Knowing Her

a companion peice to meeting her.
==========

I walk slowly out of class, head down as well as spirits. Being 'Bobby Drake', I know this has gotta be a sight to see, as I'm normally fairly cheerful. Unfortunately, this is anything but a Kodak Moment.

I sigh and harshly run a hand through my hair.

Rogue might as well be dead already. What if she already is? I know it's not my fault she left, but it was my image and influence that caused her to leave. Hell, not only may she be dead, but also the X-Men. Scott Summers had pulled me away earlier, questioning me about Rogue. We put some heads together and figured things out. Damn bitch, that Mystique. Apparently, the X-men had gone after Magneto to get back Rogue and save all New York from facing the Brotherhood.

"Bobby! Did you hear?"

"What?"

I watch Kitty roll her eyes at me, "I figured you wouldn't know if you were like, still standing around moping... Rogue's back! All of them are, I almost crashed into Scott. They got back late last night, long after the news reports. Rogue's somewhere around the Infirmary. Had to make sure she wasn't too drained, y'know.." She pushed Bobby forward, "Well? Argh. Dude, go already!"

"Seriously? You're kidding -- Ow, shit! A'right, I'm going!" I move away rubbing my arm. She obviously wants something to happen between me and Rogue. I turn around to snap at her a half-hearted insult at her, about prying into people's lives, but she's already floating into some random classroom.

Rogue's back! The being that had plauged my thoughts with worry and guilt had returned.

I run over to the sub-level medical wing much in the fashion that Superman would be rushing to check on an injured Lois Lane, minus the flying part, but hesitate and stop mid-step. A barrage of doubt hits me like a freight train.

The thought suddenly pops up: What if she's mad at me? A sad, but simple question based on the mess Mystique had set me up on. Damn.

I begin to pace the hallway, not caring if someone sends me back up to the school. I see Storm heading coming down, probably returning from the greenhouse.

"Hello, Robert."

"Hi, Ms. Munroe. How are you? Did the mission go well?," I ask. "I also heard that Rogue's back."

"I'm fine, thank you Robert. Don't expect a test anytime soon." I can't help but smirk at her mood.

"You could say it was a ... success. And yes, Bobby, Rogue is back. I'd expect the two of you would have atleast talked by now."

"Oh, well ... I'm facing a dilemma in the part where I actually have to talk to her. I mean, c'mon, she might even hate me. What if she doesn't trust me, you know, after that whole fiasco with Mystique?"

She nods in understanding. "Bobby, you don't have really anything to worry about. Rogue... She is a smart girl. She knows it was Mystique. As for hating you, I suggest you explain why you'd never do that to her in real life. Truthfully, she really may not look at you the same way after this. Atleast at first. Try and support her, she's been through a lot. Not that you wouldn't, though. I've seen the way you've helped her ever since she arrived to Mutant High. Do I sense a crush, Mr. Drake?"

My eyes grow wide. "Wha.. Huh?"

And here is where my abnormally big mouth has seemed to lost all communication with my tongue. After hours and hours of moping and snapping out one word answers to concerned beings, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that it had been cut off and rushed to Miss Jean Grey for extensive study.

I do happen to talk an awful lot.

She smiled, "Mr. Drake?"

Since when did the staff actually pay attention these things? It must be pretty damn obvious, then. Well, we pry in on their personal lives, so I suppose it balances out. I scoff at how crazy this all is.

"Huh. Yeah, well ... She's a great girl, really. I care about her, and who wouldn't like her?"

I figure I should just say straight out, what's there to be ashamed of? As a modern kind of guy, who really cares about whoever knows you like someone? I'd hate to keep it inside and have my feeling build up only to be killed later on because of another guy.. Not to mention the long plotting of evil plans against the guy that happens to catch her eye.

Screw that.

But I do hope that we're on good terms on each other. Rogue and I. Not the other dude, and yadda yadda ya. Well, actually ... Blah. I shouldn't think too hard.

"That's wonderful, Bobby."

I glance back at my educator, glad she'd shaken me out of my tangent.

"Yeah, I should really go see if she's okay. So if you don't mind ... "

Before I leave, she hands me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers.

"Go ahead and take these. I think it might make things easier if you started out with these. Or maybe you could make your own bouquet of flowers?," she flashes a small grin and walks away.

My smile fades away in confusion. Make my own flowers? Oh ha ha. Roses, ma-am.

