Disclaimers in chapter one. (That's starting to get
redundant….)
*** ***
***
"Chère?"
Rogue jumped. Had she heard what she thought she just
heard? She looked at Remy's face and saw that his eyes were open.
"Remy!" she exclaimed. "Oh my God, you're awake!"
"I feel terrible," he muttered, his voice
rough and groggy.
Rogue ran her hand across his cheek. "You almost
died, sugar."
"How…how long have I been out?"
"Five days."
Remy let out a deep breath. "Five. You been here
de whole time, chère?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
Remy managed a weak smile.
"I'm gonna go get Jean, okay? She's the doctor.
She saved your life." Rogue started to walk out of the room, but the sound
of Remy calling her stopped her.
"Marie?"
She turned around. "Yeah?"
"Wasn't jus' Jean dat saved my life."
"What do you mean?"
"It was you, too. You tellin' me you loved me
'fore I blacked out. Gave me somet'ing t'live for."
Rogue smiled at him then went to find Jean.
*** ***
***
Two days later, Jean declared that Remy could be
moved. He'd still be confined to bed rest and have to undergo medical
treatments for a while longer, but he could at least get out of the medlab. The
Professor had a room set up for him on the teachers' wing, and Rogue said she'd
look after him so Jean wouldn't have to spend all her time playing nursemaid to
him.
"You really don' mind havin' t'put up wit' me,
chère?" Remy asked as Rogue helped him get situated in bed.
"Hey, you got in this state savin' me. It's the
least I can do."
"Rogue, I don' want ya t'do dis jus' 'cause ya
feel like ya have to."
"I'm not, Remy. I want to take care of
you."
Remy smiled. "So ya gonna wear one of dose white
nurses' uniforms?" he asked with a smirk.
"No, but I am gonna give ya sponge bathes,"
Rogue replied.
Remy wiggled his eyebrows and Rogue broke out into a
fit of laughter. "I'm so glad you're okay," she said after she
sobered. "I don't think I could handle it if you died."
"You t'ink ya woulda had a hard time dealin'?
I'd be dead," Remy teased.
"What is it about you that makes me like ya so
much?" Rogue asked.
Remy shrugged. "I'm dead sexy, of course."
"It's refreshing to meet a man as modest as
you."
"No point in denyin' de truth."
Rogue leaned down and kissed him lightly. "Love
you," she murmured.
"Love you, too."
"You look tired," Rogue said. "Why
don't ya get some sleep?"
Remy patted the space on the bed beside him.
"Sleep wit' me, chère."
Rogue gave him a puzzled look.
"Not'ing sexual. I jus' wanna hold ya."
Rogue took off her shoes and climbed in beside him on
the bed, careful to avoid hitting his bandages. Remy wrapped his arms around
her and moved her so her head was resting against his shoulder. Rogue sighed
and cuddled closer to him. It had been so long since anyone just held her.
Rogue just lay there for a long time, listening to
Remy's steady breathing as he slept, and relishing how safe and warm he made
her feel. After a while, she drifted off to sleep, too.
*** ***
***
Rogue woke up still in Remy's arms. He was asleep and
she smiled at how peaceful he looked. She couldn't believe how close she'd come
to losing him, and just how hard that had hit her. She'd tried not to fall for
Remy, but in the end she had anyway. Now all she could do was hope that it
didn't end up with him the way it had with Logan.
Her stomach rumbled, and Rogue realized it had been
awhile since she'd last eaten. She quietly got out of bed, giving Gambit a soft
kiss on his forehead before heading out of the room and down to the kitchen.
Rogue had just opened the fridge when she heard an
all-too-familiar voice.
"Hey, darlin'."
She froze. "Hello, Logan."
"You hungry?"
"No, I thought I'd just stand here and look
inside the fridge for no good reason," Rogue snapped.
"Marie…"
"To you, it's Rogue." She slammed the
fridge door. "I think I just lost my appetite."
Rogue stared out of the room, but Logan grabbed her
arm and stopped her. "Wait. I wanna talk to you."
"Well, that's too bad, because I don't want to
talk to you."
"Rogue, please, just hear me out."
"I'm not interested in anything you have to say,
Wolverine."
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry,
darlin'. I know I didn't treat you right, but I want to make it up to you. I
love you Marie—I always have. Please, don't let this be the end." Logan
reached up to caress her face, but she pulled away.
"Don't you fucking touch me," she snapped
with a growl that could rival his own.
"Marie…"
"No, you blew it Logan. If you really wanted me,
you could've had me before, but you were too absorbed in yourself to see it.
I've moved on, and I'm happier than I ever was with you."
"Are you, Marie?" Logan asked, moving
closer to her. She tried to back away from him, and soon she found herself up
against a wall with his arms on either side of her, trapping her in. Her big
brown eyes grew even larger, and she swallowed hard. "Can you honestly
tell me that you don't still want me? 'Cause I can smell that that ain't the
case, darlin'."
Rogue tried to focus herself, tried to ignore the way
he made her feel as if her body was on fire. "It's just physical, Logan,
it doesn't mean…"
Logan silenced her with a kiss, pressing his mouth
against hers hard until she finally gave in and was kissing her back. He picked
her up and put her on the counter, and Marie wrapped her arms and legs around
him, giving into the sensations he was causing in her body. Logan began
trailing kisses down her neck and Marie arched her back, moaning softly.
It was when his hands traveled down to touch her
breasts that Rogue realized what she was doing. She pushed him away.
"Logan, no," she said, trying to catch her breath. "We can't do
this."
"Why not, darlin'?" he asked, his voice
husky with desire.
"Because it's over, Logan—we're over. Just let
me live my life, okay!" Rogue hopped off the counter and ran out, refusing
to look back for fear that if she did, she wouldn't be able to leave.
