Ch2: Jean's proposal

Jean woke up to the sound of buzzing. 'What the hell is that?' she asked herself. She hadn't realised yet that it was her alarm. Logan had scheduled another 6AM training session, and everyone had to go. She forced herself out of bed and towards her closet to find her suit. By then, Scott was already banging at her bedroom door.

"Jean? You awake?" He called through the door. At this hour, Jean couldn't be bothered talking, so she replied telepathically. 'Yeah, I'm awake.'

Scott laughed through the door. "You know, even telepathically you sound tired!" Scott explained. "Are ya nearly ready or what?"

'No offense Scott, but buzz off. I can barely talk to you telepathically, let alone have the motivation to actually get changed. I'll meet you there okay?' Jean replied. Scott replied with an 'okay' and left for the Danger room. She could hear him arguing with Gambit in the hallway.

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"Come on Cherie!" Gambit yelled through Rogue and Kitty's bedroom door. "You don't want Wolverine to shred your boyfriend for being late do you?"

Kitty opened the door and Gambit moved out of the way so she could head for the Danger room. Kitty left the door open, so Gambit walked in. Rogue was standing at the mirror, fixing her make up. "Yah ain't ma boyfriend, swamp rat. Why don't you leave without me if ya so afraid of being late," Rogue suggested, looking at Gambit's reflection in the mirror. Remmy didn't reply. He seemed to be staring at the gothic girl. He had a slight smile on his face and his head slightly tilted to the side. Rogue was getting uneasy at having someone stare at her. So she put down her lipstick and turned around, leaning back onto the vanity. "Don't'cha know it's rude tah stare?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Sorry, Cherie. Remmy don't mean to stare," Gambit smiled, taking his dark sunglasses off, and slid them on top of his head. He took her gloved hand and kissed the back of it. "Remmy can't help admire this beautiful vision before him."

Rogue couldn't help but smile. "I bet ya say that to all tha girls," She said, taking her hand back. "Come on, we're gonna be late," She smiled, passing Remmy and headed out the door. As Gambit left the room, he bumped into someone who was walking past the doorway to Rogue's room.

"Oh, Sorry Cherie," Gambit said, thinking he'd bumped into one of the girls, because he was in the girl's wing of dorms.

"Cherie?" A male voice replied. "Who you calling Cherie?" It was Scott, and he sounded pissed off.

"Well, ya ARE in the girl's wing. And ya do look kinda like a woman," Gambit teased with a huge grin on his face. Scott breathed in, letting his chest rise, and then leaned in close to the Cajun.

A red glow could be seen around the rims of Scott's glasses. "You just watch what you say, Thief. You might accidentally hit by one of my optic blasts!" Scott growled.

"Scott, stop it!" Rogue yelled from across the hallway. Once Scott backed off, Rogue turned to Remmy. "Are ya coming swamp rat?"

Remmy smiled at Scott. "Looks like you bin saved by Rogue, petite. One day she not be here to save your ass," Remmy gloated. He put his sunglasses back on with a huge grin on his face. Scott growled under his breath as he watched the Cajun heading down the hallway with Rogue.

"What does she see in that jerk anyway!?" Scott grumbled to himself.

"They're cute together," A female voice replied behind him. Scott turned around to see his favourite red-head.

"Jean. You don't seriously like the guy?" Scott complained.

Jean wrapped her arm around Scott's and led him down the hallway. "Rogue does, even though she wont really admit it. I think she's old enough to make her own decisions."

"Yes Mom," Scott joked.

By the end of their danger room session, Logan felt like his head was going to explode. "End danger room session!" he yelled. Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched the large mechanical tentacles retract back into the walls. Everyone noticed the look on Logan's face was the one he has when he's so pissed off, he's about to retract his claws and slice anything or anyone near by. Scott, who was standing closet to Logan at the time, took a couple of steps back, just in case. "Do I need to tell you boys what you did wrong?" He growled. The question came across less as a genuine question, and more as a dare. No one said a word, and Logan saw the looks of uneasiness on the students' faces. "Fine. I'll tell ya," Logan turned to Gambit. "Cajun. What was the purpose of this exercise?"

"To protect the damsels," Gambit replied, winking at Rogue while he replied. Rogue rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"And who were you paired up with?" Logan asked, still pissed.

