A/N- I apologize for the later-than-desired update. It's been sooo busy around here! Hope you enjoy!

19

Remy sat in the moonlit kitchen, perched on one of the bar stools at the center island as he absently twirled the bottle cap from his freshly opened beer along the back of his knuckles. His cheek stung with every drink he took, but he was sure that wouldn't last long. Once the alcohol started to take effect, he'd stop feeling it. He took a swill of beer before plunking his elbow down on the counter top, and dropping his chin onto his fist. He'd managed to avoid everyone since his outburst, effectively avoiding being asked to explain himself. He wasn't one for addressing his feelings, and certainly not in public as part of an explanation. He set down the bottle cap and took another drink.

Of course he'd deserved what he got. Joseph was a nice guy, but nice only takes you so far when you're being provoked. But the opportunity just presented itself so perfectly that he just couldn't resist.

Remy took another drink and sighed.

He was mad, and he seized the opportunity to take it out on Joseph. After all... Joe was the reason he was so upset, right?

His eyes moved to the doorway a second before she appeared there. He saw her stop when she noticed him, knitting her brow as she debated her next move. And he'd be lying if he said he didn't brace himself for an attack.

Instead, she crossed the kitchen and sat down across from him, folding her hands on the counter.

"Can't sleep?"

He grunted in response and took another drink.

"What about you?" He set the beer down and gave her a smirk. "Joe keepin' you up?"

She ignored his comment and shook her head, watching as she knit her brow again, fixing her gaze on her hands.

"Me neither."

After a moment Rogue reached over, sliding the beer across the counter towards herself to take a swig. She looked up at him finally and gave him a nod.

"How's your face?"

Remy studied her for a moment, and after deciding that he didn't sense any sarcasm in her question, he shrugged. "Been better."

A frown tugged at the corners of her mouth as she reached forward, beer bottle in hand, pressing the cool glass against his deep purple wound. "You deserved it y'know."

He nodded silently and gave her another shrug. "Yeah."

"What is your problem? Why do y'do that?"

Remy stared at her. Two very loaded questions. Instead of giving them any thought, he shook his head and sighed. "Don't know."

She pursed her lips and let out a breath. "You don't know."

He put his hand over the one she had holding the bottle up to his cheek bone and pulled it down, removing her hand from the bottle before taking another drink.

"Remy..."

"Look, I know it was wrong. I'm sorry. Y'want me to apologize to Joseph, I will. But I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay." She said quietly.

He narrowed his eyes in response to her meek reply and stared at her again. There was something she wasn't telling him, and he knew it. "Why can't you sleep?"

She gave him a half smile and a nonchalant shrug. "No reason."

He held her stare until she moved to get up, when he quickly reached out to grab her hand. She stopped, fixing her gaze on their hands before lifting it to meet his.

"Is Cole alright?"

"Ah'm sure he'll be fine. When things get rough, he likes to disappear." She gave him a knowing eyebrow raise, causing him to crack a smile in spite of himself.

He offered her an innocent shrug. "Guess it's just in his genes."

After a moment, his expression grew serious and he let go of her hand. "Did you tell him yet?"

"Did ah tell him what?"

"Dat he's movin' to Muir Island." He took another drink as Rogue stared at him with her mouth slightly agape.

She shook her head and knit her brow. "What... are you-"

"Dat's why you can't sleep, non?"

She sat down hard on the bar stool and continued to stare at him. Eventually she narrowed her eyes and leaned forward slightly. "Were you eavesdroppin' on me an' Joseph?"

"God no." He grimaced and shook his head. "What you an' Joe were doin' is d'last thing I'd wanna hear."

Rogue gave him a warning look and frowned. "Remy..."

He rolled his eyes and took another drink before turning back to her with a shrug. "I told you, I know you better den anyone."

She let out a breath and shook her head. "No. Ah'm tellin' him first thing in the mornin'."

Remy looked away and worked the muscles in his jaw. His chest ached again, and now there was the more familiar feeling of anger brewing in the pit of his stomach. Of course he'd known it was a good possibility, but he'd held onto a shred of hope that she'd stay here. With him. He suddenly felt the urge to open up to her. To beg her to stay and tell her all the reasons why he wanted her... tell her how stupid he was for leaving, and how lonely he was without her. How he'd only ever really been happy when she was around and that if she stayed, he knew he could make her happy.

Instead, he downed the rest of his drink, pushed himself away from the island and stood up with a frown. "Well, don't wait until yo'shovin' him on d'plane."

"Wow." Rogue gave a sarcastic nod, watching as he moved around the island towards the door. "Thank you Remy. Thank you so much for your help in this difficult situation."

