So, here we are!! Last chapter =( Thank you all for reading and reviewing!! In response to your reviews/questions… One person asked if we were going to include any Lietro (Lance/Pietro) in this fic… Well, we both definitely don't mind that pairing, we actually like it, but in this fic, we decided it's best if we keep the Lance and Kitty relationship going on and off. (Even though Kchuu ships Kitty and Colossus like no tomorrow) And in this story, atleast, we don't think Pietro's gay—just metrosexual… Not to mention with a propensity to sleep with a lot of girls at once. Anyway, thanks for reading with us, and we hope you enjoy the last chapter! Warning: it's a long one!! Rated M for language… and a little violence ;]

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Kurt had pushed his chair as far as possible to the left side of the two-person desk. Normally he was able to survive the art period by scribbling with his thick fingers as best he could, and ignoring the boy next to him as best he could. But today.... if Todd Tolensky rolled into class, late as usual.... He didn't know how good his "best" would be. The night before, he had layed awake, thinking about the future... And he was really unsure about what to make of the Todd situation..... While he thought in these last minutes before the bell, he scribbled nonsense patterns on his notebook with a ballpoint pen.

Todd went into the art room deep in thought. Last night had been a nightmare, Pietro had bugged him for hours trying to get the name of his 'partner in crime'. And the few hours 'Tro didn't, Todd was trying to convince himself that he completely, totally and ABSOLUTLY did NOT like Kurt 'Fuzzball' Wagner. It was a mix of coincidences and teenage hormones, that was it. Todd grabbed the pre-made detention slip the teacher always had ready for him (always late means always detention, not that he went to it often) and headed towards his seat. It was only when he sat down that he remembered he sat next to the same blue fuzzball he was thinking about while not sleeping last night. He turned nervously to the other boy.

"Err, hey yo. Wolvie give ya any trouble?"

Kurt's head snapped up. He dropped his pen. As he stooped down to get it, he bumped his forehead on the corner of the table. Sitting up, he rubbed his forehead. Geez man, can you GET more clumsy?! he questioned furiously to himself. He turned his head, half-glaring half-smiling at the other boy.

"My interaction with Logan went about as well as that just did...."

"Ouch." Todd pulled his sketchbook out of his beaten up 'only for days with art class' backpack. "So he tried to kill you with a table, that's rough yo." Todd gave a half-smile, but refused to look at the not-quite-so-blue boy beside him. Todd didn't see a point in getting himself hyped up over Kurt's possible affections, after all, the dude didn't even swing that way, right? He flipped through the sketchbook to a blank page, "So whats good ol' teach have planned fo' us today dawg?"

Kurt, also avoiding Todd's eyes, let out a small laugh. Verdammt! Why does it feel so natural to laugh with him?

"Vell, the teacher says she vants us to focus on hands today... ve have to draw two pictures of our own hands, and one of our partners... Haha, go easy on the realism when you're drawing mein, ja? I know you're good at art, but--" He cut himself off. He wasn't supposed to relax this much! Todd is mein enemy Todd is mein enemy Todd is--

Todd couldn't help but give a full, if not somewhat short lived, smile at Kurt's laugh. It was nice to make someone laugh on purpose instead of a stupid mistake. When Kurt mentioned that he was 'good at art', Todd raised an eyebrow and chanced a look over at Kurt,

"Ya looked at my art stuff before? Never thought you would've bothered, yo." Todd snuck a look at Kurt's hands, he always thought they looked so wrong when morphed into five fingers instead of three. "Yah sure 'bout the realism thin', yo? It'd look better if it was your real digits man." Todd froze, had he actually said that out loud?

"You think so, huh? Big blue salamis are to your taste?" Kurt grinned and wiggled his fakey human fingers around his head in "neener-neener-neener" fashion. (He did not realize how wrong this sentence sounded at the time, but later he was overcome with regret. Hilarious, hilarious regret.) "But ja, I've seen your art! It's not half bad, but whenever I see you drawing alone, you use your toes... Are you better like that or something?"

Todd stared at the X-man. That sentence, the salami one, it was just so....

"Pfffffffff, are you, heheh, serious, haha, oh my god man that sounds so WRONG!" Todd started cracking up, nearly howling with laughter. He clutched his sides and tried to not fall off the chair. He didn't even bother answering the last question, he was too busy laughing his lungs out.

