Later during the night, Beth and I were joined by Jubilee. The laughter that the three of us were able to generate attracted the attention of the other residence of our dorm. Eventually we moved our chat session to the kitchen because we were getting the midnight munchies.

Monet sat at the table where she peeled an orange with the same devotion most teenage girls reserved for their boyfriends. Sitting precariously on the edge of the counter, Jubilee divided the use of her mouth between participation in the conversation and a slice of left over pizza which she would often use in gestures which supposedly helped to illustrate her share of the conversation. Wrapped in a blanket I had brought from my room, I sat on the floor, leaning against the wall faithfully chugging on a bottle of Mountain Dew. Paige stood staring into the refrigerator searching for a snack of some sort. Physically, Beth lay asleep on the floor, but her astral form sat Indian style five feet above the ground in the center of the room.

When all conversation topics had burned themselves out, things turned into the age old game of Truth or Dare. Well, a more accurate term would be dare or dare. Everyone here except Beth knew everything of importance about everyone else, so having to tell any "truth's" was just plain dumb. But still, tradition demanded that we ask the question.

"Truth...or dare?" Paige asked Jubilee.

Around a mouthful of pizza, Jubilee mumbled, "Dare."

In previous rounds Paige had demonstrated that she possessed no lack of creative ability in her questioning and I had a feeling this one wouldn't be an exception. "I dare you," she paused, "to sneak into Miss Frost's room and get one of her bustiers."

Jubilee nearly chocked on the slice of pizza she was eating. "Sneak into a telepath's room?!"

"She'll be asleep, Jube," Paige reassured.

"Are you kidding me? When I was with the X-Men you couldn't sneeze without every telepath in the joint on yer tail!"

"Well, this ain't Westchester, Mall Rat," Paige retorted.

Jubilee tossed her half eaten pizza slice on top of the box and jumped down from the counter. "Fine." She took of her jacket, presumably because it made a squeaky noise when she walked, and tossed it over the edge of a chair. "I'll be right back."

And with that she marched out of the room. The minutes dragged on and she finally returned fifteen minutes later with one of the tiny white leather outfits in her hands. She tossed it to Paige and cracked her gum loudly.

"How--" Paige sputtered.

Jubilee said triumphantly, "Piece o' cake. Now it's my turn."

Ok guys, here's where you stop if you want to get off...

It was about two in the morning and I was in Angelo's bedroom. After a particularly cruel dare I had given Jubilee, she had dared me to sneak into Angelo's room, through the window, to make things interesting, and then steal something to prove I had been there.

I crept across the floor to his dresser and slowly pulled a drawer open. As it turned out, it was his underwear drawer. That would be perfect, Jube would love it. I pulled out a pair of boxers and headed back to the window. I wasn't worried about making too much noise, the radio was playing softly.

Before I was able to slip out, I was grabbed and yanked back, across the room. Yards of gray skin wrapped around every inch of me, apparently I had been mistaken for a burglar. I landed rather roughly on the floor, on my stomach, and I felt a weight press down on me...I realized Angelo was straddling my back, holding me down.

"Ang'lo," I hissed, "It's me!"

"Chica!?" he sounded surprised, and, well, I couldn't blame him. "What in the world are you doing?!"

He was still sitting on me, and I squirmed underneath him.

"Would you believe 'Playin' truth or dare'?"

"With Jubilee?"

"Uh-huh."

"Oh, well, yeah."

I was able to twist around onto my back to look at him. He hadn't offered to let me up. He held his hands by his side, his fingers elongated and coiled around me. He looked intently at me. For a moment, neither of us spoke and the song on the radio could be heard clearly.

<Say, my love, I came to you with best intentions, you lay down to give to me just what, I'm seeking.>

I was glad for the dark, I'm sure I was blushing a hot scarlet. I felt his grip around me loosen and soon I was relatively free, he still hadn't got up. I had a feeling he wasn't going to...and I didn't mind.

He bent down and nuzzled my neck, his hands were tangled in my hair and he kissed me on the mouth. I eagerly returned and tried to sit up a little, but found he had me pinned just above the hip and I couldn't move up.

He eased down until I was able to sit up. I placed my hands on his chest, and realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. His skin was cool and smooth, wiry muscles moved beneath it, he lifted me up to the bed. The sheets were still warm, which bothered me. It never came up, but heat had always irritated me, the cold was the root of my powers, and I naturally preferred it. I absently reached out with my powers to cool the sheet beneath me.

<Say, love, you drive me to distraction.>

At that moment, Angelo had started working the zipper of my uniform down and my powers flared out, the temperature in the room plunged a good ten degrees.

He sat back, startled, then laughed quietly. "Hey, chica, it's okay."

<Celebrate, we will. 'Cause life is short, but sweet for certain. Hey, we climb on two by two, to be sure these days continue.>

He leaned down and kissed me again, "Ya know, I don't mind being woken up like this." Even though he had shaved this morning, his face already felt rough.

"Hmmmpppphhhh." I kissed his neck softly. I felt his muscles tense and he gently stroked my hair.

"No," I whispered, "not like this, this isn't you." Angelo had always been the rough-n-tough sort, and I knew he was holding back.

But suddenly he wasn't. "Alright then," he said. He pinned me down by my arms and pressed his lips hard against mine. I could play like this. I surged forward and made a sharp twist, now he lay beneath me. I slid an icy hand behind him and down his spine. His back arched and wisps of skin flew from his chest, wrapping around me. Pulling me close. He rolled over quickly, I was back underneath him.

<Things we cannot change. Change. All I want to change is...>

But then I could feel his hold loosen. Nothing happened for a moment, I could hear him breathing heavily and then I felt something warm and soft begin to envelop my entire body. In only a moment, I realized it was his skin. At first, it startled me and I almost panicked, I knew it was something that would make Jubilee throw up, but I found myself enjoying it. And I realized Ange wasn't.

"Angelo? Whassa matter?"

"Lo siento," he whispered, "I'm sorry, chica, I can't concentrate...hold myself together."

"I wouldn't ask you to." I opened my mind to his and let him feel the way he made me feel. ("Do you still not understand, even after so long? I love everything about you and I know how your power works, I couldn't ask you to maintain a perfect control now, relax.")

<Hey, Heaven, you came to me like wine comes to this mouth, grown tired of water all the time, you quench my heart and more, you quench my mind.>

"I love you chica," he murmured.

("I love you, too,") I sent in a quiet mind voice. I suddenly realized that I had left the entire girls dorm waiting for me. I pulled away from Angelo, hastily finishing a kiss.

"Everyone is waiting for me!" I exclaimed.

I could hear the disappointment in his voice, "Oh forget it chica, I can't believe..."

"Frost and Cassidy would kill us if they knew what we were planning on doing! If I don't get back, rumors will be flyin' before mornin'! Kris of all people is here! He'd freak out!"

"Let 'em fly, I mean, you've been here on campus for nearly two years! We've been goin' out for nearly all of that time and we've never..."

"And I can't, oh Angie, you don't know how bad I want to but..."

<Watch me celebrate you. Celebrate we will.>

I sighed and began to untangle myself from his skin. Whether or not he did it by choice, his skin clung to me as I rolled off the edge of the bed. I stood up, and walked to the window.

"Wait," he called.

"Angelo I can't, I'm not going to stay, alright? If you love me, then don't say anything. Let me go."

"Marry me, chica."

Shades of Gray 9/?, by Me, monet@uky.campus.mci.net. The song in this chapter is "Two Step" by the Dave Matthew's Band, one of my all time favorite songs.

You know you've seen too much Star Trek when you find yourself scanning the local liqueur store for synthaehol.