EDIT (FEBRURAY, 18TH, 2015): Oh, hello for my vistors. For you who just arrived here, I'd like to say good reading ^^Since I'm almost sure the ones who already follow this story won't see this warning, I'll be posting something else in my new chapter (which is the 12th)
What I have to say is that this fanfiction is rather old, and I had abandoned it (temporarily) for a lot of matters. Recently, I decided to reread it just for fun and not only I saw some nice reviewers who supported me even with my (quite half-baked) writing talent, but a story I still could keep on creating (I just needed to fix some things here and there, of course).
With this idea in mind, I'd like to say that the story you are about to read is edited and follows a better sense of grammar, which wasn't that much developed before. I still am open to all constructive criticism and would love to know your opinions about the matter. (If anyone wishes to beta read for me, I'd be grateful for the rest of my life).
So, this is it!
(For now I'll be re-reading and correcting all the chapters, before writing a new one - this will help me to get back in track with the fanfiction and keep on writing the story where I left. Thank you for passing by and enjoy !)
Hey! So, I'm quite happy 'bout doing a Romy fanfic! And please ignore my English mistakes, now that it's not my native language!
I just hope you like it, and Review PLEASE, if you like it I want to know it, since reviewing an author's work makes them feel more confident!
Chapter 1 - Introduction
(of the most unlikely couple)
Rogue looked at her breakfast plate and felt her stomach getting queasy. Her meal consisted of two buttered toasts, a fried egg (made by Scott) and a fresh orange juice.
She was the only one feeling that sick, and Logan's training session the day before was the one to blame. During said training, the Southern girl was the only one of the whole team caught by an iron arm and got mercilessly shaken by it as if she was a kid's toy and that stupid thing was a child's hand.
She only ate the egg, and took fast sips of her juice to make the food go down her stomach before it could even complain. When nobody was looking, the pale skinned girl got up from her chair, took her backpack and ran from the kitchen.
The corridor was empty and just like the rest of the mansion. Most of the X-men students were gathering at the room she just left, eating breakfast before going to school. Or college, like Scott and Jean - both got a nice scholarship in a college nearby, but decided to live at the mansion since it didn't take them much long to reach it by car. They thought about the living there, but this idea quickly faded thanks to the mutant problem they were now obliged to face.
To Rogue, having them living under the same roof with that lovey-dovey bullshit was too much when they could have been doing it somewhere else, away from her sight.
It was hard to deal with them, and she couldn't hold it for much longer.
The worst part was how much she kept it to herself – of course telling to someone else was no option. She'd never admit to anyone that the reason she couldn't stand the idea of Jean and Scott being together was because she still had feelings for him.
For a long time, the lonely mutant tried to avoid them, but her heart still beat faster when he approached her or when he spoke to her. It wasn't something she could control.
As she walked down the visit room and opened the glass door to get out of the mansion, a red car appeared by her side and a tall, handsome man, wearing red sunglasses called her name from the driver's seat.
"Hey, Rogue. Want a ride to school?" Scott asked with a charming, friendly smile. He's always been kind with everyone around him, so she dismissed the action.
Her eyes stared at him and then at the beautiful redhead sitting by his side on the passenger's seat.
Of course Jean would be there…
And just like Scott, she had a big smile on her face, as if supporting his offer. The pale skinned girl suddenly felt guilt fill her chest as she stared at the woman right in front of her. She knew she never really liked Jean Grey, mostly thanks to how she behaved: always acting so perfect and "praiseworthy" (Rogue tried not to roll her eyes at that). But she knew Jean never had anything against her (besides the fact that Rogue still had a soft spot for Scott, which the goth was pretty sure the telepath was aware of).
The redhead always tried to be friendly towards her, but it was Rogue herself who never felt too comfortable around Grey.
"Are you sure?" the dark haired asked with a raised eyebrow as she felt hesitant on accepting their offer.
"But of course, your school isn't far from college," Jean answered.
"All right then," Rogue murmured taking a place at the back seat. Her face turned sideways as she pretended not to notice her leader's hand over his girlfriend's leg.
The ride was quick (Rogue thanked God for that) although Jean and Scott still tried to have a quick conversation with her. She answered politely to all of their questions and got out of the car as fast as she could once they reached her destination.
Thanking for the ride, her feet made their way to the inside of Bayville High School. Reaching the entrance door, eyes started to fall on her white striped hair and dark-colored clothes.
