The weekend passed by uneventfully; the days were filled with homework, studying, and Ororo's attempts to not get too hung up on her new tutor. Of course, Alison had been no help in that department. On Monday, after they'd once again pored over every minute detail of Remy and Ororo's conversation the week before, Ali voiced her final verdict. "He's a fucking dreamboat. There's nothing left to say until I see a picture of his – now how did you describe it? Oh that's right, 'exceptional body,'" she chuckled.

Ororo groaned. "You're really not going to let me live that one down, are you?" Her companion laughed and affirmed her fears over the phone line. "Fine. But it's cute that you seem to think I don't know you must have stalked his Facebook by now...you've probably already seen many pictures of him that I haven't."

"'Ro, I told you you could log into my Facebook anytime you want to look at stuff. Just because your father won't let you use social media (which by the way, don't even get me started on that right now,) it doesn't mean that you have to live unconnected."

"It's not that." Ororo shrugged her shoulders, despite the fact that Ali couldn't see her. "It just feels like an invasion of his privacy when he didn't offer up that part of his life to me."

Her friend scoffed. "You are too much of a good person."

"Yup, always been my biggest problem," she replied, laughing. "But seriously though, I am trying not to get my hopes up in this case. I mean, there is absolutely no reason why he would ever be interested in me."

"Oh, you mean besides the fact that you're both funny and kind, and not to mention drop-dead gorgeous?"

Ororo blushed. "Stop, Ali. Gorgeous people wear make-up. They have sexy clothes! I have jeans, t-shirts, and barely any jewelry."

"Please, those things only accentuate what's already there. I mean, don't get me wrong; I'm not against you getting a new wardrobe. You've been rocking the "my father is way too involved in my life" look long enough! But I'm just saying that you have qualities you shouldn't take for granted, like perfect skin, natural curves, and long, thick hair. And how about being a good person? Lord knows no amount of money can buy that."

Her friend's skepticism was still apparent. "Fine. That's all well and good, but you and I both know that there are extenuating circumstances that will keep things from happening with Remy." The reality of Ororo's home life didn't need to be mentioned aloud; it was already at the forefront of both girls' thoughts. "Not only that, who wants to be with someone who's never had their first kiss and doesn't even know how to drive? I'm just trying to be practical here. This is not a movie; in real life, the quiet girl never gets noticed. Not to mention the fact that I'm sure there are people throwing themselves at him all the time! He is much too beautiful to walk around without getting attention. I just don't want to be disappointed, Ali," she finished quietly.

"All I want to hear you say is that you wouldn't push him away if he did want to start something with you."

"How could you ever think that I would do that?" Ororo answered incredulously. "I would jump at any chance to leave my life behind and never look back. I have nothing to go home to."

Alison sighed. "I want to believe you, Ororo, really, but you just spent a lot of energy giving me all kinds of excuses as to why no one would ever want to be with you. It seems to me that your father taught you to think a certain way about yourself, and I'm worried that if the opportunity for a relationship came up, you might push it away for fear of the unknown." Ororo's silence on the other end of the line let Ali know she was mulling over her words. "And just in case you need to hear it again, he has always been wrong about you. Every negative thing he has ever said to you has just been his way of controlling you."

Ororo's breath shuddered as she let it out; she hadn't even realized she'd been holding it. "It's crazy because I know that, and yet, when it really came down to it, I spit out his words just now like they were my own anyway."

"The trauma he's given you runs deep, 'Ro. I'm looking for there to be more people in your life to help you heal from it...people like Remy, if he's actually as good as he seems."

Ororo's reply was quiet. "I just wish you could be here now. It's so hard to be alone in this new place without my best friend."

"I know. I wish you were down here, too. No one gets me like you do. Even though I've met friends, we don't have the same type of connection."

"At least you're out there meeting people. I haven't talked to anyone else since I got here besides Remy and that bitch across the hall. And to be fair, I didn't say much to her anyway." She still cringed at the thought of seeing her neighbor again.

Alison growled a little. "Man, if I'd just been there, she woulda got fucked up for talking to you like that. You're gonna have to get used to standing up for yourself more now that I'm not around." But when you spend your whole life getting told you're nothing, is that even possible? She wondered privately.

Ororo could feel herself shrinking away from the mere prospect of confrontation. Secretly, she was more interested in avoiding any unpleasantries, rather than adding to them. "Yeah, I'll work on it."

Alison knew she wasn't being exactly truthful, but decided to let it go. "Anyway, new subject. Tell me how classes are going."

