Decision time (cont. from out for a walk)

[Tabby]

Tabby reached the Brotherhood house before she'd realized it. It was dark, save for the light from the television in the front room. She wondered if Toad was still up, or if it was one of the others. As long as it wasn't Pietro, she didn't really care.

Sighing, Tabby walked up the door and stopped; she stared at the handle for a minute, a small smile creeping onto her face as she recognized the burn marks from all the times she'd blown it. After another sigh, she turned the knob, opening the door slowly. The house was quiet; maybe whoever it was in the living room had fallen asleep.

Closing the door, she flinched when it creaked. Looking around, no one seemed to have heard. Sighing in relief, Tabby tip-toed over to the stairs and tried her best to be quiet as she made her way up to her room.

Well, that was easier said than done. Before she even made it to the stairs, she tripped on an empty pizza box and fell to the ground, slamming her knee pretty hard against the bottom step.

"GAH!" Tabby cried out in pain before she could stop herself. Rolling over onto her side, she held her leg close to her. It was a pathetic sight, really; she just hoped her scream had gone unnoticed.

[Quicksilver]

"Todd, would you just shut up." Pietro mumbled from the couch and glanced sleepily at the stairs. Tabby was hurt. He didn't even give himself time to stretch as he was instantly at her side. "Hey, shhh. You okay, what happened?" The teen questioned and let one hand drfit to her shoulder while the other zipped down to her leg.

"Tabby, you look..." He started and laughed a little. "Pathetic?" He teased and smirked before he could stop himself.

[Tabby]

Tabby heard Pietro two seconds before she saw him. Sh**. She thought, sitting up and staring at her knee so she didn't have to look at him; she couldn't look at him, the guilt was overwhelming.

"I tripped." She answered in response to 'what happened?' Tabby knew that wasn't what he meant, but she didn't feel like going into detail right now. Her eyes were burning already and there was nothing she could do to stop them if they fell.

"Thanks." Tabby said with a short, broken laugh. This was exactly what she'd wanted to avoid...but it was a little too late now. "God Pie, I...I don't know what...It was..." Was all she managed to get out before breaking down completely.

[Quicksilver]

"Hey..." Pietro scolded and sat himself down before pulling her over to him. "You're not allowed to do that without informing me first." He said with another laugh, but his concerned glance stayed on Tabby.

"What's wrong?" He questioned quietly after a while. By the way she'd been talking he had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer.

[Tabby]

Tabby leaned her head against his shoulder as she continued to cry. Telling him wasn't going to be easy, because she had no idea how he'd take it. Hurting him was the last thing she wanted, but she figured it was a little too late for that now.

"I..." Tabby sniffled, trying to think of how to start. She'd kissed Ray...there was no easy way to put it other than just coming out and saying it. "He...we...I screwed up..." She finally got out before pulling her uninjured knee up to her chest and burying her head in her arms.

All she had wanted was to get in and get out. So how did she end up like this?

[Quicksilver]

Pietro let his head rest on Tabby's and hoped the contact might do her some good, because other than that he had nothing to comfort her with.

She'd screwed up, with a he. It didn't take much to explain past that. He didn't really want details on what exactly she'd done to screw up, but she was upset about it. "Tabby, don't sweat it." He replied and tried to keep his head on his shoulders about this. To say he'd always been the perfect, loyal boyfriend he was now? That would be a lie on two accounts. He had never been loyal before Tabby, not once, and he wasn't a thousand miles within being the perfect boyfriend.

The white-haired speed demon wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. Tabby had screwed up, and she looked sorry about it. If he'd cheated on her and she'd found out he would have been yelling and defensive rather that sorry.

Feeling as close to her as he had before tonight would be very hard. He'd actually reached out and started to trust someone, and just like all the other times it had blown up in his face. Thanks to years of experience the blow didn't hurt all that much. He expected this from people and when he got it over, and over it stopped hurting so much. Tabby wasn't some perfect girl who wanted him for him, and to be with him no matter what, and he cursed himself for thinking this. How could anyone want to be close with someone that had his record in relationships?

