Hello!

WOOHOO! WE CHOSE A TITLE! BLOOD CONNECTIONS!

Sorry to those who voted for 'Thicker than Water' but I had to go with the majority!

Anyway…it is just a title, it is the story that counts right?

Oh, All the characters have no accents since I refuse to destroy the southern accent, however, my best friend has started proof reading/editing this story and she has started putting a few in….if they're wrong blame her!

Disclaimer: I do not own the x-men, or anything you recognise here...life's soooo unfair!

Read this: I can only apologies for the lateness of this chapter (and the quality too whilst I am at it). I have been ill a lot recently, .respiratory problems suck big time! I know sitting at a computer does not require a lot of energy but getting upstairs nearly killed me (literally).

Thanks to every one who reviewed and sent 'Get well soon' e-mails. You people are the best!

I promise to update the next chapter soon. Happy holidays!

Chapter 7

Flashback: "You're not as untouchable anymore and you can't lie about that when they find out plus Scott and Jean have already seen you with Remy!" O.K this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought.

"Oh who cares? You're not a child anymore no matter what Logan says. You have your own mind and you can make your own decisions….now I just have to remember this when I get pulled up in front of the professor!"

Half an hour later, the final bell finally rung. Rogue stayed in the girl's bathroom for five minutes before letting herself out of her hiding place before going to her locker where Kitty would undoubtedly be waiting. And there she was, a blur of pink and baby blue lent against her locker, clutching books and laughing at something Kurt had just said.

"They'd make a nice couple…not..that..I care. God! You get some attention and you turn into Kitty!"

Shaking her head, she made her way over to her two best friends.

"Like hey Rogue! What's up with you?"

"Nothing, just my French professor bein' a jerk as usual"

"Really? 'cus I heard you weren't in lesson all afternoon!"

Oh. God. Kurt's girlfriend, Amanda, had a cousin in the B.Bz, which meant that she got most of the gossip first, which meant Kurt knew, which means… "I'm in trouble!"

"Who told you that?"

"No-one, I just heard it around" Kurt looked shifty, nervous even, oh yes, definitely Amanda.

"I was in class all day; where else would I go Kurt?"

"Like, the same place you went last time?"

"And when was last time Kitty?"

"Don't! You totally know what I'm talking about! You're totally acting different, every time I mention Gambit you totally stress out!"

"I do not!"

"Gambit" Rogue flinched, yep, she was in big trouble.

"See, you jumped!"

"I did not Kurt! Your inducers probably on the blink, you're seeing things!"

"Kitty's right! You are acting weird, you skip lessons and Amanda's friends say they saw you with Gambit, so did Scott. Kitty heard someone in your room the other night and you do stress whenever we mention his name!" Kurt paused for breath before carrying on with "I'm your brother Rogue; I need to know what's going on!"

"I…I….." How was she going to get out of this one? There was no way she could lie her way out or blame Scott and Jean for this one. She was on her own.

"I'm waiting Rogue."

"I…."

"Come on you guys! I'm not waiting all day!"

"Wow…saved by Scott and I'm actually thankful, they're right, I am acting weird!"

The trio turned to see Scott in his convertible with Jean huffing impatiently in the front seat. Kurt shook his head at Rogue giving her the "I'm disappointed in you" look before striding off to the car. Kitty simply stared at her before saying

"We will talk about his later."

"No likes or totallies or anything…she was serious"

XxXxXxXxXxX

Dinner was uncomfortable at the mansion that night. Looks of varying degrees of disappointment came to Rogue from the students and confusion came from the teachers. No one spoke; the silence was driving her crazy!

The B.Bz had not only told the students about her and Remy, they had told the server at the coffee bar, the staff at the cinema and she was only slightly surprised that they hadn't called the mansion itself to spread the news. Unable to bear the stony looks any longer, Rogue excused herself and went to her room complaining of a headache. The professor had been concerned about this of course; could it be her powers playing up again? But after reassurances that her 'headache' had nothing to do with her powers, he let her go.

She could tell someone was in her room as soon as she stepped foot through the door, looking around everything was in its place and everything seemed undisturbed. She was about to put her feelings down to paranoia when two hands covered her eyes.

"Guess who chere."

"Pyro?" Immediately relaxed, Rogue decided to tease her intruder.

"Pyro? You wound me chere!" Rogue laughed as Remy spun her and pressed her to him. He smiled down at her for a second before kissing her. It was brief but Rogue couldn't complain, she had been without touch for so long that she couldn't care if the kiss lasted 2 second, just as long as they kept on coming.

"We weren't a secret for very long were we chere?"

"No, the B.Bz told everybody that we were together before we were together!"

Remy laughed, resting his cheek against the top of her head, bringing his girl even closer to him.

"No matter chere, s'not gonna change anything' non?"

"Non, besides, I haven't got into any trouble yet, they don't have any proof that we're actually together do they?"

"Well, we do now!"

The pair spun around to see Kitty in the doorway.

"Kitty!" Rogue tried to pull herself out of Remy's arms but he held her fast in his grip.

"This is what you've been hiding?" Kitty locked the door ensuring that no body else would interrupt the three of them.

"Why haven't you said anything? You know that I would totally understand!"

"S'not her fault petit"

"What? It's not her fault that she's been keeping secrets from me, her best friend?"

"Non! 'Cus we didn't even get together until this afternoon!"

"So you did skip lesson! You lied to me! You've never lied to me before!"

"Kitty, this whole thing is complicated, you know that! What do you think would happen if everybody knew about us huh? I am sorry if I hurt you Kit but I couldn't tell anyone!"

"So you're definitely together then?"

Rogue looked up at Remy before answering.

"We're definitely together."

Kitty sighed and dropped herself down onto her bed. She did know why Rogue couldn't tell but the secrets still hurt her.

"I still think you should have told me…but I'm happy for you."

Relieved that the argument was over but sensing an oncoming girly moment, Remy kissed his chere, said his goodbyes and disappeared out of the window. Rogue watched him until she could no longer see him before turning once again to face her friend.

"So…from this afternoon huh?"

"Officially yeah" Rogue looked down at her feet, unsure of what to say.

"Well! Don't just stand there! Tell me everything!"

XxXxXxXxX

3 pages of publisher! Woohoo! (seems shorter on here tho)

Once again I must apologies for the utter crapiness of this chapter…under 1000mg dose of medicine still, oh the fun! I am getting better though so updates shall be sooner, quality shall (hopefully) be up to usual standards!

Reviews would, as always, be gratefully appreciated.

Profile has been updated and such.

We have no more poll! L Maybe we can make up a new poll such as where Remy takes Rogue on their next date! I don't know. And although people complained about the poll in e-mails, I'm not going to stop because I think it's always much more fun when the readers are actively involved in the story because it is of course written for you and I want you to enjoy it! And if that's annoying….we'll have a poll to decide if we should keep the poll!

Must go!

Review and e-mails are definitely welcome.

Guarded Secrets!