You were still holding Warren tightly against you after your heartbreaking conversation. You were clutching him so firmly you were starting to fear you would hurt him but Warren did not budge. Maybe he could sense it was something important to you, to have him close to you, to be able to give him some comfort in one of the only way you could: by making him feel less alone. You knew you did not have too. He knew how you were feeling about him, your outburst was clear enough of that. Your face hidden in his hair, you could smell pine coming out of him. It was a reassuring scent, you decided as you whispered to him:

"You know I'll always be here for you, right?"

His face buried in your neck, Warren murmured: "I do."

You sighed. You felt lighter. The tension from his confession leaving you, you relaxed your hold on him. You could fall asleep right now, but the rumbling in your stomach woke you up. You had not eaten at lunch and it had not bothered you at the time but now you were starting to feel your body shutting down, protesting to be fed.

Warren, smiling against your neck at the sound, pressed a kiss on your skin before making you get up with him. Holding hands, you walked downstairs in silence, heading for the dining hall.

Your stomach still grumbling for food, you were feeling more and more tired. Reaching the dining hall, you could only drag your feet to the empty table Warren had spotted, whining about your empty stomach. Warren, laughing at your behavior, tousled your hair as you reached the table.

"Sit down. I'll get you some food."

A tired smile appeared on your lips. He was too good to be true. Grabbing his leather jacket with both hands, you pulled him to you and kissed him. It was only a quick peck but he smiled at you like it was the most wonderful thing he had ever known before leaving, running his hand in his hair.

Sitting on one of the chair, you looked for Jean, Scott, Ororo, Peter or Kurt across the room but they were nowhere to be seen. It was quite late, so maybe they had already eaten. You were about to look back for Warren when Peter appeared on the opposite chair across the table. A gigantic grin was glued on his face. Staring at you, he did not say a word. His fingers were tapping on the table quickly making your head hurt. You knew what he was waiting for but you did not want to give in so easily. You stared back at him for as long as you could, your fingers drumming on the table too but his seemed to move quicker at every second, driving you insane. When you could not compete with him anymore, you almost shouted:

"Okay, please, stop it!"

Peter's grin turned into a smirk as he stopped moving his fingers.

Rolling your eyes at him, you admitted: "We're together. Happy?"

Unconsciously, a smile spread on your lips as you said it. Warren was really driving you crazy.

Peter sighed dramatically. "I know. And I was the first to see it, am I not wonderful?"

Giggling at his serious expression, you only had the time to glimpse Ororo appearing behind him before she gave him a slight tap on the back of the head.

"That's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard coming out of your mouth, Peter. And I've heard a lot!"

As Ororo sat next to him, they started to bicker. Jean, Scott and Kurt took a seat on your right with their trays full of food. Warren appeared seconds after, two trays in his hand. As he sat on your left, he slid your plate to you. Two huge part of pizza were waiting for you, making your stomach groaned. You smiled at him broadly, thanked him and started to devour your food. You vaguely glimpsed Peter winking at Warren and assumed they must have talked about your relationship already. Kurt and Scott, who were the only one not knowing, did not say much. Kurt smiled shyly at you, seeming happy for you, and Scott joked about it, warning Warren about becoming your personal slave, like he was with Jean.

"Only out of love, of course." He added, seeing Jean's expression. "I'll do anything for you."

Everybody laughed at Scott's poor justification. Jean was the first to talk again:

"Have you seen the new student?" When everybody nodded no, she added: "He's a healer."

Her news surprised everybody.

"A healer? No shit!" Scott shouted, making teachers nearby frowned at him.

"That's great." Kurt added, trying to express what Scott had failed to say.

"He's still young." Jean added. "He doesn't know how to use his powers correctly for now but it's great news. The Professor is thrilled about it."

You nodded. It was indeed great news. Having the power to heal was something incredibly reassuring to have, you knew about it. So having someone with the power to heal everybody was pretty awesome.

"If it means no more bruises and cuts when I get out of the Danger Room, I'll take it." Peter stated.

You had not thought about it but it piqued your curiosity. Your training were becoming harder and harder. And you were certain there would come a time where you would go on real missions. Thinking about not having to worry about your friends would definitively be something you could use. In fact, you were starting to get concerned about Warren. He had come out of every training session more exhausted than the ones before and every time you talked to him about it, he denied it. Looking at him discreetly, you noticed he was staring into space, lost in his thoughts. Biting in your pizza, you wondered about what he could be thinking and if it had anything to do with this new student.