"Tabs we're fine." He informed her and hoisted her into his arms before zipping upstairs into her room. The teen zipped over to her bed and set her down on it. He didn't take off, but he didn't make any move to lay down with her. Instead Pietro stood there and glance at her with what he hoped was a friendly expression, hiding the slight dissapointment.

[Tabby]

Don't sweat it? Was he kidding? Tabby thought, calming down slightly, but still visibly upset. She had just most likely ruined her friendship with Ray entirely, not to mention hurt Pietro more than he was letting on...So how could he calmly sit there and tell her not to worry about it?

Tabby felt horrible and more than a little confused. She still had no idea why she kissed Ray...other than being tipsy and confused at the time, there was nothing to go on. Unless...she had feelings for him beyond friendship...But she couldn't...could she? Ray was like a brother to her. And she'd never do that to Pietro.

Oh who was she kidding? Tabby was the worst candidate for girlfriend of the year ever. But even still...her feelings for Pietro were stronger than any she'd ever felt toward anyone before.

So, again, why had she kissed Ray? Unless...she was scared. Scared of having a relationship that was more serious than any she'd had before. Scared of getting close to anyone enough to let them hurt her...So she hurts them before they get the chance...and loses what little trust they had in her in the process.

"How are we fine?" Tabby asked incredulously, sitting up on her bed and facing him; she'd been so consumed in her thoughts that she hadn't realized he'd taken her to her room. She had a feeling they weren't fine, as he put it; she didn't see how they could be. He knew she did something stupid, so why was he acting ok with it?

However, the look of disappointment she saw when she looked into his eyes screamed otherwise; he wasn't ok with it. He was far from ok with it. But he was used to being let down, she supposed this time wasn't any different. She just wished he'd show it more, let her know what he was feeling instead of trying to hide it.

"You're not gonna yell at me?" Tabby asked quietly, staring at him. She would have felt better, actually, if he did yell at her; him acting so calm and together bothered her to no end.

[Quicksilver]

Pietro didn't answer her first question. They were fine because he wasn't breaking up with her, that was his opinion of fine. A girl cheating on him usually meant "See'ya babe", but he didn't want to break up with Tabby.

She looked like she understood something, so he turned his back and headed for the door. At her next question he leaned on the doorframe and shook his head, staring at her. "No." Pietro replied bluntly and fumbled to grab his wrist behind his back. "Should I be? I don't really see how thats gonna help anything..." He added with a shrug. So long as she didn't have feelings for Ray... or a lot of feelings... even if she did he vowed not to care.

[Tabby]

Tabby just stared at him, a confused expression on her face. It didn't make sense to her that he could be so calm. Then again, she hadn't told him what happened exactly. The 'he' and 'I screwed up' probably spoke for itself, but if Pietro knew Ray was the 'he', she wondered if things would be different.

It wasn't like she wanted Pietro angry with her, she just wanted him to act as if he cared. Which was stupid, really. Tabby knew he cared, otherwise he wouldn't be standing there.

"It," Tabby started, but stopped, looking away from him and down at her knee, which was already starting to bruise; bad karma, she supposed. "Why aren't you mad?" She finally asked, looking back up at him; he had every right to be, so why was he holding it back?

[Quicksilver]

"If I got pissed off every time someone let me down I'd be worse than Wanda." He said flatly and turned to leave. "I'm gonna go to bed." Pietro announced, lying, and headed for the stairs. "Please don't take off." He said quietly and zipped down the stairs.

He wondered if she'd slip out the window or come down the stairs after him. She was Tabby and she'd just screwed up, and her doing whatever with some other guy leaned him toward her sneaking out the window rather than confrontation. Maybe she was simply to tired to bother explaining herself. Pietro sat on the couch and stared at it as a Friends re-run played. He hated this show, and most of the shows on after ten.

So Tabby had cheated on him after... a few weeks of dating. It wasn't like they had anything special, but the usual numbness from being rejected or not good enough had yet to settle. He actually cared that something had happened between her and... whoever. Kurt maybe, they had been close once. Maybe Ray, he seemed to feel strongly about her not hanging out at the Boarding House. Hell she could have dropped down with Scott after an argument about some danger room session, the guy didn't matter.

