DISCLAIMER: Again, I do not own X-Men; I don't even own my OC (she's not my original character; I took her from the Marvel/X-Men universe; I just kind of put her in First Class).

In reply to the anon Reviews I got on chapter "One" aka the Prologue:

GUEST: AMAZEBALLS! Continue with this! Will do! I have about four chapters planned out already, so yeah.

GUEST: I like that! xoxo Whatever 'that' is, you're welcome for it. Glad you like the story.

UPDATE: Update soon. Haha, here it is! The official Chapter one.

Edited: 9/01/14 (sorry it took so long, i went to DISNEY!)

chapter one: and my heart breaks at the though of you

You shouldn't be hiding. There he was again, invading her thoughts. And not in the nice self-inflicted way, no, he just liked to trot on over to her mind, and just listen to her think. Like she was some kind of test subject, or something else entirely.

She shrugged his words off; she knew she shouldn't be hiding. That didn't mean she would stop. He wasn't the boss of her.

Stay out of my head.

That was the thirteenth time she had told him to do that. Every time though, he just drifted over, and tried to find her, or get her to come out or something. It was more than annoying. He seemed to have a habit of doing that, even though they had met less than a week earlier. It was strange, to say the least, that he already seemed to have a pattern with her, as did she with him.

It was like they had known each other in a past life.

Not that Hope believed in any of that buddhist crap, but the likelihood that Hope Summers was the only person to ever look like Hope Summers was about as conceivable as Charles staying out of her head. Which was, all in all, very unlikely.

On the bright side: she was getting better at blocking people from her mind. Practice makes perfect.

"You really shouldn't," a voice that was so obviously Charles' called from the other side of the closet door. Hope rolled her eyes, and felt the small urge to punch him in the face. He was trying to help, she knew, but he was acting like an annoying little brother.

"Go play with your other dolls, Charles," she was mocking him. Trying to get him to leave her alone. She didn't want to be with Raven and Hank, third wheeling, nor did she want to be around Charles and Erik, both of whom seemed to only want to talk about her. Nor did she really want to make new friends as everyone around her seemed to urge her to. She didn't want people telling her what to do. Her small problem with authority always seemed to have her ending up in difficult situations.

"But your my favorite, Hope," he had a quick wit. She could give him that.

"I'd rather Erik come in," she told him. And it was true. Erik didn't constantly ask her questions she either didn't know the answer to or didn't want to answer at all. Erik was quiet, he never pestered her, or tried to get her to do things she didn't want to do, like Raven did. He was very, laid back. Quiet. Reserved. It was easy to be around him,

"I could come in if you want me to," that was Erik. He was starting to act like Charles.

Hope huffed, "You people are so annoying."

She unlocked the lock, and swiftly exited the room, swaying past the two men that watched her leave. She wanted to be alone, how many times she had to tell the men that before they actually heeded her wishes. She didn't want Charles bothering her anymore. Nor did she want Erik too.

She had no idea where she was going, though she remembered seeing a dartboard in the common room. She was always good at throwing with accuracy. Her older brother had been obsessed with darts - though that didn't make him good at it - and she had gotten accustomed to winning at it. She didn't know where her skill came from, both her mother and father hated sports and had little to no hand-eye coordination.

Though Hope hated to admit it - she really hated admitting anything - darts was almost a release for her. Sometimes, when she was upset at someone, she would pretend their face was the dartboard. She was good at hitting the eyes.

Xx.

Erik was not looking for Hope. Not at all. Never.

He just kept repeating it to himself over and over and over again. I am not looking for Hope.

But he was.

And, sooner or later, he knew he would find her. He just didn't know where.

When he and Charles had found the girl, she was burying a dead body. She was covered in dirt, and rain, and the sadness that she was feeling was almost deafening, even though it was a silent grief. She was small, and dainty, and fragile, and broken. Shattered.

But then she came back with them. And she was a different person. She pretended that nothing was wrong, that she wasn't who she was. She acted as if the person that they found at the graveyard—the grief-ridden child—wasn't there anymore.

But she was, and Erik knew it. Though he never went any further than she wanted him to. He never got anywhere at all really. Just small things—her last name, Summers, her favorite food, Kettle Corn—but never enough to satisfy the need he had to know everything he could about her.

"I'd rather Erik come in." Hope. The voice was undoubtedly hers. Charles was leaning against the door of a closet, where he assumed Hope was.

"I can come in if you want me to," It came out before he could stop it. Charles turned around, surprised by his presence.

A huff, "You people are so annoying."

The click of a lock, and the door swung open. Hope swayed past Charles and Erik, both of whom were carefully watching her walk down the hallway.

Erik wasn't even sure what to think of her; she always left him guessing.

"She's quite a specimen isn't she," Erik mused. She was, though. There was truth in him statement; she always left him guessing. She was unpredictable, and smart, and witty, and he never stood a chance against her.

