I truly apologize for the lack of updates! I didn't have Internet for my laptop during my winter break. Much apologies. Hope everyone had a very lovely holiday season!

017.

"Where are we going?" Hayley asked for the millionth time.

"Somewhere nice." Gambit looked over her and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. Remy is gon keep you safe."

Hayley nodded and smiled back at him. "You better or else I'll kick your ass."

He laughed. "I don't doubt it."

Escaping the club scene and Kitty Pryde, they continued their drive, talking about the club and other things that came into their minds. A song that they both knew would come on ocassionally and they would sing it together. Hayley, however, sang softer than she normally would. She hated being so nervous. The car made an exit from the freeway. He made a right and drove into some sort of park.

Hayley looked out the window, raising an eyebrow. She was a bit confused and looked at him again. "A park?" she asked.

"This is a place that I like to go to sometimes."

"How'd you find out about this place?"

He smirked. "I drive around at night."

Hayley laughed. "So do you take the girls to this special place?"

Gambit chuckled softly. "No, joli. You're the first one."

He parked a car under a tree. Hayley stepped outside, feeling the cold breeze. She shivered slightly. It was cold, dark and a little creepy.

"You cold, cherie?" Without waiting for a response, Gambit threw his brown jacket over her shoulders. She thanked him, slipping her arms through the sleeves. She snapped her fingers and a small fireball appeared between her fingers, giving them some light. Gambit smiled. She looked up at him and grinned. "Lead the way."

He threw an arm around her and led her to his special spot. He held her free hand as they walked up a small hill, something that seemed a bit difficult for Hayley since she was in heels. Gambit told her to put the fire out and to take both his hands. She complied and nearly tripped over her own feet, falling into his arms.

"For a Level Five mutant, you sure are clumsy," he teased.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly.

"And here we are," Gambit said, presenting the top of the hill for her to see.

Hayley could see why it was so special. The top of the hill gave an incredible view of the city with its lights shining brightly. It literally took her breath away. She always forgot that there was life outside of the mansion. She smiled at the sight. "I wish I had my camera," she said softly. She turned around to find Gambit sitting down on the grass. He patted the patch of grass next to him. She grinned and plopped down next to him, kicking off her heels.

"Do you come here every night?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nah, just when I need to think."

Hayley laughed. "Gambit, thinking? Wow, that's something new," she teased.

"Very funny, petite," Gambit said, laughing. "Remy has a brain too, you know."

"So what does the great Gambit think about?" Hayley asked, looking up at the stars.

"You know, what everyone thinks about. The past, the future, what to eat for dinner, old flames," he listed off.

"Like, old loves?" she asked, a little stunned.

Gambit looked at her, raising an eyebrow at her tone of voice. "What, you don't think about your old love?"

Hayley was taken aback at his response. She looked down at the grass, pulling some out of its roots. She didn't want to be reminded of John at that moment. "No, I didn't- I'm sorry, I was just.. curious-,"

"Hey." His hand covered her own. "I'm sorry, Remy didn't mean it to come out like that."

She smiled softly at him. "It's okay.. I'm sorry for.. intruding."

"How are you doing with that anyway? If you don't mind me asking," Gambit asked.

Hayley noticed that his hand hadn't left hers. "I'm doing okay," she answered. "Better than I thought I would."

"Still think about him?"

"Sometimes," Hayley admitted. She ripped a few more pieces of grass.

Gambit took her other hand to prevent her from pulling out the grass. He laughed. "It's alright to think of him. It ain't easy to forget about someone that you really care about." He sighed, looking out at the city lights. "It happens to all of us."

Hayley was curious. "Even you?" she asked softly.

She saw his shoulders tense up and he hesitated. There was a long awkward pause between them. She cleared her throat. "You don't have to answer that if it's too personal. I don't mean to pressure you."

He laughed loudly and patted her hand. "No worries, joli. You've told me some stuff... it would be wrong of me not to share with you. Yeah, even I think about someone that I cared about. Long time ago."

Hayley smiled at the thought of mischevious, sneaky, womanizing Gambit being in love with someone. It was sweet. "Where'd you meet this girl?"

He let out a sad chuckle. Letting out a sigh, he turned his head away from her and cleared his throat. "Well cherie, I met this girl when I was about eight years old," he started to talk. "Her name was Bella Donna Bouredeaux. She was a gorgeous femme and was like me in a way. Loner, walking on the wild side," he sighed happily.

