Side by Side with You: Chapter 3
An X-Men Evolution Fanfic
Kurt yawned as he walked inside the mansion. Scott had convinced him to help grade some papers until late last night, and after getting up early for church, he was exhausted and ready for a nap.
His stomach grumbled loudly. Okay, maybe he could eat first. He changed course for the kitchen, where several of the younger kids were fixing a very late breakfast. He pulled out some bread and peanut butter and started fixing lunch.
“Morning, Kurt,” Scott said as he came in the kitchen. Kurt didn’t correct him, even though judging by the look of the empty coffee cup Scott held, he had also been up for several hours already.
“Hey, Scott. Did you get the papers finished last night?”
“Yeah, and thanks for your help. I didn’t have much left after you went to bed.”
Kurt grinned. “Well, I may know a way you could make it up to me . . . . I’ll even make the popcorn!”
Scott’s eyebrows drew together for a second, then his confusion cleared. “Oh, right! We still haven’t watched that pirate movie yet, have we?”
“The Curse of the Black Pearl,” Kurt said in a deep voice, waggling his fingers. “It sounds exciting, doesn’t it?” He had been dying to watch it ever since it came out.
“Yeah, yeah, sure does, but . . .” Kurt’s heart sank as Scott rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “I’m so sorry, Kurt, but I’m just too busy today. I have a lesson to plan for tomorrow, Rahne needs me to take her to the store to pick up some supplies for her art project, Jean’s supposed to call tonight, and the professor needs–”
Kurt held up his hand. “I get it, I get it. It’s fine, we’ll do it another night.” He wondered if Scott realized they had been saying that for nearly six months now.
“Thanks for understanding,” Scott said. “Oh, by the way, do you know where Kitty went? I thought about asking her to pick up some stuff if she wasn’t going to be out much longer.”
Kurt turned back to his sandwich. “I haven’t seen her today.” That was true, at least, even if he was pretty sure he knew where she was. She hadn’t really explained her reluctance to tell any of the X-Men about her friendship with the Brotherhood, but he knew she must have reasons, and he wouldn’t spill her secrets.
Something crashed in the other room, and someone called, “Scott!”
Scott winced and set his empty coffee cup on the counter before running out. He stopped in the doorway and asked, “Are you joining the Danger Room session in an hour?”
Kurt suppressed a sigh. “Not today.”
Scott gave a quick nod, then disappeared.
Kurt grabbed his plate and sat down at the table. “Gedenke des Sabbattages, daß du ihn heiligest,” he muttered. “It’s not that hard to remember.” He thought after living with them for nearly three years, the other students would be able to remember he took a single day every week to rest, and yet, every week they forgot. He and Kitty used to complain about it together–before.
Before Evan left without a backward glance, and before Rogue disappeared into the night with nothing but a note left on his nightstand. Before Jean had left for college, and Kitty had all but moved into the Brotherhood house.
“Seriously, I can’t believe you forgot,” Ray said as he and Bobby walked into the room.
“I didn’t mean to,” Bobby complained as he dropped a stack of envelopes on the kitchen table, then walked away.
“How did you forget to check the main when you were waiting on a letter?”
“I don’t know, I just got distracted, I guess, and . . .” The argument trailed away as they walked down the hall.
Kurt rolled his eyes and picked up the stack of envelopes. Of course neither of them could be bothered to actually sort through the mail. It was mostly bills, of course, which he stacked to leave in Ororo’s office, and several ads and catalogs, which he threw in the trash. At the very back of the stack was a handwritten envelope addressed to–
He blinked.
He should have recognized the handwriting immediately. Clearly he was distracted. Suddenly no longer tired, he teleported to Ororo’s office to leave the bills on her desk, then back to his room, where he locked the door. He often took naps after church, so anyone looking for him would see the locked door and assume he was there.
He changed into less formal clothes, then teleported outside the gate, letter still clutched in his hands.
He walked over to the boarding house, then knocked on the door. To his surprise, Wanda swung the door open almost immediately, beaming–
Until she saw him and her eyebrows and lips fell into a hard, bored sort of line.
“Uh . . .” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, were you expecting someone else?”
“No.” Sure, that was convincing.
She walked away, leaving the door open for him. He stepped inside and carefully closed the door, then stood awkwardly in the entry way. He wondered if he should apologize again.
He was never quite sure how to act with the Brotherhood anymore. They weren’t exactly enemies, but they weren’t really friends either. They let him come over occasionally for Kitty’s sake, but he was always afraid he was intruding.
“Kitty! Kurt’s here!” Wanda called upstairs.
Something crashed up there, and then Kitty came thundering down the stairs. Her face lit up when she saw him. “Is it–?”
