Another chapter I've written too early...meh, I've done it now.

I know I say this for every song I put up, but this one I think is based on the promise John made, how he'll TRY to make it work., it's a good song and I love it. another simple plan one, I'm kinda obsessed with them at the moment.

Thank you to Tiger Mutant, Sky. Fay and Spirit Kiss for the reviews.

Tiger Mutant~ I've been trying to write my own story for a while! but I've also got enough in the ropes of fiction-press, but I'm unsure whether to continue as the themes are quite controversial. But thank you for saying that :)

Sky . Fay~ I think he was bisexual but for the story I just decided gay because it was easier, but you are right. I don't know why, I enjoy adding OCs into stories that have tragic pasts, I'm glad you think its realistic :).

Spirit Kiss ~ can I just say your review made me smile for ages. as I was spell checking stuff I realised that it seemed too easy to figure out who it was, as I wanted it to be a surprise, but in the end I just left it as it was. Thank you :)

I'm really getting into this one, and I'm glad so many people are enjoying it, as I'm writing this it's passed 2,000 views already! I can't say thank you enough!

so because of this I'm going to ask any artists/video maker people on here if you'd like to do artwork or a trailer for the story (I personally know its difficult to make videos especially how long it takes, I would do it myself but I don't have sony Vegas pro or movie maker). I haven't thought of the prize for people who do it but there will definitely be a mention in the author's note and a link, you don't have to, it's just if people would like to i'd be more than grateful that you gave the effort to do it.

disclaimer: I only own OCs.

with that done, on with the chapter...

But I'll try, to never disappoint you,

I'll try, until I get it right,

I've always been so reckless, all of my life,

But I'll try,

For you...

Simple Plan ~ Try

Isaac just shovelled mountains of food into his mouth, barely stopping at his fingers as he crunched happily. It was surreal sitting opposite him in the canteen, the assorted plates of food surrounding his edge of the table. I simply twisted the fork in my fingers, my own plate of chips in front of me, however I wasn't hungry.

Professor X and Elijah left us to our own devices, deeming we needed time to understand the seriousness of the situation. There was something they weren't telling us, and if it was any other time it would be pestering me every waking hour, but I had more important things on my mind.

How the hell was Isaac alive?

That question alone was a whirl wind of puzzlement. I had watched him disappear under the water, I had watched the bubbles cease to exist. I ran away. The only explanation I had was that he had resurfaced after I went to get Mom, but then why did the paramedics say they'd found a body? Or more importantly, why didn't Isaac come home?

I didn't want to force questions on him, he may have looked content then, but if asked too many questions he might have had a fit. Professor X warned me to give him time, saying he'd been through a lot in the last six years, and he didn't truly know the full extent of his suffering.

"Are you going to eat that?" Isaac asked, eyeing up my plate of chips. I shook my head and slid the plate over to him, he smiled thankfully and dug into the well cooked sticks. I smiled tightly, dropping the fork and resting my arms tiredly on the table.

I had no idea what the time was, but by looking at the window I concluded it must have been around midnight as it was pitch black. I yawned, denying my body sleep as I made sure Isaac wasn't going to disappear if I closed my eyes.

His hair was still greasy, but I'd elected to give him some clean clothes after Dr Grey had checked him over. She basically said he needed food, preferably a shower, and a long sleep. The shower was daunting, I didn't want Isaac having an episode, that was if he still had his phobia.

"Are you sure you're okay with staying in my friends' dorm?" I asked him, making sure he was positive. He looked up at me, big blue eyes glistening. He nodded his head sharply, before shoving three whole chips into his mouth.

"I'm not a kid anymore, I know I can't bunk in with my sister. They do know I'm staying with them, right?" He asked, to which I shifted in the chair. The answer was they didn't, not yet, but Professor X stated that if they didn't agree he could always just stay with me.

If I was still with Johanna, then him being with me wouldn't have been an issue, however I hadn't known Kitty more than a day, and I was sure she'd find it unnerving with Isaac around. If I trusted Isaac with anyone, it was Bobby and John. John knew our past, he knew how much it effected me, so I hoped he knew how hard it was for me to leave him with people he didn't even know.

I sighed groggily into my hands, barely able to keep my eyes open.

"How old are you?" Isaac asked inquisitively, to which I dropped my hands and stared at him. He had already finished the chips, and he didn't look remotely full, but it seemed he had learnt manners from wherever he had been and didn't ask for anymore food.

