Combusting Hearts
Chapter 18
A few days later, I woke up in the same place in which I had been sleeping each night. I woke up in Gambit's bed, laying beside him.
Each night, the Professor had to give me a special sedative to make me go to sleep. It was one that blocked out the terrifying dreams that I've been having. Just to make sure that I'm still stable through the night, the Professor assigned Gambit to watch me and stay by my side. So, basically, it meant sleeping in his room each night.
Gambit was a perfect gentleman though. He never tried anything. The only thing that he would do at times was hold me in his arms as I slept. He said that that way, he would always know that I was safe. I knew that there was more to it, but I didn't bother to ask or push the matter. I was just happy having someone that I could trust to be with me and keep me company, and currently, that someone was Gambit.
Today was special, today was Christmas Eve, meaning that tomorrow was Christmas day. I was so excited that I could barely contain it. I knew that I had to keep quiet though, since I didn't want to wake Gambit up. I still had things to do, so I left his room and went to mind.
I smirked upon opening my closet, pulling back the clothes, and staring down at the unwrapped gifts. I still had yet to wrap them and I had to do it before tonight. So without any further thoughts, I began wrapping them, though not before locking my door of course. After all, I didn't want anyone to come in and find me in the middle of wrapping their presents.
It took me a bit to get everything situated, but once I did, it was no problem. I had actually debated on having Gambit help me. In fact, it didn't sound like a bad idea, but that meant that I'd have to get his present or should I say presents, wrapped first.
I looked under my bed to find his bag in the far corner, before sighing heavily. An idea then popped into my head.
I snuck back into Gambit's room, being as quiet as I could. He was still asleep, one arm over his eyes, while the other laid on his stomach.
"Sleepy head," I whispered as I snatched his bo staff and ran back to my room.
I was nearly jumping for joy as I locked my door, going in front of my bed, and then reaching under it with his bo staff. It took a few tried, but I finally got the plastic handles around the end of it and pulled it out.
"Finally," I sighed, laying Gambit's bo staff on my bed as I pulled his stuff out of the bag.
I smiled as I looked down at all of the cards, he was going to love this or at least I hoped so anyway.
"Of course he will," I told myself, pulling the items into a box that I had selected.
The box itself was about the size of a shoe box. I knew that it was a little bit big, but still. I nearly laughed as I finished wrapping it, tying it up with a piece of yarn. I knew that that would undoubtedly get his attention tomorrow morning. I made sure to wrap the special set up by itself, wrapping the box that it came in, in a nice piece of shiny silver wrapping paper. When I was done with that, I tied a red ribbon around it, curling the ends of it sharply with a pair of scissors.
"There, all finished," I said, a half hearted smile on my face.
I honestly wasn't used to this anymore, so in a way, it was actually new to me.
A couple minutes later, I heard a knock on my door, and the attempted turning of the knob.
"Cheri, you in d'ere?" came Gambit's voice.
"Um, hold on!" I called, quickly stashing his presents underneath of my bed.
I got up and opened my door, finding him standing there leaning on the door frame, his hand racking through his messy hair as he yawned.
"Sleep well, Remy?" I asked.
"How could I not wit' you by my side, cheri?" he asked, making me blush a bit.
He gave me a small smile when he saw this, before looking over my shoulder and finding his bo staff on my bed. He raised a brow in question as he pointed to it.
"What you got d'at for, cheri?" he asked curiously.
I just put on a smile for him.
"Sorry about that, Remy, I had to borrow it to get something down from the closet," I explained, even though it wasn't a complete lie, since I had to use it to knock some boxes down from the shelf in my closet.
"What you need get down d'at Gambit couldn' help wit'?" he asked.
"Boxes," I stated plainly.
"Ah, so you doin' some last minute wrappin' d'en," he said, eyeing the wrapping paper that was laying on my floor.
"Yeah. Actually…" I started, feeling the heat rising in my cheeks a bit, "I was wondering…"
"Oui, cheri?" he nudged a bit for me to continue.
"Could you…could you help me wrap everything?" I asked shyly.
He let out a loose laugh, before throwing his arm around my small shoulders.
"Course, cheri, anyt'ing for you," he proclaimed, smiling at me.
That one smile was all that it took to spark something inside of me, but I just didn't know what that something was. So, I just sat down with him on the floor wrapping presents.
For a while we sat there, him helping me with the wrapping, and us just joking around. It turned into him playing around even more and me eventually pulling his ear.
"Come on now, cheri, I's just kiddin'," he said, yelping as I pulled his ear.
I just stuck my tongue out at him, before letting go, and turning back to wrapping presents.
He sighed slightly, before moving beside me and throwing his arm around my shoulders.
"Remy, what are you doing?" I asked as I rose an eyebrow at him, only to have him quickly ruffle my hair. "Hey!" I yelled, watching as he sprung up and ran out of my room, taking my jacket with him.
I quickly shoved everything under my bed before going after him, slipping my shoes on first, before shutting my door behind me.
"Remy! Get back here!" I called as I raced after him down the hallways.
He just laughed as we turned a corner.
