A/N- Hey, an update on time, finally! That's right guys, I'm back from vacation. The past two Tuesday's I have been at an amusement park, and genuinely incapable of updating on time, but now my feet are on solid ground once again. #yolo

I'm not too sure why I went with the yolo hashtag, I just followed my heart.

Alright, so since I'm actually back, I will be able to return to acknowledging specific reviews. Which is to say, please review. Last week was a slow week, and I get that people are on vacation. I get it, guys. I've been there. But I think you need to re-evaluate your priorities a little, here. Reviewing mediocre fanfiction on a regular basis should always come in the top three on the priority list. Always.

Obviously I'm being facetious here, but I would truly appreciate your reviews.

Thanks ya'll!

Next up, we get to see what Rogue's mysterious phone call was all about... Dun dun dunnnn...

The following does not reflect the views or opinions of Marvel or the author known as 'Kinetically Charmed'.

Entry number ten:

The wedding is now officially less than a month away. Like, 28 days or something.

Also, today was Valentines Day, which is really inconsequential, I'm just mentioning it to give you all a more rounded view of what exactly I was dealing with today.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I could care less about VD day. And don't listen to Bobby; that is not just a thing single girls say on Valentine's Day to make it seem like they're fine, when they're really "dying inside".

I really could care less about it. The day after is when I shine, all that chocolate 75% off, heck yes.

Anyway, because of the fact that it was Valentine's day, Alex was "unable to perform his regular duties". Which is to say, he flaked out on the monthly Costco run. He had a date with Lorna, whom I have still yet to meet, and just shrugged that shit off like everyone in the mansion could totally go without toilet paper for a few days.

Ain't no thang, right?

And of course the next in line for Costco trips is Ray, who incidentally also had a super important date to keep with his wife, Tabby.

Next in line was Storm. Let's all just say she was busy, because I feel terrible perpetuating any form of gossip. She had a prior engagement, which I would not like to dwell on, or think about.

Piotr stepped in at this point, because if we continued down the line of Costco responsibility every single one of them had a date, and it was getting ridiculous. Let's just let the single people step up and save the day.

I offered to go along because I've been in England for the past six years and I want to go to Costco, dammit. I miss the ability to buy tomato sauce in bulk and consume free samples at every turn. So after school let out, Pete regrettably changed out of his dress shirt and pants and into a regular old Henley and jeans, which admittedly he still looked fantastic in, and we took the van the 30 minute drive in to Costco.

I also feel like I should point out that he didn't even wear a coat. It's like 30 degree weather outside, and he's just walkin' around like it's a spring afternoon, while I'm huddled down in my coat, tugging my bright pink hat down over my ears. In the van.

When we arrived, Pete pulled out the shopping list while I grabbed us one of those massive carts, and we bustled our way through the warehouse doors with all the other shoppers, where I was greeted with the familiar red smock of the employee at the door standing under those buzzing florescent lights. Oddly enough, this was the moment I began to really realize what I was missing, back in England.

Pete cracked a grin when I told him this as I shucked my coat and hat and mittens, stuffing them in the front of the cart before motioning towards the items for sale lining the entrance.

"Really though, were else can one buy a 10 pack of beach towels?" I asked, "For $45 even! That's $4.50 a towel!"

"I think the more important question is, why are the selling beach towels in February?" Pete observed, taking control of the cart from me to push us past the beach towels.

"I wonder if I can fit them in my carry on bag..." I wondered out loud, looking back at the pack of towels longingly which caused Pete to laugh.

"Maybe you can buy another suitcase while you are here."

"Perfect! A whole suitcase, just for towels." I grinned, "You're a genius, Piotr Rasputin."

"You are so easily impressed." He grinned down at me and I looped my arm through his with a smile, because I wasn't about to disagree with him. He hit the nail on the head. "It's a good thing, not many women would be overly pleased spending Valentine's Day at Costco."

"It's not a terrible first date."

He snorted and glanced down at me with a laugh, "Oh this is a date now?"

"Sure, we've got the dinner," I said flipping a hand at the sample station we were headed towards, "There's music on that electric piano over there, looping that obnoxious demo song."

"Dancing as we try to dodge other carts..." Pete added and I giggled, hugging his arm a little tighter,

"Exactly."

"Well, I am glad you are a cheap date, now." He smiled, "This is much less expensive than our last first date."

