Chapter 8
Remy was pulled back to consciousness by the faint sounds of an explosion. Opening his eyes, he saw that the movie was still playing. Trying to clear his eyes from the clouds of sleep, he sought out a clock. Seeing the ice blue numbers, he determined that he had only dozed for about half an hour. Reaching for the remote, he clicked off the movie and the television. Getting up from the chair he looked over at Rogue and saw that she appeared to still be sleeping. One arm had escaped the confines of the blanket and was draped over the arm of the chair. She had shifted so her face was now nestled in the crook of her arm.
Looking at her, just seeing her sleeping peacefully, Remy couldn't help but be reminded of how happy he felt at being home. His parents and brother were off in another country and he missed them, but being here, being around Rogue and Belle, was well worth the sacrifice. Granted, he and Belle had not exactly finished the evening on a happy note, but he wasn't too worried about it anymore. As he had told her at the restaurant, if anything, they were still friends. Besides, he rationalized, they had spent ten years keeping in contact. He couldn't let one sour evening mess things up between them.
Ascending the stairs to his room, he reflected on how incredibly lucky he felt. He was so thankful that Rogue and Belle had come back into his life. Scott was a great friend, and he had made many more friends in college, but collectively they could not feel the void he had felt when he left New Orleans all those years ago.
Pushing open his door, he went straight over to his desk chair and retrieved the sweats and long sleeved T-shirt he had dumped there earlier this morning. He changed quickly, shivering a bit as the chill air briefly touched upon his bare skin. Climbing into bed, he burrowed under the covers, ready and willing to let the comfort of the pillows and blankets lull him back to sleep.
Just as Remy finally fell back asleep, a strangled cry jolted him back to wakefulness. Knowing the only logical source was Rogue, he threw back the covers and raced back down the stairs and into the family room. Fumbling along the wall for the light switch, he finally located it and flipped it into the on position. Trying to force his eyes to adjust to the invading light at a faster pace, he looked to the couch to see that Rogue had fallen off and was on the floor, jerking under the now tangled blanket. Tears leaked out from under tightly closed eyes as she began to whimper. Remy was at her side in an instant, trying to shake her out of her obvious nightmare.
"Rogue," he called out in a soothing voice laced with urgency, "chére, wake up. C'mon, Rogue, y' gotta wake up."
He continued calling out to her until her eyes suddenly snapped open. He could see the wild fear in those emerald depths and went to work trying to break through the haze of sleep that still gripped her.
"Rogue? Y' alright?"
"No! Let me out! Get me outta here!" She lashed out with a fist, catching Remy in the chest, hard.
'Ow! Dat hurt!' He quickly grabbed a hold of her wrists to prevent her from hitting him again. "Rogue! It's me! Remy! Y' gotta snap outta it!" He held on as she still struggled in his grasp, her eyes still unfocused. Suddenly, she stopped moving. His gaze never left her face and he watched her go from panic to defeat.
"Please, let me out," she pleaded in a small voice. It broke his heart.
He released her arms slowly and they fell limply at her sides. Gently, he reached out to cup her face in both hands and looked her dead in the eyes. "Rogue, it's me, chére. It's Remy. It's okay. Y'r safe. Y'r free. I got y'," he whispered tenderly.
Her eyes closed once more and a small sob escaped her lips.
Remy shifted positions so that he was now sitting and pulled Rogue's upper body into his lap so that he could cradle her in his arms. He hugged her tightly to him as she continued to cry softly. Her fingers clutched at his shirt like a lifeline. Eventually, her tears slowly subsided and she faded into sleep once more.
"Is she okay?"
Remy looked up sharply to see Scott standing in the doorway, concern etched on his face.
"I t'ink so," he replied. He moved slightly, seeing if he could shift out from under her. A small whimper fell from her lips so he stopped moving. "Did y' hear her, too?"
"No. Just heard your door slam against the wall and someone running down the stairs." Scott walked over and crouched next to the couple. "What happened to her?"
Remy looked down and smoothed some of Rogue's hair away from her face. She looked peaceful once more, just as he had left her when he had retired to his room. "I t'ink it was a nightmare."
Scott was a little confused. "You knew how to handle it."