"V-vhat? I....." His eyes suddenly widened, and his inducer reacted to the heat sensors and turned his pasty human face bright red. He was immediately mortified, but couldn't hide his laughter for long. He and Todd were cracking up like guys who had been buddies for years! The teacher eventually had to come over and check on their (nonexistant) progress, so they muffled their laughs after that. But Kurt couldn't help but smile, a big, genuine ear-to-ear number, while he drew his hands.

Todd was STILL smiling, god that line was priceless! He'd still be laughing about it tonight. He was glad Kurt hadn't taken it the wrong way when he went into laughing sezuires, in fact fuzzy had laughed with him. Todd could never remember doing that with anyone before. It felt good, even right somehow... Forcing his attention onto his work, Todd tried to draw his left hand with his right. He was suddenly reminded of the question Kurt had asked earlier.

"I draw best with my left foot. Don't ask me why, just how it is."

Kurt answered immediately, without really thinking. "Ach, but that seems so hard! I mean, my toes are almost as long as my fingers and I still can't do that... But if you wanna see some real dexterity, you should see me with my tail!" He glanced over at Todd in a natural, conversational way.

Todd only then realized what he was doing, this talking and joke telling. He was FLIRTING with the X-man! That needed to stop right now. Todd glanced up from the paper, a frown on his face.

"Yesterday yah didn't want me mentioning yo' fur, now you wanna talk tail? Make up yo mind dawg." Todd flinched, he hadn't meant for that to come out the way it did, with that bitter tone he usually reserved for Pietro. He hadn't meant it to sound that harsh.

When their eyes met, Kurt's happy, open eyes and Todd's annoyed, almost squinting beady ones, the disguised mutant felt a chill. Todd was right, he had been being too open. It was foolish to think that one good experience, one adventure, one kiss could change anythin--that wasn't really a kiss! He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, and looked back at his paper. Even through his inducer, his ever-expressive face, as usual, showed exactly what was on his heart--this time rejection and sadness.

Todd felt a pang of pain in his chest, he really hadn't ment it the way it sounded. But what now? If he apologized and tried to start the conversation again, he would end up flirting and set himself up for the dashing of hopes that would most definitely come. On the other hand he could say nothing, and they could very likely go back to being enemies or rivals. Todd turned back to his sketchbook, mentally making the decision to do his constant-first priority, self preservation. So what if he and Fuzzy didn't talk, no skin offa his back! They could just ignore eachother for the rest of their damn liv--

"Alright class, it's time to start on drawing your partners hands!"

Kurt turned towards Todd, a dejected, but more resolutely stubborn look on his face, and presented his left hand. The fingers were awkwardly joined, and looked very fake. He put his pen to the paper, and prepared to draw Todd's hands.
Todd just focused on the holo-hand in front of him, trying not to look up at Kurt's face. He lifted his own left hand for Kurt to observe, suddenly remembering that that was the same hand that Kurt had licked the previous day. He could feel his face turn red, and his earlier resolution faltered. Self preservation? What good was that when all he wanted right now was to say 'sorry' and try to make Fuzzy laugh again? He sketched while having this inner battle. He needed to protect himself, that line goes there, this could be his only chance at being friends with Kurt, those fake-o knuckles seemed too round, friends isn't even what he wanted was it?

Kurt drew as best he could. He tried to make his eye follow the contour, not to focus that it was a hand, that it was Todd's hand, that it was the hand that had encircled his waist so naturally the day before... He tried to focus on the areas of light and shade. The gentle gradient running along the index finger, onto the thin film of webbing that ran to the thumb, that beautiful coloration of the smooth skin, skin who's palm was... tragically marred by the split lines of dryness from the day before. Some areas had healed, but most of the palm was a web of spidery scabbing. Without remembering their unspoken rule of silence, Kurt spoke,

"Owch, dude. Those cuts look like they hurt! Did you clean zem okay?"

Startled out of his thoughts, Todd looked up at Kurt. Fuzzy was asking HIM if HE was ok?

"Can't really clean 'em dawg, anythin' I could use to disenfect em makes things worse. Rinsed 'em off pretty good though." Todd fidgeted in his seat, suddenly hating himself for not apologizing right away after snapping at Kurt, but as hard as he tried now to say 'I'm sorry', the words refused to come out.

