Scott stared in hurt bewilderment
as an upset Rogue stormed off the dance floor, leaving him high and dry
amidst the sea of dancing couples. Fortunately for him, the GN'R cover
band's screechy, hoarse rendition of November Rain had covered up
his argument with Rogue, and the other couples were too involved in their
happily oblivious relationships to care about the little explosion that
had occurred on the dance floor, and Scott was spared of the embarrassment
of having his supposed date for the evening walk out on him.
"Rogue..." Scott hastily
made an attempt to go after her, but just as he was about to commence pushing
and shoving his way through the crowded dance floor, the captain of the
St. Mary approached the stage, blessedly putting an end to the GN'R cover
band's horrendous set.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may
I have your attention, please?" he began. The couples stopped dancing and
turned to face him, as the captain began in a somewhat apologetic voice.
"Now, I know the flier advertised Creed and the Goo Goo Dolls as the co-headliners
of this cruise...but unfortunately, we here at the St. Mary Cruise Line
have found out that former members of Guns N' Roses, a custom-made child's
Hot Wheels race car driven by a three-year-old, and a pack of chocolate
Labrador dogs have prevented Creed from fulfilling their duties as co-headliners."
As the crowds began to express their general disapproval, the captain hastened
to explain, "Therefore, the good people here at the St. Mary can only deliver
one half of the original contract...and the Goo Goo Dolls will perform
later on tonight." To the captain's immense relief, the booing and hisses
quickly turned to applause and cheers, and he continued confidently, "Meanwhile,
hailing from Southern California to take Creed's place is the one, the
only...No Doubt!"
Scott listened to the captain's announcement half-heartedly, anxiously scanning the crowded room for Rogue. Meanwhile, back onstage, the half-assed GN'R cover band was shoved off, and No Doubt began setting up their equipment. One of the sailors cautiously approached the gloating captain, and asked in awed amazement, "Gee, sir, I know you managed to pester the Goo Goo Dolls into staying, but how did you get No Doubt to perform here tonight? Didn't the original replacement for Creed, Bon Jovi, turn you down flat, and when you went about trying to weedle Creed into performing...well, your men got the living crap beaten out of them?" The preening captain nodded, before taking a newly lit pipe out of his mouth long enough to reply, "Yes, but you see, none of the members of the two previous bands were engaged to be married--well, Mark Tremonti of Creed was, but just as we were making some progress with him, Slash and Izzy showed up to kick Christian's ass, so that didn't work out. However, Gwen Stefani is engaged, and she is so happy about it that it was quite easy suckering her into playing for a bunch of lovesick teens." Meanwhile, onstage, No Doubt had finished setting up their equipment, as Gwen announced that the first song was a classic Tragic Kingdom track, from way back in 1995. An angry musical intro launched the song underway, as Gwen steadied her grip on the microphone, before beginning to sing.
You had the best
But you gave her up
'Cause dependency might interrupt
Idealistic will so hard to please
Put your indecisive mind at ease
You broke the set
Now there's only singles
There's no looking back
This time I mean it
Are you happy now?
How is it now?
Are you happy now?
Are you happy?
The uncertainty you had of me
Brought clouded shady company
The tenderness habitual
A seldom-fading ritual
You killed the pair
Now only one is breathing
There's no looking back
This time I mean it
No more leaning on your shoulder
I won't be there, no more bother
If you feel you just might want me
That's too bad, I'm not that easy
The contemplator all those years
Now you must adhere
To your new career of liberation
You've been cast all by yourself
You're free at last
You broke the set
Nw there's only singles
There's no looking back
This time I mean it
You're by yourself
All by yourself
You have no one else
You're by yourself
As the first thunderous song
of the No Doubt setlist ended to great applause, Scott froze, Gwen Stefani's
furious, accusing lyrics having struck a chord in him. Oh, my God,
he thought, the angry lyrics repeating themselves over and over in his
head. Is this...is this how Rogue feels about me...about us? Suddenly,
out of the corner of his eyes, he caught sight of the unmistakable Southern
belle, and Scott whirled around so fast, he nearly tripped and fell. Rogue,
still wearing the stunning, low-cut wine-red evening gown, was leaning
against the entranceway, arms crossed and an unmistakably hurt and angry
thundercloud darkening her features as she listened intently to--and, more
likely than not, strongly identified with--Gwen's lyrics. As soon as she
caught sight of Scott looking at her, Rogue's eyes narrowed, and her fury
seemed to darken--if that was even possible--as she glared back at him.