People noticed straight away, as she walked nearby, who she was... or better, what she was.
Rogue sensed anger, fear and hate, but decided to ignore them like she always did, aware that caring about it wouldn't help anything.
Many of these people would always hate her, and Scott, and Kitty, and Kurt, and Logan. She knew it wouldn't matter how many lives they saved, how many people they protected… there would always be those who would never understand them.
Making her way to her locker, Rogue's gloved hand unlocked it calmly. In the end, Scott's ride (and her "skipping" breakfast) helped her to arrive school earlier than usual, which was a good thing. It helped her to rest a little bit in the classroom without hearing Kurt's annoying teleport noises, or the other X-men's noisy conversations.
She sat at her usual spot near the window and waited for the room to fill with students.
Even if she complained day and night about her teammates' inability to stay quiet for more than one minute (God, she spent too much time with Logan sometimes), Rogue felt lonely as she noticed she was the only mutant in Bayville High School who would graduate this year. She didn't like the idea of doing so between "normal" people, when all of them didn't have any kind of good feelings towards her. Not that she had some towards them as well, but the only thing she wanted was respect.
After teenagers filled the classroom, the teacher arrived two minutes later, closing the door and giving "Good Morning" to his students with a suspicious wink followed by a smile. And that's when everybody sensed what was coming: surprise test.
A feeling of relief for doing all the homework assigned invaded Rogue's chest as she was grateful for not sharing the same regretful sighs half of her class gave at the moment.
Following her surprise test and some other classes, Rogue made her way to the cafeteria. An apple and a bottle of water were the only thing she chose as a meal. The sick sensation still seemed to fill her stomach and the last thing she wanted was to throw up all of her lunch in front of everyone in the cafeteria. Yet, she also didn't want to faint of hunger.
"Hey, Rogue!" an olive-skinned, short girl waving at her a few feet away interrupted her thoughts. Amara sat on a table nearby with Kitty, Kurt, Tabitha (who surprisingly decided to come to school today) and some of the younger X-men students.
Her lean figure made its way to Amara's table as she felt relieved for finally finding familiar (and friendly) faces around the school.
Rogue wasn't the social type, she knew. She liked to be alone with her own thoughts, reading a book or writing in her journal, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy being around people who liked her once in a while.
"Sooo– anyone called you to the Spring Ball already?" Kitty asked Amara with a nudge, eager to know her answer.
Amara looked at Kitty from the corner of her eyes as she played with the food over her tray and blushed. She avoided her friend's stare, but smiled shyly.
"I'll take this as a happy yes!" Kitty exclaimed and the Brazilian smiled even more. "And who's the lucky guy?"
"A boy with a locker near mine," Amara answered, still seeming interested on curling her poorly-cooked spaghetti around her fork.
"And what's his name, girl? C'mon! Tell us, will you?" Tabitha suddenly asked, more enthusiastic than Kitty herself. Amara changed her attention from the food in front of her to the lock of straight, silky hair she wrapped around her index finger. "It's Jim."
"Oh, I know him, I know him!" Kitty exclaimed waving her small hand. "He's that guy from the football team, isn't he?"
Rogue remembered him: a blond, tall, olive skinned senior student. Duncan's friend, but one of the only people around school who didn't seem to view mutants as a threat. He actually admitted he found it "cool" to have powers. She remembered one day when he asked for her help in a math problem. It was quite a surprise when she noticed how comfortable he seemed being around her. He gave her a big bright smile when he finally understood the resolution of the equation she wrote down on his paper and she had an impression he sounded kind and… rather innocent.
"He's a nice guy," Rogue told them taking a sip from her bottle of water.
Everyone at the table looked at her in surprise.
"How do you know that?" Kurt asked; his blue, hologram eyes widening.
Rogue shrugged, "He's from mah Math classes, and he didn't seem worried about, well, ya know."
Tabitha put her hand over Amara's shoulders and lightly shook her with happiness. "I knew it! I've always knew you would chose a great guy for you! I'm so proud, and he's such a hottie. You're so lucky!"
Amara blushed even more, trying to find a way to breath properly as Tabitha gave her a tight hug. "Thanks, I guess," she paused for a minute and then asked Kitty, "What about you Kitty? How's the Lance thing going?"
She smiled, and answered with "He asked me today." Unlike her friend, Kitty didn't feel her cheeks blush, but sounded excited for being asked about the matter.
Each person at that table seemed happy about the idea of a ball. Girls who still weren't senior were even happier as some were asked to the prom that would take place in April.
