A/N: Frankly folks, I'm glad the triangle is over too. But is it really over this time? Only I know. hehehe. I promise that the Jean angst is over and done for. I also promise that everything (or at least almost everything) will tie together soon. Be patient. I admit to getting sidetracked with the love triangle much more than I ever meant to. This story has surprised even me with the turn it's taken towards being so much of a romance. That was not intentional. But it has been interesting for me so I guess that makes up for it.
Foenixfyre, I agree with everything you said. It has become a distraction for me and I apologize for that. But don't worry because we will be shifting our attention quite a bit with the next chapter. Also, and this goes to all reviewers, I can handle criticism. Don't be afraid to offer constructive criticism to me. The only thing I didn't appreciate in your review, Foenixfyre, was the phrase "not trying to pull a bocaj." I'm sure you just weren't thinking, but that's not fair to bocaj. Which brings me to…
bocaj, apology accepted. I want to apologize to you as well. While I can take constructive criticism pretty well, I tend to echo people's emotions in their reviews. If critiques are offered kindly, then I respond kindly. If the reviewer is mad when he writes the review, as you were, I tend to get mad as well. And when I get mad, I go off on long rants about how I'm right. lol. I understand that we all have to blow off some steam every now and then. I hope you will forgive me for tearing into your review as I did. And I'm glad you've decided to continue reading.
So it's a new chapter! Romy fans, enjoy!
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Remy watched Jean walk out the door, then sat back down and turned the TV back on. It felt good to help someone out every once in a while. He kicked his feet up on the table in front of him and congratulated himself on the brilliant advice he'd just given. But his light and peaceful mood was quickly cut short by Rogue's voice yelling in his ear.
"What was that all about?!"
Remy jumped clear off the couch and landed facing the opposite direction, looking straight into the eyes of his fuming girlfriend.
"Whoa! Ya scared me half ta death, cherie!"
He faked a smile and wondered how long she had been standing behind him.
"Drop the smile, swamp rat, and don't try ta sweet talk me this time with that 'cherie' crap. Ah saw Jean kiss ya jus' now and Ah expect an explanation!"
Remy's smile was immediately gone, replaced with a humble and pitiable face that he hoped would garner at least a little favor. Judging by Rogue's glare, he wasn't getting any.
"Now hold on Rogue. Ya don' know what ya saw so don' jump ta conclusions. Jus' let me explain."
Rogue stared into his eyes coldly as she slipped off a glove.
"No need ta explain, sugah. Ah'll see fer mahself!"
She lunged at him. He dodged her bare hand at the last second, falling back onto the couch in the process.
"Cherie, it's not what ya t'ink it is! It was completely innocent!"
Rogue was now literally chasing Remy around the room. When she was close enough, she would try to get her bare hand on his face. When he wasn't nearby, she threw anything she could at him, a task that didn't mix well with her superstrength. It wasn't long before furniture was being overturned and the walls were full of holes made by lamps and books thrown from across the room.
"Right, 'cause yer so innocent! How could Ah ever accuse someone like you of flirtin' with another girl?" called Rogue sarcastically.
"Rogue, if ya'd jus' calm down I could tell ya exactly what happened! I swear to ya it was jus' a friendly gesture!"
Remy ducked an oncoming lamp, which flew straight through the wall and into an adjacent room. He heard Kitty scream, but didn't think anything of it. He had bigger problems at the time.
He leaped over the couch, then backed up against the wall. Rogue grabbed a book off the table beside her and tossed it at Remy. Just then, he felt a strange sensation throughout his body. He looked down in surprise. When he looked up, he found Kitty standing directly in front of him. The book flew straight through Kitty before she even knew what was happening and bounced off Remy's forehead, knocking him to the ground in a daze.
"Hey! Like, what are you doing in here?!" yelled Kitty at Rogue, not realizing that Remy was behind her in pain.
"Kitty! Phase him into the wall or somethin'!"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" asked the girl, turning around to see what Rogue was pointing at. It was then that she saw Remy on one knee right behind her with his hand rubbing the sensitive area where his nose met his forehead between his eyes.
"Oh!" she said, finally understanding what Rogue meant.
Without any more questions, Kitty grabbed Remy's arm and lowered him halfway into the floor before he knew what was happening.
Remy groaned and surveyed his new situation.
"Now dat jus' ain' fair."
