The dressing rooms of the shop were desert except for you, Jean and Ororo. You had been waiting for ten minutes now, sitting on an uncomfortable couch next to Jean while Ororo was trying to find the perfect swimsuit. Yours was already paid for and was set down on the ground at your feet.

You found yourself in this situation because of Peter. The night before, after the training, Warren had led you to the others who had been eating in the kitchen. You had talked about many things and Peter came with an idea. He had offered that you all went out for a day: to relax and spend time all together. Jean knew about a lake close to the manor and everybody agreed it would be a good spot to meet, especially with the nice weather that was forecast. Everybody started to make plans and soon enough you were all very excited about going swimming but it was before you realized that none of you had a swimsuit. So, the next morning, there you were, in a deserted swimwear shop, waiting for Ororo to pick one up while the boys went playing in the arcade next door. You were suspecting them of having picked theirs quickly just to be able to get out of there and go play.

"So, what do you think?" Ororo asked, finally stepping out of the small cubicle that was her dressing room.

She was wearing a nice emerald bikini and seemed to be pleased with the result.

"Perfect." Jean responded and you agreed.

Ororo disappeared behind the curtain of the cubicle, grinning.

You closed your eyes, struggling not to fall asleep. You were still tired from yesterday's training. Still, you managed to hear Ororo's muffled voice saying: "So, you and Warren, you're a thing now?" Her head appeared behind the curtain. She was smirking.

You raised an eyebrow at her question before answering seriously: "No, we're not."

She laughed, not believing you at all. She hid back behind the curtain, almost shouting: "Yeah, sure! So, what was yesterday all about then? Because there was clearly something going on between the two of you."

You saw Jean nod from the corner of your eyes. "The way he was holding you in the Danger room, it was so cute."

Ororo got out of the dressing room, fully dressed, the bikini in her hand.

"Cute? Have you seen the way he was looking at her last night? It wasn't cute, it was torrid." She stated to Jean before looking at you. "He wants you, badly."

"Don't exaggerate!"

"I'm not! He would have jumped your bones last night if you had given him the chance, I can assure you that!"

You blushed lightly and thought back on last night. Warren had not left your side of the evening, sitting so close next to you in the kitchen that your arms would often brushed against each other. Not that you had complained.

You remembered catching some of the looks he gave you that night: they had been indeed way different from the ones before. It was as affectionate but there had been something deeper underneath. You had also glimpsed his hands falling on his thighs and twitching nervously more than once. You had not understood at first but now that you were thinking about it, maybe it was because he had wanted to hold you close to him, like a few hours before. It would make sense. You had been really close the days before and maybe he was missing those moments as much as you were. He was probably too hesitant about it though. Maybe he needed a push...

You had made a move that same evening, when only Jean, Scott, Kurt, Warren and you were left in the kitchen. After some time, you had felt too tired to keep talking and Warren had walked you back to your room, his wings moving constantly behind him, making him seemed agitated. You had taken his hand in yours to calm him down and by the time you had reached your door, he was squeezing it tightly, rubbing his thumb against yours. You had not wanted him to leave you but the sound of his voice had brought you back to reality. Your eyes drifting toward his face, you had seen him leaning forward, placing a hand on your hip. You heard him say I'll see you tomorrow before kissing you on the cheek softly, his lips barely touching your skin. It was the first kiss he had ever given you and the first thought that had crossed your mind was that you were hoping it would not be the last. He had given you one last lingering look before letting go of your hand and leaving. You stayed in front of your door for a few second; your hand on your cheek, your heart fluttering in your chest. Well, if he needed a push to show you some affection you were going to push him hard, you said to yourself as you crashed onto your bed.

"Hello?! Is there someone in there?" Ororo teased you, standing in front of you. "Where did you go? Don't tell me you were thinking about you two having sex because I'll be greatly shocked!"

"I wasn't! Stop taunting me!" You argued defensively.

Ororo only glared at you, disbelief in her eyes and a gigantic grin on her lips.

---

The morning after, you met the others in Jean's bedroom. You were already wearing your swimsuit and a light dress above it. As expected, the weather was fabulous. The sky was a magnificent blue, no clouds or wind to come spoiling the party. Scott wanted to drive so you decided to go with him and Ororo and Jean. Peter and Warren would leave with Kurt, some time afterward.

When you stepped outside, the sun warmed you up instantly. It was hot and sunny: a perfect day. Scott arrived with the car and you left soon after. As much as you wanted to say the drive was nice, it was not. Scott was driving really badly. Not that he did not know how to drive; he was just to focus on Jean to really pay attention to the numerous cars driving close to you. After almost crashing into your sixth car you decided you would go back to the manor with Kurt.

