"Back to your rooms students," you could hear the Professor speak to some of the younger students who had left their rooms.

     It was almost midnight, but you couldn't sleep, something was stopping you from sleeping, but you weren't sure what it was that was stopping you. The Professor wheeled into the room you were in and gave you a soft smile.

     "Trouble sleeping?" You only nodded in response, you wrapped yourself in a blanket on one of the sofas in front of the tv. "I could always help, you know." He tapped his head.

     "No, but thank you for the offer." You shook your head and gave him a smile. "I just want to sit and think for a while."

     You knew the Professor only wanted to help you, but you didn't want him to have to force your mind to sleep, you wanted to be able to do this on your own. The Professor simply nodded and wished you a good night before leaving you alone with your mind, you waited until he was out of the room and earshot before you let out a sigh.

     You weren't sure if it was the memories of having to fight, almost losing the Professor, or watching as your abilities almost got your friends killed. You never knew you were a mutant, your family didn't think you could be either, you led a completely average life.

     You had close friends, good grades, a crush on one of the boys at school, and a family who loved you. But that all changed when you started to act differently. Everything began to slowly crumble apart in your hands and you could do nothing to stop it.

     You began to get more agitated quickly, more hostile and violent, especially towards your friends. They soon decided that you were too much and dropped you like a dead weight, like a body they had been forced to carry. They acted like a weight had been lifted off of their shoulders. You didn't know what made you snap, you never noticed the signs, but it was evident that those around you clearly did. Not just your friends, but family and teachers.

     Your grades began to drop, suddenly your mind was filled with a dark and choking belief that you weren't going to do well anyway and that you should just give up. Just as the grades started to plummet, as did your extra activities with the school. You stopped showing up to practice, you stopped caring about how you were doing academically, and you couldn't shake the feeling. You didn't know what it was, but you knew that it was strong. Your teachers tried getting you to the school councillor, but you never attended the sessions.

     Your family began to worry. Your parents acted like they were walking on eggshells. Like they had to be careful and mind what they said and did in case you would lash out or get angry. They didn't know how much it hurt you. To see them act like you weren't their child, but rather a burden, a time bomb. Your other family members would always whisper about you to your parents whenever they came for a visit, so you just stopped coming out of your room altogether.

     That was until the Professor showed up at your house with a tall man. You watched them from the top of the banisters, the tall one looked up at you which caused you to hide away in your room. You didn't know what they were here for, or why your parents even let them in the house. You began to feel like a freak, like a monster. That made you angry, it wasn't your fault, they were the ones who were to blame, singling you out and making you feel like you weren't right.

     You could feel your eyes burn, you looked into the mirror in your room and saw black eyes staring back at you, you stepped away and glanced at your hands, a black mist surrounding them, the windows were shut but a wind was spinning around your room, papers flying, books falling from shelves, a black mist descending in your room, swirling around listing you up from the ground. Your hair flying around your face. You couldn't hear anything apart from a ringing sound in your head, but then that changed.

     'Can you hear me?' You looked around but all you could see was darkness. 'My name is Charles Xavier, I'm the Professor at Xavier's school for gifted youngsters, I believe your mother gave you a leaflet about it.' You couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, it didn't sound like it was coming from someone inside the room, it was directly in your head. 'You don't have to be afraid, I'm here to help you, help you control your abilities.' The voice was calm. 'You're not alone, I'm a mutant too.' Mutant? You weren't a mutant.

     "Shut up!" You yelled, your voice echoing around the black smoke-filled wind. "I'm not a mutant! I'm not a freak! I'm not a monster! There is nothing wrong with me, leave me alone!" Your voice no longer sounded like your own, but rather multiple deep voices speaking over each other.

     The wind picked up and you could hear objects moving around, like your bed, desk, wardrobe and bookshelf. The window smashed and the glass was sucked into the black tornado you had created, cutting at your skin.

     'You need to calm down, I can assure you that you are not a monster, you just need to calm down.'

     You screamed out in pain and dropped to the floor, the mist began to seep into your skin, the shards of glass dropping to the ground. Your bedroom door opened and your parents stood behind the man in the wheelchair.

     'You're going to be okay.' The man's mouth didn't move, you looked towards your mother as tears rolled down your face. Everything faded to black.

     "Are you alright?" Your head snapped up to see Scott scratching his head, he was in his pyjama's. "I heard someone crying when I went to get a drink." Scott let out a yawn.

     You touched your face and felt liquid, you had tears running down your face, but you didn't realise you were crying.

     "Can I?" Scott pointed to the spot next to you on your right, you nodded before he sat down. "We don't have to talk about it," he spoke softly. "But I'm here for you." He looked over to you. You leaned onto his shoulder and wrapped your arms around his left arm.

     "I can still remember the look of horror on their faces," you whispered. "Both of my parents looked at me like I was a monster, that's how everyone sees me, it's how I see myself." You wiped the fresh tears from your eyes quickly with your left hand.

     Scott frowned and his left arm slung over your shoulder bringing your body to his.

     "They sent me away, to here, without asking me if I wanted to come. They wanted to get rid of me as quickly as possible," your voice broke.

     "They wanted to help you, they knew that the Professor could help you, they wanted you to be safe," he told you.

     You shook your head as he dragged your legs over his and placed his right hand on your left thigh rubbing his thumb gently against your skin.

     "They love you, they were scared that you'd hurt yourself, you're their child. They could never see you as a monster," his voice was soothing and you laid your head on his shoulder again.