"Kitty," Gambit replied, pointing to Kitty.

"Then why did you abandon Kitty and start defending Rogue?!" Logan yelled.

Everyone was amazed at how Gambit looked like he wasn't even phased at the fact that Logan, a man who could kill him with one blow, was yelling at him. Gambit still grinned at Logan, which only made Logan angrier. "Because Gambit think Cyc wasn't protecting my Cheri very well. Gambit stopped Rogue from being hit wit da lasers dat Cyc didn't see," Gambit replied. Scott clenched his fists.

"So you left Kitty defenseless?!" Logan yelled, pointing to Kitty. "She took a blow to the shoulder as soon as you ran to Rogue! You could've called out to Cyclops to warn him about the lasers behind him," Logan explained, trying to keep his cool. He then turned to Scott. "And you, your defense was sloppy today!" Logan scolded. He pointed to the doors. "You girls may go. Half-pint, go get your shoulder looked at by Mr McCoy. You boys, you're staying here for another hour," Logan instructed. The girls began to make their way to the doors.

"Sorry Mr. Boss man, Remmy can't stay for 'nother session."

Logan turned to Gambit, crossed his arms and smiled. "And why not? 'Ave you got somewhere else to be, Cajun?"

"Remmy got a date with Rogue," Gambit smiled. Rogue heard her name and stopped before exiting the Danger room.

"A date?" she cut in. "Swamp rat, it's 9am on a Sunday. The only place ahm goin' is back tah bed!" Rogue explained. Remmy gave Rogue a 'help-me-out- here' look, which Logan saw.

"Sorry Cajun. Looks like the lady doesn't wanna go on a date right now. Looks like ya staying right here," Logan smiled. The girls left the Danger room, leaving the boys to endure another session with Wolverine.

An hour later, Gambit, Scott, Spike, and the newer mutant boys emerged from the Danger room. Gambit saw Rogue leaning against the wall just outside the danger room, eating an apple. "Have fun Swamp rat?" she asked innocently.

"If you be wanting to tempt Remmy wit' an apple, you gotta 'nother tin cummin' Cherie," Gambit replied, and then kept walking past Rogue.

Rogue pushed off the wall and walked along the hallways next to Remmy. "What makes yah think ah wanna share mah apple with yah?" She replied. Remmy didn't say anything, he just kept walking towards his room with a glare on his face. "Ah, yah know ahm sorry for making yah do another session with Logan, dontcha?" she asked in a cheery voice. She didn't expect Remmy to be as pissed off as he was.

"It's not 'bout the training Cherie," Remmy replied in a pissed off tone.

"Then why are yah pissed off for then?" She asked, finishing off her apple.

Gambit stopped walking and turned to Rogue. "Why don't ya ever take Remmy seriously, Cherie?"

Rogue was a little taken back at Remmy's bluntness. "What do yah mean?" Was all that she could think of to reply with.

"Do you t'ink dat Remmy be joking this morning about the date?" He asked. His brows were still furrowed and for the first time, Rogue thought he was actually being serious.

"Well, yeah. Ah thought it was just an excuse to get out of training," Rogue replied honestly. She looked into Remmy's flaming eyes, trying to figure out why he seemed to be acting more serious than usual. She was so used to him being this happy-go-lucky guy, not phased by her snide remarks and moodiness.

"Remmy wasn't joking this morning Cherie. Remmy wanted to get out of extra sessions wit' Logan, but he woulda really liked to have taken you out, Cherie. But you shot Remmy down," He explained. He genuinely looked hurt this time.

Out of guilt, Rogue averted her eyes and looked away from Remmy. "Ahm sorry Remmy, but ah thought it was just a way to get outa training. And besides, no matter what ah said, Logan woulda kept yah behind even if we were going on a date," She explained.

Remmy looked at the southern girl and how she was looking away from him. He gently held her chin and turned her head to face his. "What Logan woulda said doesn't matter. What you said matters. What it gonna take for you to take Remmy seriously Cherie?" He asked, trying to keep his suave voice, and trying to not sound pissed off. "You t'ink Remmy be joking when he tries to win this southern beauty's heart?"

