Peter sped through the woods behind the X-Mansion without a care in the world, listening to his music and watching everything in the woods move in slow motion. Things had gotten a lot busier for him lately since he joined the X-men so every now and then he liked to run around in the woods to help clear his mind. He smiled at the scenery around him. It was a perfect day, he had to admit. The sun was shining through the trees, the birds were chirping, although he couldn't hear them because he was going so fast. He smiled as he looked at the wonder around him that was nature. He was especially happy he caught sight of a squirrel mid-leap from a low tree-branch with a nut in it's mouth. He decided to help it out and pick it up and place it on the low branch it was trying to get to. And then he noticed something higher up in the tree, there was a nest up there. He didn't even notice that he stopped running. All he saw was the squirrel scurry up quickly to the nest and the sounds of small chirps and chattering from inside. "The little guy has a family." He says and smiles a bit. "Got a nice house, a wife, a couple of kids, hey and it seems like the acorn business is booming for ya huh?" He says and picks up an acorn off the ground and tosses it in the air and catches it. "You're living the American dream buddy." He smiles at him and then realizes something. "Wow. A squirrel got his life together faster than I did." His smile falters. "God, I'm a hero now and I'm still a loser. Pfft' whatever." He says and speeds off again.

He thought about the whole settling down thing. His mom had told him to try to do that once, stop looking for his dad and try to find a girl instead. Like that was ever going to happen, he was always moving too fast, no girl could ever keep up with him. But now that he thought back on it, there was that one girl he always thought was pretty cute. Crystal. He could never catch her last name because whenever he saw her it was like he was running at top speed, everything else froze and all he could see was her. She lived in the neighborhood, he had known her since he was a kid. He still remembered the day he first met her when they were seven. He was speeding around in the park, stealing people's hats and moving the plates at the little-league baseball games and laughing as one of the kids kept trying to reach home plate and getting frustrated because it kept moving. Ah, those were fun times. But then he saw someone that day. As he was making his getaway he turned and saw a little girl around his age sitting on a park bench, wearing a pink dress, her reddish hair in pigtails and licking an ice cream cone. And she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. That was until he slammed into a tree and everything went black. Time went by, and the two of them grew up. They both went to the same high school and they were both in the same class, but he still never talked to her. He was convinced that if he ever tried she would reject him immediately. She was one of the most popular girls in school, and he was a total geek, and a mutant on top of that, she'd never want to associate him. He never saw her again after they graduated. She went to college somewhere and he went looking for his dad. He hadn't thought about her in awhile, too busy with all the X-men stuff going on, but whenever he thought about settling down or his mom suggesting he should try to get a girlfriend, Crystal always popped into mind for some reason. As he ran through the woods an old song played on his Walkman that he hadn't heard in awhile. I'm a Believer by the The Monkees. What a coincidence that that song would come on when he was thinking about his old childhood crush. How fitting. Then his eyes widened as he turned and saw a familiar looking girl, sitting on a fallen tree with some binoculars and a notebook. He'd recognize those bright blue eyes and wavy red hair anywhere. It wasn't Jean, even though when he met Jean he realized that she and his childhood crush shared some similar features, but Crystal's hair was shorter, just down to above her chest, and it was wavier, almost curly sometimes, while Jean's was mostly straight, although she did wear it wavy sometimes. Not to mention their facial structures were different as well as Crystal's eyes being a dark hue of blue. That's probably where she got her name from, and now here she was, sitting on a fallen tree as he ran by. "And then I saw her face." The song played and it felt like time had slowed down. "Now I'm a believer. Not a trace of doubt in my mind. I'm a believer, I couldn't leave her if I tried." Then everything went black as he slammed into a tree.