After twenty minutes of absolute horror, you arrived to the lake safe and sound. Jean had told you it was beautiful and she was right. The lake in itself was large and surrounded by grass and trees. Several groups of families and friends were starting to arrive too but it was big enough to allow each of the groups some privacies and enough space not to step on each other.

Ororo found a nice spot: a few meters from the water, both warmed by the sun but lightly covered by the trees. You were already finishing setting up the plates and food when Kurt, Warren and Peter appeared.

The lunch went by in a joyous atmosphere. It was so different from your time in school; it felt like you could do anything. You spent most of your time with Ororo: you had not talk together in what felt like ages. Your gaze would nonetheless drift toward Warren more often than not. You saw him talk with Peter and Kurt and you noticed something strange in the way he was behaving: he seemed stiff.

---

One hour after, once everyone had finished eating and had rested for a time on the grass, you decided to finally enter the water. You loved to swim and to be in the water, especially on days like these so you did not think twice and got rid of your dress quickly. You were wearing a simple pink bikini but Kurt who was standing next to you got all flustered.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, looking at his feet, "I've never seen girls dressed like that before."

Jean undressed behind you too and he closed his eyes.

"Kurt! Come on, dude! "Scott appeared behind you, grinning. "Open your eyes, I'm almost naked too! You wouldn't want to miss that." He added teasingly.

Kurt opened his eyes and relaxed a little, thanks to Scott's presence. Bashfully, he removed his tee-shirt, making sure to look at Jean and you in the eyes and not anywhere else. It was really cute and you wanted to hug him but you felt like he would not be comfortable with that. You settled for a warm smile before looking behind him at Ororo. She was showing her swimsuit to a shirtless Peter, a smirk on her face. Peter seemed almost embarrassed. You smiled faintly before catching sight of Warren behind him. He was shirtless too. His head lowered on the tee-shirt in his hands.

Your eyes got down on their own, tracing the outline of his chest. He was muscular; more than you would have thought. Even Scott, who was sinewy, seemed thin in comparison. You felt your cheeks flushed but your eyes lingered on his chest for an embarrassing amount of time before you averted your eyes. A quick look at his face reassured you in the fact he had not see you stare. But Ororo had, as you realized by meeting her gaze. She winked at you, grinning, which made you chuckle, more from embarrassment than anything else.

Kurt who was still in front of you left your side to go talk to Jean behind you and you noticed Warren walking toward you, an almost shy smile on his lips.

"You're laughing by yourself?" He asked you once he arrived in front of you, putting his hands in the pockets of his black swimming trunks.

"I- no. I-it's something stupid that Ororo did." You managed to answer, trying your best to look at his eyes and not anywhere else, just like Kurt did a few minutes ago.

He looked toward Ororo and once again, your eyes drifted toward his chest. Now that you were next to him, you were seeing things you had not seen before. The many scars he had on his chest for example. Some were small, others bigger. The cuts were scattered on his skin. You glimpsed a long one on his right pectoral and three smaller ones on his stomach.

You looked away quickly before he would catch you looking but it was too late. You met his blue eyes and blushed. He smiled faintly before running a hand through his hair. You were trying desperately to find something to say when he told you:

"You look great." He lowered his eyes on your body, his gaze as deep and mysterious as usual, which made you crossed your arms across your chest instinctively.

"You too." You blurted.

You were thinking about how stupid you were for letting that slipped when he started to laugh. "Thank you very much." He answered, amused.

Behind him, Scott was running toward the lake, holding Jean's hand. Kurt was following them, excited. Peter and Ororo had already their feet into the water.

You walked past Warren and turned around once you were two foot behind him. He was watching you.

"Are you coming? Or are you afraid of water?" You teased him.

You saw him smile before you turned toward the water again, feeling Warren's eyes on your body.

Once you had water above your hips you looked back at him: he was following you, water to his knees.

"You remember last night?" Peter asked abruptly, appearing suddenly next to you. You turned your head toward him, letting out a small gasp. "When we talked about you know, Erik? Well, I thought about it and when I met him this morning, I told him." Peter told you quickly. He sighed, smiling. He seemed relieved.

You opened your eyes wide. "What did he say?"

"He asked me to give him some time." Peter answered. "I feel like it's not bad, I mean it could have been worse right?"

"I think too. He might need time but he'll come around."

"You should have seen his face, he was shocked but he was not rejecting me or anything. He was just taken aback."

"It's good news." You began hesitantly. "But promise me not to get your hopes too up. I don't want you to get hurt if you know..." You said, trying to be as nice as you could.

"Yeah, don't worry." He frowned, thoughtful. "I'm still glad I did it."

He gave you a tap on the shoulder, smiled, and walked toward Scott, Kurt, Jean and Ororo a few meters from you.

"Did he tell you?" Warren asked, stepping on your right. He was looking at Peter.

"About his father?" You look at him, waiting for his answer. He nodded. "Yeah, he did. I hope he won't be disappointed by his answer." You looked back at Peter: he seemed so happy.

