Disclaimer: Don't own the x-men but I will stake my claim on the uber-cuteness that is Jinx and Tommy so paws off!

Lily

Cayden stifled a yawn as he made his way towards his first class the next day. He was not used to actually having to get up for classes everyday – the disadvantage of living in your school…

The student walked down the busy corridors of the Xavier mansion, thinking ahead through his classes. He had Math first – not his favourite subject. Then he had ethics with the Professor. Really not his favourite subject. In fact, Cayden did not like any of his classes that day. Although on the plus side he had no classes with Carl. Nor did he have any classes with Thomas he realised, with a slight frown. Not that it bothered him. The other kid had been nice enough he supposed; they had gotten along ok working on Dr Grey's assignment…

Hushed whispers tore Cayden's attention back to his surroundings. There was something about the tone of the whispers that made the student's stomach turn. Frowning slightly he tried to make out what was being said…

"…Catherine said that…"

"…but I heard th…"

"…that's not the…"

Taking a deep breath and keeping his head down Cayden quickly carried on down the corridor to his class, slipping into the room and going straight to his desk. Although he never looked up at his classmates the silence that fell over the room did not go unnoticed. Cayden could not help but frown. Surely they hadn't found out about…

x-x-x x-x-x x-x-x

Thomas paused on the edge of the basketball court that evening, trying to catch his breath but his team mates did not seem to want to co-operate.

"Tommy!" Carl yelled, throwing the ball at his roommate who only just managed to catch it. Taking a deep breath Thomas dribbled the ball forward, passing it to one of his players waiting under the basket who in turn scored. Again Thomas paused to rest but this time several of his companions did the same. The moment of peace was brief though.

"Hey Carl," one of the other boys jerked his head towards the other side of the court. Thomas sighed quietly as he saw Cayden walking past.

"Just leave him alone, yeah?" he pleaded quietly to Carl but the other boy just grinned wickedly. Quickly gathering up the ball he bounced it up and down a couple of times.

"Scotty – heads up!" he called to one of the boys near the edge of the court but the ball went sailing past – hitting Cayden square on the side of the head. "Oh, sorry," Carl smirked as the boys around him sniggered. "Accident."

Cayden did not even bother to look round, he just carried on walking. Carl's smirk turned into a scowl.

"Hey!" one of the other boys shouted. "He's talking to you!"

"Yeah freak," Carl called. "It's rude to ignore people."

"Oh leave him alone," Thomas frowned, starting to make his way off court.

"Tommy!" Carl grabbed his roommate's arm. "Where the hell are you going?"

"I'm going to go and talk to Jinx," Thomas replied simply.

"We're in the middle of a game!" Carl objected.

"I'm not in the mood to play any more," Thomas shrugged off the other boy and turned away.

"But what the hell do you wanna speak to that freak for?" Carl crossed his arms. Thomas rolled his eyes, glancing back briefly over his shoulder.

"Oh grow up," he said bluntly before walking away. Carl stared after him, his eyes widening in surprise before they narrowed angrily. That new kid was not going to get away with turning his friend against him.

x-x-x x-x-x x-x-x

Thomas finally caught up with Cayden in the mansion's library, finding the other boy hiding at the back.

"Hey…" Thomas offered a warm, friendly smile. Cayden however scowled heavily and turned away. Thomas's smile faded. "Look, really just ignore them, they'll get bored."

"Sure they will," Cayden grumbled, starting to walk away. Thomas frowned.

"Cayden wait!" he reached out and lightly grabbed Cayden's arm. "Are you ok?"

Cayden's eyes narrowed as he jerked his arm away.

"Oh I'm fine," he grumbled. "I'm having a great day listening to everyone gossip about how the new kid killed his brother."

Thomas's eyes widened.

"What?" he blinked rapidly. "I di… wh…"

"Oh drop the act!" Cayden scowled. "That's why you were being all nice yesterday – so you could pass on information to your friends."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Thomas objected. "I didn't speak about you to anyone yesterday."

"Oh come on – I know the drill here. There's always something weird about new kids that Summers and Dr Grey bring in so you were digging for information."

"No!" Thomas shook his head insistently. "I swear, I…"

"So the day after I tell you where I'm from everyone knows my past?" Cayden curled up his lip, crossing his arms defensively. "Leave me alone."

Thomas opened his mouth to object to Cayden walking away but he could not think what to say. With a quiet sigh he watched the other student leave, a concerned frown on his face. He had heard some of his classmates talking about Cayden that day but he had just ignored it, thinking it was the same old gossiping and sniping that had followed the new boy since he had came to the mansion.

Apparently he had been wrong.

x-x-x x-x-x x-x-x

Cayden scowled heavily as he made his way outside, delving into his pocket and pulling out his cigarettes and a lighter. Quickly lighting the cigarette, he inhaled deeply, blowing the smoke out above his head as he leant back against one of the trees at the edge of the mansion's grounds. This had been a terrible idea – he never should have moved there. Of course everyone would find out about his brother… everyone always found out about his brother…

Throwing his third cigarette under his boot the student reluctantly turned back towards the mansion, the cold evening air finally getting to him. Keeping his head down he made his way towards his bedroom, slipping inside and shutting the door behind him. With a heavy sigh he collapsed onto his bed, lying and staring up at the ceiling for several minutes.

"Well at least you'll still love me, eh Lills?" the boy smiled wryly, rolling off his bed and turning towards the spider tank. The smile faded quickly however, his eyes widening as he found the small lid on the top of the tank open. Quickly diving forward he removed the whole lid, lifting the log his pet tarantula normally hid under but she was nowhere to be found. Closing his eyes tightly he ran his hands through his hair before frantically beginning a search of his room, silently hoping that Lily – who for all her size could move at some speed – had not made it out of the room. She was fast enough to have ran out in the brief moment it had taken for him to open and shut his bedroom door…

The loud shriek that drifted down the corridor gave Cayden his answer.