Rogue couldn't help but feel guiltier now. She didn't know how to reply. Sometimes she felt like everything he did was a joke because maybe he knew that Rogue would never let the relationship get any further than friends. But at the same time, she thought that maybe he was one of the rare people that could see past her dangerous powers. She didn't want to tell him this, in case it started an argument. But Remmy was being more serious now than he had ever been before. Maybe it was the right time to tell him. But she didn't know how to.

"Remmy not leaving until you give him an answer."

She couldn't think of a way to reply. There were millions of thoughts running through her head. So she said the one thing that kept repeating itself over and over in her mind. "Why do you waste your time chasing after me? Especially when you know that this relationship, or whatever this is, will never go any further than this."

Remmy didn't think that that would've been Rogue's answer. Then he realised that her question gave him more answers than any other answer could have given. Rogue was afraid that he wasn't taking her seriously, that it was just some harmless fun. She was afraid of getting too close, in case he left her for someone he could touch. His anger subsided and he felt sorry for her. "Rogue," He said softly as he ran his hand over her hair and onto her clothed shoulder. "Remmy has never been joking when it comes to you. Remmy wants to hold you, to give you his jacket when your cold and to make you smile. Remmy doesn't care if there will always be a layer of clothing between us, because you, Cherie, are all that Remmy dreams about every night," He explained, looking into her eyes the entire time. He watched as his words brought tears to her eyes, those beautiful green eyes. As he finished his little speech, Rogue was crying in streams. He ran his gloved thumb over her cheek and wiped the tears away, but more tears kept flowing from her eyes. "Cherie, Remmy's not proposing," He joked, making her let out a small laugh. "For now, Remmy wants you ta giv' him a chance by being his girlfriend." Rogue nodded, unable to talk co-herently. He'd never seen her cry before. He doubted anyone had ever seen her cry before. He put his arms around her and hugged her, allowing Rogue to cry on his shoulder. After she stopped crying, Rogue looked up at Remmy to see a huge grin come to his face.

"What?"

Rogue's make up had smeared and was coming off. It wasn't a pretty sight, but Remmy thought it looked cute and funny. He led her to her room, thankful that they didn't pass any of the other students because Rogue would've killed him for not telling her. As they entered her room, Remmy led her to the bathroom mirror. Rogue freaked out at the sight of herself and tried to fix her make up. "AH! Why didn't yah tell me!" She squealed.

"Don' worry Cherie, Picasso would be proud of your mastapiece face." His joke caused him to get a slap on the arm from Rogue.

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Jean and Kitty sat in the recreation room and watched their favourite T.V show, passions. All of a sudden, Kurt ported right on top of Jean. "Oh! Sorry Jean," He apologised as he moved off her and sat next to her on the couch. After a few seconds, Scott came running into the rec room puffing.

"Kurt! When I said I'd race ya, I didn't mean you could por..." Scott drifted off. His attention moved to the two people playing pool on the other side of the room. Rogue was leaning over the table, with Remmy behind her, helping her aim her cue. Remmy was whispering something in Rogue's ear and he laced his fingers with her gloved ones that were holding the cue. Scott got angry and was about to tell Remmy to get off her, when he noticed something different about this picture. Rogue was actually smiling as Remmy was whispering to her. In all the years he knew Rogue, not once had he really seen her look so happy. Other times she'd let out a smile there always seemed to be some sadness behind it. The smile she was giving today seemed the real deal. Scott decided that he didn't want to wreck her happy moment, so he sat down on the floor, next to the couch that held Kitty, Jean and Kurt.

Jean's attention turned to Scott, who was watching T.V. She was sensing something from him. She couldn't figure out what the emotion was, and she didn't want to search his mind. 'Scott, what's wrong?' she asked him telepathically. Scott continued to look at the T.v. so that Kurt and Kitty didn't know he was talking telepathically. Otherwise Jean would have asked out loud.

'Take a look behind you. What do you see?' he replied. Jean pretended to yawn and turned her head.

'Rogue's playing pool with Remmy. What about it?'

'Take a closer look. Rogue actually looks happy,' Scott replied. He heard Jean mumbling something about getting a glass of water as she got off the couch. Jean took this opportunity to scope out Remmy and Rogue as she made her way to the door. It looked like any two normal people playing pool. But they seemed to be happier than normal. Even though she had the ability, Jean didn't want to pry into their head to see what was going on. She'd already copped heaps of glares from Rogue for prying into her head. Instead, Jean tried a different approach. She thought of the images of Rogue and Remmy that she'd just seen and gave them to Kitty. Kitty turned around instantly and looked at Jean.

