The Red Star

Chapter 28

Crys shot up from lying down, a rush of pain shooting to her head. She moaned and rubber her temple when she heard,
"Finally up I see."
Crys turned to see Jay sitting on a chair beside her bed. Her hair was up today and she wore a v-neck, light blue tshirt with a pair of dark, denim jeans. She smiled and added,
"You've been asleep for a while."
Crys chuckled painfully and said,
"Yeah, I guess I know how you felt all those times."
Jay laughed and said,
"Yeah. Its not fun."
"Nope." Crys replied with a gravelly voice.
"So...." Jay began slowly, "Charles was wrong."
"Yeah he was." Crys added angrily.
"He's sorry. He really is." Jay added.
"You know what?" Crys said with her voice raised, "Ever since he was turned young again by that mutant, he's been acting like he's only 20! Its ridiculous!"
"Hey, this whole deal with dual personalities is very touchy and it's not like he can see the future."
"Well it didn't exactly help when he started inadvertently blaming me for things!"
"Crys...." Jay began, reaching out for Crys's arm.
Crys jumped back and got off the bed quickly, standing shakily.
"Jay?!" Crys shouted, "I almost killed you! How do you see it as anyone's fault except for Charles!?"
"Crys he cares about you!" Jay stood now.
"I don't want his affections!" Crys ended, stumbling to the door and wrenching it open.
She stopped in her steps and saw Charles with his hand up, mid knocking motion. His blue eyes bored into hers as he looked down at her. Crys stammered a moment then said angrily,
"This is all your fault!"
With that she shoved by him and marched angrily down the hall to the back patio. Once there, she ran into Logan who stopped her in her march of hate.
"Whoa," he said, taking her by the shoulders, "What's wrong?"
Without a second to spare, Crys wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. He was shocked at first but then he put his arms around her and set his chin on the top of her head as she sobbed.
Steve was standing in the doorway and watched them a moment before he said,
"Crys?"
She pulled from Logan and the moment she saw Steve, she wiped her face.
"Steve." she said, "I didn't mean to hurt you. I couldn't control her. I wasn't strong enough."
"Crystal, I'm not angry at you." Steve said.
"No one is." Logan added.
Steve crossed his arms over his muscular chest and said,
"It wasn't your fault at all."
Crys looked at Steve and Logan said,
"I'll leave you two for a bit."
He left, walking slowly and keeping his gaze on Crystal. When he finally left through the door, Steve looked back to Crys to find that she was walking away.
"Crystal, wait!" he called after her.
"Just stay away Steve or you'll get hurt." Crys said, her crossed arms seeming to be the only thing keeping her from falling to pieces.
The warm sun beat down on them and a soft breeze made her wet cheeks seem cold. Steve stopped a moment, then took in a breath, setting his jaw.
"I can't make you happy Steve." Crys said over her shoulder, continuing her march to the path leading to the forest. "I can only make you hurt."
Steve frowned and took two massive steps toward her as she quickly walked away. He grabbed her arm and stopped her abruptly, swinging her around to face him.
The next moment she realized as he did also that their lips were pressed one against the other. The kiss quickly deepened until Crys held Steve around his torso, while his hands gently cupped her face. Because she was so small compared to him, he was more gentle with her than a feather touching the ground. Soon his hands were in her hair and her arms were tighter around him. Each kissed became softer and softer until they finally pulled apart enough to breath.
Crys's eyes were closed and with a sad smile, she opened them, looking up, and arching her neck to see his face.
"I've gone through many pains Crystal." Steve said, his gaze shifting from her lips to her deep brown eyes. "And I would be willing to take them on a thousand times if that means I can be with you."
Crys let out a half laugh and half sob, smiling. Steve cut her off with another rain of kisses, pulling her closer to him and holding her tight, but with a softness and a sweetness that Crystal had never known.
"I love you Crystal." Steve whispered before kissing her again.
"I love you." Crys sobbed happily, "I love you so much Steve." these words were then sealed with a thousand kisses and many tears.