It was just past four in the morning and the room was still. The drapes were drawn over the window, making it completely dark, except for the glow of the alarm clock against the wall and ceiling. Crickets could be heard, faintly, outside but seemed to be getting louder and louder as they joined the others chorus. The room was cold. Only the sound of deep, calm breathing could be heard and that breathing was coming from Rogue, who was fast asleep.
Gambit inwardly sighed. He hadn't been able to sleep the past several nights, due to his active brain. He was tired, but his mind refused to shut off. Since this happened, he had turned to the only thing that would tire him out enough for a nap. Running.
Sitting up, he slipped out of bed and walked over to the dresser where he took out a pair of sweat pants and slid them on. Tying his shoes on his feet, he walked over to the nightstand and opened the drawer. Reaching inside, he quietly took the iPod Shuffle and clipped it on his waistband. He paused when he heard a deep breath and movement, but looked to see Rogue was simply rolling over on her left side, facing him.
He could see her face from the green glow of the alarm clock's digital screen. Smiling, he put the ear buds in his ears before he headed out of the room and made his way to the back of the mansion. When he made it outside, he took in a breath of the warm air. He could smell the grass and hear the crickets even more so than before. With that last thought, he turned the iPod on and started to run.
Rogue's taste in music was much different from his, but he wasn't really paying attention to the lyrics. The beat was keeping him going as he let his mind drift off and think about the things that had been eating at him.
Looking up at the sky, he could see thousands of stars winking at him as he continued to run. The large trees blocked his view every now and again and a few clouds made their way across the sky. It was a beautiful night.
Gambit wasn't sure how long he had run. It was probably fifteen after when he started and he had cycled through about seven songs, so it had to be close to five now. Stopping, he walked around for a few moments to catch his breath before he started to make his way back. Another seven or so songs passed and he turned the iPod off as he stepped onto the patio. Taking the ear buds out, he walked inside and locked the door behind him as he worked on catching his breath. His sweat made the chill that much more intense. After rehydrating himself, he made his way back upstairs to the bedroom. He needed a shower and try to catch a few winks before their day began.
As he quietly opened the door and took the iPod off of his waist band, he noticed the drapes had been pulled back. "Where'd you run off to?" He heard Rogue ask quietly.
He could see her sitting in bed with her knees up under the covers, hugging them. Smiling, he walked over and placed her iPod on the nightstand before turning to her.
"Jus' needed to run." He answered her question as he walked over to the dresser. "Got a lot on m' mind. Can't sleep."
As he grabbed some clean clothes, he heard Rogue get out of bed and make her way over to him. "What ya thinkin' about?" She asked, wrapping her arms around him but suddenly pulling away due to his sweat-soaked body.
Gambit chuckled as he turned around to face her. "Li'l bit o' everyt'in'." He said. "Mos'ly you."
"Ah see." Rogue said, taking a step closer and running her hands through his sweaty hair. "How about we get ya cleaned up?"
Without letting him answer, Rogue took his hand and lead him into the bathroom where she turned the light on before she started up the shower. Turning to face him, Rogue walked up and untied his sweat pants before she slid out of her nightgown. She slowly made her way into the shower.
He smiled when she disappeared behind the curtain. Stripping from his pants, he stepped inside the shower where he was immediately met with a kiss. Instinctively, he placed his hands on either side of her waist and pulled her close. She pulled away and smiled as she reached for the shampoo. Lathering it in her hands, she proceeded to wash his hair before she moved to the conditioner. Gambit knew that this was just an innocent shower and that Rogue wasn't looking for any hot, steamy sex. At least, not now.
When she had finished with the body wash, she positioned him under the shower head and watched as it all slid down. Her smile was so warm and loving that he couldn't help but smile back. It was infectious.
Leaning in, he kissed her forehead before he turned the water off. "I'm tired." He said, opening the curtain.
Grabbing the towel, he held it open for Rogue as she stepped out on to the bath mat. Wrapping it around her, Gambit moved in and hugged her. He felt her shiver from the stagnant cool air of the bedroom. It was making him cold, but he didn't mind it after he had been so hot from running. Breaking the hug, Rogue opened the towel and wrapped Gambit in it as she led him over to the bed.
"Try'n get some rest, sugah." Rogue said, turning the sheets down for him.
Sliding under the sheets, Gambit propped himself up on his right elbow. "You gonna join me?" He asked, watching Rogue for a moment.
"Ah can if ya want me to." She said.
"I do." He said, pulling the sheets down.
As she dropped the towel, he watched her climb in. Moving in close, Gambit wrapped his left arm around her and lied his head down, closing his eyes. He suddenly felt fingers lightly combing through his hair. Opening his eyes, he smiled at Rogue before he closed his eyes, once again. His mind suddenly cleared and sleep washed him up and took him away.