*** ***
***
Rogue went back up to Remy's room and found that he
was still asleep. Rogue felt guilty as soon as she saw him. He'd almost died
saving her life, and she'd gone behind his back and kissed another man. Rogue
suddenly felt cheap.
She curled up in the chair beside the bed and began
to cry. The soft sound of her tears pulled Remy out of his sleep, and he opened
her eyes.
"Hey, chère, what's de matter?" he asked.
He was looking at her with so much love, and his
voice was so gentle, that Rogue just began to cry harder. He held his arms out
to her. "Come here," he said.
Rogue got off the chair and moved into the circle of
his arms, letting him comfort her and soothe the tears away. "Tell me you
love me, Remy," she said. "I need to hear it."
"I love you," he said, planting soft kisses
on the top of her head. "I love you wit' all my heart."
"Why?" Rogue asked.
"Why what, chère?"
"Why do you love me?"
"Why not?"
"What kind of an answer is that?"
Remy held her chin in his hand and tilted her face so
her eyes met his. "I don' know why I love you, Marie, I jus' know I do.
Dere's somet'ing about you, petite, an' I know I could never be happy unless
you were in my life."
"I don't deserve you, Remy."
"I t'ink it's de ot'er way around, Marie."
"I'm sorry I tried to push you away, Remy. I
shouldn't have left that night. I should've stayed with you."
"Don't worry about dat. It's in de past. We're
toget'er now, an' dat's what counts."
Rogue just let herself be wrapped up in Remy's arms
and tried to make herself forget what had happened in the kitchen with Logan.
*** *** ***
Rogue spent the next couple of weeks focusing on
Remy, doing all she could to make him heal as quickly as possible. She tried to
avoid Logan, not sure if she could handle another confrontation like the one
they'd had in the kitchen.
Remy was in the bed, watching Rogue as she folded
towels on the couch across the room. "C'mere, chère," he said.
"Remy, I'm tryin' to fold these towels. Give me
a minute."
"Marie…"
She looked up, ready to gripe at him, when she
noticed the look on his face. He gave her a wink.
"Remy, you're injured."
"Not dat bad anymore. 'Sides, you kiss my
wounds, mebbe ya make dem better, non?"
Rogue quickly forgot about the towels and went over
to join Remy in the bed. "You sure you're feelin' better, sugar?"
"Hmm. A little. You wanna make me feel even
better, chère?"
Rogue giggled, caressing his chest and kissing the
side of his neck. "You let me know if I hurt you, Remy," she purred.
"You're not hurtin' me, chère. Feels good."
Her hand traveled down and Remy groaned. "Real good."
Rogue sat up. "Seriously, Remy, are you feeling
better? I mean you almost died. Must be hard to recover from that."
Remy reached up and pushed her hair behind her ears.
"Really, I'm almost as good as new. Probably be able t'head back home
soon."
Rogue pulled herself away from him. "What?"
Remy looked at her, confused. "What's de matter,
chère?"
"Did you just say you're leavin'?"
"Yeah. I live in Louisiana, Rogue. I sorta
figured you'd come back, too."
Rogue jumped off the bed. "What? You thought I'd
just up and leave everything here so I could go back with you?"
"Rogue, what's wrong?" Remy asked.
"You've been livin' in Louisiana. I figured you'd be goin' back."
"Well I'm not!" Rogue yelled.
"Well it woulda been nice if you'd tol' me
dat!" Remy yelled back. "You left Westchester before, I didn't t'ink
you'd really want t'stay here for good."
"The mansion is my home, Remy," Rogue said.
"I only came to Louisiana to try to get over what happened with Logan, and
I don't think I need to be gone anymore. What I had goin' on in Johnson's
Bayou, that was just temporary. My life is here, Remy."
"An' my life is dere."
"Then I guess we just can't have a life
together."
Rogue turned around and stormed out of the room.
*** ***
***
Rogue spent the next few days avoiding both Remy and
Logan, which she discovered to be quite difficult, especially since Jean had
declared Remy fit to get out of bed.
She could hear Gambit in the den, and although she
couldn't tell exactly what he was saying, she could hear Kitty and Jubilee
giggling at whatever it was. Rogue rolled her eyes. Did he never stop flirting?
Rogue tried to sneak past the den without Gambit
hearing. She thought she'd made it, but she was just a few feet past the
doorway when she heard him call out to her.
"Hey, chère."
She looked at him and nodded curtly.
"Remy."
"I'm leavin' tomorrow," he said.
"That's great. Have a nice life." She
started to walk off, but Remy ran after her.
"Rogue, please, don' do dis."
"Don't do what, Remy? Be upset because you're
leavin' me the same way everyone else ever has when you promised me ya
wouldn't?"
"It ain't like dat, Rogue! I wanna be wit' you.
I want you t'come wit' me."
"Remy, this is where I belong. I liked living in
Louisiana, liked working for Jacques, but it could never be permanent. I miss
being an X-Man. I miss the friends I have here. I even miss teaching. If you go
back, well then there's nothin' left for us."
"I don' wanna lose you, chère?"
"Then stay," Rogue said softly.
Remy shook his head. "I can't. I can tell I
don't belong here. I'm not an X-Man, Rogue."
"You could be."
"I don' t'ink so."
Rogue looked down. "I love you."
"I know, chère. I love you, too."
"Then don't leave me!"
Remy sighed. "Rogue, dere's no way 'round it. I
live dere, you live here. Neit'er one of us is prepared t'give up our life."
"I'm sorry, Remy."
"Me, too, chère."
"Keep in touch, all right?"
"Marie…"
Rogue didn't want to hear anything else he had to
say. "Just keep in touch," she said again before walking away.
*** ***
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