"I... I don't want to die." Evvie whispered. She remembered what Logan had told them when he'd first arrived at the Xavier School, how in the future, the Sentinels would absolutely destroy everyone... Her overactive imagination was more than happy to fill in all the guresome details of her demise.

Peter sat down on the couch beside her, watching the proceedings for another moment or so before reaching out and snatching the remote from her hand. "You don't need to be watching this right now... it's stressing you out." Brushing a red curl away from her face, he whispered, "You're safe. We're safe."

"Are we really? It's only a matter of time until those... those things are operational, and then nobody will be safe. They'll take us out one by one -,"

He shook his head, flinging little droplets of murky water in every direction. "Evvie... Evvie, listen to me. You're here now, with me. And I'm promising you that, no matter what happens, I will make sure that you're safe." Peter said firmly. "I will keep you safe."

Evvie chuckled blandly, "I ask so much of you. I... you didn't sign on to be my personal bodyguard when you agreed to help break Erik out of prison -,"

Peter smirked, "Actually, if your father's death threats were anything to go by, I would think ensuring your survival was the sole reason they brought me along."

"My father isn't here now." Evvie said softly. Subconsciously, she brought her hand up to stroke the patch of blue skin where the bullet had impaled her, "Really, you have no reason to care about me. You've only known me for less than a week. I should be nobody, less than nobody, to you."

Peter's face fell, "I don't want to hear you talk about yourself like that. Ever."

"It's not like I'm lying."

Silently, Peter wrapped both of his arms around her and drew her tight to his chest. Neither commented on the fact that he'd neglected to don a shirt following his shower, or that his skin was still slightly damp. After a moment, Evvie's arms snaked around his waist and she let out a shuddering breath which choked off into a sob. He realized for the first time that she'd never cried about what happened, not even the first night... this was good. She needed this.

Feeling her tremble with sobs in his arms, Peter realized how much trust the smaller teen had placed in him in that moment. And he realized that, without a doubt, he'd meant every word of what he'd told her - he'd defend her with his life, if need be. He didn't know when that feeling had developed, had it sprung up overnight or had it always been there? Was it just a gutteral reaction to watching her fall apart before his eyes?

Evvie snuggled a little closer to him. He was momentarily disoriented by the fact that she smelled vaguely of his AXE bodywash, but the warmth radiating from her smaller form grounded him. Her shoulder-length red curls clung to his wet skin, tickling him each and every time that she moved. Slowly, he released her from his vice-like grip and drew back enough to run his fingers through her blood red hair. Somehow, the awful circumstances aside, this just seemed... right.

"I don't know much about my father. He was never very interested in my sister and I; hell, I'm not entirely certain that he even knows we exist." He wasn't sure why he was suddenly confessing all of this to her now - perhaps her earlier confession was still weighing heavily on his mind. Tit for tat, as they say.

Evvie dried her eyes, before turning her head slightly so that she was resting on his chest. She whispered, "I'm sure your mom has her reasons."

"Oh, I'm sure that she does. Not unlike your mom," Evvie tensed a bit, and Peter dragged his fingers through her hair in what was meant as a soothing gesture. "I think that sometimes, it's far too easy to forget that parents are human. Humans make mistakes. And they must inevitably face the consequences of their actions."

"Well," Evvie sniffled, "if you ever were to find out more information about your father, I certainly hope it turns out better than it did for me."

Peter sighed. He hadn't set out to try and make the poor girl feel worse about herself. "What I'm trying to say is... I don't really give a rat's ass about who my dad is."

That seemed to catch the young woman off guard, "W-What?"

"If I were to find out his identity tomorrow, it wouldn't change a thing. He still wasn't around for the majority of my life. He didn't raise me, or show any interest in my existence. He was essentially a mutant sperm donor." He shrugged, "Same with you. Don't let yourself be defined by a woman who didn't matter until yesterday."

"That woman has the power to end life as we know it." Evvie said flatly. From the unimpressed look on her face, it was clear she assumed Peter had forgotten.

"And you have the power to stop her." Peter replied, his tone mimicking that of a parent speaking to a frightened toddler.

She tapped his left pec with one bare finger, "Things are a little bit... different now, in case you didn't remember."

"You're stronger than you know."

Evvie watched him for a moment, considering. Without her mutation, she considered herself to be rather ordinary. Certainly no match for a woman that could adopt any human form that she chose. But then, even with the full force of her mutation behind her... she still hadn't been able to take her down. Instead, she'd lost control and hurt someone that she cared deeply about. As if sensing the dangerous turn her thoughts had taken, Peter took her hand and squeezed it gently.