I grinned at the memory and gave my head a shake, "I've always been a cheap date, you were just trying extra hard to impress me."

He glanced down at me through the corner of his eye with a grin, "I was."

"You didn't have to. I was plenty impressed by your body." I said with a shrug, slipping the shopping list out of his hand.

He nodded and turned to hoist a jumbo pack of paper towels into the cart, "And I know that now."

"Such a time saver." I gave him a wry grin before turning my eyes to the contents of the aisle we'd turned down, "Where's the fabric softener? Do we even need fabric softener? Who made this list?"

Piotr smirked and plucked the list back out of my hand, "Storm did. Do not question her authority."

We moved through the aisles, gradually piling our cart up as we went in companionable silence, until we rounded the corner to the produce section.

"Oh Ginsu knives! I have the funniest story about Ginsu knives." I chuckled to myself as I took two samples of snap peas and handed one off to Pete, "So Wisdom and I were on a mission, and we found ourselves in this tiny little cramped kitchen. I'm talkin' small. Like, it looked like it belonged to a Hobbit. Anyway, we get attacked in this mini kitchen, of all places. This guy jumps on me from behind and it totally catches me off guard and I get slammed into the ridiculously tiny stove-" I noticed a woman side-eyeing me as she pushed her cart past and I glanced around, suddenly realizing that this was not a Costco appropriate story. "Let's just say, they're great for throwing, but not so great with the up close... encounters."

Piotr winced and knit his brow, "That's a funny story?"

"Did I say funny?" I frowned, popping a snap pea into my mouth thoughtfully, "Huh..."

He gave his head a shake, "I don't know how you can do that job. Saving the world one or two times a year is good enough for me."

"You're such an underachiever." I teased as we strolled along, and my attention was captured by the Blendtec guy in the middle of his demonstration, "That guy right there, he's got the right idea."

Piotr looked where I was pointing, and made a confused squint, "I don't know... I do not think a blender would be as good for throwing as Ginsu knives."

I snorted, "No, I mean career wise. That guy's got it made."

"I am not sure I would classify this as a career-"

"Just trust me. He gets to work at Costco, talk to people all day about a product he clearly loves, and wear one of those kick ass headset microphones."

Piotr pressed his lips together and shook his head, "Sometimes I wonder how you and Rogue ever find anything to talk about..."

"Oh please, she wants one of those headsets too, don't let her surly exterior fool you."

Pete picked up a box of tomatoes up and lowered them into the cart, "Well, I'm sure the Blendtec career path is far less stressful than being assaulted in a miniature kitchen."

"It's true." I agreed as we continued our stroll through the produce section, "I should consider a career change. Moving back to America wouldn't be so bad."

"I am sure your mother would appreciate the change."

"Of course, she'd want my kick ass Costco employee discount." I snorted, "Plus you know, the whole constantly putting my life in danger argument."

"Yes well, she does have a point." He said, scooping up another sample as we passed by the station and handing one to me.

"Ooh popcorn! Score!" I said excitedly, without a hint of sarcasm. I really am incredibly easy to please.

"See, dinner and a show." Piotr grinned, nodding towards the Blendtec guy again, "I am pulling out all the stops tonight..."

"Keep it up and you might get lucky." I winked, "I think I saw some mattresses on display over there."

"I feel like that is just a good way to get banned from Costco." He commented idly as he loaded up a few more items from our list into the cart, "And then you can kiss your new career goodbye."

We walked for a bit in silence, dropping a few items into the cart every now and then before, out of nowhere I said, "Maybe I could teach."

Pete gave me a confused look. "Teach...? How to shop at Costco? Is that like an online course?"

"No, teach at the school." I snorted with a little eye roll, "You know, like computers or something."

We walked together quietly for a few beats before he turned to me and asked, "Is that something you... would consider?"

"I don't know." I shrugged, "I mean, my mom is always on my case about how I wasted my computer science degree. It's a possibility. I could do it."

"Sure, you could do it. But would you want to?" Pete asked, glancing down at the list in his hand before gesturing for me to grab a giant pack of Mini Wheats cereal.

"I don't know." I said again, dropping the massive box of cereal onto our pile of groceries, "Maybe."

He accepted my response and didn't push it, thankfully. I mean, it isn't the first time I've had such a thought. Professor Xavier has even gone so far as to offer me a job in the past, not that anyone knows that. I've never voiced these things out loud. I keep my cards close to my chest.

