She looked back at the large house one last time. The moon shone brightly down on its tiled roof, the windows basking with warm light in the blackness of the night.

She couldn't go back, not this time, not again. How many times would she say that she would never leave? How many times had she promised Kitty that there was no way she was going back to being on her own again?

The truth was, the Xavier institute was not home anymore. It was just a place she had once lived, a part of her life that she no longer wished to look back on , a place where so many good and bad things had come to pass.

He had left again. Who knew how many times he had left before, she had stopped counting long ago. The problem was that it hurt every time. Stabbed her in the heart, shattered her soul with every sore word and dismissive gesture.

She couldn't even be sure that he loved her anymore. Had he ever loved her in the first place? He had told her countless times before, during the numerous times they had rekindled that passion that seemed to draw them magnetically together, no matter how much they tried to stay apart.

It was her curse that was to blame. She couldn't touch him – ever. Could never lose control of her emotions in case she hurt him, put him down for good. He didn't see it that way. She was his, he wanted her, wanted to touch and hold her like a normal boyfriend and girlfriend do and they couldn't.

His sensuality, his need for physical touch was a major hindrance as well. How many times had he turned up half drunk after a night in the city, or at the local bars in town with lipstick smeared on his collar and reeking of another womans perfume?

She had let him do it though. She had never set any boundaries, because she had been so desperately worried that if she did, she would limit his life and ultimately push him away. Part of her wanted to believe that there was no way she could never have done that without a consequence, but still – it made her heart crack every time she found out that he had been with another woman, been holding someone else in his arms, showing someone else the night of their life while she sat in that stupid mansion wishing he was there with her.

She was young. Mistakes were bound to happen. He was young, commitment was not something that mattered so much to him just yet. But after years of abandonment, that they had both experienced from incredibly young ages, she had hoped that maybe he didn't want to be alone anymore. That maybe he would want to take a chance on someone again.

That person was not her, she had decided and now here she was, ready to run away from it all. The tears stung the back of her eyes, threatening to spill with the next gust of cold air. The rain splattered mercilessly against her face, but she didn't care.

This was the end of an era. The end of her life with the X-Men. She knew that she would be accepted with open arms if she ever wanted to go back to them. After all, she had proved her worth more than enough times for the team and done as they asked for years.

She just hoped that her friends would understand, would see that her staying here was just not working anymore. It was tearing her apart.

Idly, Rogue wondered how long it would be before they would realize she was gone. They wouldn't search for her, she trusted that they would leave her to her own devices.

But what would they tell him, whenever he decided to show up again? He had been gone for three days so far. Nobody was concerned, he was a loner, made his own rules as and when he decided. He had left angrily, so chances were it could be a long time before he decided to come back. What apology would he return with this time?

More charm, more words of shallow meaning and she fell for it every time. He made a fool of her, played her for an idiot – the little woman, sitting at home with the evening meal waiting on the table. Maybe not, but that was the cliché, the same old story.

That was it, it was old and she wondered if he would care that she had vanished without reason, or if he would feel ultimate relief that he didn't have to worry about making any more new excuses to cover his tracks.

The tears spilled then, falling gently down her already soaked cheeks. She swallowed a sob and looked at last to the rec room window, the shadows and outlines of her friends, her family moved around against the yellow light. She couldn't tell whose figure belonged to who, she was too far away for that.

"Bye" She whispered, her voice disappearing into the howl of the wind and rain, the storm keeping up its tempestuous rhythm.

Silently, she turned away from the large mansion and headed away down the long winding road, letting her feet carry her without any thought to map out her route. She wiped the mingled rain and tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand and pulled her hood further down over her head as she neared the gate.

There was a light beyond the iron bars and she looked up from the tarmac at her feet in curiosity. A large motorcycle sat at the entrance, its rider sitting astride the vehicle that blocked her escape. It couldn't be him, she wished that it wasn't, hoped and prayed that it was anyone but him.

