Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Everything else you recognize belongs to Marvel.

A/N: For Sarah :)

She would never know how his heart beat for her. The way it thumped in his chest at just the mere sight of her was almost painful. Over time Remy became used to the way it felt. He grew accustomed to the way it slammed into his ribcage, the way the blood pumped in his veins and drowned out ever other sound until his pulse was all he heard. Though he got used to the affect she caused in his heart, he never stopped enjoying the feeling and always looked forward to the when he would see her next when his pulse would start that mad race through his veins all over again.

His heart beating so fast was not the only affect she had on his body. When they were alone and away from the prying eyes and teasing laughter of the other X-men, she would lean close, wrap her hands around his neck, and wait for him to kiss her. This always caused his mouth to go dry. This could either be because she made him nervous or because her face made him realize how parched he was.

Remy was sure it was the first one.

When she was close he was always very self conscious of all things she caused in his body. He would sweat. He'd sweat a lot. He was always scared that he was going to mess this up, and just when he was lucky enough to get her all for his self. Whenever she pushed her soft body to his, his voice was suddenly squeaky and small. Remy was starting to worry that this would cause a permanent rasp.

Reason number one: The affect she had on his body.

Then there were her kisses. Or to be more precise, the kisses that they shared.

He stole them whenever he could. When she knew they were coming, when she expected them, when she asked for them, when she wasn't expecting them, and best of all, when she was yelling at him. All it took for her to quiet down and forgive him for whatever stupid, silly stunt he had pulled was to grab hold of either side of her face and swoop down to claim her lips before she could stop him. And when she tried to weakly push him away and commence with the yelling, he would pull back and pepper her whole face with kisses, trailing down her jaw and to the soft, pale skin of her neck.

And then she would cave. Then she would want to kiss him back with more vigor than he had kissed her with in the first place and the 'argument' was ended in a flurry of frantic kisses.

Sometimes he would kiss her when she wasn't expecting it. While going through the fridge, looking for a drink, she would turn around and he would be there, already an inch from her body and kissing her until neither of them could breathe.

Or when they were talking and she thought he was listening. But what he was really doing was watching her mouth move and thinking about better things her lips should be doing at that moment rather than talking. Like kissing his lips. Remy would grin, and Rogue wouldn't notice, too wrapped up in talking about whatever it was she was going on about. She wouldn't notice him and wouldn't know of his train of thoughts until he was already on her, kissing her and causing her to blink in confusion and say something that was just muffled against his mouth.

Then there were the times when she was expecting it. She waited for it, wanted it, and sometimes asked for it. The two main times when she expected it was when they first saw each other in the morning, and then when they separated at night. She wanted it…well, Remy wasn't sure, but he had the sneaking suspicion that it was all time. And the only times when she would ask for it was usually when she had a headache, or a stomach ache, or was just plain bored and she claimed that his kisses always made her feel better and never failed to entertain.

Reason number two: Their kisses.

One day Remy was walking down the hall of the mansion, about to enter Rogue's room. But when he heard her frustrated voice floating out to him, he stopped to listen. She was talking to someone, obviously, and telling this person how much she disliked him/her. She went on to rip this person down, calling them whatever name she could think of and using a lot of colorful language while she did it. Remy had dimly wondered why this person wasn't defending themselves. Then when his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to quietly ease her door open and take a peak inside, he saw why.

Rogue was talking to none other than—her hairdryer. Or what was left of said hairdryer since it had evidently been swung around by the cord and smashed into the floor until it was nothing but a near unrecognizable mess. Remy wouldn't have even known what it was she was holding, but then she screamed something about hairdryers and flung it to the ground.

At that moment in time, Remy had thought it best for his safety to just quietly back away and then run to a safe area.

He figured that everyone did this every now and then. Sometimes the toaster would break and when Scott would look inside of it, he would say something like, "Now what's wrong with you?" Or, "Why aren't you working today?" And then there was the time when Wolverine had talked to the toaster. He had tried to toast his bagel, but the toaster wasn't having it. It just kept popping it back out and finally Wolverine had had enough and told the toaster-"GRRR!" before viciously slicing it into bits with three adamantium claws.

