Remy leaned against the ivy covered wall of the mansion with a cheroot between his lips and stared out into the night. His mind was heavy with thoughts of both Rogue and Storm. The two women in his life who were both as different as night and day. He had no idea how he was going to break the news to Rogue about his involvement with Storm.

Rogue was not at her best and he feared that the news would definitely send her over the edge. She already seemed to have it out for Storm. Taking a deep draw on the cheroot that was clamped between his teeth he wondered how to get himself out of the mess he was in.

"Nice night…"

Logan's bland voice made him start and he turned his head into the direction of the other mutant. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even heard Logan approaching.

"Depends…" he muttered. Had he not had so much on his mind it would have been a nice night indeed. The wind was warm and balmy and the sky was bright with stars. It was a night that Storm would love. He made a mental note to bring her out later to enjoy it.

"You and Storm huh…" Logan said casually.

Remy gave him a sharp glance but could detect nothing on Logan's face. His comment indicated that Storm must have broken the news him but he showed no emotion. Remy replayed Logan's statement over in his head trying to figure out if the other man had a problem with him being with Storm or if he even cared. He could detect nothing.

"Yeah..." he finally spoke, "Me and Storm…how it should be." The last part was said a bit defiantly.

"… and Rogue?"

Remy clenched his jaw and wondered why in the hell Logan was prying into his business. Flicking the lit end of his cheroot he knocked the ashes of and examined it closely before answering.

"Rogue's flying solo…"

Logan nodded and said nothing after that. Remy expected him to move now that he seemed to have gotten what he was after but it wasn't to be.

"If you hurt her I will kill you."

The words were short blunt and to the point, much like their owner and they made Remy stiffened. He didn't have to ask which female Logan was talking about. They both knew he meant Storm.

"Is that a threat?" he kept his voice mild as he asked not wanting to let the other man know he was angry. Why would Logan threaten him about Storm if they weren't involved, did he have some kind of feelings for her that she knew nothing about? Just the thought made Remy's blood boil.

"No…it's not a threat. It's a fact." Logan didn't bother with any more explanations and just as silently as he came, he left.

"Fuck…" Remy swore into the cold night air. He was now thinking that maybe he wasn't the only one who had it bad for Storm. While the Wolverine wouldn't be the first person he'd picked to have a battle with he wouldn't hesitate to engage him in one if it meant keeping what was his. Now that he had Storm he would not let her go.

The second he was alone again his problems assailed him once again and he tried to come up with a way to tell Rogue it was over. He could think of no easy way. With a low groan he banged his head softly on the wall in frustration. How did he always get himself in such a mess he wondered?

"Remy…aren't you coming inside?"

The sound of Storm's low voice made every nerve in his body come alive. Lifting his head he turned and saw her standing in the doorway of the kitchen which he'd escaped through earlier. The light behind her hid most of her features but he knew them by heart anyway so it didn't really matter. Without answering her he held out his hand to her, smiling faintly when she walked over to him and took it. Clasping his hand over hers he pulled her to him and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Why are you out here in the cold…" she asked him softly after the kiss had ended.

"Just thinking chere…" he stared down at her amazed that she was actually with him.

"About what…" she moved closer to him and he nestled her against his hard body. God he loved the feel of her warm body against his. She felt so soft.

"Rogue…" he replied absently. It wasn't until after her body went stiff that her realized it was the wrong thing to say.

"Rogue…" she repeated dully and moved away from.

"No wait…" he pulled her to him just as swiftly ignoring the way she resisted him. "It's not what you're thinking…I'm trying to find a way to break it off with her…I just don't want to hurt her more than necessary." In case she decides to hurt you, he finished silently. He knew Storm was capable of taking care of herself but he simply didn't want to take any chances.

"You could always drop her in the middle of Antarctica…" Storm said meanly.

Remy gave her a reproving look only to smile when she glared back at him.

"You know Stormy if I didn't know better I'd say you were jealous…" for some reason it gave him an odd pleasure knowing she felt jealous even though she had no reason to be. He was hers whether she knew it or not.