Remy stopped and gave her a long, hard stare taking a slow breath. His mind swam with a million things he wanted to say all at once, watching the way Rogue tensed up under his blank stare.

"Yo' welcome." He said calmly before continuing his way out the kitchen.

XXXX

Rogue stared at the vacant doorway for a moment before letting out a breath and scrubbing her eyes with a frown. While Remy was more in tune with her than most other people, he hadn't quite hit the nail on the head. Her inability to sleep had very little to do with telling Cole. It was something Sarah had said that kept her tossing and turning.

She'd told Joseph right away, and of course he was thrilled she'd decided to go with him. Sarah's blackmail had very little to do with her final decision, it was just a tiny shove in the direction she'd been leaning towards. A tiny shove that ultimately sent her over the edge.

It wasn't the load of bull Sarah fed her about being a free loader with a kid, or her threat to expose what she thought was the truth to Joseph. She knew Remy didn't love Sarah. He'd said so himself; They were just fooling around.

Sarah was nothing more than a pleasant distraction to him.

Just like she'd been once.

It was a kick in the gut... an awful reminder of how horrible he'd made her feel. And in that very moment, she just wanted to get as far away from him as possible.

And of course, there were the obvious benefits in leaving with Joseph. First and foremost, the help she'd be able to acquire for Cole.

She pulled herself off the stool and ambled down the hall, eventually making her way up the stairs, stopping at her son's closed door. She placed a hand against the door and carefully turned the knob, opening the door as quietly as possible and peeking in.

His nightlight gave the room a soft orange glow and she could see that he'd left his trains in the middle of the floor. She smiled and moved to close the door when he rolled over.

"Momma?"

"Yes sweetie. It's me." She whispered. "Did ah wake you?"

He shook his head silently. Rogue stepped into the room, softly closing the door behind her. Avoiding the wooden track he'd laid out on the floor, she crossed the room and sat on the edge of his bed.

"Havin' trouble sleepin'?" She asked, smoothing her hand through his hair.

He squinted up at her and nodded.

"Me too. Want me to stay 'till y'fall asleep?"

He nodded again, scooting over to allow her room to stretch out next to him.

Cole nuzzled his head into the crook of Rogue's arm once she got comfortable and yawned. "Are we moving again?"

Rogue let out a deep sigh and frowned. "Yeah Coley, we are." She looked at him from the corner of her eye, attempting to gauge his temperament before continuing. "You alright with that?"

"Yeah." He closed his eyes as he spoke as sleep began to pull him away. "But are we going far?"

"Well now that depends." She smirked. "If we were drivin'..." She pretended to mentally calculate before nodding. "Then probably. If we were swimmin' our way there... then definitely."

Cole giggled and Rogue squeezed him in a gentle hug. "But since we're takin' a plane, ah don't think it's too far."

"That's good." Cole informed her with a nod. "Cuz I wanna be able to come back an' see everyone."

"An' you wouldn't be able to if y'had to swim. Not unless you were a fish."

He giggled again and nodded. "Like Nemo!"

"Exactly." Rogue brushed the hair off of Cole's forehead and gave him a kiss.

After a few moments of silence, Cole tipped his head to look at her. "Momma, why do you feel funny?"

"That's a good question." She smiled before pursing her lips. "Ah think ah just have a lot on my mind."

"That's why you can't sleep?"

She nodded as she stroked his auburn hair. "Yep."

He took another deep breath and let out a sleepy sigh. "Are you mad at Remy?"

She shushed him softly as she continued to stroke his hair. "Don't you worry about it, sugar."

His little brow knit slightly as he drowsily closed his eyes. "Everybody's so mad."

"Everything will be fine. You just go to sleep." Rogue whispered, letting her own eyes close.

"'Night Momma. I love you."

"Ah love you too."

She waited until she was sure he'd drifted off before sneaking away, looking back on him as she quietly closed the door.

She smiled. "Goodnight."

XXXX

"Good morning!" Kitty looked at her watch and nodded. "Yeah, I guess it's still morning technically. I mean, 11 still counts as the morning right? Mid-morning maybe? I mean, who decided that 12 was technically the afternoon? The dude who invented the clock? What a douche."

Remy looked up at the sound of Kitty's overly perky greeting, staring at her for a moment before moving over to the coffee pot.

"Dere's no coffee." He grumbled to her, removing the pot with a frown, as if he were checking just to be sure the pot was actually empty.

"Yeah, I don't drink coffee." She shrugged when he looked back at her. "Caffeine makes me jittery."

He stared at her again for a moment before deciding to keep his comments to himself, turning back to the pot to make some coffee.

"Geeze, you're in a rotten mood today." Kitty muttered, taking a bite of her bagel and cream cheese.

