"Papa? How coul' ya?" Remy asked softly after the Boudreax's had left.
"Remy, ya over-reactin'. Did anyone say dat ya had ta do anyt'in?" Jean Luc replied casually.
"But, de fate o' de Guilds is on Remy now...how coul' he not feel pressured? O' course he gotta do somet'in!" Remy asked incredulously.
"All dat we asked was dat ya give Bella a chance. I know dat ya like Cyndi-" The older man replied as he got up from the couch and lit himself a cigar, drawing in the dirty smoke and letting it out in a small puff.
"I mo' den like Cyndi, Papa, an' ya know dat. I can' jus' fo'git bout her coz ya tell me ta." Remy challenged as he got up from the couch as well and crossed his arms across his chest.
"Jus' spend some time wit' de girl. Do it fo' ya papa, neh?" Jean Luc sighed in frustration, casting his youngest boy a look of exasperation.
"Non. Remy'll do no such t'ing." Remy said with a glare as his red on black eyes locked with dark brown ones that were now staring angrily back at him.
"Ya gon' do it an' ya gonna bring de Guilds together. Ya have no choice. I tried ta be diplomatic bout dis, but ya better be nice ta dat girl an' start makin friends wit' her. In fact, ya takin' her ta a movie tomorrow nigh'. I'm gonna set up de whole t'ing." Jean Luc replied smugly, thinking that would shut the boy up but Remy simply rolled his eyes.
"Remy, sometimes a man has ta put his needs ta de side fo de benefit o' others." Jean Luc lectured.
"Is dis why ya adopted Remy? Ta take away his righ' ta happiness?" Remy shot back angrily. Little did he know this whole thing was something that had been talked about since the day Remy was discovered. Members of both Guilds believed the prophecy of the boy with the 'devils eyes' who would bring peace to the Guilds and unite them with a marriage between the Guilds. This was partly the reason Jean Luc chose to adopt Remy...that and his extreme fondness of the boy. But, at the moment, he was anything but pleased with him.
"I've given ya everyt'in ya ever wanted! Spoiled ya rotten! How dare ya speak ta me dat way!" Jean Luc roared. Remy had heard enough and decided to retreat to his bedroom where he bumped into Henri.
"An ya knew bout dis, din't ya?" Remy replied accusingly.
"Remy...I was jus de messenger." Henri said gently, looking guiltier than he claimed to be.
"Ya always been so nice ta my Chere...was it all lies, Homme?" Remy asked with a glare.
"Non. Ya know dat I've taken quite a likin' ta de fille. But, ya gotta do wha's best fo de family. Fo' de Guild. We dependin' on ya." Henri said. Remy simply shook his head at this and went into his room, closing the door and falling down onto his bed.
That night...
Remy had fallen asleep as soon as he hit the sheets and awoke hours later to the light sound of tapping on his balcony's French doors. He sighed, rubbed his eyes a bit and got up. He walked slowly to the door and smiled a little when he saw that Cyndi had made the climb up to his bedroom's balcony. He knew how much she hated doing stuff like that.
"Are you alright? You ran off so fast before." Cyndi said softly as he let her inside the dark room.
"Oui, Chere." He lied. Cyndi held eye contact with him for a moment, looking deep into those expressive orbs he possessed. She knew he wasn't telling the truth.
"You're lying." She accused.
How could he even begin to tell her? Should he? His mind raced with words to say, possible reactions she would give and the consequences he would face for telling her. He decided he wouldn't tell her. He would put an end to this Bella situation, it would never bother him again and he and Cyndi could keep doing what they were doing...whatever it was. All he knew was that he was in love with the girl and he wouldn't betray his honest love for her by engaging in a lie for the sake of the Guilds. If there was one thing Remy couldn't do, it was lie about his emotions...especially love. Nothing was more serious to him.
"I's notin', Chere. Remy promises." He insisted as he shut the doors and walked over to her, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek as if to verify that everything was fine. She sighed but knew not to press him any further. Whatever it was, he would tell her in good time if it was something serious.
Remy slipped out of his jeans, sneakers and socks and got back under the blankets, he couldn't believe that he had fallen asleep in that much clothing. He was usually in underwear or nothing at all and the extra clothing made him sweat in his sleep. He cringed at the moisture that had gathered at the base of his neck and dampened the hair there a bit. He hated when that happened.
"Ya wanna stay de nigh', Chere?" He asked softly, looking up at her with big, innocent eyes. He looked helpless. He looked sad. She could never say no to those eyes.
She nodded slowly and kicked off her sandals. She tentatively got out of her shorts and was left in her undergarments and a tank top; it would have to do since she hadn't planned on sleeping over. Remy opened up the blankets to her and she got in with him, snuggling closely to his warm body. He closed his eyes at the feeling of her against him and held her for the longest time. He couldn't imagine life without her; just the thought made him start to cry...something Remy simply didn't do.