Rogue rolled her eyes, and the fact that she wouldn't be able to go to any of these events caught her a bit uneasy. She ignored that feeling straight away. A small part of her mind wanted to be part of that conversation, but once again, she chose to ignore it.
Even with the mutant discrimination haunting all the X-men at school, some of them were still invited by non-mutants to important events and graduating parties. Yet, Rogue seemed to be out of question.
At first, many colleagues tried to invite her to those parties, and she would almost accept it, but she knew it better.
The idea of repeating what happened in that concert months ago was what haunted her more than anything. After the Apocalypse incident, where she was the one responsible for giving him the life energy of everyone she touched, Rogue was hopeful that all of those people inside her head would have been gone along with that disgusting man. For some time it seemed like that, but it didn't last long. Those memories came back to haunt her, those personalities and those thoughts (the bad and the good ones) came back. Everyone she absorbed for Apocalypse still was there, hidden inside her head. Waiting for the right time to strike and take over her.
Rogue wouldn't risk going to places with too much innocent people when this possibility was so big.
So she closed herself even more, she avoided everyone who wasn't an X-man or who wasn't much afraid of her powers (that Jim guy included). Her eyes would stare threateningly at anyone who appeared with the intention of calling her to a party or any other kind of social-interaction event. And as time went by, they all stopped, and she was finally left alone.
"And what about you?" Tabitha suddenly asked, looking at her with a malicious glare.
Rogue seemed to wake up from her own thoughts and felt surprise at the fact that such question was directed at her.
She ignored the urge to laugh.
Giving a quick sarcastic laugh was enough as the pale-skinned mutant answered. "Ah don't think you remember what mah powers are, do you, Tabitha?" then she rose from the table and walked away with tray in hands.
As she watched her goth colleague leave, Tabitha couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, looking back at her friends in a shocked expression. "What the hell is wrong with her?" she asked.
Kitty sighed, feeling irritation fill her chest, "It's the touching thing, Tabitha." Her thoughts went back to all of those nights with a crying Rogue waking up from nightmares and those days where the short, skinny girl would find her ex-roommate curled up in the corner of their room trying desperately to calm herself down. It would happen every time she absorbed someone new.
Kitty cared a lot about Rogue – she knew that deep inside same person viewed her as a sister.
They fought many times, of course, but the brunette learned how to deal with her friend, and both started to share a strong bond.
And Kitty Pryde knew that Rogue wasn't really interested on sitting with them at lunch (maybe she wanted to a little bit, but probably because of the mutant problem they had to deal with, and even Rogue wasn't able to stand these people for much long by herself) so she used Tabitha's ridiculous question as an excuse to go away.
Yet, Kitty was sure her friend felt hurt about that question – even if they managed to get Rogue to go to one of these parties, the brunette was sure her friend wouldn't be feeling comfortable there.
Parties and balls were made for social-interaction, and Rogue decided to avoid them a long time ago (she also didn't like it, as a matter of fact).
Rahne, who's been watching the whole conversation quietly while drinking her soda, asked. "Do you guys think someone would ask Rogue to the ball?"
Roberto dropped his fork over his empty plate and replied with his mouth still full. "Actually, if Rogue wasn't that bothered about this 'touching' thing, I would have asked her out," his confidence easily visible.
Rahne looked at him, unease by his statement, letting out a skeptic laugh, "Oh, really?" Bobby's voice followed hers and he seemed way more upset about Roberto's declaration than the wolf mutant herself. He cleared his throat when noticing how high pitched his voice came out and decided to stay quiet. His hand took the fork in front of him once again and he decided to eat that disgusting thing the canteen woman called food without saying anything else.
"But of course I would!" Roberto exclaimed and ignored Bobby's sarcastic laugh. "In fact, I'm not the only one who would. You know, there was this guy I knew before the mutant thing became public, and he told me he found Rogue very attractive and wanted to ask her out. But I guess he didn't because… well, he got kinda insecure when he saw how she treated people."
"You mean Rogue actually scared him even before he could ask her out properly?" Kurt questioned raising one of his eyebrows, a hint of pride in his voice. She was his sister in a way and he just didn't want a random guy dating her. He knew she deserved better then Roberto's ex-friend.
Said boy shrugged and answered, "Well, yeah. Kinda, I guess," his voice muffled by the food inside his mouth. Rahne sighed at that and put her hand over her forehead, rolling her eyes.
