Chapter 3

"Y' wan' us t' do wha'!?" Remy asked disbelievingly. Surely Rogue, his beautiful, sweet Rogue hadn't said what he thought she said!

"You heard meh, sugah," Rogue placed her hands on her hips. "Ah think we should show Scotty-boy aroun' Bayville. Give him a taste o' thin's."

"Bu' chere," Remy started slowly, "he be goin' to da high school, non?"

"And? What's yo' point, Swampy?"

"Well, surely da kids dere be helpful, an' show him around. Why we gotta do it?"

"Scott ain't goin' to the high school fo' anothah week!"

"Wha's yo' point?" Remy crossed his arms over his chest, his resolve strong. There was no way in hell, he was gonna haul that pansy-assed Boy Scout around Bayville without a reason. Hell, there was no way in hell he was gonna haul his ass around period!

Rogue sighed, rolling her eyes. She had a feeling Remy would be difficult about this. So, with a slow smirk, she slid over to her man, pouting exaggeratedly and running her hands over his shoulders.

"Sugah," she whispered pitifully against his ear, making him shiver. "Si'l te plait."

Damn, Remy thought, she knew he loved it when she spoke French! She didn't do it often, but when she did…oh God, the accent she used when expressing each word put a Frenchwoman to shame! And it was always so sexy…he growled.

"Non! Y' ain't gonna trick Remy wit' yo' French, chere!" he declared dramatically, jumping away and pointing an accusing finger at her.

Rogue placed her hands on her hips again, huffing in annoyance. Why did he always have to make things difficult? All she wanted was to show Scott around Bayville so he could get accustomed to it. Well, that and she knew Jean was going to the Bayville mall right after school. She had, quite obviously, wanted to invite Scott along, but Kitty dragged her away before she could even get close to him. Rogue normally didn't care about Jean's misfortune, but she had a feeling Scott was just what she needed. Even if he didn't loosen her up, he would at least keep her attention away from her and Remy.

"Will ya at least hear meh out?" she asked irately. Remy shook his head, keeping his arms crossed for effect. If she weren't so annoyed, Rogue would've laughed. He looked just like a little kid refusing to do a chore until he got his candy, which, coincidentally, he wasn't going to get until he did the chore.

"Fahne," Rogue said finally, deciding on a different approach. Remy blinked, unable to comprehend what was going on. With a start, he realized he had finally won an argument with Rogue. A true reason to celebrate if ever there was one! He smirked triumphantly, and moved closer to his chere, intentions clear. He wanted to celebrate his victory in his most favorite way. With Rogue in a bed.

Rogue, seeing his false sense of triumph, smirked inwardly. She turned away from him when he neared her, and went for the killing blow.

"Ah'll jus' take Scott around mahself," she sighed, looking at the ceiling. "Ah wanted you ta come along cuz Ah needed ta buy some new lingerie, but since ya won', Ah'll jus' ask Scott ta be mah male opinion."

"Q-q-quoi?" Remy yelled. There was no way in hell he was going to let Rogue show Scott around Bayville alone, much less let him see her in lingerie! That was his job alone! His burden to bear, and oh what a burden it was. A nice, sexy-as-hell burden, he smirked.

"Remy goin' wit' ya!" he declared, "No way in hell is he gon' see y' in yo' unmentionables!"

Rogue irked a brow.

"I mean, no way in hell is he gon' be aroun' y' alone fo' so long!" he quickly backpedaled, realizing belatedly he, perhaps, shouldn't have let it known he was more worried about Scott seeing her in underwear than he was about him trying something on her.

"Tha's what Ah thought ya meant, sugah," Rogue smiled innocently and skipped out of the room. She was pretty sure the lingerie part wasn't needed, but better safe than sorry. Besides, she really did need new lingerie, and it would be nice having a male opinion.

Two minutes later

"MERDE!" Remy cursed loud enough for the whole mansion to hear, possibly a few people in the North Pole too. He, of course, had just realized Rogue had tricked him. His victory had all been a farce! "Damn tempting trickstress an' her lingerie!" he muttered, stomping out of the room.

Rogue smiled when she heard the shout, and flew the rest of the way to the garage. Her baby – a dark green Harley with gold flames, a graduation gift from Logan – needed some repairs. It wasn't that the lovely motorcycle was having problems, but Rogue wanted to install some new things. She was just thankful she'd always been into motorcycles and the like. It was well worth it to see Remy's expression when he'd first arrived at the mansion and found out the southern belle knew a thing or two about bikes. Ah, now that had been priceless…

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"Thanks for showing me around guys," Scott smiled at the southerners. Remy was still acting grumpy around him, but he didn't feel as upset as he had before. Rogue's admittance to his jealousy for Jamie during his arrival had put him at ease. Besides, his crush on Rogue had quickly moved onto Jean when he'd first seen her. Rogue was still one of the hottest things on two legs, but he just found Jean more his speed.

"No problem sugah, that's what friends're for."

Remy snorted. "Friends? Wha' friends?"

Rogue glared and elbowed him sharply; ignoring the pained 'ow' he gave. He glared at her as well, rubbing his poor stomach as they walked.

