I think these two are just so sweet, even though I've only watched two episodes of the latest season. I need to get around to it, but I've become obsessed with Animal Kingdom. Haha. This is definitely an AU, based in the X-Men verse solidly, with them at X Mansion, although more with the characters from Deadpool.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, or the title, which comes from Heaven In Hiding by Halsey.

It was the middle of the night when Clarice Fong woke up and all she could think about was how scratchy her throat was. She tried to roll over on the incredibly soft mattress and go back to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, all she wanted was water.

Letting out an annoyed groan, she pushed back the blanket and got out of bed. It still hit her as a bit strange that she had this room all to herself and didn't need to worry about waking anyone else up as she walked out of the room. Growing up moving from foster home to foster home had that effect. The carpet was plush under her feet and she tread quickly down the hall, toward the stairs at the end.

She imagined that the mansion—or the Xavier Institute For Higher Learning, as it was more commonly known—was nothing compared to what it used to be, but it was by far the most beautiful places that she had ever lived in. A lot of the rooms upstairs were closed off and still needed repair from the last time that it had been destroyed, but it was shaping up nicely. They had been there nearly two months now, and apart from Collosus trying to force them to eat protein bars and Wade Wilson popping up occasionally to throw out a couple of insults and fawn over Yukio, it was going pretty damn well.

They were all flying under the radar and bringing in new mutants as they were finding them, and helping them manage their powers, waiting until they had gotten them under proper control. Collosus was talking about taking them public, making them official, declaring them as X-Men, but there was a lot that needed to be walked through first.

Clarice wasn't sure how she felt about that—she wasn't completely opposed to it, like the Frost sisters and Lorna Dane were, who didn't think they should be required to list their abilities with the government—but she had spent a long time hiding from the authorities, and she wasn't ready to suddenly work with them.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and started toward the kitchen. There were high windows that was letting in light from the moon and there was dim lighting coming from one of the lounges. Clarice peaked inside and she saw Wes Ramirez and Lauren Strucker were curled up on a couch, both fast asleep and not paying any attention to the TV that was playing. She was glad they were asleep—the clock in the hall said it was just after two, which meant the mansion should all be asleep, which is why she hadn't bothered to put any pants on before coming downstairs. She was only wearing a Devilskin shirt that she was pretty sure was actually one of Ellie Phimisters— better known as Negosonic Teenage Warhead to the general public.

The girl had good taste, her and Clarice got on well.

Clarice got to the kitchen—an insanely huge kitchen which was bigger than every single one of the houses that Clarice had lived in when she was younger—and she flicked on one of the overhead lights as she went to the cupboard. The lights were dim, which was good, she would have been completely blinded if it was bright, and she took a cup out of the cupboard. She opened the door for one of the fridges and as she took out a glass jug of cold water and went to close the door, she let out a squeak and nearly dropped what was in her hands.

"Oh—careful!" John Proudstar reached out and steadied the jug in her hand. Clarice swallowed hard and managed to give him a small smile of thanks before turning her back to him. She put the glass on the bench and and then poured herself a glass of water, her back still to John.

She might have a thing for him.

He had been the one who had found her, he had been the one who had helped her get her powers under her control, he had been the one who trained with her and he was still the one that she was most comfortable around.

He didn't talk more than necessary and he always got straight to the point.

He was also gorgeous.

Clarice turned back around, crossing one of her bare legs in front of the other, feeling very exposed, given the shirt was cut off at the midriff and she only had a pair of purple underwear on, but she tried not to let it show on her face. John leaned against the centre island, looking a lot more comfortable in a loose pair of sweatpants and a Black Sabbath tee-shirt, and then he licked his lower lip and Clarice's stomach muscles got tight as she followed the movement, and obviously her interest had showed on his face because he grinned.

Clarice nearly choked on her mouthful of water.

"So, I was thinking..." John pushed away from the centre island and stepped closer to her. Clarice had no where to go, since her back was pushed up against the bench. "We should go out tomorrow night." Clarice was completely taken aback and just blinked. "Well," he tilted his head to the side and the corner of his lips quirked up. "I guess it would be tonight, since it's morning now."

"Uh..." Clarice was scrambling for something to say, but she had nothing. All she could do was swallow again and stare up at him. But the longer she looked up at them, that their eyes met, the more aware of another look that there was in his eyes. There was the hard edge and the confidence that John showed to everyone—he had to, he had been the leader for so long—but there was something behind it.

A softness.

A tenderness.

That was something that Clarice had been lucky enough to have seen before, when it was just the two of them together, when they were talking, when his defenses were dropped.

But there was something else.

Nervousness.

He was taking a chance here.

There was something between them and they both knew it, but neither of them had acted on it, because they were scared that they were going to cross a line that they couldn't come back from.

Clarice had to step with him, because she knew that whatever they had together...It would be worth that leap of faith.

She put down the glass of water on the bench and stepped forward so that they met in the middle and were chest to chest. She was extremely aware of her bare legs against the soft material of his sweatpants and the heat they were exchanging through the thin material of their shirts as their chests came together. John's eyes didn't leave hers as she pushed up on her toes, lifting herself up closer to him, and their lips coming so, so close. She felt a brush of his bottom lip against her top lip, and she could feel the gentle heat of his breath over her mouth and her stomach twisted again as she finally closed that whisper of a distance and brought their lips together.

As soon as their mouths touched, John reacted. One hand went to the back of her head, tangling itself in her purple streaked hair and the other went to her hip. It curved over the bare skin, his fingers burning like a brand against her flesh. It felt as though the months and months of tension was suddenly being released and Clarice just wanted to climb up John's body and twine herself around him and never let him go.

His tongue pushed into her mouth and Clarice opened without hesitation, one arm wrapping itself around his neck and the other gripping the back of his tee-shirt. John's fingers felt as though they were curling and then stretching, as if he wanted to reach further and touch her more but he was pulling himself back. Clarice wanted to feel him everywhere and she resolved any reluctance he might have by jumping slightly and lifting her feet off the ground. John was forced to lower his grip and grab her ass and Clarice rolled her hips forward, grinding their pelvis' together.

"Shit," John pulled away from her mouth dropping his head to her shoulder, holding her tightly against him. He moved forward, so that Clarice could sit on top of the bench, but his hold on her didn't loosen. He kissed his way up her neck, nipping at the sensitive skin and sucking at a spot underneath her ear that made her back arch and press harder to him. "God..." John breathed, putting some distance between them, both of his hands going to her face, cupping it and tracing his thumbs over her cheekbones. "Sweet thing...You taste even better than I imagined." A shiver raced down Clarice's spin at the cutesy nickname that she would usually punch a guy for.

Instead, she gave him another hard kiss and then smirked.

"So...Your room or mine?"

Let me know what you think x