"Sixteen, why?" I asked truthfully, Isaac's eyes bulging at the age.

What did they do to you?

The question pained me. Isaac refused to talk about the labs, I resulted to asking Elijah about them when Isaac went to the canteen with Dr Grey to get food. He was vague on the subject, saying that what was known was that it was a lab which tested on mutants, learning their genetics and so forth. It broke me when I imagined what they must had done to him for six years, and that whole time, I thought he was dead.

"That makes me twelve, and I didn't even know..." He mumbled, his own age surprising him. I guess time in the labs distorted itself, he obviously didn't know so much time had passed. When he actually figured out his age it also dawned on me, every time I looked at him I just saw the six year old boy screaming in the lake, now, I saw the same boy six years later, only it wasn't truly the same person.

Even what I imagined him going through, the shattered mind that dwelled inside his head, I thought he'd be more broken. Truth be told, if it wasn't for his thin figure and greasy hair, he would've passed as a normal teen.

"It's been six years Isaac, six long painful years." I countered, chuckling at the surrealness of it. Isaac didn't see the funny side, casting his eyes to the table as they were glowing in distance. The tension on the air was suffocating, nonetheless we tried reliving our bond six years ago, if there was a bond there to begin with.

"How's Mom?" He asked after the silence became deafening. I bit my lip, what exactly was I supposed to say?

"She's...better, better than she's been in years." I lied, because I honestly didn't know how she was doing myself. She could be dead for all I knew. He smiled nonetheless, relief shining on his face because he believed his supposed death hadn't caused too much heartache.

He seemed so much more open towards the world, emotions he didn't know in his innocence, but whoever had captured him had taken that innocence.

"You all done?" Isaac nodded his head, so I stood up and cleared away all the plates. Isaac followed behind me, offering to continue talking to me in the kitchen. I turned the offer down, telling him to sit and relax at the table, he did obey but I could tell that every part of him didn't want to.

I twisted the hot tap on in the canteen's kitchen, letting it fill up the sink as I leaned against a counter, exhaling loudly. This was difficult. It was bad enough having to tell him all the things he had missed gossip wise, but lying to him about Mom was hardest of all.

"It's only temporary, give him time to prepare for the truth." I told myself, gripping the counter top sharply with my nails. The heated fog rising from the tap told me the sink was filled, I went to turn it off, only for Elijah to turn it off for me. He smiled, the mild jealously I saw before now gone.

"Thought you might need help?" He whispered, sympathy in his dark eyes. I contemplated for a moment, then shook my head slowly, hearing my skull rattle inside (figuratively).

"No I can handle Isaac, I had to for ten years." I declined through a yawn.

"That's not what I meant. Finding out someone you thought dead is alive...it could break anyone." He said softly, as if talking from experience.

My body betrayed me as all the air I had stored from the excessive inhaling and exhaling suddenly deserted me like I was a balloon being deflated. My shoulders sunk, my legs shaking so I had to grip the countertop extra tightly.

"Is it cruel to wish he'd stayed dead? To not go through all that crap in the labs?" I asked honestly, because whenever I thought it, I felt like a monster. He shook his head, understanding what I was trying to say.

"No it's not wrong, to have a quick painless death is better than years of suffering." He said forcefully, but I didn't truly know the emotion behind those words. When Elijah spoke the sentence, he realised why he had forgiven the Nazis all those years ago. Yes it was barbaric and inhuman what they did to his family, it was heartless, but the ones that survived had to remember the event, which was so much worse in his eyes.

"That's true. Once I'm done here I'll be taking him to bed anyway, that is if my friends agree to look after him in their dorm." I dearly hoped they would, but if they didn't I think I could talk them round.

Elijah took it upon himself that if Allerdyce and Drake didn't agree, then he would talk Charles into giving the two siblings a room together.

"They likely will, they know how important it is to you." He replied warmly, before saying a quick goodbye as he disappeared with his grey smoke. I rolled my eyes, he could have least walked out the room before teleporting, because I kept coughing over the smoke as it tickled my throat.

"What are you doing in there?" Isaac shouted, stalking my every move. I sighed, he was still the clingy brother I remembered, but I was glad of it.

"None of your business. Actually, come in here and help me dry up." I ordered, hearing him moan which brought a smile to my face. He stumbled inside with a pout on his face, grabbing a tea towel aggressively. He stood beside me like when we were younger when I made him help with my chores, only this time we were both a lot taller, saying that, Isaac wasn't far off my height.