Warren nodded next to you. He seemed genuinely worried about his friend.

You laid your hand on his left shoulder. "Don't think about it too much. There's nothing we can do about it right now."

He did not look at you but he placed his right hand on yours, to say he heard you. You stayed like that for a few seconds before Warren started to walk toward the others, giving you a warm smile in the meantime to tell you to follow him.

---

Scott was holding your knees tightly but it did not seem to help you against Ororo. She was strong and quick and before you knew what was happening you were falling backward into the water. When you got your head out of it, everybody was laughing and Peter did not waste time to make fun of your ungraceful fall.

"It was really sad to see." He said, tousling your hair.

Ororo, still on Kurt's shoulders, was smiling triumphantly.

"I want a return match." You shouted, moving your wet hair out of your eyes.

Scott had already joined Jean and was not paying attention to anyone else. Your eyes fell on Warren who seemed reluctant to grant you your wish.

Peter did not care at all and pushed him toward you. "Warren, your turn. You stayed on the bench for too long."

Warren came toward you, shoving Peter with his shoulder jokingly before stopping in front of you.

"If you don't want to, it's okay." You told him, not wanting him to do someone he did not want to.

"I just want you to be careful. I don't want you to get hurt if you fall on my wings."

You had not thought about that. You were going to tell him to let it go when he moved behind you, his chest almost touching your back. You were going to ask him what he was doing when you felt his hands on your waist. He tightened his hold on you before lifting you up in the air and placing you on his shoulders, like a child.

You gasped, panicked. Trying to hold steady, you grabbed his shoulders. He kept his hands on your waist for a short time before lowering them on your thighs, holding you firmly. Once you were feeling steady enough and reassured that Warren was not going to let go of you, you moved your hands on your thighs, next to Warren's hands. You lowered your head to tell him:

"You could have warned me!"

"Didn't feel the need to." He answered playfully, his hands moving slightly upward your thighs.

His hands were sliding easily on your skin thanks to the water and every inch of your body seemed to respond to his touch. His hands stopped halfway up your thighs but you kept staring at them until you glimpsed Kurt walking slowly toward you, Ororo on his shoulders.

"Come on loser, let's do this!" Ororo roared once she was in front of you.

She gave you a cheeky grin when she noticed that Warren's hands were way higher on your thighs that they were supposed to be. They did not stay there long though. Feeling the game starting, he lowered them on your knees, holding you tightly.

You could feel tension exuding from him and when you lowered your eyes you saw that Kurt was avoiding to look at Warren's face. You wondered if Warren was also avoiding Kurt's gaze and it made you dying to know what had happened between the two of them.

Still lost in your thoughts, you did not saw Ororo coming at you, pushing you lightly. It was not a hard push so you quickly pushed her back, a gigantic grin on your face. Peter was cheering you further away and Jean and Scott were watching you fought in-between kisses.

You pushed Ororo a second time while she had her guard down and she almost fell but Kurt kept her steady with his tail. She came back at you with more strength and with one push she made you tumble off Warren's shoulders. You fell back again into the water.

You quickly put your head out, rubbing your eyes. When you opened your eyes, Warren was facing you, getting strands of your hair out of your face with one of his hand. The water which was up your shoulders did not allow you to see his other hand but you knew without a doubt she was close to your waist. He was probably hesitating, just like yesterday. Deciding to see if you were right, you moved slightly toward where you thought his hand was and you quickly felt it brush against your hip. It did not take him more to rest his hand completely on your hip.

"I didn't fall on your wings by the way." You whispered, not being able to talk louder.

He smiled faintly, raising his hand from your hip to your waist. Behind him, you heard Ororo and Kurt chanting:

"Our undefeated fighter! All hail the Queen Ororo!"

You catch a glimpse of Peter running quickly behind Kurt and pushing Ororo into the water. When she emerged, she went swimming after Peter who was taunting her. You chuckled at their constant squabbles.

"You have a beautiful laugh."

Warren's confession took you by surprise. You met his eyes again and saw only sincerity.

"Would it be strange if I said you have a beautiful laugh too?" You inquired shyly. He did not laugh often but the few times he would, it would always brings you so much joy.

"Then, I would take that as being the stupidest thing I've ever heard." He answered, smirking.

"It's not stupid at all!" You shouted, hitting him lightly on the shoulders. You jumped on him, putting all your weight on your hands, and pushing on his shoulders in an attempt to drown him. It failed miserably; Warren did not move an inch. You fall on him, your feet slipping on his, and drowned yourself instead. In a moment of panic, you swallowed water. Warren put you out of the water, smirking. His smirk quickly vanished when he heard you coughing and struggling to get rid of the water filling your lungs.

You felt something was wrong. You cough one more time, terrified and moved backward, getting as far as you could from Warren.