Chapter 1: Invitation to Dinner

             She'd stared at the email several times.  She'd deleted it, but gone back to her trash can and restored the email back to where it had belonged, in the inbox.  She'd read it and reread it and had thought it over in her mind so many times.  She'd deleted it several times, and brought it back into the inbox, reading it again.

             Rogue had repeated this process several times during the day.  The words in the email were now stuck in her head.

***********************************Email Start***************************************

Rogue,

You haven't told him yet, have you?  You know you want to be with me, why are you wasting time with that southern wanker, why not have some respect for yourself – and be mines.

- Jared.

***********************************Email End***************************************

             She wasn't sure how to reply to it really, and the email – thankfully – didn't seem to warrant a reply.  She'd half expected Jared to have emailed again – asking why she was seemingly ignoring him, or to give her more reasons to ditch Remy LeBeau – her one true love – and be with him instead.

             Rogue hated to admit how tempted she was.  Jared could offer something Remy couldn't – the sense of touch.  And even despite her infatuation and what she felt was undying love for Remy, she could not deny the small part of herself that wanted to be with Jared, just to know how it would feel to be with him, how he would treat her, and how his lips would feel against her own.

             Some way to spend your birthday, Rogue thought to herself with a soft melancholy sigh, she logged out of her email account and sat at the computer for a moment, unsure of what to do.

             Rogue had been up since seven am, the first thing she'd done when she'd got online had been to email Kitty pleading for advice or at least a friendly word.  She'd since received none, it had been the thing that had gotten her into the cycle of rereading the email from Jared.  She'd been waiting eagerly for Kitty's reply, and found distraction in the email from him.

             Rogue had tried calling Kitty's cellular phone, but got no answer, and when she'd called the mansion to see if she could get a hold of Kitty from there, no one had answered.  Rogue didn't know Kitty's home phone number in Illinois, and was now on the brink of giving up hope completely she'd get to talk to her friend.

             It seemed that Kitty probably should have called Rogue to say Happy birthday, or at least emailed to say so.  But nothing, no one had wished her a happy birthday today, not even Remy when she'd passed him in the hall.

             It had been such a fleeting glance they'd given each other, he was strangely quiet, all he'd done was look at her in a very aloof and distant way, and had gone before Rogue had a chance to ask him if he was alright.  He had not taken the night before well it seemed, and was still a little upset.

             He'll get over it, she thought to herself in concern, she chewed on the tip of a pencil absently, looking at the computer monitor. 

             She had to ask herself again and again in her head why she'd refused to take the Promise Ring from Remy.  That beautiful Emerald and Diamond ring set in white gold that he'd offered with promises of marriage some day, of commitment.  Every time she asked herself why she'd refused his offer, she had to remind herself of the reasons, it wasn't fair to him, she had no right to be in a committed relationship if she was having thoughts about being with someone else – no matter how minor those thoughts were.

             "Rogue."

             Rogue snapped to attention when a very tall and handsome man stepped into the room, his eyes grass green, his hair sandy-red, and his jaw strong, Sean Cassidy.  One of the research assistants of Moira MacTaggert, and also a part time teacher by all accounts, as Rogue had learned. 

             "Yes, Sean?" Rogue blinked a little, she pursed her lips together.

             "There's a very elegant dinner tonight that we all have to attend, in Edinburgh," he stated.

             "Why do I have to attend?"

             "To show your support for Mutant Research, of course," Sean grinned, he put a box down, "when I informed your Professor X of the dinner, he had this sent, he says he hopes it fits you," Sean explained, his broad Irish accent gave him more appeal than Rogue thought was possible. 

             Rogue sighed, "do I have to go?"

             "I'm afraid so, but don't worry, it's not going to be for long."

             Rogue held the large long box, "Is Remy going?"

             "He's obligated," Sean assured, "why?  Does his going bother you?"

             Rogue looked down, "I…uhm…no."

             Sean pulled up a nearby chair, "Rogue, you know I'm also a counsellor, and if you need to talk, I am here…" he sat down slowly.

"If I talk to you you're going to tell the Professor and make matters worse," Rogue stated, knowing all too well how the Professor kept in contact with the research centre on a regular basis.

"Anything you say to me will be held in the strictest confidence, lass, I assure you of that," Sean promised, "now…tell me what's going on?  I can see something is bothering you – I can see it's also bothering young Remy, he's been in a foul mood today and distracted…and I definately don't have to be Xavier to know you two are havin' some sort of little thing going on."

             Rogue repeated his words, "little thing?" she asked.

             "A little romance."

             "It's more than a little romance, Sean," Rogue sighed, "the guy just basically more or less proposed to me last night…"

             "He did?" Sean seemed surprised.

             Rogue nodded, looking away distantly, "I told him no."

             "You don't feel the same way he does?"