Remy let out a breath and glowered at her. "Wouldn't have anything t'do with a swollen cheekbone an' piercing migraine, hein?"

"Don't go all PMS on me. You were begging to get a beating; With your passive-aggressive behaviour and everything? And I swear, your moods are totally like a friggin pendulum. I think you may be bipolar." She took another bite of her bagel and nodded thoughtfully as his frown deepened.

"Stop talking."

"I'm serious!" She set her bagel down on her plate and brushed the crumbs from her hands before continuing. "You totally display all the main symptoms of manic-depressive behaviour. "What are the main symptoms of manic-depressive behaviour Kitty?" you ask? We'll I'll tell you."

Remy let out a breath and crossed his arms, deciding it was better just to humour the wind-bag than to try to shut her up.

"Let's see. First there's the impaired judgment caused by mania, which include things like; lack of insight, inappropriate humour and behaviours," She raised her eyebrows to emphasize her point before continuing, ticking her points off on her fingers. "Impulsiveness, financial extravagance - but considering you steal everything, you don't quite fit in there... there's grandiose thinking - which basically means, being a pompous prick- hyper-sexuality..." She chuckled and shook her head. "I don't think I need to convince anyone that that one certainly applies to you."

"Kitty. I am not bipolar."

"Then there's the obvious mood changes associated with mania, like; irritability, hostility... And that's not even touching on the obvious depression that we constantly find you in when you don't get your own way..."

"Kitty!"

She clamped her mouth shut and stared at him.

"I'm not bipolar."

Kitty picked up her bagel and took another bite with a raised eyebrow. "That's what Brittany Spears said too."

He knit his brow as the coffee finished brewing. "Where d'you learn all dis shit?"

She shrugged. "I'm a friggin' genius Remy. I've been trying to tell people that for years..." Kitty watched as he poured himself a cup of coffee before frowning and giving her head a shake. "I'm telling you Remy; you love her."

He moved towards her, sitting across from her at the table. "An' so what if yo' right p'tite?"

"So... all you're doing is making it easier for her to decide to leave."

"She didn' tell you yet?" He took a gulp of steaming hot black coffee and chuckled. "I s'pose I shouldn' be surprised."

Kitty's frown deepened. "Tell me what?"

Joseph and Piotr rounded the corner into the kitchen, ignored by both Kitty and Remy as she stood and put her hands on her hips. "Tell me what?" She looked over to Joseph, her eyebrows suddenly lifting as reality set in. "Oh. Well that sucks."

"I am thinking what she means to say is 'congratulations'. Right Katya?" Piotr offered her an encouraging smile.

"You knew?" She balked at Piotr before forcing a grin for Joseph and nodding.

"I mean... totally! Of course I mean congratulations... I just... you know?" She shrugged at Joseph and continued nodding until Piotr cleared his throat.

"We should be going now Katya." He took her hand, guiding her out of the room, leaving the two men in a horrible awkward silence.

Joseph poured himself a cup of coffee. "Smells good." He broke the silence with his attempt at small talk. "Strong."

"Yeah." Remy nodded. "I like it strong."

"Me too." Joe nodded before taking a sip. "How many scoops do you add?"

"Two per cup." Remy shrugged, letting his eyes scan the discarded newspaper on the table. "Gives it dat extra kick."

"Wow. Yeah... it's good."

"Yeah." He looked up at Joseph and gave him a forced half smile. "I s'pose I should congratulate you too, hein?"

"Oh, yeah..." Joseph let out a breath and nodded with a tight smile. "Thanks."

"Guess d'best man won."

Joseph took a mouthful of coffee before shaking his head. "I wasn't really aware it was a contest."

They stared at one another silently.

Rogue skidded around the corner, breaking the palpable tension in the room with her entrance. "Remy!" She breathed heavily, her eyes flicking around the kitchen frantically. "Is Cole with you?"

"No." He furrowed his brow, watching as she turned to Joseph.

"Have you seen him?"

"What's going on?" Remy stood up and took a step towards her, causing her to snap her attention back to him with a panicked glare.

"What did you say to him? He was fine this morning Remy!"

"Nothing! I haven't seen him yet-"

"What happened Anna?" Joseph frowned.

"He's gone!" She looked back at Joseph, raking her hands through her hair. "He was playin' with the guys outside an' something happened... an' he just took off!"

"Took off?" Remy stepped towards her with a deep set frown. "What do you mean?"

"He ran away!" She shouted at him.

"Alright, just calm down and think for a second." Joseph rubbed her back soothingly. "Where would he go?"

Remy raced out of the kitchen, ignoring Rogue calling after him.