We continued on through the store until we neared the end of our journey at the pharmaceuticals, loading up on Advil and Tylenol, which is a must when you live at Xavier's. It just is. We go through that stuff like candy.

I jerked my chin towards the extra large box of condoms with a growing smile and flicked my eyes back to Pete, "I just thought of the perfect wedding shower gift..."

Pete laughed and shook his head as he double checked the shopping list to make sure we hadn't missed anything, "That would last him a few months."

"100 condoms, nine different styles!" I read the box for him before furrowing my brow and turning the box to see it better, "There are nine different styles?! How are there nine different types of condoms?!"

"Oh Katya," Pete chuckled, "Such a worldly woman, and yet still so naive."

I snorted and tossed the box at him, "Wanna go halvsies with me?"

"You want to split on a $25 gift?"

"Hey, I flew in from England. They're lucky they're not getting a Starbucks gift card from me."

Piotr smirked and gave me a nod, "Sure. I will go halvsies with you."

"Good. Teachers don't get paid all that well, I need to start saving my money now." I grinned as he tucked the box under the cart. Likely to avoid any looks as we waited in line at the register.

Not that I blame him, those Costco people can be judgy.

The drive home took twice as long, possibly because we took a small detour halfway home to "finish up the date", if you know what I mean.

We had sex in the van.

He seemed to be extra turned on by the bright pink hat and mittens, and I'm not one to complain.

Anyway, we arrived home at a decent hour and unloaded the van of our Costco loot, putting everything away and finishing up shortly after seven. We made our way to the rec room, only to find that everyone was still there.

No one had even gone on their stupid dates yet.

Alex was all dressed up in his Hollister finest, lounging in the armchair in front of the fireplace with his phone out, Jean was seated near the book case with Rachel, helping her with some homework, Remy had his feet kicked up on the coffee table as he flipped through the channels on the TV with Kurt and Warren seated next to him, and the gossip twins (Jubilee and Alison) were in the far corner of the room, cackling over God-knows-what.

Alex sat up and looked over at me, apparently shocked to see us, and glanced back down at his phone, "You're back already?"

"What do you mean already?" I snorted, "I thought you jerks had dates tonight."

"Don't be so bitter, babelini." Alex grinned, settling back into the armchair, "That's probably why you're still single. We don't have reservations until 8:30. Lorna doesn't like to eat too early, she's so cute."

I narrowed my eyes dangerously at him and practiced my stress breathing, and Pete gave me a little shove towards the couch, away from Alex.

"I could have done the shopping for you, I don't have to pick up my date until 9." Warren said apologetically with a frown as he watched us sit down, and Piotr offered him a wan smile.

"It was really no problem."

"Kitty gets indignant sometimes, over stupid shit." Remy explained, "She wouldn't be so uptight if she were gettin' laid."

Kurt's eyes widened and his face turned purple beneath his blue cheeks, "Remy!"

"It's true." He shrugged simply, "She knows it's true."

Oh Gambit, how little you know. It's clearly not true.

Kurt's eyes flicked between Pete and myself before he sank back into the couch with an embarrassed frown, "You don't need to be so vulgar about it."

"I'm not indignant about stupid things, I just don't like it when people take advantage of Piotr." I crossed my arms and noticed the strained look of horror on Kurt's face. "Of his kind nature, Kurt."

"He's not so nice, don't let him fool you." Remy smirked, "He gets out of Costco runs for the next two months because of this."

"Absolutely." Piotr agreed with a nod, "I am much smarter than I look."

I knit my brow at Remy and tipped my head to the side, "Shouldn't you and Rogue be out right now?"

Remy frowned at me and huffed out a snort, "Still waitin' for her to get ready."

This seemed incredibly strange to me, and I'm surprised it didn't seem incredibly strange to Remy. Rogue never takes more than 20 minutes to get ready. The last time she took longer than that to get ready for a date was when Emma and I set her up with Warren, who didn't know they were dating.

Now that I think of it, Warren is kind of clueless... a beautiful, angel-winged dummy.

I was about to ask Remy where he was taking Rogue that could possible explain her taking longer than 20 minutes to prepare herself, when I happened to catch sight of her hovering in the doorway, chewing her lip pensively, wearing the exact same thing she'd been wearing the last time I saw her earlier in the day.

