Wow 372 reviews! Thanks everyone!

-Gams

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter Twenty-Eight – States of Denial

A week later…

"Who the hell said New York was the city of opportunity? There is nothin' in this damned city that's even remotely worth applyin' for!"

Wanda gave an amused snort while Remy just continued to lag behind the two women. A hidden smirk crept across his face as Rogue continued to fume before him like a (literal) ruffled momma hen. Before meeting Wanda for a late lunch, Remy and Rogue had spent the last eight hours walking around Manhattan Island. Rogue, being the 10-weeks pregnant woman she was, was between tearing her hair out with frustration or tearing his out first. Much to Rogue's chagrin, Remy had done nothing but assure her that she could take as much time as she wanted to because 'he didn't mind taking caring of things.' The only reason Rogue didn't pummel him on the spot for saying it again, was that she had every intention of paying him back for any financial 'help' he gave her. He had agreed to it but Rogue doubted he would take her money. It was on that note that she stopped caring whether or not Remy 'took care of things.' What was the point? However, it didn't stop her from turning around and shooting him down with a near-death glare. Remy gave an innocent look but those devilish eyes defeated the purpose of his expression. Rogue turned away muttering as Wanda replied.

"That's a financial downturn for you."

Rogue turned a similar glare towards her friend. Unlike Remy, Wanda was unaffected by the look and continued to make justifications.

"Don't get yourself all riled up 'Ro. You've only been job hunting a day. You can't expect something to turn up right away. Not in New York at least."

Rogue gave an irritable sigh and pouted as she threw her high-lighted and scribble-clad job section of the newspaper into a nearby bin in defeat. Remy took the moment to slip his hand into hers as he shifted to walk beside her. Rogue's previous annoyance towards him melted to a small, thankful smile as she squeezed his hand back. His hand slipped from her hand and around her back as he spoke in a soothing tone of voice.

"Don't worry chére. T'ings like dis take time non?"

Rogue gave a defeated sigh as she nodded in agreement.

"Ah guess. But ah don't lahke not havin' options at the ready, ya know? Somethin' is better than nothin'."

"How about this?"

Wanda, who had stopped some two steps behind them, pointed towards an advert poster on a near by wall. Remy and Rogue lagged behind only to find an advert for a graphics magazine called Innovation. Across its face was an illustration that was appeared as if painted but to a trained eye was obviously computer generated. Rogue eyed the poster with interest but it quickly turned to confusion. She turned to Wanda a moment later.

"It a graphic artists' magazine."

Wanda nodded with a look that obviously said 'don't-you-get-it?' across her face. Rogue continued to frown sceptically.

"It's for professional artists, Wands. Not an amateur lahke meh."

Wanda rolled her eyes, giving a slight grunt of disbelief as she shifted closer to the poster. She pointed her index towards the poster as she replied.

"They create articles about graphic artists. If you got an article interview, maybe you could get a few bites. See here?"

She indicated to the top of the poster.

"They're looking for someone new. You should contact them!"

Rogue looked at her friend as if she had just declared herself insane to a mass public audience. She raised one brow at her friend before she spoke.

"What?"

Wanda gave a slightly irritated grunt as she pulled the loosely stuck poster from the wall and stuck it in front of Rogue's gaze.

"Look, you wanted something rather than nothing. This is something."

When Rogue didn't agree or decline, Remy took the opportunity to speak up. He rest a consoling hand, like he had most of the last week, on her shoulder as he spoke.

"No one is gonna push y' Roguey, jus' give it a try? Who knows dis might lead t' somet'ing."

It was only after that that Rogue took the poster, nodded and folded it into her coat pocket. However, while Remy gave her a proud smile, Wanda lagged a little behind and rolled her eyes at the two. 'How long must this stupid denial game go on?!' Wanda dramatically raised her hands into the air in an act of non-verbal frustration as Remy slipped an arm around Rogue's shoulders as they walked a few steps ahead of her. It was at that moment that Wanda chose her first victim in her new game of cupid. Struck by arrow or hanged by noose, she would get him to end this game of denial.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rogue gave an appreciative moan as she closed her eyes in rapture.

