Chapter 2: I forgot to say I love you

             Remy headed up to the floor where the girls dormitory was, the bathroom door was hanging open and Rogue was leaning over the bathtub with the showerhead in her hand, soaking her brown and white hair.  He watched her, knowing there would be no point in speaking since the noise the water was making as it hit the bath would drown out his voice no matter how loudly he spoke. 

             He stepped in, put down the lid of the toilet – which was about three feet away from her back - and sat upon it, folded his arms over his chest comfortably, leaning his back against the cistern, admiring her backside with a smirk on his face.

             Remy could barely believe how long it took for a girl to wash her hair, he watched her with much interest, comparing the way she washed her hair to the way he washed his.  With him, a tiny dollop of generic shampoo, a few quick motions to lather it, and a hasty rinse, and it was done in a minute.  He waited about fifteen minutes, watching her carefully wash her hair with shampoo – that looked more expensive than the jeans he was wearing – and conditioner – that smelled like Key Lime.  She had been rinsing her hair for what seemed like forever, he decided he'd waited long enough, and he smacked his hand against her backside.

             She jumped, spinning around, water from her hair whipping off and splashing his face, he clenched his eyes shut, and let out laugh.

             "You asshole!" Rogue turned the shower off, "how long have you been there…"

             "Long enough," he smirked, wiping water off of his face.

             Rogue leaned over the bath and wrung her hair out quickly and grabbed a towel from the nearby rail, she turned to look at him.

             Remy studied her face, she wasn't wearing any makeup, her cheeks seemed a little rosier than usual, but it may have just been the heat from the shower water or perhaps a blush from his smacking her.  She looked so beautiful that way, as she stood towel drying her hair, "I didn't think I'd make you mad coming in, you did, after all, leave the door unlocked," he pointed out.

             "Yeah, well…" Rogue looked away, "that's an order of Professor Xavier's.  In fact…the lock has been taken off all the bathroom doors…even the ones in the boys dorms…"

             "Oh wonderful…" Remy made a face, "I didn't even notice…I never lock the door when I got to the bathroom," he admitted.

"I know, how many times have I walked in on you taking a piss?" Rogue reminded.

Rent realised why such action had been taken on all the lockable doors in the mansion, Rogue had locked herself in a bathroom and taken an overdose at the beginning of the week, had they gotten to her sooner, she might have lived without much intervention more than a stomach pump, had the bathroom door had not been locked, she might have never needed to absorb Logan's powers to live.

             Rogue looked at him, "you look a little tired, Remy…did you sleep last night?"

             "Sleep hasn't been kind to me," he admitted, "got lots of stuff keepin' me awake at night."

             "Poor baby," Rogue mocked, she finished towel drying her hair and shoved the towel in the hamper near the sink.

             "C'mere…" Remy pulled her down, so she was sitting on his lap, he looked at her, "How much you love me?" he asked.

             Rogue raised an eyebrow, "enough to tolerate you," she smirked, wrapping her arms around his neck carefully, making sure their skin could never touch.

             Remy looked at her, "I'm serious…"

             Rogue saw it in his face, it was clear something was bothering him.  "Why are you asking?" she asked.

             "I just…I want…" he tried to find the words but they wouldn't come.

             "You wanna have sex?" Rogue asked, raising an eyebrow, she couldn't help but feel hopeful, even though the thought of him wanting to be with her did scare her to death.  She seemed to be the only woman on earth who Remy hadn't been with – well, perhaps that was even an exaggeration.  But the thought of being left out of that – having never had that part of him, left her uneasy.

             "No…" Remy shook his head, actually he did, very much, but he knew that right now the time and the place was wrong – and it would only give Professor Xavier more reason to separate them.  "I just…"

             "What is this thing poking me…" Rogue looked down curiously, a long hard shape pressing out of his jeans.

             "Oh, this…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out the roll of plastic bags, "I was cleaning the driveway," he tossed the roll into the sink.