     "They were scared that I would hurt them," you responded.

     "That's not true, and you know that," he replied.

     "You weren't there, Scott." You closed your eyes.

     "I know I wasn't, I was destroying my school with my eyes," he added.

     "At least you have something to stop your ability from hurting someone." You sighed. "I have nothing." You opened your eyes again.

     "That's not true." He shook his head.

     "How is it not true Scott? You're my only friend here," your voice began to get louder.

     "You have the Professor, who has absolute faith in you. You have the other mutants, even when you don't realise it, and you have me. Why can't we be the reason that you don't hurt people? Your friends, your family...Your new family. We are all here for a reason, just like you." You looked up at him.

     "I'm scared." You choked out over your tears.

     "Of what? Losing us? Because you know we would never leave you, the Professor would never abandon you. I'm always here for you-" You cut him off.

     "Of myself." You gulped. "I used to have a lot of friends, people that could trust me, that could look at me without seeing a freak, people who shared secrets with me, who let me stay at their homes, meet their families. I used to have great grades, ones that I could be proud of...I use to be happy." You finished.

     "You have amazing grades, whatever they were in your old school are not what they are now, you're at the top of the class. You have friends here, they might not be as close as your old ones, but you do have friends. You have me, I'm your friend. I trust you, I don't look at you like you're a freak. I share secrets with you, sometimes I regret it because they can be used as leverage. I'd let you come to my house, meet my parents, although be warned they might try giving us the talk as soon as we walk into the house..." He stopped when he heard you laugh.

     "Okay, okay. I see your point." You smiled lightly.

     "I got you to smile." He grinned happily at you. "Are you really unhappy?" His grin let his face and it was replaced with worry. "Because you can get help for that, I'll stick by your side and make sure that you get better," he promised.

     "I don't know, I remember being happy, the feeling of being welcomed, accepted, I felt like I was home...But then that all went away and all I felt was ignored, shunned, and alone. I felt cold and empty. Like nothing would be the same. Then I was sent here, the Professor helped me get settled in, and I began to feel welcomed again. I saw that I wasn't the only one who was different, and no one cared about that, they saw me as another student, and I began to feel accepted again." You sighed.

     "What about home? Are you homesick?" Scott rubbed your leg again without realising it. "Do you still feel alone?" He was almost hesitant to ask.

     "Not anymore," you started. "But this school doesn't remind me of home." You shook your head and looked around the room. "It's only a building," you commented. "My home isn't a building." You quickly looked at him before looking down at your hands.

     "Then what is your home? Or who? Seeing as it's not a building," Scott asked.

     "You are..." You mumbled quietly.

     "What?" Scott blinked a couple of times. "Me?" You nodded. "I'm your home?" You bit your bottom lip not looking at him. Scared of the reaction.

     "It's stupid." You began to get up but he grabbed your hand and pulled you back. Your legs either side of his.

     "It's not stupid. You're important to me, therefore this isn't stupid," Scott told you. "Do you really feel like I'm your home?" He questioned.

     You didn't trust your voice so you nodded again. Scott smiled and placed his hand under your chin.

     "Then welcome home." He grinned before leaning up to you.

     "Don't you think it's time for bed?" You jumped apart when you heard the Professor, you both looked over to him, he was smirking. "You have lessons tomorrow, Mr. Summers, I do hope you're not being a bad influence." The Professor looked between the two you.

     "No, Professor," Scott stuttered out before you both jumped apart, picking up the blanket. "We were just heading to bed now," he said quickly as he followed you out of the room.

     "See you both tomorrow." The Professor turned around leaving you and Scott walking towards the dorm rooms.

     "What a cockblock," Scott whined as he rubbed his forehead, you let out a laugh just before Scott wrapped his left arm around your shoulder. "How long was he even there for?" Scott complained. "He ruined a perfectly good moment." He finished.

     "It doesn't have to be over," you suggested. "I mean, he's not around right now..." You shrugged.

     Scott smirked to himself as he looked to the side of the corridor and gently pushed you against one of the walls, his arms either side of your head, he looked towards you with a smirk still on his face.

     "I think I'm a bad influence on you," he admitted.

     "Actually, I'm the one who suggested it, so technically I'm the bad influence." You looked at him.

     "You are a bad influence." He nodded. "Too bad I easily fall for peer pressure. I feel like this is the right thing to do."

     His sarcastic tone made you grin and he leaned down once more, his hands slid down to your waist.

     "Now, where were we?" His voice was low and his head dipped down, his lips close to meeting yours.

     You leaned up and pressed your lips to his, your hands cupping his face before sliding around his neck. Scott began to smile, breaking the kiss, so he pulled back.

     "Not again," he groaned.

     "What?" You raised an eyebrow.

     "The Professor," was all he said before stepping back. You laughed and began walking towards your dorm room. "I'm not finished with you," Scott commented before lifting you up, one hand under your legs and the other under your arms. "You're going the wrong way."

     You opened your mouth to reply that you were going to your dorm but he had opened his door and gently placed you down on the bed, crawling in after you.

     "Stay," he mumbled tiredly as he wrapped his arm around your waist pulling you towards his chest.

     "Okay," you spoke quietly before laying your head on the pillow, closing your eyes.

     You breathed out and let your body relax. 'Good night,' you heard the Professor echo in your head and you smiled.

     Scott nuzzled his head into your neck, already falling asleep. You know knew what was stopping you from sleeping, you needed to be home.