Written for the sole purpose of talking about kisses.

And 'cause I needed to do some serious writing.

Summary: On a cold night in Xavier's Rogue uncharacteristically wakes up Kitty, to talk about their respective first kisses. No slash.

The wind beat the trees and the branches tapped at the window relentlessly. The pallor moonlight dimly lit the room Rogue and Kitty shared. In truth, Rogue couldn't sleep. It was just one of those nights. Something was eating into her. After her kiss with the Cajun swamp rat she just felt something, an edging curiosity within her. After the wave of lust she had felt she could not help but wonder. Crave with all her might, that she might do it again.

She knew it was stupid. She knew she would probably kill a guy if she kissed with all her passion, but she couldn't help but long for the caress of his skin, the tender feeling of her lips on his. Sure, she was under control but she still felt it.

It was wonderful.

She hated the longing to talk, to gossip about the situation but she didn't really trust anyone to keep it secret. She didn't trust anyone, period.

She looked over to her roommate who was fast asleep, probably dreaming of a dark haired boy with a quick temper.

Could Rogue- the Goth, the loner- confide in the insanely bubby Kitty Pryde? It was worth a shot. She did trust Kitty. They were roommates after all. Granted, neither of them had taken well to the pairing at first but now they were on friendly terms. Weren't they?

Rogue winced. This was pathetic! She didn't even know if she had a friend! Kitty was her friend. Kitty had always –persistently, granted, annoyingly- tried to be her friend. Perky Kitty had always been open. But Rogue had been so determined to shut the younger girl out… Maybe she had succeeded? Maybe Kitty had finally seen her as a lost cause and given up?

She had to try.

Rogue quietly sat next to her roommate and shook her gently, "Kitty… Kitty, wake up. Ah want ta talk. Kitty…"

Her roommate grunted.

"Kitty…" Rogue whined.

"Fine. I'm up."

The valley girl seemed far more agitated then usual, " Excuse me if I'm not a morning person. Oh look! It's still night! That explains a lot! Night."

Kitty was about to go back to bed when Rogue called out.

"Kitty, what was your first kiss like?" Rogue asked abruptly.

Kitty woke up in a flash, "Why are you asking?"

"Ah… Ah just want ta know."

"This is about Gambit isn't it?" Kitty's voice did not contain a drip of malice or spite. It was pure concern, "You kissed him?"

"He passed out," Rogue quipped, softly.

Kitty sighed, "Want to talk about it?"

Rogue resisted the temptation to smile. Kitty was still her friend. That girl was sure persistent. "Ah'll talk if yah will."

"Fine. We'll do this slowly. Baby steps. I say something about mine and you say something about yours."

Kitty was being serious. Rogue had certainly not seen this aspect of her. No valley girl accent, no make up, no persistent bubbly-ness. Kitty was good at this.

The younger girl instinctively reached for her scrunchie to tied her hair up into its usual ponytail but paused and changed her mind leaving her brown hair to fall past her shoulders. It was then Rogue noticed Kitty's hair was wavy, not straight like she had usually seen. Kitty flipped back her hair and mumbled something about hair straighteners. That explained it. They faced each other and after a moment of silence Kitty spoke up.

"It wasn't Lance if you're wondering."

That shocked Rogue a little. Who could it possibly be?

"His name… His name was…" Kitty stammered having difficulty finding the words, "His name isn't important."

What? This must be pretty hard for Kitty if she was stammering like Rogue would be.

"He was English. Tall, dark, handsome. That kind of guy. Black hair, hazel eyes, muscular build. I have a picture of him somewhere…"

She pulled out a picture of a guy –more man than boy- fitting the description and nodded towards Rogue. He seemed far older than Kitty as Rogue swore she saw stubble somewhere on his jaw.

"Um…" Rogue was unsure of what to so simply refit Kitty's words to suit her own needs, "his name was Remy LeBeau aka Gambit. Ah call him Swamp Rat. You know what he looks like so Ah don't see the point in…"

Kitty cut her off, "There doesn't have to be a point. Describe him. How does he look to you?"

Rogue blinked. She had never really thought about how he looked and Rogue had never realized Kitty's maturity. Rogue paused, sighing silently as she thought of him. "He's tall, sort of lanky to meh. Auburn hair cut in a ridiculous bowl-cut that Ah secretly thinks looks good on him. These great eyes. Red on black. Beautiful. Enchanting. Your turn."