"Rogue has a history of dem. Not really like night terrors but dey freak her out real bad sometimes. I don't t'ink she even woke up from dis one. Probably won' remember what happened in de morning. Didn' know she still suffered from dese t'ings. I remember de first time we had a sleepover in de tree house. We got so freaked out when she started screamin'. Her mom taught us how t'handle dem. Gotta be real soothin' wit' her, let her know she's okay."
"That's terrible. Does she know what triggers them?" Scott asked, speaking softly.
"Anythin' I guess. Depends on how active her mind is before she goes t'bed. Tonight she kept screamin' for someone to let her out, like she was trapped."
Realization flashed across Scott's face. "In the beginning of The Transporter a girl is tossed in the trunk of a car."
"Dat could be it." He tried to move once more but Rogue protested the disturbance. "Damn, guess I'm stuck."
"Maybe you should stay with her. She looked pretty scared."
"Don' t'ink I got much of a choice on dat one. Can y' grab me a pillow an' a blanket? Looks like I'm sleepin' down her tonight."
"Yeah, no problem." Scott disappeared back up the stairs and returned moments later with the requested items. Remy had managed to scoot up against the couch so his back rested against it so Scott arranged the pillow to try and support his head as he leaned against the seat. He wrapped the blanket around his friend as best he could and fixed Rogue's blanket back around her body.
"T'anks, Scott."
"No problem. Want me to kill the lights?"
"Yeah. Dat would be great."
"Alright. Good night. Call me if you need anything."
"I will. Night."
Rogue woke slowly but kept her eyes closed, not wanting to get up just yet. She was off today so she might as well take advantage and sleep in. Sighing softly she snuggled into her pillow, enjoying how comfortably warm she felt. Suddenly, she felt something tighten around her body and she stiffened. Opening her eyes she saw that her pillow was not a pillow at all. Instead, it was a person's body. In a panic she tried to throw herself off but found she couldn't get very far because whoever it was didn't let go.
"Rogue?"
She stopped struggling at the call of her name. Whatever it was that had restrained her slid off her body and she sat up slowing and saw Remy staring at her quizzically.
"Y' okay?"
"Uh, yes?" She was confused. Looking around her and saw that she was still at Remy's house, lying on the floor. Noticing her proximity to her friend, she realized she must have been sleeping against him. Her eyes narrowed. "What happened?" She looked at Remy who was rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.
"Y' jus' woke up."
She rolled her eyes. "Thank ya for lettin' me know that. What happened last night?"
"We slept on de floor."
She could feel the impatience bud within her. "Yes, Ah can see that. Can ya explain to me why we slept on the floor?"
He noticed the subtle change in tone. She was irritated with his response. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to joke with her about this. It was way too early in the morning. Flippant responses were not the best to wake up to. He should be a good friend. Especially after last night. He should be more sensitive to what had happened.
"Y' got all clingy when I tried to go to my own room."
But, even though he felt better about it, she did send him to see that awful movie.
"What the hell are ya talkin' about?" Belle was right, she was cranky when she woke up.
"Seriously. Ask Scott. He saw de whole t'ing." He tried not to smile. Riling her up was so easy.
"Remy Lebeau, Ah am two seconds away from punchin' your lights out."
"Sorry, chére. Already too late for dat. Y'got me good last night." He lifted his shirt and showed her the bruise he knew had formed overnight.
Her scowl lessened at the sight of the ugly purple mark. "Remy, quit messin' around. What happened last night?"
His response died on his lips when he felt her feather-light touch on his chest. Looking down he saw her tracing the mark, her scowl now a grimace. He pulled down his shirt, forcing her to jerk back her hand.
"It was nothin' serious, chére. Just a dream."
"A dream-?" Then it dawned on her. "Ah had a nightmare last night."
Remy hoisted himself onto the couch. "Like I said, no big deal."
"No big deal?! Look what Ah did!"
"I set myself up for dat one. Forgot Irene's first rule: grab her hands so she don' hit y' on accident."
She got up to sit in the recliner. "Do ya know what Ah was dreamin' about?"
"I t'ink y' were trapped somewhere. Kept yellin' to be let out."
"Oh. Ah'm sorry Ah hit ya."
"Don' be sorry. Ain' really y'r fault." He glanced over at her. She was curled up on the recliner, looking despondent. "Why didn' y' tell me dat y' still had dose dreams?"