"Dang you and your long legs, Remy!" I shouted as I laughed, nearly tripping over my feet as I continued to run after him.
Once we got outside, I somehow managed to use my powers to catch up to him, tackling him to the snowy ground.
"Give me that!" I laughed, snatching my jacket from his hands and shrugging it on, zipping it up a moment later.
I then made a snow ball and threw it at him, hitting him right in the face. He yelped, before ducking out of the way of another one. I quickly slipped my gloves on from my pocket, before making another snowball and throwing it at him. I aimed right for his butt as he ran, hitting my target, before rolling around on the ground laughing hysterically.
"D'as it!" he called, running toward me with snow in his hands.
I squealed as I tried to get away, but he caught me, tossing snow down the back of my shirt. I screamed upon feeling it against the back of my skin, squirming around, and yelling. He just stood there laughing at me.
Once I finally got it out of my shirt, I glared at him. I could feel my powers slowly start to act up, before a snowball hit me in the back of the head. I turned around to find Scott standing there with a smug look on his face.
"Cool it, Nova," he said, confusing me a bit.
"Nova?"
"Yeah, it's your new name," he said, leaning down and picking up a bit more snow in his hands, forming it into a snowball.
I quickly ran behind Gambit for shelter as he threw it, hitting Gambit instead of me.
"Ah, cheri!" he exclaimed, looking behind him as he brushed snow off of himself.
"Save me, Remy," I pleaded, hugging him around the waist from behind, burying my face in his back.
He laughed for a moment, before grabbing some snow.
"No one hurts my cheri," he said, before chucking a snowball at Scott, and hitting him in the face.
I had to stifle a laugh as I stood behind Gambit, still holding onto him for warmth.
"Outta d'e way, cheri!" he said quickly, pulling me to him as he ducked down on the ground to avoid a snowball.
I blushed as I looked at him, being so close to him was slightly embarrassing. He just smiled at me, before rolling over to avoid me getting hit in the head with another snowball. This made my face go red.
"Oi! Don' you have no manners, Scott? Don' hit a man when he's down, especially, when he got a pretty lady he protectin'," he said, sending a scowl Scott's way.
Once again I blushed. He thought that I was pretty…
"You okay, cheri?" he asked upon seeing my red face.
I quickly nodded my head, before trying to stand up. I only resulted on having my foot catch on his leg, causing me to fall on him.
Now my face really was red. Red with pure utter embarrassment for the fact of landing on him.
He just chuckled as he held me up a bit by my arms, staring into my eyes.
"Remy?"
"Oui, cheri?"
"You have snow in your hair," I said quietly, looking away for a moment.
"You're right, cheri, I do," he laughed, leaning up a big and shaking the snow from his hair.
He then placed his forehead against mine, our noses touching.
"Let's get him, cheri," he grinned, watching as I nodded my head quickly.
After that, we broke apart and got up quickly, grabbing snow in our hands. We then threw the snowballs at Scott, causing him to duck out of the way and hide behind a tree.
"Cheri, make a fort for Gambit, would ya?" Gambit asked as he scooped up some more snow, tossing it in Scott's direction, and hitting the tree beside his head.
I nodded my head and began quick work at building a fort for us. We needed shelter from Scott's reign of snowballs and it would provide it for us. It was hard though when parts ended up falling down on itself, but I kept at it, packing it down as much as I possibly could. I squealed when one came toward me, missing my head by mere inches.
"Hey now, d'at's my cheri," he said, running after Scott, who in turn fled across the courtyard.
I laughed as I watched this, but was still caught off guard when he had said my cheri. I mean… how was I his? We were just friends, right?
I sighed quietly as I continued to make the fort, packing the snow as best as I could, before I got hit in the head again.
"Agh! Stop attacking me!" I scowled, turning to my attacker, only to find Logan standing there with a smug look on his face. "L-Logan!" I exclaimed, my face going beat red.
"So, I'm attacking you am I?" he questioned with mock curiosity.
"Um…I…" I stuttered a bit, not knowing what to say.
"Need some help kid?" he gestured toward the fort that I was making.
All I did was nod quickly, turning my eyes away, and going back to the fort. I was still so very embarrassed at how I had reacted. I squealed though when he pushed my face into the snow, chuckling.
"L-Logan," I shouted, rubbing my face incessantly, trying to warm it from the cold.
I then heard the sound of Scott and Gambit approaching, quickly ducking down as Gambit jumped over the fort, sliding on his back once he hit the ground.
"Bonjour, cheri," he greeted with a smile.
I could hear the sound of a snowball hitting the fort, one that had been meant for Gambit's head.
"And I thought that you were chasing him," I stated, raising a brow at him curiously.
"Um, well, ya see, cheri…um…'bout d'at," he started, trying to find the right words, but they only came out in a jumbled heap.
We both looked up for a moment, before I quickly pulled Gambit down by the back of his long coat, avoiding a well aimed snowball from Scott.
"Merci, cheri," he thanked me, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
I could hear the sound of Logan laughing at him.