Pietro stared at the television, an angry and hurt expression forming as he watched some moron chase after girls. He drummed his fingers on his crossed arms and glanced down at the dirty rug. So maybe it did hurt... alot, but that didn't mean he couldn't push it off like everything else. So long as Tabby stayed up in her room maybe she'd go on thinking he was fine, and by morning he would be back to his smart self. Not being stupid enough to wear his heart on his sleeve around girls, or anyone.

[Tabby]

Tabby watched him leave, her heart clenching as she did so. She never wanted this. Never wanted to hurt him. Even if all she did was kiss Ray, slightly intoxicated or not, it still hurt her knowing that she'd hurt Pietro.

Tabitha tried to put herself in his position, but her mind was too cluttered. She did know, though, that if she found out he'd cheated on her, she'd be crushed.

Sighing, Tabby stood up. Stumbling from the alcohol and hurt knee, she ran into her dresser, hurting her side as well. She bit back the pain though and stood up straight, her arm around her middle, holding her injured side.

At this point, Tabby had two choices; go after Pietro, or leave. Option two was the easy way out, and normally the choice she'd take. But could she really just walk away from him? She'd already hurt him enough; leaving wasn't fair to either of them. Well, leaving without further explanation wasn't fair to him, anyhow.

So, Tabby walked out into the hall and toward the stairs. She knew he hadn't gone to bed, she hadn't heard his door close. Figuring he was probably either in the kitchen or the living room, she headed down the stairs, wincing after each step; she hadn't realized how hard she'd hit her knee.

Tabby stood in the doorway of the living room, biting her lower lip as she watched him. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't even move.

Maybe option two would've been better...

[Quicksilver]

Pietro hear footsteps coming down the stairs and prayed to god it wasn't Lance. The other teen, and runner up for leader of the brotherhood, was not someone he wanted to deal with right now. Plus he'd probably complain about Pietro running the electric bill high while staring at a rug.

He glanced up when the footsteps ceased and saw someone very un-Lance like. After staring at her for a less than two seconds, and with an expression that resembled a kicked puppy, he turned his attention back to the television and swallowed hard.

"Good morning." He said sarcastically. "You should go back to bed." The teen said quietly and stared hard at the screen. He had no idea what was going on in this show, and he couldn't really see it no matter how hard he looked at it, not with Tabby in the corner of his vision.

[Tabby]

No matter how much Pietro tried to pretend this whole thing wasn't bothering him, it was obvious that it was. Not that she could blame him or anything; she'd be the same if the situation was reversed.

"Can't sleep." Tabby muttered, taking a few steps into the room before stopping again. She wanted to go over to him, but for some reason she just...couldn't. After another minute, though, Tabby finally entered the room completely, taking a seat at the far end of the couch. She turned her gaze to the TV as well, staring blankly at it.

[Quicksilver]

She couldn't sleep. Likely story. She'd only been upstairs for a few minutes and Tabby seemed to have the ability to drift off into la la land at any given moment. She couldn't even come in the room, was it really that big of a deal to her?

The teen liked to think his 'I could care less' act was fool proof, but maybe this was hurting because Tabby actually did understand him. So how could someone that close go off and do something like this? No, they weren't close. He cursed the day Magneto had brought him to stupid Bayville. He'd been much better off in New York; away from crazy sisters, psycho pathic wars, sewer dwelling Evan, Acolytes matching his own arrogance, and girls who could get anywhere near close to him.

"Who was it?" Pietro mused in a dull tone. It didn't matter what the answer was, but they had to start talking about it... at least that's why he figured she was down here.

[Tabby]

Tabby was quiet for a long minute. Pietro wasn't normally one to talk about stuff, and neither was she, actually; but she knew that if they didn't, he'd never be able to forgive her, if he would, and she'd never be able to forgive herself.

"Ray." She said, barely above a whisper, as she averted her eyes to the floor. She thought about making excuses, they were drunk and whatnot, but she didn't really think he'd care; the damage was done, no matter how you looked at it.