Title: Ever Since

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I'm poor. Don't sue me.

Rating: T

Pairing: Rogue/Warren

Setting/Spoilers: Post The Last Stand.

Summary: When Warren invites Rogue to a movie premier, he doesn't realize what can happen with one innocent date.

Distribution: Want. Take. Have. Just ask first.

Review: Please… I love reviews they make me happy.

Disclaimer: Stan Lee owns my soul. I only own Cindy Malone and Alexander Fiyero. They're mine. Not that I would actually want either of them in real life...

A/N: Eeeeh! I'm so glad so many people liked this idea. Yay!!! So, ya, here's the date. It would have been up sooner but for some reason I couldn't log in... And if you're also reading A World of My Own, that'll probably be up tomorrow. It's finals week and I only have two, but I think if I fail a class for my major, it's going to be frowned upon... Wish me luck on tonight's bio final though... Oh, and review, too, please!

Saturday night rolled around and Warren found himself in the foyer waiting for Rogue. Earlier that afternoon, he had a box delivered to the mansion for Rogue so that she would have a dress to wear to the premier. His only fear was that it would not fit. Jubilee had helped him pick it out, and swore that it was Rogue's size. Still, he didn't exactly trust the young gossip, even if she was, as she claimed, Rogue's best friend.

Sighing, he paced about the foyer, squirming in his button-up shirt. Since living in the mansion, he'd gotten used to moving about the house without a shirt on, letting his wings breathe. But stepping back into his old world meant that he couldn't do that. He'd be the laughing stock of the gossip magazines if he went out in public with his wings hanging out. So, he was stuck wearing the uncomfortable shirt, his wings pressed into his back like they had been since he was a child.

"Excuse me!" Jubliee's voice rang out, knocking Warren out of his thoughts. She stood impatiently at the top of the staircase, and Warren could only assume that she wanted his full attention before she would say anything else. Sighing again, he turned towards her and looked at her, hoping she would just get out whatever she wanted to say. He was nervous enough about this evening and didn't need Jubilee to make it any worse. After all, this was his first time back in the spotlight since Alcatraz.

Warren stared at her impatiently as she just stood at the top of the stairs, not saying a word. "What is it, Jubes?" He asked her tiredly.

Jubilee merely grinned and stepped out of the way. "May I introduce Miss Marie D'Ancanto." She said, waving a hand to the side. When Rogue didn't step out to where Warren could see her, Jubilee sighed, and waved her arm out again, small sparklers shooting out from her fingers, prompting Rogue forward. "Miss Marie D'Ancanto."

As Rogue started nervously down the stairs, Warren couldn't help but to stare. The dress, as Jubilee had tried to tell him, was indeed perfect. It was a dark green cocktail dress that hugged every curve. Her hair was pulled back into a sweep with dark green clips. He'd never seen anyone look so beautiful before.

Mistaking his stare for something bad, Rogue blushed and started back up the stairs. "I'm sorry." She mumbled.

"Why?" Warren asked as he caught Rogue by the arm and led her down the stairs. "You're beautiful."

She stared at him, and let him lead her out of the mansion, still in shock about the whole situation.

"Bye, Jubes! Don't wait up!" Warren called out after them as he led Rogue down the front walk and into a waiting limo.

Rogue stared at him again, not exactly knowing what she should say. "I don't know what I'm supposed to say…" She finally blurted out, and then looked away from him in embarrassment.

Warren laughed. "You're not supposed to have to say anything." He told her. "You're supposed to have a good time. I mean, these things are boring. But I think we'll have fun."

She looked at him. "Boring? But we're gonna be around movie stars!"

"You'll see what I mean." Warren said with a knowing smile. "Just wait and see."

When they arrived in the city, Rogue looked at him nervously. "What am I supposed to say to them?" She asked him, grabbing frantically at his arm.

"Just be nice." Warren said with a shrug. "Just don't act like a lovesick fan, please." He pleaded with her, taking her hands into his own so she would stop grabbing at him. "They hate that. Now, relax and you'll be fine."

Before Rogue could comment, the door to the limo opened suddenly bathing them in the bright light of cameras flashing wildly in their direction. "We're on." He said, grinning at her before climbing out of the limo with the ease of someone who'd grown up accustomed to it, and then held out a hand to Rogue, helping her out of it. As Rogue tried to adjust to the bright flashing lights, Warren slipped his arm around her waist and led her through the crowd, ignoring the cries of "Warren! Warren, I love you!" and "Warren, marry me please!"

