A/N: I'm struggling with some writer's block, the joys of summer and some other distractions, but I don't want to vanish for like months so in the meanwhile and as a little way to please one of my fav readers and reviewers, kvh502 (she told me she needed some good romyness to get her through the days at work, and man I know how boring and long days at work can be) I decided to post this. It's a two-shot thing, mostly Rogue's POV and Remy's POV, each one based on a song though I'm not using the lyrics. So here you have, please enjoy. Hope you like it and don't forget to review, since Remy's POV will be posted based on reviews to this one (hate/love/annoyance? all comments are gladly welcomed). For you Kate, hope you have nice and funny days at work ;)

Warning: pure romyness

Disclaimer: evidently things have not changed and I don't own the X-men or any other series, song, or brand mentioned here!!

xXXx

Katherine Pryde, best known as Shadowcat, the pretty native Illinois brunette student from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters walked home from school carrying a couple of heavy chemistry books under her arm. She had stayed after school in the Bayville High library helping her boyfriend Lance Alvers, best know as Avalanche, with his chemistry project. Despite her young age, she was taking advanced chemistry and she was more than willing to help her failing boyfriend. Yes, she actually liked the 'tutor' thing a lot, maybe in the future she could be like Storm or Hank McCoy and teach something at Xavier's; however, for now she was just tutoring Lance that hottie Brotherhood boy. Kitty wasn't quite sure what she saw in him; evidently he was not into fashion, that vest of him was the best proof, and he was not remotely like the man of her dreams -which recently was Chase Crawford, she just loved him as Nathaniel Archibald in Gossip Girl- and he was part of the Brotherhood of Mutants, one of their biggest 'enemies'. For God's sake -Kitty sighed- when she was a newcomer she used to have a crush on Pietro Maximoff!! What was it with her and having crushes on her enemies? Anyhow, none of that really mattered, because every time Lance called her "Pretty Kitty" and winked at her, she felt butterflies in her stomach.

Humming a lovely tune she entered the big gates of the mansion and hoped for mister Logan to not be around, she wasn't in the mood for some lecture and she surely would get one since Lance's aroma was al over her. That man could be very annoying but she knew he cared a lot for her and Rogue, especially Rogue. Kitty smiled, if only he knew.

Her joyful mood, wide smile and the urge to tell her best friend about the kiss she'd shared earlier with Lance was stroke down by the sight that welcomed her once she opened the dorm door. There she was, Rogue, her former roommate and best friend, rings under her emerald green tearful eyes, black mascara staining her ivory pale cheeks sobbing in a way that would overshadow Meredith Gray and that woman certainly cried a lot. At first Kitty thought Rogue had maybe fought with that smooth talker thief but that idea left her mind the moment Kitty noticed how quickly she had closed her laptop's lid when she entered the bedroom.

"Rogue, are you ok?" Kitty asked placing the books over Rogue's desk.

"Ah'm fine Kit..." Rogue said in a trembling voice wiping her tears with her sleeve. "Ah just need some time."

"What do you mean some time?" Kitty said watching as Rogue walked towards the door. "Wait! Where are you going?" Kitty asked worried. "Are you leaving?"

"No, Ah just need some time, that's all." Rogue finally said exiting the room.

Kitty didn't buy it. After all these years, Kitty had learned to read her friend's face and gestures like an open book, those big green eyes of her spoke more than words, a very useful thing since Rogue was a few words kind of girl. That's how she had found out that she was secretly dating Remy LeBeau for like two months now; at first Kitty had remained silent and even considered the idea of blackmail her friend but later she ended up helping the two southerners in their late night sneaks out, she couldn't help it she was a helpless romantic. She liked them together, they reminded her of Sookie Stackhouse and Bill Compton, two southerners with past issues brought together by faith, not that Remy seemed in anyway like Stephen Moyer, although Rogue could have some resemblance to Anna Paquin, maybe if she dyed her hair. God she was rambling again and there was no time for that. Kitty Pryde was no fool, she knew when Rogue was lying and now she was lying big time. Without thinking it twice she opened Rogue's MacBook. Her pretty blue eyes widened at the on-line newspaper new she found. Worried like hell she rushed out of the room towards the mansion boy's wing.