"Rogue?" I knit my brow and craned my neck to look at her better, "Is everything okay?"

Remy turned to look at her and his face dropped, "What the f***? I thought you were getting ready, you look the same."

And who said romance was dead?

Rogue twisted her hands in front of her anxiously as she stepped into the room, "I um... I got distracted."

"Well, you look fine like that. Let's go, we're gunna be late." Remy moved to stand, and Rogue held her hand up to stop him.

"Wait... we need to talk." She said, her eyes darting around at everyone else in the room as she suddenly realized there were other people in the room too, worrying her lip between her teeth again, "Maybe we should talk somewhere else."

Remy's face suddenly fell, "Shit, are you pregnant?!" He asked breathlessly, his face visibly paling slightly as he stared at her.

"No!" Rogue snapped, her eyes widening in horror, "God no! It's about your payback. You know, for tryin' to track down Mystique. I found your... parentage."

Remy heaved a sigh of relief and put a hand over his heart, "Christ, that's it? You scared the hell out of me." He shook his head and then relaxed into a smug little grin after a few moments of recovery, "So this is about my payback then. An eye for an eye?"

She nodded silently, and Remy gave his eyes a roll, "Well lay it on me then, Rogue." He said, seeming incredibly unconcerned with whatever it was she found. Clearly Remy couldn't care less about his birth parents, not that I can say I blame him. He's gone 32 years without knowing who these people are, and he's never shown any interest in finding out, so it seemed slightly odd to me that this was Rogue's method of payback, but whatever.

These two are so weird.

"Uh, maybe we should have this talk in private."

Remy rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Please. How bad could it be?" He straightened up a little and gave her a serious look, "I'm not related to Trump, am I?"

She furrowed her brow, "No."

"Alright well, again, how bad could it be?" He repeated, stretching his arm out behind me on the couch and kicking his feet back up on the coffee table, "Hit me with your best shot, chere."

Rogue let out an even breath as she steeled herself, which should have been Remy's first clue that shit was about to get real. I mean, really. When has Rogue ever shown any tact when delivering news? These two get off on bugging the shit out of one another. He really should have seen it coming, but he sat there like the beautiful little idiot that he is with that smug grin on his lips as she worked out the proper words in her mind.

"I know your mother's name." She began, and Remy quirked a brow expectantly when she hesitated. "Katherine Anne... I'm not sure about her last name... not her maiden name at least-"

"That's my name!" I beamed at Remy, "Ohhh this explains why you love me so much! It's subconscious! You have mommy issues!"

He snorted and rolled his eyes, "That does explain it, because you're annoying as hell."

"Wait, I'm not his mother, right?" I turned back to Rogue and frowned, "There's not some crazy time travel loop shit happening here, right?"

I was like, 98% joking, but I've seen Back to the Future way too many times to fully rule this out.

Rogue rolled her eyes at me with an irritated sigh, "No, Kitty."

Thank God.

"That's Scott's moms name too, it's a pretty common name." Jean pointed out before grinning at me, "Maybe Alex has some mommy issues too, Jem."

"Oh man, what if you were my mom... what if we'd had sex?!" Alex said, suddenly interested in the conversation, straitening up a little bit with a look of horror on his face.

Ugh, gross Alex. Don't be weird.

"Yeah, Alex. You really dodged a bullet." Jubilee interjected sarcastically with a little smirk.

"That's not all." Rogue said quickly, trying to regain control of the conversation, "I found this out from Essex. You remember him... he was my Genetics Professor." She explained with a flip of her hand, "The guy running the study that you were part of at the college-"

"Yes Rogue, I remember him. Get to the damn point." Remy interrupted, clearly beginning to lose his patience for this whole thing.

"Right. Well, he's in this low security prison for cooking meth with some student-"

Alex snorted with a laugh, "Is that why he stopped the studies?! I was makin' good cheddar off of him until he up and vanished... I thought maybe he offed himself, you know?" He pantomimed shooting shooting himself in the head with a finger pistol, as if we all needed clarification, and Jean hissed his name, reminding him that his niece was sitting right there, "What? He was a weird dude..."

Rogue shot out an irritated breath, "It's not important. I contacted him in jail to see if he could help me out, and he had one of his associates on the outside do some digging. He still has everyone's blood work on file."

Which, by the way, is disgusting. For so many reasons.