When he woke up he was laying down in the clearing on the soft grass, the sunlight hurting his eyes a bit and he blinked a few times to help them adjust. He felt that his goggles weren't on his face. Strange. He opened his eyes and a jolt of fear ran through him as he saw his old crush staring down at him. "Oh good you're awake." She says with a smile and Peter is at a loss for words. He's never talked to her before. "That was some hit you took there." She says and moves something off of his head. He noticed it was a water bottle that was really cold. "You took the tree down when you slammed into it. I thought you were dead. Thankfully you still had a pulse. If you didn't I'd probably have to give you mouth to mouth." She chuckles a bit. "And boy would that be awkward. I mean I would do it to save your life but it might be pretty awkward to give it to someone you just met you know." He smiles a bit, his senses starting to come back to him. But then he felt himself seize up again as she gently placed her hands on either side of his face and she swung her leg over to his other side so she was straddling him. Why did she have to be wearing a tied purple blouse tank top and shorts? She looked so cute. And now she was touching him too! "But I feel like I have seen you somewhere before. We lived in the same neighborhood didn't we?" He couldn't speak. This whole situation was like something out of a dream, he only prayed she didn't look down and see just how much she was affecting him. "You're Peter right? The really fast kid that always got detention." He smiled a bit and decided he should say something.

"Yep. That's me." He says in a soft voice and smiles. Crystal did too. She laughed a bit as well.

"Do you remember me?" She asks. He smiles more.

"Of course! You're Crystal. The good girl that all the teachers loved and every guy in school wanted to date!" He says and she laughs again.

"Yeah that was me all those years ago." She laughs then holds his face a little gentler. "Now I have a really important question for you Peter." She was leaning in, her face was getting closer to his. Her curly red hair, pulled back in a high ponytail, fell to the right side of her face. He started breathing heavier. "Are you seeing double?"

"N-no." He says softly. She leans back so she's sitting up on her knees.

"How about now?" She asks.

"Still just one of you." He says. She smiles and laughs.

"Great! That means you're fine! You might just be a little dizzy though so be careful standing up." She instructs and slowly helps him stand up. He smiled at her once he was standing up.

"Thanks." He says. "So what are you doing here?" He asks.

"Oh my family moved here recently. I have a job taking pictures for a magazine to pay for medical school." She says. "They told me to take some of this particular bluebird and so I came out here to take a little hike and see what I can find."

"Sounds fun." Peter says. "But you do realize you're on private property right?" He asks and she looks confused then her eyes widen in realization.

"Oh my gosh are these woods part of that big mansion where all the mutants live?!" She exclaims.

"Yeah, basically." Peter says and smiles.

"No wonder I ran into you here! I'm so sorry, I'll get going right now-" She says but Peter cuts her off.

"Oh no no it's fine." He says and speeds in front of her, making her gasp a bit. "You don't have to worry about that. No one comes back here."

"Are you sure it's fine?" She asks.

"Yeah totally." He says. "But if you're still worried about getting caught out here...I um..." He blushes a bit, considering what he's about to say. "I could stick around to make sure you don't get in trouble?"

"The guy who was always in some sort of trouble in school is now trying to keep me out of it?" Crystal asks and smiles. Peter laughs too, realizing the irony. "Wow. You've changed haven't you Peter?"

"Maybe a little bit." He admits and she laughs. Oh God that laugh. It always made things brighter and lifted his mood whenever he heard it. And now she was laughing because of him. He couldn't remember a time he felt this happy.

"Well then I guess I'd better stay close to you." She says and walks over towards him. "Wouldn't want to get caught trespassing." She says and he smiles.

"You already have. You're just lucky it's me." He says and she laughs again. She goes and picks up her camera, bag, and binoculars and looks at the camera and sighs.

"I haven't been able to get any good pictures. The birds are always moving too fast." She says and Peter smirks, a mischievous idea in his mind.

"Well...I doubt they're faster than me." He says and she catches on to what he's suggesting.

"Peter I couldn't ask you to do that, it's my job I'm supposed to find a way to-" She notices the camera is missing from her hands and Peter is holding it and examining it. "If you take pictures while you're running at super speed they'll all come out blurry." She tells him and he smiles at her.

"I know. That's why I'm not taking them." He says. Suddenly he's behind her with an arm around her waist and her head being held by his hand.

"Why are you holding me like this?" She asks.

"To protect you from whiplash." He says and puts his goggles on and to his surprise she smiles.

"Am I going to experience what it's like to move faster than the speed of sound?" She asks excitedly.

"You're not scared?" He asks.

