Summary: Four years after X3 Bobby and John meet up again

Warning for swearing, including the F-word and boy!kissing. If such things are offensive to you don't read it.

Frequency

Bobby Drake fumbled trying slide the key into the lock on the door to his apartment, third time lucky, he thought with a wry smile, inwardly cursing his landlord for still not getting the hall light fixed. He gave up his attempt to get through the door without having to unload the strategically stacked books, balanced between his body and left arm, coffee cup precariously perched on top. After carefully placing his cargo on the floor he groped around in the general location of the keyhole, feeling the cold, smooth metal under his finger tips, he rammed the key in, opened the door and flicked the light switch. Second hand light from his apartment flooded the hall. Bobby gathered up his pile of books and made his way inside, coffee held steady by his chin. He put the books on the coffee table, tossed his coat carelessly over the arm of a chair and flopped down on the couch, taking a long sip of luke-warm coffee.

He glanced out the window at the dark clouds that were acting as a back drop to the silhouette of the city. A moment later the heavens opened up with a rumble of thunder and a flash of lightening. The rain that had been threatening for hours began to fall like bullets. Bobby stretched out on the couch, gazing out at the storm and thanking god that he wasn't caught out in it. Bobby didn't mind the cold or getting wet but he didn't like the prospect of book versus rain or trying to study from a pile of soggy paper. He picked up the book on the top of the stack, noting it's daunting size and sighing, he really wasn't in the mood for this, a group of friends had dragged him out last night, ignoring his rather lack luster protests that he had to study, and he was still a little hung over. It's your own fault, you wouldn't be feeling like this if you hadn't been shirking your responsibility last night said the little voice in his head that liked to preach about duty and responsibility. And shirking. It sounded a lot like Scott Summers. Oh, fuck off! snapped another, the one that only came out when he was hung over or especially pissed off. It sounded just like John. Bobby sighed again, he really needed to update the voices in his head (and didn't that make him sound sane?), the ones that were there brought back too many bad memories. He quickly opened the book and tried to lose himself in the thrilling world of accounting.

xxx

Bobby woke with a start, cringing at the ache in his neck. The book was open on the first page, slightly creased from where he'd been lying on it. Well, this proved, as Bobby had already suspected, that the world of accounting was in no way thrilling. A knock sounded at the door, sharp and impatient, and Bobby realised that must have been what woke him up. He staggered to the door, rubbing his neck to ease the tightness out of his muscles. Brain still half asleep it didn't register to check who it was before opening the door at - he checked the clock hanging over his desk in the living room - 3.00 am. He flung the door open, expecting to see the group of drunken students he called friends come to drag him to another club with them. It took a few moments of staring slack-jawed at the figure standing before him for Bobby to truly register who was standing in front of him. But there he was, totally drenched from the storm outside, the blond highlights of the last time Bobby had seen him were gone. His hair was back to it's natural brown, soaking wet and falling in his eyes. He had looked a little startled when Bobby had opened the door so suddenly, as though he'd not been expecting him to answer at all, but regained his composure as Bobby's eyes traveled over him, taking him in, as Bobby tried to come to terms with the fact that he was here, dripping water in Bobby's hallway. Outside Bobby's apartment.

"John?!" Was all that shock allowed him to stutter out.

"In the flesh." He paused, probably waiting to see if Bobby was going to say anything else. Or maybe waiting to see if Bobby was going to attack him.

"You're here." Bobby said intelligently. John raised an eyebrow and gave a slight nod.

"Now that's been established, you plan on letting me?" Despite the sarcasm Bobby knew that it was a genuine question, John wasn't sure what was going to happen. He nearly laughed at that, St John Allerdyce wasn't sure of himself. That had to be one for the history books. He took a moment to pretend to consider it but he knew the decision had been made as soon as he saw John standing there. He nodded, walking back inside and leaving the door open for John to follow.

xxx

John stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room, drying himself off with a towel. He was wearing one Bobby's t-shirts and a pair of sweat pants after Bobby had insisted he change into some dry clothes, so as not to drip on his furniture. Bobby seated himself back on the couch and gestured for John to take the chair.