"Alright, alright! I got it, guys, I got it!" Tabitha suddenly shouted raising her hands in a defeated gesture, "Rogue's not the touching type. Okay. But I asked her that because I totally thought someone would ask her out!"
"Oh," Kitty cleared her throat with an annoyed expression on her face. She felt like this conversation was the same as invading her friend's privacy, and she knew how fragile this matter was to Rogue. "Do you have someone else in mind then, Tabitha? Besides Roberto's scared friend, I mean?" A bit of curiosity, however, took over and she couldn't help but ask.
"Actually," Tabitha gave her a half-smile and narrowed her eyes as she put both elbows over the table. "I do have someone in mind," her body inclined towards her junior friend.
Said girl widened her sapphire-blue eyes and frowned afterward, "Who? I mean, almost everyone at this school, like, hate us. And the ones who don't already have a pair!" To emphasize her point, the short girl pointed at the olive-skinned teenager by her side.
Tabitha's smile increased and she blinked a few times as all of the X-Men around the table got silent, curiosity took over them.
The blonde clearly liked the attention.
She narrowed her baby-blue eyes one more time and lowered her head as if telling a top-secret information. "He's not from our school..." her index finger touched the tip of her chin as she looked up in a thoughtful expression. "Actually, I'm pretty sure he's much older than us."
Bobby, who tried to hide his curiosity by staring at his food tray, blinked several times. His eyes focused on Tabitha and his head tried to understand the information he just heard.
Kurt and Kitty were in a similar situation, both with their jaws slightly dropped and eyes somewhat widened.
"And, man," Tabitha continued, the whispering completely gone from her voice by now, "That guy is hot. He's that tall, tan-skinned guy who loves to explode cards on people's asses and has a cool accent."
Kitty's and Kurt's eyes widened even more and both exclaimed together in a shocked voice, "Gambit?!"
Tabitha smiled and snapped her fingers in a triumphant gesture. "Yup! That's him! The metal staff guy!" Bending her arms behind her head, the short-haired blonde rested both of her feet over the table, ignoring Bobby's angry protests about her "repulsive dirty shoes" touching his food, and rested her back over the chair.
"You mean the guy who tried to kill us several times?" Kitty asked indignantly, eyes narrowing as she gave Tabitha a cold glare.
"Uh, yeah," the mutant with explosive tendencies answered, rolling her eyes at the same time.
"The same guy who is part of the Acolytes?" that time it was Kurt who asked, his expression almost the same as Kitty's.
"The same guy who tricked and kidnapped Rogue?"
"And the same guy who's been working for Magneto countless times to help him destroy the word?"
"Yup, yup, aaaand yup," Tabitha answered without changing her position over her chair, and smiled triumphantly. Some seconds passed before her grin disappeared and her feet finally left the table. "And c'mon guys, Magneto doesn't want to destroy the whole word. Just the people who hate us." Kurt and Kitty frowned and their jaws dropped at the statement. "Besides, don't you think it's strange that this Gambit guy chose to kidnap Rogue of all the people he knew?"
Kitty and Kurt stared at each other, jaws still dropped and faces expressing how shocked they still were by Tabitha's senseless talking. Bobby simply rolled his eyes and forced himself to eat more of the food over his plate to keep himself from saying something he'd regret.
"Well, I admit it, he's very cool," Rahne's voice broke the silence and all eyes moved towards her. She shrugged and kept on eating her spaghetti. Roberto stared at the redhead by his side with an upset expression. "You think so?"
"Are all of you guys, like, crazy?" Kitty suddenly blurted, her arms shaking in the air as she exclaimed. "He's a freaking thief! He tried to get rid of us countless times! What are you even talking about?"
"Well, yeah, but he likes Rogue," Tabitha shrugged.
"How are you so sure of that, Tabitha?" Kitty asked. Her voice suddenly losing all the patience she had.
The blonde smiled, "I told you guys already! Why would he choose to kidnap Rogue of all the people he knew? Besides," her voice changed into whispers one more time. "The little times I saw these two together, he couldn't take his eyes off of her."
Everyone stared at her in silence, trying to think about the idea of a man like Gambit liking someone like Rogue.
(EDIT: 2ND PART) Well, guys. That's it. ^^ I know it's not perfect and all, but I'm sure it's better than the previous text.
Since I'm editing each chapter slowly I'll always be leaving some kind of warning at the beginning of each chapter so you'll know if I already edited it or not.