But to her dismay, she soon discerned from his stance, that show off pose she had grown to recognize without hesitation, that it was indeed the one person she had three days ago never wanted to see again. She couldn't stop now, this was her road to nowhere and even with the biggest obstacle in her path, she could not pause.

Swiftly, she approached the gate and opened it without hesitation, following the light of the bikes headlights along the dark road to avoid any debris that may have been blown onto the ground before her. It wasn't until she had closed the gate behind her, that she looked up finally to see him watching her. She ignored the sting of the rain in her eyes, hearing only the rumble of the motorcycles engine aside of the wavering trees creaking overhead.

"What are ya doin' heah?" She couldn't leave without asking one more thing, hearing that deep baritone voice of his. He was soaked to the bone, who knew how long he had been sat here, it wasn't her concern and still she thought about it.

"I live 'ere. What ar' y' doin 'ere?" He replied harshly. She was glad he was being that way, it was going to make everything just a tiny little bit easier for her to walk away from him forever.

She hesitated with her reply. Finding that the words stalled on her tongue, not wanting to say them aloud. How she wished she could just walk around him, ignore his question and just go into the wind and rain and fall into the emptiness of the night.

"Ah'm leavin'" She stated simply, quietly, not quite wanting to hear herself say the words aloud. He looked away from her, staring blankly at the road ahead of him as she spoke. Was this the time to go, take her chance now and get out while he was still mad at her?

"Why y' leavin'?"

"You know why"

"Great. So y' leavin' me t' deal with all de blame, hein?" He glanced at her angrily and she had no idea how to reply to that.

"Ah'm sorry. Goodbye Remy" Now was the time to go, she could feel it in her heart. Cut the binds that tie and make your escape. She had heard his voice one last time, had seen his face one more time. There was only one other thing that she wanted and that was to feel his arms around her again – but if she did that, then she would lose her drive and would relapse back and the cycle would continue once more.

"Rogue?" He called after her, but she carried on walking into the night, she would not turn around to him.

"Rogue?" She heard him again and the tears spilled from her already sore eyes once more. She carried on, her heart broke a little more with every step she took away from the place she once called home, from the one person who had made that place a sanction of heartbreak for her.

It was a few minutes after that she heard the rumble of a motorcycle behind her, the headlights once more lighting her way in the darkness. She didn't stop.

"Chérie?" She hated it when he called her that, but now it seemed so bittersweet. The last of so many things. She ignored him again and her breath caught when she heard the cut of the engine and almost jumped out of her skin when he pounced in front of her, blocking her path. She looked down instantly, not wanting to look at him.

"Please, leave me alone" Her voice was small and hushed.

"Je suis désole . . ." He begun, her face shot up at him instantly, anger suddenly flowing heatedly through her veins.

"Yoah always sorry! Do ya even know what that means? Yoah sorry! Ah'm sorry! Ah'm sorry ah gave ya so many chances, ah'm sorry ah let mahself fall foh yoah worthless apologies everytahme, ah'm sorry that ah loved you so much and' ah'm sorry that ah evah let you into mah lahfe!" She cried loudly, wiping her tears away with her hand again.

She didn't know if she had shocked him or if he was simply tongue tied, unable to shoot back a flippant remark to her heartbreaking, angst ridden tirade. Did he even have a heart? She doubted it sometimes. He was all about playing it cool, letting everybody else put themselves out before he would even consider doing the same.

"Don't leave" Was all he said and it was gentle, not angry in the least.

"Ah cain't do it anymoah Remy. Ah cain't put mahself in that position again. Ah cain't beh yoah doormat anymoah. That ain't me"

"Y' were nev'r a doormat chere" He was muted, uncharacteristically so.

"Well it felt lahke ah was. You know, foh all yoah charm an' promises, theah wasn't a moment ah evah doubted ya. Ah stupidly believed, that under all th' banter an' bravado theah was someone who respected me, that loved meh – but theah wasn't was theah?" The words flew out of her, angry, persistent and wanting for closure. Answers to questions she had avoided before.

