A/N: Time to meet the X-men! Thanks again for the favs and follows guys :)

She didn't want to be left alone with her dark thoughts, so she decided to take Peter's advice and go down to the common room. She could hear loud voices and laughs while going down the stairs. When she arrived in the room, everything fell silent.

There were a few people she didn't know; a tall guy with odd red glasses and two pretty young women: a redhead and one with white short hair and a skin as dark as Ellie's. Kurt and Peter were here as well.

She could feel their minds filled with questions like tiny needles on her skin.

"I didn't mean to interrupt," Thea said, breaking the silence.

The redhead, who was sitting on a couch next to the guy with the glasses, got up and had a gentle smile.

"It's ok Thea, we're really glad to finally meet you. I'm Jean, and this is Scott and Ororo. I think you already met Peter and Kurt."

"How's it going?" Scott asked before vigorously shaking her hand. "I look forward to training with you. I heard you could do all kinds of crazy stuff."

"Take it easy, Scott," Ororo sighed. "She barely got here." She turned to Thea and smiled. "Don't let him intimidate you. He's a hothead. Quite literally."

Thea didn't understand what she meant but the others laughed.

"So we're going to train together? What does that mean, exactly?" Thea asked, a little confused.

"Remember when I mentioned the X-men?" Peter said. "That's them. Well, that's us."

"And you're one of us now," Jean added with a wink.

The young woman felt Thea was confused, so she explained herself.

"The X-men are a group of mutants put together by Professor Xavier, Hank and Raven. We train here to protect the school, and basically the rest of the world from any danger. The Professor told us you'd be training with us, so you're part of the team now!"

Thea had a hesitant smile. It had been a while since she felt like she was part of anything.

They talked, shared, laughed and for the first time, Thea felt like she could really be herself. She didn't need to lie or hide the truth. It felt liberating. They all explained what their abilities were. Thea felt a little uncomfortable when she learned Jean could read her mind. The young woman probably felt it since she smiled at Thea and explained herself.

"I never do it against someone's will. I'll respect your privacy, don't worry."

"Except for that time you found out I was the one who ate all of your super expensive Belgian chocolate," Scott mumbled. "Man, I still have nightmares about this day. She triggered a storm worse than Ororo does on her bad days."

Thea laughed at the scene she was picturing. Suddenly, Peter's eyes widened and he stood up.

"Wait! Everybody stop what you're doing."

Thea's heart started beating fast.

"What?" she asked, looking around, searching for an incoming danger. "What is it?"

"She smiled!" he said, faking a sob, dropping on his knees and raising his arms to the sky. "A true, genuine smile! We are blessed, my friends!"

Thea's tense muscles relaxed and she sat back down, sighing.

"Ha ha. Very funny, smart ass."

He had a sly smile as the others were laughing. She tried to glare at him but she couldn't help smiling herself. It had been a while since she'd had a good reason to.

They spent the rest of the day showing her everything Peter didn't have the patience to show her in the morning: the huge library, the beautiful and endless gardens, the lake, the infrastructures where they could practice all kinds of sports and finally the danger room. She didn't particularly like this one.

As the sun was going down, they decided to order some pizza and invited Ellie to join them in the common room. Family was the only exception to the X-men-only rule. Thea was relieved to be able to spend some time with her.

"So I saw Alex today," she said when she found a moment alone with her as the others were fighting over what kind of pizza they should get. "It didn't go so well."

The little girl looked down.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just miss him."

Thea sighed and held her sister against her.

"You little troublemaker. You will be the death of me someday. I know you miss him, I do too, but we can't do that to him. You know we have to let him go. He could be in grave danger if he stayed close to us. Close to me."

"So you're going to stay alone all your life? Because you're afraid of what might happen? That's not fair to you."

Thea's eyes widened.

"How old are you again?" she laughed. "You're too smart for you own good, missy."

She knew she was right, though. Her stare stopped on the group of mutants that were still arguing. Maybe she just had been looking in the wrong place…

Her thoughts were interrupted by a movement on the couch. Peter had just taken place next to Ellie.

"You guys will be the decisive vote. Pizza: with or without pineapple?"

"Both," Ellie answered. "I'm starving."

"This kid knows what's up," Peter said, pointing at the little girl. "Both it is."

Thea laughed and realized she was starving as well, given that she hadn't eaten anything for the whole day. As if it had heard her, her stomach started tumbling. She jumped on the food as fast as the others when it arrived.

"So, you didn't really tell us what your powers were, Thea," Scott tried to articulate despite taking a huge mouthful of pizza.

All eyes turned to her. She was going to dodge the question as she always used to, but she realized she had no point trying to hide it anymore. And maybe putting words on it would help her understand her odd abilities better. She straightened up in her seat and tried to focus on what she was feeling.

"Well… it's a little difficult to explain. It's like I can… feel everything. I don't know what word would better describe it. I understand what everything is made of and how to control it. Even minds, though I've never tried to control one of those before," she added with a nervous laugh.

"You can read our minds?" Jean asked, surprised that she didn't mention that before.

"Not exactly. Each mind is like… a very specific melody to me. And each note is dictated by your emotions. I can tell how you feel, or if you're lying, thanks to the change in the melody."

She met Peter's eyes.

"Well, except for you."

He raised his eyebrows, confused.

"Your mind is a goddamn mess. Your thoughts are way too fast for me to get anything out of it."

"Tell me about it" Jean sighed. "Thank God Professor Xavier taught me how to shut people out, because this one used to give me a headache every time I was near him."

They all laughed at Peter's offended look.

"That's rude," she heard him mumble, which made her laugh even more.

After a couple hours, Thea felt the strain of her eventful last 24 hours hit her like a ton of bricks. She went to put Ellie to bed and when she came back, only the girls were left in the room.

"The guys went for a round in the danger room. A little taste of what awaits tomorrow" Ororo said. "It's like they can never get tired. It's exhausting."

Jean nodded and laughed.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" she asked.

"A little," Thea answered as she sat next to her. "I feel like the Professor is hoping for me to control my powers and save everyone like some kind of prophecy. Everyone will be so disappointed if I don't succeed. Not to mention it will give this Stryker guy a chance to get ahead of us. On the other hand, if I do manage to control my abilities, I'm scared of what I may be able to do with them. Either way, not really a pleasant prospect for me."

The girls nodded, understanding.

"I was nervous when I started too," Jean said. "My powers were this huge, scary thing I couldn't understand or control. Now they're a part of me. You have to start trusting our teachers. They're good. And they're good people too."

Thea gently smiled. She was really grateful to her two new friends for trying to reassure her, but she had this odd feeling that something was bound to go wrong. She really hoped to be wrong.