He suddenly opened his eyes and closed them quickly, due to the blinding sunlight that filled the room. Trying again, he saw Rogue was leaning against her hand, propped up on her left side watching him with a smile.
He stayed where he was and smiled back. "What time is it?" He asked, seeing her look over his shoulder.
"About ten" She said, softly, reaching out and placing her hand on the side of his face. "Ya slept hard, hun."
Her thumbs played over the apples of his cheeks for a moment before he propped himself up and moved in closer to her. "Guess I needed it." He said, leaning in and kissing her.
A knock on the door broke their moment. He saw Rogue shake her head and roll her eyes.
"They've been by four times now." She said.
"What do dey care?" He asked, kissing her neck.
Rogue giggled as she pushed him away, softly. "We really should get up." She said, getting out of the bed.
He noticed she was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. "No fair. Y' got dressed." He said, seeing her smile back at him.
"Ah got cold." She said, opening the top drawer of the dresser and pulling some clothes out for the both of them. "And ya certainly weren't gonna do anything about that."
"Well, I could've." Gambit said, suggestively, getting out of bed and walking over to take the clothes from her. "Still could."
"Nuh uh." Rogue said, putting her finger up and wagging it in front of his face. "Ya had ya chance. It's time ta get this day started. Ah'm way behind as it is."
"No one said y' had to stay wit' me." He said, getting dressed.
"Ah know." She said, watching him. "But ah wanted to."
"Glad y' did." He said, slipping his shirt on.
"Hurry up, ah'm hungry and ah'm sure everyone's done eattin'." She said, trying to light a fire underneath him.
When he finally got dressed, they headed out and towards the kitchen. Making their way down the stairs, Rogue slid her hand in his and interlocked their fingers. He glanced at her and saw that she was smiling slightly, so he gave her hand a light squeeze. Her bright eyes found his and she smiled wider.
When they walked into the kitchen, they saw several of the students at the table and some eating at the bar. Storm was pouring herself some coffee when she looked up at them as they entered. She smiled before placing the coffee pot back on the burner.
"It is good to see you decided to get out of bed today." Storm said, stirring in some crème.
Gambit broke away from Rogue's hand and made his way to the cupboard, beside Storm, where he grabbed a mug. He reached for the coffee pot and noticed it was empty.
"Harsh." He said, seeing Storm smile.
"You should have gotten up earlier." She said, making her way toward the door that lead to the patio.
Shrugging, Gambit started up another pot and grabbed an apple as he waited for it to brew. He sat and watched Rogue as she got herself some breakfast and hopped up on a stool at the bar beside one of the younger students. The boy looked at her and she winked at him, making him smile as he finished his cereal.
When the coffee had finished, Gambit poured himself a cup and turned to Rogue, gesturing if she wanted some coffee. She shook her head, so he took a sip. He savored the rich, bold taste before swallowing and taking another sip.
Pausing for his next sip, Gambit watched Rogue comb the young boy's hair. It had been a mess from sleeping and she tried to tame it with her fingers. He thought about her doing that to him earlier this morning after their shower.
"Anybody home?" Gambit heard Bobby ask as he added a shove with his elbow.
"Jus' t'inkin'." Gambit said, taking another sip.
"I've seen you running at strange times, man." He said. "That's not normal, even for you."
"Can't sleep." He said, looking at Bobby. "Got a bit o' insomnia."
"Anything you wanna talk about?" Bobby asked.
"What does it matter?" Gambit asked. "No one ever asked 'bout my problems before. Why start now?"
It was obvious he was annoyed with Iceman interrogating him. "Whoa, alright." Bobby said, putting his hands up. "Someone put on their cranky pants this morning, huh?"
Rogue chuckled as she winked at Gambit who took another sip of coffee. When Bobby excused himself from the kitchen, Rogue got up and went beside Gambit. She kept a smile on her face and she lightly bumped him with her right hip.
"What's wrong?" She asked. "You can tell me."
Gambit stayed quiet, looking down at his coffee. "Nothin' life threatinin'. Jus' life changin'." He said, looking at Rogue.
Rogue put her hand up as in defense. "Alright. Ah won't pry." She said, leaning in and kissing his cheek. "See you later, sugah."
Gambit looked at the boy Rogue had sat beside. He smiled at Gambit and he couldn't help but smile back. The boy had just discovered his mutant abilities and had accidentally killed his parents. They had taken him in, along with his six-year-old sister. They were good kids.
"Wha'ch you got planned today?" Gambit asked the boy as he hopped up on the counter.
The boy shrugged. "I don't know." He said, looking down at his cereal. "I'm suppose to be training. Again."
"No, no, no." Gambit said, shaking his head. "It's Saturday. Kids should be playin'. I'm goin' to have a chat wit' someone 'about dis."