Kurt, still immersed enough in his drawing to drop his inhibitions replied,

"Wow... Do most cleaning products hurt your skin? Haha, is THAT vhy you don't bathe?" His mouth split into a roguish grin. For some reason, this discovery brought him joy. His eyes connected with Todd's again.

Todd felt sparks. "Ye-yeah actually." He broke eye contact, staring at his own hand instead, it looked pretty bad. "Soap's made to dry out skin, but for me it's like someone saps all the water out of me, it sucks. I tried that moisturizing body-wash one time, and it turns out that whatever doesn't de-hydrate me finds a way into my system, ever have lotion in your blood, yo?" He fidgeted again, looking up, almost shyly, into Kurt's eyes. More sparks. "'S not fun."

Kurt quit trying to hide his happiness. He was sick of hiding! Always hiding! Here was a person who got his jokes, who he didn't have to put up fronts with. Even if Todd didn't reciprocate the more-than-friends feelings... Wouldn't it be fun to have a friend like this? And it wasn't forbidden to be friends with the brotherhood guys, Kitty and Lance talked on the phone most nights... I vonder if Todd vould have to use the same phone as Lance... that could be... Kurt realized that he was still staring into Todd's eyes. He quickly diverted his eyes back to the boy's hand, and put his mouth back into the appropriate line.

"That must suck, man... And I bet the non-irritating soap costs a lot or vhateveh....."

"Uh, yeah, more than I can afford yo." Not that I'd spend mah money on that anyway... Todd felt almost dissapointed when Kurt looked away, but finally he found the strength to say the words he'd been trying to get out.

"Look Fuzzy, I'm...I'm sorry 'bout snappin at you before." He dropped his gaze to the unfinished sketch on his drawing pad, and tried to think of something else to say. "'S just weird, yah know? Us bein, er, well, friends?" Todd looked back at Kurt hesitantly, a worried look plastered on his face. Was it ok to assume they were that much?

When Todd looked back, Kurt's face was already turned towards him, a playful half-smile on his face.

"I vas thinking the same thing... How it's odd that ve could have things in common. Who knew it could be fun talking to a guy I've hated for so long.." He shrugged. "Vell, vhateveh, it's done." He turned his drawing board around, and showed Todd the awkward scrawl in the rough shape of a webbed hand.

Todd decided to not say anything about the drawing, some times you should just keep your trap shut. He flipped over his own sketch, it looked like a bad hand, but that's exactly what he had to go off of, so it was all good.

"Same feelings about talking to you yo. Guess this friendship's official." Todd gave a big smile, for once one that wasn't fake. "I gotta 'hand' it to yah fuzzy, yo' digits sure are unique." In his mind, Todd was commiting suicide for saying such a horrably cheesy pun.

Kurt laughed. "I love puns! Kitty practically introduces me by saying 'This is Kurt Wagner, he like, loves comic strips and puns.'" Kurt did a full on Kitty impression, complete with eye rolling and hand gestures. "I svear, she actually said that!" He tried to focus his mind on his anecdote, not the way Todd's smile made him feel inside.

Todd laughed, and his smile widened to a grin, "Well I'll try tah think up some more for yah fuzzy." He was about to tell every frog joke in his arsenal, when the bell ending the period rang. "Alright class, turn in your sketchbooks and have a good weekend."

Kurt stood up quickly, surprised by the bell. He started putting his stuff away.

"Wow, that felt like the quickest art class ever..." He said, mostly to himself, his mind thinking about excuses he could use to spend more time with his new friend.

Todd didn't want to go to English in the first place, and now that he and Kurt were hitting it off, it was the last place in the world he wanted to go. He got up and gathered his stuff, trying to think of how he could squeeze in a few more minutes with Fuzzy. He thought of one, and hoping it didn't sound too gay, he asked

"What's yo' next class yo? I'll walk you there."

"Ah.... Biology, actually. But I really don't feel like going today...." Kurt said as he walked out of the art room by the younger boy. "Hey, you can't blame me! I kind of disappeared from that class yesterday... Along with you. I think we'd better stay avay from there until that mess blows over..." Kurt hoped his excuse didn't sound too forced. He was really grasping at straws, even though he really didn't want to go to biology... Especially not with Todd by his side. There was the teacher issue.... and Evan was in his class. If Evan saw him all buddy-buddy with Toad.... Well, that was one can of worms Kurt didn't even want to think about, much less open.