He grinned and held up the envelope. She squealed and crashed into him, snatching the envelope and hopping onto the couch. At a more sedate pace, Kurt followed and sat beside her. They both scanned his name written in the familiar handwriting and the return address they knew from experience didn’t actually exist. Kitty opened it up and pulled out a post card.
“Mississippi,” she laughed. “I should have known.”
He chuckled as well, and took it form her so he could get a better look at the photo of the Mississippi River. Then he flipped it over, where there was nothing but a phone number written in pencil.
Kitty typed it into her phone and hit “call,” but Kurt grabbed the phone before she could hold it up to her ear. Kitty leaned closer so she could hear it ring.
It stopped ringing, and silence answered, but Kurt was undeterred. “Hello! Rogue?”
“Hey, Kurt,” Rogue said. “I was wondering when you’d get the postcard.”
“Hi, Rogue!” Kitty chirped.
Rogue chuckled. “You went straight to the boarding house, did ya?”
Kurt ignored the twinge in his chest at Rogue’s easy acceptance that Kitty no longer lived at the mansion. “Of course! She’s been pestering me for weeks, asking if I’ve heard from you.”
“Hey!” Kitty smacked his arm. “So how are you, Rogue? We haven’t heard from you, in like, forever!”
“Yeah, sorry. It’s been pretty busy, and this was my first chance to get away in a while.”
“Oooh,” Kurt said. “Busy with something exciting?”
With that, Rogue launched into a description for her latest jobs, with as much detail as she was allowed to give. When Kurt and Kitty had exhausted their questions, she asked them about school and all of their friends.
Partway through Kitty’s description of the twins' birthday party (that Evan attended for some reason?), Lance came out of the kitchen. Kurt wouldn’t have thought anything of it, except that he lingered in the doorway, apparently very intent on the slice of cake in his hands. He eyed it for a long time, turning the plate this way and that, as if trying to determine the best place to start eating it.
Kurt frowned, unsure what exactly he was doing, until Kitty sat up straight, gasping in outrage. As though he hadn’t heard, Lance licked his lips and slowly stuck his fork into the slice to cut off a bite.
“Lance! That’s mine!” Kitty shot off the couch, running toward him. “I told you I was saving the last piece of cake to eat after dinner!”
“Did you?” Lance asked innocently. “I don’t remember that.”
“Lance!” She tried to grab the plate, but he lifted it over his head, where she couldn’t reach. “No fair!”
“Do I even want to know what’s going on?” Rogue asked.
“Lance is trying to eat the last piece of cake, and Kitty’s trying to steal it.”
“I’m stealing it back!" Kitty insisted, hopping up to try to snatch the plate from Lance.
A mischievous smile crossed Kurt’s face, and he leaned back against the couch. “You know, Rogue, I think now is an excellent time to share any important news.”
“What?” Kitty’s eyes widened. “Noooo! Don’t do it, Rogue!”
Rogue laughed. “Important, huh? Hmm . . . I did find an excellent new bakery right next to the hotel I’m staying at. Their muffins are amazing.”
“A new bakery with really good muffins? Tell me more!”
“No, no! Wait for me!” Kitty hopped a few more times, trying to pull Lance’s arm down without spilling the cake. Lance smirked at Kurt, who couldn’t help but grin back.
“The blueberry ones are my favorite, but they also have some cinnamon ones that just melt in your mouth.”
Kurt smacked his lips a few times. “That sounds so good.”
“You. Are. So. Mean!” Kitty hopped, punctuation each word.
Lance laughed, then wobbled when she tugged on his arm again, lowering the plate a bit. Kitty snatched it up, crowing with victory, then ran back over to the couch and dug into the cake herself.
Kurt sighed. “Too bad, Rogue. Guess you can’t share any more secrets. You’ll have to wait until later.”
Rogue kept laughing, and Kurt couldn’t help but smile. He missed her so, so much, but he knew she was happy. He couldn’t ever remember hearing her laugh this much before she left.
“Amanda!” Kurt called when he saw her walking into school the next morning. She turned around and smiled as he ran to catch up.
“Hey, Kurt.” She took his hand and swung it between them as they walked down the hall. “How was your weekend.”
In answer, he pulled out the postcard and held it up, after checking to make sure none of the other X-Men were watching.
“Oh!” Amanda’s eyes widened. “You got to talk to her? That’s great!” She took the postcard and studied the picture. “It’s so pretty.” She started to put it into her bag, then hesitated. “Do you want me to . . .”
“Yes, please!” Rogue went to so much effort to stay hidden, he didn’t want to ruin it all by keeping her postcards where any of the other students could find them by accident, but neither was he willing to get rid of them.
She smiled. “I’ll put it with the others when I get home.”
Next chapter coming soon!