A Heartbroken Mutant

Jade was upset over Kimo, but she felt she wasn't ready to try and just forget what had happened and go back to just being friends. How could they now that they each knew how they truly felt about one another? Liam was a nice guy and she needed to give him a fair chance. He deserved that after she turned him down for so long. They had a good time together when they were out and he respected her. She hadn't yet told him that she was a mutant, but decided that tonight was the night. They had been out on several more dates and things were starting to get more serious between them. She had brought up mutants before around him and he seemed supportive of their rights and freedoms. She didn't want to keep this from him anymore. She wanted to be able to completely be herself around him.

...Two hours later Jade sat in Kylie and Eden's room sobbing into her hands. The door to the room was cracked slightly. "He...he called me a freak...a horrible freak."

Eden sat beside Jade and rubbed her back as she tried to calm her. "You listen to me Jade. You are NOT a freak. None of us are. You remember you told me that when I first got here, right?"

"Don't let this asshole get into your mind like that. You deserve better than him," Kylie said to back up Eden.

"I thought he was different," Jade said. "He seemed different. He said he supported mutant rights."

Kylie sighed. "I think he was just saying those things to get into your pants Jade. He was going to support whatever you did to try and get you into bed. Jade, please tell me you did not sleep with this sleazeball?"

Jade shook her head as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. "No, I never slept with him."

Kimo was intent on burying those feelings of his for Jade. It was only fair Jade had to do the same and she had to suffer through his rejection. Kimo reminded himself time after time that he needed to be supportive and accept the path he chose. He spoke with his father but didnt allude to what he was really concerned about. He still felt a bit better getting everything off his chest.

He was in the bedroom playing games as Andrew laid on his bed attempting to take a nap unaware of waht was happening in the other rooms. Ethan was slowly adjusting to his new surroundings. He and Kimo were growing as friends but he coudln't quite get the hang of Andrew having assumed the things he heard about him were exaggerated.

He had figured he'd stop to see if Eden maybe wanted to do something this weekend..kind of like a date thing when he heard Jade crying in her room. He hugged the wall and listened a bit and felt it not a good time to chat Eden up. Retreating back down the hall he hit a few creaky boards, intentionally put there to alert the adults of mischief. He hurred to Kimo and ANdrew's room and sat down on Kimo's bed.

"So you might want to keep your head down down for a bit." Ethan said looking to Kimo. Andrew rolled over his back facing the pair not liking where this going already. Kimo kept focusing on the game he was playing. "Would you pause that for a second? I know those old games have a pause feature." Ethan said.

"What? it can't be that important." Kimo said as he continued on.

"Oh yeah? Well guess who's single?" Ethan started.

"You are, not exactly new information." Andrew grumbled. Ethan glared and looked back Kimo.

"Apparently Liam dropped Jade once he found she's a mutant. She's with Eden and Kylie right now crying about it" Ethan said. Kimo lost his concentration and just started failing in his game as he tried to comprehend this.

"O-oh, so she's upset. Should i go talk to her?" Kimo asked.

"yes go talk with her with two other women. Even i know thats a bad idea and i dont know anything about girls." Andrew said scratching at his cast. Kimo's shoulder slumped a bit and he paused the game finally. Hearing the sounds stop Andrew breathed out and rolled over facing him. "If you go talk to her now she's going to think you have a hidden motive, just give her space."

"man i dont know, i mean yeah right now isn't the best time but you can at least be her shoulder to cry on. You two were close once." Ethan said.

"Until they started noticing one another yes. Dont go near her." Andrew said giving his advice.

"that's your solution to everything, just be passive and hide somewhere." Ethan said. Andrew gave a shrug and rolled back over, it's saved his life numerous times why question it now.

OOC-Do you want Kimo to actually talk to Jade? If so, I can put her in a situation where she's alone. Just let me know what you are thinking though.

