Chapter 6

Kitty got to Rogue's apartment with Wanda in tow. They knocked on the door expecting someone to be home. Betsy answered the door looking like she had just rolled out of bed. When she saw who it was she looked a little sheepish. "Hey girls. What are you doing here?"

"We came to see how Rogue's date with Remy went. What have you been doing? Or should we say who?" Wanda grinned at Betsy.

"Warren just stopped by to see me before he left for business tomorrow. He has to go to France for a little while and wanted to say good-bye before he left."

Grinning like a Cheshire cat Kitty answered, "Looks like he got a lot more then a good-bye. Besides, aren't you going to be in France next week for a shoot?"

"Yes but he will be back before I leave. I can't believe that my modeling career is taking off so fast. I don't get to get to the studio as much as I would like to anymore. We're not going to get to compete in the competition coming up but we are planning on entering the one in New Orleans that's coming up in a couple of months." As the girls were talking Betsy had let them in and was heading back to the bedroom to let Warren know they had visitors.

As she sat down on the couch Kitty looked over at Wanda, "Are you and John ready for the competition in New York?"

Wanda nodded. "Our Samba could use a little more work but other then that we are ready to go."

They looked up as Rogue entered the apartment looking a little dazed. Glancing up she saw her two best friends grinning at her expectantly. "Well…" Kitty prompted as Rogue made to just walk past them to her room.

"Well what?" Rogue asked trying to stall for time. She had hoped she could get her head around what had happened tonight before she was questioned by her friends.

Kitty looked at Wanda and they rolled their eyes. "Go get changed and we will get the ice cream so that we can have a nice long chat about the handsome Remy LeBeau." Wanda said as she got up off the couch.

Knowing her friends wouldn't leave until they got all the information they wanted out of her Rogue did the only thing she could. She went into her room, changed into sweats and headed for the kitchen where her friends were waiting with ice cream. Sighing she sat down and started eating hers. Kitty and Wanda sat there waiting for her to talk. When they realized that she wasn't going to they decided to take matters into their own hands. "Well…are you going to talk to us or are we going to have to have the next Spanish Inquisition?" Wanda asked.

"Ah'm waiting for Betsy to come back out so that ah don't have to tell the story more then once," Rogue answered.

"Ahhh!" Kitty and Wanda moaned in unison. "Are you trying to build suspense or what?"

Rogue just smirked as she heard Warren and Betsy saying good-bye at the door. As Betsy walked in she grabbed a spoon and sat down at the table. "Well, luv, lets hear it."

"There's really not much to tell. He drove me out to the woods where the cliff overlooks the bay and we had a picnic. We talked for a little while about our lives and then he asked me to go to Lensherr Industries company ball with him. Ah said yes and then he kissed me." Rogue smiled at the memory of the kiss. After that first kiss they had shared some more until the sun starting going down and they had decided to head back into the city.

"Aww, that is so sweet," Kitty said. "I knew that you guys would make such a cute couple." The rest of the girls agreed and then they went on to press Rogue for specifics about the kiss and the way he asked her out. They talked until they realized how late it was getting and then they all headed to bed.

XxX

With one week left until the competition people were starting to get a little stressed. "Wanda what did you do with my practice shoes!" Kitty yelled from the changing room.

"Why would I have your practice shoes? Your feet are a full size smaller then mine!"

"Then where did they get to?"

"Did you try in your locker?"

"Of course I looked in my locker!" Kitty yelled as she walked over to her locker to prove her point. As she pulled open the door to her locker everything fell out revealing her shoes. Sheepishly she picked them up and turned to Wanda. "Sorry. I guess I'm a little like stressed."

"Don't worry about it hon. I'm a little stressed out too but you might want to keep your locker a little more organized so you don't lose anything else in there," Wanda said as she saw all the junk Kitty was trying to put back in her locker. "Do you have a kitchen sink in there because it looks like you are trying to fit everything else in there?"

Kitty giggled as she answered, "Naw, it wouldn't go with my shoes."

This made her and Wanda to break out in laughter breaking some of the tension that had been in the changing room. Rogue walked in and saw her friends laughing on the floor. "What is so funny?"

"Nothing. We were just having a little argument and then realized how ridiculous we were being." Wanda explained as she wiped the tears from her eyes and finished getting ready for practice. "Well, I am off to dance with a crazy fire loving Aussie."

Rogue and Kitty smiled at her as she walked out the door. "She's crazy for that crazy Aussie." Rogue commented as she went to go get ready for her practice with Remy.

"How about you?" Kitty asked. "Are you crazy for a certain Cajun?"

Rogue blushed at the mention of her dance partner. They had been spending as much time together as possible lately. She wasn't really ready to admit it to anyone, not even herself, how hard she was falling for the Cajun Charmer. She was a little surprised that she let herself fall for him. She had always told herself that she would not mix her personal life with her dancing. She hadn't wanted to complicate her dancing by throwing strong personal feelings into the mix. Shaking herself out of her thoughts Rogue looked over at her friend. "Ah think that ah am. Ah didn't want to be but ah'm not sure that ah have that option anymore."

Rogue sat down to put her shoes back on. Kitty walked over to her friend and put her arm around her. "Remy cares for you. I've seen the looks he gives you. I think he is falling for you as hard as you are for him. He's nothing like Joseph if that's what you are worried about."

"No, ah know Remy isn't like Joe but that doesn't change the fact that ah could lose the best partner ah've ever had if this doesn't work out."

"Did you ever think that the reason Remy is the best partner you've ever had is because you are falling in love with him? You know as well as I do that the chemistry between partners is what makes the dancing work. It's hard to imitate feelings for the dances if you don't actually feel them."