"So, nice place." John said after a couple of minutes of glancing around the room, looking everywhere but at Bobby.

"What are you doing here, John? And how the hell do you know where I live?" Bobby said, a little more forcefully than he had intended it to come out but he couldn't neglect these facts any longer.

"I was in town and I saw you." John answered nonchalantly.

"And then you what? Followed me home?"

"Yes." John said as though it was the most natural response to seeing an old friend/enemy.

"Is there a reason you waited a few hours to actually alert me to your presence?" Bobby asked with a raised eyebrow. "You weren't standing out there in the rain gazing up at my window or anything were you?" John gave a snort of what Bobby thought could have been laughter or derision.

"Make me sound like some kind of stalker, why don't you?" Bobby laughed at that.

"John, what exactly would you call following me home like this if not stalking?"

"I was going to talk to you then, but something came up." John muttered, pointedly ignoring Bobby's question. An uncomfortable silence fell between them at that, broken only by the pounding rain, and Bobby couldn't help wondering if the something that came up had resulted in any destruction of the fiery variety. John cleared his throat and seemed to look around desperately for something to break the silence. His eyes fell on the stack of books on the coffee table. He looked from the books to Bobby and back to the books.

"Accounting?" John said incredulously, a smile quirking at the corners of his lips. "Bobby Drake: Accountant." John was shaking with genuine laughter at that.

"Shut up!" Bobby tried to glare at him but couldn't quite manage it, failing to suppress a smile. "I'm not an accountant yet, I'm in collage."

"Sorry, Bobby Drake: Accountant In Training." John said with a smirk "Yeah, that sounds much cooler."

"You know, if you just plan on sitting here mocking me you can leave."

"Ok, ok, I'm done. Seriously, I'm happy for you. Look at you with a life of your very own, albeit a really boring one - " Bobby cut him off with a warning glare.

"Thank you." Bobby said dryly.

"So Iceman's really not an X-Man anymore?" Bobby couldn't help but notice that fact that John seemed more than a little happy at this.

"They can contact me if they need me, but I'm not officially an X-Man, no."

"What about Rogue? She live around here too?" Bobby noticed the slight edge to John's voice. If, as Bobby had always suspected, John hadn't much liked Rogue before he left, his dislike of her had probably been greatly increased by her decision to take the cure. Sure it had been years ago and her powers were back now but Bobby knew John was more than capable of holding a grudge.

"No, she's still at the mansion. She's a full fledged member of the team now."

"Yeah?" He seemed surprised by that. "Are you -" He started to speak but cut himself off, as if deciding against what he'd been about to say.

"We broke up four years ago. When I moved away we decided that we should try seeing other people instead of trying to do a long distance thing." Bobby assumed that was what John had been about to ask "She's got a new boyfriend, a guy on the team. She's happy."

"Well, good for her." John said dismissively, as though the only important thing about Rogue was whether or not she was in a relationship with Bobby.

"And what about you? Should I even ask?" Bobby said, unsure how much he actually wanted to know about John's life since Alcatraz.

"Nothing you want to know about, Bobby-boy." John replied, glancing out the window at the sky, the dark clouds were becoming slightly lighter by as the sun rose behind them. "I should go." He said getting to his feet and starting towards the door. Bobby felt his heart pounding in his chest, if John left now would Bobby ever see him again? John's hand paused on the door knob and he turned back to Bobby.

"Um I need my clothes." Bobby grabbed them from where he'd put them to dry by the heater and passed them to John. Demonstrating the fact that he still had no sense of modesty John simply stripped off Bobby's sweats and got changed right in front of him. Bobby pretended to avert his eyes but found that he was unable to stop himself stealing a few glances at John.