…

Meanwhile in Xavier's office, the wise telepath was talking with one of his best friends, Logan Howlett. The Canadian was the closest figure to a parent Rogue had ever had, and the girl was like a daughter to him, so evidently he'd worried when she denied to tell him the reason she was going to take a couple of days off. His distinctive eyeteeth sparkled as he groaned fiercely and without thinking it twice he stormed into Xavier's office looking for the Professor's approval to stop Rogue. However what he found infuriated him more, Charles just offered him his eternal warm smile, metaphors and lack of words.

"You knew about it, didn't you Chuck?" Logan asked, finding the black leather chair increasingly uncomfortable.

"Yes, Logan I did." Charles replied calmly.

"And!" Logan snapped.

"Rogue is a young woman now," Xavier continued in his sometimes-irritating calm tone. "I can't forbid her to do whatever she wants."

"A young woman!" Logan snarled. "She's just eighteen and this is... dangerous!"

"This is what she wanted."

"You know what this could mean, Chuck..." Logan said trying to regain some calm.

"Yes, I'm very well aware of the consequences."

Logan chuckled sarcastically. "I hope so... Chuck, look there are things Rogue should let go. Things that she should better forget."

Xavier smiled and Logan could smell the parental care in the man. It was a thousand ways different than his, and it included Logan himself, even when he was several years older than Charles Xavier, one of the reasons he refused to call him Professor. "Logan, Rogue's past is an essential part of her. It's mostly because of her past that she finds hard to just normally interact with others. You my friend should know better than anyone."

Logan finally surrendered. "I guess you're right, but that doesn't mean I like the idea."

"You have nothing to worry about Logan," Xavier stated. "She's going to be fine... I can assure you that."

"Is there something else I don't know?" Logan asked suspiciously. "Something you're not telling me?" There was something else he could smell it, but as powerful as Xavier was he couldn't find anything else. Besides, he respected the man like no one else on Earth, so if he said Rogue was going to be fine, then she was.

"You will now in time my friend."

…

Upstairs -to be more accurate in the roof- Kitty Pryde had finally found Gambit. She had looked him in his room, the kitchen and the Rec-room, when finally it had hit her, he's probably in his favorite spot, the one he shared with Rogue, the roof. Remy was leaning against the chimney, smoking a cigarette, with that nonchalantly attitude that never seemed to leave him.

"Uhm Gambit," Kitty said as she phased the mansion's mansard roof. "Can I like talk to you?"

"Sure petite what's up?" Remy said with a smirk throwing his cigarette butt away.

"It's Rogue."

His smirk immediately disappeared; the tone on Kitty's voice wasn't the usual cheerful one. "Rogue, what's wit' her?"

"Well I- I was wondering if you know something… since you're like close and," Kitty was trying to find the best words, one thing was she knew about their relationship and another that she actually wanted to talk about it with him. "You see I was like coming back from the library, where I was helping Lance with some chemistry project, he's totally failing and I'm like tutoring him. Anyway, I was so excited because he kissed me, so I wanted to tell Rogue but when I entered our room-"

Kitty was rambling and there was no time for rambling, so Gambit went straight to the point. "Chaton sil vous plaît... What do y' mean somet'ing? Is anyt'ing wrong?"

"She's like, gone."

"Gone? Mais how? What do y' mean gone?"

"I checked her computer and I found this." Kitty handed Remy the printed newspaper new she had read earlier.

"Mon Dieu," Remy sighed as he read it.

"Do you think that maybe she-" Kitty began to speak while Remy's eyes remained focused on the printed page. It was an obituary.

"Non," he cut her off. "I don' t'ink I'm sure she did." He said before jumping onto the balcony below them and disappear behind his bedroom curtains.

…

This used to be my playground
This used to be my childhood dream
This used to be the place I ran to
Whenever I was in need
Of a friend
Why did it have to end

Rogue walked through the very well known streets, smiling shyly as she passed by so many familiar places. Everything seemed the same but at the same time so different. It was like the city welcomed her but at the same time urged her to leave. Still, every corner reminded her of her childhood, the once careless life amongst river swims and sunny afternoons, popsicles and fireflies, denim shorts and un-sleeved shirts. Yes, those days were long gone and she had change in so many ways, but deep down she was still the same. The same southern girl who liked to laugh and run, to swim and dance, the same southern girl that liked to wear dresses and walk barefoot in damp grass, the same southern girl that stole her childhood sweetheart life with a kiss and as a consequence was forced to leave the town she loved, to cover her once tanned skin and to shut her away from people in order to do no harm again. Those days seemed so distant now that it was hard to believe once were real. Wanting to keep a low profile she put on her hood, it was getting windy so it didn't seemed awkward. Besides his death was her fault and she didn't want anyone to recognize her. The South wasn't exactly well known for its tolerance and amity towards her kind. Letting out a big sigh she kept on walking towards the city's cemetery.