"I like fast." She tells him and his heart stopped beating for a minute. Just hearing her say those words, it was like a dream come true. He was grinning like an idiot then he held onto her.

"Then hang on tight and keep your eyes closed." He says and she grips his arm that's around her waist and the next thing she knew she was holding her camera and the flash went off and a bluebird flew away. "One picture of a bird in flight." He says proudly and she looks at her camera and sees the picture.

"It's perfect!" She exclaims and smiles at him. "Can I get a few more of them?" She asks and he smiles and holds onto her again and the process repeats itself. He speeds around the woods, looking for the bird she had to take a picture of and then once he finds one, sets her up in the perfect position to take the picture and presses on her finger on the camera to take the picture. "These are great my boss is going to love them!" Crystal exclaims as she looks through the photos Peter helped her take before putting them in her bag as well as the camera. "And all in under five you so much! I have the rest of the day free now." She says and smiles at Peter. "Would you maybe want to go grab some lunch with me?" She asks and Peter's heart stopped for what was probably the third time that day.

"Y-you want to go get food with me?" He asks, not believing what he's hearing.

"Yeah I mean I couldn't have gotten these amazing shots without your help. It's the least I could do." She says. Peter doesn't respond. He just stares at her blankly trying to process what she was suggesting. He gently grabbed his arm and tried pinching himself to make sure he was awake.

"A-are you sure?" He asks and smiles a bit.

"Yeah I'm pretty sure. I thought it might be nice to talk to you, you know. Get to know the mutant that lived in my neighborhood that I never got the chance to talk to until now." She explains. "Unless you're busy or something-"

"No no no I'm free, uh just give me a second, stay right there." He says and speeds off towards the X-mansion. He finds Storm in the library reading a book. She seems a bit shocked when she finds the speedster grasping her shoulders.

"Peter what the hell are you doing!" She exclaims.

"I need you to shock me!" He says.

"What why?" She asks, now thoroughly confused.

"Because I need to know if I'm awake right now." He says urgently.

"Uh...Well ordinarily I wouldn't want to hurt a teammate but seeing how you're also a bit of a jackass I think I'll go along with whatever crazy idea you've got." She says and Peter smiles and stands before her. Storm shocked him with lightning, not a lot, but just a bit to give him a jolt that sent him into the bookshelf. He landed on the floor with a thud and got back up. He looked around.

"Storm! Oh my God I'm awake!" He exclaims and runs up to her and holds her shoulders and bounces. "I'm awake! This is actually happening!"

"What is? Boy you'd better start making some goddamn sense right now or I'm going to go straight to Professor X and-" He cut her off when he sped off back to his lady in waiting. Once he got back to her he was grinning like an idiot again.

"Where'd you run off to?" She asks.

"Oh I just had to grab my wallet." He says. He wasn't lying. He did grab it after leaving Storm, he wasn't going to let her pay for anything for him. "So where do you want to go?"

"Well I've been meaning to walk around in the park in town. Do you mind going there?" She asks. "There's a few good food stands around there I've been wanting to try."

"Well then let's go try them." He says and suddenly she's being held bridal style in his arms, causing both of them to brush. "Tuck your head into my chest and hang on tight." He instructs and she does so, and he blushes even more from the close contact. Then he speeds off with her in his arms.

The two of them walked down the path together, each with a hot dog and Crystal was laughing at something Peter said. At some point they ended up laying down on the grass next to each other, looking up at the passing clouds. It was nice and peaceful, that is until Peter kept fidgeting non-stop. "You really can never stop moving can you?" Crystal asks him.

"Nope. I even fidget in my sleep." He says and she laughs.

"Doesn't that get tiring after awhile?" She asks.

"Not really. You get used to it." He explains.

"Do you ever slow down?" She asks him and he turns to her.

"No. Honestly my whole life it feels like I've been running." He says.

"But if you go too fast you'll miss so much." She says and he gets thoughtful for a moment. She gets out her camera and smiles at him. "Take a picture with me?" She asks and he looks confused.

"Why?" He asks.

"To capture the moment. A rare moment when you're actually relatively still." She says and he laughs but smiles as she leans down and takes a picture of them, smiling and sitting down next to each other. She took two, so they each got a copy. "So you don't feel like you've missed anything in life because you're always on the run?"