"Bye, Bobby." John said quietly, then he was out the door quickly and silently. John still had a knack for leaving.

"Bye, John." He said to the air where John had been.

xxx

The storm still had not eased when Bobby woke up late in the afternoon. Head full of half remembered dreams about fire and ice and his hands moving over warm skin. He sat in his small kitchen eating a bowl of cereal and watching the rain fall. He found himself counting the seconds between each thunder clap and flash of lightening as he and Ronnie had done when they were kids. After dumping his bowl in the cluttered sink and making a mental note to do dishes later Bobby wandered into the living room, determined that today he actually would succeed in his study plans. This time he chose the second book from the stack in the hopes that this one would hold his attention. He sat with it open on his lap but instead of looking at the rows of words on the off-white paper he stared at the chair across from him. The chair that John had occupied just last night, the t-shirt and sweat pants John had been wearing hanging lankly off one of the arms. It seemed to be proof that John had in fact been here and Bobby hadn't just dreamed it. He tore his eyes away from the evidence of John's visit and tried to focus, he'd spent enough time in the past thinking about John's comings and goings. He refused to let that happen now. Bobby forced himself to start reading, blocking out the hopeful little voice in the back of his mind that was saying maybe he'll come back.

xxx

After five days passed Bobby was sure that he wasn't going to see John again and that thought was a lot harder to grasp than Bobby had expected it to be. Despite all the attempts of the logical Scott voice to persuade him that if he never saw John Allerdyce again he'd be all the better for it, Bobby still craved his company. He found his heart skipping a beat at every foot step in the hall and at every knock on the door his hopes went flying up only to plummet immediately when he didn't find John on the other side. His spirits weren't exactly raised by the dismal weather either. The down pour was no longer constant, but it remained dark grey over head and for at least a few hours a day the rain would come down like a ton of bricks, before retreating to regather its forces for the next onslaught. After his last class of the day ended, much to Bobby's relief, as his mind had been wandering too many places where he didn't think it was safe to go, Bobby joined the masses of people hurrying back and forth up the side walk, trying to seek shelter under shop verandas.

Feeling a sense of relief wash over him at being able to get out of the crowd Bobby slipped through the door of his building and quickly made his way up the three flights of stairs to his apartment. His key found the hole on the first attempt, he was getting better at finding it in the poor light. He entered the apartment, tossed his keys in the general direction of his desk and froze on the spot.

"Hey." John greeted him casually from the couch, where he sat sprawled across it smoking a cigarette.

"Ah!" Bobby jumped in surprise, letting out a yelp "How the hell did you get in here?"

"Picked the lock." John said with a shrug, flicking ash from his cigarette into an empty glass sitting in front of him on the coffee table.

"What'd you get sick of stalking me so you thought you'd try some breaking and entering?" Bobby crossed the room and sat down beside John.

"Didn't wanna wait outside." He said as though this made it perfectly acceptable.

"You really do live in a different world than the rest of us, don't you?" Bobby said with a small smile.

"Your world's boring." John tossed the end of the cigarette into the glass, extinguishing it with a careless wave of his hand before leaning his head back against the couch and closing his eyes, running a hand through his hair. Bobby studied John's face, he looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept since Bobby had last seen him.

"You OK?" Bobby asked cautiously. John opened his eyes and looked a little surprised to see Bobby sitting there.

"Yeah, I'm just a bit wiped out." He stretched his legs out in front of him and moved his neck from side to side, joints cracking. Almost unconsciously Bobby's hands moved to John's neck, fingers kneading the tense muscles. John stiffened for a moment then relaxed into the touch.

"What have you been doing?" Bobby asked softly.

"Working." John said cryptically, arching slightly when Bobby's nails bit into his skin. "You?"

