Chapter 25: Home

"And that," Bella Donna said as she walked her fingers up Remy's bare chest, "about brings you up to date."

Remy captured her fingers and kissed the tips. It was the day after his return to New Orleans and he was lounging on his bed with his intended: a pretty, tough-as-nails, blue-eyed girl with small braids in her long blonde hair.

"What about you?" she asked. "The last I heard you were after that Marie girl?"

"Ahh, Rogue," Remy said with a nod. "She goes by Rogue now. And no, we haven't slept together. Probably not going to either, not unless she has a radical change of heart."

Bella Donna nodded. "Oh well, her loss. So, who then?"

"No one. Rogue's the only one I've dated."

"Seriously? Not even that Andrea girl?"

"Not even her. Last girl I slept with was you," Remy replied with a smile and tapped her nose lightly but affectionately.

"Mon dieu, that was Christmas break! How are you holding up?" Bella Donna demanded. "I'd go crazy."

Remy chuckled. "Well, you see, there's this thing. It's called a hand..."

"Shut up, that's gross," Bella Donna said, whacking him, and at the same time climbing over to straddle him. "So, whaddya say we do something about this?"

Remy reached up for her. "Yes, please."

Marie came down the stairs after having dropped her things off in her room and sat down beside Irene on the lounge. Irene sipped at her tea and put her mug on the coffee table.

"How are things with your father?" Irene asked.

"Good, they're good, I guess," Marie replied and shook her head with a sigh. "I dunno. I was all prepared to hate him when he first showed up but..."

"The bridges are being mended."

"Yeah." Marie was silent for a moment before asking, "Aunt Irene? How come you never told me about Graydon and Kurt?"

"Because you needed to hear about them from your mother, not I," Irene replied.

"Well, that's not how I found out. Not exactly. Uncle Victor told me about Graydon and as for Kurt, well, she showed up on Graduation day for him, not for me. I suppose she didn't know I'd be there. I guess if she had, she wouldn't have come."

Irene reached over and took her dismal sounding niece's hand in hers. "Are you sure it was you she was trying to avoid?"

"I... She left me."

"She left someone else first."

Marie shook her head. "She still left me, and she didn't have to. Did it never occur to her that I might want to meet my brother?"

Irene picked up her tea again with her free hand.

"No," Irene replied sadly. "No, I'm afraid it did not."

Todd was in the garage with three of his friends. He and one of his friends were on guitars while one was one bass, the fourth on drums.

"Okay," said Todd. "We ready?"

"Let's do it!" said the other guitarist.

"And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three, four," the drummer said.

Todd, the other guitarist, and the drummer started to play only for the bassist to interrupt:

"Is it really necessary for you to say one and two twice?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Really, really?"

"Umm, guys?" Todd said. "Trying to practice a song here. Hello? Can we argue about semantics later?"

Cody was a little surprised at the warm hug Marie greeted him with. He was also uncomfortable with the fact his girlfriend was watching on.

"Hey, bitch," Georgia said angrily, stalking over. "Get the hell off my boyfriend."

Georgia attempted to yank Marie away. Cody, Carlie, and pretty much everyone else there was unsurprised when Georgia had the wind knocked out of her with little effort on Marie's part.

"It's good to see you," Marie said to Cody without so much as a glance at Georgia. "How have you been?"

"Oh, not too bad," Cody replied as Georgia whined for him to help her up. "What about you? How's boarding school?"

"Not as bad as I thought it was going to be," Marie replied, watching detachfully as Cody helped Georgia. "Actually most of the amenities are better than what they have here. And would you believe I got an A in math this year? An A. Me."

"Wow, that's pretty good, Anna," Cody said.

"It's probably a special school where they give everyone really high grades," Georgia sneered, tugging at Cody's arm. "Come on, Cody. Let's go."

"Umm..." Cody looked between Georgia and Marie.

"Let's go!" Georgia demanded with a glare. "I don't want you hanging out with that uber-bitch."

"Georgia—" Cody started to say.

"It's okay, Cody," Marie said sweetly. "We can talk later."

"You can talk never," Georgia insisted. "I never want you to talk to Cody ever again."