"Can't believe you're making me do this..." He mumbled, grabbing a freshly washed plate, water dripping to the floor with a patter.

"You gotta earn your keep somehow, Professor X expects something from you if he gives you something, mainly safety." I countered, Isaac grumbling at it. I rolled my eyes, I always thought he'd be one of those lazy teenagers who moaned whenever they were told to lift a finger.

Luckily he wasn't at the rebel stage, swirling the tea towel all over the plate. The heat radiating from the water seared by skin, but I kept them under as the sizzling kept me awake. The water that collected on the floor began to irritate me, I don't know how to explain the sensation, an itching feeling in my gut to use my ability. I refused to fall for the siren like call, I had to prove I was stronger than that, mainly to myself.

I need to learn control, like Professor X is always lecturing us, or else we'll lose ourselves...

I focused on in my head, ignoring the tantalising sound of the water dripping onto the floor, like it does on concrete in the pouring rain. This new found addiction surprised me, after all, the last time I had such an obsession was when I first started to realise the mutation, but I promised I would learn control.

Thankfully Isaac didn't notice my brief loss of self-control, still grumbling as he washed up another lot of plates, placing them on the metal rack.

I really wasn't looking forward to dumping him on John and Bobby, but I would have to face the music eventually. But for now, I cherished the moment, because I knew how easily it could slip away.

"You kissed her...that's what all this sulking is about?" Bobby exclaimed, finally getting to the source of John's grumbling. He wasn't normally so hostile, but since the two had been arguing over John's constant sour face for nearly a week, he was more than a little annoyed.

John was lay across the couch, head resting on the arm of it as he stared at the ceiling. At that point he wanted to shove one of his socks in Bobby's mouth, anything to make him shut up, keeping him awake to about one in the morning still going on about how he was depressed. He wasn't depressed, he wanted sleep.

"I'm not sulking! Do I look like a child to you?" The rhetorical question was met with Bobby raising an eyebrow, John scowled, warning Bobby not to comment. He wasn't sulking, he was patiently waiting for her acceptance, that is, if she actually did. He hadn't made much of an effort himself granted, carrying on as normal, or as normal as they could be, but that was only because he wanted to clear the air before she made a decision.

He didn't love her exactly, without trying to sound cruel, but there was no denying they shared something that was more than friendship. He didn't know when he started seeing her in that sense, possibly around the time he had jokingly kissed her to wake her up on the bus. Whatever it was, it was complicated, and nosy Bobby wasn't helping.

"So, are you two going out then?" Bobby asked curiously, no longer pacing the length of the couch as he had been doing for the past couple of hours, piercing slowly through John's wall. John shifted his head to look at his friend, seeing that there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes that he would say yes. John licked his lips, then proceeded to stare at the blank-screened TV behind Bobby.

"Could you scoot, you're blocking the TV."

"John." Bobby said forcefully, stating that he wasn't playing his games. John groaned internally, why was Bobby suddenly so stubborn?

"Not yet, as far as I know." He replied, admitting defeat with a wave of his hands. He seriously wanted his lighter, just the sensation of the cold metal in his fingers to calm him, but Bobby was being a dick and hid it in his pocket until John told him the truth.

"What do you mean, 'as far as I know'? Did she reject you or not?" He really wasn't going to take no for an answer, which was beginning to piss him off.

"I don't know, she kissed me back quickly, but rushed off to say sorry to her friend. So far she hasn't said yes or no, so I'm waiting until she's got an answer. You done quizzing me now?" John said sarcastically, glaring at Bobby who wore a clearly infuriated look. He couldn't deny that John had told him the truth, and he did answer his questions eventually. He sighed, walking over to the couch to sit down, feeling tired.

"Could you move over?" He asked John politely, only to be met with a negative response.

"Fuck off and find your own couch."

He was joking, Bobby knew even if his face resembled a serious expression. He did drop his feet to the floor, sitting up as Bobby quickly grabbed the now free space in case John decided to change his mind.

"You don't have to be so hostile about it." Bobby mumbled, John rubbing his eyes as he scoffed.

"Don't interrogate me for four hours." He grumbled, reaching to grab the TV remote, too awake to fall asleep. Bobby agreed to stay up, even if he wasn't given a choice as John turned up the volume staggeringly loud.