"I never promised y' anythin'"

"Ah know that now. That was part of th' problem"

"I nev'r would o' kept comin' back if I didn't care about y' dough . . ." She laughed mirthfully at his words.

"'Care'. It could nevah have been more than that, mah mutation made sure of that . . ."

". . . Dat was nev'r de problem chére. How many times did I tell y' dat? Y' were de only one who couldn't get past y'r mutation! Do y' know what it feels like t' av y'r girlfriend flinch away from y' evr'ytime y' touch 'er?" He was harsher now, she knew he was tired of her using her mutation as a barrier.

"Ah'm sorry, ah was under th' impression that ah was tryin' not ta hurt ya!"

"I knew what I was doin'. Y' jus' nev'r trusted me"

"How could ah? When you were always out drinkin' an' getting' what ya needed from some othah woman!?" She cried again. This was not what she had wanted, she had just wanted a quick escape, an easy one without the pain of farewells and unfinished arguments.

He remained silent for a second, though he would not take his eyes from her face. Those fascinating eyes of his, screaming of mischief and danger.

"I did wrong, I know. I can't even begin t' tell y' how sorry I am dat I did dat . . ."

"Ah've heard it befoah Remy" She countered softly.

"I know y' av. But, de t'ing is, I can't let y' walk away chérie" He was suddenly affirmative and it threw her. She had never heard such certainty from his lips before.

"Why won't ya let me go? Jus' let me disappear, pretend ya nevah met me?"

"I can't, b'cause I lo . . ." He stuttered and she felt her heart fall a little lower again, the hope of what was going to come out of his mouth was too much to expect and she should have known that.

"You cain't say it can ya?"

"Don't leave" He requested again, but she knew it had to end now.

"Goodbye Remy" She gave him one last sad look and went to walk around him.

"I love y' Rogue. Always 'av, always will" The words struck her, making the tight grip around her throat tighten even more. She wanted to just throw herself into his arms and never leave his side again. She felt him step behind her, could feel his shadow looming over her, shielding her from the brunt of the storm around them.

"Please don't say that" She begged, feeling like a glutton for punishment.

"I mean it. I'm not perfect chére, neith'r o' us are. We both got past's, both said an' done t'ings dat we ain't proud o', dat we didn't mean . . . but I do mean it when I say dat I can't live without y'. I know dat now . . took me a while t' figure it out, but I came back t' ask' y' t' give me one last chance anyway" He finished hopefully.

"You mean that?" She had to check.

"Ev'ry word" He assured her. She turned around slowly and looked into his eyes once more, loving the way that his sopping wet hair hung messily over his face and with a little hesitation she stepped toward him, closing the short distance between them and let herself fall into his awaiting embrace, feeling him rest his chin softly against the top of her head. He was so warm, even through his drenched trench coat and she willed herself to relax at their closeness, to enjoy the relief of being close to him once again.

She didn't know how long they stood there, letting the rain beat upon them. The tempest of the storm was yet to be over and they both knew that, she was sure of. Whatever had drawn them together in the first place, was still holding strong and as long as that was still there binding them, there was always hope.

"Ah cain't go back, not yet"

"I'll follow y' anywhere chére . . . 'sides, I don't really want t' av' t' give Logan his bike back jus' yet." There it was, the Remy she knew best.

"Yeah, he's kinda pissed 'bout that" She relayed, smiling as she did. Boy had Logan been mad when he realized that Remy had stolen his motorcycle once again.

"Mon Dieu" He sighed gently, only beginning to imagine what the shorter man wanted to do to him should he ever show his face again. Rogue laughed softly at him, closing her eyes against his shoulder.

"Remy?"

"Oui?"

"Please don't break mah heart again"

"Y'r de only one I want chérie. Home is wherev'r y' ar"

"Thank you"

"I love y'"

This was just a really random, spontaneous piece that came to mind while I was listening to some music.

Hope everyone enjoyed reading it and please leave a review if you feel so inclined. Thank you x