"What we didn't know was that we were a part of two different worlds. Where I'm from, the gangs roamed the streets. There were two in particular, two rival gangs. I was part of the Thieves' Guild and she was a part of the Assasin's.

"It's a bit weird and to this day, I don't know where this came from but folks thought I was some sorta prophet, that I'd bring the two gangs together."

"A prophet?" Hayley asked with her eyes wide.

Gambit nodded then shrugged. "Like I said, I don't know where they got the idea from.

"Anyway, the leaders of the gangs, you know, thought the best way to unite the guilds was to marry me and Bella Donna-,"

Hayley narrowed her eyes, feeling a bit jealous.

"And I thought it'd work... I was happy, petite." He sighed. "She and I had some good times together... couldn't be separated. She wasn't a mutant like me but she wasn't judgmental. We were happy together..

"Her brother, Julien, didn't like me. He never liked me, jealous of the attention and the prophecy that people thought of me. He was a coward and tried to make a cheap shot at me. Called me out to a fight and of course, Remy gotta accept. He doesn't say no to a challenge."

Hayley looked at him. She saw something different in his eyes. There was anger, bitterness, intensity... and sadness in his eyes. For once, he was putting down the front that he always had on. He was transforming into a human being showing emotions. Real emotions.

"I ended up killin' him, petite," Gambit confessed. "I won the fight and ended up being exiled from the Guild. Had to end things with Bella Donna. I had to pack my things and go."

Hayley felt terrible and sorry for Gambit. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

He chuckled and shrugged. "Nah, it's okay." She removed her head from his shoulder as he turned his body to face her. "That happened a long time ago, no need to go back to the past."

"Have you ever tried to contact her?" she asked softly.

He let out a weak laugh. "Can't get in contact with the dead, Hayley."

She gasped softly and immediately wanted to slap herself in the face for such a reaction. "Gambit.. I'm really sorry.."

"Again, it's alright." He averted his attention to the view again. "Found out from a good friend from the inside. Car accident." He fell silent, humming softly.

Hayley used the silence to take in the story of his life. His story made hers seem so insignificant. Here Hayley was, complaining and being sad about her own problems when Gambit had been through so much more. At least John was alive.

It was a bit overwhelming to know that behind the flirtacious, happy smile, there was a dark, sad tale that he kept hidden in his heart. It had been easy to overlook the fact that Gambit was a human being who had feelings and stories to tell due to his mischevious ways. He had never let his guard down- always had a arrogant front to him, never sharing what was really on his mind and in his heart. She couldn't blame him though. It was a tragic love story that she wouldn't want to share to people either.

"So what about you? How'd you meet your ex-beau?" Gambit asked, turning to her.

Hayley smiled sadly. "Met at the school. He was the new kid, really shy and loner-ish. Typical angsty kid." She laughed loudly at the memory of the 15 year old John Allerdyce. "Bobby, Rogue and I befriended him though it took a long time for him to really trust us.

"Eventually he opened up a little bit. I don't know why but he chose me to be his partner in crime. We got into a whole lot of shit in school. Which is the reason why Storm doesn't like the fact that I'm a TA."

Gambit laughed.

"We just connected right away... both came from bad places, had bad childhoods... we just worked out. He was the one person that I could turn to, the one person that told it to me straight. He was the only one that I trusted." She chuckled bitterly. "Well I was definitely wrong."

"No shame, joli." He smiled at her and laid down on his back. "Truthfully, he's a fool to give you up."

Hayley blushed. "Thanks." She jumped a little when she felt something touch her back but realized it was just his hand. She relaxed, letting his hand rub her back gently.

They sat in silence for a good while, just enjoying each other's company. Hayley drew her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them. She closed her eyes as Gambit started to hum a slow song, his hand still rubbing her back gently. She smiled when he paused.

"Thanks for telling me your story, Hayley."

Hayley turned around to look down at him and smiled, nodding her head. "And thanks for telling me your story, Gambit."

He grinned, getting up and leaning on his elbow. He reached over and grabbed Hayley's arm, pulling her down to the grass. She stumbled onto the grass, laughing while doing so. Gambit laughed at her clumsiness and she laid on the grass on her side, facing him.