"Woah, you're skipping? Didn't think I was such a bad influence that it'd start so quickly!" Todd put on his pack and made a dramatic show of putting his hands over his chest. "Oh why did God curse me like 'dis? He an' computer Jesus just love to watch me suffer wit' dis power I have over blue people with tails!" He glanced over at Kurt, secretly glad to have him skip class, but he couldn't let the joke oppurtunity slide.

Kurt couldn't help but chuckle at Todd's weirdness. Computer Jesus? That was a new one. And...

"Your 'power over blue people vith tails'? You know another one?" Kurt was walking a half step in front of the other boy, leading them out into the wooded area around the school. "And I don't care vhat 'computer Jesus' thinks, I'm not skipping because of your bad influence." He dropped his pack by a tree I'm skipping because of you....

Todd dropped his pack by Kurt's, then let himself settle into a crouch.

"Well, if Mystique would just hurry up and grow a tail, then I'd finally be able to make her get the bathroom door fixed. I swear yo, she's a freakin' penny pincher!" Todd tilted his head a bit, contemplative look on his face, "So you saying you've skipped before dawg? Neveh would've pinned you as the type."

Kurt stared blankly at Todd. This guy... lives with my mother.... this guy... is closer to my mother than I am..... He had a sudden pang of hurt in his chest, like his heart was being squeezed. Vhy would she vant to spend time vith these other mutant boys... and not me? His eyes stung, and then he re-focused. For once, he tried to set his mind on his potential affections.

"*kaff* Err, yeah, I've skipped before. Vhen I didn't feel like going, I'd always blame it on my inducer. And the Professor has connections at the school... and all that..."

Something was wrong, very, very wrong. Todd could see Kurt was upset, but what at?

"Hey, did I say something wrong yo?" He tried to remember everything he had said, anything that could have caused this, "T-theres nothing wrong with bein' a penny pincher, yo. Sorry If I hurt yo' feelings or somthin'." Kurt had no idea how sorry Todd was, his chest ached at the look on Kurt's face, but how could he have known that the guy was a miser?

The left side of Kurt's mouth pulled up into a little half-smile. "Haha, it's not that.... Your comment just made me think of something depressing." He swallowed a big lump of sadness in his throat. Deal vith your mommy issues later, Wagner! The guy you like--A guy you li--This is your chance, dummkopf!!

"S-so, vhat do you do vhen you skip class?" Kurt stretched his arms, and let his tail unwind from around his waist to swish around his legs.

Todd wanted to know what was going on with Kurt and the mysterious 'depressing thought', but he didn't want to push this new friendship too far so soon. Besides, Kurt's stretching like that made an awful good distraction... Gah! Get your mind offa that frogboy!

"Yah know, normal stuff. Go grab somthin' tah eat, ding dong ditch, go out wit' the guys to hit on random chi-" Todd immediatly shut his mouth, even if he had no chance with Kurt, that didn't mean he should talk about hitting on girls around him.

"Oh, so you guys basically just act like the delinquents parents vant their daughters to avoid? Ooh, Lance better vatch out or I'll tell Kitty's parents!" He switched off his inducer. "Alzough I doubt they'd freak out as much about her daughter dating a petty criminal than being best friends vith a boy who looks like the blue son of Satan!"

"Dude, what's your problem?" Todd got up from his crouch "It's not a big deal, it's not even serious! C'mon, I've seen you do the same thing with that Pryde chick." Todd took a few steps towards Kurt, brow furrowed in concern. "And who ever said anythin' 'bout looking like Satan? You look fine, dawg." Todd had to resist the urge to emphasize the word 'fine', but he was more worried about the taller boys sudden change in attitude than his desire to use pick up lines on said boy.

Kurt scratched the area above his ear, thinking. "Ach, sorry. I guess I'm just feeling a little off today. But you know, that's something the kids used to call me in Germany... "die blaue Sohn des Satans". Although some nicer kids called me 'Herr Indigo...' Yeah, I guess there are worse names out there, huh Slimeball?" Kurt smiled at Todd, leaning sideways to nudge him at the last jab.

Todd barely felt the nudge, he HATED that name. That goddamn name that the jocks called him after throwing him in the trash, the name that Pietro would call him when in his worst of moods, the name that his father....

"Don't EVER call me that fuzzbutt." He snarled, " If 'Dye Bla Sun dis Satans' is an insult to you, then 'Slimeball' is a fucking cuss word to me." A mere minute ago Todd had only been concerned for Kurt, but now his self preservation instinct had caught up with him, and demanded that he level the playing field. "What's your effing problem anyways? One minute you're fine, the next you're actin' like I just kicked your puppy! What, you on your period or something?!"

