Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men

Rogue stayed under the tree for about half an hour, trying to calm down, before she heard the leaves moving, even though there was no wind at all. She looked up and saw a lean pair of legs right above her head, and red eyes shining back down at her.

"Remy, what are you doing there?"

"I was havin' a smoke and watchin' the moon, ma belle. But y' are so much more beautiful than it, dat I couldn't resist and started t' watch y'." He said from where he was sitting, and she could distinguish a thin curl of smoke coming from his lips, which held the usual cocky smirk.

"Ah'm not in the mood now, Remy. Please let's pretend you're not here, ok?"

Rogue rest her head against the oak and Remy was able to see her face. Something was clearly bothering the Southern Belle. His smirk disappeared immediately and was replaced with a frown. "If it makes y' more comfortable, why don't y' talk t' dis ol' oak about what happened? Perhaps it will answer y'".

Rogue chuckled for a second at his brief attempt of talking seriously to her and looked up again. His face had a concerned expression, even in the dark. So she did something maybe she wouldn't do if she wasn't feeling like talking to someone, even if it was someone as annoying as Remy could be at times. Rogue stood and climbed the tree where an old branch was near the soil, sitting next to Remy. She gave him a slight smile and looked at her feet.

"Hey ol' oak. Are ya in the mood for a chat?" She whispered and raised her eyebrows, waiting for a response.

"Of course, chér… I mean, Rogue." Remy said, and a soft smile lit up his face. "What is botherin' y'?"

Rogue swung her legs, still staring at them. "Mah boyfriend… or should Ah say ex-boyfriend?" She glanced at Remy quickly but he said nothing. "We broke up for good. Ah just couldn't take it anymore. It's so confusing, ya know? You're with someone for a few years and then all of a sudden it all comes crashing down. Ah should feel bad about it, or depressed for us not being together anymore. And at first, Ah did! However, now Ah feel… relieved. The way it had been going lately, it was like Bobby was doing a favor being with meh. Ah'm upset because Ah wish it didn't happen like this, but still… Gawd, it's so hard to explain." She rubbed her eyes and sighed heavily. "Sorry. Ah guess ya never went through this, right? You don't seem the kind of person to have problems in your relationships. And maybe you never had a really serious one."

"Let me see if I get it, Rogue. Y' were happy wit' him, but somehow it didn't feel completely right. Dere was somethin' out o' place, and in some moments y' even thought it was your fault. Dat person changed and y' changed as well. Everything started fallin' apart because o' dat, and y' still felt it was your fault. And finally y' break up but y' don't feel bad about it. Instead, freedom is the only thing y' can really feel. Simply because deep inside, chérie, y' know dat wasn't the right person for y'. Ya' know dat somewhere dere is somethin' bigger. Somethin' y' won't need to force so it happens. It just does."

Rogue raised her eyes to him surprised, and realized he seemed to be lost in thought. The smirk was long gone, and his face seemed to be different. Tired.

"You nailed it, Remy. How do you know?" she asked.

"We are more alike than it seems. It happens dat I had a serious relationship once, Rogue. Y' can't imagine how serious it was meant t' be. But it all ended abruptly. For many years, I thought it was my fault it happened. She meant a lot t' me. Still, it wasn't enough." For a moment, it seemed he was talking more to himself than to her. A light breeze caressed his hair and he turned to look at her.

"Ya know?" Rogue moved closer to him without breaking the eye contact.

"Oui?"

"You are less annoying than Ah thought, swamp rat." She punched him lightly on the arm and they chuckled.

"Y' are more interestin' than I thought, river rat." Remy teased.

"Hey!" Rogue punched him again, harder this time. "Ah take back what Ah said. And… Ah'm proud of being a river rat." She whispered. "This oak reminds meh of a tree Ah used to sit under when Ah was a kid in Mississippi. Ah could spend the whole afternoon just sitting there, looking at the clouds and listening to the birds. Mah only concern back then was waking up in time for school, and getting good grades. Ah miss those days."

"Yer childhood seemed quite peaceful." His lips curled up in a smile.

"It was." Rogue's voice was thoughtful and Remy could tell by her face many memories were going through her mind. For a moment he wondered if he should go and leave her alone, but she turned to him again.

