Disclaimer: I don't own The Gifted!

Chapter 7

"I think that's all of it," Clarice said, standing in the middle of her living room, her hands on her hips. The couch was in place and so was the armchair, the lamp, the coffee table, and whatnot. It actually looked like a place where someone could live instead of the blank slate it had been when she had gotten there that morning.

"You sure?" John asked. Her handsome new neighbor had spent the last couple hours moving things around her new apartment, assuring her that he really didn't mind whenever she worried about taking up his time. Honestly, though, he had to be tired of shoving her junk around the apartment. He had helped her unpack her appliances and put her bed up as well, though it still needed to be made. She wasn't even sure where the sheets and blankets were. Maybe that big box in the corner?

"Yep, I'm sure," she said, flopping into the armchair, "Unless you want to organize my books? Fold my laundry?"

"You had a chance to do laundry today?" he asked, smirking, "You're ahead of me."

"I'm just that skilled." Clarice smiled and fished her phone out of her pocket. "The pizza should be here any time. Are you sure Riley doesn't want any?"

"Marcos said they already ate last time he texted me," he said, "And knowing them, they spoiled her."

"An all-you-can-eat and cheese macaroni buffet?"

John shook his head. "More like baking a cake, letting her eat the extra batter and icing, and then giving her the cake."

"Wow, that's next level spoiling," Clarice said with a low whistle.

"Mmm." He walked over and sat down on the couch, propping his left ankle up onto his opposite knee. "I can't wait til their kid is here, then I'll repay the favor."

Clarice leaned against the plush arm of the chair. "When's that going to be?"

"A couple months from now," John said.

"Well, I guess they're ahead of the game if they're already decorating the room and everything."

"Marcos is overly excited about being a dad," John said, "I think he's read every book he can and he's moved on to watching a lot of Youtube."

'So he's freaking out."

John smirked. "Completely. But they're both going to be great parents."

"How long have you all been friends?" Clarice said, increasingly curious about her new neighbor. While they had been moving things around in her apartment, they had mostly kept the conversation to a discussion of the building and some of their neighbors on the same floor and then where she had come from. She had given him a few details, like how she had moved from New York and how she'd gone to college in Seattle and had been a foster kid, but nothing more than that.

"Lorna started at Xavier's about a year after I did, and then we brought Marcos on a few months after that," John said, "And we've been…working in similar departments since then."

Clarice gave him a long steady look. "You mean on an X-men team?"

John went still for a moment and then nodded. "So he told you."

"Yeah," Clarice said, "Once he gave me the job." She poked at a spot on the arm of the chair, an old stain, and then looked at John closer. "Doesn't he tell everyone?"

"At different times," he replied, "All of the staff know, but some know it sooner than others. He must trust you."

"It's the eyes," she said flippantly, "I have extremely trustworthy eyes."

John smiled. "Can't disagree."

Clarice looked away in case her cheeks decided to betray her with a blush. "I'm not on a team yet though or anything."

"You don't have to be, if you don't want to," John said quickly. "Not everyone wants to do stuff like that."

"I haven't decided yet," Clarice said, which was the answer she had given Xavier when he had asked her if she'd like to join a team. Getting settled in her actual job as a counselor was more important to her at the moment than joining any kind of superhero team. "You're not on the main team, are you?"

"Not usually," John said, "My team is less…"

"In the spotlight?"

He nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. I don't care to run around in battle armor and everything, anyways."

Clarice could imagine that he wouldn't look terrible in it though. "What do you do?"

"We help people on a smaller scale," he said, "Like when mutants need to get out of tough situations or do more discreet kind of missions."

"So you're sneakier?"

John gave a soft laugh. "Not always."

"Oh, well that's good to know," she said, grinning.

"I guess we're less big picture and more focused on certain situations. Xavier has a way of knowing when people need us."

"I think that's probably better than fighting all the super-powered bad guys."

John shrugged. "Someone has to save the world."

Someone knocked on the door, and Clarice stood up, realizing the pizza had finally arrived. "I think your anchovy deluxe is here."

"Good to know that reverse psychology worked, since I love anchovies," he said, getting up from the couch.

The girl had silver marks on her face, and her fingers sparked as she pulled them away from the box.

"Sorry," she said, her cheeks turning pink. "They just—"

"Don't worry about it," Clarice said, "I didn't even get shocked."

"I'm still sorry," the girl said.

"Hey, Chloe," John said as he walked up beside Clarice.

"Hi, Mr. Proudstar!" Chloe said, perking up. Her eyes darted from John to Clarice and back again, getting increasingly wider.

"Chloe goes to Xavier's," John said, "She's a day student, and she's getting very good with her powers."

"Electric shock," she said to Clarice, giving her fingers a wiggle, "It still acts up sometimes."

"Seriously, no harm done," Clarice said. She caught Chloe staring again, and Clarice suddenly had a feeling that the fact John was in her apartment was going to be all over the school before she even started there.

"He's helping me move in," Clarice said quickly, "We're neighbors. He's my neighbor. Right over there." She waved down the hall like a maniac.

"Chloe delivers a lot of pizza here," John said, "She's basically the building's designated pizza delivery person."

"You don't eat that much pizza…" Chloe said. "But the Dane-Diaz's do. And so do a lot of other people."

"Mhmm." John leaned against the door, raised an eyebrow, and looked meaningfully at the pizza boxes that Clarice was holding.

"I'm only handing you these because I want to pay her a tip, not because I need you to carry them," Clarice said, letting him take them from her.

"Yeah, definitely," John said. He headed back into the apartment, and Clarice quickly paid the girl a tip. Even as she said goodbye and closed the door, she was certain that she saw her pull her phone out and start texting.

"You should've stayed out of sight," Clarice said, rolling her eyes as she walked over to the kitchen island. John already had one of the pizza boxes open, and he set out a couple slices on paper plates he had brought from his house.

"Why?"

"Because kids talk." Clarice picked up one of the plates and snatched up a slice. "You're going to have to deal with a lot of rumors tomorrow."

John took a bite of pizza and silently nodded. Maybe he was used to rumors. Or maybe he didn't…care? A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I was just helping you move. Right?"

"Right," Clarice said and became very engaged in devouring her pizza. That was all it was. Even if he did have an infuriatingly cute smile…