After passing the crowd of fans and paparazzi, Warren pulled Rogue to a stop in front of a very excited reporter, wearing the tightest suit-tailored dress they'd ever seen. "Warren." The woman cooed shoving the microphone into his face. "Cindy Malone, Entertainment Weekly. Who's your date?"

Smiling the sweetest smile Rogue had ever seen, Warren replied, "A friend." His voice sugary sweet, making Rogue more than aware of the fact that he was annoyed with the reporter.

"A friend, Warren?" Cindy asked, her eyes traveling to his hand, which was now resting lower than it had been when he'd first ushered her through the crowd. "I'm sorry, dear, what was your name?" She turned her attention to Rogue.

Rolling his eyes, Warren pulled Rogue away from the woman. "She's a friend, Cindy. That's all you're getting."

As soon as they were inside the building, Rogue pulled away from Warren and looked up at him in a mixture of surprise and anger. "Why didn't you tell her my name?" She snapped. "Are you ashamed of me?"

Warren couldn't help but laugh at her outburst. "Marie, if she had found out your name, let's just say you wouldn't be able to go any where. Reporters like her make their livings off ruining the lives of normal girls like you."

Once again, Rogue didn't have a chance to say anything before they were interrupted yet again. This time it was by a waiter with a tray of champagne. "Trust me," Warren said as he took two flutes off the tray and handed her one. "You're going to need this."

"Why?" Rogue asked curiously, as she watched Warren down his flute, and then grab himself a second before the waiter could get away. "It doesn't seem that bad…"

That was until Rogue met Alexander Fiyero.

He was the most arrogant and cocky man, she'd ever met in her life. She'd seen all his movies, but wasn't prepared to meet the real life version of him. In all his films, he played the troubled, but sensitive guy who always got the girl. Alexander was nothing like any of the characters he portrayed. As Rogue soon found out.

"Warren!" Alexander greeted, swinging an arm over Warren's shoulder in a friendly, but completely unwelcome manner. "I almost didn't recognize you without your wings hanging out. Who's your date?" He asked, studying Rogue wolfishly, his gaze lingering on her chest, for longer than Rogue would have liked.

Rolling his eyes at Alexander's antics, Warren pulled away from him, and slipped his arm back around Rogue's waist, his hand splayed across her stomach, as though saying 'hands off.' "Alex, I don't believe you've met my girlfriend, Marie D'Ancanto." He introduced before looking down at Rogue. "Baby," His voice faltered slightly at the use of the pet name, but he continued on anyway. "This is Alexander Fiyero. We went to boarding school together. Unfortunately, he was my roommate for 6 long years."

Alexander laughed, his laugh booming, loud, and obviously fake. "Warren, Warren, Warren, that sense of humor of yours. Dry and bitter as always." He turned his attention back to Rogue. "If you ever get sick of this loser's lack of humor, give me a call, sweetie." He slipped a business card into Rogue's hand. "I'd be more than willing to take you for a ride." And with that, Alexander was gone.

Rogue stared after him. "He's awful." She stated, letting the card fall to the ground as she spied another waiter walking past them, and exchanged her empty flute for a full one. "You lived with him for 6 years?"

As Warren nodded in response, Rogue suddenly realized that his hand was still on her stomach, and she spun out of his grasp, staring at Warren in that mixture of surprise and anger again. "And what's with this whole, 'she's only a friend.' 'Oh, she's my girlfriend thing'? What am I? A piece of property for you to show off and make up stories about. For one, I haven't even decided if we are friends and I'm sure as hell not your girlfriend."

He laughed, finishing his drink, and grabbing another one. "So, you would have preferred that I told Alex we were just friends and then let him attempt to steal you away from me, and try to have sex with you in a bathroom stall?"

Rogue contemplated what he said before finishing her drink, and letting him hand her another. "Uh, thanks then…" She said blushing slightly, and looking down at her drink. "If I didn't know any better, sugah, I'd think that you were trying to get me drunk."

Warren shrugged. "And what if I am?"

But for the third time that evening, Rogue was interrupted before she could respond, which was beginning to get on Warren's nerves. This time however, it was for the start of the movie. He led her to their seats and couldn't help but laugh as Rogue noticed just how many celebrities there were in just one room.

As the movie started, Rogue looked about the room, taking in the small fact that none of the stars even cared that they were at a movie. She could see people texting, and talking on their phones, making out, and talking to their agents. It was like going to a movie with a bunch of seventh graders. She let her gaze drift over to Alexander, and quickly looked away after he licked his lips and nodded his head in the direction of the bathroom. Mortified, she shifted closer to Warren, letting his arm drape across her shoulders, pulling her even closer as he noticed Alexander, who quickly looked away when he realized that Warren had caught him.