Rogue sat down and leaned against a big oak tree. The little hill she chose allowed her a full view of the cemetery and the funeral that was taking place there. Evidently she couldn't hear anything but the faces spoke by themselves. Cody's entire family was there, she recognized some of them, his parents, his sister Ellen, his cousins and some of his friends; friends that a long time ago used to be her friends too. There were all there, hearing the priest, sitting around his silver coffin, all dressed in black, a color Cody hated; the color that surrounded her mind, her life. Ever since her powers first manifested, that fatidic night she kissed Cody, black became more than just a color for her. To begin with it was the color her boyfriend used to hate, the color that dominate her mind and memories, and the color that seemed to define her future. In fact, she had no future, how could she be so selfish to even dream about one with Remy, when her former boyfriend was being buried right in front of her eyes. Warm tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She had lost count of how many times she had cried since she read the obituary in the news.

An imperceptible breeze swept through her curled auburn hair, and a lock of white dangled in front of her tearful green eyes. Sobbing, Rogue tucked it behind her ear with her gloved fingers and continued to watch the funeral. Once she had thought leaving Cody in a coma was the worst pain her heart would ever know, clearly she was wrong. She would give anything to change this moment, to see Cody's blue eyes and blond hair again, to hear his loud laugh, his thick southern accent, the way he called her Little Princess because how much she loved Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's book. Of course she liked her life at Xavier's, where she knew that her teammates accepted her the way she was, but her trouble past trapped her and the constant fear of draining people haunted her. She could never do something like this to Remy, not him. She thought she loved Cody, but after she had met Remy she had learned what love really was. She would never dare to hurt Remy, because his death would mean her own death.

And why do they always say
Don't look back
Keep your head held high
Don't ask them why
Because life is short
And before you know
You're feeling old
And your heart is breaking
Don't hold on to the past
Well that's too much to ask

A deep sigh escaped her lips when suddenly a gentle hand brushed her cheek, wiping away her tears with a thumb. Rogue looked up to see the face of Remy LeBeau smiling warmly down at her. The young Cajun thief held immense feelings for her, she could tell, just as she did for him. Her heart pounded every time he was around, every time he talked to her, and every time he kissed her gloved hand it was like magic. As for him, he felt hurt when she wept, every time he saw the pain in her eyes when Jean kissed Scott's lips, every time she blamed herself for what was beyond her hands.

"Rem- Remy... what are yah doing here?" Rogue asked.

"Lookin for y' chère." Remy replied softly.

"Ah'm fine, Ah don't need anyone watching mah back."

"C'mon chère, don' be like dis."

"Don't worry about meh... Ah know how to take care of mahself Remy."

"I know dat... mais I also know why y'r here et-"

"And what? Yah think it's a bad idea too... Ah know Logan does, but Ah don't give a damn, he doesn't, nobody, knows the way Ah feel."

"Y'r wrong petite, I do know how y' feel."

"Do yah?" Rogue replied sarcastically. "If Ah'm not mistaken yah had never killed yahr ex-girlfriend... even when she's a crazy bitch!" she whispered the last part.

Remy chuckled. Even when she had never seen the Assassin's heiress, Rogue hated Belladonna Boudreaux. Remy loved her jealousy, something he found hard to understand since Rogue was better than his ex-fiancée in every sense. She was his whole universe, and he loved to see how despite all Rogue didn't miss the chance to talk bad about the blond girl.

"Y' know what I meant Rogue," Remy said grabbing her gloved hand with his.

"Maybe," Rogue sighed. "But yah don't understand Remy, yah used to have a family... even with all his faults Jean-Luc was more a father than anyone Ah ever had."

"As I told y' once chère, just because someone adopts you doesn' make dem a parent."

"But yah had Henri and..." Rogue sighed again. "Cody was the only person who cared about meh and Ah killed him."