Rogue was new, she looked down, I did what was right and cheered her up. It didn't seem like that many students were interested in how she was doing. Like they just didn't care about the girl who just suddenly enrolls in the school, halfway through the semester.

Yet, I on the other hand, was enthralled.

Yes. That girl brings out the smartness in Bobby Drake.

==========

I guess I didn't have to worry so much over the ongoing debate in my mind whether or not to approach Rogue when I walked in or what. This on the account some smart-ass decides to make my decision for me.

"Hey, 'sup. Look, it's Bobby Drake," he murmured to his friend. He smirked, and raising his voice said, "Your girl's over there, man."

"Thanks." Not.

I watch Rogue rise from a couch as I walk over. "Bobby! What are you doing here?"

I smile as she wraps her arms around me in a careful hug, but it fades away. She looks so tired.

"Just coming to check up on a friend. Are you alright, how do you feel?"

"Yeah... I'm better. Tired, but I'll live. They took real good care of me at the sick bay."

"Your hair is... wow." I had no idea what to say, really.

She smiles and shrugs. "Yeah, I know. Long story, you don't like them?"

"No, I love them. They look kind of exotic."

"Exotic? Ha, you think so? Why thank you, Bobby Drake. I won't tell anyone you know such big words."

I smile a fake smile, unable to keep from fidgeting. I was never good at these things.

"What's wrong?"

Okay, here comes the hard part. Almost. "Rogue?"

"Hmm?"

I get down on my knees and hold out the flowers toward her. "Rogue, I am so sorry. I feel awful. I can't believe this happened. Can you ever forgive me? I'm such a terrible guy. You should beat me up."

She laughs.

"You're crazy. Look, come 'ere and sit down."

I hand her the flowers, and we sit lazily on the couch. "Bobby, you don't have to apologize. And don't worry, I'm not going to beat you up."

"Right now, anyway." She pounds my arm light-heartedly. "I don't even know what you're apologizing for. I know it was Mystique I talked to."

"Yeah, but that's not really the problem."

She sits up, "Tell me about it."

"Rogue.. You should know you'll probably never trust me as much as you used to. Mystique was in a Bobby Drake suit, and that Bobby Drake told you to leave. And you trusted that person just because you thought it was me."

She starts fidgeting and playing with her gloves, I decide to save her some grief. "It's not your fault if you don't trust me anymore, but I still want to be friends. You're a really cool girl, and it'd really suck if you didn't want to hang out anymore."

She smiles and looks up. "Of course we can still be friends, Bobby. It's just that, it's like ... I guess I am afraid. I guess I have lost some trust in you … But it's not fair to just ditch you, because it wasn't really your fault. You're a 'really cool guy', I guess. Heh. And I do know you care about me, I mean, you actually came over talk about the whole thing--"

"-- And I did that whole begging and flower thing. Gotta give me props."

"... and you did that whole begging and flower thing."

Ah, well, don't I feel better now.

She changes her position so that she's sitting cross-legged on the couch facing me.

"Y'know Bobby ... You and Logan are some of the few people that actually care enough to see if I'm alright and all that. You don't care about my skin and all. You actually want to get to know me and stuff. You treat me as 'normally' as you do any other 'mutant' in this school ..."

That was really good to hear. It would've been even better if Logan weren't mentioned.

"You know ... a lot of the staff here told me you were really worried about me when you found out I was gone." I turn around to glare at the punks behind the counter trying to listen in. I can actually feel my face heating up, and that practically never happens. Self-explanatory.

"Well, yeah--"

Big grin. "Really? You missed me? How much, Bobby?"

"Yes, Rogue. I was worried about you. I missed you. I missed you a lot." I spread my arms out wide. "Even more than this much!"

I hear someone snicker, but I let it go. I'm used to people laughing at me.

Then, to the shock of my life, she leans in close to my ear and whispers, "I missed you, too."

My tongue returns to it's state of silly putty as it had with my earlier encounter with Ororo.

"Your my best friend, Bobby."

I can only beam in reply. Best friend is really better than no friend.

She smirks and goes back to playing with the edges of her gloves. "You know, people are staring."

"Let them. They're just jealous."

She tilts her head to the side and I have this urge to pinch her cheek or something passion-driven like that. Maybe even kiss her, but I'm sure she wouldn't have approved of that.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah." I put my hand on top of her fidgeting ones to still them. "You're a great girl, you know that?"

She smiles half-heartedly and plays with my fingers. Her voice drops down, "So I've heard."

"You okay?"

