The X-kids were lounging about their usual bench at school. Jean was sitting next to Scott, Kurt was next to Kitty, and Rogue and Spike were standing at the ends. Though happy to be next to Kitty, Kurt was increasingly annoyed by her choice of conversation. She was talking to Jean about something "cute" that Lance, the jerk from the brotherhood that she was dating, had said. Kurt was miserable that his Kitty couldn't see what a waste of space Lance was. After all, they had first met when he was spray-painting lockers for crying out loud. But, it didn't seem to click in Kitty's head that she was dating a loser. A loser with one of the stupidest mutant powers he'd ever heard of. Earthquakes, yeah, that was useful.

"Isn't that like so sweet?" Kitty was asking him. Kurt had no idea what she was asking cause he'd been zoning out in anguish. He nodded vacantly as she then asked Jean the same question.

His eyes met Rogue's. She was as pathetically alone as he was and she could see what was going through his mind. It wasn't that hard to read really. He'd been obvious about his affections for Kitty since they'd met. He shrugged at Rogue in a "whatchya gonna do?" gesture.

"So what is everyone doing after school today?" asked Spike conversationally. He didn't really care, but watching the couples wasn't the most thrilling thing he could be doing.

Jean perked up. "Well, after practice, I think the Prof wanted me to help him out with a few things."

"I was thinking I'd hang around and watch Jean's practice," said Scott in a dull, robotic voice. This was the way he usually talked, because Scott was a boring person.

Kurt asked, "What were you thinking of doing Spike?" He was just hoping that maybe he'd have something more exciting than homework to do that night. He was getting bored at nights since his Kitty and Lance had become a couple. All she ever did after school was talk on the phone, from the time she set her backpack down to the time she rested her adorable head on her pillow.

Spike held up his skateboard. "Just practicing my moves. Tonight I don't know. Maybe see what's on TV."

"Yeah but like, you do that everyday," pointed out Kitty. "I'm going to the movies with Lance." She looked at Kurt again.

"Hey, I think I'll catch you all later. I gotta meet someone," he lied. Then he left the table feeling dejected.

Kitty smiled back at the group. Rogue lost her temper at the sight of those pearly whites. "Girl, are ya blind?"

"What do you mean?"

Jean and Scott gathered up their things…slowly. This way they could seem like they were respectful of privacy. Well, that's what Jean did. Scott just copied her movements like the automaton he was.

"Ya have to know that Kurt likes ya."

Kitty smiled. "Yeah so?"

"So, ya flaunt Lance in his face!" accused Rogue angrily. One gloved hand was waving around wildly as she spoke.

Kitty stood up. "Look, I happen to like the attention, but I'd hardly expect you to understand what it's like to have two guys like you." She walked off quickly perhaps knowing how close Rogue was to chasing after her and slamming her head against the ground.

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Kurt was surprised by the knock on his door. Kitty was the only person that visited his room, but she just walked through. It hadn't made for any awkward moments yet, though it was inevitable that it one day would. "Kurt, can I come in?"

The voice sounded like Rogue. That surprised him more. "Sure."

The door opened and Rogue entered the room. She looked like she felt she was intruding. Her heavily made up eyes stayed mostly towards the floor. "Hey." She closed the door behind her.

Kurt had been sitting Indian-style on his bed with a comic book spread out on his lap, but he stood when she entered, ever the gentleman. "What's up?"

"Well, I came to talk to ya. I don't think your gonna like what I have to say." She was nervous, he realized.

His hand gestured towards his bed. "Would you like a seat?"

"Oh yeah, thanks." She plunked down on his bed with her knees and then sat back on her feet. "Kurt, I wanted to tell ya that I think ya can do better than Kitty."

Better than Kitty? Was there anyone better than Kitty? "But I don't have Kitty."

"And ya shouldn't want her either. She ain't no good Kurt."

He scratched his head. "You came to my room to insult my best friend?"

Again her eyes were towards the floor and a guilty look of meddling came over her face. "I know it seems bad…"

"Ja it does, Kitty is a wonderful person. She is good and kind." He wasn't quite angry yet, but he was feeling particularly defensive.

"She knows ya like her Kurt." Kurt's mouth gaped open. How did Kitty know? Did someone tell her? How did Rogue know? "And she talks about Lance around ya to get a rise out of ya. It makes her feel like a better person. Though it should make her feel like a bitch."

Suddenly Kurt needed to sit. He sat next to Rogue on his bed. "How does she know?"

Rogue laughed. "Everyone knows. Ya aren't exactly subtle about it."

He watched her amused face that was artificially whitened with baby powder. "And she… she wants to make me jealous?"

She frowned. "Yeah. She enjoys hurtin' ya, her best friend."

