NOTE: WOW. Nine years is quite the hiatus, isn't it? Does anyone even still come to this site? I'm sure I don't have readers anymore. I'd actually completely forgotten all about this story. I was digging through my saved messages in my email for something, and I came across a review that I'd saved. Coincidentally, I'd been re-watching X-Men: Evolution. All the nostalgia came running back, and I had to check to see if my story was still even posted. Amazingly, it was. I reread the entire thing, and man, are there some obvious spelling/grammar errors! Parts of the story were funny, and I actually found myself impressed that I'd written it. Other parts seemed forced, I assume to go with the image I had in my head at the time. Overall, though, not my worst work. Minus that cliffhanger. Seriously, how did you tolerate me? That's the WORST way to end a story! I, of all people, know that. I used to watch a show that was canceled while on hiatus. The series ended with my favorite couple getting married, and her finding out she was pregnant with another man's child. WHAT?! That was also about nine years ago, give or take. Never got any closure on it.

I'm positive none of my old readers are still around. But if you are, my sincerest apologies. But going through and re-watching the series, as well as rereading this story, I find myself wanting to finish it. I remember at the time I started it, I knew exactly how it was going to end, but I don't have the slightest idea what the plan was anymore. I have a few other ideas, though. They're not fully developed, but they're there. So even if no one else ever reads this, I'm going to attempt to finish it. For myself.

Now, should anyone, old or new, read this, I finished rereading a few days ago. I've written and rewritten this chapter. If I cover things that I already covered, or if I change a detail, I apologize. It was unintentional, it's just what happens when you take nine years off from writing.

Chapter 37

Kitty stared at Lance, unsure if she'd heard him correctly. Or if he was even being serious. He can't be serious, she decided. This has to be some type of sick joke. It wasn't Lance's typical sense of humor, but given the events of the past several days, who knew what was going through his mind now.

She didn't say anything for several minutes. She just continued to stare at him, an unreadable expression on her face. Lance waited for her to say something, but when she didn't, he finally felt the need to break the silence.

"Will you say something?" he asked. "Please?"

"Is this a joke?"

"What? No." He was surprised by the question. How could she think he'd make up something like that?

"You're telling me that you were here, then you tried to kill yourself, and then came back when you didn't succeed?"

"Um...yeah."

"Is this a joke?" she asked again. She felt very confused. Why on earth was he in her room, her and Kurt's room, telling her this?
"No, Kitty," Lance said, shaking his head. "It's not a joke. I...it just got to be too much. The dealing, the money, your injury, you, you and him..." He sighed. "It's too much."

"So you tried to kill yourself?" Kitty wasn't sure if she was still shocked or just angry now. "That's really selfish, you know. People, like, care, Lance."

"No, you care. And only barely."

"I'm not fighting you about that again," she snapped. She was definitely leaning toward angry. "And I'm not the only one. Tabby cares. The professor cares. Everyone cares, Lance. You made mistakes, but everyone cares."

Lance stayed quiet. He wasn't sure how he could argue that, given that her friends showed up at his house to stop him, and insisted that he go home with them.

"Why are you telling me this?" she demanded.

"You told me to tell you."

"You were already here when I said that. You were going to tell me anyway."

"I...I don't know."

"Seriously? 'I don't know' is all you've got?"

"What do you want, Kitty?"

"I want to know what you were thinking?" she cried. "This is serious, Lance! People don't just try to commit suicide without a reason!"
"I had a reason," he muttered. "But like everything else, it wasn't good enough for you."

"Get out." The words surprised them both. She hadn't meant to be so heartless, especially since he was clearly in a fragile state. She couldn't take this, though, not now.

"Fine." Lance stood up and headed toward the door. "I'll leave."

"Lance. I just meant get out of my room," she said, trying to sound more gentle. "I'm mad, I won't lie. But I'm, like, still kind of tired, you know? Can we talk more later? They'll let you back in the house if I ask."

"I'm staying here tonight," Lance admitted. "I can come by again later. Just...get some rest."

"Yeah. You, too." He nodded, then left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

Kitty closed her eyed and laid back. What was happening? What was with all the insanity that was going on in their lives? They've had their share of fights with other mutants over different things, but at this point, she'd almost willingly go up against Magneto if it meant all this drama would be over.

She drifted off to sleep again, part of her hoping that when she woke up, she'd find that this whole thing had just been a dream.

Lance made his way down the stairs and to the kitchen. The others were gathered there already, and they fell silent when he entered the room.

"She knows," he said with a sigh. "I can't keep things from her."

"Sure you can," Tabitha said. "You used to lie to her all the time." Jean elbowed her ribs. "Ow. Watch it, Red, I'm standing right here."

"Yes, we all see you, Tabby," Scott replied before turning his attention to Lance. "Alvers, the last thing Kitty needs is to be worrying about you. She has enough to deal with as it is. Why did you tell her now?"

"Because she has the right to know," Rogue answered. Everyone turned to look at her. "What? I said that from the beginning. All of you wanted to keep it quiet, and I agreed, but I think it's good she knows."

"Thanks..." Lance said, unsure of how sincere Rogue was being. She just shrugged.

"How is she?" Kurt asked.

"Angry," Lance said with another sigh. "And tired. I think she's sleeping again."

"I'll go check on her," Kurt said, glaring at Lance. He teleported out of the room.