"You're so lucky, Bobby. You don't have to worry about knocking someone you care about unconsious by touching them. Sometimes ... I don't think I deserve to have you as a friend."

"Don't say that."

"I always bring trouble."

"Rogue --"

"-- the X-men have been there to save me so many times, and I end up almost killing them!," she whispers harshly. "I don't see why you all care about me so much."

I think about how to phrase the right words. "You're special, Rogue. Not in just your powers, but as a person. A lot of people see that. You just can't see under what you think are flaws. I see underneath."

She rearranged her body and leaned her back against the couch. "Oh? Tell me then. What do you see?"

"A smart, couragous, strong girl who always tries to do what's best for people. Not to mention she's really pretty."

She scoffs. "But what about relationships? Think about it, I'm never gonna get married. What about kids? I don't have the right to be that close to anyone anyway.

I shake my head at her. "You're wrong, and I wish you wouldn't say things like that."

She looks up in surprise, "What?"

"The guys that aren't willing to overcome the obstacles to be with you aren't worth it. They aren't weren't waiting for."

She's quiet for a moment, before nodding and sitting back. "And who is?"

I mock 'yawned', stretching my arms and letting one fall around her shoulders. I grin at her smiling face.

Bobby Drake is one smooth talker.

"Oh I don't know. It could be any guy willing to take the chance. You might even be talking to him."

She snickered. "Hmm. I bet you do this to all the girls, Bobby Drake."

"Only you, my dear," I say leaning back and pulling her in close, careful not to touch her skin.

We sit like that for a while.

"So what now?," she asks.

"... I don't know."

Truthfully, I'd rather take it at her pace. If she's not ready to be in a relationship, then I'll wait for her. I'm not normally don't do that with girls, but Rogue ... is different.

No, not different. She's special.

I don't think I've ever liked a girl the way I like her.

She's worth the wait.

==========

"Bobby," she murmers against my shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

"Hm? Silly girl. What 'chu talking about?"

She smiles and murmurs something to herself. "About all of this, you moron."

"Oh, I see. Hmmp. I guess I am a moron then."

"Silly boy, you be quiet," she says demandingly, poking my cheek.

She yawns, rolling out the last word. I grin a silly grin. "So how long were you in there?"

"I spent the whole morning asleep. I'm actually still tired."

"Well, I kind of figured that out. Maybe I'm not as much of a moron as you think."

"Quiet."

I scoff. "I bet you're one of those grouchy morning people, huh?"

"Hey!"

"I'm just kidding. You want me to take you to your room?"

She nods.

"Let's go then."

"You wanna come inside? Kitty and Jubes are probably out shopping."

Should I? What would people say?

"Well, you coming in or not? I'm about to slam the door on you." Ah, forget it. All we're going to do is talk.

"I'm comin' in. Don't worry." I follow her inside, looking around in amusement.

"Wow."

"What?," she asks, crawling under the covers.

"So this is a girl's room. I like your bed sheets."

She grins at the rainbow-colored stars decorating them. "Not mine. Kitty gave them to me."

"Ah. Makes sense."

"Sit down."

I set myself down on the carpet next to the bed "... Okay. You sure you don't want me to go?"

"No, you're okay. Why the carpet?"

"It's closer."

She smiles, fingering the white streaks in her hair.

"Alright. So, you wanna talk about it?"

Exhale. Frown. Shrug. "I guess we really should."

"What exactly did Mystique tell you?"

"Um, that the Professer was furious... The kids were freaked. 'Said everyone thought I was stealing powers. She told me mutants never use their powers against another mutant. She said it'd be better if I were on my own."

"Rogue. You know I care about you, right?"

She turns to look at me. "Of course I do. You wouldn't be here if you didn't. I know you'd never do what Mystique did to me."

"I'm glad you know. I really do."

"You're a sweet boy, Bobby."

I give her a half-hearted smile. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, nothing. I was just really worried about you."

She smiles, but doesn't say anything.

I take a deep breath. "Rogue?"

"Yes?"

"You wanna go to dinner downstairs tonight?"

"Oh, Bobby.. I don't – Well ..."

"Hey, if you don't want to ..."

"No, it's not that ... I just don't want to be around all the others just yet. They'll all ask questions and I'll never get a bite in."

I lean my head againts the bedsheets. "Ah, I see. How about ... How 'bout I get permission to bring you dinner up here?

Her eyes light up as she nods. "I could tell the girls I'm not hungry, then they won't be coming in every five minutes."

"Oooh. Sneaky, like James Bond."

