A/N: Oh gosh, I'm watching Anastasia (as in the Disney movie). Sad, sad, life.

A/N 2: "Break Away" is a Kelly Clarkson song (oh, shut up).

Disclaimer: As usual, I do not own the X-Men. If I did, I wouldn't be late to school every day (since I'd live at the school...duh).

Chapter Eighteen: As Long as You're Mine

New York, Present Day

Gwen felt the keys jingling in her pocket, and shivered at the prospect of what she was about to do. If she was caught, she would definitely get in trouble. Again.

She stood in the garage of the mansion, searching around for...yes.

She'd always been totally jealous of Storm's car. It was a sweet silver little convertible, that she had used to take the girls to the mall the previous Saturday, but Gwen wasn't allowed to touch it.

This, however, constituted a rule-breaking.

Gwen had IM'ed John that morning like they had planned, asking him to bring Mystique and meet her at the store where they had seen each other that week.

John: why?

he had asked.

Brdwygrrl34: thats a stupid im address, u realize that right? just bring her tonite at 5 and u will see

Gwen had replied.

Now she was driving in Storm's car, along the road into the nearest town (with the convertible top down, of course) and shaking her hair away from her face. She had spent an hour fixing it just before, as she had wanted to at least look presentable.

As she had been leaving, Caroline had appeared in the hallway in front of her. When she saw Gwen, she hadn't done anything. She had just stood there. It made Gwen so angry, seeing her there. How was it fair that she get to roam around freely, while Kurt hid in his room? She thought for a moment about this, then decided to speak.

"I know what kind of person you are," she told her, angrily tossing her new lip-gloss into her clutch.

Caroline scoffed and put her hands on her hips. "What do you mean?"

"Listen, lady," Gwen stated, standing up straighter and throwing back her shoulders, trying to pretend she was braver than she really felt. "You're not a nice person. In fact, I think you're evil. But the problem is, I can't do anything about it. But I know someone who can." She'd then turned on heel and left, leaving Caroline standing in the hallway by herself.

The wind whipped at Gwen's head as she rode down the street, and she sighed. It was too dry to provide any relief from the heat, but it gave her comfort from the thoughts pounding in her head.

Poor, poor Kurt.

"...so why exactly do I have to go?" Mystique asked, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Because she's insane." Up, down.

"Shut UP, John. It's because...because it's just important. If you came tomorrow, you'd see why."

"I'm not going just because someone told me to. Why?"

Gwen shook her head in a frustrated manner. "Cuz...cuz...oh, fine. This isn't something I should be telling you, but here goes. You mentioned Kurt before, and at first I thought it was because of when you two met like a year ago. But it's not."

She crossed her arms and hunched over. "He's...he's your, um, son."

Mystique froze. Even John stopped clicking his lighter lid in surprise. Gwen didn't talk.

Finally someone spoke. "Raven, what the hell?" Up, down.

"Plus there's something else, Mystique. See-"

"Kurt? Did-" she cleared her throat. "Did he say something about me to make you come here? Does he know who I am? I thought he didn't realize who I was last year, but did-"

"No, otherwise he'd probably have karate chopped you in the head last year. Lucky for you. Okay, like I was saying, there's more to this meeting than just that. Remember Caroline?"

Gwen could see her eyebrows pop up. "What about her?"

"She's at the mansion, too." She smiled, although there was no reason to. "Did you know that she has the mutant ability to control electricity?"

Mystique clearly had no idea, as in response to this news she had made a sort of choking noise and started coughing loudly to cover it up.

"I didn't think so. So she's there, and I think you should know that-" Gwen paused. This really was something Kurt and Mystique should talk about. "Well, actually, scratch that. Look, if you want to know what this is all about, come to the mansion tomorrow. My dad's coming – hey, wait, if you haven't remarried, that makes you my half grandma...I didn't think of that – and I think we need to talk. As a family." She put the emphasis on that last word.

Mystique stiffened, and stared down at Gwen. In her eyes, there was no trace of the haughtiness or indifference she had seen when she first met her. Now, there was only fear. She could sense heavy waves of hesitance coming from her, and, to her shock, she felt a bit sorry for her. She really did not have a clue what had happened back in Germany.

Moments later, Mystique shook her blond hair. "Okay. Okay, I'll come."

Gwen smiled at her. "Great. Now come over tomorrow, anytime after four, cuz then my dad'll be there too." She turned to John. "You don't have to come, even if you're her appointed bodyguard."

He frowned. "I'm not her-"

"Bye! Thank you!" Before she could let her nervousness get the better of her, she flung a hug over him, then Mystique, ignoring the "Gaah (1) !" she gave as she did it. They both looked shocked.