The companions discussed the basic courses they were taking, then segued into all the new experiences they were having at college. "It is so nice having my own room, I gotta say," Ororo mentioned. "No one barging in unannounced, my own lock and key; total privacy."

As chance would have it, right then, there was a knock at her door.

"Who's that?" Ali wanted to know.

"No idea. No one knows where I live, as far as I know." And there's no one who would visit me anyway; I have yet to say a single word in class. If she'd just been thinking a little clearer, she probably would have realized who it was, but alas, when she opened the door she was pretty shocked to see - "Remy!"

"Hey, chere." His lopsided smile caught her completely off-guard.

"What are you doing here?"

Remy could hear someone on the phone talking a mile a minute to Ororo, but she seemed too dumbfounded to notice at the moment. "Uh, sorry t' jus' drop by. I got yo' room number from Ms. Grey; de only reason she agreed t'give it to me was cuz I tol' her I was givin' you my old books, an' I didn't want you t'have to carry 'em all de way across campus. Dey're wicked heavy." He motioned to the large stack in his arms, and Ororo realized that she should invite him in.

Unfortunately, right as the words left her tongue, she happened to glance across the hall and found her rude neighbor smirking at her, clearly just having come back from doing laundry. Remy was unaware that they had an audience, and accepted Ororo's invitation without a second thought. "Want me t' just put dese down on de desk?"

His companion closed the door behind him, completely flustered by the sudden turn of events. "I really didn't expect you to give them to me until I saw you on Thursday." Ororo found that Ali was still jabbering on the phone line, which jarred her back to reality. "Oh Remy, I'm sorry. What I mean to say is, thank you for bringing those up to me. Hold on just one second; let me hang up with my friend." She turned away from him slightly and said into the phone, "Hey Ali? Ali? I'm sorry. I have to go."

"Don't!" Remy interjected. "Not on account of me. I could just go."

"No!" Both Ororo and Alison shouted at the same time, and Remy laughed. Clearly her friend had also been monitoring their conversation.

"Who's dat on de phone? Who is Ali?" He asked, leaning against Ororo's bed.

"Oh, my childhood best friend, Alison Blair."

"An' where is Alison Blair right now? I'd like t' meet her." His smile was quite disarming, so much so that while Ororo was trying to perch on the edge of the desk, she slid right off onto the floor instead.

"Damn! Ouch."

Remy chuckled good-naturedly and reached down to help her up. "You might as well sit on de bed wit' me; seems a little safer."

"He's on your BED?!" Alison yelped, loud enough for Remy to hear.

While he couldn't stop laughing, Ororo's face turned bright red. She managed to mutter out a "GOODBYE, Ali!" and promptly hung up the phone, promising to call her back later. Sheepishly, she turned back to her companion. "Any chance we could pretend that absolutely none of that just happened?"

Remy leaned his elbows back on her mattress and smiled. "I'll never say a word t' de contrary."

"Thank you," Ororo rolled her eyes heavenward.

"So, how was yo' weekend?" He reached up to brush his hair out of his eyes and Ororo felt her heart flutter a little.

"It was okay. Just caught up on work, really. Managed to get a little time to myself to watch TV."

"Oh yeah? What do you watch?"

"Nothing that's on right now. I just have some DVDs that I like, which I watch on my laptop."

"Alright, let's check out de collection." Remy moved over to her shelf and tilted his head to view her DVD titles. "'Saved By The Bell,'" he smiled. "Classic. 'Friends,' of course. Who doesn't love dat show? 'Living Single.' Girl, you got taste. I neve' met anyone else who even knew dat show existed."

"You like it too?"

"Yeah. Growin' up, de families I was wit' didn' want me playin' wit dey kids a lot, so I used t' sit an' watch all kinds of TV when dey weren't payin' attention to me." Remy felt a pang of heartache remembering this and Ororo could see it in his eyes. "Doesn't matter though; somethin' good came out of it. Watchin' all dose families on TV, lives I coulda had, I found out dere was a different way t' talk to kids, a good way dat didn't make 'em feel like shit. In some ways, I think all dem shows got me prepared t' meet my papa, t' know he'd be good to me." Remy smiled and Ororo realized now that he probably didn't have quite the same life situation that she did.

"How was your trip home this weekend?" She asked.

"Good. Seen my dog, Ace, seen my pops. But not until Saturday night. I had t' work in de mornin' at de Boys and Girls Club."

"Oh yes, Miss Grey said that you volunteer there."