Marie ignored her and continued addressing Cody. "She's just sore that no matter how much she might try to erase me from your present and your future, she can never erase me from your past."

"Cody," Georgia said.

Cody cleared his throat, knowing better than to say to Georgia's face that Marie was right.

"Okay, okay," he said to Georgia. "We're going."

"Good!"

As Georgia led him away, Cody turned his head and gave Marie a grin and a wave. Marie grinned and waved back. It was strange. She was so sure that it would be weird seeing Cody with Georgia and she kept expecting the green-eyed monster to show up but it never did. She was neither jealous, and to her even greater surprise, she wasn't even interested in getting back together if—when—he and Georgia broke up. They would always be friends and she was happy with that.

Fred sniffed speculatively at the contents brewing in the pot, then sampled it with a wooden spoon. After a moment's consideration he added some more spices to it.

He was going to wow his teachers at culinary school, he just knew it. He couldn't wait for his first year to start.

Kitty typed away intently at her computer, her mind focused on the program she was writing.

"Kitty—"

"Yah!" Kitty exclaimed, and pressing a hand to her chest, turned to look at her father who was standing at the door way. "Oh, hey Dad. You startled me."

"So I gathered," he replied. "You know, you've been on that thing all day."

"I know."

"You want to go out and actually do something?"

"With you?"

"Sure."

"Okay, just let me finish this one bit."

"Don't be long."

Mindful of his brother's waiting eyes, Remy was careful only to greet Marie with a quick hug rather than a lingering one when they picked her up from the train station. He also restrained himself from kissing her and holding her hand like he wanted to, instead making his hands busy by picking up her luggage.

"Nice to see you again, Rogue," Henri said, giving her a nod.

"Thanks. You too."

He led the way back to his car and kindly opened up the door for Marie while Remy put her bag in the back. There was so much he wanted to say to her but already he was wondering if inviting her over had been a good idea after all. He'd missed her, a lot, but his family would be watching them like hawks and Remy was well aware he wouldn't get to kiss her like he so badly wanted to.

"So," Remy said as Henri drove. "How's your summer been so far?"

"Not bad. Caught up with my old friends, which was nice. You know, it's weird how a year away can make you feel out of the loop," Marie said, "even though we talk on Facebook and stuff..."

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean," Remy replied, nodding.

"What about you?"

"Nothing exciting," he said, mentally discounting the half a dozen or so different crimes he'd committed in the weeks previous. Marie was not to know that he was a thief from a family of thieves. "Catching up with folks mostly."

Much small talk later, Marie gave a little sigh when they pulled into one of the mansions of the Garden District. Did everyone from school live in mansions?

"Wow," she said as she got out of the car.

Remy grinned and leaned into her. "Rumour has it my great-granddaddy won it in a poker game."

"Remy," Henri said frowning at him and Marie covered her mouth to smother her giggles.

"What?" Remy asked innocently, then quickly retrieved Marie's luggage because Henri could do more than frown at him.

They headed up the stairs and Henri opened up the large front door for them. Marie looked around at the lavishly decorated foyer in fascination.

"I'll show you to your room," Remy said.

"No," Henri said, taking Marie's luggage from Remy swiftly, "I will. We'll meet you in the parlour. This way, Rogue."

"Thanks," Marie replied, giving Remy a sympathetic smile as she followed Henri up the grand staircase.

Remy watched her go, then shoved his hands into his back pockets and headed for the parlour. He'd be lucky if he could get a single moment alone with her.

"Oh hey, Mercy," Remy said upon seeing his sister-in-law of one year as he entered the parlour.

Mercy glanced up from filing her nails on a lounge chair by one of the many windows.

"Your girlfriend's here, huh?" she said.

Remy scowled. "She's not my girlfriend."

Mercy looked down at her nails. "Whatever you have to tell yourself, Remy."

"She's not. We're just friends," Remy insisted.

"Look, Remy, the whole arranged marriage thing sucks, I know. I wouldn't be happy either, but—"

"We're just friends! Okay, just because she's a girl does not mean we're dating."

"Remy, we're not stupid—"

"I never said you were!"