She grinned. "I really mean it. Thanks."

Gwen turned from them, and started jogging back down the escalator.

It was a few seconds before she realized that it was going up.

Friday morning

Bags were packed, and chipper goodbyes were being said. The children of the mansion who still had families were about to be picked up by their parents for the summer. Everyone was out on the front lawn, hugging and laughing and telling each other, "Write me!"

Well, almost everyone.

Kurt lay curled up against his windowsill, staring down at all of the kids sadly. He would have given anything to be able to go outside and say goodbye, but he couldn't. Imagine if one of the parents saw him.

Besides, he could see Storm there, helping Kitty carry one of her staggeringly heavy bags to an awaiting car. Kurt smiled lightly, despite himself. Katze had too many clothes.

He felt his grin disappear, though, upon seeing Storm hug her student goodbye. He still could not believe that he had yelled at her. She had actually cared, she had wanted to help him, and all he had done was scream at her.

Guilt, fear, and sadness had forced Kurt to retreat to his room. It had only been a few days, but he was really starting to hate it. There was nothing to do besides think and read, and it was getting boring. He wanted to talk to someone, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Caroline was still out there. What if he let slip what she had told him, and she hurt Gwen? Nothing would ever be worth that. Nothing.

Kurt sighed, and walked away from the window, settling on his mattress. His eye still ached, but at least the swelling had gone down.

He lay there for a few moments, thinking about how much he hated Caroline for this, until he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

He sat up immediately, wondering who it could be. He suddenly took back his earlier wish. Talking to someone was too much to deal with. He'd just sit there quietly until the person gave up knocking and left.

"Kurt? Kurt, are you alive?"

It was Gwen. He growled to himself. Perfect. Like she was going to just leave. Her persistence with some things was admirable, but it wasn't welcome right then. He didn't reply.

"Kurt, I know you're there."

Kurt gently slid himself off of the bed, and stood up.

"I just want to tell you that my dad's coming tonight."

He suddenly remembered that Sigfried was supposed to pick Gwen up tonight. No, no, no, then he wouldn't get to talk to her at all.

"Oh, I'm coming," he announced, stumbling over, defeated. He opened the door, and winced at the bright sunlight from the hallway window that came in.

Gwen was smiling, and holding up a sandwich and a cup. "Hi, Kurt." She pushed past him, ignoring his, "Hey, wait!" and set the plate on his bed.

"I figured you'd be hungry, so I made you a sandwich and some green tea." She offered the cup to him, and he took it, patronizingly.

"It's hot, Gwen."

"Yeah, no way, it's tea."

"It's ninety degrees out and you want me to drink boiling tea?"

Gwen nodded earnestly, and gestured at the plate. "I got you some turkey last night. It's fresh."

Kurt, who was about to take a sip for her sake, lowered his cup and glared at her. "That's right, you did. You took Storm's car last night! I saw you pull in!"

Gwen grinned stupidly. "To, uh, get you turkey!"

"Gwen..."

"Oh, fine, I took the car to meet someone, then got you turkey."

"Who did you meet?"

"No one."

Kurt continued staring at her. "You stole your teacher's car to go meet no one?"

"No, it's- oh, you'll see tonight."

"Gwen-"

"I swear it was important! You'll see tonight!" She suddenly snapped her fingers. "Oh, I forgot. I'm telling my dad I'm a telepath tonight."

Kurt frowned. "Really?"

"Uh-huh. See, he's coming later than the other parents today because he's meeting with his publisher, so I figure, if he's in a good mood, maybe he'll be okay with it."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Great strategy, Gwen."

She sighed. "I know. But I'll have to tell him sometime." She glanced up at him. "And I've done some thinking...I'm going to ask him what my mother's name is."

Kurt was surprised. "Wow."

"Yeah. It's gonna be an interesting night." She looked back down at the ground. "You know, with all of us here, and stuff."

Gwen stood up. "I'm going to go say bye to Kitty. See you in a bit, Kurt."

"Okay." He watched her walk over to the door, and leave. While he was closing the door, a thought hit him. He pulled it open again, stuck his head out, and called after Gwen, who for some reason was doing a dance down the hallway.

"Gwen!"

She looked up, stopping in her movement. "Yeah?"

"Tell her I said goodbye, as well."

She smiled. "I will."

1: The exclamation "Gah!" is something from Bridget Jones' Diary, which as you all know is Mystique/Raven's favorite book (despite, in her case, it being from the future...ermm...). I thought it would be fun to include.

A/N: Okay, review, you know the deal. I love all you reviewers! Reviews make me happy!

A/N 2: Oh, you guys! I'm not telling you what's in the next chapter! You have to wait for it! Stay tuned!