Whenever someone lost their keys, they always searched around for them saying, "Keys? Where are you, keys?" As if they expected them to come running to them like a dog would.

But the more Remy paid attention, the more he realized that Rogue did this quite often. She too would call for her keys as she searched for them. When someone had used the rest of the tube of toothpaste, she would swear wildly at the tube and scream something about oral hygiene being ridiculous and then go on to curse every dentist in the world.

Once they were eating ice cream and she closed her eyes, savoring the taste before opening them again and looking down at the bowl on the table, proceeded to tell the ice cream how good it tasted.

It was a very strange habit that she had, but Remy found it adorable and so…Reason number three: Because she talked to inanimate objects.

There were three things that Remy wanted in this world. He tried not to ask for much because he didn't feel like he gave enough to earn anything. But there were three things he had to have. One was Rogue, two was Rogue, and three was Rogue.

This was all he needed. Being in love and being loved in return did nothing to solve all of his problems, it didn't protect him from things like sickness and heartbreak and all the dangers of the world. But just as long as he had her, things would always fall into place and everything would be ok. There was a reason for him to live and a reason for him to enjoy living.

When he woke up in the morning, she was the first thing on his mind. When he fell asleep at night, she was the last thing on his mind. Hell, when he was asleep, she was there. Remy woke up grinning from these dreams. Those were always something to look forward to.

No matter what he did he had Rogue on the brain. He was utterly obsessed and he loved every second of it. He was utterly obsessed and he loved every inch of her. Everything from her elbows, to her knees, to her slightly crooked pinky toe, and to those beautiful white bangs that swished and brushed her cheeks when she walked. And her freakishly pale skin and her hair than shone red in the sunlight and the way her fist would ball up when she wanted to hit him…

Remy had to have it.

So he asked her. He said those four words that almost every woman wanted to hear and almost every man dreaded. And he realized when he said it why a lot of men dreaded this. It was a fear that gripped you like nothing else. Putting your heart so far out there, offering it up to either be smashed or snatched up and loved.

So never let it be said that Remy LeBeau isn't a brave man.

He put it all on the line that night. He asked her if she would marry him. And do you know what she said?

Reason number four: Because she said yes.

Before they were married, Remy thought he knew everything there was to know about Rogue. Before they were married, Remy thought he loved Rogue as much as was possible. But not even a week into their union was he proved wrong on both counts.

Waking up next to her was a privilege he had never allowed himself before. Now he was trying to remember what it was like before. He couldn't remember. All he could think about was Rogue. When she slept she didn't look peaceful or serene like most people. When Rogue was asleep, she looked mad. Her brow was creased as though she were in thought and her mouth was in a constant frown. She would breathe quietly and the white bangs that had come to lie across her face in the night would move lightly. Her whole body would curl up into a ball and she would stay in one spot for most of the night and not move at all except for the movement of her bangs that her breath caused and the slow rise and fall of her chest.

The whole thing was mesmerizing. Remy, who usually woke up first, would just lay there and watch her before growing bored. And then there was why he loved waking up with her. Because of when he got to slide over, lay over her, and kiss her awake and then see the love reflected back at him. He was starting to think that Rogue might just love him back as much as he loved her. Or, well, maybe almost as much as he loved her.

Their days were filled with love making, more love making, even more love making, and then a whole lot more love making. Also in the day (squeezed in between all the bouts of love making) their days consisted of laughter, unexpected kisses, Remy's heart racing wildly, Rogue talking to inanimate objects, fights that ended in passionate kisses (which nowadays ended in passionate love making), and both Remy and Rogue's determination to out-love one another.

Which was the reason for number five. Remy grinned every time he thought about it, and predictably, his heart thundered.

Reason number five: Because she loved him back.