"Remy. I can understand you dating other girls and as long as you're at boarding school it's very easy for the rest of us to turn a blind eye to whatever relationships you might have going up there," Mercy said tersely, frowning at him. "Here, at home, it's a whole other story. We have responsibilities and a contract to uphold."

"I know that! Merde!" Remy collapsed on one of the nearby chairs and ran his fingers through his long hair. "I know all about that, Mercy. I'm not stupid. I just... Rogue's one of the closest friends I've made at school and she's pretty much the only one who lives nearby. Well, she has family nearby anyway. I guess she technically lives in New York instead of Mississippi now. I just wanted to have a birthday with one of my friends over. Is it so much to ask?"

"I'm sure Jean-Luc never would have agreed if it was," Mercy replied mildly. "But you're just going to have to deal with being chaperoned. Sorry."

"This is crap."

"Yeah, well, it's necessary crap. Especially with Julien looking for any excuse he can to try and stop the wedding," Mercy said firmly. "They know all about Rogue coming here, and even if we give you the benefit of the doubt and say you're not dating and never have, Julien will still try and make things look otherwise. This is for your own good and Rogue's as well."

Remy would have loved to have argued further but Henri and Marie arrived.

"Rogue, this is my lovely wife, Mercy," Henri said, gesturing to her.

"Hi," Rogue said.

"Nice to meet you, Rogue," Mercy replied. "I know you've just gotten off the train but we thought you might enjoy some sight-seeing since you're only going to be here a few days."

"Sure, I'd like that."

After an afternoon of touring New Orleans, their trip ended up in a rather crowded ice cream parlour. It had been a hot day and it turned out everyone had the same idea. Including a few people the LeBeaus knew:

"Remy!" Bella Donna exclaimed, making her way over with sundae in hand. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Just been showing Rogue the sights," Remy replied and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Ahh, so you're Rogue," Bella Donna said, turning her gaze on the other girl. "Lovely to finally meet you. Remy's told me all about you."

"It's nice to finally meet you too," Marie replied and looked past her to see the two older boys coming towards them. One of them was fair-skinned with short blond hair, the other was dark-skinned with long black hair that was done up in beads and dreadlocks.

"Bella Donna," Henri said in greeting. "Julien, Gris Gris."

"So you're Remy's new girlfriend," Julien said, walking right up to Marie.

"Well, if by 'girlfriend' you mean a friend who happens to be a girl, then yes," Marie said, looking him right in the eye. "I don't date engaged men."

"Sure you don't."

"Leave off, Julien," Bella Donna said, jabbing her brother in the side with her free hand before turning her attention back to Marie. "Ignore him, he's an idiot. Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," Henri replied. "We were just waiting for Mercy to return with our ice cream while we claimed a table."

"Excellent," Bella Donna said and slid one of the chairs next to Remy. "Hey, lover."

"Belle, really," Julien asked with a wince as he sat down next to Marie, who was on the other side of Remy. "People are trying to eat here."

"Yet surprisingly, you're not one of them," Bella Donna replied, pointing her spoon at him. "You know, when I told you boys that I was heading out for ice cream, it was not an invitation for you to watch me eat it."

"Why do you even want to go out for ice cream anyway?" Julien demanded. "We have plenty at home."

"Because making sundaes take effort. And I just wasn't bothered."

"So does driving all the way out here."

"I wasn't driving, you were," Bella Donna retorted. "If you don't think it was worth the effort just because you think ice cream is stupid or something, then it's your own damn fault for volunteering."

"I would have been happy to take her," Gris Gris told Julien mildly as he scooped up some more of his own sundae. "I wanted ice cream too."

"I see we have friends with us," Mercy said as she joined the table with a tray of ice cream delights in her hands.

"I noticed that myself," Henri said, half standing to help Mercy with the tray.

"Yeah," Julien said, stretching his arm across Marie's shoulders as Mercy handed out the ice cream, "friends." He smirked at the glare Remy gave him. "Problem, Remy? Oh, I'm sorry, am I touching your girlfriend?"

"Not my girlfriend, Julien," Remy replied tersely as Marie looked at Julien's offending hand.

"Then this shouldn't bother you then," Julien said, rubbing Marie's arm suggestively.

