AN: The song is called Before The Worst by The Script. And I apologize in advance if the last quote doesn't make much sense... it did when I wrote it but that was at midnight - one in the morning so... Hm. Enjoy!

It's been a while since the two of us talked
About a week since the day that you walked
Knowing things would never be the same
With your empty heart and mine full of pain

Gambit leaned back in his chair and looked around the bustling New Orleans's street. He ran a hand through his brown hair and sighed. Of course she wasn't going to show up. Why did he even bother coming? After finding out what she found out of course she wouldn't want to see him again.

He stood up and left a couple bills underneath his glass, knowing that the waitress would be around soon to pick it up. He exited the patio and started down the street, his hands deep in the pockets of his long trench coat, his head bowed as his eyes watched his feet step one after the other. Left right left right left right. She had left, which was her right, after she had found out about the horrors in his past.

He wasn't proud about what he had done and he had spent years pushing it to the back of his mind, accepting it yet trying to forget it. He didn't know what he had been doing until afterwards as he had surveyed the carnage. All the bodies all the blood…

He stopped in his tracks and shook his head. Then she had brought it all back up... It hadn't been her fault though. Not in the least.

So explain to me how it came to this
Take it back to the night we kissed
…
With vodkas and coke, I was getting insomniac

He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one before shoving the box and the lighter back into his pocket. He took a drag and remembered the night only a week before. They had known each other for about two years but then he had moved away and communication had been slim and brief when it happened. But then, six months ago, she had come down to New Orleans. She told him that she was visiting another friend but he suspected that she had just come down to see him. She stayed in a hotel despite him telling her that she could stay in his apartment. She politely declined and Gambit had left her alone after she threatened to knock him out for a week if he didn't stop bugging her.

Gambit smiled slightly at the memory.

Over the past six months they had hung out a lot: gone to dinner, walked through the park, went to a few movies. Then last Tuesday they had gone to dinner at one of their favourite places. They had held hands, her with her gloves on, and went back to Gambit's place to watch a movie. They were both slightly intoxicated, having had a couple drinks each. They got to his place and sat on the couch, his arms wrapped protectively around her slim waist.

Then she had turned her head and looked up at him with her big green eyes, a small smile on her face. He gently kissed her forehead, not leaving his lips there long enough to pass out, but long enough for her to realize what he did. He pulled back, feeling lightheaded, and stared into her deep green eyes. She reached a hand up and touched his cheek and then paused. He knew what she was going to do, and since he was thinking completely straight, he leaned in to let his lips touch hers. They kissed for a second too long and Gambit saw the repressed images of his murders of The Morlocks flashing through his mind's eye as he passed out.

We were thinking we would never be apart
With your name tattooed across my heart
Oh, who would've thought it would end up like this

When he woke up Rogue was gone along with the few personal possessions she had left in his apartment: a jacket, a pair of shoes, a pair of gloves. All were gone. But a note was left, bearing one line:

I wish you had told me.

Gambit sat down on a bench in the park that he had wandered into. He had snuffed out his cigarette a couple streets back and he was itching for another one, but he knew he shouldn't. He was trying to quit, had been since Rogue had remarked a couple weeks ago that she hated the smell. So when he reached into his pocket it wasn't the cigarette pack he pulled out, but his cell phone.

He scrolled through his outbox to the third message sent, which he had sent last night:

To: Rogue
From: Gambit

Meet me at La Vida tomorrow? I want to talk… explain. I would now but it would be easier in person… La Vida at 12 noon? Plz meet me?

He hadn't gotten a response, but he had guessed that maybe she just didn't want to talk. So he had gone to La Vida at noon and waited for two hours to see if she would show. She didn't. So that was how he had ended up in this park on the other side of town from his apartment. And for her it was worth it. He loved her like he had loved nothing else.

Tilting his head back he closed his eyes and listened to the people milling around him and the birds chirping and the sound of the breeze through the trees… Then he felt the phone in his hand buzz. He slowly opened one tired eye and stared at the sender and the message on the screen. Then he bolted into a standing position.

To: Gambit
From: Rogue

Where the hell are you, you no good Cajun? Come meet me or I WILL find you!

Gambit beamed and broke into a run down the street, the tail of his jacket cracking behind him. He sprinted through the French Quarter and sharply took the corner. He spotted the back of Rogue's green jacket and he jumped the fence to run up behind her, where he stopped abruptly. "Rogue," he said softly. Rogue spun around to face him, her face full of confusion and hurt mixed with relief. The look in her deep eyes showed that it was ok for him to touch her.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. Then she abruptly pushed him back. "Why didn't you tell me?" she snapped. Gambit sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He gestured to the patio next to them, inclining for her to go in and take a seat. She shook her head, her short brown hair cutting across her cheeks. Gambit sighed again. "Why do you think I didn't tell you?" he asked.

"I'm not here to play games," Rogue replied sharply. Gambit nodded. "I understand," he said. "And I didn't tell you for the same reason why I've never told anyone else: because since then I've tried not to tell myself that it really happened." Rogue didn't speak, only stared at him. "Ever since it happened, ever since I realize what I had been a part of and done… I've tried to forget it. I accepted that it happened but after that I just wanted to forget it. You know I don't look to the past, only stay in the present. The Gambit that let himself be led to do that… that's not the Gambit I am now. The past is the past Rogue and even though I can't do anything to change it, I can to everything in my power to make sure that it doesn't affect who I am today."

Rogue was silent for a couple seconds and Gambit looked away, feeling stupid. Around her he talked too much. It was unnecessary for him to give her that entire speech. "I get it," Rogue said suddenly, her voice soft. "I get why you didn't tell me… But I wish you had. It probably would have still been… not a shock but close to it. Definitely less of a shock than seeing the pictures just before you passed out…" She looked away and crossed her arms. "Do you know what happened to Sarah?" she asked. Gambit shook his head. "I've tried finding her but I've never known where to start," he replied. Rogue nodded and looked back at him.

"So what now?" she asked. Gambit stared back. "What do you mean what now?" She smiled slightly and all her previous emotions disappeared to be replaced by a teasing expression. "How 'bout a drink and a movie? Like we had planned before all this-" She waved her hands around. "-shit happened." She draped her arms around Gambit's neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist. She stood on her tip-toes so that their lips were almost touching. "One thing though," she said quietly, her breath tickling the inside of Gambit's mouth.

"What's that mon cherie?"

"Don't keep anymore criminal stories from me 'k? I'd like to prepared in case the cops ever come to my door askin' 'bout you." Gambit laughed. "Of course mon cherie, of course."

If the clouds don't clear
Then we'll rise above it, we'll rise above it
Heavens gate is so near, come walk with me through
Just like we used to, just like we used to, yeah, yeah