"Yup, can't stay away from dem kids," he smiled. "I jus' feel like I know where they comin' from. Lots of 'em are growin' up like I did, an' I want 'em to see that they can be somethin' in life." He narrowed his eyes, remembering. "So many people tol' me I wasn't worth nothin', an' it sticks wit' you, you know?" Ororo tried to keep from tearing up; she knew exactly what he meant all too well. "I jus' want some kid's life t' be different because I was in it, even jus' for a little while."

Holy shit, Ororo thought. What do you say to something so beautiful? Luckily, Remy began looking around the room, perhaps a little embarrassed at sharing something so personal with her. On the window ledge, next to her plants (which he admired aloud,) was the DVD she had been watching over the weekend. "Oh hey, didn' see dis one before. Dis was my favorite show as a kid." He held it up and Cory, Shawn and Topanga's faces smiled at her from the front of the case.

"That was always my favorite, too. Alison and I would watch it every Friday night at her house when we were younger." Ororo recalled those nights happily; they were some of the few times she had felt like a regular kid. "I could watch that show a thousand times and never get bored."

"Who's yo' favorite character?"

"Shawn, of course," Ororo smiled. She had always secretly felt that Shawn would understand her if he were real.

"I always liked Angela myself. It was comforting t' me dat Shawn could have a good relationship, despite what had happened t' him in his life."

Kind of gives you hope, Ororo thought privately. "Yes. I choose to believe that sometime after the series finale, Shawn went to Europe to find her and rekindle their relationship."

Remy chuckled. "It's so funny how we can get so wrapped up in dese characters' lives when dey not even real." He gave a half-smile to Ororo, allaying her fears that he was making fun of her. "I always thought the same t'ing 'bout dose two. He had to go after her; she was de love of his life." Remy put the DVD case back on her shelf. "But anyway, I guess we should get down t' business. Dem books okay fo' you?"

"Yes, yes, they're perfect." Ororo turned her attention to the stack and picked a single one up to leaf through. On the inside cover she found Remy's name scrawled along the page. She ran her fingers over the signature lightly and her companion misunderstood.

"Yeah, so sorry. Some of 'em may also have some notes written in de margins of what I was t'inkin' 'bout at the time I was readin' 'em."

Ororo scoffed. "Oh please, don't even worry about it. It will be interesting to get a second opinion to my own ideas." She carefully replaced the book to its spot on top of the pile. "I really will take such good care of these; they mean everything to me." She met his red eyes with her blue ones. "Thank you for taking the time to go home and get them, and then also for carrying them up for me."

Remy looked away, slightly embarrassed. Wasn't that the reaction you wanted, for her to be pleased? He chided himself inwardly, but hurriedly replied that she was welcome, and that it was no big deal. "So I guess let's talk about how de academic watch program is gon' help you. Fo' me, I had no study skills at all when I got here. I barely skated by in high school, an' de only reason I got into college was because I scored high on de SATs. I know dat ain't true for you, though. Havin' a 4.0 average is no joke, fille. I figure you just got off on de wrong foot de first week here, an' all you really need is a coach in yo' corner checkin' on yo' progress every once in awhile. Sound about right t' you?"

Ororo nodded. "Yes, I can handle the work. I just let other things get in the way."

"Yeah, dat's what I wanna talk about next. You feel uncomfortable here, huh?"

She didn't want to answer one way or the other, but he could tell from her look that it was true anyway.

"I did too when I first arrived. People were weirded out by my accent an' my eyes. Fo' de record, I still let most people believe dey're contacts," he sighed. "Honestly, it's jus' easier than trying to explain a genetic abnormality t' people who aren't even close t' you. On de other hand, I also found ways to talk to people, to make friends." He took note of his companion's nervous look and continued anyway. "You're gonna be miserable here if you keep t' yourself."

"I know," Ororo said quietly, not daring to finish the thought running through her mind...but I'm scared.

Remy's natural empathy discovered what she couldn't say, however. "I know you're afraid, chere. But I can help you t' meet people; dat's what I'm tryin' t' say." Ororo gazed at him questioningly, wondering what his plans were. "Maybe every week, you can come an' do somethin' wit' me dat's out of yo' comfort zone. On Thursdays I'll just help you look over an' see if you completed everythin' you need to for de week, an' den we'll try some new things." It was his turn to look at her, wondering if she would be down with this challenging proposition.

Ororo's mind whirled, unsure of what to say. On the one hand, it would almost be like dating him every week. Except, not really. Don't get over-excited. He's just trying to help you get your act together. But then another nagging thought popped suddenly into her mind. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but why would you even do this for me? We barely know each other."