They sat in silence while Kurt mulled over the things Rogue had just told him. He went through a whole series of emotions. He was shocked that Kitty knew, hurt that she didn't love him back, horror that she would flaunt Lance on purpose, and a growing desperation that told him that now that she knew, he had a chance to win her over. "What can I do?"

"Drop the skank," suggested Rogue as if it were a natural conclusion.

Kurt scowled at her. "Nein. She is my best friend. I would never drop her."

Rogue uncurled her legs, shaking them to return blood-flow. "You could make her jealous back."

"Rogue! That is a splendid idea!" He jumped up and landed in a crouching position exactly where he had been. "I could just woo a girl to make Kitty jealous."

"No! That would make ya as bad as she is!" cried out Rogue in horror. "Ya can't go around messin' with innocent girls' hearts."

His head hung down. "Also, I don't think I could woo a girl in the first place."

"Ya could have a girl pretend to be wooed, one that knew ahead of time what was gonna happen." Rogue lit up with the brilliance of her idea. Her enthusiasm traveled to Kurt.

"Great! Where would I find a girl like this?"

"Ya could ask one of the girls at school or here in the mansion," she suggested.

Kurt stared at her, his grin devious and dopey at the same time. His tail flicked behind him in excitement.

"What? Oh god no, Kurt not me!"

"But why not? You already know right?" He bit his lip in suspense.

Rogue sighed. "Cause no one in their right mind'd wanna date me, even for pretend."

Kurt tumbled off the bed. Surprised, Rogue looked down. He was lying on the floor with his tongue hanging out and arms crossed as if dead. "Please. I'll die if you don't say yes."

"Ya'd better get some better moves than that if you're gonna woo me."

All eagerness he sat up, their eyes level. "I will. Will you do it for me?"

"Okay, but only so I can see the look on that brat's face."

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-BAMF-

Kitty was lying in bed yakking on the phone when he bamfed beside her. He was facing her, but stretched out on his side in a relaxed position. They had been like this before sometimes for hours at a time, but he never made any move to do anything inappropriate to her. She appreciated that he exercised restraint out of respect for her. He was a good guy. If she wasn't dating Lance, she might be tempted to make the first move.

"I need advice."

She smiled warmly at him. "Lance, I've gotta go. I'll call you back before I go to sleep." She pressed the off button and it beeped.

Kurt wasn't looking at her. He seemed to be thinking really hard about something. Her hand reached out to touch his upper arm. "Is there something wrong?"

"Ah! Nein! Nein!" He had jumped at her touch. His eyes darted around but never actually looked into hers. "I just need your advice."

"Oh, sure." Kitty moved her hand with a growing suspicion that the advice had something to do with her.

"Well, there is this girl…" He was so adorably nervous. "I want to woo her. I thought you might help me on how to do that."

He was the sweetest guy she'd ever met. She was thrilled that he had come asking for advice on how to date…her. "Oh yeah? You like someone? Well, tell me about her!"

"Ah. Well, she's you know, a girl."

Kitty made a face. "Yeah, girls usually are."

Kurt laughed nervously. "Oh course, right. Well, she is um, smart. And she's pretty. I don't know…"

"For liking her, you don't seem like you know that much about her." Kitty was still smiling great big from the compliments.

Kurt was flicking at a thread on her comforter. "It's not that. I just feel…strange talking about it with you."

"I understand," she said, reaching out and brushing away some of his hair behind one of his curly ears. That got him to look at her. He looked positively terrified now that she could see them. "Well, girls like flowers. Maybe you could start there?"

He smiled happily. "That is a great idea Kitty! And I will sign them from anonymous."

Kitty laughed. "No, no. You're supposed to like, write 'From your secret admirer."

"Thanks friend!"

-BAMF-

Kitty wondered what kind of flowers Kurt would get her.

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-BAMF-

"I'm giving you flowers tomorrow," Kurt said. He then made an abrupt "shrk" sound as he saw Rogue in a state of semi-dress. She was in jeans and a bra, which she was about to unhook.

"Kurt! Dontchya knock!" She exclaimed.

He did a 180. "Sorry, I did not expect for you to be… Oh gott, I'm sorry."

Rogue just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. At least I had my bra on." She grabbed her nightshirt and slipped it over her. It felt a little weird with the bra still on, but that would have to wait until there wasn't a manfolk in her room. "Ya can turn around."

Kurt did, but slowly. When he looked at her again, she was fully dressed, but still seemed overly appealing. He coughed. "Sorry."

She flicked her hand. "It's okay. So, you're getting me flowers?"

Kurt nodded. "She said that girls like flowers."

Rogue sat on her computer chair, spinning it towards him. "No, girly girls like flowers."