             "I do…god its so strong I'd die for him, and already tried to once before," Rogue admitted, feeling flustered, "but there's something holding me back…" she shrugged, "I can't even tell you what it is," she admitted.

             Sean paused for thought, then looked at her, his eyes boring into her, "If something is holding you back, you need to beat it, you need to confront it, and face your demons, and then you'll be able to move forward."

             Rogue looked at him, "thanks…I think I understand," she nodded.

             Sean smiled, "any time.  Remember and be ready for seven."

             Remy LeBeau pulled himself up and down in sit ups, his hair soaked in sweat, his muscles tense and beginning to ache with strain.  He'd been without a cigarette since midnight, and it was beginning to get to him.  The pain of the exercise was the only thing that seemed to take his mind off of the craving.

             "Remy?"

             Remy was doing his sit ups on the floor of the bedroom he was staying in at the research centre, and when Rogue entered – without knocking – he did not stop, he simply continued, letting the sweat pour off of him, and the muscles feel the strain even more.  "Oui," he said, a pant more than a voice.

             "I just…I wanted to see what you were doing is all…" Rogue was standing at the doorframe, her shoulder against the threshold, hands in the pocket of her black jeans.

             "What does it look like I'm doing," he felt such anger with her he'd rarely felt since having the pleasure of meeting her.  His thoughts were ablaze with fury. 

She's put me through some crap since I've known her, but this really crosses the line, he thought dully, continuing to pull himself up and let himself drop with the sit ups.  He forced his anger to the exercise, hoping it'd give him more stamina.

Rogue watched him, all he was wearing was a pair of black shorts, the rest of his body gleaming in sweat, his hair dripping wet, plastered to his face.  He was unshaven, and he looked exhausted.  She wondered if he'd slept – he'd missed a full nights sleep on Saturday night when she'd taken a panic attack and he'd watched over her all night.

"You look like shit, Remy," Rogue commented after a time.

"Yes, I do, thank you," he retorted, he stopped doing sit ups and rolled over onto his stomach, then forced himself up to push-ups.

Rogue had never really seen Remy exercise before – at least, not like this.  She'd seen him work out in the danger room, even do some fighting practice with Wolverine, but this…this seemed like he was trying to burn off some steam.

"Are you going tonight?" Rogue asked, "to the dinner, I mean."

"I have to," Remy responded breathless, continuing with his push-ups.

"Will you stop that?  You're gonna do yourself an injury."

Remy got up and gave a nonchalant shrug, "would you care if I did."

"What?  Remy, what the fuck are you talking about, of course I would care," she sighed, "Look, just because last night I didn't take the—"

"Don't even talk about it to me, as far as I'm concerned it didn't happen," he stated, "that's how you want it, isn't it?" he asked.

Rogue looked at him, little hurt, but she forced off the feeling, she walked over slowly, "nothing has changed, that's what I said.  Nothing.  I still love you…you still love me…" she stated.

Remy snorted a little, looking away.

"I know I hurt you…" Rogue admitted, she reached up, placing her gloved hand on his cheek and turning his face so he'd look at her, "and it's not that I don't want to be with you, I do," she said, "I just need time…commitment is a big step…and…I just don't want to jump into anything that's gonna throw Xavier into an uproar," she lied.

Remy looked at her, "is that what this is about?  You refused 'cause you're 'fraid of what that baldy old prude has to say about it?"

"Kind of," Rogue sighed, "You know he could make things VERY miserable for us if we rushed things…I realise that now."

Remy began to realise she was right, and somehow, he began to wonder if maybe this was the reason she'd been so distracted lately, was she worried Professor Xavier was going to try and split them up again? 

Rogue smiled a little, seeing the scowl in his face soften, "be my date for dinner?"

Remy thought this over for some moments, he didn't have a choice in going, he knew that.  He simply HAD to be there.  But Rogue's asking made it all the more tempting.  "I'd love to," he said softly, still faintly the wounds of her rejection of his promise ring slightly smarting.

Rogue brushed her thumb against his cheek, "smile for me, Sugar," she murmured.

He gave a wan smile.

"A real one," Rogue stated.

He faked a massive grin, his white teeth gleaming, lips pulled back so far his gums showed.

"Now you're just scaring me," Rogue made a face.

             Remy smirked a little, slightly amused by her expression.

             "That's the one," Rogue gave a soft laugh, she headed for the door, realising she should start getting ready for dinner.

             "Chere?"

             Rogue stopped and turned back towards him.

             "You…are going to wear the ring one day, right?"

             "I'll think about it."

             "Don't tease me like that."
             Rogue hadn't been teasing, but she looked at him, "I'll wear it when I deserve it," she stated, "now go take a shower, you smell like that Curry Sean left in the fridge three days ago," she smirked, and left the room.

             Remy looked at her, wondering why she thought she didn't deserve it.  His thoughts that maybe Xavier might be the problem beginning to vanish completely.  No, something else was going on, now he knew for sure.