"What about ya Remy? Tell meh something about your childhood."

"Oh, there are many things t' be told, ma belle. Even though I was an innocent lil' boy, trouble seemed to come after me."

"Innocent, you?! Don't make meh laugh. Ah wonder if you were ever innocent in yer life."

Remy gave her a puppy look and blinked twice.

"But I was! Very innocent. Or at least, I tried t' look innocent after messing things up." He chuckled. "I remember mon père always bought it. All I needed t' do was smile and point t' my older brother, Henry. The only person who seemed t' read my thoughts was my Tante Mattie, and then she'd beat me wit' a wooden spoon." He flinched and rubbed his butt distractedly. "Dat used t' make Henry's day."

The wind started to blow harder and he looked up. "Seems it's goin' t' rain, chérie. We better get inside." The words barely came out of his mouth and small rain drops started to fall. With a gracious movement, he jumped to the ground and helped Rogue down by taking her hand. When she stood in front of him, his hands automatically moved to her hips. Rogue blushed slightly and looked into his red on black eyes, waiting for his hands to move away but they didn't.

"Remy?" She said, feeling awkward.

"Oui?" He whispered back. Her face was pale, even though her cheeks were turning red, and small rain drops were shining on her face and hair. 'Vous êtes très belle, chérie.'

"You can let go now." She tried again, her heart pumping, but still he didn't move. She could swear his hands were growing warmer and his red eyes were deeper.

A lightning turned the night sky clear for a brief second, followed by the thunder, breaking the trance. Remy blinked and let go of her.

"We… we better get inside." He repeated and gave her his coat so she wouldn't get too wet. They ran to the mansion as the rain grew thicker and heavier.

"Wow, Ah hope Ah don't catch a cold after that." Rogue looked out of the windows; the rain kept on growing stronger. "You know, this rain doesn't seem normal."

"Y' think it has somethin' t' do with Stormy?" Remy sounded worried.

"Ah don't know. Let's check it." She climbed up the stairs in the direction of Ororo's room and met Logan in front of it, ready to open the door.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping, Rogue?" He asked in a husky voice and his eyes burned when he saw Remy with her.

"Ah came to check on Ororo. Is she ok?"

"Charles just woke me up, asking me to come here. She is having nightmares, really bad ones." He said and opened the door slightly. " 'Ro? Can I come in?" He called but there was no answer. They went inside and saw she was curled up on her sheets, sweating and moaning.

"Jean… No, Jean…" She whispered and tears strolled down her cheeks. Rogue and Logan looked at each other and lowered their eyes. It was clear she was still suffering from the loss of her friend. Logan sat by her side, stroking her white hair gently.

"Ororo, wake up. It's only a nightmare." He whispered and she opened her eyes abruptly.

"Logan!" Ororo blinked a few times trying to focus on his face.

"I'm here. It's ok 'Ro."

"I saw Jean in my dreams Logan. It felt so real." The tears kept coming and she didn't seem to realize Remy and Rogue were standing there. Logan nodded to them, meaning he could handle the situation and they could go. They gave one last look to Ororo and left, giving them privacy. They gazed through the window and saw the rain had stopped, as if nothing had happened.

"She still didn't get over her friend's death, isn't it?" Remy asked Rogue, while walking her to her room.

"Nope. No one here did, actually. Jean was an amazing person and we lost her twice. It's an awful feeling. Ah'm glad Ororo and Logan are getting over it together. People heal faster when they are not alone."

"It's true." Remy whispered and kissed the back of her hand when they got in front of her room. "Remember y' are not alone either, chérie." He looked into her eyes when he said this. Rogue blushed again and opened the door.

"Thanks Remy. Good night."

"Bonne nuit, Rogue."

It was the day before the party at last, after nearly two weeks of pure agony, and everyone seemed to be about to explode from anxiety, including Rogue, but not for the same reasons. Her costume was just… argh. She couldn't get herself to think about it anymore without blushing and wanting to run away.

The Professor had to travel to Canada that night for a conference and Scott went with him. So that left Ororo and Logan to take care of the kids. The African goddess was fine with it as always, and helping to prepare the stuff for the party, which would take place in the Danger room since it would be safer. Logan otherwise was about to go crazy and looked like he was about to gut the next person that asked which costume he would wear.