"Man, teleportation is a cool power," Tabitha admired. "Not that I give up these babies." She pulled out a small orb and tossed it toward the window. Jean quickly used her powers to make sure the window opened and the orb made its way outside before it exploded.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same," Tabitha said, giving Jean an amused wink. She grabbed Lance's arm. "Come on, walk me to my room." She glanced at Remy. "You can come, too, gorgeous," she added with an evil grin before exiting.

"I really like her," Remy said with a chuckle.

"Of course you do," Rogue scoffed, grabbing his shirt and dragging him out of the room with her.

"No need for force, chere," he said, pulling himself out of her grip. "Remy will follow you anywhere."

"Crazy day," Scott said, shaking his head.

"Tell me about it," Jean said, collapsing into a chair. "Just one drama-free day. Is that really so much to ask?"

"Apparently so." Scott took a seat across from her. "But at least we have good drama, you and I, right?"

"Yes," Jean said, smiling broadly. "Which reminds me, my parents want us to visit soon so we can start planning the wedding."

"You told them already?"

"Of course! Didn't you tell Alex?"

"Oh, um, well, no, not yet."

"Scott!" Jean laughed. "Go call your brother right now!"

"Jean, it's the middle of summer," he reminded her. "You know Alex is out on his surfboard now."

"That's probably true," she said, still smiling. "But tonight, you're calling him."

"I will, I promise."

Jean nodded, and reached for the phone. "In the meantime, we can call my family and discuss when we're going to visit."

Kurt only teleported outside the bedroom door. He quietly opened it and walked in, seeing that Kitty was asleep. He carefully crawled into the bed beside her and wrapped an arm around her.

"Mmmmm," Kitty murmured.

"Go back to sleep," Kurt whispered. "It's just me."

"I can get up," she whispered back, her eyes still closed.

"Lance said you were tired."

"I am. But not that tired. I just couldn't, like, deal with him anymore."

"Are you alright, Katzchen?"

"I guess. I don't know. This has, like, been a really crazy summer."

"It has," Kurt agreed. "Do you want to talk about it? Lance, I mean."
"Not especially." Kitty pressed herself against him as she opened her eyes. "This is nice," she said quietly. "I missed this."

"So did I."

The pair was quiet for a while, understanding the other one's need for a bit of silence. Silence was a rarity in the mansion, and it was bound not to last for too long, given that Boom Boom and Avalanche were now there. If anyone could stir up trouble, it was the two of them.

"Remember when Tabby blew up the soda machine at school?" Kitty asked. Kurt glanced at her, surprised and amused that this was the memory she chose to break their silence with.

"Yes, there was free soda all day. I had four." Kitty laughed.

"Only four?" she asked. "Must have been an off day for you."

"Well, Blob beat me to most of them."

They talked for a long time about old memories. They avoided ones about Lance and Amanda, and tried to only remember good things.

It's just like it used to be, Kitty thought happily. Maybe we really will get back there.

"Jealous."

"Am not."

"You are. Remy can see it."

Rogue glared at Remy, more than annoyed. Unfortunately, she was annoyed because he had her completely figured out, and she both loved and hated that about him.

"Why would I be jealous?" she asked smoothly.

"Don't know," Remy answered. "You know it's always been you, chere."

"Yeah, but you can touch Tabby without going into a coma," Rogue mumbled.

"Not necessarily," he said. "Those little bombs could take off a hand. Then Remy's not touching anybody."

"Yeah, whatever." Rogue turned her back and began focusing on a painting she was in the middle of. She felt Remy's arms wrap around her waist, and she was thankful and annoyed at the layer of clothes that separated their skin.

"You ever think about showing these somewhere?" he asked.

"You ever think about becoming a black jack dealer?"

"Not the same thing," Remy said with a laugh. "You're talented, Rogue."

"I'm okay."

"You're brilliant."

"Sure."

"Think about it."

"Maybe."

Remy hung back and watched her work. Her brow furrowed with frustration as she was unable to make the exact shade of red she was attempting, before giving up and sticking with the closest she could get. After several strokes, she stood back and examined it, deciding that the shade would work just fine.

"Have you thought about going through the procedure any more?" Rogue tensed up. She'd been avoiding that topic ever since her powers had fully come back. Not because she hadn't been thinking about it, but because she had been.

"Do you want me to do it again?" she asked carefully.

"I don't want you to do anything you don't want to," Remy told her. "It's up to you, chere. If you don't want to do it again, then you won't."

"But then I'll never be able to touch you. Or anyone," she added quickly. Even after everything, she still had a hard time admitting out loud how she felt about him.

"Don't matter. We didn't touch before, we survived."

"Don't you want more, though?"

"Not really."

"Not really?" she repeated with disbelief. "I want more." She blushed, not having meant to say that out loud. Remy didn't flinch, though.

"I know you do. And I would love more. But I don't need it. I just need you."

Rogue stared silently at the floor. She'd been mildly jealous of Scott and Jean when they were teenagers, but it was mostly a passing emotion. She hadn't given the idea of relationships much thought once she realized what she could do. She had resolved to live a life alone, without anyone. She thought now about Scott and Jean, and their upcoming wedding. She thought about Kurt and Kitty, and Kitty's passing flings throughout the summer. Rogue didn't want anything meaningless, but she didn't even have the option.

"I'm still thinking about it," she said finally. "We'll see."