Scott started after her, as No Doubt followed up the angry and accusing
Happy
Now? with the lonely, melancholic Don't Speak, calling out her
name.
"Rogue..." he spoke uncertainly,
but Rogue was far from ready to confront him now. Like a deer caught in
headlights, she froze as she realized that Scott was coming her way, before
quickly turning on her heels and fleeing, running as far away from him
as possible. Scott's eyes widened when he realized that Rogue was trying
to escape from him--and succeeding--and he desperately tried to increase
his speed as well, but it was near impossible to weave amidst the massive
sea of slow-dancing couples.
"Rogue! Wait!" he called
out, finally having freed himself from the dance floor and struggling out
of the crowd to chase after her. "Wait!"
Scott finally managed to
stumble his way out of the lights and noise of the ship's ballroom, and
now stared dazedly into the darkness.
"Rogue?" he called out uncertainly,
but the only response he got was silence. "Rogue? Come on, Rogue! You know
it's useless to try and escape your problems!"
As if in response, there was a light tumbling noise, followed by soft
cursing, and Scott zeroed in on the sound, following it to its source.
Arriving on the scene, he found Rogue, kneeling on the floor and swearing
softly in her Southern-accented voice. Upon closer inspection, Scott realized
that in her flight to escape from him, Rogue had broken the heel of one
of her stilettos. Kneeling down to roughly match her height, Scott picked
up the discarded and now useless high heel, and gently handed it to her.
Rogue angrily snatched the stiletto, before drawing herself to her full
height and beginning to limp away, holding the broken shoe in her hands.
Scott stood up as well, and hastened to catch up to her.
"Rogue, come on. Will you
at least talk to me?" he pleaded, trotting behind her and making sure to
give Rogue her personal space. Silence followed his desperate request,
as Rogue ignored his words and instead stubbornly kept on limping and stumbling
her way into the darkness.
"You know, running away
from your problems isn't going to help you solve them," Scott pointed out
wisely. "Won't you at least let me apologize for the way I've treated you
in the last couple of weeks?"
Rogue refused to acknowledge his words, and angrily plowed on ahead,
as if to say, What's there to apologize about? Wouldn't you rather chase
after Princess Jean? Scott paused, frustrated at this reception, before
calling out angrily, "Hey, after the humiliation you put me through on
the dance floor, walking out on me in front of all those people, I think
I deserve at least an explanation from you!" At his words, an outraged
Rogue turned around furiously, snapping in a vicious verbal abuse, "What
the hell do you mean, after all the humiliation I put you
through?! What about the living nightmare you put me through--?!" She broke
off suddenly when Scott grinned, as he chirped boyishly, "Hey, got you
talking to me again!" Rogue paused in mid-sentence, as realization dawned
upon her. She opened her mouth, as if to angrily retort his words, but
finally gave up and closed it with a snap, standing there in silently grudging
admiration. Scott broke into a genuine grin, as Rogue finally relented
and reluctantly allowed a grudging half-smile to briefly flutter across
her lips, removing some of the dark thunderclouds from her eyes.
"Rogue, I...I'm sorry. For
the way I've been treating you, for being so focused on Jean and neglecting
you, for not realizing how lucky I was to have such a wonderful and amazing
girl caring for me. I'm sorry. I feel like such an idiot," Scott apologized,
sounding both awkward and yet brutally honest at the same time. Rogue was
quiet, but Scott quickly went on.
"I mean, I feel like a blindfold
has been lifted from my eyes for the first time, and I've finally realized
that the most perfect girl was under my nose all this time," he continued
shyly. Shrugging, he added, "I guess it took Gwen Stefani's lyrics to finally
get to me and serve as a wake up call, and make me realize that I've been
searching for the wrong girl all this time. I guess I did have the best,
but I stupidly gave her up, and I'm not the least bit happy about it...and..."
His voice trailed off shyly, as Rogue stood there, listening to him in
silence. Finally, she spoke.
"Well, so it took Gwen Stefani
to serve as your wake-up call...but if you'd really listened to her lyrics,
you would have realized that if you feel you just might want me, that's
too bad, I'm not that easy," Rogue informed him coldly, before turning
around and walking out of his life...for the second time.