"Oh mah gawd, this ice cream is amazing…"

She pulled the tall silver spoon from her mouth and licked her lips clean of the chocolate residue before digging at the small mountain of ice cream set before her. While Rogue was perfectly content in her triple chocolate mountain, Wanda and Remy watched with similar looks of awe and uneasiness. However the latter were decidedly different kinds of discomfort. While Wanda's disgusted expressions were based on the disgustingly massive amount of chocolate and strawberry syrup goodness, Remy's expression of discomfort was born from harder place. Her practically sensual moans would be the death of him. Rogue had developed a sudden craving for ice cream despite the near-freezing climate and so they three had made their way to the nearest ice cream parlour. Remy didn't know whether to damn or applaud the man who invented ice cream. He was very close to becoming just plain indecent. Thankfully, he had at least the cover of his trench coat and Rogue's lack of interest to keep him censored. Wanda, however, was not so merciful. She scrunched her face in disgust as she spoke.

"Would you get a room with that already?"

While Remy strained a groan and turned as far away from her as his head would permit him, Rogue gave a hearty chuckle as she swallowed another spoonful. She replied as she brought another to her lips and grinned. It was like watching the cat get the cream in blissful spoonfuls.

"Mmhmm…With this ice cream ah would."

She continued to moan delightedly as she let another portion savour on her tongue. Remy forced himself not to make a pained expression as thoughts of Rogue, ice cream and a room danced across his occasionally perverted mind. He reached instinctively for the cup of coffee before him and began to skull it down like water. However in his attempts to stay cool and calm were not left unnoticed by Wanda. She raised a perfectly angular brow at him but said nothing. Rogue, unbeknownst of Remy's obvious discomfort, spoke up with a genuine tone of interest in her voice.

"Weird question, but if it came down to it, what would ya give up? Food or sex?" (1)

'Oh Dieu aie pitié…' (Oh God have mercy). Remy choked on the last gulp of coffee as it burned down his throat. He began to mercilessly cough and choke behind his raised hand, causing Rogue to turn to him with an anxious expression. She patted his back in an attempt to sooth him but it did more harm than comfort. While he tried not to suffocate as he strained to stifle his coughs, Wanda let out a loud snort of laughter. She raised her hand in light defense as she replied.

"I will not dignify that with an answer."

Rogue gave a small chuckle and rolled her eyes. She continued to urge an answer out of her friend.

"Come on, for argument sake. It's not lahke that would ever happen."

Wanda gave a smug look and replied in light banter.

"Okay, so what would you give up then?"

Rogue gave a thoughtful expression as she took a final spoonful from her now-empty bowl of ice cream. A moment or two later, she gave a casual shrug and spoke.

"Ah'm kinda temperamental about it but raght now, sex is the furthest thing from mah mahnd…"

To emphasise her point, Rogue devoured another spoonful and grinned blissfully. Wanda gave a somewhat devious glance towards Remy, who gave a non-too-distinctive cough to hide his groan of discomfort before she replied.

"I'd give up on food. I mean come on, either way you'd die from the lack of."

With her for-argument-sake answer said, Remy was left completely vulnerable to questioning. His face was still a flush from the strain of his choking fit when Rogue turned to face him with a cheeky grin. When he didn't reply after a few seconds of her staring, Rogue gave a small chuckle and replied.

"Ah do believe ya have met a stalemate Rems. We both know ya don't last long without either."

Remy could only nod and smirk feebly to save what little dignity he still had left. To his relief, Rogue didn't dawdle any further into it. To his anxiety however, Rogue's teasing smirk completely drained from her face. With a sudden hunch of panic, Remy asks what was wrong but Rogue didn't answer. Instead, she shifted close to the table and looked past him. Remy and Wanda exchanged odd looks before Rogue sat back again. Remy's brow remained creased with a concerned look.

"Y' okay?"

Rogue nodded. Her face was contorted between a frown of confusion and disbelief.

"Nothin' ah…ah thought ah heard someone ah knew. …He wouldn't beh here… that's crazy…"

Wanda and Remy exchanged another round of bemused looks as she began to mutter the last of her words under her breath. However, before either could question her further, Rogue had to leave for the bathroom. The moment Rogue was safely behind those pastel blue doors however, Wanda was stringing her cupid's bow and aiming straight at Remy's head; she raised one brow at him with an expectant glare. After a few moments, Remy gave a naïve, confused look.

"What?"

Wanda grumbled irritably as she slackened her glare. She did not relieve her aim however as she replied.

"Are you sick?"

Remy raised a confused, skeptical brow causing Wanda to let out a loud, frustrated growl that caused a few head to turn her way. She practically hissed through gritted teeth as she replied.

"You made absolutely no perverted remarks about sex, food or Rogue getting a room with that ice cream let alone speak at all! Now are you sick or what?"