"He happened to have someone else on file who was a genetic maternal match. To you."

This is when I definitely saw Remy's bravado waver just a tad. She'd piqued his interest, definitely. "A maternal match... meaning...?"

"A sibling." She said evenly and Remy sat up a bit straighter.

"A- I have a sibling?"

"Well... a half sibling. On your mothers side." She amended, and then shook her head and added, "Two actually. But only one of them... participated in the study..." She trailed off and her eyes settled on Alex.

Everything began to click in. We all sat there with wide eyes, completely unsure of what to say, and I could see the realization slowly begin to dawn on Remy as the pieces fell in place.

"I'm telling you, he was a total douche, he tried to stiff me on payment once because I was "too high to partake" or some crap." Alex scoffed, glancing up from his phone with an indignant little sniff, pausing when he realized that we were literally all staring at him. "What?"

Jean was the first one to speak up, but all she managed to say was, "Are... are you sure?"

Rogue nodded, "He said their DNA had a 32% match, which is actually pretty high for half siblings-"

Remy was on his feet in the blink of an eye and out the door before any of us could even really register the severely pissed off look on his face. Jean's eyes caught mine and she didn't need to use her telepathy for me to understand what she was thinking. I needed to follow Remy. Someone needed to follow him, and make sure he was alright.

And we all know Rogue wasn't about to do it, she's kind of a wimp when it comes to Remy's emotional tirades.

I jumped up and hurried out the door after him, just in time to hear Alex ask what was going on. Well, at least we know the dumb but pretty thing runs in the family.

Ouch.

Too soon.

I caught up with Remy as he was marching down the hallway with those long legged strides of his, his hands balling into fists at his sides as he walked.

"Remy wait!" I called out as I barreled down the hall after him, dodging and phasing through the odd student who got in my way, "Slow down and talk to me!"

He ignored my pleas and continued on his way down the hall until he reached the Professor's office, punching the door open without a moments hesitation and marching in like he was on the hunt for blood.

"You f***ing knew, didn't you?!" He demanded, ignoring the slightly stunned look on Professor Xavier's face. And it's hard to surprise a telepath, guys but Remy managed to do it.

"Gambit, what is-"

"Don't f***ing lie to me!" He shouted, leaning forward with his hands on the desk to hover ominously over Xavier. "You f***ing manipulative old bastard!"

Professor Xavier's eyes grew wide, and I'm assuming that was the point when he'd picked up what Remy was undoubtedly screaming in his mind. His surprise was quickly replaced with a look of sincere sympathy and he shook his head.

"Oh Remy... I assure you, I had no idea."

Remy's jaw ticked a few times, with the vein on his forehead bulging out and his face an angry shade of red before he turned away from the desk and pushed past me hovering uselessly in the doorway.

And then I saw trouble. I saw it coming, and I was powerless to stop it.

Poor unsuspecting Scott, minding his own business, strolling down the hall with a frown, likely having heard the commotion in Xavier's office and coming to investigate the problem.

"Gambit." Scott frowned behind his red glasses, "Is everything alri-"

Remy didn't let him finish his thought, he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and shoved him straight into the wall behind him. "Don't f***ing look at me." He hissed.

Scott's hand flew up to readjust his glasses as he gaped at Remy in utter confusion, "What has gotten into you!?"

"Stop... being so... you." Remy spluttered angrily, "Leave me alone. You breathe too loud." He took a step away from Scott and ran a hand through his hair with a crazed look in his eye, "I gotta get out of here."

I took a step towards him and reached out a cautious hand, "Remy-"

He snapped a hand up, which quieted me instantly, and worked the muscles in his jaw a few times with a deep breath, "I gotta get out of here." He said again, before shouldering past Scott and disappearing down the hall and around the corner.

"What the hell is that guys problem?!" Scott asked with a dumbfounded expression as he tried to dust himself off, "Didn't anyone ever teach him some manners?"

"Like your mom?" I said, before my brain had the chance to tell my mouth to shut the hell up.

Scott pressed his lips together and gave me an unamused face, and I imagine he was rolling his eyes, "Yeah, sure Kitty. Like my mom."

I hightailed it out of there at that point. I wasn't about to hang around and have to explain Remy's behaviour to Scott. Or that Remy was his older, illegitimate, half brother.

Yikes. That is Jean's issue.

Happy Valentine's Day bro.