"You know what? You're right Kit. Ah think my main fear is that ah will lose Remy and not that ah will lose my dancing partner. Thanks for the pep talk. Ah better get out there. We need to work on some of our dances and ah think ah know which one we should work on tonight." Rogue smiled at Kitty as she got up and left the dressing room.

While Remy was waiting for Rogue he was watching Wanda and John practice their Tango. They worked really well together. They were natural dancers and could easily win any competition they entered. However, they weren't as into competing as they were with teaching and showing off down at the bar. Ororo had told him that a couple of years ago they were the best dancers on the circuit but they had become obsessed with winning. They had split up for a while because of their need to win. Wanda was doing quite well with her new partner but John decided to give up dancing when Wanda left him. John cornered her at the dance studio one day to try to talk her into giving him another chance. After arguing for a couple of hours and then catching her partner secretly looking for a new partner in order to win more Wanda finally realized what she had done. The two got back together and had agreed not to compete for a while and just get back to what they enjoyed most. Dancing for fun had brought them closer and watching them now Remy hoped that they wouldn't go through the same cycle this time as they did last time.

Remy turned away from the couple when he saw Rogue walking down the hall towards him. "Are you ready to dance sugah?"

Remy grinned, "With a belle femme like you I would do anything you asked chere."

Rogue blushed at Remy's comment and then pulled him over to the stereo to put on some music to work on their Samba. Since they were practicing in the big room the music they picked out was what everyone would be dancing to. As the music started up Kitty and Piotr walked in. The three groups started dancing with the music and without exchanging any words decided who could do the lifts the best. At the end of the dancing they were all out of breath but had to admit that that was a fun way to practice.

"We're going to head home. We agreed to be the first ones here in the morning for Ororo to get things finalized before the big event at the end of the week."

"OK sugah. You two be careful on your way home and we'll see you tomorrow." The girls shared a quick hug while the guys shook John's hand. Nobody really knew why they did it, it was just something that had started and caught on. All the girls hugged each other and the guys shook hands at the end of lessons.

After John and Wanda left Kitty and Piotr decided that Remy and Rogue should be left alone so they went to the smaller room to practice. Remy turned to Rogue when they were left alone. "What dance shall we do next chere?"

Rogue answered Remy's question with a little smirk and a playful look in her eye. "Ah think that we should practice the Rumba."

Remy quirked an eyebrow at Rogue wondering what she was up to. He knew that the Rumba was the most sexual of the Latin dances and that it was based on the idea of the woman baiting the man and then withdrawing. "Remy's up to it if you are chere," Remy answered with a smirk.

Rogue started the music and soon they were both very wrapped up in the dance. Remy was very aware of every move that Rogue made. She was very good at being the flirt in the dance getting in close with the hip moves the dance was famous for and then pulling away. They were so wrapped up in their dancing that they didn't notice that they were being watched.

Joseph had decided to stop by and see Rogue today. He wanted to see if Remy had backed down like he had told him too. He walked in to see them doing the Rumba. As he watched he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Rogue had always refused to do the Rumba with him. He watched with growing anger as the two got closer. When he couldn't take it anymore he stormed in and turned the radio off.

Rogue and Remy spun around as one to see what happened to the music. What they saw made Rogue gasp and take a step back. "What are you doing here Joseph?" Rogue demanded.

"I came to see you dear. I thought that it was time that I came back to claim what is mine." Joseph replied.

Rogue fumed at what Joseph just said. "Ah don't belong to anybody, especially not someone like ya!"

Remy stalked towards Joseph while growling out, "What de hell do you tink you are doing here. De femme told you dat she didn't want to see you again so I suggest dat you leave before I pound your face in."

Joseph didn't even flinch in the face of Remy's wrath. "You had better watch yourself. I've been doing some digging on you and I think I have some stuff Rogue might be interested in hearing."

Remy growled again and jumped at Joseph hitting him in the face hard enough to send him back into the wall. Joseph straightened up and went to hit Remy back when Rogue jumped forward to try to protect Remy. Joseph didn't have time to stop his swing before he hit Rogue right in the jaw. She dropped to the ground out of surprise and pain. Joseph just looked at her on the floor and then at his fist. Before he could recover from his shock Kitty and Piotr came running in from the other room. Seeing Rogue on the floor Kitty ran over to where Remy was trying to make sure she was OK.

"What happened? Is she alright?"

While Kitty was asking all these questions Piotr strode over to Joe and pushed him against the wall. Knowing that Rogue would be OK with Kitty, Remy stood up with a look of pure fury on his face. Stalking over to Joseph, "If you want to like through de night homme I suggest dat you get out of here and never let any of us see you again." Remy knew that if he hit him now he wouldn't stop until Joe was dead. Joseph just stood there staring at Rogue and what he had done.

"Piotr, could you toss de garbage out?" Piotr nodded and without saying anything took Joe by the arm and forcefully pulled Joe out to the front door where he punched him in the nose for good measure then threw him out the door. Making his way back to the room Rogue and Remy were in he wasn't surprised to see Rogue crying on Remy's shoulder. Looking at Kitty Remy said, "Petite would you take her home and make sure she taken care of?"

Kitty nodded but couldn't hold her question in. "What are you going to do?"

Remy didn't say anything just stood up and started to walk towards the door when Rogue's voice stopped him. "Remy, ah want you to take me home." She knew that he was going to go after Joe.

Turning around and looking at her sitting on the floor he knew that he could never turn down her request. "Of course chere." He went and picked her up without a problem and then smiled down at her. "Remy will take good care of his cherie." Rogue smiled at him and then put her head on his shoulder. "Let's go home sugah," Rogue said quietly and so Remy took her to her apartment.

XxX

Wow this was a long chapter. Don't worry I will update soon.  I want to say thank you mazdamiatta for the information on ballroom dancing competitions she sent me. Hoped you liked.