Rogue stepped up next to Kitty and the two girls looked down on their prisoner.
"Thanks Kitty."
"No problem. But could someone, like, please tell me what's going on here?"
"I caught him kissin' Jean!"
Kitty gasped and turned her gaze down to Remy.
"You did what?! Like, what were you thinking?!"
"I didn' kiss her!" explained Remy quickly. "I was givin' her some advice fer her problems wit' de other two an' she gave me a friendly kiss on de cheek as a t'ank you!' It was completely innocent!"
Kitty and Rogue looked at each other and smirked.
"Yeah right," said Rogue as she bent down and reached her hand towards his face. "We'll know the truth in just a second, swamp rat."
Finally, her hand found its place on the same cheek that Jean had just kissed. Remy gasped and quickly passed out. Rogue stood back up and looked at Kitty as she replaced her glove over her hand.
"Well?" asked the eager girl.
"He was tellin' the truth," said Rogue with a slight shrug. "But he enjoyed the kiss tons more than he let on just now."
Rogue shook her body as if she was shaking mud off of her.
"Keep an eye on him, Kitty. I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?"
"To take a shower. Remind me never ta go inside the mind of a guy just after he stops talkin' to an' kissin' a pretty girl."
"Eww, gross! Spare me the details,"
"Gladly," said Rogue as she slipped out the door. Kitty then pulled Remy out of the floor and carried him as best she could to the couch. Then she turned on the TV and waited for him to wake up.
Rogue was walking down the hallway when she passed an open room where she could hear Jean talking to Scott. She stopped and considered stepping inside to confront the psychic redhead, but quickly thought better of it and moved on to the shower.
*****
Remy had hoped that Rogue would understand how innocent the exchange between he and Jean had been. But the next day, she was still quite angry at him. He had tried to talk to her again and again, but nothing seemed to calm her down. The sight of a girl she strongly disliked kissing her boyfriend, no matter how innocently, was not something she could quickly forget.
Two days after the whole incident, Remy knocked on Rogue's door.
"Let me in, cherie. We need ta talk."
"We've been talkin', Remy. Ah'm tired of havin' the same conversation everyday," she said through the door.
"I promise dis one'll be different, cherie. Jus' open de door."
Rogue sighed and stepped across the room. When she opened the door, she found Remy standing there with a gift-wrapped box in his arms.
"Please tell me those aren't flowers," said Rogue dryly.
Remy smiled. "Nope, better."
"Come on in," She stepped to the side to let him in the room, then shut the door. "Ya do know that Ah'm not gonna forgive and forget just 'cause ya brought me a present, right?"
"Course I do, cherie. But I've been t'inkin' of gettin' dis for ya fer a while now and dis seemed like de perfect opportunity."
She took the box and opened it slowly. She couldn't help but be curious as to what it would be. When she finally pulled the top off the box, she found a simple brown leather jacket folded up for her. She picked it up and held it against her body.
"A jacket?"
"Yeah, it goes wit' my coat. T'ink of it as me warmin' ya up when yer cold."
Rogue winced at how corny that had been. Remy just laughed it off as if he knew it was corny and didn't care. She figured he'd probably planned it to be as corny as possible just for the fun of it.
"When'd ya get this?"
"Snuck out las' night an' got it from de mall in town. Nice mall. I hadn't beed dere before."
They both laughed.
"De jacket's designed so dat it ain't too stiff de first few times ya wear it. I guess it's already sorta broken in in a way."
Rogue stood up and put the jacket on. Remy couldn't help but notice how good it looked on her. The jacket was only one or two shades darker than her auburn hair, which fell down to just centimeters over the collar. It fit perfectly.
"Thanks, Remy."
"You're most welcome, cherie."
"Ah'm still mad."
"I know."
*****
Hank, Ororo, and the Professor returned home the next day to find the mansion still standing, much to their relief. Though no one ever told them all the details of what happened while they were gone, the three mutants could easily see that Logan was even more upset than when they left and that Rogue and Remy were experiencing their first fight. But Jean seemed to be happier than she had been in months.
They informed everyone that the ACLU had agreed to help win back mutants' rights and that they had lobbyists working on their case already. Likewise, their team of lawyers had already filed a case with the courts charging that the Anti-Mutant Act was unconstitutional. It was only a matter of time now before everything was right again.