"Very," he continued, thinking about the right adjective to use, "strong." It seemed appropriate.

"Mmm," Charles confirmed his thoughts, "She fascinates me. We don't even know her power yet, do we? But she's just so, interesting, on her own. You just get sucked in."

Her powers. Whenever he was around her, he could almost forget about all the mutant problems, about all the bad in the world. Hope was like a gateway to a wonderful world where nothing was wrong.

Erik followed the path that Hope had gone down only a minute prior. Her powers. He didn't even know them yet. Who was she? Who was this girl that seemed to captivate both him and Charles at the same time, and still leave both of them guessing? Who did she think she was, becoming something important in his life? Who was this girl he seemed to almost always chase?

"Hope." She stopped when she heard her name, and he was glad. It would be easier to talk to her.

"Erik," she replied, turning around almost begrudgingly, "how nice to see you." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and malice.

"I would just like to know-" he started, but the look on Hope's face stopped him from going any further.

"If you couldn't tell already," the fake kindness in her voice grated against his nerves, she could at least show him how she felt, "I would like to be alone. Without any questions asked." She gave him a false smile, before turning around to continue on her way.

"You know, everyone would stop bugging you if you stopped being so cryptic and rude," he told her, putting back on the mask of indifference that usually covered his emotions, "but if you want to be alone, I'm fine with that." She turned around, slowly and robotically, almost as if she was trying to calm herself down while doing so.

"Me? Stop being so cryptic and rude?" Her voice was laced with anger, her face caked with disbelief and agitation, "Have you ever looked in the mirror, Erik? Yes, we all know you have some bone to pick with Shaw, or Schmidt, or whatever the hell his name is, but that's about it. And you want to know why I'm so, as you put it 'cryptic and rude'? Because I'm not worth it. I don't like people getting close to me. They get hurt, Erik. They die, or they leave me before they can.

She tok a deep breath, calming herself down, "I'm not worth it. I never have been, and I never will be. You have zero reason to like me, or - hell - look at me.

"Alone is safe, Erik. Alone is where I can't hurt anybody. You would know. But then again, maybe I was wrong about you."

She backed away slowly, scanning him, checking for every reaction, and any ounce of emotion that would come through. But, she left before she saw anything.

Her head held high as she slowly walked away from the scene that had just happened, almost as if it didn't.

Erik made sure of that.

Xx.

In the seventeen and a half years of Elizabeth Porter's life, she had never once met someone as annoying and irritating as Henry Fisher. She had never met someone who seemed to know her just enough to push all the right buttons. She had never met someone who, while seeming so nice and kind in the beginning, was so cynical and rude, and annoying.

And she had never met someone who looked so attractive while being so.

Hope groaned at the cliché-ness of the book. Of course he knew all the right buttons to push, and of course, she was irritated by it. And, of course, they fall in love by the end of the book.

It was inevitable, and irritating. As cliché things always are.

Though the book, named Postcards for reasons unknown to Hope, lacked plot, and imagination, Hope had read it more times than she could count. She always had high hopes when she re-read it - though she can never remember why by the time she had finished re-reading it. Hopes that, somehow, while it was sitting on her bookshelf, collecting dust, the book just got better.

She was always gravely disappointed; the book always turning out just like it had the last time, stupid and unrealistic.

Hope couldn't put her finger on why she always read the book again and again. She didn't have an emotional connection to the book, nor did she have an emotional connection to who gave her the book (to be truthful, Hope couldn't even remember who gave her to book, or even why).

"Is it good?" Hope turned around, not noticing the person who entered her room.

A girl, she noted, someone she didn't know yet.

"I'm Angel," she introduced herself, as she moved towards Hope. It was almost as if she had read Hope''s mind. Hope hoped not - one telepath was enough.

"Did Charles send you?" Hope asked, already suspicious, "Because if he did, you can leave because I'm not answering any of your questions."

"Charles didn't send me," Angel sat next to Hope, "Well, kind of. Raven's off, who knows where, and Charles told me there was another girl. I haven't seen you around yet. How long have you been here?"

Hope gave the girl a shrug, "I've been here for about a week. Maybe longer. I haven't really kept track. And Raven's probably with Hank. They're kind of," she made an obscure and vague motion with her hands, "you know."

"Ahh," Angel did know, "do you like him too?" Hope gave her a confused look.

"Who, Hank?" Angel nodded.

Hope barked out a laugh, "No. No. No, no, no, no, no. Never. He's, uh, just no. Not that he's not nice, because he is, it's just, him and Raven work way better together. He's not my type. At all."

Angel smiled, "What is your type?"

"Tall, dark, mysterious," Hope gave a small giggle, "Nah, I'm just kidding, smart, kind, funny, with very nice hair. I have a small hair fetish. And a back fetish. I love muscular backs."

Angel smirked, "You mean to say that you like someone else?"

"What?" Hope practically squeaked, her eyes bulging out bigger than usual.