"Hey can I have my lighter back? Pretty please?" John pouted, back in his banter mode as the subject moved away from Sam. Bobby stood his ground, but eventually fell for it, handing over John's lighter. He flipped it open and let the flame burn for a second before shutting it and stuffing it into his pocket.

No sooner had John switched on a program they both liked, there were three knocks at the front door. Bobby and John shared a glance at each other, confused, who would knock at one in the morning?

"Don't look at me, I'm not getting it." John said, turning his attention back to the TV. Bobby tried to leave it too, but three more urgent knocks made his fingers tingle. After the third lot of knocks, he stood up and opened the door sharply. His original angered face softened as a sheepish Sam stood in front of him, looking pale.

"Sam? What are you-" He didn't finish as a younger boy, around eleven, peaked is head from behind her. Bobby's eyebrows creased, Sam smiling meekly.

"Is this the snowman?" The boy asked innocently, giving Bobby a once over. Bobby was never one for swearing, but his whole mind just thought up three words.

What the fuck?

"It's Iceman, and his name's Bobby." Sam replied to the boy, rather annoyed at him for speaking. The boy shrugged his shoulders, but seemed wary of the stranger.

"I know its late, and I probably just woke you guys up. Can we come in, please?" She pleaded, looking exhausted herself. Bobby stood perplexed for a moment, before glancing over at John who had shot off the couch as he heard Sam's voice, clearly excited and fearful to see her.

"No problem, come in." Bobby invited, moving to the side so Sam and the boy could walk past him. Even though his nose wasn't all that sensitive, the boy did have a stench to him, but he tried to ignore it as he shut the door.

Sam walked over to John, who was stood up behind the couch. They shared eye contact for what seemed like forever, both wearing blank expressions.

"John, Bobby...this is my brother, Isaac." She croaked, eyes transfixed on John. Bobby had no idea what was going on, unable to understand the connection John and Sam were having. John took a step forward, looking between the boy and Sam, trying to piece together what she was implying.

"But you said..." He trailed off, and Bobby saw for the first time, that John Allerdyce was speechless. The boy, Isaac, stepped around Sam and again gave John a once over, immediately seeing something between his sister and John.

"Yeah about that...turns out he was alive all along." Sam replied with a hollow chuckle, shrugging her shoulders as if she didn't really know what was happening herself.

"Hi." Isaac greeted sheepishly, waving his hand to John under a long black t-shirt. John was still processing everything, but made the effort to wave back awkwardly, Isaac squinting at him, thinking he'd seen him before somewhere.

"It'll only be for a little while, I promise he won't be a bother." She stuttered swiftly, John slowing her down by raising his hands.

"Whoa, what do you mean 'for a little while'? Is the kid staying with us?" He exclaimed, looking over at Bobby for support who had slinked into the centre of the room, no wall able to comfort him as everyone stared at him.

"It's a bit, inconvenient...but it should be okay, right John?" Bobby made sure he put extra empathise on his name, a subtle hint that if he wanted Sam to like him he needed to help her out. Bobby wasn't trying to fool himself, he was terrible when it came to girls, but he knew kindness paid off.

Unfortunately, John seemed deaf to his hint and argued.

"Sure, of course it's okay, you know what, let's invite Bobby's brother to stay with us too." He exclaimed sarcastically, Sam glaring at him briefly before shaking her head. Bobby face-palmed, he honestly didn't know how he had got Sam to like him, or himself for that matter.

"John, please. I wouldn't ask unless I had nothing else, and you know about...what happened. Can you stop being a jerk for five goddamn minutes and help your girlfriend out."

If it wasn't for the tension in the room, and the look John was giving me...I would have laughed in his face. His expression was priceless, a mixture of horror, surprise and what I believed to be mild relief.

Admittedly, it was a slip up, a big slip up. And what was worse was that Isaac had burst out laughing, gripping his sides because he laughed so much. I practically death glared him, to which he tried to shut himself up.

"What? I feel sorry for him, you've always been the stubborn one." He argued, to which John smirked at Isaac. He pointed at him as his smirk grew longer.

"I like him." He stated, giving me a little wink. "He can stay for a little while." He concluded, with me smiling in appreciation. I was thankful he agreed, even after the embarrassing slip up he still remained to be calm.

"He couldn't use your shower, could he?" I asked awkwardly, there not being an explanation for the reasoning. It was Bobby that answered this time, pointing his hand towards the bathroom door.