"First of all," Remy said as he grasped her chin forcing her to look up at him, right into his eyes. Those deep red on black eyes of him sparkled with sincerity. "I do know how y' feel because I can feel y'r pain chère. Y'r pain is mon pain, y'r joy is mon joy... y' should know dat by now," he smiled warmly. "Et secondly, maybe he was de only person who cared about y' den, mais now y' have a lot of people who care."

Rogue tried to look away but Remy didn't let her.

"Remy, Ah..." Rogue trailed off speechless.

"Rogue, listen to moi." Remy insisted with a serious countenance as he grabbed both of her hands with his free one, feeling her shiver under his touch despite of the fact that both were wearing gloves. "I love y' too much petite. Too much to let y' deal with all dese by your own. Too much to ever leave y' alone."

"Yah mean it?" Rogue asked as a little smile spread across her face. "Yah really love meh?"

"Question so silly don' deserve no answer," he said caressing gently her cheek with his thumb. "Y' already know de answer chère, I do love y'... y' ain't goin' to hurt moi."

"Remy, yah don't understand it! Ah just can't take any risks," Rogue replied vainly struggling to get out of his grip. Remy stayed firm and Rogue noticed the honest love his words contained. She could see the sincerity of his feelings in his eyes. Once, Rogue thought he just wanted to play around with her as the womanizer gambler he was, but after all they've gone through, she knew he really loved her, just as much as she did.

"Remy, please!" she begged. "Ah don't want to hurt yah!"

"I don' care about it. I'd rather have a life wit' y' wit' all de risks dan a safe one wit'out y'. Don' y' see it chère, mon feelings for y' are way more stronger dan anyt'ing else," Remy said as he released her hands and face, giving her the opportunity to make her mind.

Rogue smiled but turned away to look at the funeral that was coming to its end.

"Gawd Remy," Rogue said as tears flooded her green eyes again and shook her head in denial. "Hurting Cody was one of the hardest things Ah've ever faced, watching his burial breaks my heart. But... but if it's yah, Ah'll die. Ah can't do this Remy, Ah can't work through this, if Ah'm worried all the time about you."

"Et how am I supposed to live wit' y' gone from ma vie?" Remy's eyes gleamed with love and honesty, and each word hit Rogue's heart hard. "Give moi a chance chère," he whispered softly. "Give moi de chance to prove it."

And then, before Rogue could react, Remy crushed his lips to hers; her tearful emerald eyes widened and she tried to pull back before it was too late. However despite her efforts, Remy deepened the kiss and pushed her tiny body closer to his. Rogue closed her eyes giving herself up to the amazing feeling. His tongue danced along with hers as she tasted the spicy tobacco savour from his mouth. He tasted just as he smelled.

Seconds later, Remy felt his body weakening and his strength being drawn as Rogue's powers began to consume the energy out of his body, but he kept going, he wanted to do this for her. She was well aware of how strong he was, but not even him could hold that long, she felt the pull and some of his memories became hers. Worried as hell, Rogue broke the kiss and pulled away as Remy fell back and leaned against the big oak tree gasping for air.

Her first reaction was to punch him on his pretty face for what he'd done. How could he be such an idiot? Wasn't he watching her childhood boyfriend's burial right there and then? Hadn't he listened to anything she had said? But the moment she lifted her face and saw him smiling weakly and those red on black eyes of him stared at her, she realized how sincere he'd been, how full of love his words were and how much devotion he indeed held for her. Rogue smiled, her first true smile since she found out about Cody's death. She smiled down at the man that loved her more than life itself, the man that was willing to die for her, the man that kissed her with so much passion that was able to make her forget about all the pain and hurt that surrounded her. She smiled down at him, Remy LeBeau, as he gently caressed her cheek.

"No more tears den ma belle," Remy said without removing his gaze from hers. "De past is past… et we do have an entire life ahead us. A life I wan' y' to share wit' moi," he gently squeezed her hand. "Choice is y'rs."

"Ah love yah too Remy," Rogue squeezed his hand back. "And Ah'm more than willing to give it a chance. To share mah life with yah, wherever it takes us."

Live and learn
Well the years they flew
And we never knew
We were foolish then
We would never tire
And that little fire
Is still alive in me
It will never go away
Can't say goodbye to yesterday

xXXx

Quotes:
"But if it's you Ah'll die. Ah can't work through this, Remy, if Ah'm worried all the time about you."
"An' how am I supposed to live wit' you gone from my life?"
X-Men #109

Song:
"This used to be my playground" by Madonna