Frowning, he asked, "But you'll pretend to like them ja?"

She laughed. "Don't worry, I'll put on a great performance."

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The doorbell to the mansion rang. Everyone was sitting around the livingroom talking about school. Kitty was close to the door, so she answered it. She was thrilled when she saw the flower delivery guy standing there. He held a bouquet of big white flowers. She grabbed them out of his hands in delight. "They're so pretty!" She turned around and revealed them to the group. "I wonder who they're from?"

Eagerly, she snatched the card from the bouquet. Spike got up to sign the annoyed deliveryman's paperwork. "I'll sign for it," he said, rolling his eyes.

Her eyes scanned the card. With a blank expression she asked, "Why does it say Rogue on it?"

Spike was peering over her shoulder. "That could be cause they are for...Rogue."

Kitty still hadn't quite gotten it when Rogue asked in a confused voice, "For me?"

Spike snatched the card from Kitty's hand. "It's got your name in the to spot."

Instinctually, Kitty's hand reached out to grab the card back from Spike. Even as Rogue stepped forward to take the bouquet, she was still processing the information. 'Rogue?' she thought in shock. She looked towards Kurt. He had his hands in his pockets and he looked sheepish. 'Rogue?'

Rogue took the card from Spike and read the little blurb out loud. "To Rogue – from a secret admirer!"

'Secret admirer?' thought Kitty angrily. It was finally clicking. He hadn't been asking for advice on what to get her, he had been after…Rogue. Kurt and Rogue? What a nauseating thought! She felt the need to scream and cover her ears.

"Can I see my flowers?" asked Rogue calmly. Kitty dazedly handed them over, the plastic making a charming crinkling sound as it passed between them. Kitty's cheeks turned red as she began to realize what an ass she had just made of herself.

"Magnolias…" Rogue whispered so quietly that Kitty had barely heard it. She sniffed the blossoms. "Why would someone buy me flowers?"

"Someone is in love with Rogue!" announced Cyclops happily.

Jean grinned. "Any idea who it is?"

She lowered the bouquet from her face. Her face looked gravely angry. "Yeah. A prankster." She stormed off to the kitchen where she proceeded to throw them in the trash. The group heard the swish of the trash door and the crinkling sound as she jammed them in. Jean's hand rose to her mouth, her eyes squinting with sympathetic pain. Kurt was obviously horrified.

Returning from the kitchen, Rogue wiped her gloved hands together. "If it was one of ya all, it wasn't funny." Then she took off up the stairs to her room.

Her friends just looked around at each other in surprise and sadness. Kitty was shaking from the thoughts going through her head. She glared at Kurt before stomping up the stairs herself.

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There was a knock on Rogue's door. "Go away!" she yelled.

"It's Kurt…" he whispered.

She opened the door and let him. "Thanks for not bamfing this time. Well? What'd ya think? Pretty convincing huh?"

"You threw the flowers away!" he yelped. Something about seeing all that money get compacted into a plastic refuse container had freaked him out.

She smiled brighter than he'd ever seen. She looked genuinely happy. "Yeah, just like ah would have done if I didn't know who sent 'em."

Kurt felt confused. "And that would woo you?"

She winked at him. "Ah didn't say it'd be easy." She lifted up her arms and placed them on the back of her head. "They bought it hook, line, and sinker."

That much was true, but her reaction had been so different from what he had expected, that he was under the impression his wooing had gone awry. "So, we are good?"

"Of course silly!" One of her gloved hands pushed at his chest playfully. "Now ya gotta go to Kitty and tell her that didn't work. She'll hafta come up with another way to woo me and now she knows it ain't her."

A lightbulb flickered in Kurt's brain. "Wow Rogue, that's really smart. You are amazing at deceit."

Her eyebrows scrunched together. "That's not a very nice compliment Kurt."

He laughed and tried to hug her. She stepped back. "I did not mean to insult you. You are just brilliant, that's all."

"Thanks." Again she smiled that tremendous smile. He wished she would smile like that more often. Then he might be hard-pressed to choose who was prettier: her or Kitty.

"Well, I'd better go and find out what I'm buying you next," he said before bamfing to Kitty's room.

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-BAMF-

"Kitty! Ahhh!" A pillow thwacked against his head, knocking him backwards a bit. "Wha?"

Kitty was sitting cross-legged in bed, another pillow already in hand. "Why didn't you tell me it was Rogue!" Another pillow sailed across the room, this one missing him.

"Hey!"

"Don't hey me, you…you creep!" she yelled, searching for other things to throw at him.

He darted across the room, to restrain her wrists. He knelt in front of her and peered down into her angry face. "Why are you angry Kitty?"

