn came down to the kitchen.

It was six in the morning, an hour before she actually had to get up. She had showered, dressed, and emptied and repacked her bag before coming downstairs. Passing a clock in the hall she noticed that it was only six thirty. Sighing she headed for the kitchen, intending to make something to eat so she didn't have to listen to Mark nag her about it.

She entered the kitchen and stopped when she saw Caim sitting at the island with his back to her reading the newspaper. An empty bowl sat next to him. Quinn slowly walked in, though she didn't try to quiet her footsteps; she just wanted to be cautious but not freak him out when he saw her. "Morning," she greeted quietly, going to the fridge. He didn't say anything, just nodded and turned the page. For the next half hour he didn't speak, and when Quinn asked where something was he would just point. And when she couldn't reach something he would get up without a word, get it for her, and sit back down. A little after seven when Quinn and him started to hear footsteps on the stairs he put his dishes in the dishwasher, folded up and left his paper on the counter, and left the kitchen just as Rogue and Jean walked in. Quinn stayed in the kitchen to finish her coffee for another minute before leaving as well.

On the bus with Mark, Kitchie and Caim Quinn watched Mark and Kitchie talk. Caim sat beside her but didn't speak, just sat there with his eyes closed and mouthing something. Quinn tried to read his lips but the words didn't make sense so she dismissed it. Kitchie didn't need to tell her that the next stop was theirs; she could see the school for herself. The four of them, along with about a third of the bus occupants got off. Caim headed off without a word towards the back of the school, skirting around groups of students, his footprints in the snow spread wide apart. Mark touched her arm and she followed him and Kitchie into the big building that she would be trapped in for the next seven and a half hours.

AN: A little distant I know, but I was trying to cram stuff into this chapter. The next chapter will be like the others, more detailed and such. This was a lot of thinking and stuff focusing on Caim. All shall be explained... XD

Happy New Year everyone!