She grins and her arm takes a swerve at my head, which I quickly dodge. I laughed, "So violent."

"Hey you," she said, defensively. "I just absorbed more then half of Logan's life. You don't think there'd be any side-effects?"

"Hmm. Makes sense. I actually kind of like this quasi-aggresive side of you."

"Quasi-aggresive? Oo-kay. Where are you hiding your dictionary, Bobby Drake?"

"Hey, I'm more than just good looks, you know." I feel around under the bed and discover a stuffed pig. I toss it at her.

"I know, I know. I didn't mean anything by it." I loved how her 'I's came out as 'Ah.' Accents always caught my attention, and this was one of the perks of talking to her.

I reach for her hand. "I know you didn't."

==========

Dinner went off without a hitch that night. I had talked to Scott after I left and he agreed that it'd be better for Rogue to keep to herself until the chaos died down.

We had turned on the TV, but it only served as background noise. We were too busy talking to really watch anything.

We got a little carried away, though. I'd been up there for nearly two hours when Jubilee bounded in, quickly followed by Kitty and some others.

At the sight of me, they had all frozen at the door, no pun intended. "Oh look. There's a boy in our room," deadpanned Jubilee.

"Hi girls."

"Hey Bobby."

I turned to Rogue, "I should go --"

"Nonono! We'll go! Seriously, you stay --"

Rogue smiled, "Kitty, no. It's okay. Bobby really needs to go. Storm will be coming in for bed checks soon."

After saying goodnight to the girls, I took my cue to leave.

As I stepped out of the room, I saw John at the end of hallway, flicking his lighter.

"John?"

"Bobby."

I narrowed my eyes. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing. I just think you should back off, you know she's got a thing for that Logan guy, right?"

"Drop it, John."

I knew I shouldn't have let him get to me, but John had always been like that. Especially when he didn't get what he wants.

==========

After a round of fooseball, Rogue slaps my arm and walks away, right in the middle of our game. We don't pay attention until John gets my focus.

"Check it out, Bobby." What now?

Kitty frowned, "Is she leaving?"

"I don't think so, but he is. I guess ..."

"Does she like him or what?"

I shrug, "Probably."

John raises an eyebrow at me. "And you're okay with that?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" It comes out harsher than I meant for it to. "He saved her life."

"You two seem pretty close. You sure there's nothin' going on between you two?"

"What are you getting at?"

"Hey, there's no doubt she's a pretty girl. There's a lot of guys that'd love to be with her. Look, you're my friend and all, but I gotta say this to you ... If you don't make a move on her someone else will."

I know what John says is mainly true ...

"You mean you."

I step towards him, ready to smack him one as taps his hand against his pocket. Kitty grabs my arm and Jube calls us out, telling us not to start anything.

"Back off, John."

"I'm not doing anything, Bobby. Just giving some advice."

John is my buddy, and has been for years, but it doesn't take much to know how different we are. He treats his girls different then mine, and mine his. I just don't like the idea of him with Rogue together, and I know he's attracted to her. Course, I suppose I'm just a little biased when it comes to my idea of who she should see. If anyone at all.

We watch Rogue and Logan talk for a while; they seem to be having a real moment between them. John has since backed off about Rogue and I felt myself getting slightly ticked as I watch Logan conversing with her.

I decide to stop playing while she's gone, and watch the others play. She comes back after a few minutes, fingering two dog tags on a chain Logan must have given her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I am."

"What happened?"

"Logan's is going to find out more about his past. He's coming back, though. He has to."

"Oh. Hey, those are cool." I reached for her dog tags, but she flinched back. I sighed, even though I tried hard not to.

"Look, I'm sorry. It's just that I'm scared of what I can do to you. I really like you, Bobby, and I don't wanna hurt you ..."

"I know. I guess I --"

She frowns and interrupts me, "-- Hey, it's okay. I just need some time. Listen, you wanna walk me over to Jean's office?"

"Uh, sure. Something wrong?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just kinda need to talk to her about what we can do about our situation. Will you walk with me? Please?"

"Yeah. Of course." I hold out my hand for her and she smiles, taking it.

I own absolutely nothing of X-men.

Thanks for reading, reviews would be awesome.
Don't forget to read the companion peice, Meeting Her!

August 15, 2004 This peice of fanfiction was found on an old floppy disk. I remember taking stories down for editing, though I don't remember ever posting them up again. Well, here they are, possibly edited for the third (millionth) time. Hope you enjoyed.