"C'mon, that's enough deep thinking for one night. Let's hit the sheets." Peter was up off the couch and leading her to the bed before she even realized what was happening, "Tomorrow, we can take a nice little walk in this park down the road -,"

"But, don't I... I thought that... The couch is..." Evvie blubbered, completely flabbergasted as Peter gently pushed her toward the queen-sized mattress.

The other teen rolled his eyes, "I'm not gonna try anything fishy, hun." She flushed bright red at the nickname and he almost, almost laughed. "But seriously. You're not in a good place right now. I'm not gonna let you spend the night alone."

"T-Thank you." She honestly didn't know what to say. Why was he being so nice to her all of a sudden?

"Don't mention it. Just try not to hog all of the blankets."

True to his word, the next afternoon Peter took her to the park. He explained that this was the park he would typically take his kid sister to on the weekends if the weather cooperated - there was a fairly decent jungle gym and plenty of room for a little tyke to run around. But Peter steered her away from the hustle and bustle of families chasing after their young, instead directing her toward a more secluded pathway lined with a beautiful assortment of flowers.

Evvie, who was beginning to suspect that this was more of a date than Peter had originally let on, felt severely under-dressed. She'd borrowed one of Peter's AC/DC t-shirts and had paired it with dark blue bell-bottom jeans. Peter, on the other hand, had actually cleaned up rather nicely. Donning a pair of khaki slacks and a light blue polo, he looked every bit the gentleman that both knew he wasn't. They made quite the pair, attracting quite a few confused stares from onlookers.

"So..." Evvie began tentatively, desperate for a way to break the ice. "How did you present your mutation?"

Peter laughed. "Oh, that's a good one. Scared the absolute daylights out of my mother." Apparently, for three weeks before he presented, he was like a bottomless pit for food. He would eat and eat and never gain a pound - in fact, it looked like he was losing weight. "Mom was worried I had a tape worm or something."

"I would imagine. Any child that can eat his weight in food in a week and not gain a single pound can't be healthy." She looked at him now, a bit of worry shining through. It made sense of course. A heightened metabolism would need more sustenance to fuel it, but still...

"Back before I was in the basement, I actually used to share a room with my twin sister. So one night, I get up to pee... I put one foot on the ground and go speeding through the wall, right into mom's room, where I promptly pass out because, well, have you ever tried running through a wall before? It hurts. Like a bitch."

And Evvie started to laugh, despite herself. There was something almost cartoon-like about imagining her companion charging full-force through a wall. Just trying to explain that to the repairman... oh, that must've been an absolute nightmare! Suddenly, sending her father's favorite crystal chandelier crashing to the ground seemed like child's play. Extremely destructive child's play, sure, but not on level with tampering with the house's foundational integrity.

"Finally!" Peter exclaimed suddenly, drawing her from her stupor. Looking around, it was clear that they'd left the familial comfort of the park far behind them.

"Where are we?" She asked softly.

"My secret place. I come up here to sketch sometimes. Most of the kids are too afraid to come up here because its so far out of the way, so I can have a little peace and quiet." Peter said, before flopping down in a bed of flowers and patting the area beside him. "C'mon, y'know you want to."

"Who would've thought that you were so deep as to have your own secret place." Evvie said softly, appreciatively. After a moment, she gracelessly flopped down beside him and stared up at the sky through a veil of thick, green foliage. "What kinds of things do you sketch?"

Peter shrugged, "Beautiful things." He answered very broadly. "Sunsets, flowers..." He turned to look at her suddenly, his eyes soft.

Evvie smirked, "What're you looking at?"

Peter was silent for a moment, his doe-like brown eyes scanning the rich contours of Evvie's face. He seemed to be attempting to memorize every detail, as if this would be the very last time he would be able to lay eyes on it. And then he blinked, "You have an eyelash on your cheek."

Her face fell a little, but she brought her hand up and dutifully swiped at both cheeks. "Better?"

A nod, "Much."

They lay in silence for several moments, suddenly unsure of their standing with one another. Peter was the first to come back from their strange little misstep, reaching into the satchel he'd brought along and pulling out his sketchbook and a worn-down piece of charcoal. She watched as he lazily sketched lines that seemed to have no particular purpose, feeling herself grow increasingly more drowsy with each stroke.

By the time she'd fallen asleep, Peter had a fairly decent sketch of her face. Reaching out, he plucked one of the snapdragons from nearby and situated it in her hair. The snapdragon was one of many flowers that had come to symbolize inner strength, but Peter thought that the bright pop of color complimented her complexion nicely. Not that he was doing this particular piece in color, but... it was the thought that counts.

Once he was certain that she'd fallen asleep, he set the small booklet aside and leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "...you."