             "Phew, had me worried there," she joked, getting up and heading towards the sink to find a hairbrush.

             "Rogue…" Remy said, "I'm not finished talking."

             "Remy have you done something bad again?  Because if so I don't wanna hear about it…" Rogue opened the bathroom cabinet, surprised at how empty it seemed, then she realised all the painkillers and hayfever tablets, even the herbal sleeping tablets, had now vanished.  "Hmm, looks like someone's taking precautions…" she sighed.

             Remy got up and stepped behind her, looking in the cabinet, "do you blame them?" he wrapped his arms around her from behind her, his chest pressing against her back, "we almost lost you."

             "I don't wanna think about it," Rogue sighed, she found a hairbrush in the cabinet and she took it out and closed the door. 

Remy looked to the mirror that was also the door of the cabinet, his reflection and hers staring back at him.  They looked so perfect together, mismatched, yet, matching.  He squeezed his arms around her tenderly, "promise me something."

"Anything," Rogue looked at his reflection, a slight smile on her face.

"Don't ever let anyone come between us," he kissed her shoulder – the mesh fabric of her top between their skin – and let go of her, and headed towards the door.

"Remy?" Rogue asked.

Remy stopped at the doorway, never turning.

"I do love you…" she said, she sounded slight, and embarrassed, but she'd said it, and that was all that mattered.

Remy turned and smiled at her, then left her alone in the bathroom.  The moment he had gotten to the bottom of the stairs, he hated himself.  He knew he should have told her, but he suspected Professor Xavier was intending to speak with her – perhaps he already had.  But if that was so, Rogue certainly didn't seem to be showing any concern over it.

He'd almost left the mansion completely when he realised he'd forgotten the roll of plastic bags, sighing, he made his way up to the bathroom, Rogue was still in there, brushing her wet hair.

"I knew you'd be back," Rogue commented.

"Yeah, I forgot this…" Remy took the roll of black plastic bags from the sink.

Rogue stopped, "you didn't forget anything else?" she asked curiously.

"Uhm…no…" Remy put the roll in his pocket, "this is the only thing I left behind."

Rogue turned towards him and folded her arms, the hair brush firm in her grip.

Remy stopped and thought, "Uhm…no," he said again.

"You didn't—"

"I forgot to say I love you back…" he suddenly realised, he laughed a little, "sorry…I got things on my mind," he chewed his lip, "I do though…seriously…" 

"What time do we need to leave tomorrow?" Rogue asked casually..

"Seven…" Remy stated.

"Where we going?" Rogue asked, "how should I dress?"

Remy paused for thought, he'd already forgotten where he'd made reservations for dinner.  His thoughts had been full of chaos.  "I…uhm…" he rubbed his head, "I…" he looked perplexed, staring into space, "I forgot…"

"Remy…is something wrong?" Rogue asked, "You don't usually forget things…"

"Nothing, nothing is wrong," he feigned a smile, and stood straight, his voice full of enthusiasm, "It's an Italian restaurant, I just…can't remember the name of it," he explained, "You know me, I only have the capacity for two languages, any more than that, and I go all blah," he smiled, "Oh, and as for dress codes…wear something sexy," he winked, and with that, rushed off.

When Remy finally got back outside, he realised Rogue was right, he rarely forgot anything, he had a good mind for details – one of the traits of being a Thief – and when something as important as this valentines day date had slipped his mind, he began to realise something wasn't right.  He began to list things he'd forgotten during the last few days.  He had forgotten about their date, forgot to say he loved her, forgot to pick up the bags before leaving, forgot the name of the restaurant, forgot to shave this morning, he even forgot to brush his teeth.  It wasn't like him. 

"Stress," he told himself as he picked up candy wrappers from the driveway – they had blown in from the streets.  "You're stressed, you don't deal with stress, well, Remy," he told himself.  He glanced back to the mansion, from a large window on the third floor, Rogue stared out at him, he looked back at her, and told himself, "but for her…its worth it."