A/N: One chapter was not nearly enough to keep all of you loverly Romy fans interested! Here, have another. ;)


Chapter Two

Rogue clutched her books to her chest as she walked, taking in the beautiful spring day. She closed her eyes and sucked in a lungful of the sweet scent of fresh grass that had been finally exposed from the snow from the ever-increasing heat of the sun. The birds were chirping joyfully while they went about making their new nests after a winter away. The birds were smart creatures; flying away when it got too cold to bear. She could only wish of such a life. A shiver raced up her spine as she recalled how much she hated the winter. Thankfully, it looked like everything was downhill from here. The last over night frost had been over two weeks ago, and people had started planting their flowers, hoping for the best. Including Ororo Monroe.

Rogue smiled as she passed the ivory haired woman, kneeling in the garden with her sun hat on.

"Afternoon 'Ro."

Storm looked up and grinned. "Good afternoon Rogue, how was class today?" she pulled a gardening glove off her slender hand and wiped away the perspiration from her forehead.

"Ah you know how it is... it's college. The only difference from high school is that we pay them t'bore the crap outta us."

Storm laughed lightly, pulling her glove back on with a nod. "I suppose that's one way of looking at it."

"So y'goin' with tulips this year?" Rogue glanced over Storms shoulder at the flowers she'd already planted in the ground. "They're lookin' good." she winked.

Storm chuckled and thanked her before Rogue turned to head up the stone steps of the mansion.

Rogue hugged her books closer to her chest as she walked through the halls. It was still too early for any of the younger mutants to be back from high school, but it was a self conscious twitch of hers to make her body as small as possible. Just in case.

She trudged up the stairs and made her way to the library, stopping in the doorway. She looked up at the clock on the wall, letting her eyes fall back down to the study area where he sat. She nearly dropped her books at the sight of him. He was early.

"Y'said not t'be late." He called to her, lazily slinging his arm over the back of his chair with a smirk.

Rogue regained her composure and stepped towards him. "This is a library Cajun, you shouldn't shout."

"Relax chère. It's empty. We d'only ones here." He twisted in his chair to sit with his legs under the table. "So no funny business, hein?"

She cracked a smile in spite of herself, dropping her school books on the table with a thud. She pulled the chair next to him out and sat down.

Remy peered at the books curiously, his eyes flicking over to her momentarily. "All a'dem fo' me?"

Rogue chuckled "No, they're mah school books. 'All a'them.' Ah see why you need tutorin'."

"Tutorin'. I see why Xavier suggested you."

"Alright." She lifted a hand and nodded in surrender. "Let's get started. What are y'workin' on right now?"

"Poetry. Different kind a'poems... some shit like dat."

Rogue stood up and grabbed a book off of one of the many shelves, handing it to him when she returned. "Let's start with this."

"Shakespeare."

"Ah, oui oui monsieur." She sat down again, noticing Remy's almost disgusted look.

"Jus' stick to d'English lessons chère. Leave d'French t'moi."

"Yeah, yeah, just open up the damn book." She opened it for him, flipping a few pages and pointing out where she wanted him to start. After reading a few sonnets Rogue bit her lip and stared at the page.

"Gambit not doin' it right chère?"

"No, no." She scratched the tip of her nose and let out a deep breath. "Y'doin fine. It's just... when y'readin' Shakespeare, y'gotta read it... fluidly. Other wise it sounds choppy, an' kind of awkward."

She thought for a minute. "Can you translate this t'French?"

He shrugged as he considered it "Oui, but not directly. A lot of it'd get lost in translation."

Rogue pursed her lips in thought again "Think of it like a heart beat." She tapped her gloved hand on her chest to simulate a heart beating as she read a section of the poem out loud. "Now you try."

Remy reached his hand out towards her chest with a sly smile.

"C'mon Gambit." She smacked his hand away and rolled her eyes, and he obediently read the same section using Rogue's method.

"Good!" She smiled, giving him a nod of approval. "That was really good."

"Y'think?"

"Ah do." She plopped her pencil down. "Why don't we call it a day."

Remy closed his book while Rogue gathered hers up into her arms. "Ah gotta admit Gambit," She started, standing up once she had all of her books. "Y'better than ah thought you'd be."

Remy stood up next to her and shrugged. "I just said I need d'class t'graduate, didn' say anything 'bout needin' a tutor. Dat was all Xavier."

Rogue nodded silently as they headed for the exit.

"If I knew it would've been so difficult t'convince y'to work with me chère, I'da just made him get someone else." he added, giving her a quick sidelong glance to see her reaction.

She simply sighed and shook her head. "It ain't about you Gambit. Ah just... had a bad experience 'bout a year an' a bit ago. This is his way of tellin' me he thinks ah'm ready t'move on."

He tipped his head to look at her. "Care t'share?"

She shook her head before the words were even fully out of his mouth. "Not really. Maybe if y'stick around long enough you'll find out."

"Y'sound bitter dat Gambit left chère." He smiled.

"Ah don't take kindly t'quitters."

He shook his head. "Told y'dere were-"

"Some things y'needed t'take care of. Ah know. And ah'm sayin' it's an excuse. You stick around this time, maybe you'll prove me wrong."

He gave her a smile, stepping in front of her and stopping, causing her to bump into him. He dipped his head to look her in the eye, his smile growing.

"Can I tell y'somethin' chère? Without you gettin' all... defensive or weird or anythin'?

Rogue raised an eyebrow skeptically. "That's not exactly a great way t'start..."

He stared at her with the same smile on his face until she nodded and rolled her eyes.

"Y'look good. Not dat y'didn't before with dat whole 'dark an' disturbed' look y'had, but-"

She laughed and looked away.

"Y'look... happy. It becomes you chère."

She squared her jaw, still looking away. "Thank you." She said flatly, trying to keep the blush that was trying to creep onto her cheeks at bay. "Are y'finished?"

His smile dropped to a smirk and he nodded, stepping back to her side. "M'finished."

"Good." She clutched her books tighter, lifting her chin indignantly. "Y'creep me out when y'start gushin' on like that. An' ah'll have you know, ah am still 'dark an' disturbed'."

Remy chuckled, digging his hands into his jean pockets. "Don' look it t'me."

"Well, it's not like ah've gone over to the dark side, so t'speak. Ah'm not wearin' pink frills, an' co-ordinatin' outfits with mah girlfriends. Gettin' manicures an' facials on the weekends."

"Never said dat."

"Y'sure make it sound like that."

"Wasn' my intention." He gave her a wink, "Besides, I notice y'still got d'smokey eye makeup. Jus' looks more sexy den 'dark an' disturbed.' You tryin' t'look sexy now Rogue?"

She grit her teeth, unable to keep the blush back anymore. "Go... suck a lemon!" she spat with a frustrated huff before stomping off. She mentally kicked herself for letting that damn Cajun get a rise out of her.

But he'd said she looked happy. Which was good, and nice of him to say. And he'd also said she looked sexy. Which was also good. She blushed again and cursed out loud.