"Well, Gumbo, what are ya going to do now, huh?" he asked, laughing at him still.
"D'is," he said, hitting Logan in the face with a snowball.
He was then met with a growl.
"Uh-oh…" I whispered, slowly crawling away as quietly as I could, only to be picked up by Scott by the back of my jacket.
"L-let me go," I yelled, my eyes going wide as snowballs soon went flying all over the place.
There were no longer teams. It was an all out war, either hit or be hit. Everyone was on their own.
I soon found myself taking refuge behind a tree, hiding myself there from the terrors of winter war. No matter where you looked, a snowball was being thrown, but at least it was better than having fists being thrown at each other. In fact, Gambit's eye was still bruised. Although, at least he could see out of it now which was a relief. It would probably be bruised for at least another 2 weeks though knowing Logan.
"Ah!" I yelled, ducking down as a snowball nearly hit me.
I scowled at my attacker, but it soon fell when I found that it had merely been Gambit.
"Don't scare me like that, Remy," I said, holding my hand over my heart.
"Sorry 'bout d'at, cheri, didn' mean ta scare ya," he said, smiling at me as he ran over to me, shielding me from an oncoming reign of snowballs.
I smiled up at him weakly as he did this.
"Thanks," I whispered.
"Any time, cheri, but now is Gambit's turn," he said, grabbing up some snow and chucking it at the other two.
It went on like this for a few more hours until we finally called it a quits and went inside. I was completely freezing once I got inside. My ears were red along with my nose and cheeks.
"Man kid, calm down would ya?" Logan asked as he watched me pace back and forth through the living room door way, rubbing my arms and trying to stay warm. "Stop that," he said, walking over to me and grabbing my arms.
I sighed quietly as I looked at him.
"But Logan," I whined, "I'm cold," I said.
"Yeah, well…" he stopped as he noticed Scott pointing to something above our heads. "Oh, HELL, no," he said, looking up at the mistletoe.
My face went red. Scott was nearly bursting with laughter as I glared at him. My glare then turned into a smirk as I walked over to him, pulling him under it as well. Both Logan and Scott went bug eyed causing me to laugh.
"Now, give each other a man hug," I ordered, watching them comply hesitantly.
I then pulled them down a bit by their arms, kissing them on the cheek, before pushing them away.
"Now, shut up and sit down," I ordered.
I had seen the look that Gambit held on his face when he was the three of us and smiled softly, motioning him over.
"Come here, Remy," I said softly, taking his hand and then kissing his cheek. "Better?" I asked, watching a bright smile form on his face.
"Oui, cheri. D'at made Gambit REAL happy," he said, smiling from ear to ear, before placing a kiss on my cheek.
The moment he did that, my face went red, and I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. In the background I could hear Scott stifle a laugh, the same with Logan to be honest. Although, Logan was a bit quieter, but still.
"Maybe d'is help," he said, placing his long coat on my shoulders.
On me, it dragged on the ground by a good…of I don't know, 4 to 5 inches maybe? That didn't seem to bother him though as he placed his arms around my shoulder and led me upstairs to my room.
"We still got stuff ta wrap," he said, reminding me of what we had left unfinished.
"Oh no!" I cried, running forward quickly and into my room.
I pulled everything out from under my bed as he closed the door behind him, locking it like before.
"Now, why don' we finish d'is up?" he suggested as he sat down with me, taking some of the wrapping paper in his hands.
I gave him a small smile, nodding my head as I opened boxes up and placed stuff inside. Every box had at least two things in them, but no one had more than one box to open, save for Gambit.
About another hour later, we were finished with wrapping everything and took them downstairs. I swayed a bit as I walked, fatigue slowly taking over me with a yawn.
"You alright, cheri?" Gambit asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I nodded quietly as we sat down, placing everything under the tree. I had made to hide the smallest of the two boxes for him in one of the branches at the base of the tree. I didn't want him seeing it.
"Oui, Remy," I said, making him smile a bit.
"Oui, Remy?" he asked," So, you trying ta speak French on me now, cheri?" he asked with a loose laugh.
"Maybe," I said with another yawn.
He took notice to this and slid the remaining presents underneath the tree, before me by the waist, and turning me toward him.
"Remy?" I questioned with tired eyes.
"Come, cheri, time for bed," he said, picking me up in his arms and carrying me.
I made little protest as he took me back up to my room, nearly falling asleep in his arms since I was so tired.
Once he got to my room, he placed me down on my bed carefully, pulling the sheets up to my chin.
"Good night, cheri," he whispered, kissing my forehead before he got up.
"Night…Remy," I whispered quietly before falling asleep, no bad dreams following me this time.
Finally, the long awaited chapter 18! I hope that everyone liked it? I had a lot of fun writing it. Please remember to REVIEW? I love hearing everyone's feedback about my story. Apparently, I currently have someone addicted to it and hopefully they'll be very happy with this new chapter. :) Anyway, thanks for everyone's support. Any and all reviews are welcome. -looks around for hamster- Hope you liked the chapter Bite. XD On to chapter 19!!! -Runs off to continue writing-