sorry this chapter is much shorter and sucker than the last one

fun fact from pic above: tom and I have the same mindset ain't that great

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PREVIOUSLY

Scott covered his face from the hot flames.

When he opened his eyes, the whole hallway was gone, turned into ashes. Small fires were everywhere, spitting yellow sparks. He saw someone lying facedown on the floor. No no no, oh my god, no no... He ran over, finally able to move his legs.

"Alex! No!" he screamed. Scott reached his brother, kneeled down, and felt hot tears stream down his face. "No...please..." He sobbed. "Alex...come back..."

~

River was asleep when she felt someone tapping on her. She groggily opened her eyes to see Scott looking down at her. He had his glasses and some blue pajamas on. I must look terrible right now, River thought subconsciously.

"Hey, Scott. Uh...what time is it?" She rubbed her eyes and ran a hand through her tangled hair.

"Um...1:42. Sorry to wake you." He stopped. River looked up and saw a tear fall from under his glasses.

"Scott, are you ok?" she asked. He hesitated.

"C-can you come to my room with me? Because I don't want to wake her." He motioned to Jubilee. She nodded and swung her legs out of the bed. The cold night air blew through the open window and chilled her legs. She rubbed her arms and stood up.

"Are you ok, Scott?" River asked again as they walked softly to his room. It was down a couple hallways, not too far. "What happened?" He opened the door and waved her in. She shut it softly. Scott sat on the bed, wringing his hands. River awkwardly sat next to him.

"I-I had a dream. It was actually a nightmare." He paused. "I saw Alex die. And...and I couldn't do anything about it! I just...just stood there. And watched. Oh god, Riv, I feel like my mind is dying inside!" He put his head in his hands and started crying. River's heart broke, and she put her arms around him, rubbing his shoulder. He put his head into her arms.

"I'm here, Scott. The dream is over," she comforted. What am I supposed to say?!

"He's gone, River," Scott sobbed. "Alex is gone. Forever. I'm never going to be able to...to hear his terrible jokes again or...or tell him g-goodbye! We're never going to see each other again. Never going to make fun of our parents. Never going to do anything." River struggled to find words. She had started to tear up too, thinking about the older boy. And how he was never coming back.

"I'm here for you, I'm here," was all she could make out. Scott crumpled into her arms. He dropped down into her lap with a sniff. She stroked his hair. It felt like the natural thing to do.

"Thanks," Scott said after some quiet minutes. He sat up and sniffed again. "God, I must seem like such a pansy." He laughed and flopped onto the bed. She smiled and laid down across from him, propping herself up on her elbow.

"Not true. You're one of the coolest people I know. Well, you're kind of a dexter*, but that's ok." He laughed some more. "And that's saying a lot. I mean, I know Jubilee," she added with a grin.

"Thanks. Also for waking up for me and all."

"Anything for a friend." There was a silence. River laid down fully and felt her eyes droop.

"You tired? Sorry," he said, looking guilty. He sat up and looked down at her.

"No no," she yawned. "It's not you. Jubi and I just went to sleep like an hour ago."

"Night owls," remarked Scott. She yawned and nodded. "Want me to walk you back?" She suddenly had an idea.

No, River, no! Bad idea! Bad idea!

"Could I uh..." River thought about what she was about to say, "sleep here? Not like to be weird or anything. I just don't want to wake Jubi and also don't want to walk back in the dark. I can sleep on the floor if you want." Scott didn't say anything. Her stomach sank. I told you this was a stupid idea, River! Why'd you have to ask?!

"Yeah, sure," he replied, cutting off her thoughts.

"T-thanks." River smile. Scott looked at the bed they were on.

"You can sleep on the-"

"Floor. I'll take the extra pillow," River said. She wasn't ready to be in the same bed with another boy. She shivered a little at the thought.

"I have an extra blanket too," Scott added, misinterpreting the shiver. She nodded gratefully. He rummaged through the closet. "Here." He handed her two soft blankets. "One for you and one for the floor." She smiled.