Kurt jerked back. And things had been going so well! "Hey, I'm not the vone who snaps and yells every two seconds! I vas just joking around! And... I used to call you slimeball all the time, vhy is it suddenly so bad?!"

Todd hesitated, he knew why he was so touchy, it was because he had decided to trust Kurt, something he rarely did for anyone, and now he was so afraid of getting hurt or making a bad move that he was defensive about even the little things. How could he tell Kurt that? The X-man wouldn't understand.

"I just hate that name, yo." He turned to face away from Kurt, "Makes ME think of sumin' sad." His gaze hardened, "And 'course I never let on that it bugged me, we were trying to put eachother down all the time! I didn't need you tah get this kind of leverage over me, I don't need ANYONE to get that kinda advantage. Life's hard enough as it is."

Kurt didn't really know what to do. Was it too early in the relationship for a hug? Would a pat on the back seem patronizing? His whole body buzzed with the desire to touch Todd; to comfort him. He knew how hard it was to open up to someone. Heck, the only way he'd ever made friends before was because he'd been put on a team with them. This was his first time going through actually getting to know someone based on a mutual desire for friendship. He placed his hand gently on Todd's shoulder. ... Not that he would mind a mutual desire to be more than friends.

Todd's whole body tensed up. He had learned to expect a lot of things after making a speech like that, but comfort wasn't even on the waiting list. He hated that he felt there was a punchline, that this could be some long drawn out joke that fuzzy had just felt like doing. He felt himself shudder as the three fingered hand remained at its post, and he was torn between the desire to lean into the touch or rip himself away from it. He decided to just remain where he was. Why was Kurt touching him anyway? A dozen of other questions flew through his mind, and somehow he managed to blurt out a very important one

"Why we suddenly decide to be friends, yo? What did yesterday even change?"

Kurt tried to pull back his hand. He really did. But once this connection was established, his body stubbornly refused to release.

"I don't really know... I guess I never really gave you a chance." Kurt smiled easily. "But it's fun hanging out vith you, surprisingly. Zis is my first time making a friend like this, so..." Also I am gay and I have feelings for you!! I AM GAY AND I HAVE FEELINGS FOR YOU!! His mind was screaming, but despite it's best efforts, he kept it inside.

Todd turned to look Kurt in the eyes, feeling confused and unsure, "First time dawg? Wh'a 'bout all the guys in the X-ge-...Men. Arn't you friends with them?"

Kurt cocked his head, and looked to the side, before turning his gaze back to Todd's. "Of course they are my friends... But that's because ve're part of a team. I mean, I doubt Kitty'd even have looked at me twice if ve didn't live in the same house. And in Germany, most of the kids were afraid, or curious... None really vanted to be my friend all that much..."

Todd's face involentarily scrunched up. "That don't make no sense yo, you're yah know, likable. Funny, smart, and in pretty damn good shape." As he thought about this puzzle, he unconciously started to relax, muscles un-tensing and leaning oh so slightly into Kurt's touch. "Hell, who WOULDN"T wanna be friends wit you? And wait-" Todd started searching Kurt's eyes, a curious and somewhat wary expression on his face. "-aren't you and the Pryde chick, well uh, yah know. Don't you like her or sumin'? And she's just on the fence 'bout it cause a Lance?" Well, that's how it looks to me yo, not that I'm right most of the time.

Kurt felt his ears burn at the complements. His first instinct was to jump back, deny the comments, and blow the whole situation off. But the tingles that pulsed up his arm from the place where he had contact... Did Todd just... Lean in? Calm down calm down calm down-- but his mind was going a mile a minute. Who vouldn't vant to be friends vith me...?! A heck of a lot of people... most normal people!... Kitty and I... VAIT, VHAT?!

"Y-you think I like.... Kitty?!" He turned away, laughing, his hand (still refusing to detatch) slid down to Todd's upper arm. "Nein, nein! Ve are just friends! Kitty's great, but you honestly think Miss Appearances herself vould date a fuzzy blue dude?! Nah, she's more the type to go for a big Russian bodybuilder or something!"