She shrugged. "Ah don't really get them much anymore. Last time Ah had one was over a year ago."
"Y' look really upset."
"Not really. It's just that my mom and Ah talked about this right before she left. About what it would be like for my roommate at school."
"Don' worry about it. I can get it so dat y'r on de same floor as me an' Scott."
"How ya gonna do that?"
"One of my friends is on de work study program and works in de Residential Life office. She made it so dat me an' Scott shared a room last year and dis year. She can put y' on our floor."
"Ah think that would make my mom feel better." She attempted to run her fingers through her hair but ended up getting them caught up in a mess of tangles. "Ugh. Guess Ah should go make myself presentable." Getting up she went to locate her belongings.
Remy watched as she found her shoes and slipped them on and then moved to the table where she left her purse and phone. "Oh, Belle wanted y' t'call her. She tried to get a hold of y' last night an' I told her y' were sleepin'," he said as he got up to walk with her to her door.
"Okay, thanks. Oh, how did it go last night?"
"Yeah, about that," he paused for a minute, shutting the front door. "Do y' t'ink we can do lunch again today?"
"Um, yeah, Ah guess," she answered, very curious as to what happened last night.
"Just call me when y'r ready. I'll come get y'."
"Okay," she looked at him oddly.
"I'll tell you later."
Accepting this she said good-bye and entered her house with the distinct feeling that last night didn't really work out as well as she had hoped.
"Everyt'in' was fine 'til we went to de movies. I don' know what happened den."
Belle sat on Rogue's bed as she watched the other girl dry her hair. Rogue was going curly today so the diffuser was much quieter, enabling them to talk.
"Tell me what happened after ya got to the theater."
"We had to stand in line so he could buy some popcorn an' stuff. I told him dat stuff was fattening."
Rogue looked at Belle in disbelief. "Why the hell would ya say that?"
"'Cause it is!"
Rogue rolled her eyes. Sure, she told her and their other friends the same thing every time they went to the movies together, but it was totally wrong to say on a date. "Do ya really say that to all y'r dates?"
"No! I don' know what happened. It just slipped out!"
"Okay, great. Strike one, ya treated him like one of your friends. What happened next?"
"Den Nikki called and she told me dat she finally ain' a virgin anymore."
Yeah, that's real important. "How long were ya on the phone?"
"From de concession line 'til de movie previews started." Belle checked the time of the call on her cell and compared it to the movie start time. "About fifteen minutes."
"Wonderful. Strike two, ya straight ignored him for fifteen minutes. Continue."
"Den de previews started. We've got to see S.W.A.T.! Colin Farrell looks so yummy in dat one!"
"Fine, but back on track. What else happened?"
"He tol' me dat Ben Affleck was lucky t'get to kiss Jennifer Garner an' J.Lo an' dat he would love t'trade places wit' him."
"Well, that seems pretty insensitive. Why would he say that?"
Belle suddenly found her nails quite interesting. "I might've said dat Colin Farrell was sexy."
Rogue shut off the dryer. "Okay, basically, ya called him fat, ignored him, and then complimented another man in his presence. Belle, Ah thought ya were excited about this date?"
"I was! I'm really attracted to him an' everyt'in'. I don' know what happened last night!"
"Ya treated him as if he were me. That's what happened."
"So now what?"
"Now ya have to think of a good apology. Ah have no doubt that he'll still want to see ya again, so don't worry about that."
"An' apology? I don' do apologies."
"Well, either ya start or ya think of somethin' just as good." Her eyes darted to the clock out of habit. "Hey, don' ya got rehearsals or somethin' in twenty minutes?"
Belle looked at the clock herself and jumped from the bed. "Shit! I'm gonna be late! We'll talk later. I'll t'ink of somet'in'! Later!" she called as she ran out the door.
Belle raced down the stairs. She flung open the front door and was positively startled to see someone standing on the other side.
"Hey, Belle."
She blinked in obvious surprise. "Remy! What're y' doin' here?" She hadn't planned on seeing him so soon.
"Oh, um," he faltered a bit. He wasn't sure if he should tell the truth. He didn't want her to think that he was going to talk to Rogue about their date. "I was jus' checkin' in on Rogue. She had a nightmare last night and seemed pretty bothered by it when she went home dis mornin'." That was a sufficient excuse.