In Rogue's opinion, it seemed like everyone had a terrible sugar rush. Some people decided to buy their costumes at the last minute, and others were running around decorating the whole mansion. The cake was being prepared by Ororo and Remy, and all the others were preparing candies and biscuits. It smelled good for sure, but all those people running and screaming and talking at the same time was driving her nuts.

"Why do they need to prepare the food now anyways?" She asked herself while sitting at the Rec room.

"Just t' make sure tomorrow we'll have plenty o' time t' get ready." Remy jumped over the couch and landed sitting by her side.

"Hey, swamp rat. Thought ya were baking a cake?" She said over her book.

"It's nearly done but Stormy gave me a break."

Rogue chuckled at the nickname.

"Seemed she wanted to get rid o' me actually."

"And Ah wonder why is that." Rogue finally raised her eyes and was met with his bright red ones.

"Me too, chérie. Me too." He said, giving her an innocent look that didn't work at all, making her laugh.

Since their talk on the tree, they had been finally getting along (most of the time) and hanging out more. Rogue found out that, unlike she thought previously, Remy was really easy to talk to. It became a habit for them to have a training session very early in the morning, since none of them ever slept very well, and then to cook their breakfast together when most of the people in the mansion were still sleeping. They would sit in the kitchen, sipping on a cup of café au lait, and talk about their lives back in the South. Remy was a good listener, something Rogue really appreciated, even though some dirty jokes would come out of his lips every once in a while. Mostly she would do all the talk, getting lost in her own childhood memories, which always came to her mind after eating his southern breakfast. It was like a truth serum to her, and she liked the way things came out so easily. A couple times he would interrupt her to add his own memories to the conversation and they were quite funny, bringing crazy cute images in her head. Like when he said he once broke his dad's new TV and blamed it on his brother, who had been out all day. And his dad bought it! However, she would still blush and yell at him when his jokes were beyond her limits and he seemed to think that was amusing, since his smirk grew wider as her face grew hotter. That definitely made her explode and storm out of wherever they were. Bobby didn't seem to like this at all, and he would avoid being in the same room as Remy whenever he could, even though he had to deal with him in the Danger Room sessions. Anyways, Remy was getting along with everyone else in the Institute, including the younger kids in his Physical Education class.

"So petite, what you're doin' here all alone?"

"What does it seem?" She pointed at her book.

"Hmmm, reading adult literature?" He gave her a puppy look, but his grin was mischievous.

"Remy! This is a poems book."

"Adult poetry?!" He asked out loud, suddenly excited.

"No!" Her voice grew higher as other people got in the room and tried to take a peek at her book.

Remy saw her concern and quickly took the book from her hands.

"Hey! Give it back now!" She stood up but he jumped over the couch again, out of her reach.

"So why does it say Roses are red, grass is green, open your le…"

"Remy, stop!" she jumped over the couch too and nearly landed on top of him, taking the book from his hands. Everyone around chuckled and gave interested looks to her book.

"This is William Blake! Not some perverted poetry." She turned around and showed the book to everyone. After glaring at Remy, she sat down again, a small pout playing on her lips.

"So what are y' up to later?" Remy asked like nothing had happened.

"Ah'm not in the mood for anything to be honest. This party is getting on mah nerves." She sounded too serious so Remy didn't make any comment on that. He could see a frown start to form on her delicate features and a strange feeling took over him.

"Tonight dere's going t' be some horror movies goin' on TV. What y' say about watching it wit' me? I don't like t' watch this kind o' movies by myself." He joked and the frown left her face.

"It sounds nice. The movies are the only good thing about Halloween." She shrugged.

"Don't forget the candies." He smiled at her.

"Yeah, the candies too."

"Anybody mentioned horror movies?" Jubilee's voice came from behind the couch and her head popped between them.

"We are going to watch it later. Do ya want to watch it with us, Jubs?" Rogue asked, not noticing Remy's sigh.

"Yeah, sure. I'm so addicted to horror movies. Kitty will have to watch it with us too 'cause we made a bet and she lost. I can't believe she is so scared of these movies." Jubilee rolled her eyes and started a conversation with Rogue.

'So much for a night alone with Rogue.' Remy thought and rubbed his eyes.