Remy sighed, trying not to be hurt, since he knew she hadn't meant it the way it sounded. "I was kinda like you when I got here; scared, unsure of myself. Definitely uncomfortable suddenly bein' thrown into a new place. But other people here feel de same way too, an' you find dat out when you start t' make friends. Everybody's just lookin' fo' someone to not feel alone with." He leaned in closer to her, letting her in on a secret. "An' by de way, it helps to pretend you're not afraid. You put on a fierce face an' go out lookin' like no one can touch you, an' all of a sudden people wanna try."

Ororo was slightly shocked. "Does that really work?"

"Did fo' me," Remy chuckled kindly. "I don' mean you act like you lookin' for a fight, I'm just sayin' dat no matter what anyone says, I laugh an' pretend like ain't nothin' get to me. An' after awhile, dat confidence becomes a part of you an' you don't hafta pretend anymore."

Ororo nodded, thinking about all he'd said. "Okay then. What will we do when we go out?"

"It'll be a surprise most of de time, since den you can't worry about it, but you also can't prepare fo' it."

Ororo's stomach flip-flopped at the proposition but decided to concede.

"An' after awhile, maybe you'd consider goin' to a party wit' me on a weekend," he smiled. "I refuse to let you go through life wit'out goin' to a killer college bash." He had guessed right that she had never been to a college party before, but what he probably didn't realize was that she had actually never been to any party at all, except for Alison's birthday celebrations each year. Ororo couldn't tell if her stomach was becoming clenched in excitement or nerves. "But we'll cross dat bridge when we come to it, okay? Fo' now, I'm sorry t' say dat I gotta go." He touched her shoulder gently and she was very sorry to see him stand up. "Hey, befo' I leave though, can I have yo' cell phone number?"

Ororo heard herself stammer out a yes, but it was as if she was watching the scene from above, floating away on a cloud. She hoped her face wouldn't betray her pleasure at his request.

"Much easier fo' us to contact each other wit'out havin' to use a middle man, like the academic center." He texted his own phone number from her cell and then saved his contact information for her. Ororo got up as well, in order to open the door for him. "Remy, thank you. For everything."

"Petit, it was nothin'. I'm glad we spent some time t'gether...it's always nice t' have a new friend." He winked at her and was gone before she could say anything else.

Overwhelmed by all that had just occurred, Ororo leaned against her door jamb, still feeling hazy about the day's events. Jarring her from her reverie, though, came a voice that she had hoped never to hear again. "Dumb bitch. You're gonna get what's comin' to ya."

"What?" She turned to her neighbor, who stood in front of her own open door. Ororo almost wondered if she'd been spying on her, waiting for Remy to leave.

"You think you're somethin' special, huh? Like you're gonna be able to change him? He's gonna treat you the same way he treats all them other girls."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not out to change anybody."

"Oh, I see now," the other girl smirked. "You have no idea who he really is. Well let me tell you somethin'...Remy LeBeau got a different girl in his bed every night. He uses people for his own pleasure and never talks to 'em again." Ororo felt like she was underwater, drowning in this new information. "But actually, I guess that'd be pretty fitting for you. You love to steal things away from vulnerable people, and so does he. I'll enjoy watching him destroy you bit by bit." Her evil smile was all that she ended with, slamming the door on their conversation.

Ororo retreated into her own room, dumbfounded. What the hell just happened? Could Remy really be like this girl said he was, so callous and uncaring, when it seemed like he could almost tune right into others' emotions? But maybe he uses that to his advantage to get people to trust him, Ororo contemplated. How do I know that he doesn't have girls in and out of his bed every night? I've only just met him. The worst part was that the possibility was there; everything he'd told her so far might just be a game he was playing in order to bang her. But would that be such a bad thing? Her devil's advocate whispered. Visions of his gorgeous body unclothed, wrapped around her, began to form in her mind's eye...but no. She would be terrified. She had never kissed anyone; in fact, she mostly hated to have people touch her. And I would be heartbroken when, after it was all over, he didn't want me, especially since he seems so different than anyone I've ever known.

Ororo was still completely at a loss for words when she heard her cell phone chime the notification of a text message. She flipped open the receiver and saw "Have a great week, chere :-)" from one Remy LeBeau.

She couldn't even bring herself to answer back.

*Man, having time to myself to write again feels so good. Thank you to all the readers out there, especially the faithful ones who watch for me to update. Please review, everyone! It really makes my day. I still own no X-Men characters, but I still also desperately wish I did. Luckily, this story is my own intellectual property, and I can at least make anything I want happen in it :-) Have a great summer everyone!