(quick note- plain writing is Elena's POV, underlined is Kurt's; bold is both. Stuff in Italics is the song lyrics. This songfic is also pretty short, so, yeh. Hope you like this story!)

Elena Remigati has always been treated like a freak. Her entire life, she's been scorned, mocked, belittled, and even beaten for the way she looks. It isn't as if she can help it. It's literally written into her DNA that her skin was, is, and will forever be, a dark foresty green. It doesn't help that certain patches of her skin naturally grow into the shapes of vines with little leaves on them, all up and down her arms, as if blatantly stating she is different, that she can do things 'normal people' shouldn't be able to do. 'Normal' is a term Elena's heard tossed around by everyone on the planet, a casual word for 'not different,' but also often more used for 'not a mutant' and 'not a freak'. But Elena's learned to not let that bullshit get to her. She can see the good in the world, and even if it may be not much- it's worth something.

Kurt Wagner's been through the same. His skin and hair are deep shades of blue, his eyes a bright yellow, and he sports a pointed tail. 'Freak' is just a title he's been granted over the years, along with 'demon', 'creep', and other such just lovely names. The only solace he's found in his mutation is recently, when he met a girl who knew what it was like to not be able to change how you looked, no matter how desperately you wished for it. No matter how many times you cried at night and prayed to whatever godly being was out there to fix you, nothing changed. And this girl, well, this girl makes him see things all differently. She tells him he can't be fixed because he's not at all broken. She makes him believe in the better parts of the world, even though she herself has trouble believing in them.

Elena met Kurt in quite the storybook way- she was being chased by a mob of angry, prejudiced folk from the small town she just tried to take shelter from a storm in. She raced, heart pounding, down through the sparse farmlands and into the northernmost tip of NYC, where a certain Kurt happened to be having a lonely drink at a bar at the edge of town. She burst into the door, soaking wet, as a flash of lightning illuminated her in the doorway. The owner of the bar, used to mutants coming into his establishment, only gave her a genial nod and went back to scrubbing out an ale glass. Elena and Kurt met eyes and instantly they know something had clicked into place in their lives. 

Kurt knew he had to help this stranger girl. He could hear loud shouting from outside and beckoned her through the back door of the bar, where a motorcycle (possibly borrow-stolen from a certain Professor X- it's not like he could even use it anymore...) was parked haphazardly in the alley. The pair made their grand escape, the girl's arms wrapped around Kurt's stomach as they sped away from the mob, his heart fluttering for reasons he couldn't seem to name. 

Half an hour later and the stranger boy pulled the motorcycle into the driveway of an unfamiliar, majestic mansion. Elena climbed off the bike and stared up at the building, giving a low whistle. The boy climbed off too and extended his hand to her in greeting. "I'm Kurt. Wagner. Er, Kurt Wagner," he said in a soft voice with a German accent. Elena took his hand and shook it. "Elena Remigati." She followed Kurt toward the front door of the mansion and he led her into what seemed to be a fairly large living room. They both sat on the couch, opposite from one another, and began to talk, sharing their stories and talking all night, as if they'd been friends for years.

The next morning, Kurt's friends teased him about finding him leaning back on the couch, asleep, with a stranger girl's head on his chest as she too slept. He ignored their jibes and only told them the truth: that he found her at a bar and saved her from an angry mob, bringing her here for safety. His friends thought the story was adorable and spread it all around the School for Mutants. Kurt still didn't care. His talk with Elena the previous night had shown him there was more important things in the world than gossip and teasing- such as getting to know her better, an aim that became his personal mission in the next few months.

Three months have passed and Elena has integrated well into the school, volunteering to teach an optional course to the younger kids about accepting themselves and loving who they are, no matter what the world- or they themselves- think. Over this time, she and Kurt have very quickly become best friends and she, as of the last few weeks, has begun to feel a little something more than friendship toward him.

Unbeknownst to Elena, Kurt has been experiencing these same feelings, and at a surprising strength for only having known her a few months. He knows it's odd, falling for her so fast, so his crush on her is a well-kept secret. One evening, a warm, misty night like the one on which Kurt and Elena met, they take some time to relax and chat on one of the mansion's many balconies together. Elena tells Kurt she's been thinking about something in the last few days, something she wants to tell him. His heart skips and he leans a bit closer to her to listen.

Elena smiles at Kurt. She's been meaning to tell him this for a while.

"I want see you run
Anywhere you want.
Never let the darkness hold you back,
No fear of getting lost."

She stands up from her cross-legged position on the balcony and leans sideways against the banister of the balcony. Kurt, as she expected, follows her lead and does the same, facing her. She reaches out and gently takes his blue hands in her own forest-green ones. 

"I wanna see you flyWay beyond the sun.Anything you're ever gonna dream,I pray that it will come.
"But if you ever fall down straight to the bottom,And you can't get back where you started-Any place, any time-You gotta know for you, I'll fight."

Kurt grins at Elena, his smile growing wider and wider as she speaks. He takes a small step closer to her as she finishes telling him her promise. She smiles softly at him gives a quiet sigh. Her eyes, which are the brightest of amber, almost a fiery color, watch him shyly, waiting for a reply.

"Where you wanna go,I'd love to take you there.Wish that I could make the road easy,I wish that life was fair.Don't wanna see you cry,Even when it rains.And I hope you don't forget this:You were born for better things.
But if you ever fall down straight to the bottom,And you can't get back where you started,With no strength to stand,Gonna reach for your hand.When the going gets rough,Right when it's hurting, I will be there.To help any burden.Any place, any time-You gotta know for you, I'll fight."

Kurt brushes a lock of Elena' dark brown hair out of her eyes and she blushes, her cheeks flushing a slightly darker green than her skin. His smile is just as sweet as always and she feels a tugging urge in her heart to lean in and... No, no, he probably doesn't think of her in that way, so she just smiles back, responding to his sweet sentiment,

"Any place any time- You gotta know for you, I'll fight.Anywhere you go-You're gonna find me.No matter what you need-If you ever fall down and you can't get backIf you lose your strength to stand-"

Music from a nearby dorm room drowns her out and Kurt grins, an idea surfacing in his mind. He, still holding her hands, moves her away from the balcony railing to twirl her around, dancing, repeating what he'd said earlier but in song now, to the tune of the music drifting though the evening air around them.

"If you ever fall down straight to the bottom,And you can't get back where you started.With no strength to stand, I'm gonna reach for your hand.When the going gets rough, right when it's hurting,I will be there to help any burden.Any place, any time-You gotta know for you, I'll fight."

On a sudden whim, Elena leans down (as she's a few inches taller than Kurt) and brushes her lips gently against his. He seems surprised at first and she blushes again, backing up and looking away, but then she feels him place his palm on her cheek and turn her back to face him. This time, it's his turn to lean in (and up). Their lips meet again and she wraps her arms around his neck as his hands come to rest on her upper back. The kiss is tender, sweet, and ends all too soon for the both of them, so they lean in again. And again. Four kisses later, Elena gives a soft laugh and kisses Kurt on the forehead. He raises an eyebrow at her. "What?" "That was long overdue." He nods, also giving a quiet chuckle, and steals another kiss. "It was."

Any place, any time,
You gotta know for you:
I'll fight.