"Sure, it takes a while to warm up though."

"Thanks, I don't know what I'd do without you two." I spoke truthfully, escorting Isaac to the bathroom. I could feel John's eyes watching me intently, still trying to work out how Isaac was alive and why I had said girlfriend. I would have to explain myself later, I knew that straight away, but for now I only concentrated on Isaac.

"Thanks again, I owe you." I told Bobby and John before closing the bathroom door, seeing smiles on their faces.

Okay, this is going to be interesting...

I thought as Isaac stared at the bathtub, obviously reminiscing when he would scream and claw out of the bath every time me or Mom put him in. I sighed, I remembered being too impatient, fed up with the struggle that would last for hours, then again I was still a child myself.

"I think a shower would be better anyway." I said with forced normality, going to grab the long cord that was connected to the shower's mainframe.

"No, I want to have a bath." Isaac replied forcefully, tugging my non-raised hand to stop me. I looked at him, and saw the hard determination in his eyes. He couldn't, I know he couldn't, not after the lake. If he was trying to prove he wasn't afraid, this wasn't the way to do it.

"You don't have to prove anything, not to me, it's okay to just have a shower." I tried to reason, but Isaac shook his head.

"I want a bath, I need to show you something." He raised his voice, and I could tell there was no changing his mind.

Reluctantly I shoved the plug in the plug hole and twisted the hot tap on. As Bobby had said it took a while to warm up, but the steady heated fog began spiralling off the filling water.

Slowly Isaac stripped from his clothes, something I found awkward even though he used to do it when we were younger. Either way I looked away as masses of bruises and protruding scars appeared on his back, I tried not to think what they had done to inflict such marks, and it seemed Isaac was also embarrassed by the scars.

"Okay, I think its ready." I sighed awkwardly, turning off the tap. I stared at the ceiling as Isaac hopped in, lowering himself slowly, inhaling gulps of air. Luckily I had poured in a little trickle of bubbles bath, the bubbles covered his genital area, which was less awkward for both of us.

Without warning, Isaac leaned backwards and lowered his head under the water before I could protest. I was about to lift him up, but stopped as gills grew out of his neck, bubbles pouring out of his now open mouth.

He smiled at me through the bubbles, and all I could do was laugh at the sight. The gills glistened in the water like mermaid scales, the ocean blue colour dazzling in the overhead light. His smile grew bigger when I laughed in awe, the gills protruding out of his neck flapping under the water happily.

"All those times you fought me, and you could breathe under water the whole time!" I exclaimed, but it was more humour than anger. Somehow Isaac had heard me, so pulled his head out of the water to argue at me. The gills squelched back into his neck, completely invisible in seconds.

"I didn't know! Not until the lake, even then it took ages to realise." He protested, quite content when he was submerged in water. The initial shock of Isaac being alive wore off a lot quicker than I had thought, in fact, we seemed more connected then we ever did at home.

"I think Mom knew, or at least she was guessing...is that why dad left? Because of me?" He asked, bowing his head as not look me in the eyes. I sighed, the man could still poison our heads when he was nowhere near us. Crouching next to the tub, I brushed Isaac's greasy hair out of his eyes, and I saw how he blamed himself.

"Dad left because he cared more about eradicating mutants than he ever did about us." I told him forcefully, looking straight into his eyes, still brushing his hair.

"But all those stories you told me as we were growing up, how he was a hero." He persisted, and I knew I couldn't lie to him anymore.

"That's it though, they were just stories so you wouldn't know the truth. I didn't want to lie, but if it makes you feel any better I wanted to believe them too, pretend he was a hero." I said, shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly. He still didn't seem convinced, apparently blaming ourselves was a trait we shared, not all that surprising considering how we were brought up.

"Isaac you're twice the man Dad will ever be, you came back from the dead, you suffered in the labs, and yet you're still not messed up. He was wrong, mutants aren't dangerous, and the only reason some of us are is because humanity is forcing us to. I may have been a bitch to you when we were younger, but after you died, I wished anything to trade places with you. You're always going to be my little brother, no matter what, and I promise I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe, take on an army if I have to." I promised, still brushing away the stray strands over his face so I could see his eyes. He was fighting back tears, that was clear enough as they glistened.