"It was on a boat…"

"What?"

"You heard me a boat. At night…"

"Are yah sure yah aren't makin' this up 'cause that sounds awfleh romantic."

Kitty frowned at her roommate, "do you want me to tell or not, Rogue?"

"Sorreh."

"Like I said, on a boat. We were cruising down a river. Him and me were in a storage closet and. The door was just a little open. There was a window behind us, the moonlight sort of streaked through the frosted glass… It was cold so we cuddled up together… Then he just grazed my lips with his and so it was full of passion and lust… And then my leg just popped."

"Popped?"

"You know, in all those movies when the guy kisses the girl and her leg just sort of, pops?"

"Oh that…"

Kitty was blushing, "So anyway… Well that's it. Rogue?"

Rogue felt relieved Kitty was going first and not she so she could steal words and twist them till they fit. Rogue had a template to work with while Kitty made the template.

"Ah don't see the point in talking about this but Ah'll try… It wasn't romantic like yours in any way. That kind of makes me jealous… It was in Magneto's base… He looked kinda afraid and Ah guess he had a right to be…"

Rogue didn't feel like talking about the rest and Kitty acknowledged this. Rogue beckoned Kitty to say something to break the immeasurable silence but Kitty chose to wait. Rogue felt like dying, right there in the silence. It was odd really as Rogue never did feel embarrassed. Kitty smirked and Rogue realized that the younger girl was only thinking of something to say and not purposely torturing her.

"I knew I loved him. That kiss just made me, love him more."

Oh crap. Kitty was trying to torture her. But something in the younger girls passive blue (hey were those actually brown?) eyes that told her this may be for the better.

"Ah… Ah… Ah don't know if Ah love him. Ah mean Ah really like him…"

"Do you trust him?" Kitty cut in.

"What?" Rogue asked back startled by the abruptness of her friend's actions.

Kitty repeated the words slower, "Do you trust him? Because there's no real point talking about this if it isn't going anywhere."

"We talk about you and your pointless relationships and rebounds," Rogue reiterated, puzzled.

"Ah, but I'm Kitty. You're Rogue," Kitty calmly replied. Her voice sounded odd without the tinges of like and totally.

"Yeah? Well Ah think Ah want ta be Kitty. You can be Rogue."

"Trust me. You don't want to be Kitty."

"Why's that?"

"I'm not a virgin."

Well that was random…

Kitty shrugged it off, "Anyway this isn't about me. This is about you. Do you, Rogue, trust that man, Remy LeBeau, to be your love interest?"

"Don't make it sound like we're gettin' married…" the Southerner grumbled.

"What can I say? Kurt's rubbing off on me?"

"Is that how you got this insightful?"

"Nah. I was always like this. I just tend to find there's not much use for a high schooler who knows the premise if College Psych."

"Psych?"

"Psycholocgy. I used to steal my Mom's old coursework books,"

"Your mom was a student?"

"No. Lecturer. It was damn hard making up excuses when she knows how the typical teenager thinks."

"How'd you get past that?"

"I got good at lying. And I stopped being the normal teenager."

"Whaddya mean?"

"We're getting side-tracked again here. This is about you. For the last time: do you trust him?"

Rogue paused and though. Kitty didn't mind the wait. For all she knew she could have been sat there, thinking for a full hour. Yet still, Kitty didn't mind the wait. It was odd to say the least. This was not the Kitty Pryde seen most of the time. Rogue's train of thought switched tracks back to a path leading to Remy.

"Yah. Ah think Ah do trust him. Ah think Ah need to know him a little better before Ah rush in but Ah think Ah do trust him. HE feels safe. He makes meh think he cares. Ah trust him," the words came out lighter than anything she had ever said before, smoother than any lie that had ever escaped her lips. For it was truth. It slid with ease to listening ears till Rogue felt peace.

Just for a second. Peace. Like she could touch. Like there was no impending danger along the horizon. Like she had friends.

And Kitty just replied and smiled, "then we're done. Goodnight, Rogue."

But Rogue didn't want to go to sleep. She wanted to stay up and talk about more in hope of finding the solace of security and confide in her friend.

No not friend. Best friend.

So Rogue smiled at her now sleeping roommate and then turned her face to the window. She stood up and strode over, perching herself on the chair nearby.

"Goodnight, Remy."