"It bothers me," Marie said, turning her head to look at Julien. "Remove your hand. Now."

Julien slid his hand downward and Remy clenched his spoon as he watched Julien's hand brush against Marie's side and rub her hip.

"Or what?" Julien challenged her.

"Or I remove it and use it to clean out your anal passage," Marie replied stonily, staring him down.

Julien's hand lingered for a moment as he weighed everything up, then he lifted it free. Bella Donna laughed.

"Oh, you're adorable," Bella Donna said and nudged Remy. "Remy, let's keep her."

Gris Gris snorted. "She's not a purse puppy, Belle."

"I should say not," Marie said the same time Bella Donne replied: "Those things are so stupid."

The two girls looked at each other.

"I know, right?" Marie said while attacking her sundae with her spoon. "Dogs are not fashion accessories."

"Exactly! And not to mention being completely impractical. I mean, what are you going to do when it needs to poop?" Bella Donna asked. "Let it go all over your stuff?"

"Well, why not? They're already getting its hair all over everything. And dogs are meant for running around and playing and stuff, not being carted around, geez," Marie said, shaking her head. "I just want to smack the owners."

"Either that or smash their head against a brick wall until their brains ooze out onto the cement," Bella Donna replied ghoulishly.

"That works too," Marie replied with an amused tone, having no idea that Bella Donna was half being serious.

Marie headed downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. The LeBeau mansion wasn't exactly vastly populated to begin with but it seemed like the quietest it had been. She hesitated at first in the unfamiliar, empty kitchen but she had already done all her other usual morning stuff: work out, shower, get dressed. Her stomach was demanding food and she could deny it no longer.

She was in the middle of her exploration of the kitchen when Remy arrived. She jumped a little when he greeted her by sneaking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. He chuckled at her exclamation.

"Morning," she said.

"Morning," he replied.

Remy kissed her gently, happy to finally have a chance to do that. The way his family had been on his back, anyone would think Marie had poisonous skin or something. Marie smiled back at him but after meeting Bella Donna last night the kiss felt... odd.

"Sorry we haven't had much time alone," he said.

"It's okay," Marie replied. "The arranged marriage is a big deal and your parents don't acknowledge your arrangement with Belle. I get it."

"Yeah," Remy said, looking a little sad as he opened up the pantry. "Anything in particular you want for breakfast?"

"No, not really. Anything's fine."

"How do omelettes sound?"

"Good."

Remy nodded and started pulling out things to make the omelettes. Marie sat down on the clear bench top, relieved that the matter of breakfast had been taken out of her hands.

"Say, did I ever tell you how it was that I started going to Xaviers?" Remy asked as he cracked eggs into a bowl, knowing full well he hadn't told Marie the story at all.

"No, I don't believe you did."

"Well, what happened was I applied to a whole bunch of schools, including Xaviers, and that was one of the ones I got accepted into. I managed to get through the entire application process without telling Poppa a thing," Remy said while tossing more ingredients into the mix. "The one day I went into his office, dumped all the paperwork in front of him and said 'That's where I'm going to go to high school'."

"Wow, really?"

"Yep. He was pissed as hell at me for going behind his back," Remy said smugly, "but he was kinda proud too. It was only because Xaviers is so prestigious that he let me attend. It was really cool, you know? I felt like I had finally made a major decision in my life."

"High school's a major decision, huh?"

Remy pulled out the omelette pan from the cupboard. "Hey, I'm being denied the choice of marriage and career. I'll take what I can get."

"Career too?"

"Yeah. Family business."

"What about Henri?"

"He's in it too," Remy said as he prepared the pan. "Only it's his decision. He has the option of an alternate career if he feels like it."

"Ahh. Can't chance you on the career of your choice when you have a wife to look after huh?"

"Well, Belle's in a similar boat; she's stuck in her family's business too."

Marie nodded slowly while Remy started cooking the omelettes.

"Oh hey," Marie said after the silence had dragged out long enough. "Happy birthday."

Remy smiled, but it was a sad little smile.

"Thanks," he said. Now if only he didn't feel like he only had one year left before his life was over.

Continue onto JayCee's RedGold Gym Class Anti-Hero – Chapter 2