The boy chuckled as he finished his last bite. Hopping off the bar stool, he put his bowl in the sink and headed out of the kitchen. Hopping off the counter, Gambit noticed the dishes piled up. Heading over to the fridge, he looked for the name of the student in charge of dishes for that day.
"Lazy kids." He said quietly as he heard giggling coming in from outside.
Turning, he saw the girl sitting with some friends on the bench outside. They stood and headed inside the kitchen, still giggling at something. When they saw Gambit, they stopped and smiled as they greeted him.
"Good morning, Mr. LeBeau." They said.
"G'mornin' girls." He said, placing his hands on his hips as they started to walk off. "Hey, where you goin'?"
They stopped and the girl knew he was talking to her. "I promise to get them done." She said.
"Well, you can get dem done now." He said with a smile, motioning for her to come over to him. "Get it over wit' now an' you won't have to do a boat-load later."
"Please, Mr. LeBeau, let me skip it this morning." She plead.
Gambit kept smiling at her attempts to charm him. "Girl, you can't charm de charmer. Now hop to it."
The girl rolled her eyes and said bye to her friends as she headed over and started on the dishes. "This is so unfair." She said, mumbling to herself.
"We got rules 'round here an' you know 'em." He said, grabbing another apple.
The girl looked over her shoulder and sighed. "I know." She said, scrubbing a plate of dried eggs and syrup.
"You know," Gambit said, walking up beside her. "Your attempt to charm me was adorable. Almost went for it out o' pity."
The girl blushed. "Well, I can try can't I?" She asked, smiling at him.
When she finally finished the dishes and cleaned the counters, Gambit gave her the okay to go on with her Saturday. He chuckled as he turned and headed for the pool, but was intercepted by Jean.
"Gambit, I need you to come with me." She said, in a serious manner as they made their way down the hall. "I need your help with a mission."
"Let me go get my gear an'-"
"You don't need to change. We have to play the part of civilians." Jean said, interrupting him.
Gambit knew something was up, but he played along. He was feeling playful.
Following her into the garage, they got into one of their large vans and headed out on this 'mission'.
"So, where we really goin'?" Gambit asked.
Jean looked at him and smiled. "You're the lucky one to come with me to sock up our pantry." She said.
Chuckling, Gambit shook his head. "Well, could be worse t'ings." He said as they made their way on to the highway.
When they reached the store, they got out and headed inside. Gambit made sure to keep his sunglasses on as they made their way down the aisles. He stayed quite as he gathered the items from the list and placed them into the cart he was pushing.
"I sense something bothering you." Jean said.
"You know you shouldn' be pryin'." Gambit said, looking at her.
"I usually can't, but you're an open book today." Jean said. "Don't worry, I've kept my boundaries. I respect your privacy, but there's something seriously troubling you."
"I knew I wasn' jus' picked at random to go on dis shoppin' trip." Gambit said, turning to Jean. "It's nothin'."
Jean smiled, warmly. "Rogue mentioned it to me in the hallway. Your insomnia." She said. "She's worried about you."
"Well, ain' nothin' wrong. I'm fine." Gambit said, shrugging. "Ain' to need to be worryin' 'bout me."
"What a bullshit lie." Jean said, catching him off guard and making him laugh.
"Wha's dat be comin' out yo mouth?" He asked, making her laugh as well. "Anyway, it's 'bout Rogue."
Jean got serious and listened. "What about her? Are you two calling it quits?" She asked.
He could see the concern in her face and voice and smiled. "No, nothin' like dat." He said, shaking his head. "We had it rough for a while, you know dat."
"Mm hmm." Jean said, nodding. "Go on."
"Well, we managed to work it all out and over dat time, we've gotten closer. Like, more close." He said, turning the shopping cart down the next aisle. "We understan' each ot'er now. An', I don' know..."
"Yes." Jean said, making him raise an eyebrow.
"Yes?" Gambit asked.
Her smile spread from ear to ear. "I just saw what was bothering you. You wanted me to see it." She said, reaching out and placing her hand on his shoulder.
Turning, Gambit reached for the items on the list and placed them in the cart. Jean smiled, seeing he was caught off guard and a little embarrassed. It was so unlike him.
"Don't worry, Remy." Jean said. "I won't bring it up."
He knew she was his friend, even though he treated them all like crap in the past. He needed to start treating her like a friend. All of them.
"T'anks." He said, flashing her a smile.
"There's that smile we've come to love." Jean said, taking a look at her list. "Okay, cereal aisle."
"Kids don' need to be eatin' dis crap." Gambit said, seeing Jean look back at him.
"I don't get the sugar-loaded stuff. They have plenty of physical activities in their academics to keep them fit and in shape." She said, reaching for the first box. "Besides, we don't want to deprive them of some sort of childhood."
"True." Gambit said, following her down the aisle and helping.