Hair fell to the front of her face and she reached to get it out of her face but Gambit beat her to it. He played with the loose hair, tucking it behind her ear. His hand gently carressed her cheek and she closed her eyes, enjoying his touch.

"You can call me Remy."

Hayley opened her eyes. "What?" she said.

"You can call me Remy now," he said again.

She smiled, remembering the first time when she had called him by his real name, he had instructed her to call him Gambit instead. Hayley was going to take it as a sign of trust from him. "Okay."

He smiled back at her, moving his body closer to her. Her heart began to race when he leaned on his elbow. There was something behind his smile. There was purpose and Hayley was nervous about his purpose.

"You mind if I do somethin', beautiful?" he asked softly.

"Depends," she said. It came out as a whisper.

Gambit- Remy chuckled. "You nervous or somethin'?"

"Maybe," she lied.

He grinned. "Don't be nervous. You have nothing to be nervous about." His thumb caressed her cheek, moving down to her lips. "Would it be alright to kiss you?"

"What? Why?"

Remy laughed. "Why you nervous? It ain't like this is our first kiss."

"But why.. why do you-,"

Remy sighed and sat up. Hayley followed in suit, waiting for his answer to her question.

"You drive me crazy, cherie," Remy said with a grin. "I've had you on my mind since the first night we met, when you tricked me into coming here with you." He laughed. "You ain't like any other femme that I've met. Most throw themselves at me whether they had a boyfriend or not, but you.. you're different." He touched her face gently. "I like that."

Hayley felt her face turning red and he smirked again, knowing that she was blushing hard despite them being in the dark. "Oh." She started ripping the grass out; it helped her nerves. "So am I just going to be another name to put on your list of victories?"

"You still think of me like that?"

"Can you blame me?"

"I thought after all that we've been through, you'd think different of me, cherie."

Hayley sighed when he turned away from her, lying on his back again. He was right. It was wrong of her to think that he was still a womanizer when he had proven time and time again that there was more to him that meets the eye. She placed a hand on his chest to grab his attention. "I'm sorry Remy. You're right."

Remy's head turned to her and he smiled. "I know I'm right. You don't trust me?"

"I do.." she trailed off. "I guess I'm just a little nervous."

"Of me, beb?"

She didn't answer. She didn't have to.

His grin grew even bigger. "If you don't want to, lemme know right now, petite."

Hayley laughed awkwardly but she didn't say anything. He grinned and leaned on his side, drawing closer to her face.

Her cell phone rang loudly, interrupting their moment. Hayley hissed, muttering profanities. Remy laughed and looked back at the view as Hayley stood up to take the call. She scowled and wondered what she had done to deserve all the cockblocks today. "Jubilee, what's up?" she said with no enthusiasm in her voice.

"Where are you and Gambit?! You guys just completely disappeared!" Jubilee's shrill voice cut through the quiet hill.

"We went somewhere. Are you guys going back to school?"

"Yeah, we're about to go. Where did you two go?" she asked, the last question sounding a bit sly and curious.

"Somewhere."

"Are you guys doing it?"

"Jubilee! No!" Hayley shouted, horrified that she would make that sort of assumption.

Jubilee giggled. "Well spill the details later! I'll see you tomorrow morning, I think." Before Hayley could yell at her some more, Jubilee hung up.

Hayley turned around and saw Remy sitting up. "I think we should get back. The others are heading back home."

Remy nodded, getting up from his spot. Hayley picked up her heels from the ground and when she turned around, she found Remy right behind her. With one swift motion, he grabbed her by the waist and kissed her.

Hayley was completely unready for this but she put her arms around his neck, running a hand through his hair. His kiss was deep and gentle, aggressive but soft. A thousand emotions- good emotions ran wild through her body. She felt his arms wrap tighter around her waist as his tongue ran across her lips. She parted her mouth for him and he slipped his tongue in. She slipped out a soft moan and he smirked through his kiss.

They pulled away slowly, both breathless. Hayley looked down at the grass, unsure of what to do. He lifted her head up with his hand and leaned forward for a short kiss. A smile formed on her face and it grew bigger when she saw a smile on his face as well.

"C'mon cherie, better head back home." With a kiss on the cheek, he held her hand and walked down the hill together.

I know, I know.FINALLY. Thanks again for the reviews and all the love. I really appreciate every single one of you. :)