"Thanks."

"Thanks too. Again. For staying with me." River nodded and put the blanket on the floor, grabbing a pillow from the bed.

"Night, laser eyes," River said, laying down with a smile.

"Night, tsunami," Scott replied.

"Really?"

"I don't know! You have water stuff and some wind stuff. Aren't tsunamis like wind and water?"

"Nope, they're more like water and earthquakes."

"Oh. Whoops. I didn't pay attention in science much."

"Good night, Summers," River laughed.

"Night." They both fell asleep in the company of each other.

~

The next morning, River woke up to Scott shaking her.

"Ughhhh," she groaned. She opened her eyes slowly and saw his red lenses.

"River, c'mon! Breakfast," he said. He poked her shoulder.

"Ow..." River pushed his hand off and sat up. She rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?" Scott looked at the clock.

"7:00." She yawned.

"You wake up so early, Scott, geez. Ok, let's go downstairs." He smirked at her as she stood up.

"Do you need uh normal clothes?" She shook her head and ran her hand through her hair.

"Later. We have an hour and a half till our first class starts, right?" He nodded. "I'll be fine." The two walked downstairs, talking about their classes for the day.

"Rivera! Jasmine! Lee!" River looked up to see a mad Jubilee.

"Um...hi Jubi. What's wrong?"

"Where did you go?! I was worried all morning that you were kicked out of the mansion or went to the hospital or died or something!" The yellow-clad girl glared at River.

"Sorry to worry you, but I'm still here. I was with him." She pointed to Scott who waved. Jubilee's eyes widened. "Oh no no no no! Not like that!" Jubilee sighed a breath of relief.

"Are you two sure you're not dating?" she asked as they went into the kitchen. Jean and Kurt were already there, taking out food for the younger kids. Ororo and Peter were sitting on the counter, throwing grapes at each other. They all made up 80% of the older residents at the X-Mansion, as many of the rest had gone back to their parents or off into the working world.

"Yes, we are very much not!" River said exasperated. Scott nodded in agreement. "Morning, everyone." They all looked up at the newcomers.

"Morning!" Peter said. He threw a grape at her, but she waved her hand and it flew back. He caught it and popped it into his mouth. "Hey! How'd you do that?"

"Grapes have loads of water," River replied matter-of-factly.

"Woah, so you basically can like kill someone because I mean, everyone has a lot of water in them, right?" Ororo said. They all looked at River.

"Um...I guess...but I'm not going to! I would never! Plus I'm not that powerful," River added.

"Yet," Peter grinned, breaking the awkward silence. She rolled her eyes and went to toast some bread.

"Hey, River, why're you still in your pajamas?" Kurt asked. River looked down at her clothes. Whoops, I forgot I still had PJ's on.

"Oh yeah, I was with, uh," she looked back at Scott. They all widened their eyes, and Peter whistled. Scott looked down at the ground, and River facepalmed.

"Not like that, you guys! That's disgusting," Scott said quickly.

"Yeah right," Ororo scoffed. Jubilee and Peter made kissing noises, and Jean and Kurt smirked.

"Gross," River muttered.

"We're only teasing, Riv," Jubilee laughed.

"It all might be true though," Ororo said. "For all we know, they could be dating. Or something else." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Everyone else groaned is disgust.

"We aren't," Scott said. "Doing anything." River nodded, agreeing with him.

"Whatever you say, laser eyes," said Peter, who threw a grape at Scott. Scott caught it and ate it. "Why are you guys like catching all of these or moving them with water and stuff?! I just want to hit one person; is that so much to ask?" He raised his hands exasperated. They all laughed.

"Hey, is laser eyes like my new nickname or something?" Scott asked, taking out fruit for himself.

"Maybe. We should make code names or something!" Jubilee suggested. "Since we're like X-Men sort of." She grinned.

"Sounds fun," River said. She remembered that the old X-Men had code names like Banshee and Havok. She smiled slightly thinking about Alex.

