Hi! I'm back, so new chapters are coming up! Enjoy. :)

18.

Lily never knew so much could happen in a blink of an eye. She had closed her eyes as she and Kurt entered the teleportation stage and when she opened them, they were still inside the car, but were racing down the main road at a breakneck speed.

"Kurt, slow down!" She could feel the tires beneath her start to slip under the influence of the icy road.

Kurt only grunted an answer, abruptly turning the steering wheel. The car swerved from side to side, trying to stay on the road. Lily grabbed the sides of her seat as the car spun out of control before coming to an instant stop.

For a while, both mutants stared blankly out the car window, breathing heavily.

"I swear to god, you do that again, I'll kill you," Lily stated, swallowing hard to keep the alcohol she had drank inside her.

Kurt mumbled an apology and slowly returned the car to a significantly slower pace. It only took Lily a few minutes to know that the car ride would be a silent one, and she folded down the car shade mirror. The skin on her face seemed to be a couple of shades darker due to the amount of dust and dirt caked on it. Her hair, though pulled back, resembled dreadlocks adorned with multicolored twigs and other miscellaneous, small rocks. Eventually, her attention was drawn to her eyes. They were wide open and bigger than she had ever seen before. After she expertly read them, she slammed the mirror shut, shocked at what she saw.

Concern was the main emotion they held. That, and hope. They were two of the many things she grew up without and learned to deny. The X-men had changed everything about her. In a matter of a few months they broke down walls that took years to build up.

And now, one of them even knew her name. Lily took a quick, sidelong glance at Kurt. His mouth was tightly shut in a grim line, his eyes not leaving the road for a second.

As they passed by the "Welcome to Bayville" sign, Lily began to laugh. For the first time since they started driving, Kurt looked at her. "What?"

"It's funny. How long have we been gone? Four, maybe five days? This is the first time I actually think we're gonna make it home."

"Well, don't jinx it. We're not home yet, and we still have to hide this car."

Lily put her feet up on the dashboard, sighing contently. "I think we'll be fine. They stole it first. Can't report something is stolen when it doesn't belong to you."

Kurt chuckled, infected by Lily's good mood. He brought the car to a stop beside the gate of the Xavier institute.

For a while they just sat in the car, each going over the events of the last few days, waiting for the other to unbuckle their seatbelt.

Kurt was the first to speak. "So… we made it."

"Yeah, we did."

"… Shouldn't we go?"

The smile dropped from Lily's face. "Nothing's stopping you."

Kurt unbuckled his seatbelt and was about to open his door, when he stopped and looked at her. "What's stopping you?"

Lily took a deep breath, very aware of the fact that Kurt was staring at her and she couldn't make herself look back. "Have you ever stopped to realize that the past few days were my fault?"

"What?"

Lily continued, ignoring him. "And everyone knows it, too. I will walk in there to face relieved people who I don't really give a shit about crying over me. If not that, it would be people yelling at me because my stupid mistake dragged you down with me."

"Do you really think that lying to yourself will make you feel better?" Kurt asked, cutting her off.

Lily's neck snapped at the suddenness with which she used to turn and face him. "You think I'm lying." The words were stated, not asked.

"I know you 'give a shit about' these people. You've worked with them for two months, you're happiest when you're around them… they're the only family you've got, now."

"That's not true," Lily interjected, her eyebrows pulling down into a frown.

"Then why don't you go back to them, huh? Your other family. What's stopping you?"

Lily didn't answer.

"We are."

Lily broke eye contact to shake her head, staring defiantly at the street. "That's not true," she echoed in a whisper. Her hands were clenched tightly on her lap, her defense against the tears that she didn't allow to well in her eyes.

Once Lily looked away, so did Kurt. "Second, no one forced me to stay with you."

"What? No, I did!" Lily said, almost indignantly.

"I would've stayed even if you didn't ask me to. You should know that by now."

Lily slowly reached over and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Kurt."

"Lillian?"

"Call me Lily. Only my mom is allowed Lillian."

"Fine. What, Lily?"

Lily opened her mouth to say something then abruptly closed it. "Um-nothing. Let's go." Before Kurt could stop her she opened her car door and got out.

Rogue took a staggered breath, smiling grimly at the freezing air which momentarily froze her lungs. In her hands was a previously crumpled up letter. The handwriting was undoubtedly that of a man, quickly and messily scribbled: a spur of the moment note.