OOC: I think Kimo would try to reach out to Jade in an effot to be a friend, feelings be damned really. Good Guy Kimo

After a while Jade didn't want to be around the other girls anymore. She knew they were trying to help, but she needed to just step away. She took off her makeup and washed her face, though her eyes remained red from crying. She then changed into a pair of leggings and an oversized sweatshirt and put her hair up into a messy bun. She walked downstairs to the kitchen and opened up the freezer door. She pulled out a carton of chocolate ice cream and grabbed a spoon and sat at the table eating the ice cream right out of the container.

Ethan continued to try and connect with the pair and eventually Kimo got up to get something to drink seeing as he and Andrew's normal night in was going to be a bit different. Thinking he'd get Andrew a soda so he would be in a happier mood for socializing he excused himself and headed down to the kitchen. Taking two steps into the kitchen he spotted Jade eating ice cream. Now he had cousins and knew what that meant, it only confirmed what Ethan was saying.

He gave her a pleasant nod and opened the fridge thinking of heeding Andrew's advice. Get the drhinks and go back upstairs he thought. But he was conflicted knowing that Jade was upset. Burying those feelings deeper he knew she needed a friend first and foremost. "Hey Jade." Kimo said walking over. he could see how red her eyes were, "mind if i join you?" he asked

Jade heard someone walk into the kitchen and she looked up to see Kimo. She remembered their last conversation and hated herself for what she had said to him. She had messed everything up and possibly lost her best friend for nothing. At first she thought he was just going to get something to drink and leave and that made her heart ache even more and so she was surprised when he suddenly asked if he could join her. She gave a little shrug.

"If you want."

Kimo gave a nod and sat down pulling a chair out. He was hoping she wouldn't think he had other motives like Andrew had mentioned. Placing one of the two sodas down he looked to the table trying to think of a conversation. "So..um i dont mean to pry but i might have heard about you and Liam. if thats the case i want to make sure you're alright and if theres anything i can do to help.." He said.

"Andrew might be willing to help kick his butt?" he asked trying to joke a little

Jade had a feeling Kimo already knew what had happened before he even admitted that he did. She had sensed Ethan near the door to Eden and Kylie's bedroom and guessed that he must have overheard and then told Kimo. Liam's words still rang in her ears. She looked down at the table, unable to look at Kimo.

"He called me a freak."

Kimo experienced a new emotion that surged up to the surface from the depths. Oh so this is rage he thought. "Oh." He simply said. Wouldn't have taken much for her to sense his reaction to that news. Maybe we do need to talk with Andrew he thought his fingers tapping the can a few times. "i'm sorry Jade he's..he's an idiot and not worth your time." He said looking at her.

"You're a wonderful girl and any guy would be lucky to be with you." Kimo said truly believing that. He calmed himself down knowing lashing out, while would be satisfactory, would do little to change peoples minds.

Jade could sense Kimo's emotions. They were right on the surface and therefore she didn't have to stretch her powers to know how he was feeling. She had never felt rage come from Kimo before and it surprised her. Knowing Kimo was that upset over what had happened to her, even though she had turned him away caused fresh tears to come to her eyes. She hung her head as they began to stream freely down her cheeks.

"I messed everything up. I'm sorry Kimo...I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you and then the other day when you told me how you felt I shouldn't have turned you away for Liam."

Kimo kind of panicked when Jade started to cry again and he worried if he messed up. He listened to what she said and felt his panic grow. "no no it's not. You didn't mess anything up Jade, i understood why you kissed me now. I mean i get it." He said having struggled with his own feelings. "We just. I'm slow at that sort of thing i suppose and you can't blame yourself for turning me away." He said shaking his head.

"I didn't expect you to return my feelings when you were with that jerk. At the time you liked him and i knew that." Kimo said holding no hard feelings against her. He thought about her kiss and he'd be lieing if he hadn't thought of that kiss lately. "we're ok." he said giving her a nod

Kimo was such a genuinely good guy with a wonderful heart and even though she felt she had treated him poorly and not reacted well to his revealing his feelings to her he was comforting her and telling her everything was going to be ok. She wiped away her tears with a shaky hand, rather embarrassed that she was crying in front of him. She was quiet for a moment, glad to have her best friend back.