"Classes." He was torn between wanting to ask what 'working' exactly entailed and not really wanting to know, if he knew then he was obligated to tell someone at the school and that would pretty much guarantee that John wouldn't ever come back. He decided against asking, it was unlikely John would tell him anyway. Instead he concentrated on the warmth of John's skin under his finger tips and the way John would shiver and squirm every time Bobby touched a certain spot on his neck. "I'm glad you came back." He said suddenly, feeling stupid as soon as the words left his mouth, expecting some sort of narcissistic comment from John about how Bobby couldn't live without him. It didn't come, instead John turned around so they were sitting face to face and, Bobby noted, very close together.

"I'd have come sooner if I could've." John whispered like a confession and Bobby found himself becoming very aware of John's lips and just how close they were to his, all he had to do was lean forward and close the small gap between them...

xxx

He pressed his mouth against John's hesitantly, felt a slight intake of breath, and then John was kissing back with none of Bobby's hesitation. Bobby tangled his hands in John's dark hair, pulling him closer as he felt John's tongue tease his lips apart and slip inside his mouth. He couldn't think of anything but the feeling of John's hands on the back of his neck, his nails lightly grazing Bobby's skin and the way John tasted, warm and smoky with a hint of something sweeter, and how right this felt. It was like the last seven years hadn't happened and they were still fifteen year olds stealing kisses, that they'd never talk about afterwards, when they were alone in their dorm room at night. Although he had to admit they'd both benefited from experience since then. They surfaced for air finally, both breathing heavily. John ran his tongue across his bottom lip as if relishing the after taste of Bobby's lips.

"Well," John said slowly, like he didn't know what to say but thought he should say something.

"Yeah." Bobby said in the same tone of voice, both of them unsure of what to do now that the moment had ended. John kept glancing around awkwardly, seeming to be having some sort of internal debate. "So, uh..."

"Maybe it'd be best if I just go." John said finally, starting to stand up.

"No!" Bobby said it a little too quickly and little too loudly, his hand wrapping around John's wrist. He didn't know where this might go but there was no way in hell that he was going to let John walk out of here without finding out. "Stay." John looked torn, looking from the door to the clock and then back at Bobby.

"Come on, John. I'll make it worth your while." He said with what he hoped was a seductive smile, widening it when he saw John start to waver.

"I think I could be persuaded." John grinned and let Bobby pull him back down.

xxx

Bobby woke up to the sound of rain slapping against the windows and someone breathing in his ear. Slowly opening his eyes, a smile spread across his face when he looked at John's sleeping form, curled up half on top of him, one arm slung across Bobby's chest, the other hanging of the edge of the couch. Bobby twisted around so he was face to face with John. He gently smoothed John's hair back from his closed eyes, more for an excuse to touch him than anything else, noticing a scar just below the hair line. He ran a finger over it lightly, slowly tracing the outline of the wound that had never fully healed.

"Admiring your handy work?" He quickly snatched his hand away at the sound of John's voice, feeling guilty, like he'd been caught touching something he shouldn't.

"I - I'm sorry." He stammered, looking down at John's face, inexplicably expecting him to be angry. John just shrugged.

"Don't say that, Drake, you know it's not true. You did what you had to. We all did." Bobby was surprised to here John talk about the battle so casually, even after all these years he'd still expected him to be holding a grudge for the events of Alcatraz. Apparently John deserved more credit than Bobby had given him. "You left your mark on me along time ago, Bobby. This just made it visible." John said pointing in the general direction of the scar. While Bobby was still digesting what he'd said, John suddenly seemed to become aware that a world existed outside of Bobby's living room and jumped up in a panic.

"Shit! What's the time?"

"Early." Bobby answered, glancing at the clock "Five thiry-ish."

"Shit! Fucking hell!" John swore eloquently, searching around the couch for his coat and shoes, pulling them on faster than Bobby had ever seen anyone get dressed in his life. He made it half way to the door then paused and to Bobby's complete amazement he hurried back to the couch, bent down, kissed Bobby quickly and murmured "I'll try and come back soon." Then he was out the door at the speed of light, leaving Bobby staring at the door in confusion trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.