"Still, you've been really helpful this whole time. I wish there was some way I could repay you."

"Think nothin' of it!" Rogue admonished, waving it away. Of course, in her mind he would be making it up plenty by keeping Jean's attention focused on him. "Now, lets do some shoppin'!"

With that, she grabbed Scott's hand and ran towards the general direction of a store. Remy glared at the teen as Rogue pulled him forward. He followed behind them, waiting for his chance to sneak in beside Rogue. No way was he going to let her hold his hand like that! Even if it was just to hurry him up, he didn't like it. Remy was a very jealous man where his Roguey was concerned after all.

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Three hours and twenty clothing stores later

Rogue sipped at her smoothie while Remy sat almost suffocatingly close to her at the food court. She really didn't see the point in it, as Scott was on the opposite side of the table, but Remy was rubbing her thigh and she didn't really want it to stop.

The aforementioned was eating fries like there was no tomorrow. He'd gotten himself some new clothes, which looked a bit better on him than the Abercrombie polo from earlier. In fact, he looked downright bad boyish right now. The cashier at one of the stores, apparently a student at Bayville High that got out early to come to work, had taken a shine to him and allowed him to change clothes in the dressing room. After they'd paid, of course.

He was currently wearing black jeans, a black t-shirt with a crimson, long-sleeved silk shirt over it, unbuttoned, and a pair of combat boots. His hair had gotten mussed during his changing of the shirts, but it was in that messy, just-got-up-but-it-works-for-me way.

He looked up, noticing Rogue's closed eyes. A blissful smile was on her face, and he correctly assumed Remy was doing something to her. He blushed lightly, but not nearly as much as he had before. This new clothing made him feel…bad, more like teasing her than actually stammering out an 'are you okay?' Guess it was true what they say. The clothes define you.

"Scott?"

Scott jumped when he heard the feminine voice call his name. He nearly spat out his soda, but managed to stop himself. Somehow, he didn't think Remy would like it very much if he got spit and Sprite all over his t-shirt. He'd already earned himself a place on the thief's bad side, best not to make it worse.

Slowly, he turned to face Jean, oblivious to the knowing smirk on Rogue's face. Remy eyed his chere, realization slowly creeping up on him. He smirked proudly at her, realizing she'd planned this all along, the sneaky girl. He'd never been one for matchmaking himself, but if it meant getting Red off their backs, he was all for it.

"Jean! Uh, hi! What're you doing here?" Scott asked, feeling his 'cool' leaving him.

"Just shopping, and you?"

"Oh, uh, just shopping," he smiled nervously and gestured towards the empty seat. Jean smiled and sat down, smoothing out her purple skirt.

"Hi Rogue, Remy," Jean nodded at each of them. They merely grinned at her, and stood as one to leave.

"Well, Rem an' Ah got othah places ta be," Rogue said. "So, ya'll enjoy yo'…conversation, an' we'll jus' be on our merry way."

Before Scott could protest, they had left the table. Jean and he sat in silence. Until…

"So, um…how was school?"

"Oh, it was…school-ish," Jean answered, blushing at how stupid that must've sounded. Scott chuckled and nodded.

"I know how that is," he smiled. Jean smiled as well, and both blushed.

"So, do you think you'll enjoy Bayville High?" Jean asked finally, after a few more minutes of awkward silence.

"I don't know," Scott shrugged. "I haven't heard all that much about it. That girl in one of the shops though, Tamera? Tamara? Taryn! Taryn seemed to think I would."

"Oh, you've met Taryn then?" Jean asked, trying to hide the jealousy in her voice. What was wrong with her? She had a boyfriend, granted he was a moron whom annoyed the shit out of her more often than naught, but…well, she had only just met Scott! She couldn't like him already. Sure, he was cute, but he was still just an acquaintance.

"Yeah, nice girl," he nodded. He conveniently left out the part that she'd totally freaked him out with all her flirting. It wasn't that he wasn't used to girls flirting with him, but they seemed a lot more forward in Bayville than they did in Hawaii. Granted, that could be because his little home in Honolulu was situated in a part where you knew everyone, so flirting was more like joking.

"Yeah, she-she's a friend," Jean nodded, biting her lower lip. She conveniently left out the part that, though they were friends, they were also rivals. Taryn seemed to want everything Jean had, but because of Jean's status in school she'd stuck around as her lapdog. The redhead knew what she thought of her, that she was just an attention-grabbing whore who would one day be revealed for what she was, but she never said anything. She liked having friends just fine, and she honestly didn't want to lose a one of them. Even if she was fake.

"Oh that's good, friends-friends are of the good," Scott nodded, looking at his lap.

"Yeah, friends are of the good."

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"So, chere, where y' leadin' dis po' Cajun?" Remy asked, as Rogue pulled him back through the mall. Rogue smiled mischievously at him, and led him into Victoria's Secret.

"Ah told ya, Swamp Rat, Ah need new lingerie."

With that, she pulled a skimpy corset off the rack and went into a changing room. Remy blinked, a slow smirk spreading across his face.

"Now y' talkin' my language!"

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