Pietro Maximoff, the fleet-footed Quicksilver, ran through the town of Bayville. He made his way through the streets, a look of determination on his face. He ran to the outskirts of town where the person who made his blood boil resided. As he finally approached the mansion he sped around to the backyard and stopped under a specific window. He paused for only a moment as he ran up the side of the wall, forced the window open and dove into the room.

As he rolled into the room, Jean turned to find him crouched on the floor.

"Pietro, what the hell is wrong with you?" she asked trying not to raise her voice.

"What do you mean?" he fired right back, "You come into my house, demand that I don't love you only to agree that we're in love and you want to know what's wrong with me!?" he asked, suddenly short of breath.

"I'm scared okay!?" she asked, raising her voice, "This isn't supposed to happen to me, I'm not supposed to love two men!"

"I'm not telling you to love two men!" Pietro exclaimed, "Just love me."

Before either teen could catch their breath, the bedroom door was blown off its hinges and rocketed toward the couple. Pietro pushed Jean onto the bed and leapt backwards onto the dresser. As he landed, he was shot to the ground by a familiar crimson energy beam.

"What are you doing here, Quicksilver?" Scott asked before blasting him again.

"Scott! No!" Jean exclaimed in horror as she reached out for the silver-haired boy.

Her words fell on deaf ears as he let out one more optic blast that sent Pietro hurtling through the window and to the ground floor below.

Scott made his way to the window but before he could peer out Jean pulled him back, "Stay away from him," she said as she peered out of her window only to see broken glass and wood on the ground below, "Where are you?"

"Jean…" Scott stated softly, "Why… Why are you protecting him?" he asked in confusion, "He broke into your room but you're protecting him?"

"It's time to come clean Red."

The two teens turned to see Logan and a variety of other X-Men at the door.

-A few minutes later-

Jean sat with her hands between her knees and her head hung low while Scott sat next to her with an arm wrapped around her shoulder. Jean was in a state of discomfort that was both physical and emotional.

She looked up to see Professor Xavier sitting at his desk, Logan leaning against the wall behind him and Hank and Ororo standing to the side of the desk.

"Jean…" Xavier started softly, "When you're ready."

Jean looked up at Scott to see the most supportive smile she had ever witnessed adorning his face. She quickly broke eye contact by looking toward Logan who only nodded at her. She then moved on to Ororo who adamantly shook her head in disapproval. Her gaze landed on Hank who was picking his ear. In disgust she settled on the Professor and sighed.

Jean sighed, "Pietro's been coming to see me for a month," she stated quickly.

Logan silently walked out of the room while the rest of the faculty remained completely still.

Jean looked to Scott, "Do you remember when we went to New Mexico, and the Brotherhood was there causing trouble?" she asked barely above a whisper, "Pietro and I fell off that cliff…"

"You saved his life," Scott responded slowly, "And we were able to push them back."

Jean nodded, "And as gratitude, he… Pietro, he… kissed me…" she stated uneasily.

"What?" Scott asked in disbelief, breaking eye contact to stare forward.

"He kissed me and the only thing that ran through my mind was… 'What will Scott think?' But then the kiss got deeper, and we ended up on the floor… It was wrong and dirty… But I couldn't stop…" Jean responded shamefully.

Scott's arms lied limp at his sides, "And you had sex with him right there?" he asked, almost completely sapped of the will to live.

"No!" Jean answered almost in a panic, "No, that came later…" she stated softly.

The gathered occupants of the room remained silent. Charles signaled for his colleagues to follow him thus leaving the troubled teens to talk in private.

"How much later?" Scott asked optimistically.

"About two days later…" Jean she said almost losing her voice.

"So, you've been cheating on me for a month…" Scott stated more to himself than to Jean.

"Scott… I never meant to…" Jean started but was quickly cut off.

"Do you love him?" Scott asked now looking the telepath in the eyes.

"I… I do. Yes," Jean answered truthfully.

Scott nodded his understanding, "Then choose," he said regaining his strength, "Choose between us," his brow furrowed, "Choose right now."

-Meanwhile in the Brotherhood House-

Lance and St. John sat on the couch. Lance absentmindedly flipped through the channels while St. John was fiddling on the coffee table with some tools and a pile of scrap metal.

The front door opened slowly gaining Lance's attention. He furrowed his brow as Pietro limped into the boarding house.

"What the hell happened to you?" Lance asked his features suddenly becoming all too serious.

Pietro pushed some hair behind his ear, "I got into a fight with some X-Men," he said leaning against the entryway.

St. John nodded, "Not as much fun as it sounds," he said continuing his work on the table.

"You got your ass kicked by the X-Men?" Lance asked crossing his arms.

"It could have gone better…" Pietro said looking down at the floor, "I think they found out about me and Jean."

"What'd you expect?" Lance asked shaking his head, "You didn't just play with fire… you soaked the matches in gasoline."

"Also, not as much fun as it sounds," St. John said wrapping his left wrist with a metallic device.

"Lance…" Pietro started, "For once I'm at a loss for words. I don't know what to do."

Before Lance could respond, St. John flicked his wrist causing a massive flame to erupt from the device, "Pyro came to play!" he exclaimed with a cackle.

"We could always throw Pyro at 'em…" Lance said looking back to Pietro, only now noticing that he was gone, "Good talk buddy…"

-Upstairs-

Pietro walked into his room and collapsed on his bed.

"That could have gone better…" he said closing his eyes.

"I assume it didn't go well," a familiar voice sounded form the doorway.

"You know what happens when you assume, Wanda," he said not moving an inch.

"Did you take my advice?" she asked softly.

"I marched right up to her and told her to pick me," he explained as she sat next to him on the bed.

"And?" she questioned expectantly.

"Her boyfriend showed up and blasted me through the window," he buried his face in his pillow.

Wanda's eyes narrowed, "I can see how that might complicate things for you," she said rubbing his back, "What are you going to do now?"

Pietro sighed, lifting his head up to look at her, "I don't know," he admitted slowly, "I don't want to push her away but I don't want her to think I'm not serious about this either."

Wanda bent down to whisper into his ear, "Just give her a little time. If you smother her, she might make the wrong move."