"Tomorrow, when we have training," Jean cut in. She looked up at the clock."River, do you need to change?"

"Oh shoot! I'll see you guys!" She put her empty bowl next to Jubilee and ran out of the room.

A few minutes later, River ran into her first class, physics which was taught by Hank. All the students were already there, and they all looked up as she opened the door in a rush. Hank gave her a look.

"Sorry, sorry," she mumbled as she ran over to sit next to Jubilee. Jubilee nudged her. "Ow! Geez, Jubi."

"Continuing," Hank continued, writing on the chalkboard. Jean was taking notes on the other side of River, and Scott sat in front of her. Ororo and Kurt were currently "dying in the mathematical realm" as Ororo put it; they were in calculus class. The six all had English next as their schedules were relatively similar because of training and age.

"Where were you?!" whispered Jubilee.

"Changing, remember?" River whispered back.

"For so long?" Jean asked softly, still writing. River opened her notebook to a blank page.

"Shut up, I couldn't find anything good to wear," she mumbled. She started to write notes messily.

"Can anyone answer this question?" Hank cut them off, pointing to the chalkboard where a complicated equation was written. He looked at River, but then Scott shot his hand up.

"In the equation, x = 264," he said. Hank looked at the board for a second.

"That's correct," he nodded. "Good job, Scott." Scott looked back at River.

"Thank you," she mouthed. He grinned and turned back to the front.

"What a nerd," Jubilee muttered. River and Jean laughed but then cleared their throats when Hank turned to look at them.

"Sorry again," River murmured once more. Jubilee laughed quietly. The three went on through physics without (severely) annoying Hank.

"Well, English next," River sighed as they walked out the door. She and Scott walked next to each other, Jean and Jubilee behind them.

"Your fave, cous," Jubilee remarked. River walked backwards and grinned back at her.

"Good thing we did that study session or you would be killed by the professor, Riv," Jean remarked. River grinned and then accidentally tripped over someone and fell onto the floor.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she said. She stood up and dusted herself off. Scott was picking up her books. The four looked over and saw Kurt. He grinned up at them.

"Hey guys!" Scott put his arm down and pulled the boy up.

"Sorry, Kurt," River said. He shook his head.

"It's ok, River. I'm ok. Off to English?" he said with a smile.

"Where Ro?" Jubilee asked, looking around. Ororo walked up behind her.

"Boo," she said. Jubilee jumped, making everyone laugh.

"Not funny," she muttered. Peter popped up behind her and touched her shoulder, making her yelp again. "Guys!"

"It's not our fault that you're easily scared, Jubi," River said, still laughing. They all walked over to Charles' classroom, joking around and trying to see if they could keep scaring Jubilee.

River smiled to herself as she looked at her friends.

Kurt, the kind one who didn't really understand the American culture, something which made him more sweet. Jean, who was probably the smartest and most sensible of the group. But she also had a sense of fun if she wanted. Ororo was the the sort of rebel, but who also had an amazing sense of loyalty to the ones she cared about. Peter, Ororo's partner in crime, who was the scoundrel in the house. He was the same as Ororo, fiercely protective of his friends.

And then Scott. There were too many things to say about Scott. River spent practically half of her time with him , but she didn't really know why. She liked to be around him: he was funny, pretty smart, and had a strange leadership quality in him. Raven had put him as the leader for their X-Men team. When River was with Scott, she actually felt funny and confident and smart and all the things she never thought she could be.

River looked over at him. He was laughing at Jubilee's angry face (she was currently lecturing the rest of them about how they weren't allowed to scare her anymore). River didn't know what to say about Scott. In a good way, of course.

~

This was a surprise update because I don't know when I'll update next due to the hiatus I'm about to take ugh

I was originally going to make River trip over Bobby Drake, but he'll come later (hopefully)

I hope you guys like this story!! I've been working hard on it lel

THANK YOU FOR READING AND VOTING