Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel Comics and are being used for non-profit entertainment purposes only. The story is mine.

Note: This is basically a little fluff piece that's been hugging onto my brain and killing all the nice, dark thoughts. I had to get it out so it wouldn't pollute the others.

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I'm Not Going on a Date with Peter Rasputin!

"No, no, and no!" Katherine Pryde insisted as she walked down the hall.

"It will be fun, Kitty," Ororo Monroe stated as she hurried after her.

Kitty whirled around and let out a large sigh. "Let me explain this to you, Ororo, because you don't seem to be getting it--in fact, no one in this house seems to be getting it. I do _not_ want to go on a date with Peter Rasputin. I'm no longer fourteen and I no longer have a simple schoolgirl crush. I am a woman now Ororo, you're just going to have to face that."

The woman standing in front of Kitty looked dejected and hurt as she twined her fingers through a lock of her silver hair and let the hem of the blue dress she had been carrying sweep the ground. After sighing she spoke, "I know, Kitty, and I am sorry. It has just been such a...I mean...Oh, Kitty. I do not know what I mean. It is your life and I should not be interfering in your affairs." She moved closer and set her elegant, long-fingered hand on Kitty's shoulder. "I just want you to be happy, Katherine. I want to see you smile and laugh the way you used to."

One of Kitty's hands snaked its way up to her forehead and rested there as the older woman picked the blue dress up and quickly left. Her last words lingered in Kitty's ears; "I just want you to be happy."

"I know, Ororo. I know. But Peter's not going to make me happy," she whispered into the stillness around her and opened the door to her room.

******

"No luck, huh, `Roro?" Wolverine asked as the tall mutant entered her attic chambers. He held a large cigar in one of his hands, puffing at it every few minutes or so.

Ororo stepped over to him and plucked the cigar from his fingers. "I would appreciate it, dear friend, if you would keep these...foul smelling, cancer causing things away from my room."

The man laughed and took the cigar back from her, easily snuffing it and hiding it back in his uniform in one easy, flawless motion. "I'm gonna take it that that means the kid's bein' a hard-head." He smiled at Ororo.

The silver haired mutant sighed and sat down, cross-legged, on the floor of her attic room. There were a few plants hanging from the rafters, large purple and yellow blooms just starting to appear amongst all the vivid green. This was her retreat, her place to get away from it all. She ran her fingers over the blue dress in her lap and looked up into Logan's eyes. "I do not remember that child being so hard headed," she stated simply.

"There's your first mistake, `Roro," he explained as he sat down next to her. "Kitty's not the kid anymore, even though most o' us still see her that way. She's not goin' to just take what you say an' run wit' it anymore. She's her own person. Ya got to let her be, darling." Comfortingly, he sat his hand on the smooth skin of her shoulder.

The mutant elemental placed her head on his shoulder and let out a long breath. "I am afraid that it is hard to let her go. My kitten, the daughter I never had, I have to let go. It is too soon, Logan. I do not want to give her up."

Logan stroked his friend's hair with a snarled hand and consoled her. "They all grow up too fast, darlin'. No way to stop it. Ya just gotta let `em go."

"Thank you, friend. Thank you."

*****

The brown eyes stayed steady on the phone sitting in front of her. Calling was such a simple thing. You just picked up the phone and dialed the numbers and waited for someone to answer.

I'll call him, she thought and her hand reached out to grab the phone. But what if he doesn't want to talk to me. Kitty's hand inched back up to lay, restlessly, on the bed.

Her hands cradled her head, the long fingers running through the dark brown locks as she eyed the phone again. Indecision ran wild through her mind, touching and then twisting her every idea. One moment she was convinced that the only way to make things better was to just get it over with and call him. The next minute, though, she was scared stiff of what such a phone call might bring.

"Dammit, Pryde, I always though you were made of sterner stuff than this," she muttered to herself. Kitty's mind cleared.

"Deep breath. Just pick it up and dial. Simple, really," she said and picked up the phone. Quickly, she punched the numbers, doubling checking each one in her head to make sure it was right.

The phone began to ring. Then the operator came on the line. "I'm sorry but the number you've dialed is no longer in service. Please check the number and dial again." The fake, recorded, metallic voice continued to drone on as something in Kitty's heart cracked.

Slowly, the mechanical voice still echoing in her ears, she turned the phone off and set it down on the table beside her bed. One pale, shaking hand covered her mouth as the tears started to form in her eyes. So, this is really it, she thought as the salty drops made their way down her face. It's really over.

"It's really over. He's really gone." Her own voice scared her for it was so hollow, so dead, floating like a lost thing in the heavy air.

"Bullocks to that, Pryde," a voice whispered from behind her and the smell of cigarette smoke hung in the air.

Brushing the tears from her dark eyes, Kitty turned around so that she was facing the door. A thin, tall man with black hair and eyes was standing in the open doorway. One hand was on his hip and the other was buried in the pocket of his jeans. The ruffled white dress shirt was covered by a long, black trenchcoat. He looked exhausted with dark circles under his eyes and hair that hadn't been washed in days.

But to Kitty, he looked wonderful. He had never seemed as attractive or as sexy as he did in that instant for he looked haunted, lost. Putting on a fake smile, she said, "Now what are you doing here, you British wanker?"

Pete didn't smile, he didn't even grin. "Someone tore my bleedin' `eart out and I've come lookin' for it. `ave you seen it?"

"Well...I...um...No. No, Pete, I haven't seen it."

He shrugged, a very agile, fluid movement that took Kitty's breath away. "Guess I'll go then. Sorry to bother you, Pryde."

Can I just let him go? Can I let him walk out and leave me here? He'd do it. I know he would, she thought as he started to turn away from her.

"Pete! Wait!" Kitty cried out and if her voice was too loud, too distressed, then she didn't care anymore, she didn't even notice.

"Whot Pryde?" His eyes were soft, burnt steel in the light that poured through the window.

Her fingers pinched the bridge of her nose, feigning a headache, then she bit her lip and looked up at him. "I missed you, you bloody English sod."

Pete Wisdom smiled and took a drag off the cigarette. "Missed you too, you bleedin' Yank." The smoke rolled out of his mouth like fog and he started to laugh quietly, a small chuckle. "`ow you been, Pryde?"

"Not too good, Pete. I think I got addicted to you. I keep looking for the right cure, but they don't make a patch for it," she joked, brushing strands of brown hair from her eyes.

"Sometimes ya just gotta get `ooked on somethin', Pryde," he commented as he put the cigarette out, dropping it on the floor and crushing it with his foot.

Kitty sighed as she watched him. "The Prof's going to have you skin for that, Pete."

He sat down next to her, a smoky tang still on his breath and his eyes dancing. "Whot they gonna do, Pryde, kick me out?"

"Maybe."

"Then I'll tell `em I'm not goin'. Think they'll listen?"

She shrugged, running her fingers over the stubble on his cheek. "They might let you stay as long as I give them a good reason."

Pete closed the distance between then, his mouth right beside her ear. "Whot would you tell `em?"

"That I love you," she whispered as she kissed him.

*****

Wolverine smelled the air as he walked through the halls. Ororo had seemed upset but then what wasn't there to upset her these days. As he started to turn the corner, he heard, "Did you shut the bloody door?"

After stifling a laugh, he turned and started back to Ororo's attic room. She just might get a laugh out of this one.

The End