A pout filled her face. She yanked her wrists free of his hands. "You should have told me who it was."

"Why? Do you not approve of romance with Rogue?" He wasn't sure that it was jealousy that was making her act this way. It would be too wonderful if she was having such an extreme reaction to his scheme.

"Of course not. She's all wrong for you. She's a witch who hermits herself away from everyone. You are sweet and good and fun to be with." Her hand touched his cheek. She stroked it softly. "You're too good for her."

Kurt's stomach quaked. They had never shared such a tender moment before. He almost felt like maybe she might want him to kiss her. He didn't know if he had the guts to do such a thing if that was even what she wanted. Still, their eyes were locked onto each other and her fingers were still on his face.

-RING-

"Hold that thought," she said, annoyed. She reached out for the phone. "What? Oh, hey Lance. I'm pretty busy right now. Oh yeah? No way! Really? Get out! That's awesome. What did he do?"

Kurt's frown lowered past his knees. Disappointment flooded his body. She still had a boyfriend. She wasn't going to dump Lance for him. Not yet anyway. His head raised up, confidence suddenly pumping through him.

-BAMF-

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Kitty was staring out her window into the night. It was late and the mansion was quiet. She wasn't sure what she wanted anymore. She was in love with Lance, that was as obvious as saying she was female. But just thinking about Kurt with any other girl made her feel queasy. Sick with a jealousy that she couldn't understand. Was it just that he had chosen Rogue, a girl that she couldn't stand? It was so hard to tell. For a while that night, she had wanted Kurt to kiss her. That would be hell on her conscience. If something like that had happened, she would have had to tell Lance and then he'd dump her like she'd deserve. Her forehead touched the cold of the glass. At first it was startling, but it just turned her head cold and she couldn't really feel it after a bit. She wanted a snack.

Kitty phased through the floor and made her way to the kitchen. She opened the fridge. Lots of health foods. She phased partway into the cupboard. Eureka! She found an opened package of Oreos. She grabbed three and then sat down at the table. While she was scarfing on chocolatey goodness, she noticed the trash can. Something compelled Kitty to look at the flowers. When she pushed back the lid, she didn't see the huge wadded up bouquet.

Rogue had taken the flowers out. Kitty sighed and let the lid slide back. Poor Rogue. She had put up that wall, but she was still excited about the gift. Kitty wondered if it had been a hard thing to do: coming down to the kitchen and retrieving the present from the garbage, letting herself hope that they had not come as a joke. Perhaps Kitty was just being too selfish. Grabbing a glass of milk to wash down the Oreos, she headed back to her room.

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It caught Kurt completely off guard when Kitty phased into his room the next morning. It wasn't the phasing in unannounced that surprised him; she did that all the time. But, when she entered she said, "Poetry."

"Wass?"

"Poetry. Women like it even more than flowers."

Kurt continued rounding up his textbooks. "Ja, well we saw how well the flowers went."

Kitty examined her nails with enthusiasm. "Oh drat. I should have touched these up last night. Anyway, she totally loved them."

He squinted his eyes at her. "So that was why she tossed them into the trash?"

"Oh please, that's just how she is. You're the one that picked her! But honestly, she loved them. I could tell." When Kurt continued staring at her in disbelief she added, "Take my word for it. I'm a woman; I know these things."

"Alright, but poetry? She doesn't seem like the poetry type."

"You might have to goth it up, but yeah. Just talk about how beautiful she is compared to like bleeding skulls or something. Look, I'm not the one that has to write it. I'm just suggesting that you give lyrics a try all right?"

Kurt shrugged. "Don't have much to lose right?"

Kitty smiled. She patted his head. "Just remember: Chicks like the fuzzy dude, kay?"

Kurt wasn't sure what had changed her mind so drastically, but he thought she had a good idea. Poetry was something that women liked. He wasn't sure if Rogue would like it though. She wasn't like most women. "I'll catch up with you. I just want to check on something real quick."

-BAMF- He was standing outside of Rogue's room. He had learned his lesson about bamfing into her room. Her door was open this time, so he walked in. "Rogue?" he whispered.

"What?" She was wearing her knee high boots today. He had always liked them, but today they looked especially fetching on her. It might have been her collars metallic spikes that made the whole outfit look so…dangerous. She was waiting for an answer.

"Um, I'm going to write you poetry."

Rogue scoffed. "I think I liked the flowers better."

That was a bad sign. "Can you not throw my poetry in the trash?"

"Can't that skank recommend a Manson CD or a gift certificate or something?" She slung her backpack over her shoulder. "I'll pretend ta like your poem, but I wanna get goin' here before we're late."

Suddenly he didn't feel as studly as he had before he visited Rogue.