With a frustrated and angry shout, she ripped up the letter and threw it into the howling wind. A piece flew back onto her lap. On it was the conclusion of the letter 'Sincerely, Remy'. Stoically, Rogue placed her finger beside it and flicked it onto the ground.

She stood at the sound of the institute's front gates opening. Admitted into the grounds were two figures, both dressed in large black coats. "Stay back!" She warned, slipping one of her long, black gloves off. She had no patience for mutant haters.

The taller figure looked up briefly, and Rogue caught a glimpse of blue skin and gold eyes. Her lungs stopped working.

"No…" She backed away, not trusting the evidence her eyes gave her.

The figures still approached, and one of them slipped off their hood.

"Ravyn?" Rogue's voice came back. A high pitched scream pierced the air as Rogue sprinted for what she only hoped was not a hallucination.

She jumped, her arms hooking around the taller figure's neck. Kurt's laugh met her ears.

Tears fell shamelessly down her cheeks and onto his shoulder. She didn't want to let go of her little brother's body, afraid that he would disappear if she did.

"Rogue, what 's going-" Evan, dressed in a white t-shirt and navy sweatpants, appeared in the front door. His eyes darted from Rogue, who was currently wrapped in a close hug with Kurt, to Lillian, who stood awkwardly, but unmoving, a few feet away.

He didn't care if he wasn't wearing shoes. He followed Rogue's course and slammed straight into Lillian, laughing hysterically.

"No… geeze, you're alive! You're really… Oh god!" He stepped back and looked at Lillian's unscathed face. "Don't ever do that again!" He pulled her into a hug.

Lillian didn't answer right away. She had just gotten used to being called 'Lillian' again, and was tempted to correct him. She fought the urge down. It felt right to keep her rightful name between her and Kurt. "Aren't you cold?"

He knew that she was genuinely concerned, and wasn't joking, but in his relieved state of mind, anything that came out of her mouth was hilarious. He laughed hard for a few seconds before noticing that she was staring at him, a serious expression pinned on her face.

Wiping off his stupid grin, he led the way inside. They had just set foot inside the mansion when Kurt was subjected to a hug from Kitty, who was talking too fast for anyone to understand. She jumped from emotion to emotion; first hitting her best friend with her bare fists, cursing him for worrying her, and the crying in his arms. Kurt dealt with her mania like a gentleman: silently and comfortingly.

Lillian was suddenly wrenched out of Evan's embrace to face a furious Wolverine. His claws were out, the tip of the middle claw mere millimeters from her neck.

Kurt gently untangled himself from Kitty and approached Lillian. "Logan-". Wolverine's claws snapped to face him, only missing skin because Kurt moved back at the last moment.

"You stay out of this, elf."

Evan took an involuntary step back. He knew that Logan wouldn't dare hurt one of his students, and any student knew that it was better to stay away from their teacher when he was irate. But looking at him again, Evan couldn't remember a time when Logan ever looked at a student with such a deathly glare.

Kurt stayed where he was. He bent his legs slightly, ready to jump into action if things went out of control. Logan returned his claws to their prievious position: Lily's neck.

Heavy breaths littered his question. "Do you have… any idea… what your stupidity did to us?"

"Logan." All eyes turned to the professor, who was watching from the doorway of his office.

"Chuck, not now."

"Let her go." His word's filled the room and echoed in each of the mutants' minds.

Logan loosened the grip he had on her coat and removed his claws from her neck. His body was rigid and his breaths were deep and audible. "Danger Room. Tomorrow. 6am." His eyes never left hers as he spoke.

After Logan was a safe distance away from Lily, the professor spoke. "I'm sure that Jean and Scott would be happy to know that these two are alive. Kurt, Ravyn, can I speak to you in my office?"

Logan shared a knowing glance with the professor before leaving the room. Rogue, Evan, and Kitty climbed the stairs as Kurt and Lily disappeared behind the professor's door.

"Sit down." The professor ordered, moving his wheelchair to face them. After they had a moment to get comfortable in their seats, he continued. "Start from the beginning."

For fifteen minutes, Kurt told their story. His account was thorough, except for the night they spent in Picketsville, for which Lily was thankful.

Once Kurt finished, the professor turned to her. "Anything to add, Ravyn?"

She stayed silent, not making eye contact with anything but the ground.