"You do!" A different voice, coming from the door. Both Angel and Hope turned around, almost surprised to see Raven coming towards them, practically squealing.

"Who is it? Erik? Darwin? Charles?" Raven named off all the boys around Hope's age that she knew were in the compound, "Or is it someone more scandalous, like me? Are you in love with me?"

Hope chuckled lightly at Raven, "No I'm not in love with you. Or Erik. Or Charles. Or Darwin. I've only known you guys for- what? A week? Maybe a little more? Nobody falls in love in that short a time."

"Uh," Raven corrected, "Snow White did. And she's a princess. You shouldn't argue with a princess, Hope."

Angel laughed, "But who knows what goes on in that castle, Raven? They could be doing the, you know, or they could be completely avoiding each other. No one knows but them."

"Thank you!" Hope exclaimed, "They barely knew each other when they met. 'Love at first sight'? What bull-frog.. If love at first sight existed, then I would probably be boning the love of my life right now."

Raven snorted, as Angel gave Hope a look of almost - was it pride?

"Well, while we are on the topic of boys, which one is the hottest?" Raven asked, looking at both Angel and Hope expectantly.

Angel shrugged, "Darwin's kinda cute."

Hope coughed, before slowly answering the question, "I guess Charles is kinda nice looking. As is Erik. They both have nice faces."

"I KNEW IT!" Raven yelled, jumping off the couch, "YOU TOTALLY THINK CHARLES IS HOT!"

"Shut up, Raven!" Hope whisper-yelled, pulling Raven back down onto the couch, "They could hear you!"

"Oh yeah, like Charles totally doesn't think you're hot too. He stares at you all the time. You two should totally make out and get rid of that sexual tension."

"There's no sexual tension, Raven." Hope rolled her eyes,

Angel interjected, "You could cut the tension with a knife, Hope. You two totally should have a thing."

Hope laughed, "You two are crazy."

"Crazy in love with the idea of you and Charles." Raven sing-songed, smirking as she did so.

"I barley know him, how do I know if I like him or not? I don't. You two are basing everything off of physical attraction, which is not something I'm looking for. I want to like someone for their mind, and vise versa. I don't want a one night stand, or whatever." Hope told the girls, almost as if she was lecturing them, "Not," she continued, "that I'm looking for commitment. I'm not really looking for anything right now." She shrugged, giving the two girls a half-smile.

"Speaking of Hank," Angel said, looking at Raven expectantly.

"We weren't talking abo-"

"What's going on between you two?" Angel interrupted Raven before she finished her sentence.

Raven blushed, "Nothing much. He just wanted to take some of my blood for testing."

"Mmhmm," Hope rolled her eyes, letting out a small giggle, "and you two totally weren't just about to kiss when I walked by."

Raven's face started taking on another, darker, shade of red, "We weren't just about to kiss..." she trailed off, looking towards her hands, which were intertwined, on her lap.

Angel gave a small chuckle, "You liiiike him, you liiiiike him."

Raven didn't object as her face heated up some more. A small smile formed on her lips as Angel and Hope chanted the words over and over, "You liiike him! You liiiiike him!"

Hope was happy - for what felt like the first time in a while - to be around two girls, and to just have fun. She had never felt that kind of happiness around her brother - who was too dark and broody to have much fun with - or with her friends from home - who never truly understood what she was feeling most of the time.

It was different to be around people who understood her struggle, and chose to - not embrace it, but not blatantly ignore as she had her whole life. It was different to just let go for once. She almost felt in that moment that she could live a normal life.

Almost.

In a moment, everything came back to her. The grief, the guilt, the anger. Every feeling that had been lifted by the sheer joy of friendship, and conversations full on nothingness, fell right back onto her previously light shoulders. It almost felt like she was about to fall into an abyss of nothingness.

But she didn't.

She stayed awake, feeling the hurt and the pain that had haunted her only a small while before. She took a deep breath as she practically fell back into the couch, her heart beating at an unnatural pace, her breaths coming out rapid and uneven.

Count to ten, she practically screamed silently to herself, COUNT TO TEN.

"One." Raven and Angel both looked at her, worried.

"Two." They shared a look, eyes wide with worry and surprise.

"Three." They started talking to Hope, but she had already started blocking them out.

"Four." Raven started yelling, to whom, Hope didn't know.

"Five." Scared looks crossed both the girls faces as they waited.

"Six." Someone burst through the door, and Raven started talking animatedly to them.

"Seven." Charles rounded the couch, trying to sooth her with his ability. She had blocked him out beforehand.

"Eight." He shared a worried look with the girls, saying something that was obviously discomforting to both of them.

"Nine." Hope could feel herself calming down, though the chaos around her surely wasn't.

"Ten." She let out a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders.

"I'm fine." Hope declared, "I just need some time sometimes."

"Are you alright?" It was Charles. Of course he wanted to know. He always wanted to know.

"I will be."