'Notice anything different about these two?' Jean asked telepathically. Kitty nodded. If Jean wasn't going to pry it out of Rogue, the Kitty most certainly would.

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The next morning after breakfast, Kitty and Jean headed towards the girl's dorms to get ready for school.

"So, did you talk to Rogue?" Jean asked Kitty.

"Like, yeah! Oh my god! You'll never guess what happened yesterday!" She squealed. "Like, Gambit totally told Rogue he doesn't mind her powers and that he dreams about her every night, and he asked her to be his girlfriend!"

Jean was so surprised that she nearly dropped her cookie that she was eating. "You're kidding! Rogue did seem happy yesterday. So it doesn't bother him that he cant touch her?" Jean asked.

"Like yeah. He said how he wants to be there for her and hold her, even if there is always going to be a layer of clothing between them. Isn't that like, so romantic!?" She smiled and held her hand around herself, like hugging a snuggly teddy bear.

"Yeah. It is. But do you think he's eventually going to be a bit bothered about not being able to touch her?" Jean asked, trying to think a little more realistically.

Kitty thought about it for a second. "No. If he really loves her, then nothing will ever get in the way of their love," She replied.

"I think you've been reading one too many romance novels," Jean joked. Jean and Kitty made their way to their separate rooms. Jean picked up her diary and began writing.

Dear Diary. Kitty just told me that the reason why Rogue was so happy yesterday was because Gambit asked her to be his girlfriend. He also told her that he her powers weren't a problem. But even though Kitty can't see it, would Gambit really stay celibant for a year, two years, all for Rogue? I don't doubt that he doesn't love her, but when Rogue has nothing to give back to Gambit, would he really stay with her –and only her? When I look at Gambit's love for Rogue, I cant help but feel jealous. Although I'll never say this to anyone, I can't help but wish Scott would feel love for me like the way Gambit loves Rogue. But I think that even though Scott and I are friends, I think he needs to find himself, or who he's going to become, before he'd show any love in the way Gambit shows. It sometimes makes me wish that Rogue was able to touch people, even if it was for a day

Jean stopped and put her pen down. An idea. She opened the draw of her desk. The device was still there. She grabbed her schoolbag and exited her room, hoping that Rogue hadn't already left for school.

As she stepped out of the doorway, she saw Rogue heading down the hall. "Rogue," Jean called. Rogue stopped and turned around.

"Yah."

"Can I ask you something?" Jean asked as she walked up to Rogue.

"What's up?"

"Kitty told me that Remmy asked you to be his girlfriend," Jean began.

Rogue got pissed off. "Yeah, he did. Are yah going to tell me tah stay away from him? Did Scott send you tah talk to me?" Rogue accused.

"No no! I think Remmy's a good guy. He could quit his smoking, but he's a good guy," Jean replied. "Kitty told me how Remmy said he didn't mind your powers, but I couldn't help but think.." Jean didn't know how to be blunt. She didn't want to wreck Rogue's happiness by accusing Gambit of leaving her eventually.

"Think what?" Rogue asked impatiently.

Jean gulped. "I'm just trying to think realistic here, and I could be wrong- so don't be offended, but-"

"Jean. We're going to be late for school," Rogue said. She wanted Jean to hurry up and get to the point.

"Well, I don't know how to put it lightly, so I'm just going to say it. I couldn't help but think that Remmy might eventually leave you because the fact that he cant touch you would eventually get to him," Jean mumbled. She felt her face flush. She waited for Rogue to yell at her, but there was nothing.

Rogue looked at the floor. "Yah, ah've thought of that. But Remmy's ah nice guy, so for now, whatever happens, happens," Rogue explained.

"Well I'm glad you decided that. I just wanted to see that you're okay," Jean explained. Rogue said 'thanks' and turned around, about to make her way down the hallway when Jean touched Rogue's shoulder. "Rogue." Rogue turned around and looked at Jean's hand, which was still on Rogue's shoulder. Jean removed her hand quickly.

"Sorry. I just wanted to ask you something," Jean explained.

"What is it?" Rogue asked, trying not to sound impatient.

"Okay. What would you say if I offered you a chance to be able to touch, and not have to worry about your powers ever again?" Jean asked.