"Chere...?" Remy whispered gently as a few stray tears rolled slowly down his cheeks.
"Mmmmm?" She mumbled, already drifting off to sleep against his chest.
"I love ya." He said in the softest tone. They had told each other that many times, sometimes in just a friendly way or even a family way...but he meant it in it's truest form that night. He truly loved her with all of his heart and he would do whatever he had to to keep her in his life.
"Love you, too..." She whispered back before she fell asleep, her face snuggled into his chest and her arms wrapped around his waist. He sighed deeply before he closed his eyes and let sleep take him as well.
That morning...
Cyndi was the first to wake up, the sun unforgiving on her eyes causing them to snap to attention and open. She groaned as her light eyes began to tear a bit because of how bright it was and how sensitive her eyes were first thing in the morning. Once her eyes got used to the light in the room and the tearing stopped, Cyndi glanced over at Remy who was still sleeping beside her. She smiled at his face; he looked so innocent, so angelic. Then she laughed when she thought how much looks were deceiving. She leaned over and placed a tender kiss on his cheek before she started to try to wake him up.
"Mmmm...Donnez-moi deux minutes supplémentaires (Give me two more minutes...)..." He groaned gently as he turned over.
"I'll flash you some boob if you wake up now." She teased, knowing that would get him up in a hurry. Remy's eyes remained closed but a slow smirk started on his lips.
"Wit' or wit'out de bra, Chere?" He mumbled.
"Pig!" She laughed as she nudged his shoulder. He rolled onto his back and looked up at her with sleepy eyes.
"Give Remy a good mornin' kiss." He smiled as he led her face down to him with his index finger. She smirked, leaned down and planted a kiss on his lips.
"So what are we doing today?" She asked as she pulled her mouth away from his and snuggled up to him again.
"Well, Chere...Remy kinda has somet'in ta take care o' tonigh'." He sighed gently.
"Oh, ummm, can I ask what? Or are we gonna have more secrets?" She asked in a soft voice. Remy let out a long breath and closed his eyes briefly before answering her.
"Ya know Remy don' like keepin' t'ings from ya Chere but, i's Guild stuff. Remy really can' tell ya." He replied. She nodded slowly and moved away from him. Remy watched silently as she got out of the bed, fixed her hair, dressed again and headed for his bedroom door, deciding to exit the old fashioned way as opposed to her snazzy entrance last night.
"Chere...ya know Remy can' talk bout dat stuff. Don' do dis ta him..." He whined in frustration. She didn't answer and simply kept going. Once he heard the screen door open and then harshly shut downstairs, he got out of bed and groaned loudly. This would be harder than he thought but hopefully he would get Bella to despise him so much that she would refuse to want to marry him. And besides, he was only 16...and couldn't technically get married until he was 18. But, he guessed their fathers wanted to be nice and lay down some groundwork between them in hopes they would like each other. They probably thought that if they spent as much time together as possible that they would fall in love and voluntarily go through with their vows. The plan seemed flawless...in a dream world. Neither had anticipated how smart Remy was.
Remy would make things as difficult for Bella as possible. He knew how to attract women but he also knew how to push them away. As Cyndi always said, he could be terribly annoying when he wanted to be and now was a time when he definitely wanted to be as unattractive as possible to this girl.
That night...
As Jean Luc had promised, he had set up a date for his son and Bella. They were to go to a movie of her choosing and whatever else she wanted to do. Before leaving to pick up Bella, Jean Luc gave Remy a long winded talk about the importance of family and the Guilds and how if he messed this up he would surely regret it as Jean Luc would see to his unhappiness and misery. A pep talk...LeBeau style.
Armed with a bouquet of flowers that Jean Luc had given him for his 'date', Remy got out of his fathers car at the movie theater where he would meet her. Jean Luc pulled away once he caught sight of her. The tall blonde came over to Remy looking about 10 times more happy than he was. She must have gotten a different kind of pep talk.
"Bonjour, Remy." She smiled slightly.
"Bonjour." He mumbled as he handed her the bouquet of flowers.
"Oh, how beautiful. T'ank you." She gushed, thinking maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Besides, he was extremely handsome.
"Eh, dey from Papa. Perhaps ya migh' wanna see if he wanna date ya o' somet'in." Remy shot back sarcastically. Bella shot him a look of confusion but shook it off as they walked up to the ticket window.
This would be a long night on all accounts.
XXXXX
At around 10pm, Jean Luc came back to pick up the two and bring them home. The older man's look of hope quickly changed to disappointment when he saw a very pissed off teenaged girl slide into the back seat of his car. With a smug grin on his face, Remy slid in after her. Jean Luc didn't know what to make of things but he would definitely sit the boy down and get the details. Remy was such a charming young man, he could charm the pants off of anyone...everyone knew that. For a young girl to be so seemingly disgusted with Remy so quickly blew his mind. He prayed to God that his son wasn't being foolish and sabotaging this opportunity.