"Wait, what happened when they took you out of our cell?" Kurt asked, concern lacing his words.

Lily kept her eyes on the ground as she spoke. "They took me to a room. A scientist shot me, then Jimmy, then told me I was 'perfect for their experiment', then-"

The professor leaned forward in his wheelchair. "And you don't know what the experiment is? Think, Ravyn, this is really important."

Her heart rate quickened. Sure, she had an idea of what the experiment was. She had seen it on the scientist's clipboard as she and Jimmy raced out of the testing room. She looked the professor straight in the eye. "No."

The professor relaxed in his chair. "Alright," he sighed, "You both go and get something to eat, wash up, and rest. Ravyn, you will not meet with Logan tomorrow."

At the mention of eating, Kurt sat up straighter. Nodding to the professor, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Ignoring the sulfuric smell, Lily got up to leave.

You aren't good at lying.

Lily stopped in her tracks. "Stay out of my head, professor," she said, darkly, her hands clenched by her sides. She walked out of his office without one look back.

Lillian had eaten and washed up as the professor asked, before retiring to her bedroom. The entire evening, every x-men had asked her about her adventure, having heard Kurt's perspective. The continuous stream of questions, which she dodged, succeeded only in irritating her.

Upon entering her room, she found Kitty and Kurt conversing in hushed tones. Kitty, though speaking, distracted herself by playing with the hologram watch on Kurt's wrist. Turning it slightly, Kitty caused Kurt to change from a demonic figure to a normal teenage boy.

"What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," Kitty said.

"Why?"

"Thought you might like to see what's been happening over the past few days." Kitty threw a newspaper on the bed. The front page headline read: The Mutant's First Strike. Lily quickly scanned the article grimly, but her eyes were continually drawn to the picture of the journalist who had supposedly written it. For a split second, shock crossed her eyes, but she quickly hit it. Her hands growing numb by the second, Lily quickly handed back the paper.

"I guess we won't be wandering outside anytime soon."

"It's gotten worse than that. They're, like, stock piling weapons against us, and-"

"Oh, just the thought I need before going to bed," Lily interrupted, sarcastically, her brain still spinning from the newspaper.

Kitty's jaw tightened, but she managed to speak levelly. "Yeah, I guess you need sleep. I'll see you two tomorrow."

Once she left, Kurt stood up. "What's wrong?"

Lily looked at him, taking in his new appearance. "Well, for starters, your appearance…"

"I'm serious."

Lily sighed deeply, flopping down on her bed. All she wanted at the moment was to fall asleep. "The journalist, the one who wrote the article. It's Connor."

Kurt looked at her as if she was crazy. "That can't be true. What would he have with a newspaper?"

"He's working on something. Everything he does has a well-thought out plan behind it. Who can he kill with connections to a newspaper?"

"I think you're giving him too much credit. It must just be a coincidence. Maybe it's not even him."

Lily was not convinced, but she reluctantly nodded her head. In order to steer the conversation away from Conner, she looked over Kurt. "You do know how ridiculous you look ,right?"

Kurt still looked worried, but he smiled. "A few months ago, you were complaining about my other appearance… Make up your mind!" he added with mock frustration.

Lily's mouth pulled up into a smirk as she remembered their first meeting. "That was then," she stated under her breath.

Kurt, oblivious to her comment, made to leave her room.

"Um, thank you, by the way. For not telling the professor about Picketsville.

Kurt suddenly turned and approached her. "What exactly happened in Picketsville?"

"You don't remember?" Lily looked him in the eye, hopeful that he didn't remember.

"No, I remember… but what was it? A result of exhaustion? Inebriation?"

"Kurt, stop." Lily stood, her body inches away from his, and looked into his eyes. "Nothing can happen between you and me. That was only a one-time thing," she paused. "I can't lose you," she added in a whisper.

"What if you won't? Why are you so jaded against everything?" Kurt said, raising his voice in exasperation.

Lily ran her hands through her slightly damp hair. "I'm practical! I don't live in a world where I get a happy ending. I'm not stupid, Kurt."

"Look me in the eye and tell me that you're sure we would fail if we tried."

Lily crossed her arms and took a step away from him. "You know I can't."

Kurt sighed. "Goodnight, Lily."

He was almost out the door when Lily caught up with him. "Wait, Kurt."

Once Kurt turned, she threw caution in the wind. Standing on her tiptoes, she put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him.