By the time the movie ended, which was 3 hours later and 4 more glasses of champagne, Rogue wanted to slit her wrists. It was the longest, and most boring thing she'd ever had to sit through. Now, she was slowly starting to understand why Warren hated coming to these things. Everything was just so fake. As the credits started to roll, Warren leaned closer, his lips against her ear, "This is when they serve the hard alcohol. Just another hour or so, and we can go."

She nodded, and let him lead her over to the bar. Now that she'd seen how they behaved, she wasn't as eager to gossip about them with Jubilee any more. They all acted like small children. Sighing, she let Warren slip a martini into one of her hands and a shot a whisky into the other. She gave him a strange smile.

"Jubilee told me about your Wolverine habits." He explained before watching her down the shot and then take a sip of her martini to get rid of the taste.

"Thanks, sugah." She said with a smile as she set the empty glass down. "So, I guess this is your real world, huh."

Warren wrinkled his nose and took a sip of his gin and tonic. "Hardly. These are the people I was afraid of when I first grew my wings. They're only nice to me because I'm such a freak. It gets them in the magazines."

She raised an eyebrow. "Even Alexander?"

"Especially Alex. He was the worst." He said, looking down into his glass. "He would pull out my feathers while I was sleeping and give them to all the girls to prove that I wasn't worth having a crush on. It was his goal in life to make my life miserable." Warren shrugged. "But, hey, that's the past, right?"

Rogue slowly nodded. "Yeah, Ah guess." She said, finishing her drink and setting it down on a nearby table. "Ah'm sorry." She added as an afterthought, her now free hand moving to Warren's upper arm. "Tha' mus' 'ave been awful." She said, her accent thicker than Warren had ever heard it before.

Laughing, Warren looked down at her, and then set his glass down. "You're drunk." He stated, taking her hand off his arm, and wrapping his much bigger one around it. "We should leave."

But once again, before Rogue could say anything. She was interrupted for the fourth time that evening. Once again by the reporter Cindy Malone. "Warren," She cooed. "What did you think of the movie?"

"No comment." Was all Warren would say as he wrapped his arm back around Rogue's waist, this time to make sure she could actually walk. As far as he was concerned, the evening hadn't been too bad, even if he did spend part of the night dealing with Alexander Fiyero and his antics. With that he left the party to take Rogue back to the mansion.

As soon as Warren and Rogue had left, Cindy hurried over to Alexander. "What do you know?" She asked him excitedly, motioning to her camera man to cut the footage.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Alexander asked lazily, holding out his hand.

Rolling her eyes, Cindy pulled out a hundred dollar bill and then looked at him expectantly. "Did you at least find out her name?"

"She's his girlfriend." Alexander responded as he tucked the bill into his pocket. "And make sure that when you sell this to the tabloids it has something about me being the one that got them together."

Again, Cindy rolled her eyes. "The name, Alex."

He smirked. "Marie D'Ancanto."

Cindy grinned. She couldn't wait to tell her boss. It would be the biggest scoop and scandal of the year. Ever since Warren had turned her down in school, she'd been looking for the best way to make his life as miserable as possible. And now she had her chance. All thanks to that tramp. Marie D'Ancanto.

By the time they'd finally arrived back at the mansion, Rogue had already passed out, her head resting in Warren's lap. Sighing, he scooped her into his arms, and carried her inside, grateful to be home. When they reached her room, he pulled down her covers, and gently laid her down on the bed, tucking her in. As he started to leave the room, Rogue suddenly shot up, grabbing his arm. "Don't leave." She requested. "Stay with me."

"You're drunk." Warren said as he tried to ply Rogue's hand off his arm.

Rogue sighed. "Ah'm not gonna take advantage of you or anything." She said rolling her eyes. "Ah just cain't sleep since the 'cure.'" She looked at him pleadingly. "Please, sugah?"

Warren sighed and then took his shirt off, freeing his wings. "Only because you guilted me into it by mentioning the 'cure.'" He said as he climbed into the bed next to her.

Grinning, Rogue snuggled up to him, resting her head against his chest, and sighing as she drifted off to sleep, one of his wings draping over her shoulder like a shield protecting her from the rest of the world as Warren, too, fell asleep.

And as they slept, neither had any idea of the article that would change both their lives forever.

So? Questions? Comments? Thoughts? Review please and help a girl feel less stressed about her finals.