Belle's surprise was immediately replaced with concern. "She had a nightmare? She didn' tell me 'bout it."
"Well, she did seem bugged by it. Mebbe she didn' wan' to talk 'bout it," he reasoned.
"Dat's true." She sighed. "Poor girl. Hasn' had one in a while. T'oght she was doin' okay. I'll have to talk t'her 'bout dat."
"Yeah."
They stood for a moment in awkward silence.
Remy cleared his throat. "Am I keepin' y'? Y' seemed t'be on y'r way out."
"Huh?" She looked up at him and then remembered her whole reason for leaving. "Oh! I have rehearsals."
"Well, don' let me make y' late." He stepped out of the way so she could exit the house.
"T'anks," she mumbled as she walked passed. "Um, I'll see y' later, okay?"
"Okay," he nodded with a faint smile.
She took off and he watched as she hurried back home. Cursing quietly under his breath, he entered the house and shut the door.
He ascended the stairs inaudibly and navigated himself to Rogue's room. As he approached the threshold he saw that the door was open and Rogue was standing at her vanity, her back to him.
"Hey, chére."
She jumped at his call and he heard something clatter to the vanity table. Her hand flew to her heart as she whipped around to face him.
"Holy Mother of God! Remy, Ah'm gonna kick your ass!"
He winced inwardly at her tone, but couldn't help but smile. That was the second time in two days. "Y' know, dat's de second time today y' threatened to do me bodily harm?"
"Ya scared the hell out of me!"
"I'm sorry, chére," he said, walking in the room. "I wasn' t'inkin'."
"Geez, ya can't keep sneakin' up on a girl like that." She turned back around and picked up her lip gloss, frowning at the mess it made when she dropped it. "Ah thought ya were gonna call first?"
"I was but I needed to get out before Scott cornered me. Wanted to have a private lunch." He wandered around the room, taking it all in. He hadn't stepped foot into her private domain in ten years. Needless to say, things definitely had changed.
The wooden bunk bed had been traded for a queen-sized canopy. The dollhouse was no where to be seen. Her old desk had been updated, along with her computer. The vanity was new and decorated with various makeup containers and hair care supplies. A large bookshelf sat against one wall and was filled to near capacity with all kinds of different titles. His eyes roamed over the spines, trying to get a feel for what she liked. One particular title caught his attention and he pulled it out. He flipped through the pages, noticing how worn they were and was surprised to find notes scrawled along the margins of nearly every page.
"Y' like Gatsby?"
"Yeah, it's one of my . . .," her voice faltered as her mind registered his question. Out of all the books Ah hid Ah had to forget about that one? Rogue couldn't help but grimace. Prior to Remy's arrival in New Orleans, she had completed cleared out her room of anything that could give way to the fact that she was his real pen pal. Apparently, she overlooked some things.
Remy noticed the look on her face through the reflection in the vanity mirror. "Y' okay?"
She looked up and they made eye contact via the mirror. Damn. "Yeah, Ah'm okay."
He wasn't so sure. It seemed that the book had caused her reaction. "What were y' sayin' 'bout de book?"
She moved away from the mirror and to the closet, searching for something to wear. "Oh, uh, it's one of my required readings. Ah actually got it from Belle, since she already analyzed it and all."
"But y' do like the story?"
"Is that what Ah said?"
"Yeah, I t'ink so."
She turned around with a smile. "They why are ya askin'?"
"The face y' made. It looked like y' didn' like it," he explained, returning the book to its place on the shelf.
"Naw. Y' just reminded me that Ah gotta remember all that stuff for one of my finals," she told him on her way out the door. "Ah'm just gonna change. Then we can go."
"Okay." He wasn't sure if he bought her excuse, but it made sense. Taking a seat on the bench at the foot of her bed, he waited for her to continue getting ready.
"So, I tol' her I had a headache. She was quiet de whole ride home an' we kinda jus' parted ways after I walked her home. I just don' know what happened. I didn' expect dis at all."
Rogue felt terrible. Remy had just finished recounting his version of the previous night's events and it pretty much coincided with Belle's, with the exception of his falling asleep during the movie. Belle hadn't mentioned that. She had been inclined to reprimand him for that, but given the way he had been treated prior to that, it just didn't seem right.