Remy turned his gaze downward to the cup of coffee between his hands. He traced the rip with a finger tip as he let out a husky, irritated sigh. He had just about had enough of his friends' poking and prodding about his feelings towards Rogue. Getting it from Wanda was one of the few he could usually tolerate because she didn't press it very often. Now, he wasn't so sure. He heard her sigh in defeat and dared to hope she would pass the subject untouched. Hope, however, was not on his side. Her tone of voice would've appeared cold and sarcastic to any normal pair of ears but to Remy, it was almost sympathetic. Wanda was never sympathetic to him. The shock, at the least, kept him silent as she replied.

"Are you ever going to tell her?"

Remy brought his gaze up enough to catch the pleading look that kindled in Wanda's eyes. Never had he seen desperation upon Wanda Maximoff's face. When he did not reply, a sigh that was more frustrated than defeated escaped her lips before she retorted.

"You're killing yourself trying not to show anything more than friendly affection towards her. We all know that it's more than that and believe me when I tell you you're failing miserably in our eyes! Just tell her you love her and get it over with already-"

"Wanda? Remy?"

The would-be-lecture was abruptly pulled to a halt by a new voice. Both turned in time to watch as its owner began to make his way towards them at a casual, slow pace. Though neither knew it, both silently swore as Kurt Wagner came to stand before them. A pleasant smile had spread across the young man's face, followed by a small chortle of amusement before he spoke.

"What are the odds! How are you two?"

'Merde.' Remy kept a straight face and a casual smirk across his lips as he took Kurt's extended hand and shook it. Wanda, similarly, kept a safe expression across her face but inwardly cursed the bad timing. Any minute now, Rogue would come out of the bathroom and all of hell would break loose from there on. Both preyed that Kurt would leave by the time she got back. Their wish was not helped when Kurt asked if he could join them. Wanda was forced to slide down a seat to let him sit. A round of usual pleasantry questions were tossed back and forth after that until Kurt asked the most unlikely of questions.

"So are you two here…on a date or…?"

Wanda, who had been taking a sip of her now-cold tea, swallowed abruptly. The absurdity of the question plus the suddenness of tea running down her throat caused a rush of coughing and choking to stream from her mouth. Kurt looked taken aback but nonetheless patted her back to ease her coughing. Remy just stared bewilderedly for a good ten seconds before erupting a string of 'No, no, no…' so fast he nearly ended up gagging himself. Once Wanda's face returned to a relatively less pink colour, she spoke up. Shaking her head at a constant rate, she indicated between Remy and herself with the point of her index.

"Me and him-?! No! Hell no-! No, Kurt you have got the total wrong idea here. We're just-"

She pause a moment as no immediate lie came to mind. Remy was quick to pick up the pace as he spoke.

"We were eh, jus' finishin' up. Y' soeur (sister) et Kitty jus' left."

Kurt seemed to take the bait well as he gave an obviously disappointed frown.

"Oh. Oh well, I was going to drop by around Rogue's apartment later anyway. It's no matter."

Remy and Wanda exchanged similar glances that voiced panic and anxiety. Rogue's apartment was still under lease but at the moment it was just a storage apartment for the furniture and moving boxes Rogue couldn't fit at Remy's. If Kurt dropped by, he was likely to suspect something or worse, suspect something and call Raven to see if he had missed something about Rogue moving apartments. Of course, Raven didn't know Rogue had moved yet. It was all very complex and equally very risky business.

"Well, actually Kurt, Rogue isn't at her apartment-"

"Kurt-?"

All three heads turned at the familiar voice only to catch Rogue in a frozen stance not two steps away from the booth. Her mouth hung slightly agape as she stared disbelievingly at her older brother. Kurt on the other hand, rose from his seat and progressed to envelope his kid sister into a tight hug. Rogue was still stiff from the shock when he pulled back to look at her face-to-face. He chuckled at her expression when it didn't change.

"Are you that disappointed to see me, schwester?" (German: sister)

Rogue gave a feeble attempt at a smile as she let out a nervous chuckle in reply. She scratched the back of her head nervously as she replied lightly.

"Surprised, more lahke…" '…To say the least!'

Kurt gave a hearty laugh as he pushed Rogue towards the now-empty seat beside Remy.

"Well I didn't exactly tell you I was coming home, so I forgive you. How are you? You look a little…"

He eyed her intently, causing Rogue to subconsciously make sure that her coat was covering the slight hint of a baby bump that was otherwise evident. To her relief, Kurt smiled brightly and replied.

"You've done something to your hair right?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Haha where will THIS lead to? REVIEW!

-Gams

(1) Lol this is for Pennylane87 and any 'Friends' fans out there who remember the 'food or sex' conversation. Lol I couldn't resist this one!