"Shows how much you know…" she muttered from the crook of his neck where she'd buried her face from the cold. "Remy its cold out here…"

"Hang on a second…" clamping down on the cheroot, he opened his long duster and enfolded her in his warmth. "That better?" he asked as he bent his head and rested it on her snowy one. The scent of her shampoo tickled his nostrils.

"A bit…but my room is much warmer," she said.

He went still, "Is that an invitation chere?"

After they'd declared their love for each other earlier that day they'd both decided to take things slowly. Well at least Storm did and he'd agreed somewhat reluctantly. After all the only thing he wanted was to bury himself into her warm sweet body and lose all his senses but he'd wait if she told him to. He didn't want to rush her if she was not ready and besides it wasn't about sex for him anyway, at least not all of it. Most of it, but not all. He would wait.

Remy felt more than saw her blush at his question and wondered if he shouldn't have said that. He didn't want her to think that he had a one track mind or anything. Just when he thought she wasn't going to answer him she spoke.

"Yes…it's an invitation but it's opened only as long as you're good." She looked up at him shyly and he found himself once again captivated by her. She was just so beautiful, how could he have not seen it before he would never know.

He couldn't resist teasing her, "I'm always good chere…" he gave her a salacious wink. She responded by pinching him in the side.

"Will you tell Rogue tonight?" she asked a few minutes later.

"I'm not sure…" he told her honestly. Telling Rogue that he didn't want her was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do. He'd rather take on the Wolverine sans his mutant ability.

"I don't want to sneak around Remy…" Storm told him softly.

"Me either but it's not that easy…" he cupped her face with cold fingers, making her look at him. "I will tell her as soon as possible…I swear to you that I will. Nothing is going to stop us from being together."

"I love you so much Remy…" it felt so good to finally be able to say those words to him. "It feels as if I've been waiting an entire lifetime for this to happen. I don't want to feel as if we're doing something wrong"

"I love you too Chere and we're not doing anything wrong" he dipped his head and gave her a kiss that was soft and sweet, it was what he'd been wanting to do the minute she'd stepped outside. She moaned softly into his mouth as his tongue pushed its way past her teeth and into her mouth.

They were both so wrapped up in their kiss that they neither saw nor head the approaching footsteps.

"Oh I'm sorry …." Jubilee's startled voice said suddenly, "I didn't know you two were out here…oh my God! My eyes!"

Storm sprang away from Remy like she'd just been scalded when she heard Jubilee's voice. Her eyes went wide with shock and her brain shut down completely. She had no idea of what to do. They'd been caught. She stared dumbly at the equally stunned teenager and tried to find some way to explain the situation.

"What are you guys doing?" Jubilee asked in a high voice that was rising with every word. "Storm…you and Logan…and Remy…Rogue…you two…" It was obviously hard for the girl to put together a complete sentence.

"Jubilee it's not what it looks like…" Storm began hesitantly knowing that it was exactly what it looked like. She was kissing Remy.

"So you weren't just kissing Remy…"

"Yes I was but…we….he and I…oh goddess…" she had no idea what to say to the girl. Her face was on fire from embarrassment.

"Look, this is obviously none of my business. I'm going inside and I'm going to pretend that I didn't just see any of this." There was a small note of censure in her tone that made Storm feel like squirming.

"Jubilee, wait…" Storm called out after her but the girl continued on until she entered the door. "Oh Remy!" Storm wailed the instant the young girl was gone. "What are we going to do?"

Remy shrugged, he didn't seem at all perturbed at what just happened. "It had to come out sooner or later chere…"

"But I didn't want it to happen like this! Do you think she will tell Rogue?"

"No…I won't give her chance to. I'll tell her tonight. I promise." He gave her a soft kiss on her forehead and that amazingly soothed her somewhat. He was so calm. Leaning against him she let his outlook on the situation wash over her and tried to be as unruffled as he was about what had just happened.

"It'll all work out…you'll see. Don't worry about anything chere."

Storm prayed that he was right. Remy prayed he was right also.