Remy watched as Rogue sat in thoughtful silence, genuine sympathy shining from her eyes. They were tucked away in booth at a restaurant not too far from home. Most of the other patrons were older, most likely due to the early lunch hour, so they had been seated away from them in a back corner that gave a bit more privacy.
"Ah'm so sorry that ya had such a terrible night."
"Well, it wasn' all bad. At least we got along before de movie."
Rogue picked at her fries, trying to come up with a way to fix things. "Maybe movies should be avoided for a while. Do ya have any ideas?"
Remy mirrored her actions, picking at his own fries. Any ideas? "Well, I do want to try again. Maybe somet'in' less formal."
"How 'bout dancin'? Y'all got along great when we went dancin' the first time."
"Yeah, dat's true. But dere was other people around den, too."
"Maybe that's it. Maybe y'all need more time to reacquaint. Y'all haven't really seen each other much since ya got here. Maybe it was too soon for a formal date."
That made sense. He could count the number of times he had seen Belle since his arrival on one hand.
"Ah got it! Why don't we double?"
Remy looked at her sharply. "What?"
Rogue smiled, excited. "Ya know, double date. The next time ya take Belle out, Scott an' Ah will tag along. That way y'all won't feel pressured. Then, when ya want some alone time, ya can take off an' we won't feel offended."
A double date. Him and Belle going out with Scott and Rogue. On a date. Him and Belle. On a date. Scott and Rogue. On a date. Scott. Rogue. Date.
"I don' know 'bout dat." The whole idea made him extremely uneasy.
"Why not? Ah thought ya wanted to see Belle again?"
"I do. I, uh, I just don' know if Scott would go for dat." Yeah, right.
"Of course he would! Last night we talked about how cute y'all looked together."
Last night? Oh, yeah. They hung out together. Alone.
Rogue saw Remy cringe at her words. Finally, she understood. She narrowed her eyes. "Ah know why ya don' like it."
"I never said I didn' like it."
"You're doing it."
"Doin' what?"
"Bein' protective." She crossed her arms across her chest.
"I am not!"
"Yes, ya are."
"No, I'm not."
She raised an eyebrow. "Then ya don't like Scott."
"I never said dat!" he protested.
"Is there something wrong with him?"
"No!"
"Is he weird or somethin'?"
"Sometimes, but dat's not it."
"So Scott's okay?"
"Yeah."
She noticeably deflated, casting her gaze down at her food. "So, it's me then."
"What?!" He couldn't believe his ears.
"Ah'm not good enough for Scott."
"What de hell are y' talkin' 'bout?" This was getting ridiculous.
"Your not being protective, and Scott's a nice guy, so it must be me."
"I never said dat! Y'r puttin' words in my mouth!"
She sighed heavily. "So Scott's out. Guess Ah'll just have to find someone else who's not as good as Scott to take dancin' with me."
Not as good as Scott . . .? He envisioned a man, no boy, groping Rogue as they danced way too close.
"No! Y' are goin' wit' Scott an' dat's final. End of conversation."
"But-"
"No buts. We are all goin' dancin' together so we can make sure some strange pervert isn' bein' fresh wit' y'."
"If that's how ya feel . . ."
"Dat's exactly how I feel!" Frustrated with their conversation, he furiously began eating his lunch.
Both ate in silence. Halfway through the meal, it finally clicked and Remy looked back up at Rogue. She was waiting for him, a smug smile on her face.
"I can' believe I fell for dat."
A.N.:
Hmm. Another chapter down.
That whole date thing seems really dragged out. What do you guys think?
I was thinking about what else I have in store for this story and realized that it was going to be a lot longer than I thought. Might be a while before we see who Remy chooses and what happens when he finds out the truth . . .
Big thank you to RonWeasley1975 for finally translating the movie title for me! It means "Will You Be Friends With Me?"
Snow queem2 Iceangel46 Raysofsunshine Rogue Warrior Spirit RonWeasley1975 BlackTom Mercurial1 Michelle Panther Nesmith Ishandahalf Rogue77 Katrina5 Caliente Lid'l Rogue Blink182dbzluver Lightspeed Suzuka Aro T. Nie Starwhistler The Little Prophet