Todd arm was suddenly on fire when Kurt's hand slid down to just above his elbow. God, why do I hafta be bi? This is so damn complicated. An' at this rate, I'll be just gay instead! After Kurt's mention of Kitty, Todd looked at him with surprise, Kurt wasn't into Kitty? No, wait, Kurt had said Kitty wasn't into HIM. That probably meant the whole thing was one sided. Todd couldn't help but feel disapointed, and he looked away from Kurt.

"Yeah well, she seems tah like the bad boy type or sumin'. Not to rag on Lance or anythin', the guys like my big brother or somthin', but he's not the easyest guy to love. None of us in the B'hood are!" Todd looked back at Kurt, a false grin plastered on his face, "Heck, I'm impossible."

Kurt's heart melted. He couldn't resist anymore. The boy was just too verdammt cute! Without thinking, he leaned forward, pulling gently at Todd's arm. He smoothly pressed his mouth to Todd's. For a moment, his mind was totally silent. The world was totally silent. He felt... right.

Todd couldn't believe this, Fuzzy was KISSING him! Was this some kind of freaky dream come true? Christ this feels good. For a mere second, he responded to the kiss, softly pressing his own lips against the other boys. Then his brain forced a harsh reality down on him. Yesterday he had had a few akward moments with Fuzzy, enough to make him think of doing stuff like this, then he had let it slip to Pietro that he liked some guy, and then this morning Kurt suddenly wanted to be friends. Add it all up and it spelled one thing. 'Tro and Fuzzy got together on this, and are tryin' to psych me out. Todd felt his face flush with rage and shame. He ended the kiss and roughly shoved Kurt away, yelling at him,

"Is this how you get your effing kicks?! Messin' with peoples heads?!" He backed away, fighting back the tears that his tightening chest warned him were coming. "Some joke man! I actually thought you wanted to be friends! Sorry for ending your little prank early, but I'm not-I'm- I'M NOT FUCKING QUEER!"

Kurt had been flying, caught up in the glow of the moment. And for a second, he actually thought he felt Todd kissing him back. And then it all fell to pieces. It felt like he was watching the scene from a third person view. That's not me. That's not my body being pushed away. That's not the first boy I ever tried to kiss yelling... yelling... The cruel tightening in his chest brought him back to reality. It felt like his heart was being gripped by an ice-cold claw. Todd isn't gay!! He should've known... He'd seen the brotherhood boys hitting on girls, seen the hungry way that Todd looked at those women... He'd been a fool to think that the complements and jokes had meant any more than two normal guys having a friendship. He stood, unmoving, a look of hurt, shock, and horror plastered on his features.

Todd felt his chest constrict even more when Kurt didn't make a move to defend himself, did that mean it was true? All that laughing, the jokes, that gentle hand on his shoulder, those soft lips against his...All that was some kind of practical joke? Todd backed away even more, keeping his eyes on the ground ahead of him, and trying to ignore the tears leaking down his face.

"Y-your just fucking cruel man. Do you think I'm a joke or something? Shit, do you really hate me this much?" The need for self preservation was more intense than ever. If Kurt was going to hurt him, then Todd would hurt him back in any way he could. He raised his eyes to meet Kurt's, his own eyes now red, as they always got when he had these kinds of extreme feelings. He took a step towards the other boy, voice getting harsh and dangerous, "Well this prank goes both ways yo, how'd yah like me to tell the rest of yo' effing team that you kissed the TOAD of all people? How'd they look at you then Fuzzball?!" Toad took another step closer to the other boy, and snarled out, "Or maybe YOU'RE fucking queer, you Circus Freak!"

"I-It vasn't a joke!" Kurt managed to choke out around the massive lump in his throat, his voice more a sob than a shout. His mind worked furiously. Todd still didn't know he was gay?! But... But Kurt had kissed him! He didn't think any more words were needed.... But... Todd thought it was a game?! And... he was going to tell the rest of the X-Men?! Kurt didn't want that, not on these terms. "D-don't! They don't... They vouldn't understand! Scott gets on my case enough for messing around during t-training... If he knew that I was messing around vith one of the brotherhood--" He meant 'messing around' as a euphamism for the kiss they had just shared, but the second it left his mouth he knew he had made a terrible error.

Todd could barely see straight, for half a second he thought Kurt was going to deny everything, but that hope was dashed with all his others when the blue mutant ADMITTED to messing with him. Todd didn't even bother with any more words, with a scream of rage he tackled the other boy. They rolled on the grass for a moment, Kurt coming out on top for once. Todd struggled underneath him and tryed to land a blow on the other mutant, tri ed to ignore the feeling of Kurt's hands on his shoulders and all the goddamn lies they represented.