"I wish I could do something to change-" He stopped himself, unknown to me that he nearly slipped up and was about to tell me about the future. I thought he was just talking about the lake, and smiled warmly at him, wanting us to get past it.

"What was done was done, we can't change it, we can only learn from it." I murmured, reusing what Elijah said to me in the library a month ago. Isaac didn't seem convinced, so many things on his mind that he couldn't tell me, but he played along, for my sake.

"I guess so." He replied simply, in case his tongue betrayed him a second time.

"If you're going to be okay here, I need to talk to Bobby and John." I said through the millionth yawn, Isaac nodded his head, this was likely the first time I was able to leave him bathe on his own, which was surreal in its-self.

As said, I left him to wash himself clean, walking back into the main room where Bobby and John sat on the couch. Their heads popped up as I walked back in, quickly wanting answers as to why they had my brother in their bathroom. I inhaled, closing my eyes briefly before going to stand in front of the two boys, the TV (now switched off) behind me

"Ask away..." I sighed, signalling whatever questions they had I was willing to answer. John spoke first, though I think Bobby was the most confused, he didn't even know I had a brother.

"How is he alive?" John asked simply, still trying to contemplate why I had said girlfriend, but was slightly more interested why a supposed dead boy was in his dorm.

"Turns out, he's mutant too...gills." I motioned to my neck area, pinpointing where Isaac's gills had appeared. That answered two of their questions apparently as they made identical dawnment faces.

"How'd he get here? Where's he been all this time?" John asked again, not even giving Bobby time to think of his own question let alone say it.

I crossed my arms over my chest, needing something to do as my fingers felt tingly, wanting to bite at my nails just to stop the anxiety.

"Professor X said he just knew where to go, he knew it was a school for mutants. The other question, all I know is it was a lab, I don't know where it was or what they did but...it must have been some messed up shit." I swore, but honestly that was the only way I could describe it after I witnessed Isaac's scars.

"Am I missing something? Since when do you have a brother?" Bobby finally asked as silence filled the room, John rolled his eyes.

"Keep up Bobby, we're way past that." He replied sarcastically, but didn't say nothing more as I glared at him.

I told Bobby about Mom and Dad, the lake, even the little details such as the hospital afterwards and how the authorities said they'd found a body. The whole time Bobby grew paler and paler, clearly not liking the tale, but I was glad that he knew the full story too. John also listened, but seeing as he had gotten the full version instead of the shortened one, he only paid attention a little unless it was something I hadn't told him before.

"Damn...if I'd known about it-" Bobby shook his pale face, I smiled as best I could.

"Just because you didn't know my backstory, doesn't mean you didn't helped me get passed it." I said gratefully, to which Bobby smiled tightly, though he was still pale with patches of normal pinkish skin.

"I don't want to dump him on you, believe me, but it's just until Professor X can make something permanent." I insisted, not bothering to add that he'd be a good boy, I highly doubted that, and part of me believed him and John would clash.

"It's fine, from what you've said, I wish we could do more." Bobby said, standing up and moving around the couch.

"I'll go grab some of my old clothes I don't wear anymore, I'm sure I've got some lying around." He offered, to which I thanked him gratefully. I knew Bobby and lying around likely meant folded up somewhere in the bottom of his wardrobe. When he shut his bedroom door, I dropped the fine facade and slumped onto the couch next to John. He chuckled at my disheveled sight, way past the point of exhaustion and onto shut down mode.

"Strange day?" He quipped, gripping the arm of the couch softly. I rubbed my eyes, the light burning away my pupils.

"You have no idea...but it's a good strange." I replied in a groan, using it as an excuse to lean onto John's shoulder. He stiffened for a moment, then let his body slouch once the surprise passed. I must admit a smirk crawled involuntarily onto my face, the great Pyro unnerved by me resting on his shoulder.

"So...are we going to talk about it?" He asked after the silence became deafening. I faked ignorance, feeling somewhat playful, possibly due to Isaac's childish nature rubbing off on me.

"Talk about what?"

"Don't be dumb, it doesn't suit you. I mean the slip up." He grumbled, clearly not in the mood to play.

Spoilsport...

"You wanted an answer, I gave you one." I replied flatly, nuzzling my head into his neck to get comfy, but he still remained moderately stiff.

"You really want to do this, with me? The pyromaniac?" He questioned quizzically, hearing him use the technical term was quite painful to hear. Fair enough, that's what most students called him, but he wasn't really a pyromaniac, just someone who could loose their anger if provoked.

