Chapter Nine

Remy turned when he heard footsteps, to see Rogue standing in the clearing, staring at him. His eyes locked on hers and he could tell that she had been crying. Her eyes were red round the edges and looked tired and worn out. After a minute or two of intense staring, she was the first to look away from his surrendered and painful eyes. She began to walk away from him, towards the edge of the cliff. Remy watched her, a feeling of resignation coming over him.

Rogue reached the edge and hugged herself against the chilly breeze. She looked at the city of Bayville and wished it were dark so she could see all the lights of the city. She tried to think about anything. Anything but Remy.

Remy stubbed his cigarette into the ground as he watched Rogue staring at the city. She was hugging herself and Remy knew it was because of the cold. He never took his eyes off her.

" Where did it all go wrong?" he thought, " We were perfect together! How could we let dis fight progress so far dat we can't even bear t' talk t' each other!" he yelled to himself, watching her shiver at the breeze. It took all of his will power not to just stand up, walk over to her, and place his trench coat over her shoulders.

Rogue could feel his eyes on her. She shut her eyes to try to tune out all the feelings that were emanating from him to her. " Oh God, ah hate this!" she yelled at herself, " Ah hate not talking tah him, not yelling at him, not loving him! Where did it all go wrong?" she ended her thought with a barely audible sigh. She had had enough. She had come here to relax and let her mind go. But, with him here, that just was not possible.

Rogue turned round and without making direct eye contact with Remy, she began walking towards the clearing.

Remy watched her turn round and begin to walk away. He did not know why but he did not want her to leave. As she approached him, she kept her eyes diverted from him and just as she was about to step back through the clearing, she stopped. Remy looked up and saw that her eyes were shut tightly and she was holding onto a tree. He was amazed to see that a few tears fell and landed softly on the leaf-ridden ground.

" Y' hate me," he stated suddenly, looking up at her. Rogue let out a deep sigh.

" Ah don't hate yah," she replied, opening her eyes and looking down at him. Remy looked deep into her eyes and found that he was leaning up towards her, ever so slowly.

Rogue noticed that Remy was staring intently into her eyes and leaning towards her. Her stomach tightened and her heart clenched. He couldn't possibly…

Remy saw the glimmer of fear in her eyes when he began to lean towards her. " Wait!" he stopped himself, " What am I doin'? I've got a potential wife and kid!" he scolded himself. Just as slowly, as he was leaning towards her, he began to lean back. The sigh of relief that escaped Rogue's lips was enough to tear him apart.

" Didn' t'ink dat you'd hate me so much dat y' didn' want m' anywhere near y'," he remarked, without letting any emotion come out in his words. Rogue straightened up and turned away from him.

" Ah didn' mean it lahke that. Ah just can't. It ain't raght," she said quietly, not looking at his face. Remy turned slightly so he wasn't looking straight at her, but he could see what she was doing from the corner of his eye.

" Oui, je sais. I shouldn' have done dat anyway. I'm sorry, Rogue," he said, turning to look straight at her. Rogue also turned to look at him. The sorrow and recognition in his face was enough to make her want to cry. He really meant it. Rogue could definitely see that in his face. She managed a tiny smile, just for him.

" It's all-raght. Really," she smiled. Remy smiled back and Rogue felt a familiar warmth in her heart… " No!" she scolded herself, " Ah can't let myself become prey to mah emotions! It happened once with Pietro, it ain't happenin' again," she vowed with herself but just as she thought this, she knew that by the end of this meeting, she would end up breaking her vow……..

" So when's thah big day?" Rogue asked, making small talk even though she knew it was a sensitive subject. Remy looked at her. She was talking about this as if it was just a minor party or small gathering! It was his damn wedding day! He gave up his freedom on that fated day.

" Friday 5th May," he answered her soberly. Rogue looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

" Don't sound so happy about it," she said sarcastically. Remy stood up quickly and walked away from her.

" How d' y' expect m' t' sound?" he asked her coldly. Instead of walking right up to him and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, she just stayed where she was, thinking about why he wouldn't be happy about his wedding day. Even though the answer was just staring at her in the face.

" Well, how do you feel about it?" she asked and then kicked herself at the thoughtlessness. " Ah sound lahke a damn psychoanalyst!" she thought and pulled the edge of her jumper over her shoulder, as it was slipping down. (A/N: Think ' Cajun Spice' ;.D)

Remy turned round to face her and felt a wave of anger similar to the one he had felt the other night when they had argued in this same place. He glared at her. He didn't even know why he was angry. He just was. Maybe it was because she didn't seem to show any love towards for him when he loved her so much. It hurt. It hurt a lot. It angered him so much that he was stuck, loving Rogue, and marrying Belladonna! All because of one stupid mission, one stupid drink, one stupid Wolverine, one stupid night, and one stupid and spoiled kid with behaviour issues. Why did he care so much about one girl even after, what? Five years? Remy let out a growl inside his head.

" What d' y' want m' t' feel, Rogue? Huh? Anger? Happiness? Pity? Regret? Well, Rogue? Y' tell m' what I need t' feel!" he ranted on.

Rogue looked at him and felt so much anger at him. They were heading in the same direction as last time.

" Now, don't start this again! Ah didn' come here tah argue with yah!" she exclaimed. Remy looked at her and realised that she was right. She didn't come here to fight. Either did he.

" Je sais. Je suis desole. I didn't come here t' fight, eit'er, Rogue. I hate de fact dat we both can't own up t' our mistakes. Why did we bot' have t' be so damn stubborn?" he exclaimed. To his utter surprise, Rogue let out a short laugh.

" Yeah, stubborn. That's us," she commented. Remy looked at her sharply when she said 'us'. Did she mean them as in together? Or just as a figure of speech?

Rogue noticed that he was looking at her with a puzzled look on his face.

" What?" she asked when he continued staring. Remy shook his head. He wasn't going to risk Rogue thinking that he still thought they had a chance together.

" Nothin'," he answered and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

" So………" Rogue began, unsure what to say. Remy felt the same.

" So…" he repeated and they shared a short, nervous laugh. Rogue undid her ponytail and ran her fingers through her hair to get rid of tangles before gathering it up again. She let her white bangs stay hanging at either side of her face as she tied up her long, auburn hair before shaking her head as if she was testing how tight the bobble was. Remy watched her and felt longing build up in his heart.

" Ah should get going now," Rogue broke the awkward silence. It was true. She had to go. Declan was with Kitty and her kids and she used that as an excuse to get away. She had been away for ages and Declan would be missing her.

" Why?" Remy asked her. Rogue looked at him, cocking her head slightly. This was it. A life-changing decision faced her. She could either just say that she had things to do and take the easy way out or tell him the truth. All the truth. From the night she found out she was pregnant until two hours ago when she told Declan that she had to buy stuff from the supermarket. She bit her lip worriedly. " Oh God, what am ah supposed to do?" she thought frantically. She thought of Declan's smiling face and his beautiful red-on-black eyes and two images flashed in front of her. One was Remy. The other was Pietro. The father. The 'potential' adopted father. Rogue shut her eyes and took a deep breath. The answer was staring her in the face and she knew exactly what she had to do.

" Remy…there's something really important that ah have tah tell yah," she began shakily. " Let's sit down. This'll take a while…"

YES! This chapter is finished! This was one hard chapter to write! It took ages! (As you might know!) Do you think the reactions were okay? I just was sooo not sure how they'd react to their…um…situation. PLZ READERS, I NEED DESPERATE FEEDBACK! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Anam