Kurt struggled to hold the younger boy down. They had done this dozens of times, but it was never like this... Never had he been so excruciatingly aware of the feeling of Todd's body under his. The feeling of Todd between his legs was almost enough to--NO FOCUS ON THE SITUATION AT HAND, YOU DUMMKOPF! Despite his best efforts to contain the younger mutant, Todd landed some hard hits on his chest and face. With a violent motion, Kurt was switched onto his back. How could he show Todd that he was serious?! Not by fighting like this, that's for sure. Kurt, struggling against his competitive nature, let his body go limp, and looked up at Todd with a resigned expression. He could feel a black eye blossoming up on the left side of his face, but he ignored it, and lay still, waiting for more abuse.

Everything was blurry in Todd's eyes, salty tears that would likely dehydrate and crack his skin later were streaming down his face, and even when Kurt flipped their positions, his only thought was to hit the Fuzzball as much as possible. It continued for a moment, till Todd realized that Kurt wasn't even trying to defend his face anymore, or trying to defend anything. Todd grabbed the boys shirt, pulling him up to be face to face with him.

"DO SOMETHING!" Todd screamed, "FIGHT, RUN AWAY, STOP ACTIN' SO GODDAMN RIGHTEOUS WHEN YOU'RE NOT!" Todd started to convulse, racked with sobs he couldn't force back.

A single tear wormed it's way out of Kurt's swelled up eye--geez, that must look pretty awful--and he pulled up his mouth in the imitation of a smile.

"I'm not righteous, Todd..." Kurt looked at Todd earnestly through his one good eye. "I'm fucking selfish." He wrapped his arms around the violently struggling mutant, and put his face into the younger boy's shoulder. It was suicide, sure, doing some messed up crap like this to a super-powered boy who was already emotionally screwed over, but it might be the last time he ever got to hold someone like this... And reason be damned, Kurt was not going to pass up this kind of chance, not even for a hundred black eyes.

Everything just stopped. The tears, the sobs, the rage, it was all gone as soon as Kurt embraced him. Todd didn't know what to say, what to think, what to DO. He knew that even Kurt would give up on a joke if he was found out before it was finished, and everything he knew about Fuzzy told him that this was not a moment Kurt would try to joke around. Todd considered pulling away, but he just couldn't. Kurt's body fit so well around his own, it felt good, it felt RIGHT. He hesitantly put one of his own arms around the other boys back, not drawing him nearer, just touching for touching's sake.

"This isn't fair Fuzzy," he croaked out, "Do you wanna be friends, mess with me, or somthin' else? 'Cause I ain't got a clue of what you're thinkin'."

Kurt's reply was muffled by the younger boy's shoulder. He was holding Todd tightly now, not uncomfortably tight, but it was clear that he didn't want to let go. That arm around his back felt so right...

Todd's other hand somehow found its way to Kurt's head, tangling itself in the indigo strands, but not petting the boys head as the original intention had been. "I can't hear yah dawg." Slowly shifting his shoulder and the hand that was wrapped in Kurt's hair, Todd brought out the X-man's face from his shoulder. Only by an inch or so, but enough for Todd to try and find Kurt's gaze. "Yah gotta speak up."

Kurt grinned. "All of the above." He couldn't believe he was actually saying this stuff. "But mostly somethin' else." He let out a small laugh, which halfway through turned into a wince of pain from his bruised chest. He reluctantly let his hands slide down to Todd's waist. "If you... vanted to be just friends, though... If you didn't feel the same way.... I could handle that, I think...."

He couldn't believe it. Was Kurt confessing to him? To HIM? To the Toad?! This HAD to be a dream, or an acid trip, or he had died and for some reason God had decided he was good enough for heaven.

"I-I-I mean, y-you're serious?" He pulled away from Kurt for a moment to look at him, then hesitantly put his arms around the boys back. "Why, yo? Why me? And-" Todd gave a start, hands moving off of Kurt's back. "That means yer gay?"

Kurt let the boy slip away, but his hands lingered longingly on Todd's hips before he let them drop to his sides on the ground.

"Yes... Since I vas twelve.... But I've been too nervous to tell anyone, I mean, being a blue furry freak makes me an easy enough target vithout being... gay."