---

A few days had gone by and you and Warren were still over the moon. He was behaving like a perfect gentleman with you, always pampering you. It was little things that he would do to brighten your day like giving you a snack after an intense training session or listening to you talk about the latest book you had read without interrupting you even if he had not read it himself. You often asked yourself if his behavior was influenced by his fear of letting you down or by losing you. You were convinced the latest one had a role to play as Warren was always touching you: either a hand casually resting against your back or his arms wrapped around your waist or your shoulder. He would often take your hand in his and every time you were alone he would kiss you and take you in his arms. During those loving moment, you had noticed how he loved burying his face in your neck while you were snuggled against his chest. It was something you loved too and either there were people or not around you, Warren would find a way to get you into his arms. In fact, he did not really care if people were around: if he wanted to kiss you, he would. You assumed he was so happy to finally be with you he did not want to hold back. You did not mind, mostly because he would never go too far with you when there were people around, leaving those moments for when you were alone and also because, some days, you had trouble believing it was real. It was not obvious, only a slight hesitation before taking his hand or kissing him. That's why you were so grateful for Warren's behavior. He was always here to remind you it was not a dream; that you were really together.

Taking a deep breath, you opened your eyes to see Warren leaning over you. Lying next to you on the grass, he moved to stand almost on top of you, blocking the sun of your sight. His left arm holding his weight, he moved his thumb on your lips. You raised your hand to his back, feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin again as you wrapped your arms around his neck, bringing him closer to you.

"What were you thinking about?" He asked, smirking, probably already knowing the answer.

The red that crept on your cheeks confirmed his supposition and as he kissed you, you could feel his smile lingering on his lips. His kiss deepened soon enough and his smile disappeared. You kissed for a few more seconds before he groaned in pain. You felt him move away from you before you could open your eyes, concerned.

"Fuck! I'm sorry." Warren whispered, annoyed.

Frowning, you watch him sat next to you, looking upset.

"You're okay?" You asked, slightly worried as you sat next to him.

"Yeah, just my wings. They're too heavy for me to stay in this position too long. I'm really sorry, angel."

Tucking a strand of your hair back behind your ear, he smiled at you apologetically.

"You don't need to apologize, Warren." You reassured him, leaning forward to give him a small peck on the lips.

He smiled at you warmly before looking at the sky. He did not add anything so you just sat next to him for a moment. After some time, you moved to rest your head on his thighs as you lay on the grass again. Warren's hand found its way into your hair and the memory of the evening when you joined him outside during the bowling party came back to your mind. Closing your eyes, you let yourself soothe by Warren's caress. His voice broke the silence when he said flatly:

"I wish I still had my old wings."

Opening your eyes, you looked at him. His eyes were lost in the horizon.

"Your old wings?" You asked softly, afraid to startle him. So when he had said Apocalypse had given him new wings, it was literal.

For an instant, you were afraid he had not heard you but a faint smile appeared on his lips as he explained:

"Before all of this, I had white feathery wings."

Your eyes finally locking with his as he lowered his head to look at you, you whispered: "Like an angel."

He chuckled softly: "I guess you could say that."

Your eyes drifting toward his metallic wings, you tried to picture white soft feathers instead of the cold grey and sharp ones he had. It must have been something impressive to see. With his blond hair and blue eyes, he must have looked even more handsome. Following your gaze toward his wings, he added:

"Those wings are good but it's not the same. They're fighting wings, suited for a battlefield not for a life in a school."

"That's what you were thinking about a few days ago, at dinner. That maybe the healer could fix it?" You asked him, intrigued.

"You're way too observant." He replied, smiling. His fingers massaging the top of your head, he continued: "Anyway, he's too young and even the Professor doesn't know anything that could help me. And it's not that bad, I can live with those."

"I know you can. But do you want to?"

You were serious. If he had asked the Professor about it, it meant that it was something that mattered to him.

He shrugged. "What I want is not really important here. There's nothing we can do about it." He looked at you and smiled faintly. "And don't start worrying about me okay? I'm fine, just a little nostalgic."

Not believing a word of what he had said, you promised him: "We'll find something. Maybe not today or this month or even this year but one day we will."

Maybe it was a stupid promise to make, youthought to yourself as you watch him smile faintly at your words. But maybe it was not. There were so many new mutants appearing every days with amazing mutations; there would be one that would be able to help Warren, you were sure of it.... Or at least, you wanted to believe it.