"So, where does that leave us?" she asked, knowing that both of their feelings for one another were now out there.

Kimo didnt hold anything against Jade even when she turned him away. Like he said he felt it was only fair, he had done the same to her and he understood how she felt. he wanted Jade to be happy and felt rather foolish it took this long to clear the air between them. But upon her question he realized that not everything was as simple as that.

"I..dont really know." Kimo said rather truthfully. He knew those feelings were still there but he wasn't sure about hers for him. "I think we're back to where we started." he said though she could sense he was pained by saying that. "At the very least i want to be your friend and you need one right now." he said. His heart beat picked up a bit, inside him in that darkness that shell began to shine a bit.

"Andrew doesn't get too talkative during the day and i dont have anyone to really gossip about Ethan and Eden and theres a lot on my mind about those two.." He smiled at Jade

Jade actually smiled a little when Kimo mentioned Ethan and Eden. Ethan wouldn't stop flirting and fawning over her and Eden seemed to like Ethan as well and would playfully flirt back with him. Ethan had quickly gotten over his bashfulness around her that was for sure. She thought about what she really wanted and her feelings for Kimo were still there, but she was afraid to rush into anything.

"My feelings for you are still there Kimo. Can we...take things slow and just see what happens?

Kimo and Andrew had been questioned by Ethan quite a bit about Eden. What she was really into so he could avoid making a fool of himself in front of her. Course Andrew wasn't any help advising him that he had officially spoken to Eden far more than he had. He didnt have a clue about who she was to begin with. Kimo was a bit more helpful giving him some friendly advice. Ethan seemed like a good guy after all

He looked to Jade when she asked if they could take things slow. He was surprised that she still had feelings for him. His heart picked up a bit more and he nodded his head. "Wasn't anticipating anything Jade." He said. "But..we'll see what happens when it happens." he smiled at her being hopeful

Jade reached out and took Kimo's hand for a moment. She didn't know exactly why she did it. But it felt good to feel his hand in her own. She gave his hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze that everything was alright between them before releasing his hand and getting up. She walked over to the silverware drawer and pulled out another spoon and walked back over and handed it to him before moving to sit next to him with the chocolate ice cream.

"So...Ethan and Eden..."

Kimo looked to Jade and smiled when she took his hand. He felt any remaining awkwardness leave as they seemed to have made up. H watched her get up and grab another spoon and smiled as she sat down next to him. He gave a nod and they began to gossip in a friendly manner like they used to.

OOC: So fun little things i've come up with is where Andrew goes to at night, wont take long on that one. Kimo would notice he was missing and would try to sneak into the girls hall thinking he was with Kylie, antics ensue. Another one i have is Ethan trying to convince everyone to go on a camping trip.

OOC-I like both of those ideas. Which one did you want to do first? At some point we will also need to swing back to Ororo and Forge and play out her getting hurt. I figure at this point Forge has probably returned to the Nest, but comes back to the mansion at some point to finish the work he started on.

OOC: Well either one of them can occur, oh what Andrew does is just sneaks down into the dangeroom and practices playing guitar and singing. Had this weird dream of him playing in an old lounge. He's a bit self conscious about himself in that regard so he asked hank to help him with a simulation. Which is why he naps as much as he can.

The Ethan camping trip thing is where i think he'd try and make a move on Eden. going to attempt to make him a bit more forward when it comes to that compared to Kimo. and Yeah gotta get the whole Forge and Ororo thing going again. did we want her to get hurt and Forge finds out still?

OOC-Why don't we start with the camping trip. That seems fun. And yes, she is going to get hurt and the idea is that Forge is at the mansion when they bring her back.