"Why wouldn't I? John, I've trusted you more than Johanna or Professor X, I'm trusting you with Isaac. If I wasn't interested, I wouldn't have dragged you along, not saying anything. If things go wrong, screw it, high school is the best time to make mistakes so you don't make the same ones again." I reasoned, grabbing his hand gently, him complying and intwining it with mine.

"So I'm a mistake then?" He muttered, misinterpreting what I was trying to say.

"No that's not what I meant." I replied forcefully, but I could feel John didn't believe me, very faintly trying to shrug me off his shoulder.

He seemed unsure himself, that wall that I thought was crumbling was still standing strong. I wondered why, I knew he didn't trust people, when it came to feelings anyway, but it was something else.

"You kissed me first remember." I reminded him, shifting my head to look at the side of his face. He was staring off into nothing, brown eyes darker than normal, I could hear his other hand scraping against the arm of the couch.

"I shouldn't've, I should've left things how they were and not made them complicated." He seethed, and it was starting to worry me.

"John?" I said faintly, the worry crackling my voice. His eyes softened, looking at me briefly before smirking. I felt his hand twist and a ticklish feeling as his fingers brushed against my palm.

"Sure you can handle me?" He said playfully. For a brief second I did wonder, after the tiny creepy moment, but I smiled at him with a wickedness in my eyes.

"I have for ages now, what's changed?"

It was a rhetorical question, but John answered it anyway, which surprised me as to how serious he was.

"Everything."

He leaned in and kissed me, but this time I was ready, and met him half way. The faint heat I had felt in Central Park returned, proving that it was John's mutation. I liked it. It wasn't stifling thar it was irritating, but it was easily recognised as a temperature rise.

He squeezed my hand, I don't know why he did, but it was sort of comforting, like a gentle hint that he wasn't going to abandon me...as he said in Central Park. I used my free hand to place it against his face, my fingers tingling with his radiating warmth.

Neither of us heard Bobby's door open, nor did we see the smile that crossed his face as he saw us on the couch. Feeling somewhat perverted, he closed the door again, realising that he was now trapped in his own room, too nice to ruin the moment.

John, you're one lucky barstard, I hope you know that...

I knew...I knew I had seen him before. I opened my eyes, my gills flapping in the water. As much as I hated forcing the dreams upon myself, I had to be certain, for Sammy's sake.

What I had witnessed, sickened me to my stomach. John, or Pyro setting a building aflame with protesters showered with the sizzling ashes. The protest was about the cure, so it would be made, but I couldn't tell just how far along in the future the dream was.

Either way, I couldn't let Sammy get hurt, not by him.

I pulled my body out of the weightless water, gripping the two metal bars tightly on either side of the tub, my knuckles whitening. The gills as usual disappeared once I was no longer submerged, but it didn't bother me anyway, I was used to using water as an escape route.

I didn't bother trying to dry my now clean hair, nor did I brush it, quickly pulling the clothes Sammy had given me back on. I rushed everything on so quickly, one of my shoulders protruded from the neck opening, the one sleeve hiding my hand as the other came to my wrist.

I didn't care, I just had to keep Pyro and Sam apart, even if it would hurt her.

Not as much as I'll hurt him if he tries anything, the traitor...

I thought savagely, turning the door handle as quietly as possible (even with my sudden rage), I was about to say something, but was horrified as I saw the two on the couch, kissing.

It seemed pretty innocent, her head leaning on his shoulder so he had to kiss her at an awkward angle. One of her hands rested on his face, but I could clearly make out a smirk in between her fingers, being this spite or not, it reminded me of the smirk he had worn in my dream.

Swallowing down vomit, I quickly shut the door again. I cursed in my head over and over , slithering to the floor as I gripped my newly washed hair in my fingers, continually cursing myself.

Why didn't I come here sooner!? I could've stopped this!

I screamed, but there was no denying, they were together much to my grimace. I only hoped Pyro had at least the littlest of decency to not break her heart...ha...by what I saw, he didn't know the meaning of the word decency.

Ive been waiting to upload this for so long! And finally it's up, that wasn't too cheesy was it? I don't know, I've mentioned romance isn't my thing.

In regards to future chapters, its going to take a drastic turn from here, I'm not going to spoil anything, but be prepared for a few changes.

I can't wait now!

until then,

~GothGirlStrikesagain