Kurt was baring his heart to Todd, and for once Todd felt like his self preservation was the least important thing in the world. He reached out slowly, giving Kurt time to pull away if he should come to his senses and walk away from this, he took one of Kurt's hands in his own. He looked away nervously.

"I meant it when I said earlier that I'm not que-gay." For a second he was sure he felt Kurt tense up, "I...I just never saw any difference between genders, yah know? If they're hot then they're hot. So I guess, I mean I'm pretty sure I'm bi. An' I guess I see gay and bi as different things, do you get that?"

Kurt was a few seconds from yanking his hand away when he slowed down and thought about what Todd was saying.

"S-so... vhat you're saying is... You like both guys and girls, ja? As long as they're... hot. So...." He didn't want to ask the question. His mind was hoping furiously, but he had been overly optimistic before, and gotten let down. Oh vhateveh, I'm this far already, vhy not go all zeh vay...

"Do you... dig the fuzzy dude?" He raised his eyebrows, and flashed his best cheesy smile.

"Well, that's not exactly what I meant, but-" He leaned in closer to the older boy, looking straight into Kurt's bright yellow eyes with his once-again amber ones. "Yeah man, I dig you a lot." Smiling nervously, he removed the small space left between them by pressing his lips gently against Kurt's.

Kurt leaned forward slightly, closing his eyes, and placed one hand on Todd's cheek. This simple, sweet, innocent kiss stirred up entire symphonies of emotion in the whirling maelstrom of butterflies that had taken seemingly permanent residence in Kurt's stomach. As he slowly began to open his mouth, the school bell rang. Kurt jerked his head back, shocked out of his reverie by the loud bell.

Todd snapped out of his new found happy place, his stomach had been in knots of pleasure during the kiss. Just as he felt Kurt trying to deepen that wonderful best-moment-of-his-life lip contact, the damn school bell rang. "Shit." Todd groaned, eyes glaring accusingly at the school. He guessed that that bell was the punchline. He turned back to Kurt, suddenly realizing that he had put his hands on the blue mutants hips during the kiss, and that they were still there. Quickly moving away, and blushing furiously, he tried to regain his composure.

"So, eh-hem, yeah. I guess this is more than friends." He plastered on a grin and took a long look over Kurt, from head to toe. Yep, hot as hell. It was then that Todd realized something. "Umm, Fuzzy? You're gonna want to turn the watch back on, before someone sees yah."

Kurt grinned sheepishly at Todd. "Vhat is it, then? Are ve...." He lifted his shirt slightly to coil his tail back around his waist, then beeped his holo-watch back on. As he did, he caught sight of the time. He had to be in Spanish in 3 and a half minutes, or Senora Martinez would give him detention... And as much as he wanted to stay, he couldn't afford to get in more trouble with the school--this biology mess was bad enough. "Ach... I have to go... Let's talk later, okay?" Kurt looked beseechingly at Todd. "Tonight?"

Todd smiled nervously, "Sure yo!" He fidgeted a bit, "So, do we meet somewhere, or..." He gulped and ran his hand through his hair. Dang, this love stuff is harder than it looked on tv.

Kurt pulled on his backpack, and got ready to 'port. "Uh, you vant me to come to your place? I don't know if you should come to the institute just yet..." He laughed. "Remember last time?"

Todd gave a nervous chuckle at the memory, "Yeah, that's when we first met, and the first time we tried to beat eachother up." He was about to agree about Kurt coming to his house, when he remembered that a certain speed demon blabbermouth also lived there. "Um, my place ain't a great idea yo," Unless you want every single person we know to be told 'bout us within two minutes. "Could we meet here yo? Outside the school?"

"Outside the... School. Okay! Ve can meet behind the theatre building, they have a light on at night... so... Seeya at about 8:00, okay? That's the earliest I can sneak out.... Vell, seeya!" Kurt gave one last happy smile, then ported to a stall in the rarely-used second floor bathroom.

Todd just stood there, grinning like a maniac. I think I just got myself a boyfriend!

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X

……….

Doesn't seem like a very good ending, does it… That's because it's not!

Please stay tuned for our sequel, Oversensetive, coming soon!! We wanted new readers to be able to pick up our story at any part, without wading through a lot of chapters. Each fic can stand on its own, but it's really best if you read them all ;] Thanks again for bearing with us! Hope you enjoy the next one, yo!!