"Honestly Crystal I haven't missed much. My life hasn't exactly been that memorable. I haven't found too many things worth slowing down for." He explains. "And no one can ever keep up with me."

"I'd like to try." Crystal says. "I might not be a mutant that can run faster than the speed of sound but I'd like to bet that I can keep up with you."

"Do I hear a challenge?" Peter asks and she smirks.

"I bet that I can keep up with you for a whole day." She says.

"A whole day." Peter laughs. "Most people can't keep up with me for five minutes." He says.

"Well I've already handled five minutes when we were out in the woods." She says. "Who says I can't handle a whole day?"

"Well then let's find out if you can." Peter says and in a blur he's gone.

"Really?" She asks in disbelief. Then he comes back, standing above her.

"Just kidding." He says and she smiles at him and holds out his hand to her. She takes it and then they're gone again.

Crystal had never experienced anything like this before. One minute she was eating pizza with Peter and the next she was in a roller rink, speeding around so fast she was leaving track marks as Peter pulled her around, nearly giving her a heart attack as they dodged other skaters. And then she found herself in an arcade. To be honest, she almost threw up a couple times, but she could stomach it. Especially since she got to beat Peter's high-score on a pac-man machine at the arcade. The look on his face was priceless and had her laughing for a good five minutes. They played every game in the arcade, zipping back and forth to each one until the sun was setting. He sped her back to her house and set her down on her walkway. "Wow. That all went by so fast." She says.

"Well duh." Peter says and smiles at her. "That was kind of the point." She laughed again. "I've got to say, I'm impressed. Most people, even the other mutants would get annoyed with me a lot sooner than you did."

"Who says I'm annoyed with you?" She asks and looks confused. "I had a lot of fun with you. Honestly I have no idea why I didn't try to talk to you back when we were kids."

"Probably because I'm a mutant, and let me guess your parents would kill you if they found you associating with me?" He asks and she smiles and shakes her head.

"Unfortunately that's true." She says. "They always told me you were bad news and that I should stay as far away from you as possible."

"Most parents told their kids that." Peter says. "I guess that's one of the reasons I didn't have many friends."

"Well, if I had been braver back then, I would have been your friend Peter." She tells him and he smiles a bit. "Maybe I can make it up to you by being your friend now?" She suggests and he smiles even more. "Can we do this again sometime?" He did a double take.

"You want to hang out with me again?" He asks.

"Yeah!" She exclaims. "I had the most fun I've ever had today with you! I'd love to go on another high-speed adventure with you." Peter's heart soared with happiness. He noticed the lights turn on in her house.

"You living with somebody?" He asks and his heart sinks at the thought of her having a boyfriend, or being with someone else.

"Yeah, my parents. They're letting me crash with them while I save up for medical school." She says and handed him a small piece of paper.

"What's this?" He asks.

"My number." She says and blushes a bit. So does he. "Call me sometime." She says and starts walking towards her front door. "Goodnight Peter." She tells him.

"Goodnight Crystal." He tells her before she disappears into her house. As soon as she shut the door he sped back to the X-mansion and flopped down on his bed in the room he shared with Nightcrawler.

"Where have you been all day?" He asks. "Storm said you were acting weird and then no one's seen you all day."

"I was having the best day of my life." He says simply and takes out the picture he had of him and Crystal and smiled at it.

"Well knowing you, it probably involved twinkles right?" Nightcrawler asks and Peter chuckles a bit.

"Something even better." He says and the blue mutant gives him a surprised look.

"Whoa you think something is better than twinkles?!" He exclaims. "What in your mind could be better than that?"

"I'll tell you later." Peter says and puts the picture under his pillow. "Goodnight." Peter tells him.

"Goodnight." Nightcrawler says before going to sleep. Peter smiled and replayed the day in his mind as he fell asleep. Little did he know, that Crystal was doing the same thing.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed! There is more to come! And I'd like to give a special shout out to Sirana for help giving me some info on Peter since I haven't seen all the movies yet and check out her Peter/OC story Kleptomaniacs it's a really well-written and awesome story! Thanks for reading! The next part will come soon!