Chapter 4: Kissing You
Again Pietro disappeared for a week. He wasn't at school, he didn't show up for basketball practice, he was nowhere in the City. The blonde started to get worried. And then there was the whole Madison thing. At first she was furious, but then she started hanging around him, battering her followed him around even when he said he didn't want to have anything to do with her.
By now Evan knew why Pietro was so irritated by her.
Hew hoped nothing happened to his friend. He wanted to tell him he felt the same. And as if weren't enough, his head started to hurt like hell for the last few days, making him grumpy and not letting him sleep. But the weirdest thing was yet to come.
One day he woke up because of the headache. It was worse than ever. He got up to get some painkillers, but as he did, he knocked over a lamp on a bedside table. Surprised, he jumped away, feeling slight itching in his arm. Suddenly the headache was over. And there were pieces of bones sticking out of his arm. Evan, terrified, watched the spikes go back into his skin.
"Evan, are you alright?" asked his mother through the door.
"I'm... I'm fine."
Evan concentrated and watched how the spikes emerged again.
"Cool!"
For a day Pietro was gone from his mind, as he played with his newly discovered talent. Soon he found out that he can make spikes of various sizes and push them out of his body. But the most fun was creating bone plates that covered him like an armor. It was late in the afternoon, when he finally decided to go downstairs. In the living room there was another surprise.
"Auntie O!"
"Hello Evan. Can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Sure."
Evan and his aunt walked to the backyard.
"Have you noticed anything unusual about yourself?"
The boy felt like panicking. She knew! She knew that he didn't like kissing Madison. She knew how he felt about Pietro. She knew that he dreamed about him. She knew what happened during the sleepover...
But Ororo kept on talking:
"You don't have to say anything. I know you're afraid, it is not every day that you find such unusual talent within yourself. But there is nothing wrong with you. You're just a mutant, as am I. I have a friend in Bayville, not far from here. His name is Charles Xavier and he is the founder of an Institute for Gifted Youngsters. It's a place where people like us can gain control over their powers. I'd like to take you there."
Evan thought for a little. Sure, he could use some help with his spikes and everything, but leaving the City? More important, leaving Pietro? No way.
"Sorry, Auntie O. I just can't leave."
"That's what I though you'll say. Just remember, I'm here if you need me."
The boy nodded and showed her to the door. Few minutes after she left, he decided to take a walk to the park. He was almost there, when he saw him. Skinny albino was sitting at the bench, his head hung down. He looked almost exactly like the day Evan met him.
"Hi."
"Hi."
The dark-skinned boy sighed. This was going to be a hard conversation.
"I thought about what you said."
"Mhm."
"Will you look at me?" irritation filled Evan's voice. Pietro blushed, but kept staring at his lap. But then he felt a firm hand lifting his chin and found himself looking deep into chocolate-brown orbs. As in slow-motion movie, he watched them get closer, eyelids sliding down at almost painful pace.
And then their lips met. Good thing nobody was around, because Pietro could have sworn the world around them stood on fire. His mind was filled with images of two flames, one black and one white, swirling around each other, barely toughing, but fueling each otehr with their heat..
He pulled away, feeling his cheeks cover with crimson.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" albino asked.
Evan smiled, the way he smiled only to Pietro, and kissed him again.
Next up: Pietro's past catches up with him and he has to make a choice...